Hotel ID, User ID,Date,Review Text
309580,patatas,01/09/2008,Good location; good standard; thin walls. Over all good hotel; convenient location; nice staff; clean and adequate room. Only problem was thin walls; we heard everything the neighbours said; and unfourtunately we had noisy neighbours one night.
309580,NewcastleWharton1,01/04/2008,Don't stay in room 701!!! My advice would be not to stay here i will never be going back! I had to stay here for a week and had the worst experience ever!After staying a this hotel for one week i came back with hundreds of bed bug bites. My collegues stayed in different rooms and they didn't have a problem so i'm not saying that this is an all over problem.My advice is if your staying in room 701 please becareful- check the headboard with a torch and check the mattress for tell tale signs. I informed the hotel of this matter upon my return to England requesting that they close this room to the public and seek proffesional guidence. Eventually they replied to me however i as yet have recieved any further response. Personally i will never stay at this hotel again!
309580,PootsUK,12/08/2007,The Dirtiest Hotel Room I Have Ever Stayed In! Bedroom
309580,Grumpygramps,11/20/2007,Great hotel for walkers Stayed four nights; Monday to Friday; hotel was clean and quiet; staff very helpful and always with a smile. Hotel situated within walking distance to most of the attractions ( all four of us in our sixties and had no trouble walking) 20 minutes to the Ramblas or the port and 10 minutes to the Metro where you can get on the cable car to the castle ( great views of the city from there). Food at the hotel was a suprise the daily menu is eight courses including wine and bottled water for 17 euros. There are many eating places around the hotel; try the basilico restaurant across the road from the hotel but you may need to book
309580,jazzpix,11/05/2007,a real gem with counter help that speak english this hotel is an easy trip from airport on one bus. The room and the public areas were great. Very clean and quiet. All the people at the desk were very helpful and went out of their way to help us find locations and restaurants. Breakfast was great.
309580,goldie65,10/19/2007,BREAKFASTS TO DIE FOR More than we had expected at a very reasonable price.Service excellent; rooms of a good size and standard. Everything very clean. Breakfast at 11 euros per day was excellent everything you could wish for. OK its a little off the main area but that is reflected in the price. We have paid up to 3 times for a hotel in Ramblas and Gothic areas which were inferior. Metro and buses just outside hotel and taxis only 5 euros into central area. We are in our sixties and walked several times into central town. If I want to be picky; it was a little noisy but after some good wine and a few cognacs sleep was no problem.
309580,lillydaffy,09/25/2007,Great hotel! We enjoyed our stay at the Silken Concordia. We stayed two nights and paid $95 euro which was pretty reasonable. The room was very clean; had a mini fridge; tv (with English channels which is rare for budget hotels in Europe!); and a pretty big bathroom. The staff was friendly and had internet for 1.75 in the lobby. The location is a bit far from the main sites but is definitely within walking distance.
309580,teddycody,09/23/2007,disapointing The hotel was OK ; it was pretty clean and communal areas pleasant; We were disapointed that we couldn't get a hot drink after 10.30 even though the bar area was next to reception desk; had to get a take-away from bar across street and return cups in morning ! not what you'd expect in a hotel of this size.parking was a horrible experience even in a small car!! a very tight squeeze.
309580,lmm50,09/08/2007,Excellent hotel This hotel is great value for money and definitely worth its three stars. Nice room; very clean; friendly and helpful staff. We had no problems with the air conditioning and even when we'd been out all day the room wasn't too hot anyway (temperatures outside were high 20s - low 30s). Location is also excellent - not bang in the centre but you could walk to Las Ramblas in about 15 minutes and the tube station is literally across the road so you can get to most major attractions in minutes. Considering what we paid I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived and would definitely stay here again
309580,PerttiKeinonen,08/07/2007,Great location; excellent service Silken Concordia perhaps isn鈥檛 a luxury accommodation; but definitely worth the three stars and absolutely great value for money. We stayed there for one week in July 2007 (24.-31.7.) with my better half and I have to say that we both loved it. Because there seems to have been some nags about the air conditioning I start by mentioning that it worked like a charm in our room. If anything; it felt almost too effective at times. And the temperature outside was in the 30-degrees-centigrade region the whole week.The service was delightful. We arrived there at 11am and they gave us our room straight away (we hadn鈥檛 requested an early check-in in advance). During the week the staff was very helpful with all our requests and questions. They also communicated quite fluently in English; so there was no language barrier either.Location was also near perfect (for us anyway): Walking distance from Plaza Catalunya; Rambla; Old town; Montju茂c; Font Magica; Port Vell etc. And a subway station right across the road to get you to those attractions further away. The neighborhood isn鈥檛 exactly something you鈥檇 call picturesque. I liked staying there though; because wandering in the streets nearby revealed a little bit of the unpolished; 鈥渢rue鈥?Barcelona that you won鈥檛 find in the tourist-heavy areas. Although a tad rough round the edges; it wasn鈥檛 by any means an intimidating area to walk around even in the dark. And the hotel itself was newish; well-groomed and clean. We didn鈥檛 have the breakfast included in our room (luckily; I may add) but gave it one shot. It was in my opinion quite unimaginative and not worth the 12鈧?person/day. Ok; it got you full; but for that amount of money you will find much better eateries round the town.This review got a bit long and may sound like an advertisement; but we really didn鈥檛 find anything negative worth mentioning about the hotel. I would recommend it to anyone!
309580,Louisa32,08/06/2007,Reasonable The horrible view from window!
309580,lmv62,08/01/2007,Great Hotel!!!! I read the reviews on this hotel and I found it very helpful. The hotel is clean; good size room and friendly staff. Location is good near at metro station Poble Sec. The breakfast is not included in the price but there are good tapas restaurant nearby.
309580,Clairelj,06/04/2007,May 07 visit My husband and I stayed here for 3 nights in May 07. Great location and friendly staff. The room was nice; not too much noise considering you're in a city; temperature was ok and the aircon worked fine in our room. The size of the room was ok; about the same as a travel lodge room. We didnt have breakfast included in our stay but found plenty of places to eat around Gracia station. We used the tube loads (which is directly opp the hotel) and would recommend the 10 trips card which is approx 6 Euro.
309580,ReindeerCassilda,03/26/2007,Smooth like ... silken! The reviews I read didn't prepare me for this hotel. All my requests at the time of the reservations were satisfied: non-smokers; double bed...The room is big; the bed huge ( 3 persons could sleep there nicely); the small attentions in the bathroom - replaced every day - were fantastic: champoo; shower gel; comb; dental kit; shaving kit; tissues; nail kit; etc; etc.The room style was very modern; even the glasses for the minibar were stylish.The only minor problem were morning sounds; the maids cleaning (vacuming) the other rooms.The location is wonderful; very central; near all you want to visit in Barcelona.The staff; in general; is helpfull; but not so friendly (maybe a city behavior). The only exception was a very unfriendly breafast staff member. So unpleasant; to everyone. Maybe she's misplaced in such a nice place; with excelent accomodations; location; price and quality.
309580,citytravellersedgley,03/10/2007,fantastic fantastic hotel centrally located. just wish we had been advised better on train/metro. When coming out of airport you can catch the train to Catalunya (4 stops) then transfer to the metro line and travel to poble sac which takes you right outside the hotel. very easy to travel this way. bit like london underground but cleaner and easier to follow. should take you 20 minutes from airport to silken concordia. staff very helpful and breakfast good quality.
309580,Paddyontour,03/07/2007,Good Value Budget Hotel We stayed in this hotel during the Barcelona Festival at the end of September 06 and found it to be great value for money. It is clean; modern; and right across the road from Poble Sec tube station.Contrary to other reviews I found the staff very helpful; I booked directly with the hotel and forgot to request a smoking room and when we arrived there was none available; however; the receptionist did manage to get us one and we changed on the 3rd night which I thought was good service. The second room was on the turn of the corridor and was therefore quite a bit smaller than the first room but it was still adequate. Don`t remember having a problem with the room temp even though it was still quite hot outside when we were there. I think this is a good choice for the money. Restaurants up the street (turn left out of hotel) very good value and friendly.
309580,knievel,02/12/2007,Nice albeit overheated room Spent four nights at the Silken Concordia with my fiancee in early Feb 07 at 鈧?0 including tax for a double room. Our first impression was very good as it麓s a step up in polish from small family-run hostals around Spain; but our opinion suffered a bit by the time we left. We got a very clean and spacious room with two twin beds (this seems pretty standard around Spain). Bathroom was roomy and very nice with a good shower. There is a mini-bar/fridge and desk.We loved the location. Just far enough away from La Rambla; etc. that you pay reasonable prices for meals and eat amongst locals; just close enough to walk where you want to go. Poble Sec metro (Line 3) is directly across the street which links you in three stops one way to Sants train station (also airport train connection) and 2-4 stops the other way to the center of the old city. The Barcelona metro is cheap and easy to use. We found a rough and ready 1鈧?min internet cafe 5 mins walk away; and two great restaurants across the street. Facing the Agip station; there is a creperie and an Italianish place on the block to the left. Both had very friendly staff and great; cheap food.On the downside; the staff is pretty indifferent and only recommended restaurants from the Lonely Planet guide. Not much use for local color. The room was REALLY hot; consistently 27-29C. Like other reviewers; I discovered that turning on the A/C only made it hotter; and asking the front desk only made me more frustrated. The window opened a few inches and that had to be good enough. On the Friday night of our stay; the fire alarm went off around 1am due to too many smokers in one of the 1st floor meeting rooms. The fire department didn麓t come; and the staff weren麓t overly concerned about doing anything or explaining what to do. That is; no one was in charge. If you felt like evacuating; fine. If you felt like taking your chances in your room; go for it.In summary; it麓s comfy and clean but a bit generic with apathetic staff. If I麓m back in Barcelona; I麓d look for a different hotel and consider this a backup.
309580,LouisaLondon,02/07/2007,Polite Staff/Clean room Staff were really poilite helpful. Clean comfortable rooms. Food in restaurant was delicious. Down points were the views from Hotel room - it was something like the third world. Also very noisey with people arguing around 2am from the opposite apartment block.
309580,themancalledDan,02/06/2007,Not Bad; Just too Hot! Room VIew
309580,AGSicilyBound,02/04/2007,Great value for money Anyone staying at this hotel for any length of time will be more than satisfied with the standard of the rooms;quality of service from the staff and it's location easy access to all the sites of Barcelona.I will definately; seriously consider returning to this hotel for another stay.
309580,salchipapa,01/18/2007,Great stay; but not as nice as the photos After shopping around for hotels; i think we found a real bargain with this hotel. it was modern; rigth across the street from the poble sec metro stop; and a quick walk to the central tourist area. while not effusively nice (like the rest of barcelonians we met); the staff were helpful and professional. our main observation was that the hotel was nice but could have been maintained a little better. the hotel is only a few years old; but already you could see that wear and tear on the furnishings. it is still has a nice design sense--modern with clean lines--but it's begining to be rough around the edges (our toilet wasn't propely sealed to the floor; the floor wasn't well vaccuumed; the two champagne flutes didn't match and the accompanying glass plate was broken; etc.).the rooms can be terribly hot in the winter as there is no fan and only an open window will allow you any sort of cool air; since the main heating presumably dominates the rooms even if you turn off your room's heating. overall; it was a nice hotel and we enjoyed out stay. we found an excellent deal online and this hotel was the best in our price range!**watch out for the tapas bars across the street. we encountered extremely rude service and were bellowed at by the server.
309580,ccfromnyc,01/02/2007,Great Hotel; Had a Awesome Time Stayed here on a trip to Madrid/Barcelona in November. Only have good things to say about this place. Rooms were spacious and modern; we had the double room which is the largest. Paid ~65 Euro/night. The staff were extremely helpful at all hours. The central location is great; about 15-20 min walk to everything (Las Ramblas; the Seafront; Montjuic; etc). There is a shuttle bus (6 Euro) to and from the airport at Plaza Catalunya stop on the metro and from there you can take the green line to Poble Sec right in front of the hotel. Get a T-pass (10 rides) for 6 Euros. Cab is ~25 Euro if you get in late. There are tons of bars/cafes on the Ramblas and in the old town to drink and enjoy the atmosphere. Nightlife and people are great and starts a little later than normal. El Raval is the red light district and is supposed to be a grittier; although there didn't seem to be anything to worry about. Tip: If you shop be sure to ask about the EU tax refund for foreign travelers. Hope that helps for anyone thinking of visiting this amazing city.
309580,AndeanTraveler,12/06/2006,Very nice hotel in a central location I stayed in this hotel recently along with my wife. The rooms are quite spacious; the furniture is modern and it looks like new. The bathroom was sparkling clean and also quite big. The price in the low season was about 85 Euros which; in my opinion; is a definite bargain given the quality of the hotel. The staff is quite friendly and willing to help. There are complimentary newspapers in the lobby primarily in Spanish but there is also one or two English-language papers. The breakfast is not included in the price. It's a bit expensive at 12 Euros per person; so we decided to eat our breakfast at a nice local cafe that was only three blocks away in the direction of the old city. The hotel is right in front of a metro station; the Poble Sec. You can also walk to the city center; La Rambla; and so on; in only 15 minutes.
309580,makarios1,11/18/2006,Good value; good location; good hotel My wife and I stayed here during an anniversary trip to Barcelona and had a fabulous time. We booked our reservation through the hotel website. The entrance and lobby are nice and modern. The staff spoke English fairly well; but we were given incorrect information about a bus route outside the hotel. Aside from that they were helpful and friendly. We requested one large bed instead of two double beds; and we got what we requested. The bed wasn't particularly comfortable; but it wasn't too bad. Our room was very nice and clean; with a mini-bar; safe; and plenty of closet space. The room was by no means soundproof; but we slept well two of the three nights. The bathroom was nice and clean; with plenty of water pressure in the shower. We had no trouble setting the thermostat. The metro station (Poble Sec) is literally right across the street; as is a filling station for snacks; etc. There are plenty of tapas bars in the area and Placa de Espanya is less than a 10 minute walk away; while Poble Espanyol was probably less than a 20 minute walk away. We were allowed to leave our bags in the secure area for the day we checked out at no cost (we did give a tip; though). I'm so glad we checked the reviews for this hotel because it was a real find.
309580,Vlox84,10/22/2006,Great small hotel Stayed at the Concordia from 10/10/06 to 15/10/06 with boyfriend and we throughly enjoyed it. I booked the hotel directly through their website and had no problems with the reservation. When we got there about 5 in the afternoon we had no problems chacking in and I was allocated the type of room I had asked for i.e. on a high floor with no smoking. The room was small but not cramped and was very comfortable and well equipped; you get a great welcome pack of shower gel; shampoo;shaving set even a toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom. Contrary to some reviews we had no problems with the air con whatsoever and didn't find the rooms at all stuffy. The hotel is really well located within walking distance of most of the main shopping precincts and the subway is just across the road and very easy to use. The breakfast was a good selection of cold meats; fruit; bread; cakes and usual orange juice tea or coffee. The staff were all very friendly and overall the hotel was very clean and tidy. I would definately stay here again if I was in Barcelona.
309580,Smeade,10/22/2006,Clean and Friendly Myself and a friend stayed at this hotel for a couple of days in October. When we arrived at the hotel at 1O'Clock in the morning; the guy on the desk was very helpful and was even patient about our wanting to change our room from a double to a twin. The room was clean and comfortable with a big bathroom. It also had aircon; a mini bar and good wardrobe space. The TV however only show mostly spanish channels but since we were there to see the city; it didn't matter. Metro stop was across the street and you could reach most of the attractions from it.
309580,FlyingKat,10/22/2006,Great service with a smile This was my first trip to BCN and as a lone female traveller I wanted to make sure I had a well-connected and; most importantly; safe hotel to stay at. After hours of searching this site; and getting overwhelmed by the conflicting reviews of some hotels; I decided to settle for the hotel that got a frequent thumbs up. I found the pros and cons style of review the most useful in my research so here goes:Pros:Location - The taxi ride took max 15 mins and cost 23 Euros. But I did this the expensive way; as I was arriving late at night; with a mountain of luggage and wanted to make sure I got there without stress. The hotel is on a main road (Avenida Parallel) and literally opposite the Poble Sec tube station. Most of the time I walked around the city; but the tube is clean safe and efficient. Check the times though because I think it closes at midnight. The other option is the bus which apparently makes frequent airport trips. Even if you prefer to do it all by foot then the hotel is a pleasant 20 min walk from Las Ramblas; cutting through La Raval. Each morning I would take a different route through the streets and pick up breakfast in one of the cafes on the way. La Raval is BCN's redlight district so I would not advise this trip alone in the evenings. The hotel is also very close to Montjuic and Plaza Espana; there's a corner shop over the road and a cashpoint is nextdoor. A block or so down there's a tapas bar. I didn't try the tapas but it looked popular with locals and did great hot baguettes to take away which I did try - often.Service - The staff at the hotel completely blew away my preconceptions of BCN being populated by rude; anti-english/american; money grabbing people. Hey; that's what some reviews might have you believe. All my requests to be put in a room with a view; spacious; non-smoking and on a high floor were met. But what really impressed me was that when I ran into a few problems at the start of the holiday they went out of their way to help. I probably dealt with all of the reception staff at some point; and this was consistent. Also; they were really helpful directing me to banks; places to eat; transport etc. And all with a smile.Food -I didn't opt for the breakfast so I can't really comment. I did have a brief look over the menu which is displayed in the lift and it looked pricey when you can get to a nice cafe nearby. From what I gathered the kitchens close after breakfast but you can still get hot drinks.Rooms -The most important thing for me in a room is cleanliness which I couldn't fault. The bed was massive and very comfortable; and the shower was powerful. The TV gives you the local channels (plus a german music channel) but there are also paying channels. There's a minbar and a safe. The aircon chilled the room very quickly. The wardrobe provided sufficient space for my mountain of luggage and didn't leave my clothes smelling musky like some hotel wardrobes do. The maid service was also very efficient changing towels and sheets daily. I didn't try the room service nor laundry.Cons:Price - I was reluctant to list this as a con as it could just be me holding onto student ways. Once you accept the idea that unless you want to share a bathroom with dreadlocked backpackers in a hostal; you are going to have to pay London prices at any hotel in BCN; this 3 * hotel probably offers a great deal for money. The days fluctuated in price but probably hit 110 euros on average per day. Location -This hotel is best suited for the quieter types. There didn't seem to be any nightlife; although being a main road there are always plenty of people walking around. If it's bars; clubs and drunken screams you're after then look for somewhere in the Old Town. The other issue is parking. A friend of mine tried to park in the narrow street nearby but everywhere seemed reserved for residents. You'd have to check with the hotel if there is a parking policy.Just some concluding points: I would definitely stay at this hotel again. It offers good value and cuts out fussy things you don't really need when visiting an amazing place like BCN. I wouldn't just recommend this for the lone traveller; other resident types were young families; couples old and young and business people. One final tip: get yourself to the market just off Las Ramblas and hunt down the stall that serves food about two rows from the left as you enter and three rows back. You will have to wait your turn to get a seat (and it can be a bit of a fight) but the Chipirones con Huevos Fritos are worth it; I promise; and will set you up nicely for a long day sightseeing. Apparently it's their speciality.Anyways; hope I've been of help.
309580,sunnygirlmo,10/15/2006,Great Stay We just recently got back from our stay here. I must say that it was a great value overall. The metro stop was right across the street; so we just caught that from the airport (I would suggest staying somewhere that has a metro stop nearby so you dont have to walk as much). Everything was pretty much walking distance...and if youre not the stupid tourist (keep your wallet inside your jacket/pants; no hanging purses; etc); you'll be fine. The room was comfortable and the bathroom was large enough and very clean with lots of hot water. The cleaning staff didnt clean our rooms like they do in the States; but it was just fine. The breakfast wasnt that great...just go to the las ramblas area for restaurants around there (dont go to the ones across the street from the hotel; they were horrible). The front desk staff had great maps to give us and were very friendly. If you need internet/phone; theres a place right down the street that has it for very cheap. Las Ramblas/barri gotic/el born were all withink 20 minutes walking. Overall; I would def. stay here again and it was a great bargain! Also; I would recommend coming to Spain during October because the weather was perfect.
309580,Russy13,08/08/2006,Great Hotel - easy to find Sorry if this is a long one but I am a true believer in sharing everything I know so here goes. We got a good deal on Last Minute to this hotel with flights from Liverpool for 3 nights for under 拢400. Myself my husband went for an anniversary break and left our little one at home with Nana. As a previous review said; this hotel is not in the tourist area; it is very much amongst where the locals live but don't let this put you off there is nothing to worry about. The only time I felt a little uncomfortable was when we cut down one of the side streets off the Ramblas to get back early one evening; but think it was just me being nervy my husband said he felt fine. I had read alot about bags being snatched and wallets/purses being stolen and you do have to be aware especially in the tourist areas; it is just common sense but we did not see anything while we were there. There is not alot of choice of proper restaurants in the area (mostly locals cafes and small bars) so you really need to walk down to the Ramblas/Port; which on a easy stroll is about 20 mins walk. The hotel was extremely clean and the air conditioning was suberb we really needed it; it was so hot. The bathroom was spacious with lovely big towels. We had a room at the back of the hotel so although we had a view of the flats next door; it was quiet enough to have a good nights sleep and that was more important to us. The safe was great it was FREE and easy to use. I was very surprised at how easy we found the hotel. I read a few reviews on this and other sites (mainly about the hotel) which told you how to get there. We got the Aerobus from right outside the Airport (they are every 8 mins so you never have to wait long) and it was 3.75 euros each. The first stop is Playa Espana and if you get off here you cross the road in front of the twin towers and you are on PARALLEL; it is about a 10 min walk down here and the hotel is on the right. We arrived about 1pm and they let us have our room straight away; the staff were lovely. There is a cash machine just outside the hotel (turn right out of hotel and it is on the right) so we got our money from there we didn't bother with money exchange places. There is enough room in your minibar to put your own water and cans etc.. if you come out of the hotel and turn right after about 5 mins walk there is a supermarket on the right called Condis but just to let you know that is has funny opening times but great for bits and bobs. And there is a lovely little bakery that sells croissants on the same side just before it. We got a 2 day ticket for the Bus Turistic (some reviews said it was an expensive way of getting around) we just wanted to be taken to the main attractions so for 鈧?2 each for 2 days we though it was worth it. We saw the usual things; but I thought the Sagrada Famillia was disappointing. It is about 鈧? each but it is just a building site inside. You can however go up in the lift more or less to the top but I couldn't face it so my husband went up on his own. He got some great pictures but if you are not into art / museums and haven't got a great deal of time you can probably give it a miss. Oh the other thing I forgot to mention is that when you buy your tickets on the hop on hop off bus you get a book of vouchers that gives you some sort of discount on every place you visit as well as many eating places. A must not miss - is the fountains at Playa Espanya but note that they are only on Thurs - Sun at various times from 9pm - Midnight. There are fab and the atmosphere is lovely. The fountains dance to music and lights. On our last night we went to a lovely restaurant on the Ramblas called The Attic mainly fish but the food was lovely and not as expensive as we thought 鈧?6 for 3 courses with wine; water and coffees. Hope all this has been helpful?Have a great time and enjoy!!
309580,ATripAdvisorMember,04/24/2006,Great Experience Stay in this hotel in April 2006 . This was a great hotel . Just a short walk to La Ramblas and Espanya . Staff were very friendly and helpful. Rooms were neat and always cleaned on time . Close to alot of restuarants. Would not suggest the resturants in the area but the hotel was fabulous. Will go back any day. Cleaning staff are friendly ; nice and very pleasant. Metro station just across from the hotel. Poble sec is the name of the metro station . Lot's of cafe's around the area but preferred the food in La Ramblas. If you are booking this hotel then book it with breakfast because it is well worth the money that you pay. Hope you enjoy your stay.
309580,Getaboutalot,01/25/2006,Excellent value Silkien Continental This hotel is ideally located just off the beaten track to the centre where most of the inhabitants are locals. The rooms are very spacious; clean and well serviced. The rooms were very warm and;as other people have stated; we needed to get a window key to open the window for comfort but it was no effort and the staff were very helpfull. The Reception and bar area is rather small and the bar closed at 11pm but there were many tapas bars and restaurants in the area that afford value. Some were a trifle dingy but plenty to choose from. Transport was great. The buses stop right outside the hotel and the Poble Sec Metro station is opposite the hotel. Tickets for all public transport easily available in the Metro station.The Barri Gotti is a ten minute stroll. A friend who was with us is disabled and had no problems getting around from here. Book early we got it for 35 Euros per room per night.
309580,WeekendGirl,09/05/2005,Excellent accommodation Stayed here for 10 nights. Room was just as pictured on the Silken Hotels website: --- (one of the smaller rooms; not one with a sofa). We asked for a quiet room so were given a room at the back of the hotel (no view but very quiet). Good wardrobe space; minibar; TV with 2 english speaking channels; room safe; excellent air conditioning but no tea/coffee making facilities. Bathroom was really roomy; lots of space for toiletries and had a hairdryer. Plenty of hot water for baths/showers and everything was really clean. Good breakfast... fruit juices; fresh fruit; muesli; cornflakes; cold meats; cheese; croissants; bread rolls etc but limited hot food (eggs/omelette bacon/continental sausage). Breakfast is served from 7:30-10:30 however had to queue several mornings as there are only 2 (overworked) staff who struggle to serve tea/coffee; keep the buffet topped up and clear the tables at the busy times. The restaurant area is very pleasant; however as another reviewer said; there is no proper bar area and the few comfy seats in the reception area where you could sit with a drink are usually filled. The hotel is located straight across the street from the poble sec metro station; the metro is excellent; a 10 journey ticket (T-10) is around 鈧?.30. The area around the hotel is nice enough but not touristy so shops restaurants are frequented by locals good value. I recommend you buy bottled drinks etc from the small grocers next to the stairs down to the metro (less than half the price of tourist areas). There is a good ( very cheap) chinese restaurant about 10mins walk towards the harbour on the other side of the street on a corner and there are many street cafes serving tapas close by.I had a great time in Barcelona and I would certainly consider staying in the Silken Concordia again.
309580,Edr00ney,04/15/2005,Great stay- but watch out for the air con showReview(3366329; 'full');
309580,velureroholt,01/03/2005,Great stay showReview(2971819; 'full');
309580,ATripAdvisorMember,12/03/2004,Terrible showReview(2861493; 'full');
309580,mxlmart,11/24/2004,Very impressed with this hotel! Would return showReview(2844429; 'full');
309580,ATripAdvisorMember,11/05/2004,New neat hotel; fairly priced; but with some issues showReview(2807461; 'full');
309580,ATripAdvisorMember,10/13/2004,Really very nice! showReview(2701175; 'full');
309580,ATripAdvisorMember,09/06/2004,Nice and comfortble showReview(2515106; 'full');
309580,Janie1975,08/25/2004,Fantastic quality; Great Location showReview(2494090; 'full');
309580,dipso,06/23/2004,First class three star showReview(2218461; 'full');
309580,ATripAdvisorMember,05/05/2004,Great hotel; highly recommended showReview(1871273; 'full');
309580,lass,10/24/2008,Problemas: muito barulho; pois... showReview(21992375; 'full');
309580,eri617,10/22/2008,绔嬪湴銇屻亜銇?#x201d; showReview(21088819; 'full');
309580,lass,10/07/2008,Excelente hotel; la ubicacion... showReview(21662762; 'full');
309580,lass,09/18/2008,Hotel molto bello e moderno; le... showReview(20580715; 'full');
309580,lass,09/02/2008,H么tel id茅alement plac茅 pour d茅couvrir BCN showReview(20549875; 'full');
309580,lass,08/26/2008,Relativ neues Hotel mit mehr als 3-Sterne-Standard showReview(19630242; 'full');
309580,lass,08/22/2008,脿 retenir showReview(19630241; 'full');
309580,lass,08/18/2008,Super Hotel! showReview(19630243; 'full');
309580,lass,08/07/2008,F眉r drei Sterne super!!! showReview(19630240; 'full');
309580,lass,08/06/2008,tr茅s bon h么tel showReview(19630238; 'full');
309580,lass,07/28/2008,gutes PreisLeistungsverh盲ltnis zentrale Lage showReview(18529543; 'full');
309580,lass,07/15/2008,Tutto bene anzi mi aspettavo... showReview(18522019; 'full');
309580,lass,07/13/2008,Carino; pulito e centrale. showReview(18529538; 'full');
309580,lass,07/13/2008,Buon hotel; ottima la vicinanza... showReview(17928735; 'full');
309580,lass,06/27/2008,Sehr angenehm showReview(17435429; 'full');
309580,lass,06/26/2008,Eccezionale rapporto... showReview(18411028; 'full');
309580,lass,06/03/2008,Los desayunos fueron muy buenos... showReview(16732210; 'full');
309580,lass,05/28/2008,f眉r den preis ein sehr sch枚nes hotel showReview(16610831; 'full');
309580,lass,05/26/2008,J'y retourne sans d茅tour showReview(16610830; 'full');
309580,babiagosto,05/14/2008,ottimo showReview(16039961; 'full');
309580,lass,05/09/2008,M枚chte sofort wieder hin showReview(16610829; 'full');
309580,lass,05/03/2008,Questo hotel lo consiglio a... showReview(16728364; 'full');
309580,lass,04/13/2008,Super Hotel; tolle Lage; Preisleistung unschlagbar showReview(15575965; 'full');
309580,lass,04/01/2008,Soggiorno magnifico...camere... showReview(16725562; 'full');
309580,lass,02/03/2008,Das Fr眉hst眉ck war teurer als... showReview(13308075; 'full');
309580,lass,01/02/2008,Ottima posizione; sia per... showReview(12945185; 'full');
309580,lass,01/01/2008,C'est la deuzieme fois que je... showReview(12908684; 'full');
309580,lass,01/01/2008,Buono il rapporto... showReview(12716305; 'full');
309580,lass,11/23/2007,se capito di nuovo a Barcellona ci tornero' showReview(11303160; 'full');
309580,lass,11/21/2007,Hotel tr猫s bien plac茅 脿 2 pas... showReview(11409783; 'full');
309580,lass,11/17/2007,Super Hotel an guter Lage showReview(11303159; 'full');
309580,lass,11/06/2007,CONFORTEVOLE showReview(11303152; 'full');
309580,lass,10/19/2007,Gerne Wieder showReview(11303151; 'full');
309580,lass,10/18/2007,absolut empfehlenswert showReview(11666651; 'full');
309580,lass,09/28/2007,Ci torner貌 senz'altro showReview(11666650; 'full');
309580,Fideo,09/15/2007,Nos gust贸 mucho showReview(8717972; 'full');
309580,lass,09/12/2007,Abbiamo trascorso 5 giorni... showReview(13344316; 'full');
309580,lass,09/02/2007,Excellent 茅tablissement. Tr猫s... showReview(12648732; 'full');
309580,lass,08/28/2007,Hotel nuovo; situato proprio... showReview(11409784; 'full');
309580,lass,08/16/2007,Super Hotel; leider keine so sch枚ne Umgebung showReview(11454051; 'full');
309580,lass,08/09/2007,Super Stadthotel in guter Lage showReview(11454050; 'full');
309580,lass,08/02/2007,Consiglio questo albergo a... showReview(11409785; 'full');
309580,lass,06/18/2007,bien plac茅 mais bruyant ! showReview(11491423; 'full');
309580,lass,06/02/2007,sehr zu empfehlen showReview(11491422; 'full');
309580,lass,05/10/2007,L'albergo era bello; pulito e... showReview(11409781; 'full');
309580,lass,04/18/2007,Gerne wieder showReview(11411435; 'full');
309580,lass,12/30/2006,Silken Concordia showReview(11380942; 'full');
309580,lass,12/10/2006,L'hotel corrisponde pienamente... showReview(11409786; 'full');
309580,lass,11/29/2006,Nous y retournons d猫s que possible showReview(11378063; 'full');
309580,lass,11/15/2006,Tr猫s bonne adresse ! showReview(11378062; 'full');
309580,lass,10/05/2006,gerne wieder showReview(11365664; 'full');
309580,lass,09/06/2006,Tr猫s bon rapport qualit茅/ prix showReview(11342420; 'full');
309580,lass,09/01/2006,Estremamente accogliente showReview(11342411; 'full');
309580,lass,08/29/2006,L'hotel 猫 molto carino e... showReview(11409787; 'full');
309916,W0rldTraveller101,11/05/2008,Never stay here I walked in to book this hotel and they patently ripped me off. Price wise it was 150 Singapore dollars for 8 hours since I arrived at midnight. The room was DISGUSTING; mouldy; filthy; damp; old; no hot water and airconditioner noise. I had to double the dose of antihistamines and sleep in my clothes the beds were that unhygenic. Yuk yuk yuk..... not even budget. Do not ever stay here
309916,F1uke,10/13/2008,Very average Other posters have really said it all.No window; poor lighting; small room; dusty walls; old stained carpet in the hall and room; no shower curtain; no room safe.However I am a budget traveler. So it was fairly cheap for Singapore where land is of course expensive; so the room will be small.On the plus side. Location is good. Right next to chinatown which has its own metro station plus tons of places to eat. It is perfectly walkable to the old colonial district if you feel like it.The bed was clean and comfortable and the aircon worked. All in all the hotel just felt its age (old) so just don't expect very much.
309916,gogogirl219,10/09/2008,Don't be fooled by this hotel's website The Royal Peacock Hotel promotes itself as a boutique hotel with a three-star rating; but the facilities and cleanliness do not come close to what they claim. Our room was dark and dingy; with peeling; burned ceilings and scuffed carpets. The walls felt like they were paper-thin since we could hear each heavy step; banging doors and loud noise. The bathroom was small; with no space for a tub; having instead a tiny shower area with unfinished tiling. The rooms are in a state of disrepair and are in need of a major renovation. The reception staff are unfriendly and do not offer any voluntary assistance. When we wanted to leave our luggage with the concierge; the guy just gave as a rope and tag and left it to us to squeeze our luggage into this small room at the back of the reception area (filled with other bags). The only redeeming factor was the good condition of the bfast nook and the friendly cook and waitress. Even for the low rate of SG$135 a night; this hotel was totally not worth it.
309916,Shorthaircat,10/02/2008,Awful; awful Worst couple hundred dollars ever spent on a hotel. The standard room I got was dark (no windows granted but the lighting was not enough to compensate); the shelves were dusty; the bathroom towel rail was falling off and the beddings looked so worn and shabby. Ditto the hallway carpet. Awkward room layout meant the desk was squashed up next to the TV. Aircon worked OK.
309916,NayLon,09/14/2008,Worst hotel ever The room was AWFUL: no windows; poor lighting; extremely cramped; poor bedding. The door to the bathroom was more of a screen. Bathroom was extremely basic. Do not stay in this hotel under any circumstances.
309916,emjaydz,09/07/2008,Royal Peacock lost it's Feathers We have just returned from a trip to Thailand and Singapore. The Royal Peacock hotel in Singapore was disappointing to say the least. We booked the executive suite as we thought we would treat ourselves for 3 days in Singapore. The most disappointing thing was the price - nearly S$250 per night is absolutely outrageous for the poor quality of this hotel. To begin; there is no-one to take your bags and show you to your room; which I wouldn't mind if staying at a back packers or a budget hotel! We arrived at our room to find a queen bed with grubby pillowcases (clean; but permanently stained) and no blankets in sight - only a sheet and thin bedspread. We soon understood why as the aircon barely worked. We had two windows with wooden shutters; only when I went to open them; found that they opened onto views of large airconditioning fans; which seemed to be working - just not in our room! There was no minibar - only an empty fridge that was barely cold. When we went to bed at night; all we could hear and feel through the bed was the rumbling fans from outside our windows. The carpets were grubby; the room and bathroom smelled - not just the standard 'humid climate musty hotel room smell' either... the shower was barely warm and there was no hot water from the hand basin at all. No hand towels or face washer provided; only 2 threadbare bath towels and a bath mat. I've stayed in back packers better than this hotel for less than half the price. Extremely disappointing and would not stay here again.
309916,Bunnikin,06/17/2008,Nothing wrong with the Royal Peacock After reading many negative review on TripAdvisor; I nearly didn't book at the Royal Peacock - but price; timing and location dictated that it was my best choice. Admittedly; the rooms were small - perhaps I wasn't so bothered by this as I'd prepared myself from the multiple reviews that had mentioned this? Or perhaps I wasn't bothered because I wasn't in Singapore to spend hours dancing around in a spacious hotel room? Anyway; they certainly jam everything in; but if you're just there to sleep or regroup; it's not problem. The facilities were fine - comfy bed; tidy bathrooms; operational fridge; air conditioning etc. A little strange how they only provided one cup and glass for a double room though... I found the service to be excellent. Staff were very helpful in letting us store our luggage as well as ensuring our valuables were stored in a safe place; booking us a taxi and helping us with local advice and directions. Oh; and the breakfast was plentiful. Given the great location (easy walk into China town's market areas; shops or to public transport); comfort and price of the place; I thought the Royal Peacock hotel was great value. I would stay there again.
309916,jendhu,06/16/2008,compare to The Inn At Temple St? This is heaven After much heated argument @The Inn in March; we managed to book this one in Chinatown district on our way back fr Aus. It's convenient-Outram Park MRT is just a stone throw; lots of food and shops till you drop; no more after 11pm'' [--] (pls read our review of The Inn At Temple Street) like what we encountered @The Inn; helpful; friendly and smiling staff; free internet access; (imagine you gotta to pay S$7 @The Inn); great location and good food. Room is small but OK and clean; at least AC is working specially in the hot day like this. Will definitely introduce this hotel to friends. Keep up the good work; peacock!!!
309916,ss99t,01/30/2008,Was NOT satisfied with room When we arrived after a long tiring bus ride from Kuala Lumpur; there was no valet to bring our luggage in. After 2 trips back and forth from the taxis we finally managed to get all the luggage in with the admin; as well as 3 employees standing around doing nothing and watching us suffer. To make things worst; whilst pulling our luggage to our room; the corridor had 3 steps every 30metres or so; pulling luggage over steps is also quite annoying! The room was not too small but felt very damp for some reason. Our room had a fire exit door which CANNOT be locked. The warning sign on the door stated that the alarm will sound when opened. However; when we tested it; there was no alarm; the only response was our shock horror at the rubbish and rusting staircase just a few steps behind that door. This door affected our stay as it was just 3 girls in a hotel room that has a fire exit which can't be locked? safety issues! The bedsheets and pillows had a musky smell; one of the pillows even had a yellow stain on one of the corners. The bathroom was clean; but the shower head wasn't strong and was the type of shower head attached to a plastic box where you have to turn the knob to the temperature that you wanted. There was also ants all over the bathroom; must be from the rubbish dump of a backyard/fire exit that the hotel has. The bathroom window was also not lockable but they were quite small so it was not really a safety threat; just a peeping tom threat. We got free breakfast; we arrived at 9.45am; the buffet breakfast finishes at 10.30am but most of the food was finished and was not refilled. They also started rushing us by asking if we were done with a section so they can clean up. This was annoying as it made us feel rushed. Checking in and out was fast which is good and the bed was quite comfortable. So as you can tell by this post; me and my friends were extremely unsatisfied and felt very unsafe whilst staying in the hotel room that we received. For the price that we paid (around $230 AUD a night) we expected a much better room. So reconsider and search around for alternative hotels before booking this one because at this room rate; ++ a few dollars you can surely find a more comfortable stay.
309916,kiwilodger,01/19/2008,Basic accommodation Great location in Chinatown. Staff were friendly and food was nice. Rooms small and musty.
309916,moxie2003,12/02/2007,Great Location; Room's OK If you are looking for convenience to the MRT (subway); food and shopping (Chinatown) then this hotel is ideal. There are tons of local eateries to choose from; all within walking distance. Coffee shop across the hotel has excellent coffee at less than $1. The room is not what I would expect for the $100/night. The double has a pretty comfy Queen sleigh bed; but the TV console unit was placed at a very awkard angle so that to reach the other side of the bed; you had better be real skinny! A small desk and chair; and one bedside table; a large armoire with mirrors complete the room furnishings. Bathroom was tiny; sitting on the toilet you will almost bang your knees against the wall. Shower stall was ok; small; water was warm with low pressure. Lighting in the room was minimal: bedside lamps and another over the desk. Definitely not for reading. Plus points is that the entire room was immaculate and spotlessly clean. The room was facing away from the street so it was quiet. Breakfast was tolerably; warm but limited; supply runs out early. Staff was helpful and courteous. I doubt I will return to this hotel as there are better choices that are cheaper.
309916,windyhabour,11/26/2007,Dirty Smelly Rooms It looked so charming on the internet photos but the photos are nothing compared to reality.Don't ever stay in this hotel unless its the last room in Singapore!My room had a window but when you opened it you faced the exhause of the aircon motor.The carpets were dirty tattered.The hot water did not work.The room smelled terribly.The manager tried to rip me off .I asked him where I could find a money changer;He tried to convience me to change my A$ with him at a 1 to 1 with the S$;when I refused he told me there were no money changers in the area.I found 7 in peoples park 1 street behind for a rate of 1 to $1.28 a difference of 28%!!! For a few dollars more you could do much better!
309916,STEVEFR,10/23/2007,China Town Location I got a walk up rate to this Hotel in a rather full house Singapore. I liked the location as there are not that many hotels in China Town at a reasonable cost. The rooms are clean enough but not perfect. Small rooms / reasonable value considering cost of posh hotels in Singapore tend to be growing higher of late. I would stay here again due to cost and location but I would probably ask to inspect the room in advance. This hotel should be considered in the budget range; Other Hotels of similar price or quality tend not to have such a central location.
309916,AUSSIETRAVELADVISER,08/21/2007,Cramped; Not Very Clean And Aircon Did Not Work Booked in desperation after leaving the Keong Saik Hotel nearby. A better choice but the rooms are small; the aircon did not work and the room was not very clean. There are better choices in the area
309916,ChickenRiceHunter,08/13/2007,Only Stayed 5 Minutes Booked a deluxe triple room here; but when we arrived discovered that means a tiny room with two single beds and another folded trundle bed that had not been assembled. Little wonder why -- there was no place to put it except right up against the bathroom or the entrance door. Wonder how they manage with fire regulations? Also wonder what their normal triple rooms are like; if this was deluxe!We had brought our car; but there was only on-street parking which is very expensive and charged by the half hour.The room had a window; but it smelled of mildew. After five minutes of sitting on the bed; wondering if the peacock-coloured walls were worth it; we decided to try elsewhere. And the front desk staff didn't seem very interested in dissuading us.
309916,SFany,06/28/2007,Nothing exceptional; but correct The rooms do not fit the charming design of the lobby; but are quite good value and great location for Singapore. Be aware that the standard rooms are without window. Aside of claustrophobia; it is not always with a pleasant smell. We booked one of them via the hotel website at a discount price. After the first night and some complains (we did require a room with window in our booking); they moved us to a room with window; an upgrade at no extra cost 鈥?very much appreciated. Staff friendly. Room small but there is worse in Sing; clean; with tea/coffee facilities and a slightly cool fridge. Breakfast included; nothing exceptional; but correct.
309916,kathie56,06/09/2007,not the best but not bad for price We stayed at this hotel for 10 days in Sept 06;As we had looked at the reviews also we were a little bit worried but as we were meeting someone else there we decided to go ahead.Its not the best hotel around but it does the job considering we only wanted somewhere to sleep really.The room wasnt to bad;we had worse when we went to London;and it was kept clean by the staff who where great; the restaurant was brilliant and cheap.
309916,scotlandnoz,06/02/2007,dark and dingy this hotel is in a great location in chinatown but the room i had wasreally dark and dingy and we were lucky we had windows in our room some rooms dont. everything was clean but a few of the plug sockets looked a bit dangerous as they hung off the wall and the bathroom wasin an actual cupboard but did have a working shower and toilet; the thing which got to me the most was that there was another door in ourroom which lead outside and down some outside stairs; well this door wasnt latched properly and when i phd reception to ask for it to be fixed they said id b fine as i was only staying the one night. . . . . .what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
309916,santaraindeer,05/28/2007,Good value for cheap hotel Came from Indonesia and going to stay on this hotel for 20 days. (This review I wrote when I has been stay for 10 days.) Before arrive I had read all the review about this hotel; made me quite afraid what experience may I face. Got a room; single bed; windowed; facing to back of the hotel. After a night passed; well; the hotel is not bad at all. Connected to free internet help me alot for my job. The first day I met a receptionist who can speak Indonesia !Got problem with prepaid phone card; (which my friend back home can not sms me) the hotel receptionist was kindly help me to find what the problem.The room itself is clean; with all the facilities and services worth much more than the rate.Located just 5 minutes - relax walking to Outram Park MRT station; which where 2 routes of MRT transfering point.For long stay with minimum budget; I would like to give high recommendation to this hotel.
309916,GaryMuc,04/19/2007,Avoid this place Quite run downed place which no character. Lobby and restaurant seem to be styled on the first sight but the rest is ancient.The Rooms are quite small and with no style.We were lucky and got a small window in the room with a lookout to some technical equipment. Noisy air conditioners and dirty carpets limit the joy of staying in the room.Got up early on our last day to catch a early bus but the breakfast did not start in time. The breakfast selection and service was very limited. The bread was mildewed.Reception stuff was unhelpful and rude; no greeting or thank. A request for some ice cubs were answered with the address of the next Seven Eleven.
309916,smallblackflower,04/07/2007,Not bad We stayed here for one night as part of a tour; we didnt have a window in our room but were pleased with the cleaniliness of the room and ensuite bathroom. The lobby was very modern and comfortable and the room had a very effective and quiet air conditioner. We are backpacking and would not have booked somewhere like this; it was fairly straightforward accomodation with few frills; looking at the prices for a double room I am not convinced you get good value for money; but Singapore is expensive!Two criticisms; there weren't enough lights in the room which without a window is a must. Also; the shower was slightly broken in that there was no where to attach the shower head so we were forced to shower as though using a hose! I'm sure this could easily have been rectified but our one night stop meant it wasn't worth complaining.
309916,ThailandBestBuy,04/03/2007,Very Bad Hotel That I even See This Hotel Is Very Very Bad . Room is very bad smell andInternet Connection Can't Used . Staff is very rude server .Breakfast is only 1 disk for you and so so.
309916,Joau,03/07/2007,Going against the tide here but.... I stayed at this hotel for one night recently and quite enjoyed it. Whilst it has flaws (the decor is a little tired and it's in a loud area); I would stay here again if in Singapore. I found the receptionstaff to be friendly; the rooms clean and adequate (yes they are on the small side but I guess I'm more interested in spending time out and about in Singapore rather than lazing around in a room); the breakfast was fine; the rooms had all the amenities needed eg. TV; hair dryer; bottled water; air con; safe. It was located on a great road in a historical area near the MRT. Can't speak for others but my personal experience was a pleasant one.
309916,ayjay7,02/19/2007,Very Friendly Budget Hotel. We (my mum and I )stayed at the Royal Peacock as part of an Intrepid tour and I had read reviews on trip advisor before we left; so I really wasn't looking forward to it. We landed in Singapore very early and so got to the hotel around 8am (check in wasn't until 2pm). We were greeted by a very friendly gentleman at the reception desk who told us he would try his very best to get at least one room for us to share asap. He offered us complimentary breakfast which we thought was very nice. A room was ready within the hour. The rooms are very very small and cramped. The bathroom is small and not flashy but everything worked okay and it was 'fairly' clean. We eventually got another room (we stayed in one room each; with a single bed; TV; window; small desk and robe. Each room had it's own bathroom). My airconditioner wasn't as effective as the one in my mums room. The noise from the street was quite loud at night but take ear-plugs with you and it will be fine. Breakfast was nice. I think if you don't expect too much this hotel is fine for a very short stay. Other rooms in the hotel may be worse than the ones we had but after reading all of the bad reviews I didn't think it was too bad. If I had a choice I would probably stay somewhere better; but as part of a tour it's okay.
309916,TheSavvyTraveller,12/10/2006,Absolute Hell Hole Having read reviews on tripadvisor I was not looking forward to staying here; but as it was the hotel my tour group was using; I had little choice. Retrospectively; I would have stayed elsewhere and sacrificed the money paid to cover my stay here. I moved rooms once (much to the annoyance of the receptionist) because the first room was extremely noisy from an outdoor air-conditioning unit. The second room had exactly the same problem and I was told that they had no others. I didn't sleep at all the entire night - although the air-conditioning unit was outside; the walls were so thin that they may as well have not been there. Incidentally; these were 'deluxe' rooms on the second floor; not the cheapest rooms. The bathroom was so disgusting and mouldy that I actually went out and bought cleaning products before I felt able to take a shower - and even then I was in and out as fast as possible! This hotel has an extremely professional website which simply does not reflect reality. Especially in clean; comfortable Singapore; where there is an abundance of good hotels at reasonable prices; I cannot see why anyone would want to stay here and would advise people to stay well away. It was the WORST hotel I have ever had the misfortune to stay in.
309916,Celtman1,09/12/2006,Give this one a miss I walked past Royal Peacock 3 years ago and kept the name card because it looked such a funky place in the heart of Chinatown; a really vibrant area. Finally; I got my chance and stayed there. Not again. Passing the great lobby I went into the sad; shabby; 'pre-loved' lift and thought Oh No...I couldnt cope with the miniscule room with no windows making it really claustrophic. There was no coat hangers and no bottled water which I thought was really stingy. A fire alarm went off at 5am for about 20 mins - from then on I just counted down the hours until I escaped....
309916,peaceofangkor,09/08/2006,Good value if you get a discount rate
309916,Chimei,09/02/2006,Not Recommended I stayed for 4 nights and did not enjoy my stay at all. Admittedly; I'd opted for the cheapest room type (attic; no window) but found the room to be extremely small and noisy due to the bed being right up against the paper-thin corridor wall. This was compounded by other guests running up and down the corridor at all hours with creaking floorboards; slamming doors - all made worse when you're lying in the bed which is butted right up to the wall. Bathroom was also very tiny and barely big enough to move around in.The only positive things to say is the reception and ground floor public areas which has nice rustic charm.Overall; unless you're on a very tight budget; I would steer clear.
309916,backtoback,09/02/2006,Yuck. Everything we heard about this hotel is true. Looks lovely from the outside and the reception is very well decorated too.Our room was on the 3rd floor and had no window (we expected this anyway). The only lightin came from 2 lamps. 3 other lights did not work and despite us complaining about the fact we could barely see; nothing was done.Bathroom was horrible. As we had travelled through Malaysia we expected the shower on the floor deal; but the shower here wasnt even on a holder and it sprayed out about 5 different directions so everything got wet except us.
309916,TravelNotes,08/23/2006,Only thing Royal are the colours The only royal reflected in this hotel are the colours.I had to change my room four times before I found a room with a proper curtain to keep the light out. All the bathrooms smelled of sewage. There was mould on the shower tiles. The hotel is located on a busy; noisy streeet; ESPECIALLY at night. You will not get much sleep here even with earplugs. Their website boasts that this hotel is a jewel and pride. I think they should change the words to a stone's remorse in Chinatown.
309916,SagamiGal,07/21/2006,Mixed The decor was simple with beautiful; deep colours and some nice antiques. It had a very 'rustic' feel but unfortunately; the room was too small and the shower was delapidated and although it was cleaned there was still some mildew. The sheets were clean however the decorative pillows at the foot of the bed weren't! I'd left a cookie on the night table for an hour or so; then to my surprise noticed a very long trail of ants!! My friend pointed out that the ants were also in the bathroom! The breakfast buffet was satisfactory and the front desk clerk was friendly and helpful. I wouldn't stay there again; though.
309916,ATripAdvisorMember,07/13/2006,Needs some major overhaul I booked the hotel before I read TripAdvisor's reviews. What a mistake. The pictures on the website looked good and cosy; however; this is not the case when I booked in. Nice lobby reception area; however; the lift + room was a disaster. We had the superior double room which was more expensive; but later I realise the standard room is around the same; and the only difference is that we have a window. It did not help in any way though; the room we got was near the main road and extremely noisy.Here are the problems with our room:- 2 small holes in the quilt cover- Ceiling of the entrance to the toilet had a leak; which dripped at times to the carpet- Stained carpet- 21鈥?TV with no tuning capabilities and only 3 channels available (Ch 5; 8 CNA)- Windows which belonged to the samsui days are great; but not soundproof enough to muffle the rumbling traffic- Fridge which barely managed to keep my wine chilled- Light switches which are not user friendly- Bad leaking between the shower hose and shower head; which spilled over the tiled floor at a corner; leading to mouldy spots. Black mouldy spots- Faulty shower head. And the water squirts everywhere to wet the wrong places when least needed- Aircon which emits whirring sounds (especially if you鈥檙e a fan of 25 deg C and below)I will not stay there again; unfortunately.
309916,ATripAdvisorMember,05/09/2006,Do not stay here! The Hotel is located in what was the Red Light Distrcit and certianly does not live up to its name! My room was extremley small; the shower leaked; I could not get towels (and when they did arrive they were frayed and dirty) Lights were not working and I had to replace bulbs my self. Getting taxis to come to the Hotel in peak times is impossible - so get to know the MRT timetable or the bus'es. While the kitchen staff were extre;ely polite and helpful; this could not be said for the rest of the crew! Do not stay here!
309916,ATripAdvisorMember,03/31/2006,Will Not Stay At The Royal Peacock Again Shower
309916,ATripAdvisorMember,03/20/2006,Nightmare at Royal Peacock Hotel Singapore Horrible hotel; no window in the room I booked into for 5 days; the staff was perturbed that I wanted a room with a window! finally got it. Staff needs to be called several times for a wakeup call or before they send you an ironing table. Very rude and ill behaved staff. Absolutely filthy bathrooms with broken telephone shower. Gloomy rooms with no natural lighting at all. The whole place stinks (china town)..DO NOT EVER STAY AT THE ROYAL PEACOCK HOTEL.
309916,ATripAdvisorMember,11/29/2005,caveat emptor - buyer beware I strongly recommend NOT using the Royal Peacock Hotel.On check-in; we were treated extremely poorly.Although I contacted the management who have admitted that the check-in service we received was poor; they certainly aren't interested in doing anything about it. The requests for service had to be made repeatedly for them to be fulfilled. And we waited long periods of time before repeating our requests. I can only say if you stay here; don't expect great service and 'caveat emptor' - 'buyer beware'!
309916,ATripAdvisorMember,11/11/2005,Nice Lobby; shame about the room!! Well I've just come back from a stay at this hotel. I stayed in a double room (with my husband) and to say it was a small room is an understatement. The double bed was pushed up against the wall so it meant that my husband had to climb across me if he wanted to get out of bed. Also the lighting is very bad and the room very dark; but not quite dark enough to notice that the room could do with a very good clean; quite dusty and grimy in places!!For an airconditioned room; the air conditioner didn't work very well at all.The bathroom is a whole other story. Whilst it is large enough; there was mould growing on nearly every surface; especially the ceiling. The ceiling also was falling down in places. In fact when I sat on the toilet water from the room above dripped onto me. I can only hope that it wasn't from the toilet above.The hotel staff come across as being bored and uncaring. Some of them even give you wrong information on where you want to go.The only redeeming features of this hotel are the breakfasts and its location.Personally if I were to stay here again I wouldn't waste my money on a double room; instead I would ask for a delux room at the back of the building as the rooms at the front are quite noisy at night.
309916,poohpaws,06/29/2005,OK for a night; but not extended stay Stayed in the attic room one night. These rooms dont have windows. It was supposed to be non-smoking but there it was smokey. It is supposed to be renovated but the carpet had definitely seen better days and looked quite grimey. Paint was also peeling and the furniture is dated. On the plus side; bed was big and very comfortable; there was storage space; and the hotel is quite atmospheric (or dark; depending how you see it). Great location and breakfast was quite good.If I stayed there again; it would have to be in a windowed room.
309916,fong28,06/15/2005,Quaint; cosy but don't expect too much The bedroom as seen from the door
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309917,brlau88,12/06/2008,All but avoid We thought we were getting a good deal based on rate ($170SG); location; breakfast included; etc. However; when we arrived; we found the following:- Rooms were old.- MRT is a 10-15 min. walk from hotel (need to walk through car port and then cross a couple streets).- No Wi-fi Internet access. Only Internet access is in the lobby at one of two terminals.We decided to look on hotels.com to make sure we're getting a good VALUE. We found that the global recession had forced many 4 and 5 star hotels to drop their rates. As a result; we checked out of the YWCA after the second day and moved to the Fairmont for the rest of our trip.Definitely look elsewhere before settling on this lodge.
309917,J66AP,11/17/2008,Good value; could improve in some areas YWCA is centrally located; within walking distance of Orchard Street; as many reviews here already state. Checking in was quite quick; the only drawback was that reception asked for a refundable deposit in case we took anything from the room. This I thought was rather negative; as it clearly demonstrated lack of trust. The twin room we got on one of the higher floors was not bad; with views of buildings around. It was clean enough;though when showering I noticed that the shower tiles had mildew stains on them. Another negative point was that the kettle did not work. There was a TV and it worked alright though.The buffet breakfast was quite good though. (hang on to the coupon as they will ask you for it). There was a spread of boiled and fried eggs; tea and coffee; variety of juices; cereals; toast; ham; fried tomatoes; those fried potatoe things - can't complain it did fill you up. Other than breakfast; location and general cleanliness being ok; (some staff at reception were friendly; others were matter-of-fact) the hotel could improve by fine tuning the things that did not quite reach the mark.
309917,starlightShanghai,10/08/2008,YWCA Fort Cannning Lodge -- a great place to stay! I just returned from a 9-day stay at the YWCA Fort Canning Lodge; and I couldn't be happier. The room that I had was large; clean; and quiet. The front desk service was great. All the staff were very helpful and courteous. The breakfasts (included in the price of the room) were excellent. Best of all: the location. This place is a heartbeat away from Fort Canning Park (a must see) and from a major MRT station (Dhoby Ghaut). I'd definitely stay here again.
309917,seahorsemama,09/13/2008,Never stayed there but it still cost us We booked the family room and I made sure they knew it was for a family with 2 teenagers ; that is actually 4 adults. They confirmed the booking. We paid a non refundable deposit of SGD$297. About 2 months later they emailed us to say they had cancelled the booking because only 3 adults and a child under 12 can stay in the family room. We made a booking that day with another hotel and it was cheaper.. Fort Canning Lodge refused to refund our deposit despite the fact that they cancelled our booking after confirmation. After emails back and forth they offered us the family room for 4 adults back; but by that time it was too late. Why cancel it in the first place if they were willing to give it back to us. Still no refund and dont expect one but be very careful with this hotel. Also; even though its YWCA; its pretty expensive and you can get a better deal elsewhere in Singapore.
309917,piemanhongkong,08/28/2008,Y.W.C.A. (You Won't Come Again) That's what the taxi drivers said and he was right.My group got booked in all at different intervals. I had to wait 2 1/2 hrs to check in. we had all booked double roooms only to find all twin rooms; beds pushed together. Very musty smell in corridor.The fridge in the room shares the same plug as the TV ...then into the wall socket. Fridge didn't even work.Breakfast was well below par. Coffee was like sludge with grit; orange juice was just coloured water and waiters very gruff with guests. Ate out after that for all meals.Bathroom was horrible. The ceiling didn't even meet the wall; all pipes on display. The shower head was coming off. Water pressure in the sink was a dribble.We paid HK $1000 for a HK$200-300 room. Very overpriced for an old ; badly needing renovation hotel.Choose wisely and go and stay in Chinatown; not to far away ; clean smells nice with all amenities surrounding everywhere.The team will not stay there again!
309917,chicwic,07/25/2008,Great location but not for me I wanted to stay by orchard street but the most affordable one I found was YWCA. Location is great as it is so near the underground station Dhouby Gout and it's basically a 5 min walk to orchard road (where all the shopping is like oxford street in London). So cannot complain about the location but the hotel itself is not that great. I paid about 70 GBP per night. If I had dish out 20 GBP more I would have stayed at swiss hotel merchant court where we usually stay in singapore. That is a really really nice hotel but not near orchard street. The room at YWCA itself was ok; clean and acceptable. It even had a kettle and tea coffee to make in your own room. The wooden floor was very clean; that you can go barefeet. The pillow was too high but that could just be personal preference. The floor where I was on the 10th was a bit smelly and I was forewarned by the staff before I got there saying that due to renovations; there is a smell. The breakfast was ok; a bit plain with toast; rice; noodles; and a good effort in having an english breakfast (baked beans; mushrooms; eggs; and ham I think). I saw the pool which is a nice size; you can swim laps unlike the pool at swiss hotel merchant court which is more a paddling pool. The staff seemed friendly. With the price I paid; I expected swiss hotel service; ie someone to help with my luggages..etc... The type of people staying there are the lower class. not that is any problems with that but i got woken up both morning at 5-6am because they were checking out and talking in really loud voices waking up everybody on that floor. Maybe Singapore is getting more expensive and with the price I paid; it is the norm but if I had known; i would just have stayed at swiss hotel merchant court and caught a taxi to go down to orchard road. So don't think I'll stay here again as I 'd rather spend another 20quid more to get a nicer room with no smell and a good night sleep.
309917,IndiaAnna,04/07/2008,Spacious rooms; nice location; clean and airy We had previously checked into the 81 Bencoolen; for its convenience; pricing and location; but were uncomfortable. We trotted it up to YWCA Fort Canning Lodge to have better accomodation at a slight premium over the previous booking (S$235.00 for a standard twin-bedded double room). The staff at the reception were very accomodating and we stayed there with our two young boys for 5 days. The rooms were spacious and clean. The shower in the bathroom although could be replaced with something more modern or convenient; (you can't direct the flow of water; instead you stand in the way of the jet of water). The buffet breakfast and the self-service laundromat make life a lot more convenient especially when you are travelling with children for many days.All said and done; the Fort Canning Lodge was convenient; situated on the lovely and less visited Fort Canning Rise (where you can go for a lovely walk and visit the Battle Box). The staff were friendly; helpful and cheerful (probably it is a true Christian spirit!!!).
309917,Saranghae,03/06/2008,The location is OK... The location is OK...but a bit difficult to explain this hotel to the taxi driver. The standard room size is OK...but the room smells bad and the aircon is quite noisy...the toilet size is a bit small. But it is still acceptable for a hotel in Singapore; a beautiful and enjoyable country.
309917,Grumpylady,11/19/2007,Safety in numbers I had a 5 night break whilst on business in the far east and decided to go and visit a couple of friends in Singapore; travelling alone for this part of the trip made me decide to opt for the security of the YWCA; cost was also a factor as I was having to pay for this myself.The location of Fort Canning Lodge is superb; only a few minutes walk to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station and also within easy walking distance of Orchard road; famous for its shops and restaurants.The downside is perhaps; not unexpectedly; the lack of hotel style facilities; no real service at the front desk but their friendliness makes up for this.The restaurant is very basic and breakfast is hard to recomend; not a huge choice and poor quality food. I found the hotel corridors very noisy until almost midnight with young children racing around screaming; otherwise no real complaints.I might possibly stay here again but only for a short time; 5 nights was just too long.
309917,meeke59,11/14/2007,good budget hotel For mid budge range of accommodation the YWCA is great. The food was nice as well as most of the staff. Rooms were a nice size; but the whole building is non smoking. The lodge is close to trains; which made accessing the city or Sentosa island easier. Nice place to stay. The pool is located on the 3 floor; but only has 3 lounges; which were often in use. I booked the delux twin room for my girlfriend and myself; and found only a double bed. Staff had to bring in a single bed; which wasn't all that comfortable. All in all this is a nice place to stay for the budget minded person.
309917,Salmang,11/10/2007,Good location We spent 3 days at the fort canning lodge. The hotel is budget hotel and reasonable. The good thing about the hotel is location just at the end of Orchard road; trains 5 mins walk and central to little india; china town. Although found out a free shuttle bus service operates down the road. The breakfast was basic and dining room so outdated and needs refirbuishment so dissapointed on this note. lunch would not appeal since better palces outside the hotel down Orchard road and singapore shopping plaza only 5 mins walk; great places to eat around here and basment food courts may appeal to most people. No problems with hotel staff quite freindly shame the rooms and dning rooms need an upgrade. Rooms basic and no baths which my little daughter wanted; rooms reasonably clean.
309917,paulaandrobert,11/06/2007,Perfect for a short stop over Would definitely stay here again and recommend it. Its a very basic hotel. Our room was simply twin beds with a bathroom/shower ensuite. For the price we paid; it included a full buffet breakfast and it has also has a pool which is unusual for a hotel in this price range. One morning we had to catch an early flight and they arranged a simple packed breakfast for us which was appreciated (sandwich; apple and juice). Location is great; right near Orchard Rd and the MRT station. Very clean rooms and very quiet even though the hotel was at capacity. Front desk staff were efficient; a couple almost to the point of rudeness but that perhaps is a cultural difference rather than unfriendly? I would definitely stay here again. For a longer term somewhere nicer would be better but for a couple of nights stop over it was perfect.
309917,Rosie24Midlands,10/24/2007,Convenient location by MRT Had booked and had confirmed a twin bedded room but on arrival we were put in room with 1 double bed. Initial reluctance to provide alternative.However; young woman on desk more helpful and by the evening another bed had been put in our room.Clean;comfortable; basic accommodation.Very convenient for MRT and Orchard Rd. Across the road is Fort Canning Park;Battle Box worth a visit. Good pool at hotel; had this to myself for morning swim and a good place to chill after walking round Singapore. Recommend Komala Villas restaurant in Little India. Great food;very cheap;friendly staff.Tasty dosas. MRT is so cheap for travel and there is $1 back each time for return of card. Unbelievably cheap when compared to London. Easy to get from airport to hotel by MRT although try and avoid rush hour.I know you have to go there once; but Raffles really not worth it. Crowded; noisy; extra for tax and (poor) service.The rest of Singapore is much more fun.
309917,rr4132,09/19/2007,Horrible manager and service. I was having an absolutely horrible experience. Our reservation could not be found. The staff and manager were not assisting us properly and were very rude. When their credit card reader could not process our credit card; we could not cancel and was forced to pay using cash. Otherwise they will still charge us 25% of the whole stay. Avoid staying in this hotel at all cost.
309917,liz1202,08/31/2007,You get what you paid for! My husband and i have stayed at Fort Canning as part of our pre/post Star Cruises (w/c is awesome!) honeymoon. The frontdesk is accommodating; but you can see from their lobby that the hotel has been for ages. It obvious from the furnishings. But regardless of that; the hotel is tidy. Rooms are liitle bit spacious but nothing extraordinary. Its ok because we are not expecting anything fancy w/ this hotel. location is very good since its just a few minutes walking to the Orchard Rd. The breakfast buffet doesnt have a lot of choices and most of their tables are eight seaters. And to mention also; please avoid the period when flock of noisy students gather this place. They are all over the lobby; shouting; talking; running;etc.. You'll feel like your in a campus quadrangle. And it causes me a little headache. Above all; the hotel is just okey. If your not looking for anything fancy; this would be the right hotel since its a good value for money!
309917,HHarry,08/09/2007,Okay place but got cheated on the bill. Location: was really good can easily catch a bus or MRT to Orchard Rd. Room: Was okay cant expect much out of it though. The A/C was not cooling fast enough. Food: Was bad; didnt have a choice at all; Eggs were served only boiled. Staff: Was not friendly at all; from the Reception to the restant Restaurant. Sin was having a kind of an expo Asiatec i think. and all the hotels were full therefore YWCA was charging a 10s$ upcharge on all rooms per night. What upset me was that they kept on charging 2 days after the event finished. Another couple who was checking out at the same time put a good fight but in vain. This was quite disappointing. Will stay here if i don't get anyother hotel in sin only.
309917,Bobbi26,06/27/2007,Good value for money we were very happy with this hotel; was great value for money; good service and location; lovely breakfast. 10 minutes walk to Orchard rd. Would definately recommend it.
309917,aimesn,01/22/2007,Horrible experience How I wished I went to this website before I booked into the YWCA hotel.As a frequent traveller in Southeast Asia; I have had my share of bad experiences but for a 3-star hotel like this one; I couldn't believe what I saw.When we first checked in; the room given to us reeked of urine and the toilet seat was broken. Disgusted at what I saw; I requested a room switch which was initially denied by the receptionist. It wasn't until I requested to talk to the manager that I got my room changed.Second room had ants in the washroom floor. Ants. The A/C was ridiculously loud and when the hotel sent up a pest control person to deal with the ants; he ended up overspraying my entire washroom with pesticide. Needless to say; my room stank for the rest of the day.The TV cable was definitely sub-par. On their website; they advertise having nice cable TV; but in reality; there were only about 4 viewable channels with the rest being either fuzzy or difficult to see. 3 Star Hotel Huh? I've had much better TV service in Cambodia costing $10US a night.The service workers in the morning have no utter regard of customer service. I got a knock on my door at 9am from them requesting to inspect my 'minibar' in my room to see whether or not I ate or drank their goods. Without giving her permission; she literally walked into the room; invading our privacy.Frustrated; I demanded some compensation for my horrible experience. Luckily; one of the managers was very accomodating and was probably; the only one qualified in customer service. The best I got was a room upgrade to the 'family suite'; not even a discount on the room rate.Sadly; the family suite upgrade also had ants on the table; the TV was fuzzy and even worse; the A/C system made even more noise than ever. At this moment; I was too stressed out and tired with the whole situation to bother making another complaint again. Upon checking out; the billing system wasn't clear at all and it appeared as if I was being double-taxed for the entire stay.I sent an email to the hotel about the situation afterwards and all I received was some non-chalant reply and a message not to submit an internet review of their hotel to 'tarnish their good reputation'. Some customer service I must say.Horrible experience; I really really wished I read this website beforehand and did my own research.
309917,bakasyonista,01/01/2007,Value fof money Its a bit late to be writing this review but I still want to post it to help other travellers. We stayed at YWCA last june 2006 for 5 days. I'm with my husband and two kids then ages 10 and 4. Didn't have any bad experience with staff; they were all helpful. Our room is ok; not big but just the right size; its clean and you can expect a peaceful sleep. Bathroom is also ok; no bath tub but the shower is working perfectly. Buffet breakfast was not really a feast but there's enough food selection to satisfy your hunger. It is also very accessible. Short 5 mins. walk to get to MRT station. For the budget conscious family with kids; I would definitely recommend this hotel.
309917,ArizonaOnthego,12/30/2006,Tips for Singapore YWCA 12/30We try to go to Singapore/Malaysia evey year as it is very interesting experience. When we go to Singapore; we have a routinine. It involves;once we arrive; to check in at the YWCA(mem OK/price OK for Singapore). This we have done 6 times; with never a problem. The room is clean;and has a refrigerator/ air conditioning/TV/and a good bathroom with a shower. The two things I like best are:1.A nice;qood-sized pool outside. It's so good to enjoy the sun.The pool area is nice!!2. An all-you-can-eat breakfast(comes with the room) that includes a tray of cut papaya. It also means you're so full you can skip cost of lunch.Also it is located conviently near transportation. You don't have to tak an expensive cab.The route is the key(take these instructions with you)--Out the YWCA to the street;go left Get on the sidewalkto the left; Go to the end of the sidewalk and turn left up the down-ramp of the carpark. At the top; turn left. Go until on right are glass auto-open doore. Go thru to the elevator. Take to 1st floor. Out the door is three options:1. To the rightis a bus stop. Take a buss there to the Botanical Garden. The orchid garden is fantastic!!!2. Straight across the street; you take an escalator down to MRT underground train syste. It goes to bird park(bus required at the other end)/ downtown/ and orchard street.3. To the left of MRT station is a multi-story building. This is PLAZA SINGAPURA. A grocery store is to the back; maybe basement?; while there is a really good food court on a higher floos toward the back.Hope this is helpful. Have a good time!!!Don
309917,Lukluk,10/22/2006,clean and exceed expectations! With just 3 star hotel in mind; my hubby and I expected very little from what the hotel may offer; maybe some not so comfortable accommodation and facilities. But on the arrival to the hotel; we were greeted with a beautiful lobby and profesional front desk; and of course...with polite receptionists. The room was clean; spacious; with polished wood flooring. The bathroom has a modern setting with glass shower screen. Beside that; every morning breakfast at the cafeteria was basic but yet satisfying. We had a good time walking to the nearest Dhoby Ghaut MRT station everyday; and just a 15 minutes walk to the scenic Clarke Quay. Though this is our 1st time staying in this hotel; we will surely make our return to this same hotel again in the next holiday trip.
309917,teelee,04/06/2006,Stinky room This place was sold to us by our home travel agent as acceptable but for the average tourist I think it's very sub standard.The place has an insect infestation they need to get sorted.The room we were first shown to had a very toiletsmell if you know what I mean.the room was poorly arranged- we had to re arrange the room just to put our 2 suitcases down. We had trouble with our lift card got stuck in the lift for 5 mins.We asked for a room change the reception staff weren't concerned at all.They moved us up a floor but the insect problem was worse.The bedding was stained the cupboard had old food in it!The plumbing allowed us to smell someone else doing number 2's. The air conditining had black stuff belching from it onto the white towels.When we went for breakfast the next morning it was like being on one of my kids school camps. Picture dozens dozens DOZENS of the local kids with no manners hungry in the breakfast room. also picture the basic budget breakfast they serve at school camps. Well; that sums up Fort Cannings Breakfast experience!!This place was 3rd class back packer. Shame they had the location cos they don't deserve it.We rang our Holiday Broker they moved us.....
309917,ATripAdvisorMember,03/21/2006,if you love ants The best attribute of this hotel is its location one minute away from Orchard road and MRT station. Tons of places to eat at all prices around. And this is a good news because the breakfast served is really not at standard; except if you like canteen food. The rooms are basic; and although you have a first sense of cleaningness; it is not at its best; or maybe I was not lucky. My room (standard) was full of ants; walking over my toothbrush; climbing the cattle or covering the study table. Very discusting. I have mentioned it three days in the row to the reception but I only got apolodises; no action. Don't expect great facility in your room with regard to internet. For the price; I will not return there and will rather go for a smaller and cheaper hotel in Chinatown; direct by MRT to Orchard.March 2006
309917,ATripAdvisorMember,12/12/2005,Good hotel; value for money YWCA is not actually a hotel; as they call it a lodge or some might call is a hostel. But I couldn't see the difference; as it looks like a hotel to me.I stayed in this hotel with my wife and my junior in December 2005; a vacation. If you want to book this hotel; I would suggest book it via internet travel agent; as I only paid USD108 (approx SD180) for two nights stay (SD90 per night) including breakfast for two. If you walk in; the rate will be SD140 per night.My room was upgraded to deluxe room for free during my stay due to all standard rooms being occupied. The room is quite spacious. The floor is wood; no carpet. It's equipped with a queen size bed; standing shower (no bath tub); TV and mini fridge. The fridge has variety of sodas; bottles of cooled mineral water; and also two bowls of instant noodle. The price is approx double the market price; but I guess this is normal. Two packs of free instant coffee and tea each (3-in-1 type). No free drinking water though; you have to boil it yourself with a small kettle.There is a notice stating that all calls made from the room will be charged as same as calls made from public phone; it is by Singtel (one of the three telco). I don't know how true it is as I didn't make any call.At night; it could be a little noisy as what mentioned by other reviewer. The room is not sound proof; I could hear clearly other guest opening and closing their room doors; and also when they speak in the corridor. YWCA only has one restaurant; more like a coffee house actually. It serves breakfast; lunch and dinner; and it close at 9pm. You won't be able to get anything to eat after 10pm as the coffee house is closed; you would have to travel quite far to get a meal; especially after 10pm where shopping malls are closed too. This hostel also doesn't have room service. I guess this is the reason it's not called a hotel.The breakfast is only average. Not many choices; with a fried noodle; fried rice; sausage; toast; fried and boiled egg; salads and that's about it. Juice; tea and coffee are included; of course. During my stay; they have buffet dinner at SD8.80+; it's Chinese dishes; not much choice also; but value for money.Staying in YWCA is very convenient if you travel by MRT; as Dhoby Ghaut MRT station is just across the street. There're few ways to go to the MRT station; I would suggest entering the Park Mall car park; and take a lift to ground floor. Exit Park Mall through the lobby; cross the street and reach the MRT station. If you prefer taxi; it will be quite difficult to wait for a taxi at YWCA; as most taxis will be occupied; unless you pay extra SD2~SD4 to book for a taxi; or wait for someone to arrive at YWCA and take his/her taxi.Orchard Road is just 2 stations (MRT) from Dhoby Ghaut; so does Bugis Junction. Walking and taking MRT to most places of interest is no problem from YWCA. Except Singapore Zoo; which is located quite far from the nearest MRT station; I paid SD4 for a taxi from Zoo to Khatib MRT station.YWCA also has a swimming pool; quite big; not Olympic size though; this is a hostel; remember?Overall; this is a great hotel; or hostel for less than SD100 per night (via internet agent booking). If you are on a budget; just like me; look no further. If money is not an issue; go stay in Orchard road; so that the view could be better; and also a better breakfast.
309917,Denise07012,11/28/2005,Nice hotel; shame about the noisy groups staying Bright and airy reception area. Friendly staff. Coffee shop breakfast was adequate; though their toast machine doesn't work very well. Booked a standard twin room but was given a larger deluxe room with double bed. Bed very comfortable. Not able to get to sleep for first 3 nights of 5 night stay due to large and noisy asian school tour group filling the 9th floor. They yelled and screamed; ran along the halls kicking soft drink plastic bottles. Slamming their doors half the night. Received 3 phone calls during night from children (not sure if it was a prank; or they called wrong room). There was also a 5am fire alarm (that turned out to be a false alarm). Complained twice to reception staff about children; but not much was done. I guess the hotel makes its money from such groups; not single travellers like me. Easy walk through Park Mall; across Penang Road to Dhoby Ghaut MRT station; or across Orchard Road to Plaza Singapura and all the shops. Good for the price; but very noisy when I stayed.
309917,travelbug69,09/20/2005,Basic Good Value We stayed 2 nights at this property on our first visit to Singapore. We found hotel staff very courteous and helpful. Rooms were very basic; but clean and comfortable. Be mindful that this property is owned and run by the YWCA - rooms are more hostel than hotel - but good value for money nonethless. We accepted a twin room as we were told that they do not have any rooms with double beds. Breakfast in the large dining room was an impressive and tasty array of both local and Western fare. Property is withing easy walking distance of Orchard Road shopping. Nice rooftop swimming pool onsite and management kindly let us use it to cool off before our evening flight; despite having checked out that morning.
309917,hiroR,08/08/2008,銇俱亗銇俱亗銇с仚銇嬨伃銆?#x201d; showReview(18736326; 'full');
309917,slesio,06/17/2008,Stategico Bagno
309917,lass,05/10/2008,濂姐伩銇垎銇嬨倢銈嬨儧銉嗐儷銇с仚銇€?#x201d; showReview(19170943; 'full');
309917,alikes,04/12/2008,YWCA ottima posizione ; ma.... showReview(14984576; 'full');
309917,lass,02/22/2008,椐呭墠銇т究鍒┿仹銇?#x201d; showReview(19168947; 'full');
309917,lass,01/10/2008,鏈€鎮仹銇椼仧銆?#x201d; showReview(19167765; 'full');
309917,lass,08/30/2007,銇撱仒銈撱伨銈娿仐銇︺亜銈嬨亴瀹夊績銇椼仸瀹挎硦 showReview(19163640; 'full');
309917,lass,07/12/2007,鏈熷緟銇椼仚銇?#x201d; showReview(19161842; 'full');
309917,lass,04/22/2007,闀锋湡銇粸鍦ㄣ伀銇娿仚銇欍倎銇椼伨銇?#x201d; showReview(19160866; 'full');
309917,lass,02/17/2007,姘楄唤銇硦銇俱倢銈?#x201d; showReview(19160252; 'full');
309917,lass,09/06/2006,銈堛亱銇ｃ仧銇с仚銈堛€?#x201d; showReview(19158710; 'full');
309917,lass,01/16/2006,銉兗銈恒儕銉栥儷銇с仚銆?#x201d; showReview(19156452; 'full');
309917,lass,08/20/2005,銈堛亱銇ｃ仧銇с仚銆?#x201d; showReview(19154921; 'full');
310251,rexroof,01/06/2009,Great Hotel Hotel Le Coin is in a great location for checking out lots of Amsterdam's tourist spots. The hotel is clean and very nice. The kitchenette is very handy but doesn't have enough to do any real cooking. We had a teapot; but no other sorts of pots or pans. Our first room had four beds with two floors and was very cold; we were moved to a new set of double rooms upon request. You probably won't find any american-style double beds here; they're all twin beds pushed together: very common in europe. The staff weren't super friendly; but helpful enough. Again; very common for Holland. I also must comment that for how tall the dutch people are; the beds in hotels still aren't very long; and their showers aren't any taller. Regardless; the Hotel Le Coin was very pleasant and clean; I would happily stay here again.
310251,HowardN2,10/28/2008,A Wonderful Hotel in a great location View of Munt Plein from Hotel Residence le Coin
310251,SasCat,06/30/2008,Good location in the south end of the Old Centre Twin room bathroom
310251,debloves2travel,04/23/2008,Perfect Four of us stayed at the Hotel Le Coin and we had the BEST time! The hotel was very centrally located near the Univ of Amsterdam and just far enough from the overcrowded area around Centraal Station. The staff were amazing - the front desk could not have been more helpful. The rooms were spacious; big high windows; beds REALLY comfy; and clean; clean; clean. We were surrounded by lots of coffee shops (oh dear GOD do I miss the coffee) and lots of fun little restaurants and shops. We often ate at La Place (steps away) which was HUGE and kind of like a Dean DeLucca. The food was amazing; fresh and flavorful - the soups; the brie sandwiches (ok; must stop now! am drooling on the computer). We could walk to several areas including Rembrandt square which also had lots of restaurants; the tram was right outside our door and we took that everywhere (Rijksmuseum; Cuyp Market). Wonderful; fabulous time!
310251,cathablom,03/05/2008,Basic hotel w a great location This is a basic hotel with a great location. Close to Kalverstraat; blumenmarkt and we took the canal tour that was just around the corner. 5 min walk to the Nas street were we ate at two great restaurants Mappe and H something... :). Also just 5 min walk to chocolate store Puccini which is a chocolate lovers dream.The staff was very friendly and helpful both on site and before arrival when we wanted to change our reservation.Very lived comfortably 3 people in one room; a large double room with an extra bed. There was even room for a small sofa and chair and a desk and there was still plenty of floor space free.Extra points for the possibility to change the room temperature easily! The themostat was on the wall and easy to use. Much appriciated by someone who tends to freeze.
310251,summerw,02/09/2008,Loved it Desk area and tv
310251,fool4travel,01/17/2008,Met our needs view from nicest room
310251,lissiCopenhagen,08/17/2007,Great clean cheap place to stay! I just came back from a week stay in Amsterdam at hotel le coin; and I can only recommend this hotel very very much. Great location; clean; good beds; helpful staff; and they even did our dishes! You have your own little kitchen; so it saved us the breakfast each morning. And the room and bathroom is pretty big. We had a corner twin room with a balcony; just amazing.
310251,thmilin,07/09/2007,Clean; spacious; no-frills; affordable The main thing I regret about this stay is that we booked in February and were told there were no rooms available for one night smack in the middle of our 7 night stay. So we booked another hotel for the one night (Sofitel Grand up the street; to try something fancy); planning to come back. The week before we showed up I was informed by email that my room was available for the missing night - but it was too late; I had a nonrefundable room at the Grand. And boy was it a pain to switch hotels for a night.Anyhoo; the hotel is directly opposite the Hotel de L'Europe; on a narrow street; so with a cab hop out fast and yank your bags in quick or you'll get run over by a bike or block potential traffic. Centrally located indeed; but if you're not a big city person you will find that walking distance involves serious dedicated trekking time (20+ min to get to places like Anne Frank House or the Pancake House). Wear proper walking shoes with good support and only carry what you need to. Or; rent bikes.There was a breakfast but it was for a fee so we opted for dining in the city. You can get wifi in-room; and it's VERY cheap - buy a week for 10 EU. However; the room will only recognize ONE computer per access code you are given; they were nice enough to give us two for the price of one; since there were two of us with laptops; but I don't know if they were supposed to or not.Large double bed room - everything's bigger in the US; meaning; a double bed is really a twin bed to us. Bedside tables were on wheels; so we could easily maneuver them around. Mini kitchen with stove kettle; big stainless steel sink; dishware; silverware; dining table and two chairs. Kitchen cabinet has built in fridge; and the cabinet handle to open it was missing. If you dirty your dishes; housekeeper won't wash them.Big armoire; little tv with actually a good number of random european channels. A sort of warm modern look to the room; not too cold and austere; high ceilings. I asked for a quiet room off the main street so our room was large; faced the rear street; where things were peaceful. We were so far away from the majority of the rooms that we never heard much street or guest noise. No in room safe; didn't bother to use desk safe. Nearly floor to ceiling double windows with some curtains that have seen better days; but the feeling is very european and bright. Beds not too firm; actually starting to feel a bit saggy and they're twins so if you sleep wildly; careful not to fall out. Two big armchairs in front of the tv; good for reading or dozing.Front desk is very small and doesn't look particularly secure; several times in our trekking around it was unattended. The staff person often ends up doing more than one job at a time; leaving the desk to attend to things; or will take a break in the breakfast area; which has a separate dining area and a sitting area with a television; a nice big table in a streetside window; and some couches/chairs. The breakfast area looked very snazzy; not upscale just very stylish and nice.So; when we first checked in and had to leave our luggage for a bit; it didn't go anywhere - it sat in the front room; no tags; and we saw this happen to other people's luggage. Anyone from another room or off the street can just grab your bag and go. There IS a sort of security system - two doors; the inner door requiring a key; but it is often left open for convenience. Which is fine; just don't leave unprotected luggage right inside!If you have bikes; there's a ramp down into the basement where you can store them. There IS free laundry - one washer; one dryer. You'll have to be vigilant to get in there when someone else isn't using them; to get your clothes done. They're also eco-friendly; meaning a wash will take an hour or more and a dry will take at least a few hours. You buy soap tablets from the front desk. The machines are labelled in images and Dutch so you may need to ask for help. :)The stairs made me think of an unprotected; rickety jungle gym. The suspension poles literally bend and wiggle away if you bump them. Made of wood; the stairs themselves are sturdy but narrow and short - and curving. The stair system is a narrow spiral; so if you're disabled; elderly; or carrying things; be careful or take the elevator.Bathroom narrow; but clean and bigger than expected. No real counter space; so get creative. They do provide the installed free shower soap/shampoo dispenser. Shower curtain rod didn't wrap all the way around so you need to be very careful where you aim your water or it will spray the bathroom/toilet.Since it's a small hotel with a small staff you aren't going to get a lot of amenities but they do have a cute little service book in the rooms and if you demand help; you get it. We therefore asked for help to carry our bags to our rooms; because if you are not near the elevator and have any suitcase over small you'll have to lug it up several bursts of steps to get to your room (we were all the way at the end of a hall and had three short sets of steps). Sometimes for such help you'll have to wait a bit.In leaving to switch hotels at one point we needed didn't want to carry our laptops but didn't want them left with our other luggage; so they placed them in the manager's office. This office is not closed; however. We weren't there during a terribly busy time and staff was around front; but again; if you're vigilant this might worry you. So; definitely great for the price; we were hunting thoroughly for a place that would give us a clean; spacious room with value for our money; and this provided it. Comes with a couple idiosyncrasies; but compare that to a dirty/older/cramped/more expensive hotel and this will of course come out on top.
310251,Uilleann,06/20/2007,Pretty little place Stayed there for a week. The place is right in the middle of Amsterdam; everything is within walking distance (restaurants; public transportation; tourist attractions). The room was quiet (double windows - make sure to close them all the way); floor-heated; very clean.They have free Internet access; both cable and wi-fi; the self-service breakfast was very fresh and tasty; washing machines are available in the basement; friendly staff as far as Dutch friendliness goes.No pool; no dinners; the stairway is very narrow; you really have to squeeze in and out. Also they don't change bedsheets every day unless you ask them to.
310251,mbonfils,06/06/2007,Excellent Place To Stay but a Little Noisy I really enjoyed my visit at Le Coin. The hotel desk was very helpful and very attentative to my needs. The room was a little small but fine for me...the location is spectacular...right in the heart of everything. Sometimes at night you could here the occasional drunk crowd but other then that I loved it.
310251,Vandygirl,05/13/2007,Great location; great price! We stayed at Le Coin April 2007 for 4 days in a Large Double room. The price was great for the price and we had a great corner room with a view of Muntplein and a balcony. Service was excellent and rooms were impeccable. Will stay again for our next trip!
310251,2141Travel,04/10/2007,Le Coin met our needs Beds
310251,SteveHarolds,01/04/2007,New Year's Eve in Amsterdam Our second time at Le Coin. Our second new year's eve in Amsterdam. The firework this time was bigger and better an it was less cold. For the rest. * I LOVE AMSTERDAM *About the hotel: Le Coin is a very friendly hotel. Basic; spacious rooms (we had the quiet room 248 on the inside); very clean; free to use dryer/washer/iron (it rained; so the dryer was heaven ) in the basement; and CENTRALLY LOCATED. Almost impossible; . . . 贸n the Coin Square. So; Red Light District; all Museums; main shopping street; canals; tramstop; city hall; theatre; cinema; coffeeshop; and bike renting (we did that one day ; amsterdam is really the bikeaholic centre of the world) 茅verything on walking distance.What can I say. I'll be there again next new year. Count me in!!
310251,Madeliefje,12/06/2006,Nice.... This hotel was nice; not great. It is really cute on the outside. A good location...right next to the Bloemenmarkt. The room is big; but you have to climb up a ladder to get to the beds. I was fine with it; but some people might not like that!
310251,doktorB,08/04/2006,Great location; great price; would highly recommend This hotel isn't particularly fancy; but it's in a good spot; very affordable; clean and with very friendly staff. It's only 5 min from Rembrandt plein; and only 3 tram stops from the central station. We stayed in room 143 (which was pretty big; and had its own kitchen area); which had a little balcony overlooking one of the canals. We paid 100euros/night (w/o breakfast) and the place was more than worth that. 1 week of wireless internet access is only 10 euros which is another nice perk. Would definitely come back!
310251,salty175,07/03/2006,Great Location; Lovely Staff Travelled to Amsterdam at the end of June with our two children aged 9 and 13. Despite assurances that there would be lots for the kids to enjoy we were a little apprehensive about the city. However we had a brilliant time. Hotel Residence Le Coin was a great base with lovely clean but basic apartments. We had a family apartment which consisted of two rooms (one with two single beds and the other larger had 3 single beds) which were separated by a modern bathroom (with lots of towels; soap and shower cream) and adjoining toilet. Both rooms had TV; fridge and seating area so everyone was happy. The whole apartment was self contained behind a 'front door'. Maid service changed towels; cleaned bathroom and made beds each day. The reception was open 24 hours and the staff were very friendly - giving directions; information on which tram to take; which stop to get off at etc - very useful in a strange city. Check in / check out was very quick and efficient and safety deposit boxes were available at no extra cost. On arrival we walked from Central Station to the hotel - which took about 20 minutes - along the Damrak and then along the Rokin - a very picturesque stroll even with luggage. It took us another 10 minutes to locate the hotel. We were given directions that it was opposite the Hotel L'Europe which is a very large hotel. The Le Coin is actually opposite the front entrance of the Hotel L'Europe which is just down a little side street off the Rokin. The kids really enjoyed the Anne Frank House; the Van Gogh Museum; Rembrant's House and especially Madame Tussauds. A canal trip is also a must to experience some of the hightlights not accessible by foot and to see the extent of the canals running through the city. The flower market and main shopping street were just across the street from the hotel and also proved popular with the children. There are various restaurants in the vicinity along with croissanteries and little grocery shops selliing pastries; sandwiches and filled rolls - if this doesn't appeal to the kids - there's a McDonalds just over the canal opposite the hotel and a Burger King around the corner! Just one word of warning - the bicycles - they are everywhere - just make sure you keep out of the bike lanes and beware when stepping onto them when crossing the road. The trams also creep up on you really quickly and you hardly hear them until they are right behind you! I would recommend the Le Coin for its location; self-catering facilities and brilliant staff.
310251,TravellingHomer,05/29/2006,Good Value; Good Location The sitting area
310251,TMitch6542,04/29/2006,Decent hotel in very good location I just got back from staying at the Le Coin for five nights. I think this is a good; budget hotel. It was clean and basically comfortable. I would not call it charming or romantic. We stayed in a Large Twin room which was quite spacious; but I don't think the rooms have any real character in style or decoration. We paid 145 Euro's a night for the room; just so you can get a comparison to other hotels. There were few amenities in the room. Soap and shower caps were given; but no shampoo; lotion or other toiletries that you usually find in hotels. No hairdryers either.No safes in the room; but there is one in the common area that you can arrange to use. My major complaint is that they use some sort of plastic on their mattresses that made sleeping quite hot at night for us. That being said; it is in a very good location and the staff is quite nice and helpful. There are free laundry facilities for guests in the basement which come in handy. I did not have breakfast at the hotel as I took advice from another review and went to the cafe on the corner each morning for very good coffee. An italian restaurant called Vasso was recommended to us and we really enjoyed our dinner there and it was very close by. Did I love this hotel? No. Did I hate it? No. Would I return? Probably not; mainly because I don't think it was good enough to warrant not looking around town for something with a little more character.
310251,bluelemon,04/27/2006,perfect location; cozy hotel Le Coin is a well situated hotel. It is close to Damrak and Leidesplein where all the action goes on. It is only 5-10 minutes walk to get whereever (I mean touristic attractions of course) you want to. It is also very close to Kalversraat (I could be spelling these names wrong; fyi); which is full of shops. There is a superb cafe called De Jardeen on the same street with the hotel. Hotel itself is cozy; clean and comfortable. Staff is very kind and friendly. I stayed there for three nights and have not encountered any problems at all. Just beware that there are no hair dryers in the rooms; bring your own or request it from the reception in turn of a 20eur deposit (you take it back when you return the hair dryer); you may also take advantage of the safe by paying a deposit. In case I go to Amsterdam again; I would stay in Le Coin for sure.
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,03/22/2006,Great pad Hurrah - I loved Le Coin; and I'm relieved to have finally found a chic/cheap place to stay on my visits to the Dam; having ended up in some dodgy 3 stars and overpriced 4 stars in the past.This time around I was looking for a hotel in Amsterdam that suited 14 girls (28-34 yrs) on a hen weekend - without the tacky group shenannigans. I booked the Le Coin based on a recommendation from some guys who stayed at New Year - all boys; so it could feasibly have been shabbier than they described...knowing how boys compromise on comfort in favour of beer; value and whatever else they get up to.Saw the pics and bit the bullet - and was absolutely delighted. The Le Coin is very central; a ten minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal train station (down the Damrak and Rokin)and 5 mins from the Rembrandtsplein where you'll find tons of bars and restaurants. Our rooms varied from a corner room with fab views of the canal and clock tower; to split level loft-style apts with a ladder up to the beds (careful when tipsy - not for the clumsy). The amenities are geared to a short-term stay; the wee kitchenette was a bonus and the place felt like a self-contained studio rather than a hotel room.Great things include: staff (cheery and helpful); underfloor heating (wooden floorboards; cosy); views and comfy; comfy beds (if a little narrow).Only real drawback for some was the ladders (no good for wide hips). Can't comment on the breakfast because we never made it down in time....We had a great weekend (try Boom Chicago if you're into live comedy - show changes all the time and never fails to amuse; topical and improvisation stuff) and most of the group have discussed returning in May for another stay; probably for five days now we know we could do so in comfort and style. A wee gem. Can't wait to go back.
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,02/07/2006,Fantastic location; helpfull staff I have stayed there 3 times now and I will definatelly stay there again on my next trip to Amsterdam. What I like most is the combination of location; value for money; very helpfull staff and clean rooms. I reserved through hotel-assist
310251,muzebiz,01/10/2006,Exactly what we wanted This is a pic of the floating chinese restaurant
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,12/18/2005,Rooftop terras; to look for the stars If you're looking for a romantic spot in Amsterdam to kiss with your girlfriend or boyfriend under the stars and you want to do that on the rooftop of your hotel; you have to go to this hotel. For the rest it's the same story as the other positive comments. Although; I want to add that there is no airco in the rooms. So; when I was there; one of the days when we forgot to open the windows it was a bit warm in the room.So if you're looking for 17 Celcius in mid summer you better leave the window open and put on the fan (of course there was a fan in the room).I won't be there until next summer.But if you're there then; I'll see you around!Gr; Elisabeth WaltersEdinburgh; Ireland
310251,coolamanzana,12/18/2005,Le Coin is my second home I'm not surprised reading all these positive comments about Le Coin. I'm staying there frequently. First I thought the enthusiasm of the staff would fade away after staying there a couple of times; but it's indeed like coming home again.For the rest all stories on this board are worth reading and correct. Didn't know the hotel was on this site. Okay; see you there! Gr; Coola ManzanaBrasila; Brasil
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,12/17/2005,Making my own breakfast ! Wow!
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,12/17/2005,Honest; Pure; Central; Feeling home; No nonsense Stayed there a few months ago. I remember it very well; because it was a fine hotel with warm people. Seemed like they work their magic on the guests; because everybody seemed s贸 relaxed in this hotel.When we were looking for it; we nearly couldn't find it. It's a small entrance . . but when your go up to your room you find out that it stretches out over all properties you past on your way down the street.We stayed in a large twin room with a little balcony; on the street corner. I think we were very lucky; I remember the nice guy from behind the desk mentioning that that room was kind of special. But there are more rooms like that he added.And special it was; there was even a little kitchen with refrigerator; brand new bathroom and the canalview . . . . all packed into this from the outside tiny looing hotel.Later they told me it was kind'a University property; so there were staying Professors and Dr's and famous researchers from around the world all over the place. Now I understand why everything felt like home and nothing was overdone.Location; every hotspot is on walking distance. Dam Square; Leidse Square; Rembrandt Square; New Market. Coin Square in front of the hotel; where trams are leaving to every spot in Amsterdam and a metro station also on walking distance. And there are also a few trams leaving for Museum Square and the Vondel Park area if I'm right.Just ask the curly guy or the nice brunette behind the desk for directions. Every question I had was well raken care of. I must say that.Whenever I go back to Amsterdam; I will ofcourse pay them a visit.ps; I think the price mentioned on this site is too high. I payed like 95 EURO for the large twin; I had a big discount although.Gr; Steven de PevenLondon; United Kingdom
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,12/16/2005,lean ; mean Very much oke;. . for what I experienced; 'cause after all; I enjoyed Amsterdam麓s nightlife (a lot). ;-) The guests in the hotel varied from bussinessmen to families. We had a room on the street side; bit noisy; but for the rest spacious (the large twin) and a beautiful bathroom. Fell asleep in a large hot bath twice; hihi.The best was the kitchen we had ; we made our breakfast in our room; with a little help from the supermarket one block away.There is a 5-star hotel accross the street; so we enjoyed looking at the sportscars driving by all day.Next time we麓ll try to reserve a room on the canal side. Seems that those rooms are even better. We didn麓t find a hotel more centrally located than this. I麓m not a pro although.Maybe we麓ll meet in spring when I go there again with my two girlsfriends.Hade a great time there!Gr; Julie BlossumSydney Australia
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,12/16/2005,Nice crew best location showReview(4246458; 'full');
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,12/16/2005,Hotel! + Staff + :ocation showReview(4245054; 'full');
310251,leela2999,11/18/2005,The Best Hotel In Amsterdam showReview(4125758; 'full');
310251,SharonBLondon,11/10/2005,A nice place to stay! showReview(4104277; 'full');
310251,kiddo75,11/08/2005,Perfect Amsterdam Experience showReview(4094244; 'full');
310251,MrClean69,10/25/2005,Nice little 2 1/2 star hotel showReview(4050912; 'full');
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,07/09/2005,Great Little Hotel showReview(3651936; 'full');
310251,Mebrothers,06/15/2005,Very nice hotel in a great location showReview(3556299; 'full');
310251,ATripAdvisorMember,12/20/2004,A+++ very nice showReview(2900698; 'full');
310251,tonyjenson,07/29/2004,Location...Location...Location. And price! showReview(2330047; 'full');
310251,ThierryParis,10/15/2007,Tr猫s moyen !!! showReview(10081338; 'full');
310302,shobarta,12/26/2008,Good Value Overall I really liked this hotel. The local area is really lively. Tokyo taxis are expensive of course; but for local public transport you only need to take a ten minute walk to a giant subway station. It's almost an underground city. You can get there completely underground through tunnels; which I really appreciated this Winter!I hope they can get more staff who speak English. They're very polite and friendly but I felt embarrassed when I couldn't get 3 staff to understand over the phone that I needed an electric adaptor. I took the gadget to the lobby and showed them it!The rooms here are small; but aren't they all in Tokyo.
310302,travellinggirl0,12/16/2008,Seriously; don't stay here! I was booked in here for two nights after staying in the Keio Plaza last week and The Kanko Nagoya for the past few days. It was booked through ASIA rooms who said this was a 4* hotel - but it so is not!!On arrival; the person at the information desk very gruffly sent me upstairs without explaining where to go; or why. On check in ( the wait for the lift was about 5 minutes) nobody offered to help me with my luggage; which is unheard of in a Japanese hotel. Then; whilst ladden up with luggage; the receptionist tried to give me a box which had arrived from my company; i could barely make it to the lift without extra boxes - and she was very unhappy when i asked her to keep it for a while (they do not bring things to your room). I was told i had been upgarded to a 'much larger' room; but when i got here.....I am unsure if this is a capsule hotel; but if so; it doesn't state it. There is no wardrobe; desk; drawers; there is not even room for a case which is now under the 'dressing table' but it means i will trip over the chair if i decide to move. The window is tiny - the air con is pumping out hot air; the bathroom is exactly the same as a pod in my uni accommodation - infact; that is what this 'hotel' is - a large uni residence. It stinks of smoke; there are all kinds of undesirables walking around; the staff could not be more unhelpful if they tried; the walls are paper thin; the room (and in fact whole floor) looks like it was 'desiged' in the very early 80's and i'm dreading breakfast tomorrow! I can't say i was particularly impressed with the Keio plaza; it was a standard four star hotel; but it's now looking like a beacon of hospitality in contrast and it cost exactly the same! Please; don't stay here; leave it to the numerous school trips that use it; try the Keio or just go to a nicer area. On the plus side; it's very close to other hotels and restaurants and is just a minute walk for the park hyatt.I really hope you have a better experience; but i will never be coming back. And feel sorry for me; i have another prepaid night here in this prison!
310302,AppleHK,11/30/2008,Convenient Locatiion With JR Station having an underground walkway built directly linking to the hotel; for people who are independent travellers wanting to explore Tokyo; this hotel does provide excellent convenience. On my last day in Tokyo which was a rainy day; I could explore around the department stores; did some shopping and had my lunch before going back to the hotel to pick up my luggage for departure to the airport through limousine bus; and without getting a drop of rain.Shinjuku Station provides excellent transportation to all parts of Tokyo; whether on JR or Metro. I had a side trip to Hakone and took the Odakyu line from the station; went to Ueno for the museums on JR and Roppongi on Metro. You do not need to know the language and still can find your way around very easily; not to mention of course is the department stores and restaurants in the area.I booked through Priceline with a good rate of around US123 for a single room including breakfast. And the view of the city from the 25th floor when having breakfast is breathtaking. Though you cannot expect much in terms of room size and amenties; this's a pretty good deal. And they offer internet service in the lobby at 100 yen per 10 mins which is convenient for making on-line check-in.
310302,lankwaifong,10/15/2008,They really preforms their 3-star hotel's characteristic - NO SERVICE This is my leisure trip and travelling with my husband.It is far away from subway station and shopping area; we need to walk around 15 minutes everyday. So you did exercise enough on every day eventhough they don't have GYM Room.If you are a foreigner; they had strongly and highlight to put the signage/note to ask you go to another corner for the check-in arrangement. It looks like isolated. As their Front Office Ladies is so cool and shouted to me - ask me move front for check-in. However she can be more polite to escort me to walk front for check-in (Do I too demand or this is basic service?) If they can be more polite then they can make me feel more personal service - I think that is their mangement's original concept. But their staff cannot perform it.Room size is small but most of the hotels are like this in Tokyo so I understand and accept.Location of this hotel; no comment as this is fixture; cannot change; unless they can provide complimentary shuttle bus servcie between hotel to shinjuku subway station. They had check-out machine in lobby; which you can make the check-out procedure and no need to talk with their staff. So don't expect they will say Good Bye or Look forward to welcome back you soon. As I mentioned that in the sujbect - they highlight their hotel is no-service provider's hotel.Anyway; if you can afford to pay USD30 more on everynight; why not choose the hotel (Shinjuku Prince Hotel) which is near by the subway station; shopping area and they just completed the renovation for the guestrooms.
310302,Bronwyn8,10/09/2008,small but clean and great location The Shinjuku Washington is great for location and service. It's a five minute walk from the South Entrance of Shinjuku station.You can anticipate a very small room; but is clean and almost cozy. Free internet and if you book through Asia Rooms you might get a free breakfast too. There are 6 restaurants to choose from. My advice is to book the new building of the annex - the rooms are sligthly bigger.
310302,darguel,09/29/2008,Good budget choice to see bustling Shinjuku but be prepared to walk My family and 1 stayed at Shinjuku Washington from 1 - 8 Aug 2008 and booked 2 rooms between the 5 of us. I had subjected the reception of the hotel to a long drawn email QnA session to clarify all our doubts before making a booking. I have to commend them for always being polite and answering my questions promptly. Sometimes even offering more information to help me plan our trip. Kudos to them and it certainly left a good impression before we even left home. I had booked our rooms via email with them so I was assured of getting rooms in the Annex block as well as a double room and triple room as requested.We took the Airport Limo which was easy enough to find and which alighted us at the main entrance. If you stay at the Annex; pls wheel yourself directly to the Annex block. There's an information counter at the main block which we waited at for a good while before being directed to the Annex. The lobby is on the 4th floor (I think; there are many signs) and check in was a breeze. We bought Airport Limo tickets for our journey back at check in as the reception advised us that they might run out of tickets for the only bus we could take back to the airport. I got a triple room with my brother and bf which was large enough with 3 super single beds. It's probably smaller than most western hotels but large by Japanese standards. My parents' double room was however much smaller with little space between the bed and the walls. Enough for 2 but probably claustrophobic for people more accustomed to rooms large enough to swing a cat around. The toothbrushes; shavers and towels are replenished everyday and shampoo and body wash is provided from push dispensers at the tub. A small thing but we thought that it was super smart and thoughtful of them to always provide 3 toothbrushes of different colours so that we wouldn't get them mixed up. The TV gets local channels as well as CNN so we were either amusing ourselves with Japanese ads (which rock btw) or watching CNN's coverage of the lead up to the Beijing games (which was pretty painful). Check the top shelf of the cupboards and you will find more pillows. Use those as the ones on the bed are soft and flat while those in the cupboard are buckwheat pillows which made for very very good sleeping!There is a Family mart (24 hr convenience store) at the ground floor of the main block where we got our breakfast in the mornings. There are a couple of microwaves just outside the Family mart which came pretty handy. There is another family mart and ampm nearby; on the way towards the Shinjuku station if you walk above ground.Though the hotel was pretty good in terms of facilities; you have to be prepared for a trek to the station. There is an underground walk way which connects the hotel to the station. It's at the basement (again not sure of the exact numbering of the floor) near a Qb (A 1000 yen hair salon) and a 10 min walk will get you to the station. The walkway closes at 11pm though so don't get trapped inside. It's better to use the underground walkway to walk towards the station in the day as you can avoid the sun/ cold and the walkway is sloping downwards towards the station. Coming back at night; it would be better to walk above ground as walking up a gradually uphill snaking tunnel when you are exhausted is no fun. There's also a 100yen bus which goes from the station and stops at 2 bus stops near Shinjuku Washington. There is a busstop at the main entrance of the main building as well as one at the back of the Annex block. You should be able to see the 100 yen sign at the pole of the bus stop and check the timings. The last bus is at 10pm if I recall correctly and it's a short ride to the station. The bus service runs in a loop with the bus stopping at the main building stop right out of Shinjuku station and stopping at the Annex block stop after it has done its rounds before going back to the station.Sry for the long post but I really wanted to give as much info as possible to let everyone decide for themselves. This hotel is not for everyone and if you're concerned about dust behind the heavy tables then Keio Hotel or Hyatt might be a better choice. However it's good enough for a bunch of adults who want a comfortable home base to seek Tokyo from.
310302,karforma,08/16/2008,I enjoyed to stay in Shinjuku Washington Hotel I stay at 24 th floor- view of Mt Fuji from window
310302,hkme,06/15/2008,Reasonably Priced in Tokyo I have been surprised by some of the reviews on this hotel. People seem to compare this hotel to international hotels in the US or in Europe and you just can't do that. Hotels and apartments in Tokyo are typically small. The Japanese are great at maximizing usable space and this hotel is no exception.You are paying for the convenience of being in Shinjuku. This is the business and play area of Tokyo You are surrounded by many international hotels in the middle of everything that reflects all of Japan; paying a fraction of the costs of the other hotels. I can't say that I love this hotel. It is centrally located; near shopping; restaurants; the parks and transportation hubs. It is convenient and reasonably prices. It is huge complex with very small guest rooms.On a second note; they have the worlds greatest fishing restaurant. It is hard to explain; but your need to understand that in order to get some fresh fish; you will need to catch it out of the stream that runs around the seating area. Our group had some Lobster sashimi that was so fresh that I believe the lobster was still alive as we ate the sashimi. It was delicious.Check out the hotel if you are looking for a bargain. Definitely eat at the Fishing Restaurant. It has been a highlight of my trips to Tokyo. Enjoy!
310302,ladymoscow,06/10/2008,Great find Great place. Small rooms; but clean with everything you need. Buffet Breakfast included. Good location. Friendly Staff.
310302,markhanlon,05/29/2008,Avoid like the plague This is the worst hotel in Shinjuku. Unless you have no other alternative; this hotel is to be avoided. No matter what the price; it is too much. Paper thin walls; plastic sheets on the beds; rude staff; tiny rooms; no windows.. it is an awful place. EXAMPLE; I left clothes in to be laundered. I wrote on the ticket that there were 8 pairs of socks in the bag and five shirts. When I went to collect my clothes; they informed me that I'd have to pay a penalty because there was actually 10 pairs of socks in the bag. Not only that; when I discovered that I had actually only 3 shirts in the bag; they refused to refund my money. Nasty nasty place.
310302,Fourstar101,05/15/2008,"Small""Smelly""Dangerous""Expensive"=="Washington Shinjuku" Here are the list of my comments:1; First of all the bathroom was very Dangerous.because the door step is too high it was about 8 inch and is accident prone especially for old people and children;the door was also dangerous because its kind of weird because you have to push it instead of pulling in when you are inside which can be very dangerous when someone is waiting outside.....2. The front desk staff did not even care to ask first if we wanted a non smoking floor or not i believe that this did not meet international standards worst; we would like to move to a non smoking floor but was already fully book!3. There was no complimentary bus going to the shinjuku station(only takes 5 minutes.).4.There was no cabinet doors only hangers5.The toilet is too small and you cannot move comfortably. the bathtub is like a baby bathtub.6. They only give one key and you have to insert the key to have the main power switch on ;when you are outside the power is off 7.i found one of the bed sheets it has several holes in it.8. The max volume of the TV was too low i can barely hear the sound from the bed.9.It was the first time in my entire experience that you need to fully pay your bills during check in....10. it would be impossible for Yao Ming to stand inside the room he will have back pain!..11.The Center table is too low and is wiggly(Made of 1x1 wood only and a small piece of glass)..12.I cannot tell if it was a chair or a sofa..13.I could not tell whether if it was a refrigerator or a safebox because it was small and empty.14.in order for the internet to work you need to open the Television..15.The trash can was very small.16. It was weird the elevator stops at 3rd floor every time when going up and down for no reason..I Rather stay in a capsule hotel than in this hotel.its like a expensive budget meal it was not worth my money (20;000 YEN) From.Room 23**
310302,yogisydbma,01/30/2008,great location and breakfast This is a large hotel with all the services included. It looks posh with over staffing everywhere from driveway attendants to downstairs entry information(1st floor) then Reception; lobby attendant and foreign visitor information that doubles as a porter's desk (but no porters) on Level 3 (LB ; short for lobby).My wife and I struggled with 3 bags and a 2 year old child; my wife is 5 months pregnant. I was offered no help with the bags at any time but all staff watched us fumble our way into the lobby then to our room. For a service country I found this a disgrace.We checked in and were given a smoking room that was tiny and smelt like an ashtray (smoking is common in Japan). We swapped to a non smoking room and the room was more modern and within the room was a tiny round table useless (removed) and pants press (removed) and a massage chair with kneading and shiatsu settings that was too big to move. It was also very good . The room was tiny and it had a small non-opening window.The entertainment unit was connected to an intra net where you could get RJ45 net connection and a variety of speeds (was best in the mornings when the businessmen had left). Also connected was videos on demand and TV and a few other quite simple information.The room once emptied of round table and pants press was quite nice and although a small room it was well appointed. The bed was against the wall.We had no problems getting an extra towel and other bits.The normal capsule type bathroom was the largest of the 4 hotels we did stay at in Japan.Breakfast was included and was great; with a wide variety of Western and Japanese food available.We did travel with a child of 2 and the hotel made no attempt to create any extras or help or obvious immediate help without being asked. I was told that I was only allowed one room key. I was given another after I begged for about 10 minutes as my pregnant wife did not want to be woken up at 3 am when I arrived home at night and that she would need power while I was gone.Some staff spoke English and some staff should never have entered the hospitality industry but at the same time some staff were great. I believe if you work in an international hotel as a lobby attendant you should at least be willing to try and listen to guests instead of walk off (obviously) and help someone else.The smoking room we had originally been given was smelly and somewhat oddly wrong ; but the second room (non smoking) was great; if not small for 3 people and 3 bags and the desire to stand in the room at the same time. However we extended our stay in this room as the breakfast and the location where very very good. and the room had all modern amenities.the room was sometimes very hot and the air con only had low; medium or high settings only. check in and check out was sometimes met with a line. I might stay here again if average could not be found cheaper some place else locally.
310302,mrssin,11/24/2007,Small; Dirty and Expensive The room
310302,TikTak01,09/10/2007,small rooms but surprisingly good hotel for the price Stayed at this hotel at the beginning and end of a trip round Japan visiting friends. It was the only hotel we stayed at in Japan so cannot compare to other hotels but I found it to be in a great location in the heart of lively Shinjuku; close to the train station and lots of other attractions and amenities.The hotel seemed to be mainly for Japanese and foreign business people and didn't have much of an atmosphere; it felt a little like a shopping mall; but it was good value for money and the rooms were comfortable and clean if a little small. Had a few laughs using the toilet the first couple of times until I saw some more ridiculous ones later in my trip and I gather as in most Japanese hotels; there is no western style bath in the bathroom.Tokyo was just awesome and the Japanese people are amazingly friendly and honest. It helped to learn a few Japanese phrases especially asking for directions and the basis niceties as they are so polite. Even if they cannot explain in English where to go; I found several times that people will make an effort to show you directly.A big regret in Japan; at least at the beginning of my trip was not being a bit more adventurous with the food. Spent the first night in KFC with hundreds of other hungry looking foreigners!
310302,citynorman,03/17/2007,ok value for money; good location; small room the room - quite small but acceptable
310302,amirhk,11/09/2006,There are better choices I stayed at the Shinjuku Washington; hoping to save a bit of money on a trip to Tokyo. The hotel lobby was in a chaotic state and the staff were not particularly helpful or courteous. My room was clean; but truly tiny and in need of refurbishment. I had to pay extra to leave my luggage for a couple hours after check-out. I would prefer spending more for a nicer hotel; such as the Century Southern Tower in the same area or the Mercure Ginza.
310302,Angry123,08/01/2006,Terrible Service I'm a frequent traveller and never encounter such poor service by any of the hotels that i had stayed! I had requested an iron and iron board for my clothes. And for 3 nights there's no response from the hotel personel. From day 1; i was told that the hotel has ONLY 5 irons available and i'm on the 2nd waiting list. On day 2; i'm the first of the list and there's still no news til the end of 3rd day! I'm just disappointed with the hotel of such calibrate and in this country !!!!
310302,Palermo1,06/05/2006,Amazing Shinjuku The Washington Shinjuku was everything we expected from a Tokyo Hotel... comfortable; clean; efficient; well-located. We booked a BB option and the breakfast was a lovely choice of hot and cold western japanese style food. Lovely coffee machine too!The rooms were compact but not as tiny as other reviewers have stated.... The electric toilet was hilarious to use; and I think just added to the whole Japanese experience.The tour desk arranged our excursions out of the city with ease; and we found the metro around Tokyo easily accesible from the hotel. We don't speak a word of Japanese; but had no trouble communicating with either the hotel staff. A polite smile and nod/bow is all that is needed!The bright lights of Shinjuku are just a short stroll away; and there is a good choice of eating and drinking places nearby; too.Would definitely choose this hotel next time we're in Tokyo.
310302,ATripAdvisorMember,05/03/2006,Passable tWe the Shinjuku Tokyo to be well situated close to good transport links and in a pleasant area. It was very impersonal and there was no help from staff with luggage or finding our room. The hotel was quiet and the room scrupulously clean though incredibly small. With two suitcases and a bed there was hardly any space to move around. The pillows were interesting and appeared to be stuffed with plastic macaroni!It was impossible for us to change our travellers cheques at reception; they would only deal in U.S.Dollars. Checking out was easy but there was a total lack of seating in and around the foyer.
310302,ATripAdvisorMember,04/19/2006,good value The hotel location is near underground and is convenient to Shinjuku area. Although the room is small (my room is a twin room); I think it is common in Japan. The hotel facilities are adequate. The room is tidy and clean. The room rate is reasonable and acceptable for a small family; single traveller or a couple. The only drawback is that the window is too small. You cannot expect having a good view.
310302,ATripAdvisorMember,04/17/2006,Not bad This hotel is tiny compared to other hotels we stayed in Tokyo. The positive side is; their room is neat tidy; without any bad smell; and what surprised us is the in-room massage chair! But we also unhappy with the service we received at the hotel conceige; the staff did not speak English and was not very patient and polite. If they can improve the employee training; I would recommend this hotel.
310302,ATripAdvisorMember,04/14/2006,Small Rooms My wife and I stayed in the main building in a double room. On the positive side; the room was very clean and recently renovated; so it had a very modern feel. The hotel has a 24-hour convenient store inside which was great for snacks. Also there is a bus that stops right outside the hotel that goes to Shinjuku station; which was very helpful. There is also an underground walkway from the station all the way to the hotel.On the negative side; of the 5 hotels I have stayed at in Tokyo; this one was by far the smallest. The room was practically a double bed with 4 walls surrounding it. The 2 feet in front of the bed was not enough space to lay down any luggage. Also the heat from the shower raised the temperature in the room about 20 degrees; and there is no in-room temperature control. Be careful when you check out as if you are past 10am; they charge you an extra $10 an hour. Lastly; the walk to/from the station is much farther than it looks on the map; and the bus only runs until 9pm.
310302,jay12,02/02/2006,Great Location This is a great value hotel in a nice part of town. My wife and made our first visit to Tokyo and stayed here for 6 nights. The double room is small; but not at all unpleasant. Bed was hard yet very comfy. Bathroom was small. Our room had a massage chair; which proved to be a wonderful surprise. There is a 24-hr convini in the lobby as well as intl phones and Internet kiosks. The top floor restaurant is nice. The gov building with the free observation floor is a block or two away; and the train station is a 10 min walk down the main street. Room was around $120 per night. Would definitely stay here again.
310302,JAKAndrew,07/05/2004,very comfortable stay I chose the Washington Hotel because of its convenient location. I found the staff to be very friendly and professional. The rooms are very cozy and clean. The concierge was always happy to provide me with all of the information that I required about hotel services; city attractions; and transportation to and from various places in the city such as Embassies and subway locations. I would definitely stay at the Washington Hotel the next time I am in Tokyo.
310302,銉曘偐銉儎銈銉曘偐銉儎銈adiv,10/19/2008,銉兗銈恒儕銉栥儷 showReview(21001884; 'full');
310302,7575,08/23/2008,銉撱偢銉嶃偣銇?#x201d; showReview(19257249; 'full');
310302,lass,08/13/2008,Best choice for an affordable accomodation showReview(19645837; 'full');
310302,lass,07/01/2008,搴冦亱銇ｃ仧銉堛儶銉椼儷 showReview(19172297; 'full');
310302,lass,06/24/2008,瀹挎硦銇椼仸銇裤仸銇劅鎯?#x201d; showReview(19888761; 'full');
310302,lass,03/27/2008,鏂板銉偡銉炽儓銉炽儧銉嗐儷 showReview(19888004; 'full');
310302,lass,09/14/2007,蹇仼銇儞銈搞儘銈广儧銉嗐儷 showReview(19886101; 'full');
310302,Sainz76,08/04/2007,Buon prezzo; senza fronzoli La foto dalla finestra (attraverso il vetro)
310303,echel,10/11/2008,Uninviting. We reserved for the Shinjuku Star and paid for the whole stay in advance.We passed through Tokyo in our way to Kyoto (we were going to Tokyo and the Star afterwards) and we visited the Star Hotel:noisy; worn out; poor illumination; etc. It was quite unappealing and we rushed to a computer to cancel our reservation; even when it meant losing some money. It was worth it. We foundwithout a problem a nice place nearby and more or less at the same price. echel. Mexico.
310303,lsc314,08/09/2008,Excellent for the price!! I am currently staying in this hotel for the next couple days. And it is exactly what I needed; a bed; a shower; and a place to keep my clothes. The window is frosted affording no view; only light in. This was the cheapest possible hotel I could find closest to the train station. The room is pretty tiny; barely able to walk around after opening my two giant suitcases; but was clean and fresh.The location couldn't be better because you are right in the middle of Shinjuku; a very short walk to the JR where the Yamanote line can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go. However; having said that; if you are staying for awhile and have a LOT of luggage this hotel is to close for a taxi to take you from where the Airport Limousine drops you off. I tried and they refused stating it was right behind the Odakyu buiilding. So I had to lug my back pack and two giant suitcases there; only about a five minute walk though. There are coffee shops; restaurants; and convenience stores everywhere near; and there is a small pharmacy downstairs also.The breakfast buffet had a good selection as long as you are not extraordinarily picky. The front desk staff were super nice and helpfull. So basically if you are looking for luxury; look elsewhere. But if you are looking for clean place to keep your things; sleep; and shower than this is it. Really; for the price paid I couldn't ask for anything more. It's exactly what I was looking for. The last place I want to be in Tokyo is in my hotel room!
310303,iTwins,04/21/2008,Convenient but noisy and cramped First of all; I am still staying at this hotel as I am writing this review. I have sinced stayed 3 nights out of 8. Secondly; I understand that hotels in Tokyo are small and expensive in comparison to other major cities around the world-- we reserved a double room for 4 nights directly online from their website. When we arrived; we were given a semi-double room instead; which was considerably smaller in comparison. Rather than arguing with their staffs whom they speak very little English; we decided to try it out for one night-- Unable to adapt to the extraordinarily small room; we requested a twin room instead. We were provided one with no questions asked. Kudos to the staff for their efficient response-- Don't be fooled by the information on their website. If you switch between Japanese; English and Chinese; you will notice their room specifications were totally different for each language. The Japanese website is more trustworthy. Use Altavista.com's Babelfish to translate to your home language instead.-- The hotel was really 5 minutes walk from the Shinjuku subway station west entrance-- The room temperature is very warm; hovering at 26 degrees Celsius according to the trusty temperature clock that I brought with me. The in-room temperature control is futile. I really cannot feel the difference between LOW; MID and HIGH settings.-- Some of the rooms the windows are locked (no handles to open). You will need to call up the front desk and ask them to open them for you-- If you decide to open the windows overnight; it could be quite noisy at times (police sirens all night every night); especially in the early mornings where black crows sqwarking sp? constantly-- The room comes with a 20 CRT TV with ALL Japanese channels. Curious though...whatever happened to LCD TVs in this day and age and of all places this is Japan where they made most of the world's Plasma/LCD/LED TVs?!? For US$160/night don't you think your guests deserves a cheapo 20 LCD TVs that sell for less than an obsolete mobile phone!? -- No English TV; no problems. At least there is FREE internet in the room. The desk comes with a wired Internet cable but wireless Internet was also detected as well; although I have not tried it. Internet speed was very fast; over 20Mbps or download a full 4.7GB DVD movie in less than half an hour-- Toilet...well; not much to write home about...but the toilet paper is the thinnest I have ever seen in the world - you can see through it. The same goes with the Kleenex on the desk; which has the same texture and seethru-ness. I suspect the toilet paper and the Kleenex are the same thing-- The bed is quite comfortable but the blankets sound like paper - you can very clearly hear the sound of your partner turning in bed. Twin room would help a little.If convenience is what you want; Star Hotel is THE one. Otherwise; for more spacious hotels; look elsewhere!As for us; we have cancelled our remaining 4 nights and decided to move to a less convenient but more spacious and less expensive hotel 15 minutes away. Let's see how that goes...
310303,daz1897,12/19/2007,Convenient and Cheap Stayed at the Star Hotel in Shinjuku in Dec 07. As others have mentioned; the hotel/room is nothing exciting; a clean; functional place to crash after sightseeing or shopping all day. The rooms have everything you need. The best aspect is the price and location; very cheap for the quality and location. They stored our bags before check-in with no problem. The desk staff can be hit and miss; it seems to depend on the person. Two staff members were quite helpful regarding attractions and places to eat; while at another time a different receptionist was quite unhelpful; despite a group standing around doing nothing. Overall; good value and great location; would definitely stay again.
310303,redivan666,10/03/2007,nice priced hotel in the heart of tokyo First of all; i was in Tokyo like 2 years ago; sorry for the late review but i didn麓t use tripadvisor by that time.Well; i spend like 3 nights in Shinjuku Star Hotel; it was in December 2005.The itself is european style so as you can expect there are standar beds and bathrooms. My room had one double bed and enough space to leave the luggage but not many. The rooms are very small but the location of the hotel is superb. Also really clean and without noise. Not much to say about it; but what else do you need?? hehe It is cheap; or at least very well priced and really close to Shinjuku Station where you can take the underground to almost any place and go walking thorugh the street under the huge skyscrapers of the spectacular japanese skyline.Would go back again; and recommend to everyone travelling to Tokyo.
310303,ooFlaneryoo,09/19/2007,Excellent Location; value for money Stayed at the Star Hotel in Shinjuku from 1 - 6 September 2007. I chose it primarily for its location and it sure didn't disappoint. Paid USD120 per night for our 5 night stay.The hotel is a 5 minute (or less) walk from Shinjuku Station. Those who know Tokyo would know that Shinjuku is a behemoth of a train station that purportedly serves 2 million passengers a day. After having experienced it; I can safely say that the statement is definitely true. If you take the Airport Limousine Bus service from Narita Airport; you will alight right at Shinjuku Station outside the Keio department store and (as previously mentioned) it will be a mere 5 minute walk to the hotel.The hotel lobby is on the second level of the building. Staff speaks decent English to be understood and knew what we were talking about. Staff attitude was pleasant though somewhat mechanical; I attribute it to the language barrier. We arrived just after 11am; but was told they are very strict about the check-in time of 1pm. We deposited our bags with reception and went about exploring the fascinating Shinjuku neighbourhood.We were given a room on the seventh floor. It was well appointed but tiny. The room had:-- queen size bed;- TV with only local channels;- empty mini refrigerator; and- attached rather low-ceiling bathroom with bathtub and bidet.There was no in-room safe; so take care to store your expensive items properly.There was no more room to walk once I open up my luggage on the floor area in front of the window. Despite its small size; the room was more than sufficient for our needs - who wants to stay in the room all day anyway?There is a vending machine in the lobby selling Haagen Daz ice cream and a vending machine on our floor selling drinks. We didn't try the restaurant on the same level as the lobby; our booking didn't include daily breakfast. There's a Pronto Cafe and another restaurant (which name I can't remember) on the ground floor of the same building.The hotel is less than 3 minutes from Kabuki-cho; the red-light district of Tokyo. Despite its less than desirable reputation; we found no trouble walking around the area even late at night. There was no discernible noise whatsoever from the proximity either.Other notable attractions within walking distance from the hotel are the countless countless eateries (there's no bad food in Tokyo!); shopping galore (several department stores ENCASE Shinjuku Station; not to mention the others like Takashimaya and Isetan) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Building for its free 45th floor observatory.A truly superbly located hotel at a great price (by Tokyo standards).
310303,SoniaShen,07/27/2007,Great location and nice service I spent two nights at this hotel. The service is good. For me; the best thing is the location. This hotel is easy to find and it is near the JR station; so it is convenient for travellers to visit the famaous spots.
310303,alberich,07/17/2007,Nice hotel. Very well located This is a good hotel; very close to the Shinjuko JR station. From there you can easily take a train/subway to the most important sites in Tokyo. Shibuya is just a couple of stations away. The rooms are relatively small; but clean. Food is very good; with a good combination between western and japanese styles. Staff was always extremely helpful; their service being at least on par with most of the 5* hotels where i stayed before. If you stay there you most likely won't be disappointed.
310303,poweredbyzen,06/14/2007,yokoso; nippon! limo buses from narita usually drop you off in front of the hotel you're staying; but not to the star hotel. the closest drop off spot is at a mall so prepare to walk through a mass of human traffic; 5 intersections; downhill sidewalk; and 50 pachinko parlors that wreak of cigarette smoke. if you have a ton of luggage -- good luck! it was harder for me going back to the pick-up spot to go back to the airport on my return home. went crazy shopping for japanese goods.the hotel -- expect to smell cigarette smoke even if you're in a non-smoking room. even at the lobby; guests are allowed to smoke! what a turn off! the elevators are narrow and the entry way to the room is shoulder-width! you face right and there's the bath and shower. the bed touches the corner and 2 walls; so dont expect to be doing any cartwheels.window opens a bit; but all you can hear is traffic. for the little bit of space; i thought it was a bit pricey. but; i think it was the location of the hotel. you're basically in the middle of it all -- a stone's throw away from kabukicho; the red light district. even the metro/tram stations are nearby. shops as far as your eyes can see. a mcdonalds for breakfast; but i usually visit the tiny bistro downstairs that serve breakfast/snacks/cold drinks. staff was super friendly and bilingual -- though i had to give directions to a couple visiting from the states as i headed out. basically -- a place to sleep and shower with a small tv box; where your knees touch the chair for the dresser if you sit on the edge of the bed. i stayed in a standard room for one; so i'm not sure how big the other rooms are and how pricey.i'd stay elsewhere next time just because i want my limo shuttle to drop me off in front of the hotel rather than walking!
310303,Sammyfloyd,03/19/2007,Excellent location; ok rooms; good value overall A typical Japanese business hotel overall that offers good value and great location. Details:Location: This is its strongest point. It is less than a 5 minute walk from the west exit of Shinjuku JR and its various department stores; and even closer if you want to get on the subway or the Odakyu line. Many convenient stores and eateries are right around the hotel as well. Head east under the rail tracks and you are at the doorsteps of Kabuki-cho and the heart of Shinjuku within 3 minutes. It does face a busy main road so some traffic noise can be heard. Ask for a room facing the back.Rooms: Average business hotel overall; it is clean; not particularly new; but doesn't feel dated. We reserved a non-smoking room and could not smell anything. Bathroom is decent size for a business hotel with a real bathtub; and there is just enough room to lay out the luggage although walking around the room means yielding to your roommate frequently. Bed and pillow are comfortable; but the blanket had some polyester cover so it was a bit stuffy. Twin beds are real single beds so do not expect you can put more than one person in the bed. Amenities such as toothbrush and razors are included. Closet space is very limited. You cannot hang more than 4 things. Free high-speed online access with your own computer. No English TV channels.Lobby and other areas: Somewhat dated but still ok. Interestingly; the ceiling of the elevator really has stars!Service: Excellent from start to finish. Always polite with a smile; and we stored our bags on our last day before our flight at the reception without a problem.Value: Great value for staying at the heart of Shinjuku. Our twin room cost 14;250 Yen per night. Overall: The location and price made this an overall good hotel to stay in. Room condition-wise; I have stayed at better business hotels; but the rooms here are acceptable.
310303,NicC,11/15/2006,Superb location; smallish rooms but can't ask for more This misses out on full stars because our room/floor felt very smoky. From what I understand; you are asked to not smoke in bed but this doesn't mean you can't smoke; so try and ask for a n/s floor.That apart; the location cannot be faulted. Less than 5 mins walk from the west exit of Shinjuku and just across the road from Kabuchiko.Rooms were compact (hard work getting 2 suitcases in) but as always clean and comfortable. A good choice for Tokyo.
310303,orangeman,08/05/2006,Location and service is excellent Normal day on the Tokyo JR line
310303,ATripAdvisorMember,07/08/2006,A nice; well-situated place to stay Very clean and situated quite close to Shinjuku JR Station. Rooms are good value; and not as small as a lot of other hotels in this price range. I found the staff to be very helpful and even more friendly than most other hotels.The breakfasts they do are nice; but you are given an exceptionally small plate (size of tea saucer) which I was a little dissapointed in. Overall a great experience!
310303,tripdetective,12/05/2005,Very Small We stayed at the SHinjuku Star Hotel last week. The good: Great location; clean; as always in Japan-great service; the breakfast was terrific.THe bad: SMALL. We stayed in several Tokyo hotels on our trip; all the rooms were small by Western Standards. But this room was unbearable. I am not kidding; once our 2 suitcases were open; we could not walk. We had to move the suitcase everytime we wanted to open the bathroom door. We had to CLIMB over the bed to get to the other side of the room. There was about 2 feet on each side of the bed to the wall and then a tiny hall (about 2 x 4 feet)where the front door and bathroom door was; which was the only place to put the suitcases. There was no closet; no drawers. For a single traveler; fine; but I do not recommend it for a couple. If we had to have spent more than 1 night here; we would have been absolutely miserable. It was like staying in a bedroom of a small sailboat.
310451,NashvilleReunion,12/23/2008,Delightful place! We stayed here after 3 days in Old San Juan to relax. The hotel was great; check in was quick. I had requested a first floor room (my husband recently had a knee replacement) and they gave us one just off the pool and a very short walk to the sea. The room was pleasant and had plenty of room in the closet and drawers and tons of cabinet space in the bathroom. Also a small bar area with coffee maker and refrigerator. There is a Walmart just a few exits away and I went out and got some snacks and drinks and a $3 cooler to take to the beach. The hottub was huge and actually had a few good jets. Everything was quiet all the time. There is a beach bar; but it is not associated with the hotel; so you can't charge to your room. But they make great mojitos and pina coladas. The wine bar at the horel is very nice. They will serve you in glass or to go cups; if you want to wander. It's a little pricey; but we found every thing to be in Puerto Rico. The restaurant is wonderful. Don't mind the prices. You get more than you pay for. I had some of the best (and biggest) salmon I've ever had! Even the burger is good (we split one one evening and it was plenty). The little coffee shop had great lattes and provided us with all the ice we needed.The desk was friendly and helpful.The pool bar was not open a single time while we were there; that was a disappointment. The rest was great.
310451,PRLOVERBostom,12/21/2008,Good but not great - just book for 2nd visit in Jan 09 Ok; have re-read the reviews and here it is straight. Disclaimer: I stayed last Jan for 4 nights am returning again this Jan for 4 nights but am doing so because I am using Starwood (Sheraton) points for a free stay (same deal last year) BUT WITH ALL THE BEACH SIDE OPTIONS IN PR I WOULD NOT SPEND HARD EARNED CASH ON THIS PLACE. Sheraton only has 1 beach side property (the Palmas Del Mar) in PR after getting rid of the Rio in 2007 which is an AWESOME 5 star RESORT but it now run by Wyndham so no more Starwood point stay :-( . HOTEL:The hotel (as posted by others - this is not a resort) is 3 stars so the rooms are just ok. They rehabbed the hotel at some point and the place looks great but they did not completely redo the rooms (fresh paint only) so the rooms are a little run down. There is no elevator so bags; ect have to be literally dragged upstairs by the bell hop (not a deal breaker but I thought it was a bit odd). The lobby and hotel staff are nice although I found that not everyone is fluent in English so anything short of a simple question sometimes is a challenge. The problem is that the pool side bar restaurant are contracted out and not run by the hotel (although it is in the hotel). So service is spotty very poor at best to keep cost down regularly understaffed (thus the complaints by others about bar tenders missing ect). My favorite move by the subcontracted pool bar staff was watching the bar tender open pound down a beer after arriving to open the bar and start her shift at 10AM; really classy move. I could not believe it but she cracked it open and just shot down the whole thing; I do have to say I was a bit impressed; (she is defiantly in the right line of work). Over the 5 days I watched her mess up 1/2 of the lunch orders not just because she was probably buzzed but because her English was very limited to the point that unless you pointed to what you wanted off of the menu or ordered in Spanish (my wife's Spanish got us by) you stood a 50% chance of not getting what you wanted (I watched this happen every day; very amusing). They serve a light lunch menu - she doesn't cook thankfully only takes orders and makes drinks.FOOD: The pool side bar makes a descent lunch and the restaurant a decent dinner but as with any tourist trap it is pricey but that is generally unavoidable anywhere you go on vaca. There is a beach side bar also that is not run by the hotel (you cant charge drinks or food to the room) friendly staff good drinks but the food is pricey. The daily special is the Durado; served as an entire fish; very tasty but it is not on the menu; just posted on a paper sign with no price so when the bill came I was surprised that it was close to $20 for just the fish. Worth it; maybe; I felt that it was a bit of disingenious considering the rest of the menu items (they serve lunch only) where no more than $10 (sandwiches; burgers; etc) so buyer beware. The beach bar closes at 5 or so get your last pina colada order in before they start cleaning up to close.BEACH:The beach is a short 1-2 min walk from the hotel ( you have to walk through a path on the greens of the golf course). The beach is shared by locals and folks from the many adjacent condos/complexes. Beach chairs are sometimes a premium and even though the Hotel keeps beach chairs for their guests they are often taken by others. The pool attendant does patrol the beach from time to time to make sure that Hotel guests have chairs but it is hit or miss. There were 2 attendants that seemed to alternate work days; one guy was great about attending to the beach the other preferred to not work so hard and avoided the beach only coming down if someone walked all the way back to the pool to get him. The beach is regularly patrolled by police on ATV who stopped one day and asked if my 2 yr old wanted to sit on it for a photo; a very nice unsolicited gesture (no; he wasn't looking for a tip; my guess has a small one at home just appreciated a family enjoying their 2 yr old). So the beach is definitely safe; clean; welcoming.POOL:The pool was not very busy when we were there so we had the run of it for the most part (at times there were a few other people at most). My guess is that guests are playing tennis; golf; horse back riding; beach; everywhere but the pool. Pool side is a great place to read a book and watch the bar staff pound beer mess up lunch orders; kidding aside it is quiet with 3 different pools as memory serves me (1 deeper that is a swim up to the bar; one large hot tub and 1 small kiddie pool.AREA:Impressive gated community with golf carts running around everywhere (we had rented a car at the airport; plus; a baby seat doesn't work well in a golf cart). There are some restaurants but I wasn't overly impressed. I plan to explore our dining options further on our upcoming trip. There are limited options in the community if you need conveniences (market; dry goods; etc) but the nearby town has a Walgreens. I have traveled through different parts of PR the last 2 winters and did not feel very safe in Humacao. There are people asking for change at the intersections (clearly junkies); I have not seen this in the other parts of PR that I have passed through (not that we don't see this in the US or other places in the Caribbean but it does explain why the Palmas Del Mar gated community exists). One other event comes to mind when I saw 3 guys in their 20s shuffling around the hotel; looking out of place (locals - they were wearing jackets - a dead give away; it is winter in PR after all) and then hotel security hurrying after them; obviously up to no good but I was glad to see they were on top of it. One other warning - THEY CHARGE FOR PARKING - PER DAY. I didn't think that was necessary at all felt it was just another way into your pocket. The closet lot is a good walk from the hotel (unless you catch a ride from a golf cart maybe).CONCLUSION:Not a place to go on a honeymoon (or maybe it is) or the once in 10 year Caribbean vaca (or maybe it is) but you get what you pay for so if you compare this place to others it is either a good value or complete rip off. Luckily for me it only cost me taxes and parking.
310451,alfundo,11/29/2008,Very expensive; bad services; ridiculous breakfast This hotel is definitely not a good compromise. My wife and I travel a lot all around the world. This is the first time; we have decided to write on this web site. We are very disappointed.Very expensive (180USD) for a very small room; dirty.The 鈥淐ontinental Breakfast鈥?is ridiculous: 1 bagel + 1 caf茅 + 1 butter (extra butter : 0.25USD). That鈥檚 all !The service is awful.In a few words: To avoid imperatively
310451,portadelsol,10/16/2008,Magic Nights at Fourt Points Palmas Del Mar The Beach at Palmas del Mar Sheraton
310451,jumpoutcop,09/29/2008,Loved Four Points Well; checked in at the resort after a major storm had destroyed most of the south. Couldn鈥檛 even tell the resort had been hit. The grounds were clean and looked just like the pictures. The Sheraton was located in the middle of million dollar homes on a big golf course surrounded by a big fence. The property looked incredible. The resort was empty. Not very many people there which was very nice!!! Had the pool and beach to ourselves. The beach is about a one-minute walk down a path. The beach was nice (not as nice as the Dominican) and the water was clear and very warm. The room was just ok!!! Nothing fancy. The staff at the hotel was very helpful. Everyone was so nice and went out of their way to make you feel at home. The food was awesome!!! Never had a bad meal the week I was there. You should rent a car. There are a lot of nice restaurants on the other side of the property that you can鈥檛 walk to. The casino was kind of small but no complaints. My wife won $1000.00 playing Roulette; which paid for our entire trip. While your there; you must go to Culebra Island on the snorkeling trip. There is a tour company called East Winds that will take you for 89.00 per person for about 8 hours. The boat leaves from a small town about 25 minutes from the resort. BEST BEACH I HAVE EVER BEEN TO IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!!!!! Culebra is an incredible place that makes you feel like you have no problems. Looks like something you would see in a dream. Well we will definitely be back as soon as possible. If you looking for exciting nightlife this is not your place...kind of slow...but slow is good!!!!
310451,NewYorkPapi,08/29/2008,Had a good time. Great location. Lots of room for improvement Small bar and grill on the beach.. in case you get hungry or "thirsty"
310451,kstewsc,08/19/2008,Beautiful Resort...crappy service Palmas Del Mar beach
310451,seegirltravel,08/16/2008,Beautiful Hotel - Terrible Service Pulling up to the hotel our expectations were high. The buildings brightly colored; green lush expansive grounds; right on the beach. The service was horrible. Valet was not present; check in was a pain; the only bar open was at the pool and it was very low on stock. The bartenders were not in uniform and were talking their cell phones. The pool was small and crowded. The pool towels kept at the front desk and not at the pool. After swimming in the ocean we returned to our room to shower for dinner and learned that there were no towels...at all...in our room. They were not available. We had to ask to use pool towels and were told No; they're pool towels. Not shower towels. WHAT? Aren't towels....towels? Room service is not 24 hours. Agh. I will say the bellhop was helpful. That's my only positive service comment. The room was clean and had a good view. So basically if you stay here; pack your own towels; self park your car; plan on going to the beach not the pool; and bring your own bar!
310451,pstvnrgy,08/13/2008,Beautiful property; AMAZING staff!!! I stayed at this hotel August 7-11. It was my first time to Puerto Rico. I was so impressed by the friendliness of the staff. They truly understand the spirit of service. I was there with a friend to help her spread the ashes of her late husband. The hotel manager; Jessica; went out of her way to drive my friend and I to a local church and then to the marina. The concierge; Hector; was awesome! He helped us to rent a car and book a kayaking excursion in the bioluminescent bay; which was fabulous! He also set up our transportation back to San Juan Airport. He even gave us a ride to a local restaurant! Everyone at the Front Desk was beyond accomodating. I went up there one night at 1AM because I was hungry and wanted to know if there was a vending machine with snacks. The front desk lady called the security guard who walked me to the employee breakroom and let me use their vending machine. My friend lost her glasses in the water and Christopher at the front desk checked lost and found and ended up finding a comprable pair to get her through her trip home! Everyone at the property was smiling! The gift shop was out of bug spray and Jessica lent me hers to use while I was there! I would recommend this property to anyone! It was clean and comfortable; the beach is beautiful; and the staff was top notch! Thank you thank you for helping making my first trip to Puerto Rico so wonderful! It is the people that make a place and you all certainly understand that concept! I'll be back someday! ps. I also won $400 in the casino on a penny slot! :) Woo Hoo!
310451,ziblets2004,08/03/2008,Nice for short term stay driving by the golf course
310451,ValueSeekers,05/14/2008,A Terrific Surprise We were two couples on vacation; sampling all the Starwood properties in Puerto Rico; booking only one night at this hotel; not expecting much. We've stayed at some of the best resorts in the hemisphere--the Palmas del Mar was quite a surprise--one of the best values possible.The management was incredibly accomodating; staff couldn't have been more helpful. . The value comes in taking advantage of the facilities of the huge and lovely Palmas del Mar properties that surround the hotel. The golf courses looked great and the tennis center (easy walking distance) was one of the best and most friendly we've seen (hardcourt; rubberized as well as clay courts). The beach is endless and uncrowded.Another astounding surprise was finding one of the restaurants on the surrounding property--Candelero--easily one of the best five restaurants we have ever visited; from Europe to Hawaii. Fairly new; not expensive and with the most sophisticated wine selection in Puerto Rico; we ate there every chance we could. It will be discovered one of these days as a destination restaurant but in early 2008; reservations or dropping in was still easy.The fancy French restaurant in the Marina was disappointing and overpriced. We never ate in the formal hotel restaurant but the breakfast and snack place at the hotel was easy and delightful.The small casino was tidy; had slots; blackjack and roulette and is quieter than most. The wine bar (and sometimes deli) has a good selection. We can't comment on the spa services; but it was nice to know they were available. The rooms were just fine; had Internet service and cable TV; but you wouldn't want to spend all your time inside. At least at the time we were there; we liked the clientele; much less uptight than folks in the luxury resorts near San Juan.OK; it wasn't the Ritz---you couldn't be sure you'd find a beach chair; the rental electric carts were a bit expensive; the pool seemed a little chilly---but this was one heck of a value. We extended our stay as long as possible; then paid four times the price per night at a luxury resort nearer San Juan. There was no comparison per dollar!Allan/Barbara/Carol/Chris from Washington DC
310451,gsf51855,05/02/2008,Stay Away if Possible Due to our firm having a corporate account with Sheraton; we have no choice but to stay at this hotel Been here 12 times in the past 3 months. Check in and valet not a problem. Friendly; courteous; effective. The rooms are another story. Building 2 is kind of strange. i was upgraded and given a room accross from the pool. The room did not have a couch; available plugs for a lap top (I had to buy a plug strip at Walmart); toilet paper; or hot water. The engineering staff advised me to run the hot water for 10 minutes in the morning as too many people are showering at 6am. Kind of strange request; but it did not work. I ended up bathing in the hot tub one early morning; until the engineering staff got the point. The problem... hot and cold knobs were reversed. It took them 3 days to figure it out. The couch was replaced the day before I checked out. the casino is kind of strange. When the players at the blackjack table are winning; they add 2 more decks of cards to the chute. At the roulete table; if you're slightly ahead; they spin the ball very quickly; not allowing you to place bets on several numbers. Don't waste your money here drive 45 minutes to the casinos in San Juan.
310451,NIBOREEL,04/30/2008,Employee Group visits Four Points (Robin; Muneer; Gerard) Waterfall in front of the hotel
310451,Matz53,04/26/2008,Nearly perfect ! Beach bar at the Hotel Beach
310451,TVPhotog,03/30/2008,Same as the others Stayed at Four Points by Sheraton Palmas del Mar Resort over the Easter weekend.As most of the other reviews on this site I feel the same way.The customer service needs some real work with the Resort if they want to be a true four star stay. The person who checked us in was very nice and helpful but after that it was good luck.We are mid-western whitey and cant speak Spanish well and that would have helped a bit more if we did even though everyone spoke English.We stayed with a wedding party and the wedding events were at the Country Club which was on the Palmas property. The Country Club gets it. They have customer service and they back it up with help when needed. The Palmas area that the Members that live there use has a solid bunch of workers who know that the members are their bread and butter.The Sheraton is just a hotel plopped in the middle of the resort property. Rooms were fair but as others have written here the rooms had some issues. Strange layout of the room. No queen size beds only full at our stay. We had a king non-smoking saved for over three weeks. We get there and there is only a smoking king...or the full...two people in a full for three nights at the Resort. Tricky. We didnt want the smoking so we took the full. The placed was packed because of the holiday so we slept CLOSE.Find another place to eat outside the hotel resturant. It is called Sebastian's. We called it Se-BAD-stians. Once again no service...dinner was late and wrong dishes were delivered...and no real apology.I know Island Time thats BS. Do the job. Do it right. Turn the tables and get good word of mouth and this place could make real money and solid tips. DO NOT GO TO THIS RESTAURANT. We had a expensive dinner at Chez Daniel at the marina.Stay here and know it is just a hotel that is average. Fairly close to the beach not on it. Tight Casino with some strange way of dealing blackjack. It sits on a LARGE resort community that is very beautiful. Once was enough at this hotel...if you want to stay look at renting the villas on the property and stay on your own terms.
310451,jbro2,03/22/2008,A nice resort. Me and my wife just stayed for 3 nights. Our maid was awesome. The rooms were nice. The hotel lobby staff were very helpful with whatever we needed. We did not like the beach because the waves were rough; but that is the only reason. The pool is nice; but smaller than other hotels we've stayed at and it does not have any lighting for night swimming however it is still open to swim. The pool bar staff were nice but the food was not nor was the food in Sebastians restaurant. It was awful and they charge above average prices. The david's cookies shop was nice to go to in the morning for coffee and bagel or danish. I would stay again; it is in a gated community with palm trees everywhere and right on the golf course. The grounds were beautiful.
310451,bbrambo,03/20/2008,Don't Understand the Bad Reviews of Four Points?? Down Rt #3-Naguabo-by the ocean-Great Seafood-20 min from Hotel
310451,nadia759,03/17/2008,Agreed - Service Lousy I agree with all of the previous reviews. Grounds are lovely (though not out of this world) and beach was ok. Rooms were totally acceptable. The service was totally subpar. So was the food. I waited an hour at the pool bar for a sandwich which was never made. After the third time I followed up; I heard the staff actually placing the order! When I canceled they were upset with me. Huh? My friend ordered a pizza with pesto at the pool bar only to be handed a cheese pizza. When they asked for pesto; the staff was unfriendly and said there was no pesto. Uhm? Maybe warn her beforehand? Menu was limited and food was blah. Where was the delicious tropical stuff? Its interesting that a resort manager seems to read these reviews. Hopefully they'll pass along these reviews and we'll see improvement. I; for one; am not going back.
310451,wickedced,02/28/2008,Substandard service - but at least the grounds are fabulous We arrived at Palmas Del Mar with the understanding that it was not going to be out of this world; service wise. I had read all the reviews and so we were on alert. The staff did not disappoint. From waiting over 90 minutes for our room to be ready at check-in to not having the room made-up until after 4pm everyday to service at the bar and restaurant that was as slow as turtles; overall there is a general apathetic and disinterested customer service attitude.The beach was beautiful though. And nothing was terribly expensive. Upon returning home - I chatted with several friends who indicated they got this kind of treatment in PR and other islands as well. So evidently this is what Carib customer service is all about.If you go to this hotel - go with a lot of patience and enjoy the beauty of the place. Just try to not let the customer service get to you.
310451,peterwuniversal,02/19/2008,It is not the Ritz Carlton but worth the excursion. It was several months since I visited the property so my exact details may be a little misrepresented; however...The trip to Palmas Del Mar from San Juan was painless and enjoyable. We rented a car and easily found our way to the highway. It took about 1 1/2 hours from the rental car place to the hotel. I called them once for exact directions while enroute and was given very specific instructions with landmarks (very helpful).The highways are very good and the mountains scenery is very beautiful. Apon reaching Palmas Del Mar the entrance and grounds are stunning. Palatious golf course and impeccable maintenance. The hotel is located within the planned gated community and although is not 4 or 5 star; for the price was comfortable. The jr suites in the main building have shared glass walls with the main corridor. I chose to take a deluxe room in a different building closer to the beach and overseeing the pool. The pool was small but attractive and the staff friendly. The beach here was beautiful and very relaxing. Not many people at all and just breathtakingh scenery. Much different than San Juan. I would definitely come back here just for the surroundings and even though the hotel was not very high end; it is one of only a few hotels in the area and worth the trip.
310451,ilove2getaway,02/06/2008,Don't listen to the negative reviews! I admit; I was nervous when I read the horrible reviews. However; when I arrived at the hotel the staff were nothing but accomodating and extremely friendly. Our room was clean and comfortable - there were no odors; wet carpets; or water stains on the ceiling. The hotel grounds were clean and the walk to the beach is less than a city block. The restaurant was great and the prices were comparable to any hotel restaurant. Don't let other people's terrible stays affect your decision. I went with an open mind and had a wonderful time. I was far from disappointed.
310451,msqare,02/05/2008,Major Disappointment I thoroughly agree with all the other negative reviews of this hotel. Sheraton should be ashamed to put their name on this place. The grounds are beautiful and that's the only positive thing I can say. The service in the entire hotel is marginal. The restaurant is way overpriced for the quality of the food and the servers don't seem to care about service. The sheets and towels must have come from a blue light special - certainly not what you expect at a nice hotel. The valet managed to lose the keys to our car and made us 48 minutes late leaving for the airport. We made our flight after driving like maniacs and running through the airport; but no one at the hotel even managed to say they were sorry. Poor service and a run-down appearance. I strongly suggest anyone thinking of staying here reconsider and spend your money somewhere else.
310451,eycmissouri,02/05/2008,Hotel Just Okay I was told to stay at the Sheraton Four Points in Humacao because of the beauty of the area - that's about the extent of the beauty - the area of Palmas del Mar. If you LIVE in a condo on property it can be nice with the golf course; lakes and member only beach areas most guests can view. If you stay at the Sheraton Four Points - Beware!!! The hotel was horrible and not the quality I think Starwood wants on their roster of hotels. We booked a 1 bdrm suite for a whole week - paid A LOT of money - and the room was dark; damp and downright dirty. I had my baby and would now let him get on the carpet it was so bad. The toilet ran very loud all night - 6 calls and fix-it attempts later we just gave up and lost sleep all night. There were stains on the curtains no one cared to wipe away; the carpet had stains; the windows would not lock - and we were on the 1st floor. Attempts to fix these issues failed too. We asked for another room the 2nd day of our stay and it was worse than the first. I was told that's the way their rooms look. What a disappointment and I feel waste of money that could have been spent at another hotel that truly cared about their guests. Oh - the parking is far; the staff in front slightly rude at times and very lax with guests requests. I heard No from hotel staff more times than my 15 month old says No.
310451,musicmanNewYork,02/01/2008,Danger; this hotel will ruin your day. This facility has one thing going for it . Palmas Del Mar is a beautiful place. The hotel is a nightmare. 3 rooms in 18 hours.An electrical problem in a room with a bad odor. A plumbing problem in a suite with a safe that I had to fix.Finally a room that was boarder line OK. Rooms where dungeonlike; uncomfortable beds; old bathrooms and torn and wornout rugs. Very poor service at the restaurant. We were served yogurt that was 3 weeks EXPIRED. The front desk knew nothing about the area which is loaded with things to do. The pool is nothing like its description. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PROPERTY.
310451,Raroach,01/15/2008,Palmas del Mar was great for us The Pool
310451,Acts412,08/28/2007,Relaxing and Quiet We traveled to the Sheraton in March of 2007 as was not disappointed. We stayed for 2 weeks. The first week we had a standard room which was just O.K. This room was directly across from the casino and is loud from about 9pm -midnight on the weekends. This made it difficult to sleep at night. The casino is small but it will scratch those with a gaming itch. Also has a small hold'em game as well as slots and blackjack. The hotel itself is incredible. It's wide open when you enter and it is a very attractive location. It is a place where you can just get away and relax. The pool is beautiful; warm and clean. The ocean is approx. 100 yards away; makes for a great morning wake-up walk. Strong current; decent sand and is steep and short. Not a runners beach. Not like a typical Florida coastline where hundreds of sunbathers can gather. Again; it's a more isolated secluded beach. Very nice. The area outside the hotel has golf cart paths which make for great early morning running. Very humid past 10am.The second week; we switched rooms to a pool side room on gound level. I highly recommend these rooms. Much bigger and comes with a safe just in case you break the casino. I recommend renting a car so you can get around the island in order not to be crushed by the drink and food charges at the hotel. Although the food is quite tasty; burger and fries; great; it is pricey. Find a walmart and get a bottle of Don-Q. A must for any Puerto Rico stay. There were plenty of restaraunts in the near driving area like the Tapas restaruant. Highly recommend the paella; fantastic! We had a light go out in the room and called down to get fixed. The same day someone showed up to repair. The Sheraton also has a coffe shop/bakery. Easliy the best coffee I've ever had! Over all: great vacation; good hotel; good service; extremely safe location.
310451,jgsgroups,07/19/2007,Very relaxing but just OK Infinti Pool Scam I stayed july 2007 and the whole place palmas is beautiful and interesting. My first impression was to watch out for nuts riding golf carts. The parking of the hotel is relatively far from the rooms... It became annoying..The valet parking was Ok but I am not sure of the wait.The check in was seamless very friendly attendants. The beach is scenic; clean but surf is rough. If you are amateur to intermediate surfer this might be ok. But is not good for the kids . Maybe if you walk two miles you'll get to an area that is not that rough but still not calm. The hotel room was humid and there was water leaking. And my good ! I called three times to repair the balcony light and they said that they were going to call engineering to have it fixed. It was never fixed. Probably all they had to do was to change a stupid light bulb but no one came. Bring a flash light if you want to enjoy the balcony just in case. I must admit that I had a great time. The infinity pool mixes with one of the ponds not the ocean like you might think. The pool; chairs etc was very clean they have a bar/grill at the pool which makes it convenient. There are some interesting iguanas roaming around they don't bite.The food is ok. Burgers $10 and huge. Beer and drinks around $5. Beach towels are $30 each if you loose them .. so be sure you get a receipt after turning them in. There are no games for kids but plenty of places to run around. All the neighboring complexes don't allow you to use their facilities but sometimes you can sneak in but you might be kicked out.. everywhere is posted.. private property stay out...No really close restaurants but burger king pizza hut and others are a few miles away.You might not get the beach chairs placed where you want to. The guy that was there John was always making excuses to bring them where you wanted to. Other than that they beach staff was friendly. There are many restaurants around Palmas around 30 of them. Didn't try them. Parking was $12 for guests and $15 valet parking for guests. Locals or visitors can also park there. coffee maker in the rooms ; TV paid $170 per night. I tried to visit beaches close to palmas but found none that were great. I saw the othe place called villas at palmas but there was no acces to the beach other than a long long walk. This is an average hotel and was definetly worth the try and the money. I don't plan on coming back for a decade.
310451,chrisconley,07/05/2007,Patrick.....what a rude person I had the mis-fortune of meeting the hotel manager....Patrick. What a first class jerk. My room had stains on the ceiling and a dusk smell. When I talked to Patrick about staying in another room...I was told I couldn;t because it was booked on the internet. What?The grounds were great....the staff really nice. The food in the restaraunt was very average. On saturday night there were drunks walking around the lobby and in and out of the casino till 2:30 in the morning.It shouldn't be called a resort hotel....it's a hotel inside a resort community.Chris
310451,valarry,06/02/2007,loved this resort i had read the prior reviews on this resort and had even called the westin; 4 seasons that we booked through to see if they had seen the reviews. after reading them; they asked me to contact patrick and explain my hesitance in keeping our reservation. i did that and in talking with him; he was very kind and promised me the best vacation possible. he did explain that they have a tiny frog; that at night comes out and say coque; coque. we found it very soothing; but... if you don't like a constant sound; you will not like this place. we had room 212 and room 214; right by the pool. It was heavenly. there were no ongoing loud noises; other than maybe us swimming late one night. The food was excellant; the beach was one of the best we have been on ; the water is so clear; it is irredescent It was great. I wouldn't recommend driving in san juan or make sure you have the city and directions figured out well in advance. We got lost many a time!! housekeepers came in and cleaned every day and provided clean linens and towels also; very nice !! would definately go back to this resort.
310451,lovetotravel75,03/21/2007,A Beautiful Place To Stay! If you are looking for a very relaxing place to go; this is it. There is no nightlife and you will avoid spring breakers. I have to admit that after reading all the horrible reviews about this place; I was expecting a complete dive. When I arrived at the resort and the hotel; I was very pleasantly surprised. The place was beautiful; especially for the price we paid. If you are going to compare this place to a hotel that you are spending $500 a night for; then yes; you will be disappointed. However; I found it to be fabulous! The hotel was beautiful. The front lobby which was completely open the outside was so nice. You could feel the warm breeze; smell the flowers from outside and hear the birds. The staff was very pleasant with us the entire trip and went above and beyond several times. The room was nice. Yes; if you open the sliders it became humid in there but that's because it's humid outside...nothing the hotel can do about that. I thought the beds were very comfy; view off of balcony of the pool area was very nice. There is one restaurant there onsite. We ate there once and the food was good. Although we are not gamblers; we went into the casino one night just to have fun and spent $10. The pool area is absolutely beautiful. Grounds are very clean. Pool is an infinity pool that is 2 levels. Pool Grille was great. Had a pina cola and burger there. The whole resort was absolutely beautiful too. I hightly recommend rental golf carts as your means of getting around the resort. They are a bit pricey but so well worth it($60 first day; $40 each additional day). You can rent these right at the hotel. I had so much fun with the golf cart! We took it all over the resort...where else can you do that. Hanging out at the beach is so nice and relaxing. There were hardly any people which was great. You can get a beach chair there to lie on. You can also get lunch drinks right there on the beach. Food was good. Another great thing is there were clean bathrooms right there on the beach! Walk along the beach(to the left especially) and you will find even less people and such beautiful sand and water. I recommend going to the Marina for dinner. We ate at the Tapas restaurant. Dinner did take a while to come(1 hour; 15 minutes). I am not sure if that was typical; but the paella was very well worth the wait. There is also another french restaurant. In Palmanova plaza you can get some groceries at the small supermarket. We grabbed some food for breakfast and lunch which saved us some money. I'd also recommend driving all the way down Palmas drive...just drive and get lost. We saw some beautiful 4 million dollar homes with such a great view of the shore. There are also picturesque golf courses all throughout the resort as well as a tennis club. I was sad to leave the hotel and resort. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there and I would go back in a heart beat!
310451,marpet07,03/12/2007,Great location with limitations We arrived midweek and had to wait at the desk since they had only one person working. We did get to check in early and they did have a room ready. We parked our car ourselves and lugged our luggage up one flight. First; they should take the carpeting out and put in tile. It is too humid and wet an area of the world to have carpet. It smelled. Second; they should put in a ceiling fan and rely less on ac that gets too cold and makes the room air stale.Room had no refrigerator and the safe had been removed.It was clean and the bath was well appointed.We were by the pool on the second floor and it was fine.The beach was a short distance but not well marked so it took us a while to find the right path. There was no attendant by the pool to get a towel and no one at the beach to get a chair. I had to search back and forth until I could finally settle on the beach.The beach is wonderful; can have a strong surf. Pool is nice.Restaurant choices are limited at this time of the year. Many were closed in the Palmas Del Mar complex. Sebastians was ok. Had a dirty tablecloth which I asked them to change. Nothing to do at night except casino which is not our thing. Sheraton needs to tweak this resort a little more and it will be a great destination.
310451,MichaelfromVienna,02/27/2007,Very nice if you expect not too much We stayed at the Four points after a cruise of of San Juan. we chose this hotel because of the price; it was the only one offering reasonable rates via our travel agent.from San Juan we took a rented car and went less than an hour to the resort; it was very easy to find; signs to Palmas Del Mar right from the motorway.We did not expect too much after the terrible reviews; so we were positively surprises. Entering the Palamas Del Mar Resort we were very impressed; also Hotel appearance is very nice. Open reception building; very nice pool area.Very warm welcome; since we arrived early only one room was ready; so we could put luggage for both rooms in and got help to move luggabe to the other room later.Well; to be satisfied you have to take some issues in mind:1) This is a four Points and not a Sheraton (so expect 3-4 and not 5 Stars)2) This is Puerto Rico and not mainland US; so everything is slower and more casual3) Majority of guests (especially during weekends) are Puerto Ricans; so there can be many childerns and Party mood.Rooms were nice; although we had some issues; our two bedlamps were just missing; my parents had to ask twice to get deckchairs; since they were also missing on their balcony.Except that we loved the hotel; the Golf course starts right next to the hotel; only 2 minutes walk to a fantastic beach (beachchairs and towels included). we loved to have coffee in the lobby from the Cafe. There is also a restaurant; a winde bar and a little shop in the Hotel.The Palamas Del Mar resort is just faboulous; many villas; a marina and 25 restaurants; none of them can be reached by foot; you have to take you car; or you rent a golf cart for $ 60 per day.Recommendation: The Hotels donsists of the main building and 3 buildings with the rooms. Building 1 overviews the main entrance; building 2 the pool (can be loud since the band plays next to building 2) and building 3 overlooking the backyard. Try to get a room in building 3; its the most silent.Summarizing; we would go back to this hotel just because of the wonderful resort and the excellent location. The minor issues did not affect us since we knew; that we stay in a Caribbean Country.
310451,clyeng,02/13/2007,Not great My check in experience was less than desirable. I arrived at the hotel around 11pm. Checkin was okay until after a minute after I walked into the room. I received a call from the front desk telling me they accidently gave me the wrong room. I told them I didn't mind the room but they said they already re-issued the room to another guest so I had no choice but change room. The facility does not have any elevators so get ready to carry your luggage up the stairs if you are on 2nd or 3rd floor. Once I got into my final room; the light bulbs for 2 of the 4 lamps were out. The TV didn't work and the water bottle was already open. The deadbolt lock on the door also was not functional. I was on the pool side first floor which was easy access. However; it was really really noisy with the bull frogs noise all through the night. Do not stay near the pool side because you might be up all night.Aside from the 1st night getting the room ready; the accomodations were nice. The bull frogs however was another issue. Next time I would request room away from the pool
310451,chophack,02/06/2007,never again! While this hotel is located in the very pretty Palmas Del Mar resort; it clearly caters to a more local clientele. Rooms were very clean; but noisy during my weekend stay. I had to call management to have them quiet down guests in other rooms. The food and service at Sebastian's restaurant was awful. The service and moreover; the attitude of the young ladies working at the hotel coffee shop (David's Cookies) was unacceptable. Clearly; the entire operation has issues. If you must go; go to the Shipyard restaurant at the marina where the seafood fare was outstanding. Otherwise; stay a way from this Hotel!
310451,dogfood,11/27/2006,Community nice but hotel needs a complete renovation! My husband found a special for the Palmas del Mar Hotel and Resort. Although we live on the island of Puerto Rico; my husband had a business meeting near Palmas del Mar. The community of Palmas del Mar is scenic.The landscaping is truely beautiful. The Palmas gardening staff deserves an award of EXCELLENCE. The condos; town houses; beach and country club buildings are all very well maintianed. The hotel however leaves a bit to be desired. The hotel is an older property which seems to be going through a SLOW revival. The front guard house needs a fresh coat of paint. The windows look as if they have not been washed for a while and there is a curtain particailly hanging at one window.The hotel staff is professionally friendly and the lobby is pleasant. However once you pass the front desk you can smell the Casino. Our room was spacious and the layout was comfortable. The carpeting however; was old and smelled musty with small burns here and there. Not even cleaning would help this carpet ( the pungent room deodorizer didn't either). i do not have alergies however; my nose ran whenever I was in the room. The sheets were not very soft and the corners pulled up through out the night. The washroom and water closet; although nicely decorated could have been cleaner.The slotted doors did not efficiently take the place of an exhaust fan. The television in the study did not work. I called the front desk for assistance but was told that there was no technician on duty at that time. The pool area is small and mostly filled with children and parents who seem to think it is OK to yell across the pool at their children. The beach area was NOT clean. We ate at the Sabastian resautrant. The service was good but the food was mediocre. I ordered the boneless; stuffed cornish hen; it tasted of chemicals; the meat was course and the stuffing was barely warm. We walked to the Beach Club which is very clean and has a good restaurant.Again; the community of Palmas del Mar; the grounds; the condos; the beach club; the country club etc is really nice but i would not go back to the hotel until it is completely renovated.
310451,Hiramg,08/07/2006,Stay away this hotel !!!!! I am very disappointed in this Palmas del Mar property; Humacao Puerto Rico.Recently I stayed one night in August 5 2006; but gladly that is was only one night because it was the worse stay of any hotel property I have visited. I had to change rooms three times; the first room 311 had a filtration problem; the smell was horrible it was like entering a humid cave; the conditions were so terrible that the closet and bathroom doors didn鈥檛 close and there was mildew all over the curtains. The second room 206 had a problem with the a/c system and it was too warm to sleep. Finally I spoke to front desk and they agreed to change me again; to my surprise the room was in perfect in appearance and temperature but when going to sleep the room was beside a wine pub near the front desk; imagine trying to sleep with music next door!!! After two calls and about half an hour later the problem was fixed.
310451,safarez,07/27/2006,Extreme Inhospitality The hotel staff overall is amiable; but PATRICK TRACY is arguably the worst hotel general manager I have ever encountered. He refuses to accomodate your needs/requests be it as trivial as to turn on a lamp in the lobby (no; you can not switch it on yourself). He actually told me to go somewhere else when I needed to use a power outlet that he could switch on from behind the front desk...later that day he himself was using the outlet with his laptop! I've been coming to this hotel and am a homeowner of a nearby villa (Crescent Beach) for over 15 years...and sadly the staff and hotel service has been slowly deteriorating...and the irony is that you are paying top dollar for worse service.
310451,ATripAdvisorMember,07/13/2006,Will avoid all Sheratons based on this hotel This was one of our worst experiences - and we have traveled in Africa; Asia; Australia; Caribbean; Europe and North America. The hotel is completely overrated. We arrived early and our room wasn't ready and no other room was available. That was fine - we understood. Two hours later at the 3:00 pm check-in time; it still wasn't ready. Reason: 12 rooms are unavailable because the guests did not check out at noon and we can't locate them. After getting angry about it and demanding an alternate room; we were given one on the first floor.Upon entering the room and setting up the sofa bed for our 9-yr old; we found that the pillow for the sofa bed; stored on the closet shelf; was completely wet because water was dripping from the ceiling onto the shelf. We reported it; but were told that Engineering would check it out. We were given a new pillow. Then the toilet didn't flush because the chain become detached (we corrected this ourselves 3 times during our 2-night stay). When we couldn't locate the safe deposit box; the front desk insisted that there was one. However; when the person came to our room to see for himself; indeed; there was none in our room! He only muttered something about having Engineering check it out and departed.Then all during our stay; it sounded as if someone was in our room slamming the door. The sound seemed to be carried through the vent. It woke us constantly both nights. We also found tiny ants all over the nightstand; attracted by a closed bottle of children's Benadryl sitting there. The whole room felt excessively damp. In fact; the shelf for the TV was sagging; due to the weight of the TV plus the moisture in the room. It sagged so much that we couldn't close the drawer beneath it. At the swimming pool; they were out of towels and the bathroom was dirty.Added to that; the staff didn't seem friendly or helpful at all. We much prefer the Marriott or independently-owned places. The Holiday Inn in San Juan was better.
310451,Lito51855,07/07/2006,Stay away if you can My company has a corporate account with Sheraton; therefore when traveling on business we have no choice. I stayed for 4 nights and would have paid out of my pocket for another hotel if there were any around.The complex is beautiful; as is the hotel. The problems I encountered were:1. The valet service is not quite honest. I called for my car at 7:00 am; and they could not locate the vehicle. I had to take a taxi to my office. That evening I was informed the car was erroneously given out to another party and they did not return until the following day. No appologies; the just told me to park in the self parking area to avoid problems.2. Room service is way overpriced. All the restaurants in the complex close at 10pm. I paid for a burger/fries and a soda $22.50. The hotel has a gurantee to not charge you for the meal if it's more than 30 minutes late. They lied. The meal was delivered almost 60 minutes after it was ordered.Management stated that advertisement should have been removed months ago.3. They need to do something about iguanas finding their way to the rooms. They are nice reptiles that have free run of the complex; but I don't need a slimmey sleeping partner.4. There is no wireless internet in the rooms as adveretised; only in the pool area and the lobby.5. The restaurant is not opened for breakfast; just an overpriced coffee shop in the lobby. I paid $9.00 for a bagel and coffee. I was also told not to eat in the lobby area; just in the coffee shop. Unfortunately they had 2 tables with patron sitting there; while the lobby was totaly empty and ample sitting.Would I ever stay there again; unfortunately I don't have a choice on business travel. Try the hotels in Las Piedras about 20 minutes away.
310451,ATripAdvisorMember,05/31/2006,Great for a weekend getaway!!! Just got back from spending a weekend at this hotel. Our experience was a positive one. We enjoyed our stay. Palmas del Mar is a place to go and relax...if you are looking for a nightlife this is definitely not the place you want to go. But if what you are looking for is relaxation; I recommend it. The room was very nice and comfortable. Service was excellent in the front desk as well as in the pool. Everyone was eager to please us. One negative - stay away from Room Service. You order from the restaurant that is located in the hotel which is not owned and operated by Sheraton. On the menu they promise your delivery within 30 minutes or its free -- NOT TRUE!! They took longer and didn't want to honor the advertised deal. We complained to the front desk; they were happy to take it off our bill but when the restaurant owner found out they had the nerve to call our room at 11pm to argue about it. Still the front desk manager took it off our bill. The food was mediocre! If you want to stay in order delivery from elsewhere!!I would definitely stay at this hotel again.
310451,ATripAdvisorMember,05/27/2006,Stay away! Stay far far AWAY! This property has been through three or four different owners in the six years that I have been working in this area; and when I heard that Sheraton was the new owner; I had high hopes that the new owners would correct the various difficiencies of previous owners.I was wrong.The week that I stayed at this property has been the worst hotel experience that I've ever had. Here are some of the highlights:1. First night was in a room that had no cooling control. If the AC was on; it was on all the time and the room was 60-61 degrees. If off; the room was hot and steamy.2. Spartan and poor quality breakfast buffett that was outrageously priced.3. Poor food in the dining room - again; ourageously priced. A margarita was made from powdered mix - the same stuff that you buy at Walmart in the 10 pound bucket for $3.99.4. Plastic tableware on a room service tray.5. Despite prominent advertising for this; there is no wireless internet access on the property at all.6. I had to get rid of millipedes - big ones; 4 inches long - crawling in the room.7. Most problematic was the impact drilling and pneumatic hammering not more that three feet from my bed (on the outside wall) at 7:30 in the morning; every morning.No apologies from the management; no response to my request to be moved to a quiter room.Very; very poor management that doesn't seem to care at all about guests.I have never been terribly impressed with Sheraton properties before; but somehow; I expected far better than this. Econolodge would have been better; and I would have moved there or any other hotel had another been available.Go elsewhere. This place is the pits.
310451,ATripAdvisorMember,04/24/2006,Great showReview(5003387; 'full');
310451,ATripAdvisorMember,04/19/2006,We enjoyed our vacation! showReview(4989488; 'full');
310451,ATripAdvisorMember,04/17/2006,A grea time; exellent service. showReview(4981863; 'full');
310451,ATripAdvisorMember,03/30/2006,The service truly -- showReview(4822840; 'full');
310451,pkhanna,03/15/2006,Avoid this disaster! showReview(4623375; 'full');
310451,ATripAdvisorMember,10/17/2005,Villas at Palmas Del Mar; Humacao; Puerto Rico showReview(4027597; 'full');
310451,FLSMARK,09/06/2005,Falls FAR short of Starwood quality showReview(3845936; 'full');
310451,lunalunera1214,08/11/2005,Horrible Experience - New Mgmnt/Bad Service showReview(3755208; 'full');
310451,nelcue,04/25/2005,This time around we all fell in love with Palmas Del Mar showReview(3402725; 'full');
310451,BarefootintheparkNYC,02/07/2005,Suburb by the Ocean showReview(3168079; 'full');
310451,todebald,08/17/2007,D茅cevant ! showReview(8441369; 'full');
310780,AteenagerfromEngland,01/05/2009,My favourite I stayed with my family at Hotel Europa last October whilst visiting Italy. My mother had stayed here before and wanted to come back. She was right- this was a wonderful hotel :)Miriam and Gasim were SO nice; nothing was ever too much trouble for them and they always had a smile on their faces.I felt really welcome there.On one occasion; my father and I were chatting to Miriam and it stuck in my mind how lovely she was!!The hotel rooms were beautiful - just as good as some of the museums that you pay to visit; yet I had it all in my own hotel room.IThe Europa is conveniently located; walking distance from the main attractions and five minutes from the duomo.I would strongly reccommend staying at this hotel and I will certainly stay there again when I next visit Florence.Ally aged 15
310780,kdh1716,01/05/2009,A friendly staff and a great location. The view from our terrace.
310780,Kirkmali,12/26/2008,A gem of a hotel in a beautiful city! This was a fantastic hotel! The location COULD NOT have been any better - everything was in walking distance and for a first-timer to Florence it made my trip flawless.The staff at the hotel were extremely helpful and were excellent at providing a great level of service and helpful advice.I fell in love with Florence and my short stay left me hungry for more! I would highly recommend this hotel for its prime location; clean; comfortable rooms and extremely pleasant owners and staff.
310780,nene506,12/09/2008,Great Location; friendly staff! This hotel was perfect for our short stay in Florence; the staff at the hotel were very friendly; and nothing was a problem when it came to helping us. The hotel is in a fantastic location; within walking distance to everything. My first impressions were not great (very small lift to get up to lobby) but was not dissapointed from the time we arrived - everything else was great. Clean large rooms great breakfast was included.Cant beat it for the price!
310780,BlueDevilCA,12/05/2008,Fabulous Location -- Great Family! Great hotel in a fabulous location. No need for rental car -- Duomo is at end of street and Uffizi is 15 minute walk. Gassim; Maria; Miriam and Robert went above and beyond; caring for me when I became ill and treating my daughter and me as family. On top of serving the best cappucino in Florence; they also provide a simple; but adequate breakfast in a very cute breakfast room. Expect great concierge service to meet your needs; warm; friendly smiles; and a genuine caring attitude.The renovated rooms are cozy -- make sure you request a renovated room! The new mattresses are comfortable. The bathrooms are small; but meet the needs. Flat screen tvs broadcast three English-speaking news channels; in addition to Italian and French broadcasts. Everything is spotless and cleaned daily.The elevator is typically European; small and awkward -- tho it meets the needs. We tended to use the stairs.Bottom line; staying here is like staying with family with all the benefits and none of the hassles. And the price couldn't be beat!I would absolutely stay here again.Thanks Gasim; Maria; Miriam and Robert!!
310780,freebird07,11/28/2008,Absolutely wonderful! It is the best experience I have had so far. Hotel Europa; is truly breath taking; It was like you were staying at an ancient Castle. The Hotel; is close to everything and central to all of the Museums and the night life. We saved a lot on transportation; because; everything is accessable by foot. The family that owns it; treats everyone like a long lost family member; and they truly do everything to accomodate and look after you.I will miss Maria; Qassim and Miriam and Robert!I am going back; I can`t wait!
310780,msmith,11/17/2008,Great location breakfast room
310780,Senena,11/17/2008,Service with a Smile I cannot say enough good things about the service I received from the Hotel Europa staff (especially Gasim Miriam). They went above and beyond in making me feel welcome (and helping me improve my Italian); as well as helping me out when a snap transport strike disrupted my travel plans. The hotel rooms were neat; tidy and cleaned daily; the breakfast options were plentiful; and the location couldn't be faulted (right in the centre of things!).
310780,sailingsue,11/16/2008,Felt like a guest of the family This wonderful hotel with his friendly host was a great treat after some difficulties in Rome. Gassim is the owner; and greeted us at all hours with a smile; and by first name. He works tirelessly; at midnight; and then with gusto at breakfast early. The rooms are very clean; and have adorable painted furniture. We had a great courtyard room. Mosquitos are a problem in Florence; and there were plug-ins in the drawers which we found the next day. Our shower leaked out onto the floor; but everything in it looked brand new. We'd love to come stay here again! thanks ;Gassim!
310780,Salltis,11/16/2008,A room with a view A room with a view
310780,JerriaisStLawrence,11/15/2008,Nice and friendly Stayed ay the Hotel Europa for 14days in September and found Miriam and Robert to be very congenial hosts; nothing is too much trouble and they go out of their way to help. They are afountain of knowledge when it comes to Florence and will help to make bookings for musems retaurants bus and trains etc.Room we had was clean spacious and so was the showeroom.So stay here for apleasent holiday at not overpriced hotel F A 2008
310780,travellinon46,11/12/2008,Great hotel ; great location Stayed for three nights at Hotel Europa; and what impressed us most were the hosts Miriam and Robert; they are a great couple and are very welcoming and helpful with advice on activities; restaurants; shopping. The hotel is an excellent location very central to the Duomo; markets; railway station and all attractions that beautiful Florence has to offer. Rooms are spacious and very clean and the breakfast was adequate. Would stay here again.
310780,JuanitaNIreland,11/09/2008,Encapsulates the heart of Florence We spent a few days here at the end of October to celebrate our anniversary and we couldn't have picked a nicer spot. We fell in love with Florence and also with this hotel which; for us; encapsulated the heart of this beautiful city with its relaxed elegance and warm spirit. We had a very 'Florentine' room with a view' and a great bed; the best of friendly attention from our hosts; a good breakfast and a super location. In the grim early- winter days which are fast enveloping the North of Ireland; we think about our 'time out' in this little Florentine idyll all the time and hope some day to return. Thanks for everything. [---]
310780,rungmc,11/04/2008,Friendly clean family run hotel What do you want in a hotel? 1. value 2. location 3.cleanliness 4.attentive staff i look for this first usually will never find it however this hotel provides it all along with a warm and friendly family approach. if you prefer a large impressive lobby with uniformed business like staff in a big box hotel this is not your place. but if you want a great room at a great price in a central location run by a dedicated family this definitely is your place in florence
310780,dewinterEdinburgh,11/03/2008,stolen moments! We decided to take a very last minute holiday in Tuscany - doing it on a 'let's busk it as we go' approach [not like us at all!]The whole week was fantastic; with our 3 days/nights in Florence undoubtedly a highlight.We booked Hotel Europa though www.venere.com - and werenot disappointed in any way. We were expected and welcomed.The position of the hotel made it verey easy to explore - and we felt right at the heart of the city. The room was good; with our every request accomodated with a smile.We hope to be back.
310780,freudiantrip,10/31/2008,Wonderful experience A truly wonderful experience. This family owned hotel is in the heart of Florence; close to everything but when I walked through their doors I felt at home. There's no noise of the city and I had a great patio and view of the Duomo. Miriam and her family made me feel at home from the start. They made reservations for me; recommendations and took care of me while in their hotel. I would never consider staying anywhere else in Florence so long as there's a room at the Europa.
310780,CarrollMaine,10/31/2008,Great location; great hosts Hotel Europa is so close to everything - walking distance to the Duomo; Uffizi; Ponte Vecchio; Accademia and other attractions. Robert and Miriam were so helpful in making reservations for us including finding us a driver to take us to the wine country. They are lovely and gracious hosts! The rooms are large and comfortable.
310780,lovetotravelFlorida,10/30/2008,A little piece of Old Florence My husband and I stayed at the Europa Hotel for 11 days in early October. We chose the hotel based on location; size and Trip Adviser reviews; which were very accurate. The location simply cannot be beat - one can walk everywhere. We wanted a small hotel which would provide somewhat the feel of living in Florence. Europa made that possible. Our room; the Dante; had the feel of old Tuscany and was large; airy and light (two large windows) and super clean. Loved the church bells. Miriam and Robert; the managers (Miriam's father owns the hotel); did everything possible to make us feel like family - not strangers while never being intrusive. We had e-mailed the hotel to make reservations and their response was immediate and informative. They also made reservations for us at the Accademia; Uffizi (which they canceled and re-made when we were not feeling well) and the Brancacci Chapel and when we arrived they greeted us like old friends.This was my third trip to Florence and I had a long list of places I wanted to visit and spend time. Shortly after our arrival; my husband and I picked up some kind of intestinal virus and Miriam was wonderful! Made hot tea for us while she contacted an English doctor nearby who saw us immediately and prescribed medication that allowed us to do all that we wanted to without any sick days. She and her husband Robert also saw to it that our every comfort need was immediately met. Our daughter and her husband joined us there after our first week; and when they arrived Miriam seemed as glad to see them as we were and brought us all fresh fruit juice. When we left; she gave us all wine and Biscotti! Delicious!The breakfast was more than adequate. The small elevator was surprisingly sturdy and dependable (my husband; an engineer; was intrigued by it!) The room quiet; the bathroom spotless and large; and living in the San Marco/Medici Palace area a joy.I highly recommend the Europa to anyone who wants a piece of old Florence while visiting friends
310780,kiwikuppil,10/25/2008,Yes We have spent 7 weeks visiting 5 countries in Europe. This would definitely have to be one of the best hotels we stayed in. We are an active couple in our mid fifties; and were able to walk from the railway station to the hotel - took about 15 minutes with each of us towing a large suitcase.(over the narrow footpaths; with the cobblestone paving a little restricting). Everything we wanted to do or see was within very easy walking distance of the hotel.The couple who were managing the hotel during our stay (part of an extended family ownership) were SO pleasant and helpful. They recommended great restaurants for the two evenings we were in Florence. Our room was spacious; neat and tidy (we think it may have been recently renovated) - the bathroom lovely although the shower cubicle a bit small (seems to be the norm in Europe). And our room looked out to the dome of the Duomo just 150 metres away - woke to the sound of the bells tolling in the morning.Bonus for us was being shown the decorated (14th century?) ceilings in the owner's private rooms.We definitely recommend this hotel; and would stay there again. .
310780,murphykds,10/24/2008,Wonderful Experience I booked the Hotel Europa based on TripAdvisor reviews and I was not disappointed. I would go back in a heart beat. The hotel is about 4 blocks from the Duomo and everything else in Florence; but far enough away from the mass of tourists and tour buses. The managers are wonderful and go out of their way to make your time in Florence memorable. My room was huge and looked out over a courtyard. The dome of the Duomo was right outside my window and the bells rang every morning. Breakfast was typically European and there were cappuccinos and espresso every morning. I look forward to my next trip back.
310780,PCVagabond,10/21/2008,Friendly in Florence My husband and I stayed at Hotel Europa on October 10; 2008 and brought friends back for a stay on October 18. The hotel is lovely with clean; spacious; quiet rooms. The newly remodeled rooms are the best choice. The owners; Miriam and Robert; are helpful in every way - our new friends in Florence. Miriam made reservations for us at the Uffizi and Academia. I would definitely return to Hotel Europa.
310780,SREStAlbertAlberta,10/20/2008,Great stay and location We stayed in a large; very clean and quiet room. Miriam and Robert were very friendly and helpful. They made us restaurant reservations; booked tours and museums for us. The breakfast room was cheerful and they were there to welcome you. The only suggestion would be to have a toaster and fresh fruit for breakfast. We found the location excellent within walking distance to most attractions; shopping and restaurants. We enjoyed our stay; felt safe at night and would stay with them again should we come back to Florence.
310780,PeterBradford,10/19/2008,Great hospitality Great family run hotel. Nothing was too much trouble. Good locality; only a few minutes walk from the centre. Refurbished to a high standard without loss of character
310780,zoorok,10/16/2008,Great Hotel; Great People We stayed in Hotel Europa for 5 nights. Our room was lovely with a courtyard view and the Duomo beyond. It was cleaned to a very good standard and had everything required. Miriam and Robert were extremely nice and very helpful with finding good places to go during our stay in Italy. I'd highly recommend this hotel to anyone; the price was very reasonable and delighted with the service provided :)
310780,Jody1976,10/11/2008,A Wonderful Place to Stay My husband and I stayed in this hotel during our holiday through Italy and had a wonderful stay at Hotel Europa. The rooms are clean; spacious and well maintained. The staff are incredibly helpful; polite and friendly. And honestly; you couldn't ask for a better location in Florence.I booked this hotel based solely on the reviews on Tripadvisor and I was so pleased with the results. The reviews were spot on. We don't have anything negative to say about this hotel. I think what made it so wonderful though; is the people that run this hotel. They did everything they could to make our short stay in Florence easy and enjoyable. Thank you to all of the staff at Hotel Europa for making our stay in Florence so memorable.
310780,scobie101,10/11/2008,Hated it Cold (no heating in October); unhelpful; lousy breakfast; though good coffee. We checked out after one night.
310780,tnitan,10/10/2008,reviews are spot on The reviews are spot on. Great location and excellent hosts (Thanks Robert and Miriam). We stayed at Europa for two nights. We would definitely recommend this hotel. Deserves more than a 2-stars rating.
310780,LeslieL,10/10/2008,Terrific Accomodations My husband I spend two nights at Hotel Europa in September. Our room was very comfortable; clean ;spacious and quiet. The owners couldn't have been more pleasant. Excellent location; within walking distance to the train station. Would return again!
310780,patrichard,10/10/2008,GREAT HOSPITALITY
310780,Mollyhandsome,09/29/2008,OUTSTANDING! Sign on the second floor.
310780,LondonSabrina,09/27/2008,nice hotel with a lovely view Fantastic hotel with a lovely view; the staff makes you feel welcome. the rooms are spacious.A two-star hotel should be a 3/4 star
310780,bigtevellers,09/24/2008,The Best Hotel in Florence We visited the Hotel Europa for the 2nd time in the last 2 years this Sept. We could hardly wait to go back to this hotel as we had such a wonderful experience 2 years ago. We were not disappointed. This hotel is steps away from the Duomo and a short walk to the Ponte Vecchio and many delicious restaurants. It is a quiet hotel despite being on a main street; as almost all the rooms face toward an inner courtyard. Peaceful and relaxing. The one aspect; however; that sets this hotel apart is the family who own it. Gassim; Mary; Miriam; and Robert are exceptional and for us; the Hotel Europa is the only hotel in Florence that we will stay at.Vancouver; Canada
310780,BeancounterTO,09/19/2008,Great Experience! We stayed at the Hotel Europa for three evenings during our trip to Italy. Nader welcomed us and showed us to our well appointed very clean room. We really enjoyed staying at the hotel; with a great location; tasty breakfest (Nader made me cappuccinos every day) and comfy room. We would both highly recommend this hotel; espeically with the great price. (Contact directly and pay in cash).
310780,sarahstravel,09/18/2008,Fab Location My mum and I stayed at the hotel for two nights in September 2008. It was really easy to find with us walking from the train station and it was incrediably close to the Duomo and other attractions. The hoteliers are very friendly; speak perfect English (as my Italian consists of 50 words at the moment!) and are really helpful.The rooms were very traditional; large; comfortable and clean. Breakfast was perfectly adequate and a good opportunity to talk to other guests. The whole trip was great with Florence being a gorgeous city and the hotel being a very convenient and pleasant place to stay.
310780,bruschettagirl,09/17/2008,Great Location; Friendly Folks! We needed a room for one night in Florence; before meeting friends for a week's stay in a villa; elsewhere in Tuscany. The Eruopa fit the bill perfectly. On a very hot day; the air conditioning worked perfectly. The bed was comfortable; and we had a nice view from our window of the hotel's inner courtyard with the dome of the Duomo and the campanile in the background. Nader at the front desk was very friendly; as was the proprietor who we spoke with at breakfast. Breakfast was more than just coffee and a hard roll; it included cereal; yogurt; fresh squeezed juice; breads; and hard boiled eggs. We paid 100 euro; and I doubt that these days; you could get more for your money in Florence.The only downside is that the hotel is a not-so-direct 15 minute walk from Santa Maria Novella; Florence's train station; but it is five minutes from the Duomo; the Baptistry and two minutes from San Lorenzo and the San Lorenzo Market.
310780,davidh709,09/06/2008,Very friendly staff I can understand why there are so many good reviews for this hotel. The hotel itself is in a good location-close enough to the touristy things without being on a noisy street. The rooms are large and clean. However; the thing that sets this hotel apart from others is the staff. They go out of their way to do everything to make your stay wonderful. They had no problem at all booking reservations for us. From the minute we got in (late at night); the staff impressed us. The gentlemen at the front desk greeted us with cold bottled water-which was well appreciated on a hot; August night. The staff was extremely understanding at check out and honored all of our requests. They are all very good people and run a nice; family business. We got the hotel for a good rate and would go back. For the price; this hotel is great. If you will be touring Florence and need a clean; comfortable room to stay in; I would recommend it. For people looking for a luxury hotel with a lot of amenities; remember; this is only a 2 star hotel; so it may not be right for you. For us; the hotel suited our needs and offered a basic breakfast and free wifi; which came in handy. Thank you for a wonderful stay.
310780,SEBUk,09/05/2008,Great Hotel! What a great find! Lovely hotel; comfortable clean rooms and a fantastic view of the Duomo from our window. Gassim and his wife made us very welcome and we would recommend this budget hotel to anyone.
310780,D1223chicago,09/03/2008,I love this place!!! I love this hotel. The staff are wonderful. I have been coming to this hotel every year for 10 years now. The location is wonderful- 2 blocks to the Duomo. They recently remodeled and it is very nice. The rooms are comfortable and have air conditioning. All new bathrooms. The breakfast room is comfortable and they offer a typical Italian breakfast. It is family run and I always look forward to my visit to Hotel Europa. Thank you again for a wonderful stay.
310780,crlep,09/01/2008,Wonderful!! We stayed at the Hotel Europa for three nights in the beginning of July and thought it was wonderful. It was definitely in a great location and if you do not have a lot of luggage; it is easily within walking distance from the train station. The rooms were spacious and very clean. The best part was getting to know Miriam and Robert; they were the greatest hosts! We emailed them directly to book the hotel and they always responded promptly. They were so helpful- they made our museum reservations for us (highly recommended for the Uffizi and Accademia) and dinner reservations as well. Overall; it was a great experience and we will absolutely stay here again when we return to Florence!!
310780,kizzy36,08/31/2008,First class choice Apologies for this very late review. We have stayed in Florence before but for value for money and friendliness this hotel beats all. Very conveniently situated; family-run hotel. The family were extremely friendly and went out of their way to help. It was a special birthday when we were there and they even gave me a present - astonishing - I was very touched; thank you. The room was large and airy as was the bathroom; everything spotless. Would definitely recommend this hotel to all. The only slight downside is the limited choice of breakfast but that shouldn't stop anyone staying in this excellent hotel.Sandra and Nick Osmond
310780,AlideSurbitonLondon,08/30/2008,Top Hotel! What charm and service!We booked this hotel based on reviews already on trip advisor; we were not disappointed! The service was superb; we were greeted with a smile on arrival ;a bottle of ice cold water and to top it all a room with the veiw of the Duomo! I loved the lift; it made me feel I was in an episode of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot!The breakfast was good and served with a friendly charm. The position of the hotel is brilliant within close distance of all the sights.The hotel was an oasis of peace in a busy; vibrant and fun city. We will be back. I can't wait! Traveller from Surbiton; England
310780,Alessiahu,08/20/2008,My favourite When my bubby and I took the luggage on the Cavour Street;we are hunting a hotel (before we didn't book any hotel in Florence).We just met Miriam who took us to get so nice place.We felt lucky and decided to stay four nights .After eighteen days travelling in Italy ;we still say :Hotel Europa ;it's the best one.Because:GOOD SERVICE---just like homeGOOD LOCATION---we can see the duomo of FlorenceGOOD MEMORY ---It's our honey moon and the first time to Europe.Thank you Miriam and your family;you are so nice and make us so comfortable.Hope I will take my baby here again.
310780,TonyBOrangeCA,08/20/2008,Great Hospitality Had the pleasure of staying here with my family; 3 rooms; earlier this year. All rooms were large; clean and comfortable and very centrally located down the street from the Duomo. Breakfast was simple; but adequate. The great joy of staying here. though; is in the hospitality of the hoteliers Mariam; her father and her husband Robert. From the moment we arrived until our departure; they were eager to meet any need we might have. They are genuinely good people and just comforting to be around.
310780,barkleylake,08/19/2008,Wonderful hotel in Florence We stayed at the Europa on two separate nights in July. Miriam and Robert are wonderfully friendly; helpful; and gracious hosts. The hotel is centrally located; two blocks north of the Duomo. It was easy to walk to all the sights in Florence. The room was large; clean and comfortable. Bathroom was very spacious. As we were traveling by train to Cinque Terre; Miriam kept our larger suitcases until we returned a week later. We were given a different room; equally as lovely. Old frescoes on the walls; lovely painted furniture; very good breakfast. Miriam was very helpful in getting my medication from the local pharmacy-even offered to walk with me to translate my needs. I would definitely stay there again and recommend this hotel to all.
310780,debaeiou,08/17/2008,Lovely experience Very clean and quiet and right in the heart of Florence; this extremely inviting family-owned -and-run hotel made our family's visit very; very comfortable. Thank you; Miriam; Robert; and Miriam's father.The Tysons and the Jessups
310780,anamericaninlondon,08/16/2008,my favorite I found Hotel Europa in a book entitled cheap hotels--the word cheap got me interested but the writer and her photos did not do justice to what might be; as my review's title suggests; my favorite hotel. ever. The hotel is located on the first and second floors of a beautiful old building on Via Cavour; across from the Medici Pallazzo. Supposedly the building has; at different points in its history; been a convent; a finishing school; and palace bought by Franz Liszt for his mistress. The rooms are bright and unusually large; and many have lovely; cracking frescoes painted on the ceiling. The bathrooms are also roomy; and most have bidet's. It's a short walk from the Duomo; which one can see from several of the rooms' windows. There are also several tourism offices on the street so the area is quite practical.Hotel Europa is staffed by a lovely multi-lingual family; who can offer great sightseeing advice and make a fantastic breakfast; and generally do an excellent job of making one feel welcome and comfortable. Rarely is such efficiency paired with such warmth. Bravo!
310780,GandR8,08/15/2008,Best Hotel in Florence!!! This review is way long overdue!!!Florence; Italy is one of the most beautiful places I've ever travelled to. Every inch and square of this magnificent city is filled with such beautiful things and unforgettable landscapes. One of the things that made our trip so fantastic was our stay at Hotel Europa.Hotel Europa is not just a hotel; it is an experience. Waking up to the sounds of the bell ringing from the tower of the Duomo was pretty special. The cheerful greetings from the hoteliers (which words cannot express how lovely they are) every morning and night; made you feel like you were right at home. The rooms embodied a touch of romance; the hand painted furniture and the great windows that opened to the view of the top of Duomo. And with all that; the rates were reasonable. And if location is a concern; this hotel is smack dab in the middle of everything; only minutes away to all the historical sites!I would recommend this hotel to anyone. If ever I get the chance to go back to Florence; I would definitely stay at the Hotel Europa! G + R
310780,BadgerRun,07/29/2008,Great hotel Hotel Europa is a great value place to stay in Florence. A really good location to explore what Florence has to offer.Family run and really friendly. We had a great room with a balcony and view of the Duomo.It is just round the corner from Galleria Academia and a short stroll to just about everything else.A great stay and would love to return.
310780,BeHappyM8,07/28/2008,So warm and welcoming No matter how hot the day was; it couldn鈥檛 have been any warmer than our welcome at Hotel Europa Firenze. Miriam welcomed us by name saying how much she was looking forward to meeting us because she thought she already knew us from our emails. Within minutes; we thought that we already knew her too. Friends in minutes.It wouldn鈥檛 have mattered what the room was like after that but the room was great. Our room; No 47; a newly renovated double superior room had a nice; big; comfortable bed; big TV; modern though small bathroom and a balcony with a view to the Duomo. Breakfast was ample and varied; coffee was hot and how we liked it. The breakfast room also had an internet computer. We had asked Miriam to pre book us tickets for the Uffizi and the Accademia and of course; our Reservation numbers were waiting for us. This is a must. No waiting in lines for us! Miriam also gave us some great restaurant suggestions.The hotel is situated a couple minutes from the Duomo; on Via Cavour and just around the corner from the Galleria Dell鈥橝ccademia making it very central. It was undergoing renovations whilst we were there not that we were bothered by noise at all and was due to be completed by the end of June. We would definitely return to see how it turned out and would love to see Miriam again.
310780,jlockepac,07/24/2008,Excellent hospitality My husband and I recently stayed at Hotel Europa for three nights on our honeymoon. Of the 4 places we stayed at in Italy; Hotel Europa had the best service of all of them by far. When we checked in; they gave us a large bottle of ice cold water and upgraded our room to a larger room free of charge. The beds were a little on the hard side but I know some people prefer harder beds. The rooms were very neat and cleaned daily. Breakfast was simple but the cappucinos were great. Miriam was very helpful and called both the Uffizi and the Accademia for us to make reservations. The hotel was centrally located and a short walk to most sites. Lastly; we were given a bottle of chianti wine when we checked out as a gift for staying with them on our honeymoon. I thought this was a real special touch to our stay.
310780,ItalyLoverTN,07/21/2008,Friendliest staff we've ever met We just returned from an 8 day stay at the Hotel Europa in Florence. The best part of the hotel was the family who runs it. They were so helpful with everything; from restaurant suggestions to booking museum visits and tours. We were greeted with a smile and wonderful coffee; cappuccino and croissants each morning at breakfast; which is included. They even gave us a gift when we left; and I have never had that happen before! The location of the hotel is perfect. It is right in the center of town; all of the main attractions of Florence are within walking distance; such as museums; churches; and shopping. After a week in an apartment in Rome; the amenities of the Hotel Europa were a welcome change. The air conditioning worked fabulously! The hotel is kept very clean; and the maid service each day was very nice. Also; unlike many European hotels; there is an elevator; which is convenient for all of your luggage; and your tired legs after a long day of walking! The price of this hotel is very reasonable; especially for how nice it is! We would highly recommend it; and would stay there again if we returned to Florence
310780,jaknjul,07/18/2008,Liked this Hotel! Our family of 5 stayed one Friday night in June and the experience was great. We were upgraded to a bigger room when we arrived (without even asking) that was right next to the breakfast room. It was very nice with beautiful frescoes painted on the ceiling. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We were meeting friends in Florence and they ended up helping them with cabs; recommendations; etc. too. The location to the points of interest was good; the closest being the Duomo. I would definately stay here if we pass through Florence again.
310780,TravelDelaware,07/17/2008,Excellent for budget traveller This hotel is perfect for those on a budget. The location is perfect and service was over the top. The front desk was one of the best we have ever encountered. They worked their tails off to make sure everything was perfect and that we felt as if we were guests in their home.The amenities were sparse (No lobby bar; stark entrance; minimal breakfast); but if not important to you; this is the place to stay.Very clean and safe. Within 5 minutes of the wold's cultural icons.I'd go back!
310780,pop101dk,07/16/2008,Room with an almost View We visited Firenze and stayed at Hotel Europa 3 days in July 2008.The hotel is situatet on a road with a high traffic volume very close to the Dome; which is excellent if one wish to feel the pulse in the center of Firenze. Our room had a nice view to a backyard with treas and rooftops as well as the sound of the bell towers (positive); otherwise the room (and the hotel as a whole) where really quiet.Our double room where large and clean (no bedbugs). The cleaning of the room; making the bed and changing of towels where made on a daily basis.The staff/owners where very kind and did everything to make our stay as comfortable and easy as possible.The price for the room where very reasonable but included a breakfast which we felt could be a lot better (if added some fresh fruit; better cheese (local ?) proper ham (etc) and proper service instead of plasticcups.All in all we recommend Hotel Europa to all who wish to have a pleasent stay in Firenze; Italy
310780,geoffpm,07/12/2008,Truly; a home away from home What a wonderful hotel ! We arrived on the first day of a major heatwave without our luggage which was left behind in Paris by Air France. Miriam was such a gracious host. Since we were exhausted and hot; she provided a triple room before the normal checkin time. The room was large with high ceilings with large beds. The only negative was that the air conditioning didn't work. So ; after a nap; we changed rooms to one of the newly renovated room a floor above. Miriam was welcoming and let us move to the new room. Thankfully; the air conditioning was new and fantastic. the view from the window was of a backyard garden and parking area with the duomo in the background; birds flying all around. Flat screen TV and wireless made the entry into Florence easy.Miriam's husband and her father Gassim are exceptional Hoteliers. They speak english perfectly and are very helpful and guide guests to some of the best places in Florence.Miriam called Air france for me and our bags appeared late the first day. According to her; we were the first in many years to get our bags the first day.Breakfasts are fine. An espresso machine that makes great Capuccino; fruit; yogurts; pastries; boiled eggs; cold cuts and cheese make it easy to get energized for the day. The hotel is right around the corner from the Accademia and Michelangelo's David; two blocks from the Duomo and two blocks from the Central market - a must see in florence. We can recommend a few places to eat- ZaZa in the central market square where i had some of the best pasta with clams and a tuscan rosato at a reasonable price. Da Mario; next door to ZaZa is only open for lunch and is one of the few old style florentine restaurants. You sit at a table with others; the waiter comes by and tells you what is left on the menu and you eat amazing fresh food in a friendly convivial atmosphere. Get there early or there won't be much left on the menu. I can't give the Hotel Europa a higher review and thanks. they made our stay in Florence like staying with friends.
310780,mangie,07/09/2008,Pleasant Stay; Great Hosts My husband and I stayed at the Hotel Europa the first week of June 2008 for 4 days and loved every minute of it. It was a short walk from the train station but it was a little difficult wheeling our luggage on the streets. Upon arrival; we were a little confused and could not find the front desk due to the construcion. There was a construcion worked that told us it was one more floor up; so up we went. The hosts were absolutely wonderful and very helpful in every way. I can not say enough kind words about how well and respected we were treated. We were shown to our Superior Room which was great. Very clean and spacious. We loved the Tuscan decor and tile floors. The bathroom was spacious and they have best hairdryers then any other hotel we stayed in during our trip to Italy. The air conditioning worked great; almost too good; it did get a little too chilly in the room during the night. Nothing a little adjusting couldn't fix.Breakfast was included in the price and was just perfect to get our day of sightseeing going. It was a buffet style that included croissants; cereal; bread; ham; cheese; yogurt; etc. The location was just perfect; we were able to walk everywhere with no problems at all. Only 5 min. to the Duomo; 15 min. to the Uffizi and Arno. We e-mailed the hotel prior to our visit to make reservations for us at the Academia and they sure came through; thank you again for all your help. I highly recommend the Hotel Europa; its well maintained; great value and excellenet service. We would definitely stay here again. On our departure; Gassim called us a taxi; which arrived in like 2 min. and even helped bring our luggage to the taxi. He was just too helpful.I do have to mention; if your looking for a great place for dinner; Aqua Al 2 was fantastic. We just happened to stumble upon it and what a great find. The food was outsanding and the wine was superb. Make reservations or go early; this place got packed.
310780,LikeToTravel709,07/03/2008,Wonderful hotel and kind owners I can't say enough good things about Miriam and her helpful dad. Before our arrival; I email Miriam with questions related to sightseeing and museum reservation. She replied promptly with suggestion. We were not disappointed when we arrived at the hotel. From the moment we walked in to the time we left; the family treated us with kindness; and always helps with a smile on their face. The room we had is spacious; clean and modern. The hotel location is superb. The breakfast was great with fruit; meat; cheese; bread; yoghurt; and cereal. I just would not find any fault in this hotel. The hotel rate it 2 stars; but the overall deserve 5 stars.I will not consider any other hotel except this one if we go back to Florence again.Miriam; maybe one day our daughters can play music at your hotel's dinning room together.
310780,relay1112,06/22/2008,Good value The Europa is a pretty good hotel. We got into a deathtrap of an elevator to ascend to the second floor; where upon check-in the man behind the desk asked for our passports; then told us he'd show us our room -- while leaving the passports on his desk. We were a bit unnerved by this; so we asked if we could stay while he took our information; but he refused this and started walking towards our room anyway. We followed him; then returned to the desk; where he copied all of our information and asked me to sign a sheet in Italian. We asked what it was for; and he simply said; For terrorism. You register with the police. Then; a sarcastic sorry. Not the warmest of welcomes!As it turned out; he was a nice man; but was very set in his ways and didn't like to be questioned. He did let us hang out in the lobby for a few hours after our checkout before we took a train out of town; and he even brought us bottles of water.Anyway; the location of this hotel is superb. Five minutes to the Duomo; ten to the Uffizi and the Arno; ten to Santa Maria Novella train station.Our room was nice and spacious. The decoration is nice; very Tuscan. Our window opened up to a quiet courtyard. Unfortunately; our TV was so old it didn't turn on; the windows had no screens (so we suffered through mosquito infestations); and the bed was not very comfortable.The bathroom was okay -- the shower inexplicably sprayed out into the center of the bathroom and blew through the non-waterproof shower curtain. This resulted in a huge puddle in the middle of the bathroom; and the shower could not be adjusted. The bathroom was; however; a good size.Breakfast was okay -- croissants; bread; yogurt; and fruit -- and was included. The meal is served in a charming room with a reproduction of Boticcelli's The Birth of Venus on the wall.Bottom line: the Europa is a value stay with good service. If you only want to spend 100-150 euros; consider the Europa for its location -- but don't expect the amenities to blow your mind.
310780,shoppit,06/17/2008,A Wonderful Hotel We stayed at the Hotel Europa for four nights in mid-May 2008. It is a wonderful hotel two blocks from the Duomo with a lobby; breakfast and guest rooms on the first (not ground) floor and the remaining guest rooms on the second floor. They are in the process of building a new lobby on the second floor. The breakfast buffet was fresh; tasty and on par with the other Italy hotels we stayed at.Our room; #47; was reasonably sized; comfortable and faced a quiet courtyard. It had a modern theme; with beige stucco walls and a tile floor. Amenities included a large comfortable queen bed; two safes (one large enough for a notebook); wall mounted 30 plus inch LCD TV; refrigerator; in room wireless internet (free; but in six hour increments). The bathroom was small; but easily accessible.For an extra 10e per night; this room included a balcony with a wonderful view of the Duomo. Unfortunately; it rained every day there and we never got to use it. Along with this; the humidity hatched an extra supply of mosquitoes; so opening the (non-screened) doors to the balcony was out. Another issue was that the balcony had another set of entry doors from the hall outside our room; so one day we came back to find another couple sitting on our (private?) balcony. I鈥檓 sure the balcony would be great under the right circumstances; but it didn鈥檛 work for us.Miriam and Gassim were charming and knowledgeable hosts; providing everything from museum reservations to touring information with ease. While dining is very subjective; we found a row of restaurants two blocks from the hotel on Borgo San Lorenzo that each offered very tasty and affordable touristico specials. In summary; we enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Europa and would not hesitate to return. It is in a very good location; quiet; well maintained and an excellent value for the price we paid.
310780,paultry,06/13/2008,Excellent choice I picked this hotel based on good reviews on Tripadvisor and I was not disappointed.Firstly; the location was excellent - about 10-15 mins walk from the train station and close to all major sites. Duomo/Academia were only 5 mins away; Uffizi 10 mins. Plenty of amenities around: cafes; restaurants; laundromat; supermarket; etc. While the hotel is on a main street; our room (called 'Michelangelo') was facing a courtyard and was very quite. Secondly; the room was spacious and clean. Nice to have a tiled floor for a change! We liked the florentine furniture; very elegant. Thirdly; the guy who welcomed us to the hotel was excellent; a gentleman - forever polite and could not do enough for the guests. We arrived early in the morning(i.e. before check-in time); he let us deposit our bags and made us two cappaccinos before we set off signtseeing.
310780,jtic,06/12/2008,A Perfect Honeymoon! This was our 1st trio to Florence. We had an amazing time in such a beautiful city. When we arrived we were shown to our room by Miriam; who returned shortly afterwards with a cool drink of juice and a map; she explained all the best places to go. ALl of the staff at the Europa are friendly and will help you in anyway that they can. Miriam told us about Za Za's restaurent and it was the best one that we visited; entirely reasonable with amazing food. Would recommend the wine tasting tour through walking tours as it was great and you get to see so much. Our hotel room had a fantastic view of the Duomo as we had opted to pay more for a room with a balcony; lovely to sit out at with a glass of wine after a long day of sightseeing. Hotel was clean and well kept. Breakfast was fairly basic; ham; cheese; bread; crossiants and cereal but the coffee was fab. Would definalty go back to Florence and pay another visit to the hotel Europa!
310780,mmminla,06/11/2008,Well-located Hotel Europa We visited Hotel Europa in late May 2008 as part of our first trip to Florence. It was my goal to book a comfortable hotel at a good price; but I was not looking for budget-type accomodations. Here is the quick version of our review:PROS:* Great location just a couple of blocks from the Duomo; and across the street from the lovely Medici-Ricardi musuem* Recently upgraded rooms* Our room had a view of the top of the Duomo and charming residences surrounding the hotel* Bed was comfortable; while not plush* Very helpful staff - seems to be family-run; and they were eager to do anything to pleaseCons* Room decor; while new; was very utilitarian and not particularly attractive* Shower was ridiculously small; bumped elbows a million times against the door* No counter space in bathroom* Staff left the window open and my boyfriend was eaten alive by mosquitos - don't leave the windows open; no matter what!* Very limited breakfast selection - cereal; mortadellaOverall; Hotel Europa was an okay hotel - it didn't add to or detract from our wonderful Florence experience. Frankly; Florence is so fabulous that it really doesn't matter where you stay!
310780,Ajan44,06/07/2008,Great find We were taking a short break in Florence to see as much of the famous sites as we could in a short time. This hotel was just perfect; centrally located; easy for walking about with eateries close at hand. Many of the sites of interest are 2-5mins away (even a book shop selling english books). We could pop back for a rest when the feet needed a break. There was a fridge in the room for cold drinks/picnic food and the bathroom was newly refurbished; clean and well equipped and there was constant hot water. Our room was spacious and we had a view of the Duomo. The hotel is family run and we received a warm welcome and brilliant service. English is spoken. Free internet connection was a bonus as was the loan of a bottle opener! Renovation work was going on on the ground floor; and the second; so keeping the place clean and keeping it running efficiently must have been a headache but they did it. The place was spotless. The only possible downside was that it was a bit noisier in the the day because of the work (a temporary problem) and the breakfast room is disrupted. The temporary accomodation is a little cramped with no natural light and the choice of food is adequate but would benefit from the addition of fruit and some whole grain bread/crackers. This is a city hotel so don't expect the garden or the pool but do expect an oasis in the middle of a busy city. It is run by people who have travelled and who care for the comfort and happiness of their guests. Nothing is too much trouble.
310780,uofallb08,06/06/2008,Amazing Stay View from the room
310780,Travearth,06/05/2008,Comfortable and Pleasant Stay Hotel Europa in Florence was a good option we had picked for ourselves for our 2 day stay at Florence. Very clean beds; toilets(recently renovated hotel); friendly English speaking staff; decent breakfast spread. Located quite close to the Academia and not far away from the Church and Uffizi. The rail station is a few bus stops away; but easily approachable. Reasonable priced; and we got ourselves a good deal. The Turkish restaurant opposite the hotel is a blessing for travellers from the Orient as they serve curry and rice.
310780,CharlieMontereyCA,06/03/2008,Fantastic stay in every way My daughter and I stayed here for 2 nights; it is fantastic. It is family operated and they treat their guests like family. The room was clean and recently renovated; but most importantly; it was quiet although it is situated only minutes from the Duomo and David. Breakfast is fine; nothing fancy. Wonderful location for sightseeing and the bus/train terminal. They gave discount for payment in cash. I would definitely stay here again.
310780,wonderfulworld,05/29/2008,Great Location for Sightseeing This hotel has a perfect location for walking to all the important sights.We had a very large; quiet room with high ceilings (#37). The bathroom was unusually large; too.Breakfast was o.k.; but the quality of the baked goods was not as good as we had elsewhere. Also; breakfast was served in a make-shift breakfast room because the reception area and breakfast room were being remodeled. The food may taste better in the more attractive surroundings.The staff was pleasant and helpful.While searching for a restaurant recommended by one of our guidebooks; we stumbled on a delightful restaurant at which we ate several times: Hostaria il Desco at Via del Terme 23; which is near the Rialto Bridge. This restaurant; which opened less than a year ago; is already popular with locals. They have great prices and delicious food. Check out the special lunch menu and ask for the set dinner menu.
310780,TravelinMarshmallow,05/28/2008,Unbelievable Reviews... Seriously I've waited for months to enter this review because I didn't want to be unfair. What WAS unfair was paying a moderate rate (over 300 euros/night) for what was possibly the dirtiest; smallest (shower was OVER the toilet) most uncomfortable room ever. The carpet was so soiled we had to wear shoes in the room. Bedspread was dirty. Furniture looked like 1950s motel version. I've stayed all over the world; and still can't believe I put up with this. I can only think the hotel must have been overbooked; and we checked in late; and were given a room normally used for storage. We were tired; and couldn't face switching hotels during high season; so we survived two nights here. The family who runs the hotel was nice; yes; but the conditions were deplorable. I wish I'd pursued some kind of restitution. Even that wouldn't have made up for how awful this experience was. And I brought my husband here to celebrate his 50th birthday. Very sad. I'm sick every time I think about it. Luckily the Cinque Terrre and Rome hotels; with accurate reviews on TripAdvisor; helped cancel out this memory. Live and learn.
310780,Calfie,05/19/2008,Amazing We are a couple and stayed in the quad bed suite at the front of the hotel. It had 2 rooms; although we only utilised the main bedroom. The room was spacious and nicely decorated; and most importantly very clean.We were very impressed with the professionalism; friendliness; down to earth and helpful staff; nothing was too much to ask.This hotel was by far the best on our 4 city trip.Will definitely return in the future and highly recommend this hotel for anyone staying in Florence.P.S. The hotel is currently going through renovations; we saw several rooms. They are all fantastic.
310780,lil216park,05/14/2008,Wonderful family-run hotel It was undergoing some construction on the 2nd level at the time; but it didn't take away from our stay at the Hotel Europa. It is family-run; and every member at the front desk were friendly; helpful; and considerate. I think the first floor was recently redone because everything seemed new. Our room was spacious and clean; and the bathroom was more than adequate. The window faced the parking lot in back with a view of the Duomo; so it was very quiet. You can't beat the location--close to all the sights and within walking distance to the train station. Breakfast (mainly pastries) was included.
310780,TravelEndlessly,05/11/2008,Best Value Hotel in Florence This is a great hotel in a great location. It feels more like a family run bed and breakfast than a hotel. Room was very clean and modern 鈥?better than the star rating suggests. I would highly recommend this to anyone. Renovations didn鈥檛 interrupt our stay and should be finished shortly.
310780,takeoff321,05/09/2008,Wonderful - perfect hospitality! You could not ask for nicer hosts or a better location. Close to everything. The rooms are fine; nothing extravagant but nice and clean and very roomy.The best thing about this place are your hosts. Their website says Miriam; Robert; Gassim; Mary and all the staff are ready to host their guests with individual attention and care... and that's exactly what you can expect.I can't say enough about how wonderful everyone was during our visit.I would not hesitate to stay here again on my next visit to Florence.
310780,brcorley,05/06/2008,Wonderful stay. We just returned from our first trip to Italy. We chose the Hotel Europa for our four night stay in Florence. The owner and his family were extremely polite and helpful to us. The rooms were quite clean and ours had a view of the Duomo. This Hotel had an excellent location for getting to the markets; Duomo; Uffizi; Accademia; Ponte Vecchio; etc. It is right in the middle of everything; but also very quiet when you need to rest. They provided us with a continental breakfast every morning; which included yummy cappucino; which I miss already! If we ever get a chance to return to Florence; I would most definitely stay here again.
310780,GMavr,05/04/2008,Excellent service; great value for your money First time in Florence; we had made quite a research before we decided to cancel other reservations and book with Europa. The location of the hotel is great; a short walking distance from the Duomo and very close to Accademia. The room we stayed in was recently renovated with good taste; as in the pictures; with a comfortable double bed; wifi internet; TFT screen; brand new bathroom with shower cabin and a balcony with a good view of the Duomo dome. One of the really strong points were the hosts! The hotel is family run and the hosts were excellent! Very polite and helpful; always eager to give information about restaurants; excursions; they even made reservations for tickets for the museums we planned to visit. In a nutshell; good rooms; great value for money; excellent hosts; great location; keep it up!
310780,WorldlyGirl,04/27/2008,Supreme Service; Wonderful Location There are so many recommendations for accommodations in Florence that it is hard to decide what to do. I travel to Italy for a month every year but really had not ventured to Florence. This year was the year. I decided on Hotel Europa because of price; location and the ability to accommodate three people in one room.From start to finish; I have nothing but wonderful things to say about this place. Miriam and Robert are the consummate hoteliers; tending to our every need; request; and service. We were traveling with a honeymooning couple this time; who had never been to Europe before. I know they had many questions and concerns; but let me tell you; Robert and Miriam put them at ease and made their trip a joy. There was no question too simple for them to take the time to answer.The rooms were very large; by European urban standards. They were spotless; particularly the bathrooms. Don't expect a view; unless you want to pay three times the price elsewhere. We were rarely in our room; nor did we come to Florence for a window view. The triple room we had was downright enormous; and could have easily slept a dozen folks elsewhere! Who would have known?It is a stone's throw from the Duomo; and an easy walk from the train station. Enjoy!Bonnie Guzman
310780,CKandKKTan,04/24/2008,Excellent Hotel with a beautiful room; helpful staff and great location We stayed at Hotel Europa for 2 nights. Great clean room with a view of the tip of the Duomo. Nice bathroom as well. Easy location to everywhere. Never used public transportation except for bus from train station to hotel. When we left; we were able to walk to the station. The staff is so friendly and helpful. Breakfast was completely sufficient.They are on the second floor so if you have a lot of luggage; take heed. There is an elevator; but it is small. My wife and I each had a large suitcase and two carry bags and had no issues. Loved this place and would stay there again in a second.
310780,pamjazz1,04/10/2008,Great location; wonderful hosts! We stayed at Hotel Europa in September 2005 and returned with our two teenaged children this year. The location and value of this gem cannot be beat. It is a 5 minute walk to the Duomo; Florence's historic center and the Ponte Vecchio. The Hotel's second floor is currently under renovation but the work did not disrupt our stay in the least. Miriam and Gassim were wonderful; making restaurant reservations and helping us with directions; etc. The rooms we stayed in on the first floor were newly renovated with modern baths; comfortable beds and a partial view of the Duomo. We awoke every morning to the sound of the bells from the square. The hotel has an elevator. Breakfast was adequate and the coffee was great. We would not hesitate to stay at the Hotel Europa again. Miriam and Gassim made it feel like home away from home.
310780,travelers35,04/07/2008,our home in Florence. Perfect location. Huge rooms.Perfect service.Simple but clean. A wonderful family welcoming you every day and night. They make you feel at home. We will definitely go back again.
310780,AlexGMty,04/02/2008,Great Great Hotel... Wished Was The Same Everywhere.. We stayed at this hotel in march on our 10th aniversary; we booked it based on the reviews at tripadvisor and it meet all our expectations and more...The rooms are beautiful and big as also the bahtroom for europe standards; very clean great view (tipical italian scenery) ; great location near to everything you need to see; walking distance and overall graet service. Miriam and their family are great hostes; they make you feel good in every single detail. My wife doesn't like to be cold and we were having a little bit of trouble with the heating in our room; we told them and they fix it immediately. Our first morning there; we didn麓t wake up too early because of our long trip the day before and we thougth we missed breakfast (like in other hotels that you have to be on time or you don麓t get anything) but they were wating for us with a big smile and ready to serve us. After staying here in Florence we went to Rome and it was also a good hotel but my wife kept telling me that she missed the hotel europa and the attention. On the day we left Miriam gave us some cookies for our aniversary to take home and we enjoyed them very much.It was a great trip I hope we could go back to Hotel Europa some day.
310780,ALFIE8,04/02/2008,Great value; great location - Adam A very welcoming and efficiently run family hotel. The location is superb wih easy access to the Duomo; museums; markets and the railway station. The rooms are spacious and tastefully appointed to a high standard for a 2 star. The owners are always on hand to help with restaurant recommendations; booking tickets e.t.c.; nothing was too much trouble. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. Easily one of the best value hotels we have stayed in - highly recommended!
310780,USALuv2Travel,04/01/2008,Nice and Close to The Duomo Overall; we had a nice experience at this hotel. The family running it was super friendly. When you first enter the hotel it throws you because you enter a corridor and have to take the steps or an elevator to the lobby. Once inside the rooms are very spacious; The furnishings and the bathrooms were good; although the beds and pillows were super hard. The view other people wrote about was non-existent from our room...but; the location is really a plus. After driving in at night we were surpised in the morning that it was really only couple of blocks to the Duomo; etc.
310780,frequent0flyer,03/29/2008,Excellent location and great staff - highly recommended We booked this hotel based on the reviews at Tripadvisor. The number and caliber of most reviews were amazing.First impressions count. My flight was scheduled for late evening; but it was badly delayed. I called the hotel before boarding. Their attitude made the first good impression. Receiving a warm welcome in the middle of the night healed most of the pain of a very delayed arrival. Gassim and Miriam are wonderful hosts.The location is perfect. Like many guests; I had an amazing view of the Duomo from my window. The rooms are spacious; comfortable; clean and very well maintained. The bathrooms are well furnished and very clean as well.Florence is a big open air museum and cultural centre. It is plenty of top fashion brands for serious shoppers.The overall stay and the outstanding service from the hotel exceeded all my expectations. Highly recommended!
310780,AussieBecs,03/18/2008,I wish there was a Hotel Europa everywhere... Dante Suite - please excuse our stuff (we were just so excited about the room!)
310780,yorkshirened,03/17/2008,Excellent 2 Star Clean and comfortable; the staff/owners are very friendly and willing to help wherever they can making museum reservations; booking restaurants and calling taxis. We had a late flight back home; our luggage was looked after throughout the day and they even made us a cup of tea before we set of for the station. Excellent location for seeing all the sights of Florence. If you decide to travel from Florence to Pisa Airport by coach with Terravision make sure you buy your ticket in advance from the Bar Deanna (just across the road from the station) priority is given to tickets holders and you may not get on the coach if it is busy.
310780,Pleun,03/17/2008,Friendly hotel in great location My husband and I stayed in this family run hotel for 2 nights. It is located in walking distance of the main train station between the Duomo and Galleria del'Academia so the location is perfect! Although it is situated on a busy road; the rooms are in the back of the building and we heard nothing but birds and church bells. The rooms are charmingly decorated and comfortable. The bed was good too. Perhaps not up to standard if you are used to top-end hotels but perfectly clean and pleasant. The best part of the hotel however (apart from the location) are the people that work there. They are very friendly and helpful and make you feel at home. We would definitely recommend this hotels to friends and family.
310780,newtonmatraveler,03/13/2008,LIke staying in someone's home Front entrance hall
310780,amonole,03/11/2008,Lovely hotel; lovely hosts What a lovely stay! The hotel is in a terrific location and has beautiful Florentine rooms that are kept very clean. The owners are wonderful; and despite a few small problems; they resolved all our concerns and gave us wonderful service. Miriam made reservations for us at the museums; which saved us hours of waiting in line. She also recommended an amazing restaurant; which turned out to be THE BEST food we had in our entire trip to Italy. The price was reasonable considering the great location (right between the Duomo and the Accademia) and the personalized service. I'd definitely go back the next time I'm in Florence.
310780,travelinhappy95,03/08/2008,Wonderful Stay; Wonderful Hosts My husband and I stayed at Hotel Europa for about 7 nights in September 2007. The hotel was absolutely charming and Miriam and Gassim were wonderful. When we checked in; our room did not have a bathtub; which I was really hoping for. We asked Gassim if it would be possible to move rooms when one was available. That evening; when we came back from dinner; Gassim had a beautiful room available with a bathtub. It turns out that it was one of the rooms for four people. While we were in Florence we found out that we were expecting our first child. A very happy surprise to say the least. Miriam helped us to rearrange several travel plans since I was not feeling well and she was genuinely excited for us. When we checked out she had a present for us and wished us well. I cannot say enough good things about the hotel. The facilities themselves are clean; charming; and in a great location. The class that the hotel owners and staff bring to the establishment are what make the hotel truly special. We hope to return with our baby daughter to this wonderful hotel and until then will remember it with fond memories.
310780,romavisitor,03/04/2008,Family run hotel; warm and friendly service A group of us stayed in Hotel Europa for a weekend. Excellent location- less than 5 minutes walk from the Duomo and Accademia (David). We booked directly with the hotel. Miriam and her family could not have been more helpful. They arranged reservations for us for the Uffizi and the Accademia and did not charge for this service. This saved us lots of time in queues.Rooms were spacious with traditional furniture.Basic continental breakfast with lovely cappuchinos.Excellent value for the location and service. Would definitely recommend to friends.
310780,w6fkm,02/25/2008,Great Location; Great Hotel; A Special Place in Florence Firstly can I say the last hotel I stayed in was 5 star and one of the Leading Hotels of the World. The staff at the Hotel Europa could give them some lessons with their wonderful helpful manner and availability to assist. Amazing 10 out of 10.The location for this hotel could not be any better; close to the tourist information; market; restaurants; Duomo; shops and bars.The owners are so helpful; friendly and obviously take huge pride in their fabulous hotel. It is immaculately clean throughout this includes the rooms; floor; bathrooms and all common areas and most importantly the sheets with extra pillows and blankets provided. Soap; shower cap and shampoo were supplied in small but adequtely sachets. The view from the Dante room is great; you can see the top of the Duomo and it looks over a pleasant courtyard.If you fly from London Stansted to Pisa and you choose to stay in Florence buy the Terravision bus ticket for the journey whilst on the aircraft from Ryanair. Approximately 8 euros single and return is 14 euros. This is a hours journey and it is the cheapest and most convenient way to get to the centre of Florence. The hotel is about 8 minutes away from the bus station and should you have much luggage then a short cab ride will be the easiest way for you to find the Hotel or if you have a map look for Via Cavour (which is right next to Palazzo Medici Riccardi on the map).Ask at the Hotel for tips on best places to eat and sites etc and they are happy to help: Michelanglos David is at the back of the hotel plus the City Tour Bus which you can hop on and hop off of is also right next to the hotel - again ask and they are more than happy to help. The only reason I can honestly say this hotel must be a two star rating is because of its entrance from the road. Its dark and we chose to use the stone stairs (their is a lift) and for the first 10 second you could be apprehensive but once you open the door and receive the warm greeting that soon fades away. The rest of the hotel is a good 4 star in my book.
310780,Alpaca11,02/14/2008,Highly Recommended The Europa is a great place to stay in Florence. The hotel is really central; just a few minutes walk from the Duomo - and opposite the wonderful Medici palace. It was comfortable; wonderfully clean and excellent value for money. Miriam and her family were extremely hospitable and gave us great advice on restaurants and sights. Nothing seemed too much trouble for them and they made our stay just perfect. I would not hesitate to recommend the Europa and will definitely be staying there as and when I return to Florence.
310780,worldtati,02/10/2008,Highly recommended (French is my native language; sorry for my english)I stayed in many hotels in Florence and studied there for a while. The Europa has an excellent price/room ration.Location: PERFECT! seriously. when visiting Florence you walk a lot and this hotel is located 5 minutes away from the Old town and all its monuments and shopping center.Room: big; spacious for European standards. Very clean. Cute in a Florentine way. Some rooms have a small view of the Duomo. My husband and I were that luckyThe bathroom was small but was perfectly functioning and the shower had enough pressure to make it totally enjoyable.Service: Amazing; everybody is very friendly and helpful; always smiling. - customer service in the sates is usually good and people are friendly unlike in Europe especially in Florence where for what ever reason people are snobby in stores and restaurants - but not at the hotel . I had to fax a document to my work and the owner did it for me at no cost! Breakfast: well this is why this review has 4 stars and not 5. Coffee is ok; there is tea. but everything else is pretty blend but good enough to start the day. But seriously.... In Italy.... there are so many delicious coffee shops very close to the hotel with delicious breakfast treats that it is a shame not to take advantage of those; it adds a little more to the budget but totally worth it!
310780,pjeff,02/05/2008,Wonderful HotelI In Great Location Just got back from four days in Florence. The Hotel Europa far exceeded my expectations. Gassim and Miriam are wonderful hosts who go out of their way to make their guests feel at home. We arrived from an overnight train at 7:00 AM expecting to wait until after checkout for our room. Instead; Gassim got us in a room within minutes of arrival. Rooms are clean and warm; many of which with views of the Duomo. The location is within a quick walk to many of the attractions and museums. I would recommend Hotel Europa for anybody who wishes for a reasonable hotel in a prime location in Florence.
310780,Bond33w,02/03/2008,Great Location Can highly recommend this hotel; the service was above reproach and we were travelling with a baby and the cot provided was clean; new and safe; much better than some of the others we had on our holiday. Our room was roomy; clean; and the furnishings were fantastic; nice and homey and just want you want on a holiday. Was very impressed with the modern bathroom which had a tub as well as a shower and we had a view of the cathedral dome from our room. There is a lift; but not for the fainthearted as it was a bit sqeezy but better than lugging them up the stairs. Only thing we found was that driving there was a nightmare; no fault of the hotels; but the roads were awful when we went so i suggest a gps or have their number on hand for directions. Otherwise our stay was an A+. Oh and the location was fab; only a short walk to the cathedral; markets; acadamia and many other sites.
310780,maryplank,02/02/2008,great hotel; fabulous location Miriam and her family made us feel at home from the moment we steped inside; the good sized room was light and airey and had a view of the Duomo.We had requested advanced bookings for the Uffizi and the Bargello and they were waiting for us.Miriams advise as to where to eat was first rate.We had such a pleasant stay in this hotel I would recommend it to anyone wishing to stay in Florence.The hotels location; almost opposite the Medici Palace; (wonderful frescos in the chapel) puts it within walking distance of most places of interest.If and when I return to Florence I most certainly will be staying at the Hotel Europa.
310780,GinaZ41,01/27/2008,OK; but overrated - and nasty mosquitoes! Good location; and the owner; Marion; is extremely nice; and speaks very good English and French. But I would not recommend this place. We stayed in the Dante suite (room 36) for 4 nights. Large room; with mock antique Italian furniture and large windows that opened to the courtyard (all rooms open to the courtyard out back). But we did NOT sleep well due to all the mosquitoes! It sounds bizarre even to me; and I lived it; but there were many mosquitoes; every night; and we were there in November! Each night I spent 30 minutes killing all the mosquitoes before going to sleep; and each night we were woken by buzzing in our ears; and had to get up to kill them. We had the windows closed all day and all night; but they still got in; so they must have been coming from the venting system or the air-con vent....It was insane. The last night I was up for over an hour; at 3 am; killing mosquitoes; over 10 of them (many full of blood)! No; I'm not kidding. Even though we only had one more night; I finally complained and asked to move rooms. The older fellow (Marion's father?) was nice; but hesitant to move us and wanted to spray (!) the room with some mosquito-killing gas instead. We said no way. He said they spray all the rooms (yikes!) and all the hotels in Florence have mosquitoes...have not stayed anywhere else in Florence but find it very had to believe that; especially in cold; dry November; all hotels in the city have mosquitoes. He tried to talk us into using this plug-in mosquito killer thing that gives off some kind of chemical; I was not willing to do that either. I insisted we be moved to a room far away from the Dante suite (it was Monday night so there were empty rooms); and he finally did. He moved us to one of the 'non-suite' rooms on the floor above; room 50; and it was nice! It was smaller than the Dante suite; but still big enough; did not have the mock-old-Italian decor; but it had a better view and best of all; no mosquitoes (well; only one); so it turned out to be our best night's sleep. (We had the windows open quite some time as well; so I'm sure the mosquitoes in the Dante suite must have been coming in by the venting system somehow). The breakfast was not that great (processed cheese in Italy?!); and the entry to the hotel is dank. On the last day we had to check out early to catch the train; so we went to breakfast just as it began; and when we walked into the breakfast room the older felllow was spraying the floor with some kind of bug killer! We had a quick bite and went to check out around 7:15. The older fellow was alone and he wanted us to wait until after breakfast to check out (2 hours later; even though no one was at breakfast yet). We explained we had to catch the train. He chidied us for not checking out the night before (?). He did not know how to use the computer; it took forever; and he finally had to hand-write the bill. Then he actually asked us to give them a good rating on Trip Advisor and not mention the mosquitoes! There are many; many hotels in Florence and next time I go; I will definitely go somewhere else. If you must stay here; stay in a non-suite room on the top floor. It is less a hotel and more a strictly family-run bed and breakfast. I think a lot of the reviews are so positive because Marion and her family are very friendly and chatty; (unlike many places in Italy). But if you don't really need the chit-chat or the tourist advice; it's not that great.
310780,fullers17,01/22/2008,Fantastic! After reading so many great reviews about Hotel Europa on Tripadvisor I decided my husband and I had to stay there for our time in Florence.I contacted the hotel direct and they offered us a superior room at a very competitive price.Our room was spacious; we had a balcony and a view of the Duomo.They took care of our laundry and it only cost us 10 Euro for 10 shirts and a pile of underwear.The service was great and the hospitality was exceptional. The staff was always helpful in pointing out great local restaurants.We really enjoyed our stay and will definately be returning.
310780,FlaviaBrazil,01/22/2008,Great Hospitality I have to agree with so many great reviews for this hotels here...The best thing? Hospitality! You feel like you are the most important guest for this nice family who owns the hotel... It was really great!!Besides that; the hotel has a great location and is very confortable. I was with my family in the quadruple room and it is really confortable.It was a great experience and made my stay in Florence even better!
310780,Bartplusone,01/22/2008,Great experience We stayed at the Hotel Europa in January 2008 for 2 nights. The location is excellent; the room was great with plenty of space. We were using a travel cot for our young son and there was still loads of room - as well as a supersize bed and two further singles! Staff were very helpful and the breakfast certainly set us up for the day. if we're back in Florence again we'll definitely go back.
310780,ccwd,01/21/2008,A Perfect bit of Florence My wife and I recently spent 8 days in Florence visiting our daughter. Our room at Hotel Europa had a view of the Duomo and was Florentine magic in itself. The Hotel's central location made for an easy walk to all of the museums; the market and the sites. Miriam and Gasim were wonderful and helped to make our visit a wonderful experience.
310780,InSearchofEscape,01/16/2008,Such a gem! view from our room in the Europa Suites
310780,andreat22,01/11/2008,No better location or hospitality in Florence! The Hotel Europa is an excellent choice in Florence. It is within short walking distance to all of the city's main attractions: the Duomo; Accademia; Uffizi; Ponte Vecchio; great restuarants/ galleries/shopping! The staff is incredibly warm; friendly; and acoommodating. They treat you like you are part of their family! We will never stay anywhere else when we visit Florence!
310780,Bailey4497,11/28/2007,Great place to stay in Florence We booked this hotel the night before we needed a room for 3 adults. The hotel was very accommodating; and actually gave us the family suite since it was the only one available. They were apologetic because it was the only thing that they had available and it was on the main floor. There was definitely nothing to apologize for since the suite was huge and exceeded our expectations. The room was clean; and had very high ceilings which were painted with beautiful murals.We had also wanted to see Michelangelo's David; which was right around the corner from the hotel and the hotel had made reservations for us to see it that same day we arrived. Seeing as the line to get into this place; especially last minute; was hours long; this was a huge help! The hotel also booked a tour of the Uffizi Gallery for us as well; which was also huge since the wait to get into that museum was just as long as to see the David; if not longer. The hotel also did not charge us to make these reservations; they made them for no extra charge.On our last day there; they gladly held onto our bags after checkout; for no extra charge; while we took the day to continue our exploration of the city.I have some pictures that I'll post once I finish sorting through all of them. :)Overall we had a great experience there and I would definitely stay there again when I come back to Florence!
310780,Escargo1,11/24/2007,A Quiet Oasis in Central Florence We had an enjoyable 3-night stay at the Europa; a 2-star hotel that could rate higher. It is located on the 2nd 3rd floors of a building on the east side of Via Cavour a block and a half north of the Duomo. The entrance is well-marked and through the glass doors is a small elevator that didn鈥檛 quite hold the two of us and our luggage. The well-worn marble stairs are an alternative. The 鈥渟uite level鈥?rooms on the 2nd floor are spacious; and the 3rd floor seems to be a mix of large and small rooms; including the balcony room (#47). There are small reception desks on each level; owners Gassim and family get plenty of exercise going up and down the stairs between them when only one is in duty! There is a large sitting room on the 2nd floor; where the internet access is located; and on the 3rd floor above it is the breakfast room. Our L-shaped triple (#37) was very large with high ceilings and tile floors; but no view. The window looked down on a nondescript central court. The Florentine-style furnishings were attractive; including a comfortable bed; a large desk and an armoire with a couple of drawers; but there was plenty of room for a dresser and maybe an armchair; which would have been nice. The air-conditioning unit over the door is operated by a remote. The bathroom was clean and huge; nicely tiled; with a large pedestal sink and a shower enclosure in one corner. Water pressure was good; with plenty of hot water. There was an unusual chemical odor in the bathroom that we couldn鈥檛 figure out; but failed to ask the staff about. Having stayed previously in hotels along the Arno in rooms facing the river; we can say one of the nicest features of the Europa is: it is QUIET! Although Via Cavour is busy; the rooms are toward the back of the building; so there was no sound of motor scooters at 2 am. The breakfast room is very pleasant; with a frescoed ceiling; and the food selection is familiar but ample: hard-boiled eggs; yogurt; cereals; rolls; pastries and fruit. Gassim is there to greet everyone and explain the workings of the large coffee/cappuccino machine. The owners are very helpful with advice and reservations; suggesting restaurants and calling for museum reservations (they will make these for you before arrival if you wish). Upon departure; the taxi they called for us arrived exactly on time. If you鈥檙e shopping for children or grandchildren; the large toy store on the other side of the street is not to be missed!
310780,KWLover23,11/19/2007,A Good Choice for Florence We very much enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Europa. Central location; spacious room (Donatello Suite); and lovely owners. Miriam is a gem! My only complaint was the breakfast. Compared to the other hotels where we stayed in Italy; the Europa's breakfast was just average. They could improve the variety of items (for example; add bananas; have more than two cold cereal choices; offer Italian bread instead of store-bought white bread) and serve better coffee. Otherwise; we have no complaints about the Europa and would stay there again without hesitation.
310780,mekettelhut,11/18/2007,Perfect blend for central Florence This was our second visit to Hotel Europa in Florence from our home in Michigan. We returned because of the perfect blend of friendliness; location; price and amenities. Miriam and Gassim speak fluent English and are truly at your service. The rooms are clean and comfortable; the location is just 1 1/2 blocks from the Duomo and there is no street noise. You can negotiate a lower rate if you pay in cash. My mother and I thank you for another wonderful week!
310780,DSCAshburn,11/14/2007,Great family run Hotel We stayed here October 22-25th. Miriam and Gasim were wonderful! The room was clean and very spacious; and the hotel was close to everything. I would definately recommend this hotel.
310780,Brendadc,11/11/2007,Extremely friendly hotel staff - Family run hotel I wasn't aware of the nicer suites when I make reservations; but they were probably taken.
310780,Grace2lip,11/11/2007,A Great Experience What a great experience! My husband and I stayed at Hotel Europa in early October for 4 nights. The location was excellent and the hotel was very comfortable and clean. Mariam and Gasim were very kind and helpful with their directions and recommendations to restaurants; attractions and our wine tour. They truly made us feel welcome; not only to their hotel but to their city. Thank you both for all your help trying to locate our phone. It finally arrived back in the states after our return home. ha. I would definitely stay here again. Hello to Maria. She was a delight!
310780,johnpetrush,11/09/2007,Another Jewel in Florence I recently spent 10 days (Oct. 8-18) at Hotel Europa on my first visit to Florence. The central location makes it the perfect base for exploring this wonderful city. Gasim; Miriam and the rest of the staff were very friendly and helpful. My room was clean and comfortable. While small by American standards; it was a little larger than many of the hotels I have stayed at in Europe. It was not cramped at all for one person. The bathroom was nice (it appeared to be fairly new); and was made spotless daily. If I go back to Florence; I will certainly return to this hotel. Also; the rates make it a true bargain.
310780,Barbeni,11/06/2007,Quiet yet ideally located Located five mins walk from the Duomo; markets and some museums our room was at the back of the hotel so very quiet (except for the campanile bells!). Our room overlooked a courtyard with the duomo dome and campanile in the background. The room was very clean and comfortable whilst the bathroom recently renovated. The family running the hotel were very helpful with restaurant recommendations and other advice and nothing was too much trouble for them.
310780,lieludalis,11/06/2007,The Best Location; huge rooms for European hotel! Perfect location for arriving in Florence by train! We walked from the Santa Maria Novella Station to Hotel Europa in 5 minutes.We never had to take a bus or taxi as the hotel is so centrally located that we walked everywhere. Our suite was huge; although we had no view (which was fine for us). It was clean and comfortable. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly. They booked tickets to the Academia for us and found a tour to the Uffizi as well. They also booked a hotel for a following night in another city! We are Americans living in Europe; and by European standards; this is a wonderful hotel. Americans might not find the hotel up to the standards that they are used to. But that's no fault of this hotel (the expectations just need to change a little).
310780,MaidenheadDoug,11/05/2007,Great Location and very quiet We stayed in the suites (only slightly more expensive than the hotel rooms); and the room we had was a good size; nice bathroom; lovely big bed and very quiet. This family run hotel is very good value for money and the staff are excellent. The car parking situation is interesting; you give the keys to reception and the car is taken away and when you request; the car is returned and you pay the driver. I was a bit concerned about this; but it was a very good service. Breakfast is the 3* part of the stay. It is perfectly OK; but not outstanding. The bread is marketed as American; so it is a bit sweet for my taste. Coffee and tea were good. Being a short walk from the Duomo; restaurants and shopping is a major benefit of this lovely hotel.
310780,BristolTallboy,11/02/2007,Lovely central hotel We really liked this hotel. It has a really central location and is; for the centre of Florence; reasonably priced. The owners/staff were very helpful recommending places to eat (in fact we'd already eaten at the place they recommended and had found it excellent) and booking another place for us. If you're the kind of person who likes big TVs; 24 hour room service and Corby trouser-presses then this place isn't for you. But if you care more about clean rooms with comfortable beds and good bathrooms; then I don't think you'll be disappointed. And if you also add to this some character (old-fashioned lift and murals) and location (5 minutes walk to the Duomo); you have a really lovely hotel. We got a suite which was enormous with high ceilings. A thoroughly enjoyable stay.
310780,grannynise,10/30/2007,A little disappointing Maybe our hopes had been raised too high by the glowing reports from the other reviewers. We had a room on the lower floor of the hotel so our only view was of a dingy courtyard. The room was very dark and we needed the lights on at all times of day. The bathroon was huge; and the shower was excellent but there was no bath. The bed was excellent; really comfortable (and I'm not easily pleased).The breakfast was typical of our experiences of Italian hotels; no worse and no better. The breakfast room is arranged with only two tables for two people; one for four and then a very large table at which anyone else must sit. The tables are close together which makes getting up to refill your coffee quite a challenge.The family who run the hotel are very pleasant and are either very fluent or native English speakers which is an advantage if your Italian is shaky. The position of the hotel is fantastic; 15 minutes walk maximum; even dragging a case; to the station and two minutes from the duomo yet very quiet.
310780,ROADBIKE,10/29/2007,Nice Hotel ; Great Service my wife and i stayed for three nights early in oct 2007. super location in the middle of everything. the service from the owners sets this apart from others. they had reserved a car for us; directed us to 3 super dinners; even offered us a bottle of wine when we checked out. our room was large ; king bed; full bathroom; and a window overlooking a garden. for this money you cannot do better. enjoy
310780,grotbags,10/28/2007,Comfortable Stay We [2 couples] spent 5 nights at The Hotel Europa;we had 2 suites ours had a view of the Campanile our friends had a squinty view of The Duomo.The rooms were clean plainly furnished and decorated.The beds were very comfortable.The location is great; walking distance to all of the sights.The proprietors and staff were friendly; helpful and efficient.The breakfast buffet was ample but I feel that the tables could be rearranged to make the room less like a hostel.If visiting The Palazzo Vecchio check out The Secret Passages Tour it is only 2 euros extra and well worth it.
310780,ducktales,10/26/2007,Lovely place to stay in Florence We stayed at the Europa for 4 nights in October and were very happy with it from the moment Gassim greeted us with our christian names and showed us our room with its view of the top of the dome of the Duomo and the Campenile to the very warm farewell from Miriam when we left. The room was one of the standard rooms on the second floor and had been newly renovated. The bed was large and comfortable; the room spacious with bathroom ensuite; all spotlessly clean.The breakfast room with its 13th century frescoes on the ceiling is very homely and Gassim presides over it ensuring everyone has their coffee or tea as they like it and the breakfast fare is reasonably extensive by italian standards.The hotel is very well located for getting to all the major sites in Florence on foot and is only about 20 minutes on foot from the train station. All in all a great place to stay. Gassim Miriam are lovely people who make you feel welcome and are happy to help with making bookings; checking train times;etc
310780,BethFS,10/25/2007,Excellent hotel; excellent location My husband and I just returned from Florence; after spending 6 nights at Hotel Europa; which I highly recommend. The hotel is centrally located; and within easy walking distance of many of the places you will want to visit; and there are also a number of restaurants close by. The entrance to the hotel is not particularly attractive; and a tiny elevator will take you up to the second floor. But once you are inside; you will feel at home! The hotel is clean and the rooms are comfortable and attractive; despite its central location; the hotel is quiet at night; and the breakfast is generous (cereals; fruit; yoghourt; rolls; jams; etc.).What makes the hotel special; however; is the warmth of its owners. Gassim made us feel welcome from the moment we arrived; and his kindness and gracious manner enhanced our entire stay. When it was time for us to leave; I felt we were saying goodby to a friend.
310780,Bazilu,10/25/2007,Great hotel Cannot say enough about this family-run bed and breakfast 2 blocks north of the Duomo. My sister and I just returned from Florence (end of October 2007). First; the hotel's location couldn't be better鈥攃lose to train station (about 10-15 minute walk with luggage) and the Duomo area. Second; the room was spacious; clean; and quiet. The breakfast was a great buffet/continental breakfast of fruit; yogurt; hard boiled eggs; bread/toast; croissants; ham; cheese; and various drinks. Third; the staff was just wonderful. Miriam; Robert; Giassim; and Mama were so friendly and willing to do anything for us. I highly recommend this hotel and will definitely stay there on my next trip to Florence. They have internet service too at a price of 1.5 euros per 15 minutes.
310780,Tuscansilk,10/21/2007,Loved the views to the Duomo and Campanile from our Room We have completed our first trip to Italy; and as they say first impressions count. Our expectations of the hotel from the web were not wrong. Our friends had recommended the hotels location and friendly management and we wernt dissapointed. Our room had a view out to the Duomo and Campanile; so close to the centre of Florence. As with most buildings in Florence; the bland facades hide the best interiors. The hotel has the charm of a turn of the century apartment building with its open shaft electric elevator up to the first floor suites and second floor standard rooms. Our standard room was spacious with a window looking out to the roofs of the Cities magnificent heritage. We were pleased to find the nights were quiet; travellors exhaustion a priority with our programme. Breakfasts were a treat with Gassimes attention to detail and his insistence to create your coffees on his pride and joy; his coffee machine. The 300 year old decorated domed ceiling of the breakfast room added the final touch to a days start. We drove on our trip and car parking was attended to by a simple valet service to a garage in some part of the city for only 20 euros a day; a phone call and 15 minutes later we were on our way on day trips into Tuscany.Overall our experience with Miriam; Gassime and the staff of the Europa was great; we would recommend them to our friends.
310780,ItalianAdventure07,10/20/2007,Loved Hotel Europa! Great location and friendly staff. Our room at hotel Europa
310780,CouplefromNewcastle,10/19/2007,Great Service; great location We stayed in room 136 on the first floor overlooking the courtyard at the back of the hotel. The room was very pleasant; large; airy; spotlessly clean and very quiet with a lovely view of the Duomo. It was also nice and cool and we had no need to use the aircon facility. The bathrrom was also spacious with lots of hot water. The location of the hotel is perfect for a trip to Florence; the Duomo is literally at the bottom of the street and the Medicci Palace across the road and only 5 minutes walk from the train station. We were a little unsure when we first arrived having to climb into a rickety old lift; but what a lovely surprise when we got out of the lift and entered the reception area to a warm and friendly welcome. What you need to remember is the building dates back to the 13th century and has the original frescoes still on the ceilings; cracks and all. Unfortunately I broke my foot the first night there so this did spoil our visit; however the hotel staff went out ot their way to make our stay as comfortable as possible - especially Miriam who even took the time to accompany my husband to the chemist so she could translate for him and ensure that the medication we were given at the hospital were administered correctly. She also rang around all possible suppliers of a wheelchair for us. We will definitely return to Florence and to the Hotel Europa.
310780,LUVtheNW,10/16/2007,Great Room; Greaaat Location!!! Dante Suite
310780,mandys97,10/14/2007,Great location and value At first glance; the hotel looks a little questionable... it is located in a very old 5 floor building with a tiny lift to the 3rd floor front desk. However; we thoroughly enoyed our stay at the Hotel Europa. The hotel is located about 3 mins away from the Duomo and another short walk to the museum with Michaelangelo's David. The neighborhood is busy; but nice. Just past the Duomo is Florence's main old city complete with shopping and the Arno river.The rooms are very large (comparatively for others in similar size hotels in Italy and the rest of Europe) and have flat screen TV's and good size bathrooms. All the furnishings are neat and modern which belies the general age of the 15th century building the hotel occupies.The breakfast each morning was very decent. The staff was always pleasant and courteous to a fault. You could spend twice the price in Florence and not have this great of an experience. It was a pleasure to stay there and we'll definitely stay there on any return to Florence.
310780,LarryAkey,10/14/2007,Great value for a comfortable room Hotel Europa provides a nice room for a decent price in the heart of Florence. We stayed in a recently remodeled junior suite; which was comfortable and quiet. The breakfast room and public spaces are well-appointed; and the breakfast is good. The entry from the via Cavour; a very busy street; looks a little dubious; but the main reception area quickly dispels any concerns. The family running the place is very accommodating; and go out of their way to help. For those willing to pay twice the price; there are undoubtedly nicer hotels in town. But for those looking for a comfortable bed; a clean bathroom and a convenient location; Hotel Europa is hard to beat.
310780,Yangmei,10/14/2007,A great hotel in the heart of florence I have stayed at the Hotel Europa several times over the past ten years. It's a wonderfully decorated hotel in central Florence. It's only a short walk to the Duomo; the rooms are clean and the service is first class. The breakfast is great and the owners are more than willing to help with any request.
310780,sorayascot,10/11/2007,One of the best hotels I've ever stayed at My husband and I spent a week here at the start of September. We loved this hotel and are planning to go back. We both travel a lot with our work both in the UK and overseas. This hotel is not a standard chain experience. There is no pool or room service. What we got was a personal concierge experience.Our room looked out over the courtyard and had a great balcony. The room had been recently done up with flat screen TV; frosted glass lights and the bathroom had a great shower and was immaculate.Miriam; Gassim and Robert were fantastic. We had a list of restaurants we wanted to try and they phoned and made reservations for us. Il Rivero round the corner was one of the best meals we had in Florence. The service was such that when the PC they had for guests wasn't working they even let me use the one behind reception to print some tickets out.Not sure what one reviewer said about the coffee - it's an awesome bean to cup machine and we had some really good coffee at breakfast.Wouldn't hesitate to recommend this hotel and the people running it make it something special
310780,davidleeds,10/10/2007,great choice We spent five nights at the Europa after reading the reviews on Trip Advisor. We were very happy with the clean; bright comfortable and very; very quiet room. Everything in it was new and the bed was great. The location was perfect and there was a laundromat nearby. The best was having Gassim make me tea on my return to the hotel from hours of touring. It was greatly appreciated since being a tea drinker in Italy is not easy as many restaurants do not serve tea. I would recocmmend the hotel and specify a courtyard room versus one on the street.
310780,MellanzaneMadman,10/08/2007,Great mid-range spot in Florence Nice hotel; very conveniently located. Just a 5 minute walk from the main Duomo in Florence. The staff are very helpful. The rooms are fine - nothing too fancy but certainly nice. Bathrooms were clean and a good size. The location is such that you can certainly stop back in the middle of a day of sightseeing for a rest. Miriam; one of the proprietors; recommended a very nice restaurant called Za Za which we enjoyed (excellent eggplant parm). Breakfast is standard Italian hotel breakfast (actually maybe a little more) - cereal; fruit; hard-boiled eggs; toast; coffee; tea; and juice are all available. I would definitely recommend this place if you don't want to spend too much but don't want to stay at a below-average place either.
310780,Boardrider5050,10/08/2007,Couldn't have been better We stayed at the Europa for three nights of our honeymoon and we couldn't have been more impressed. The hotel was fairly cheap in comparison with other centrally located hotels but we trusted the reviews on Trip Advisor and went for it and we we're not disappointed. From the main railway station we got to the hotel in about 5 mins on foot. The journey takes you through part of the main market which is very exciting and makes you want to dump your bags and get amongst it.We were greeted on arrival with a very friendly family atmosphere and were shown to our room immediately. The room was very spacious with a remarkably well fitted bathroom (which is bigger than some hotel rooms I've stayed in); a flatscreen TV and very clean bright decor. We could even see the top of the Duomo (which is a 2 min walk away) from the window. The Acadamia gallery where Michael Angelo's David resides is only in the next street which is handy as you need to get there early to avoid queueing for ages.After settling in we we're given a map and shown some good restaurants and the location of all the main sights which set us up for the next few days.It's well worth doing the open top bus tour to get your bearings and the Boboli Gardens are a must if the weather is good.When we checked out of the Hotel we were handed a very nice bottle of Chianti which put the cherry on the cake.
310780,JayBonjour,10/07/2007,Special memories of Hotel Europa We spent 4 wonderful days at the Hotel Europa. It was our second stay. Our first stay was in 1970. Imagine their surprise when we shared a picture with the owners that we had taken of all of us on our first visit. This time we added the 3rd generation on our picture.Our room was very comfortable with a view of a courtyard below and the Duomo above. The recently renovated room and ensuite bathroom were well appreciated as were the in-room safe and refrigerator. And the bed was the world's best!.The hospitality; care; personalized service; excellent accommodations; value for the dollar; and their desire to make our stay comfortable; reinforced our view that we will only stay at the Hotel Europa when we return to Florence.
310780,makawaomike,10/04/2007,Wonderful hospitality We had a wonderful but all too brief stay in Florence. Our room was spacious and clean; check-in quick and efficient. But what really made our stay was the wonderful hospitality provided to us. Gassim; Miriam and Robert were so attentive and friendly....as a previous post cited; treasures all! I too work in the hospitality industry and really appreciated it when excellent service is provided. Should we have the good fortune to be able to visit again; we will not hesitate to choose Hotel Europa. Mahalo!!!
310780,sxg,10/02/2007,Budget hotel; spoilt our Florence experience Nightmare on Via Cavour!
310780,artphotogirl,09/29/2007,Fabulous room; warm hospitality - I'll be coming back My husband and I spent two wonderful nights at the Hotel Europa. We were in Italy celebrating our 20 year wedding anniversary. Because our trip was a special event; I wanted all our hotels to be just right. I booked our hotels about six months in advance after reading some great reviews about the Hotel Europa. Miriam; at the hotel; suggested the Dante suite; the room they select for honeymooners. It was perfect. The suite was spacious; spotless and beautiful. The pictures on the Hotel Europa site really don't do it justice. We had a large bathroom with tub; equally spotless; and a view out the wooden-cased windows of the top of the Duomo. The courtyard just outside our window was very quiet (no road noise). The next morning we were met by a very happy and helpful man; we found out later he was Miriam's dad. He brought my husband a perfect cappacino (his first of three) to start off our breakfast. It was the biggest hotel breakfast we had on our trip. We had hard-boiled eggs; ham; cheese; various breads; yogurt; cereal; juice and coffee/tea. Our only wish was that the croissants were from a local bakery; as there are so many wonderful bakeries in the area around the hotel. The location is perfect - REALLY. Just down the street from the Accedamia; the Uffizi and the Duomo. We had many thoughtful conversations with not only Miriam; but Robert (he took us to our suite the first day) and Miriam's dad. We found out that it was a family -run hotel; had been in the family for 37 years and that many of their clients come back years later to stay. I know that we'll be one of them. I wouldn't even consider staying elsewhere. Miriam also gave us a bottle of Chianti to celebrate our anniversary. It was a great touch!
310780,Marywrites,09/28/2007,The best! We absolutely loved our stay at the Hotel Europa. It wasn't just the room--which was clean; lovely; and spacious--but our hosts as well. It is a family run hotel; and they made us all feel like we were family. Gassim is a treasure; greeting us every morning at breakfast and making sure we had everything we needed. His daughter Miriam recommended restaurants and made reservations for us--all of which turned out to be fabulous. We never could have found these on our own. And son-in-law; Robert was so helpful too. We were traveling with our daughter and I think she was ready to stay there forever! We stayed in one of the suite rooms. It was a large triple room with beautiful furniture. The location is great too--just half a block from the Duomo. Of all the places we have stayed in Italy; this is our favorite. Gassim and his family made sure we had everything we needed. They went above and beyond.--The Pearsons of Carlsbad
310780,vagabond1972,09/27/2007,look no further! lovely painted doors-triple suite
310780,wandermoreNYC,09/25/2007,Loved It! Hotel Europa was recommended to me by my sister-in-law who writes books on family-owned bed and breakfast hotels in Europe. I must say that I was not disappointed. The hotel is centrally located. The Duomo; Uffizi Gallery; Accademia; Ponte Vecchio; and the train station are all within walking distance from the hotel. Owner Gassim and his family make you feel so comfortable and his daughter; Miriam; was so very accommodating. As a single woman travelling alone; this was important to me. I had a lovely room on the first floor with a spacious bathroom. I feel very comfortable recommending Hotel Europa to those travelling to Florence. R. Hassell
310780,emajblack,09/25/2007,GREAT little hotel! We booked this hotel during our stay in Florence because it was in our price range. We weren't sure what to expect but the rest of the reviews seemed good so we took a chance. Boy are we glad we did! The hotel is on the 2nd and 3rd floor of a building but there is a small elevator. We had a lot of bags so it took a couple of trips of sending bags but it wasn't bad at all. Check-in was fast and smooth. The nice woman who checked us in showed us to our room; showed us where the amenities were; pulled out a map and showed us our location along with the locations of the popular sites and some recommended restaurants. We didn't need to be shown where the Duomo and belltower were as we had a perfect view of both of them from our window. Breakfast was a traditional European breakfast; pastries; cereal; fruit; coffee; but the service was the best. As soon as you walked into the room the owner was already making you a cappucino. The hotel is in a great location as it is close to just about everything. Things look far on the map but you quickly realize they are not. We walked to EVERYTHING except for the Piazza Michaelangelo. We had such a great time staying at this hotel and would recommend this hotel to anyone and everyone who doesn't expect the Four Seasons. We will definitely stay when we return to Florence; whenever that may be.
310780,ReviewerHerts,09/24/2007,A perfect place to stay We loved the Hotel Europa - the staff are SO welcoming and friendly that you feel as if you are staying as a guest in someone's home; nothing is too much trouble. Our room was large; bright and airy with a wonderful 'picture postcard courtyard view'; plus it was so peaceful; no traffic noise despite Via Cavour being quite busy. We loved the decor of the hotel - it is not plush; but very comfortable and in keeping with what you would expect of a small; family run Italian hotel. Its location is great - 10 minutes from the station (where the airport bus runs to/from) and very convenient for everything else. We adored Florence and will definitely return .. to stay; of course; in the Hotel Europa!
310780,napa2006,09/21/2007,Excellent choice for a place to stay in Forence Hotel Europa is like a home away from home. We stayed there for two nights at the beginning of our honeymoon and then again at the end of our honeymoon. When we returned it was like going home. The owner Gasim and his family are warm and welcoming and provide information about the surrounding area; sites; restaurants etc.... Hotel Europa is steps from the duomo and many other sites. We loved it and can't wait to return. We highly recommend Europa and will think of Gasim and his family often. The lobby and elevator can seem a bit off putting; but no worries the hotel itself is wonderful
310780,yellows,09/19/2007,Loved the Europa in the heart of Florence We had a two night stay at the Hotel Europa in Florence and based on our experience we would strongly recommend this hotelWe booked the superior room as the comments on tripadvisor indicated that this was worth the additional cost and I have to say the room was very large and clean with everything you need with a good sized bathroom. Despite the hotel's small entrance; neon sign and being on a busy road our room faced a quiet courtyard and could not have been more peaceful.The hotel's location is excellent as it is less than 5 minutes walk to the Dumo (which we could just see from our room window) and less than 10 to the main museums.We loved this hotel and we were made to feel very at home with a warm welcome; also I mentioned a restaurant and within minutes they had a table booked for me; forget the 5* hotels when you can have this kind of service.A wonderful city with a perfect quiet hotel. What more do you need. (book your museum tickets in advance as this worked well; I phoned the museums; they gave me a reference number and agreed an arrival time and it worked without a problem)
310780,luceo,09/17/2007,Loved the Europa This hotel is a real find. It is definitely a home from home. The accommodation is good; and the family who run the hotel are extremely attentive. We would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who wants an hotel which is very central in Florence at reasonable rates.
310780,AZdesertdweller1955,09/14/2007,A Great Choice in Florence! We recently completed a two night stay at The Hotel Europa in Florence and; based on our experience; we would strongly recommend this hotel for any and all travelers seeking a comfortable; quiet oasis in the midst of frenetic Florence!Our room on the 2nd floor was (suprisingly) quite large by European standards; very clean and comfortably appointed... and the bathroom was completely updated. Despite the hotel's unique entrance being just off a busy thoroughfare (Cavour); our room faced a quiet courtyard and could not have been more peaceful.The hotel's location is another strong selling point to consider. All of the key museums and sites in Florence are within an easy 15-20 minute walk of the Hotel Europa.Finally; the entire staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. And each morning; Gassim made us feel like highly-valued guests; insuring that all of our breakfast requirements were fully met.A great hotel... and a great value!
310780,SatisfiedTraveller46,09/07/2007,Warm; Friendly; Home Away From Home Hotel My family of 4 (2 adults; 13 year old and 10 year) arrived in Florence by train and proceded to walked from the station to Hotel Europa. We strolled along enjoying the city of Florence and found the hotel in less than half an hour. We took the lift to the first floor and were greeted warmly by Robert and his family. We were shown to our lovely quad room and were happily surprised to have such a spacious and clean room. On arriving; I came down with a head cold and felt quite miserable. Fortunately; there is a pharmacy across the road where I could buy homeopathic remedies to relieve the discomfort so that I could continue exploring this beautiful city.The owners provided us with excellent directions; travel advice etc during our stay. I had decided to do a tour with ArtViva to visit the Uffizi Gallery but had not made arrangements prior to leaving Australia. The owners suggested that ArtViva was the best tour guides in Florence. Yes; ArtViva is the best tour guide company in Florence and yes next time we travel to Florence; we will organize booking other tours to the Tuscany region prior to leaving Australia. Wonderful to know that the owners of Hotel Europa are interested in providing the best advice to their clients.The hotel is very central to the restaurant precinct. Robert's wife suggested that we have dinner at Zar Zars. Our children loved this restaurant so much that we ate every evening meal there.Our teenage boy was most impressed that the hotel provided free Internet access so that he could keep in contact with his friends back home. Thank you; Hotel Europa. Warm hospitable hotel in the heart of beautiful Florence. We would recommend this hotel to any family group staying in Florence.
310780,Jennifer60661,09/04/2007,Great Location; Excellent Service This hotel was in a great location - walking distance from the Duomo. The room was very large and the service excellent! The front desk staff was very helpful and even able to give us excellent dinner recommendations. My only complaint is that the air conditioning could have been better. I will definitely stay in the hotel again; but not during the hottest time of the year.
310780,sak475,08/26/2007,Very Nice Hotel; Very Nice Owner What I liked best about this hotel was how nice the owner's were... When we arrived; they gave us a tour of the hotel and volunteered to set up tours for us the next day. They basically took care of everything and just told us when and where to show up. They also went through the map and gave us excellent suggestions of where to go eat. The initial room they gave us was beautiful but the air conditioner was an older unit that did not cool the room very well. When we told the owners of this; they moved us to a triple with a great air conditioner at no extra cost. At the end of the stay; they knocked off ten dollars a night as well. If you would like a nice place to stay where you will be treated very well; this is your place.
310780,Treats007,08/19/2007,Hotel Europa: A real treasure in Florence!! I have just returned from my second stay at Hotel Europa (4-day stay August 4-7th; 2007 and August 2005). Once again; I am extremely happy with this hotel that I felt I had to write a review to share the news. With all confidence I can say that when you visit Florence; this is the place you must stay!!! Here's why:1) Location: To your left; Il Duomo. To your right; the Galleria dell'Accademia (where Michelangelo's David is located). Across and down the street; Florence's famous outdoor market. 10 minute walk; the train station. A better location would be impossible to find!! And although everything is in close promixity; the street where Hotel Europa is located is quiet and quaint at night. A perfect 10!2) Facilites: Clean; spacious; modern amenities located in a small hotel atmosphere! The Standard room that we stayed in was just perfect. Great size; air-conditioned; large washroom with shower; fridge; TV; great views of the courtyard and Il Duomo. And...the price is right! Affordable rates for superior quality!3) The Staff: To me; this is the final seal on why you should stay at Hotel Europa. I cannot tell you how kind; helpful; generous and warm Gassim Maria are! (I have not met Miriam but I am sure she is just as wonderful!). A family-run establishment where you are treated with individual attention and care rather than just your typical revolving-door hotel. These people make you feel like you're at home in Italy; their home. By far the nicest people I've met in Italy (and I've travelled the boot from head to toe!).There you have it; short sweet. Hotel Europa is the place to be when you visit Florence. Go see for yourself!! Arrivederci.......
310780,Meatman102,08/12/2007,Our Home in Florence We spent four nights at the Hotel Europa in July; 2007 and were very happy we chose this hotel. It was clean and we felt it was a true Italian experience with all the modern amenities such as air conditioning; internet access and a very unique elevator. Most of all; it was the three owners that took care of all our needs. Gassim; Miriam and Maria did everything they could possibly do to make our stay a pleasant and enjoyable one. They made us feel as if we were guests in their own home. The location cannot be beat because it is right in the middle of all the activities that we did in Florence.
310780,AnnivCouple,08/08/2007,Our Favorite Spot and Favorite People! We arrived late one night; excited to be in Florence; yet exhausted. Gassim could not have been more accomodating and pleasant. We truly enjoyed Gassim; Miriam and Maria. They assisted us through the maze of Florence (Miriam even managed to get us an art tour at the last minute!) By the time we left; we felt like we were part of their family. And....our room was the best we stayed in; while visiting Italy. Large; comfortable; good AC; big bathroom with a great shower. I'll never forget opening the shutters to see the top of the dome overlooking a garden....and the bells mingling with the sounds of birds in the morning. We totally recommend this hotel! Please give Gassim and family hugs from their Washington; DC friends!
310780,goldclass,08/06/2007,Five Star Service We stayed here on a very hot weekend in August. The hotel is amazingly clean with all mod. cons. The service is five star without a doubt. Its a fantastic location and the owners could not have been more 'accommodating' of our needs. Would definately stay here again and recomend.Joanne; Sydney; Australia
310780,Christinelisa,08/04/2007,An affordable gem! terrace
310780,Maizy123,08/04/2007,Helpful owners and great location We stayed here for two nights. The owners were really nice and could not be more helpful. The location is fantastic. You can drop your car off for about 20euros/day and walk to anywhere in the city in minutes. The hotel was undergoing some renovation when we were there. This did not disturb us. There was no noise or anything like that just decorating stuff in the corridors. Our room was very clean and practically brand new. They have free online service and an very nice break fast. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a reasonably price hotel in the center of Florence
310780,AmyandDirk,07/27/2007,Wonderful Hotel Europa! Lovely Florence
310780,JenRen,07/25/2007,Great location! My husband and I recently stayed at Hotel Europa Firenze in Florence for 2 nights as part of our Italy honeymoon. Prior to actually visiting Florence all of my emails to the hotel were answered promptly and professionally. The staff helped me book reservations for the Accademia and the Uffizzi Gallery. When we arrived at the hotel I initially was a bit concerned going in the front door from the street as it is a dark; not very nicely decorated lobby in a very old building. You have to take a very small lift (only holds 1 person and maybe 2 small suitcases) up to the 2nd floor for the actual hotel reception area. However; once we got to the hotel reception area we were greeted by a very nice gentleman who proceeded to check us in; help us get our luggage to our room; and then show us how to work the lights and air in our room. We found out that the hotel is run by his family-they are all very friendly and helpful. The hotel reportedly just went through renovations. Our room was very clean and it looked like most everything in it was new. It was very simple though with no artwork on the walls....they may be still in the process of adding these. The bathroom also looked newer and was very clean. The bed was VERY firm and so were the pillows....a little too firm for me. They served a simple breakfast in the morning of pastries; meats and cheeses; cereal; fruit; and coffee and bread. They also offered free internet access which was nice. The hotel is in a great location in the center of town only 5 minutes to the Accademia; 5-10 minutes to the Duomo; and a 15 minute walk to the Uffizzi. Even though it was in the center of town our room (50) faced the garden area and was extremely quiet. The air conditioning was very nice too as it was in the high 90's while we were there . Overall I thought this was a good place to stay and I would stay there again if back in Florence.
310780,Kat055,07/19/2007,Clean; comfortable; charming! We stayed for two nights; lovely people; you feel like you're in their home. Your best bet in Florence is walking; and the Europa is close to everything. It's inexpensive; yet clean and not fancy; but beautiful.But above all; these people stepped up to the plate when I lost my passport and had to wait a day to go to the Embassy to get a copy. I felt cared for and protected in what could have been a very difficult experience. They made all the difference. These are good people; as well as running a fantastic pensione. I would stay there again in a heartbeat. As someone else said; I wish I were there now!
310780,mm56,07/18/2007,Good place in a great location Stayed 3 nights from 7/3-7/6. I actually got a newly renovated room on the 2nd floor of the hotel. I was rather apprehensive about my stay as I knew that the hotel was undergoing renovations but were supposed to be finished by the time I arrived. As it turned out; the project was not completed but there were no disturbances either. Everything in my room appeared to be brand new. It was very clean; quiet; and comfortable. The bathroom had a very good shower. When we arrived; we were greeted by Miriam who showed us to the room; explained how things worked; gave us a city map and site seeing and dinner recommendations. She was extremely helpful. Upon arrival; we also discovered that my husband had left his prescription sunglasses on the top of the rental car that we had dropped off at the Florence airport. I contacted EuropeCar; it turned out that they had the glasses. They suggested we have the hotel send Pony Express to get them. Miriam鈥檚 father arranged this for us the next morning and by that afternoon we had them back. The hotel is very well located; walking distance to all the major sites. It is on a busy street but my room faced the courtyard; I could see the dome of the Duomo; and I never heard any street noise. I also really liked Florence a lot.
310780,sleepy510,07/16/2007,Fantastic hotel; wish I were there now. Hotel Europa made our trip to Florence special. Miriam and her father run the hotel and couldn't have made us feel more welcome. The building is 400 years old and you can really enjoy the charm of the hotel itself. Close to major attractions and walking distance to the train terminal about 15 minutes away. Miriam was more than willing to help us in any way she could and we started our correspondence a few months before we even arrived. The rooms are spacious and clean. I would stay at this hotel again without hesitation.
310780,MolMolHongKong,07/16/2007,Excellent location and friendly staff We have stayed this hotel 4 nites. The location is excellent. In the heart of city and you can go anywhere within 10 mins.Friendly and helpful staff; making us just feel like at home.The room is clean and large. We are highly recommended this hotel when u stay in Florence.
310780,captdavec1,07/15/2007,Perfect in Every Way! After numerous recommendations from a friend that stays at the Europa annually; my wife and I joined Capt. Frank for 3 nights while touring Florence. The location is outstanding and most everything is within walking distance. The 13th century building; complete with it's original murals painted on the ceiling are a much added bonus. With out a doubt this was the most accommodating staff we encountered during our 2 weeks in Italy. Our room was huge and very clean. Miriam; and her family catered to our every need and welcomed us into their home as if we were family. We will return!Capt. Dave and BarbaraPalm Beach Gardens Florida
310780,Tranquillo,07/13/2007,Great location; friendly staff After spending over a month reading reviews and searching for hotels in Florence; we chose HOTEL EUROPA for two nights June 14 - 16; 2007 for 150 euros per night (@$204.00 U.S. dollars per night.). We wanted something nice since we were celebrating our 30th Anniversary.We walked from the train station with our luggage (about a 10 minute walk) with no problems. Owners Gassem and Miriam (his daughter) are very gracious; polite and helpful. They take great pride in their hotel which is currently under renovations and recommended an excellent restaurant in Florence: ZaZa.The Hotel is on the 2nd and 3rd floors and you can either climb up two very steep flights of stairs to get to the 2nd floor or you can take the scary elevator which you must operate yourself (room for 2 and some luggage). The main entrance to the elevator is very dark and dreary and can be scary at night especially if traveling alone.We had a lovely renovated room with a king-size bed; beautifully done bathroom with shower with extra jets; and a balcony/terrace that overlooked the Duomo. Our room was in the back for privacy and quiet. Unfortunately; we had to walk through construction area and new bedding in the hallway to get to our room.The problems we encountered were: Our room had no framing/molding around the door so that people in the hall could easily peek into/look into our room. Apparently; they had not finished renovating our room and Gassem said he would have them fix it tomorrow and would try to do something tonight while we went out. When we returned; he had put bubble wrap around the framing so no one could look inside. Another issue was that our balcony had one table and 2 chairs right outside our balcony door. We thought it was private but realized that night when other guests sat outside our bedroom balcony door talking the night away (waking us up) and smoking (left cigarette butts) that there was another entrance. We did not use the balcony because it was full of construction material and debris from renovations. Apparently; this did not bother the other people. Breakfast was average if that - coffee/tea/cappachino; cresonts in wrappers; yogurt and a few cold meats and wrapped processed cheese. Gasshem had offered to switch our room to a room in the front on the main street (noise) and it was not renovated and even though it was less money; it was not something I would want to spend 2 nights in. If we did not say something about the lack of privacy and that people can look into our room; we doubt they would have done anything or even put up the bubble wrap. We feel he should have offered us a discount on our room.Gasshem was very nice in leaving us a bottle of wine on our last night to celebrate our anniversary. Overall; the location and staff are what makes this place. The renovated rooms and bathroom once everything is complete should be very nice. However; with all the hotels in Florence; I would probably opt to stay somewhere else on my next visit. If you choose to stay here; be sure renovations are complete or be sure to get a completely renovated room.
310780,mame90,07/12/2007,Warm; Inviting; Close to Everything! This is a little gem of a hotel that was just full of surprises. At first; I was skeptical because it has a rather non-descript facade and is located on a busy main street with scooters galore. And; once you're in the building; the small elevator is barely big enough to hold one person and luggage.But; once you hit the reception desk; all of those concerns disappear.The Europa is family-owned...and every member of the family is focused on providing you with excellent service and a memorable experience. It is also within easy walking distance of almost everything in Florence.The rooms are not fancy but are definitely comfortable. Because most;if not all; of the rooms actually face a courtyard out back; you hearalmost nothing of the main street. Instead; if you're really lucky inchoice of rooms; you'll have an absolutely phenomenal view of the Duomo.While the hotel facilities are nice; it is truly the service that makes the Europa stand out. If I am ever back in Florence; I will definitely stay there again.
310780,Liberat,07/11/2007,The Hotel Europa was wonderful Our family of 5 stayed here for 3 nights. It was just magnificent! The rooms were large; clean and newly renovated. The staff couldn't have been more kind and helpful. They treated us like family.
310780,Lulu1967,07/05/2007,City break in Florence Warm and friendly service in this conveniently located; clean and comfortable hotel. Very central: only a few minutes walk to Duomo andclose to station. A Tourist Information Office is located across the road from the Europa and pleasantly surprised us by providing detailsof where to obtain tickets for the Uffizi Gallery(13 euros). We had thought we had left it too late to gain entrance without queueing endlessly or paying through the nose for a guided tour (about 45 euros). In summer months; it is probably wiser to book ahead online for the Uffizi rather than leave it to chance - I think we were lucky. Buffet breakfast pleasant with varieties of coffee available; though personally would also have enjoyed having coffee making facilities in room. Room and bathroom spacious with good air conditioning system. Have to admit that the 'Suite' category conjuredup something even more exotic. Still; we were satisfied with the reasonable price for a fantastic location in a family run; welcoming and well run hotel.
310780,mreav,07/04/2007,Extremely Basic Hotel--Not Sure How It's Ranked 4th in All of Florence I travel frequently and always use Trip Advisor to help select my hotels. As a result; I have had wonderful small hotel experiences in Italy; France; Greece; Switzerland; Norway; the Carribean; the US and many other places. Therefore; I did not hesitate to book the Hotel Europa based on Trip Advisor's glowing reviews. Unfortunately; this time; I was a bit disappointed. This is an extremely basic hotel in need of renovation. I see other reviewers mentioned that their rooms had beem renovated; so perhaps I received one of the not yet renovated rooms. My room had tons of mold growing on the ceiling; cracks in the walls; bed linens and towels that were extremely thin and well worn; and a floor that did not seem to have been swept in ages. I walked across the floor in white socks and they were immediately black on the bottom. During my stay; the ceiling of the room started leaking and it dripped all over the bed; soaking it all. Also; when I arrived; the key to the room had been broken in the lock and they were having a tough time getting the locksmith to come. Therefore; my entire three day stay was spent with a room that wasn't exactly secure. The hotel staff did provide a slight discount on the room for the key and leak issues; I will commend them on that. As for breakfast; I found it to be disappointing after having experienced numerous other amazing hotel breakfasts throughout Europe. The rolls were stale; the croissants came in plastic and were soggy and the cappucino and coffee were subpar. On the positive side; as everyone has said in other reviews; the staff was very nice and tried very hard to make everyone happy. This hotel could very well become a hidden gem with some work and maintenance. Until then; I'm very surprised that this hotel ranks 4th in Florence.
310780,BostonRedSoxFan,07/02/2007,Great staff; location; value After reading great reviews about this family-owned hotel; we booked them for two nights during our Italian honeymoon. It's in an old building with high ceilings and the lobby is on the 2nd floor; away from the noisy streets below.Our host (I think her name was Miriam?) was so gracious and nice. She upgraded our room since we were on our honeymoon. We had a huge room with those big; shuttered windows you picture in Tuscany. So romantic. The room was clean and spacious. Also; the hotel is just two blocks or so from the Duomo and maybe a 10 min. walk from the train station. Very centrally located. They have a great breakfast buffet and free internet access which is a treat when traveling abroad. I'd definitely recommend them!
310780,JasDublin,06/27/2007,Great Location Hotel Europa was a great place to stay in Florence. It was a five minute walk to the Duomo and many other attractions in the beautiful city. We booked a suite which was only a little extra; and well worth it. My husband and I stayed in the Donatella suite. It was nicely decorated with a modern bathroom. The windows opened to the a nice quiet garden area; so although we were in the centre of the city; we were still able to retreat from the hustle bustle when needed. The hotel owners (a young family) were also very friendly and spoke english; which was helpful. They provided us with maps and details on how to get to the main tourist attractions; as well as recommended a very nice restaurant; Za Za (gorgeous steak!!).My only complaint would be the entrance of the hotel - it seemed kinda dark and dingy; and you have to take and old styled lift up to the first floor for the suites and the second floor to the other rooms - which was a bit of a hassle. Your could also take the stairs but its a bit hard with luggage.Overall; a very pleasant stay and would highly recommend it.
310780,SouthCarolinaTeacher,06/26/2007,Such a pleasant surprise We chose this hotel because of other reviews and price. Upon arriving; you see that you must reach the 2nd floor for the actual hotel. No problem. Lift is tiny; but it works fine. Our room was a huge triple room with a king bed and a twin. Good bedding and linens. Our bathroom was huge; with a large shower with plenty of hot water and large towels. The air conditioning was excellent.The breakfast was ample: hot coffees and teas; juices; yogurt; cereals; pastries; cheeses; meats; and breads. Not elaborate; but very nice. The family that runs this hotel are delightful. They were so kind and went out of their way to make our stay pleasant. Everything we needed was provided. This hotel has a quiet location; yet a 5-10 minute walk from all the main attractions.The facilities were very clean. This is not a fancy place; but if you want a clean; comfortable room; with great location and the best service anywhere; the Hotel Europa in Florence is the place for you. We would definitely come back to this hotel again.
310780,citronusa,06/25/2007,Stay HERE! I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough. Miriam and her parents; who have owned the hotel for over 40 years (Miriam grew up there) are warm and friendly. There is nothing that is too much trouble. They were completing renovations while we were there; so we were the first to sleep in our beds and the first to use our showers. Miriams suggestions were always spectacular. Having been to 5 other cities in Italy; we felt quite authenticated; but ZaZa blew us away! Since Florence was experiencing an unusal heat wave for June; and it was Monday with most museums closed; Miriam found a fantastic excursion for us -- a horseback trip through Tuscany with lunch at a winery in a castle. The guide was a young energetic and elegant man named Sami and he was kind enough to accomodate us with 30 minutes notice. He even sent a taxi to our hotel to pick us up at his expense. It turned out to be one of our favorite days in Italy. The lunch consisted of gnocci with white truffles; and some fabulous wines. We purchased the yummy dessert wine and have already almost depleted it!! When Miriam's dad discovered that my son had a preference for Iced Cappicinno; he personally prepared it for him throughout our visit. He treated our kids as if they were his own family. Miriams children were also present thoughout our visit; helping at the front desk and visiting with their grandparents in the living room. The location was perfect - nearby the Duomo; the Academia; the Midici Chapels (which; by the way; are under renonvation). But Florence is small enough to walk anywhere and EVERYWHERE each day. Also; do not be put off by the non-descript entrance - the building used to be a foundry; which gives it its charm. Just hop the antique elevator (lift) one or two floors up to the hotel. You may also walk the steps. this place is a gem in every respect. Bravo!!
310780,Dublinuser,06/22/2007,Very Enjoyable Experience We stayed at Hotel Europa for 3 nights in June and were both very impressed. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful; the room (we stayed in one of the suites) was large and very clean; as was the bathroom. Location was excellent; 100 metres to the cathedral. Overall would recommend the Hotel.
310780,BobAnne,06/21/2007,excellent budget hotel - an outstanding value Hotel Europa is an outstanding value for a budget-conscious traveler. The room (we stayed in #36) was comparatively large; romantic; clean; and charming. The bathroom is quite large as well. It's a smaller family-run operation; and we didn't mind at all a lack of room service; 24 hour desk personnel; etc that larger properties charge for in their room costs.The hotel sits on a VERY busy noisy street that takes about a 5 minute walk to get to the Duomo. The rooms on the rear of the hotel are totally quiet however. I would much rather have a short walk to the center of things than pay double at another property that is 3 minutes closer on the other side of the Duomo Square.During our stay Florence had an unusual heat wave. It was in the mid-90s and sticky/humid. If you dislike those kind of temperatures (I know some people love them); make sure your room air-conditioning is working well; and if need be left on after housekeeping comes through.Our biggest disappointment in Florence had nothing to do with the hotel. It was the restaurants. We live just outside San Francisco and think we have better Italian food here than at the restaurants we tried in Florence. Our favorite dining experiences involved little cafes with a more casual light food/wine bar offering - as compared to the full sit-down restaurants. But.....each to his own I guess. We did not like Za-Zas at all. We really enjoyed Procacci Gran Cafe San Marco.Miriam; Robert; Gassim are all very nice hosts. The open air markets are fun offer some good buys. Of course; the history museums are fantastic.
310780,barbmarge,06/16/2007,Great hospitality It wasn't the location of the hotel or the actual room that impressed us the most during our stay at Hotel Europa in Florence. It was the management that made the experience memorable. They always went out of their way to make us comfortable and assisted us in every way possible. My husband and I won't hesitate to stay at Hotel Europa again if we are fortunate enough to return to Florence.
310780,dshersh,06/14/2007,Great Value The Hotel Europa was perfect! Great location. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly.
310780,FunQuest,06/13/2007,We left our hearts in Florence Hotel Europa is 5 Star *****There's no pool or jaccuzi; no gym; no sauna; no doorman and I don't think there was room service. Do you care when you're in one of the most beautiful and alive cities in the world? We wouldn't have used any of those services anyway. On our honeymoon we wanted to take the time to experience all the city had to offer; and know that we had a safe; secure; comfortable and VERY friendly home away from home to come back to as a home base. Gassem and Miriam made sure that anything we needed was provided and it was great getting to know them and seeing their positive energy at the front desk and the breakfast buffet. At the time we were there (first week of June) there semed to be new furniture arriving; so must be upgrading the rooms. We had unit #35 for $150 E a night which is reasonable and well worth it. We had a small fridge in the room which was nice for a holding snacks and happy hour supplies. The shower and bathroom were immaculate as was the hotel in general. First appearance and the sight of the little freight elevator could be a shock to some at first; but it's all part of the charm and adventure. Would go back again and miss it already. The location is the best and YES walking to the train with your luggage is easy.
310780,NANAnagano,06/09/2007,Highly recommended I stayed here with my parents and booked 2 rooms. The rooms were very clean and cozy. I liked the beautifully painted furniture. People there were quite kind. The location was great. I think it's quite hard to find better hotel with this price in Florence. You will find it's an expensive city but if you stay here; at least you can feel the hotel price is quite reasonable. If I visit this city again; I will book this hotel for sure.Sasaki
310780,ColoradoWest37,06/03/2007,Lousy Breakfast; Creepy Building; Decent Room and City Location. If I had written this review immediately after we got back to the U.S. last October 2006; I would have given them a 2...but time has tempered my disappointments.Let's start w/ the good:1. Pretty decent location...no complaints really when you look at it from a price/location standpoint. Better hotels in Florence? You bet. Cleaner...better rooms? Sure! I think though you'd be hard-pressed to have a decent room in this location at this price.2. Room itself was a suite at the end of the hallway...I forget the number. Windows opened out into a courtyard...(no view to speak of). Pretty big room though and bathroom was quite large (by their standards); clean; just fine.3. They have an ice machine from which you can get ice any time of day. Believe me...this was a godsend. It allows you to buy sodas/whatever and drink them COLD...and that's no small feat when looking for ice in Italy!The not-so-good:1. The breakfast is lousy. I don't drink coffee; but those that did raved about the self-serve espresso machine and how good the coffee was. I literally ate nothing for breakfast at the hotel the 5 days we were there.2. Lufthansa lost my luggage in Florence. For the first 2 days; front desk did very little to aid my effort to find and get the bags. Ended up going back and forth to the Florence airport 3 round-trips to straighten things out w/ Lufthansa! $30.00 each time; each way.3. Couldn't really open the windows in the room for fresh air because of mosquitoes. Bug traps/killers were empty of attractant and were never filled while we were there.4. Furnishings in the room; including bed linens are really worn...cobwebs/spider webs hung from ceiling corners.5. 1 English-speaking channel on the TV....CNN We Hate America International.A couple other notes:1. I can't believe anyone would say this hotel is walking distance to the main train station. I would NEVER walk the distance w/ luggage...I don't care how young you are. We did walk the distance several times on day trips to/from the station; but we are in our 40's w/ no kids and that was w/ no luggage. Got luggage? TAKE A CAB!!!...and have Gassem or someone else call them for you!2. Everything was within walking distance of this hotel. Florence just didn't strike me as that big; so we walked everywhere.3. The area was sort-of creepy at night...but then again I never felt scared/nervous probably because compared to the folks I saw; I felt like a GIANT at 6'0 and 195 lbs and completely scary-bald.Would I stay here again? I still can't answer that.
310780,pinch0,06/02/2007,Great Place Hotel Europa was a great place to stay while exploring Florence. I would recommend it to all ages; any couple- young or old; and any family. Pluses- great decor in rooms; larger breakfast; location; staff; their willingness to book reservations for museums etc before arriving (this is a must in Florence for the Uffize and David)Minus-at the moment the lower floor is being renovated and we had to book a suite (which was still only 150 euros)I have two great restaurant recommendations from a friend who studied in Florence-Acqua al Due- Via dei Acqua ( Between Ghibellina and Via Vechia- very close to the Bargello) -They have a steak with an amazing blueberry balsamic sauceIl Gato e Le Volpe- its also on Ghibellina just past the bargelloGreat food; prices; and large portions. This is one of the few restaurants you can leave full from without breaking the bank. Great for lunch or dinner.
310780,ldayFlorida,05/29/2007,Comfortable; great location Great location; comfortable; well-decorated large room with every amenity. Spotlessly clean and well-managed by a concerned family staff. Gassim and Miriam were very attentive and together with their family provided assistance and guidance when needed. Lower lobby under construction did not interfere with stay. Elevator; air conditioning;and very nice breakfast including meats; cheeses and an assortment of pastries and fresh rolls. No problems. Would recommend without concern!
310780,sarah4nil,05/24/2007,Nice hotel in good location We stayed in Hotel Europa for 3 nights in May. We had a suite room which had two large windows that gave us a nice quiet view. We could even see the very top of the Duomo Dome and Giotto's Bell Tower. The room was large with a high ceiling. It was very nicely decorated and clean. We are still amazed at the window treatment : shutters+glass panels + wooden clapboards + sheers + curtains. Wow! We were impressed.Breakfast included hard-boiled eggs; cold cuts and cheese; croissant; Kellogg's corn flakes and cocoa krispies; juice; fruit; yogurt; rolls and toast. Gassim was a gracious host and made a wonderful cup of cappuccino.There was a computer with Internet access in the lobby which allowed us to get in touch with our family. The location is very convenient - about a 5 minute walk to the Accademia; the Duomo and the Medici Chapels and 15 minute walk to the Uffizi. Getting to the SMN train station was easy too- we just took the bus (#1; #7 or #17) at the stop right across the street.Overall we were very happy with this hotel
310780,SDParadiseJewelry,05/24/2007,Wonderful comfortable hotel Two Italian guys that followed us till our husbands joined us so asked if we could take their...
310780,debtct,05/20/2007,miriam is a gem we stayed at the europa in april. when i called and spoke to miriam directly she couldn't have been more helpful. she even called me back to work out a problem with our reservation -twice!!the rooms are very large and clean ;freshly painted. beds are comfortable. rooms are quiet. bathrooms are large and clean;towels are fluffy .breakfast is good miriam's dad puts out a good spread inc. hard boiled eggs. while in florence we realized we were going to have to do some laundry. miriam's husband called the laundry had our stuff picked up washed; dried; and folded and returned for 20 euro!! and that was for two large large plastic bags full!there is a p.c. in the common room/living room that you can use for free.the location can't be beat. it is central to everything and across the street from the medici palace.2 blocks to san marco 2 blocks to the duomo and a 10 minute walk to the uffizi.there is a wonderful little spot for inexpensive meals just around the corner called the o.k. bar.i would return in a heart beat.
310780,ole1eye,05/19/2007,Wonderful hotel - made our trip Stayed at the Hotel Europa for just a couple of nights on our whirlwind week inNorthern Italy; but it was one of the best things about the trip. I echo the comments of other reviewers here - Gassim and Miriam; who own and staff the hotel; were wonderful and very accommodating. They gave us our choice of two different rooms; provided recommendations for touring the city and restaurants; and arranged tickets/tours for us. The room was very spacious; the bed was comfortable; the bathroom was sparkling; and we even had a partial view of the Duomo. The hotel is central to everything in Florence. The breakfast was also very good; and there is a computer in the lobby for internet access. This was our first trip to Europe; and Gassim and Miriam did their best to make us feel comfortable - we even got stories about some of the famous people who had stayed in our room in years past! Highly recommended
310780,medard,05/04/2007,very nice hotel the corridor
310780,cadaques12,05/03/2007,Peaceful with fabulous comfy beds My mum and I have just returned from 6 nights at this lovely hotel.The simple and elegant decor really makes you feel at home - as do Gassim and Miriam; who run the family firm.From the moment we arrived they made is feel welcome and helped us with maps; bookings; restaurant choices; etc.We stayed in a suite (room 32) which is a large room with the comfiest bed I have ever stayed in. The shuttered window opens out to a pleasant and peaceful courtyard.The room was very clean and thoroughly tidied every day.The shower was was hot and fast and there were always plenty towels.Breakfast is basic; but adequate.The hotel is just minutes from the Duomo and less then 15 mins walk from the river; Uffizi and the Academia; where the statue of David is.We would also recommend walking up hills beyond the river for great views of the city.Day trips to Siena; Lucca and Pisa are advised. They are all lovely and the train ride is incredibly scenic - if slow.There are hundreds of good restaurants nearby. The hotel recommended ZaZA. It served excellent food; the best we had. But beware; staff booted another couple of their seats to accommodate us (we were mortified) and they overcharged for two items. But just beware - do go... the food really is first class.You have to book well ahead to get a seat outside.I would recommend the Europa to family and friends who visit Florence.
310780,SteveandKate,04/20/2007,2 star hotel; 4 star service! We have just returned from a 3 night break at the Europa. The staff couldn't be more helpful; as was seen from all the positive comments in the visitors book on leaving.I was a little worried about the proximity of the hotel to a main road (Via Cavour) on arriving; but all the rooms are at the the back and very quiet. You open the windows on waking up; and all you can hear is the sound of swifts flying around (well; at least until the workmen start on the ongoing renovation on the 2nd floor around 8am - which was OK)!The location of the hotel is absolutely brilliant; just a few minutes from the Duomo; so close to pretty much anything you want to see in central Florence.The corridors and main rooms have been very attractively done; and give the hotel a great ambience character. Miriam the receptionist was more than happy to pre-book tickets and reserve tables even before we arrived in Italy so that we did not even have to engage our brains but could just kick back and enjoy our trip without the hassle.
310780,mfbev,04/19/2007,Great Experience We stayed at the Hotel Europa for several days during a recent trip to Italy. It was wonderful - very clean and updated facilities; good breakfast; great location; free internet access; etc. But the best part of the stay; definitely was the staff. The hotel is run by a father and daughter who were both very welcoming and helpful. I'd definitely recommend this hotel.
310780,knittingdanica,04/18/2007,Top everthing! The Hotel Europa was the first of five hotels my mother and I stayed at on our trip through Tuscany and Umbria and it set the mark so high that none of the others was able to come close. I can only rave about everything. Our room was beautifully decorated; spotless; and completely quiet despite its central location. The mattresses were excellent (and I am picky). Water pressure was great and hot water plentiful. The breakfast buffet was more than ample (with great coffee and even a better smile from Gassim).Which brings me to the real selling point of the hotel--the staff. Gassim; Miriam and her husband (I believe his name is Robert) are by far the best hosts I've ever experienced; and I do travel a lot. I arrived in Florence at 6:30 am after an overnight train ride. My room wasn't ready yet; but Gassim let me leave my luggage at the hotel; freshen up in the common restroom; and sit down in the lobby/ living room area til I was up to facing the city. Then; armed with the map he provided me with; I was off to explore. When we left three days later; Miriam also let us keep out bags there; and when we came back to get them; provided us with juice and sweets before we left. Everyone we came in contact with; from the housekeepers to Miriam's lovely daughters; shared their genuine smiles and hellos with us. They went beyond being hosts-- I left with the feeling of wishing I had more time to get to know them better.And all this for the best price in Florence. What more could you want?
310780,thorhall,04/17/2007,Most comfortable hotel ever stayed at This was the most comfortable hotel we have ever stayed in. It was immaculate when we arrived and thoroughly cleaned before we returned for the afternoon ripaso. The breakfast is good and set in a comfortable room with other guests. I could never say enough about how helpful and friendly everyone was. Oh; and to make things even better the location was perfect.
310780,jenniferwh,04/14/2007,Loved the Hotel Europa! The Hotel Europa in Florence was outstanding! The rooms were larger than most in Europe. They were clean; neat; and attractive. I think the location was excellent. The most outstanding part of the hotel though was Mr. Gassim and his family who manage the hotel. They were so friendly; pleasant and accomodating! We enjoyed breakfast upstairs each day and enjoyed talking with them. When we go to Florence again; we will surely stay here!
310780,trveler50,04/14/2007,great hotel The Hotel location is excellent. Just a couple of blocks from the Duomo. The staff was very helpful. Miriam even went so far as to sell our reserved tickets to the Museum Accadamia when I got the dates wrong. I will definitely stay there again when I return to Florence
310780,RMason1,04/06/2007,Home away from home! After spending 3 harrowing days in Rome; we arrived at our hotel in Florence. Miriam's warm smile and gracious nature was a welcome relief. She quickely ushered us to our room; which was large by European standards. The room had nice windows with a good view; was impeccably clean; and incredibly comfortable beds! The shower was great; a nice very huge stand-up! Good location as we were within a 10 minute walk to the Ponte Vecchio yet the hotel was in a quiet area. There was no street noise at night. Throughout our stay both Gassim and Miriam were wonderful. They provided us with all the info we needed; helped us with making reservations at museums; assisted us with bus and train tickets; and gave recommendations to great restaurants. I can't say enough about how great Gassim and Miriam were. This is a rare gem of a hotel; a family run business; and you can tell they take pride in giving good service and making sure that your stay in Florence is memorable and stress-free. Plus the price can't be beat; although they could charge double and it would still be worth it. We will definitely stay here again!!! The Mason Family
310780,Bermuda,03/30/2007,Perfect hotel in Florence! My husband; 17 year old son and I chose to stay in the Hotel Europa for six days in March after hearing my sister rave about how much she loved the hotel when she stayed here last October. She did not exaggerate what a great hotel this is. We found the hotel to be spotlessly clean; very comfortable with large spacious rooms. and ideally located right in the center of things; but away from the noise. We had a suite with painted ceilings that were incredible; rooms that were just huge and a terrific multi jet shower. The best feature though is Miriam and her father. They are both gracious hosts who make you feel welcome immediately. We received great advice on where to dine and reservations were happily made for us (definitely try Zaza's and Il Latino). When we unexpectedly extended our stay; Miriam managed to work out a way to accomodate us. And; when we had time to kill before our flight took off; we were welcomed into the lounge room where we were able to comfortably relax; use the computer and await our departure time in a friendly; homey environment. This hotel reflects the standards of days gone by with excellent service; large rooms; great breakfast ; the ability to converse in multiple languages and genuine concern and interest in the guests. I cannot say enough about this hotel. There is no doubt that when we return to Florence; we will stay here with our new friends; Miriam and Gassim. Thank you both for making our stay so wonderful!ps - shoppers tip : the prices in the market right near the hotel are cheaper than the market in piazza del repubblica; plus the selection is greater.
310780,smullins,03/28/2007,Very nice Staff First of all; the staff at this hotel is Well Above Average. Very nice folks. We stayed in a nice room; but had some problems with check in. We were told to come on in and they'd help us find where to take our rental car. However; when we arrived there were no English-speakers to be found. I wouldn't normally find that a problem; except that they had assured us to park at the front and they'd help us. We parked semi-illegally due to their advice and it was quite a struggle to find the rental car place.After the initial problem; there were no other set-backs. They did an excellent job with my husband's laundry. We also REALLY enjoyed the free internet. It was right in the middle of our trip; so being able to contact home was a terrific perk.I would stay there again if I was going to be on the same budget. They gave us a complimentary bottle of wine on the way out that has become one of our favorite Chiantis. In fact; we pick up a bottle when we want to re-live our trip.Florence is an awesome city. This hotel is worth every penny. I would definitely recommend it as a perfect hotel in this price range.
310780,AlanSylvia,03/27/2007,A wonderful experience Just returned from a four day break to Florence and we just had to complement the Hotel Europa for a fantastic stay.Miriam and her father Gassim were the perfect hosts; extremely helpful and friendly; and nothing was too much trouble. It was my birthday the day we arrived and after spotting this at check in Gassim delivered a complimentary bottle of wine to our room with his usual smiling face.The hotel rooms are large; clean and comfortable. The location is superb with all major attractions less than 15 minutes walk.Miriam recommended a restaurant called Za Za (and took care of the reservation) and we would highly recommend it to visitors.The hotel is a simple two star with five star service. Don鈥檛 be put off by the entrance or lift!
310780,robandjen,03/23/2007,Perfect Start to Italy We just got back from a dream trip to Italy. Thanks Trip Advisor/members for helping us pick and choose hotels. Just found this site before we left....it really works. Case in point; Hotel Europa. Charming hotel; gracious staff (Miriam and her father were the epitome of class) and central location. After huge days of museums;food gorging and late night walks across the city; the clean; quiet and friendly Europa is what the soul needed. I could go on and on. Book it.
310780,VicEgham,03/20/2007,The best hotel in Florence I visited Hotel Europa in February and had a fantastic time. The location of the hotel couldn't be more perfect and the service provided by the staff there is the best I have ever experienced. I would thoroughly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Florence.
310780,Zirky,03/16/2007,Friendly; clean; efficient; reasonable rates When my family arrived in Florence in December 2006; we wanted to find a reasonably priced hotel; close to the centre of the city.We could walk to the Hotel Europa from the Florence train station.Hotel Europe met all our requirements - and more.We could walk to see the Duomo; the Medici Palaces; the Ponte Vecchio; the Statue of David etc; etc. My daughter and I enrolled in a two weeks Italian language course while we were in Florence.The hotel staff even helped us with out Italian language studies.The family who run the hotel have now beome our friends. We thoroughly recommend the Hotel Europa.
310780,paulspurs,03/11/2007,Fantastic Hotel Had a great time in hotel europa; it is ideally situated right in the heart of florence and close to all the shops; museums and the market etc; we stayed for three nights and could easily get to anywhere we wanted in florence very quickly from our hotel; hotel europa is a very nice family run hotel and obviously take great pride in the way they look after their guests very personally with an emphasis on making guests feel very welcome; this was my first ever trip to italy and i couldnt of picked a more beautifull city or a nicer hotel; i will definitely be visiting again.
310780,gwelch,03/03/2007,Loved the location of Hotel Europa! My daughter; teenage granddaughters; and I had a very positive experience at the Hotel Europa in February. We had two large rooms with king sized beds and tiled floors. The rooms were quiet ; clean; and at the end of a hall. Kassim and Meriam were great hosts---very pleasant and helpful. We enjoyed the complimentary breakfasts each morning; but best of all was the perfect location near the train station; museums; and churches. As stated in some other reviews; it might be a little hard to find because of the placement of the sign; and it was up one set of stairs (elevator being repaired); however; we felt very safe and comfortable at the Hotel Europa. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a reasonably priced hotel in a great location!
310780,tripadvjunkie,03/02/2007,Loved the Hotel Europa Excellent location within easy walking distance to all the major sites. We stayed in a suite; which was a clean; large room. Friendly staff. What more could you ask for. The only downfall was breakfast; but this is the off season.
310780,2fromTX,03/02/2007,Highly Recommended We stayed at Hotel Europa in late February and thought it was a great value. The room was large and very clean. Our room was also very quiet. The location of the hotel is excellent -- 5 minute walk form either the Accademia or the Duomo; 10 minutes from Uffizzi. The proprietors were very friendly; spoke English (a + for us) and helped us with museum and restaurant reservations. We drove into town; which was a bit of hassle -- make sure you print the directions to the hotel from their website -- and did not locate any parking near the hotel -- but; we parked along the road in front of the hotel briefly (heading towards the Duomo) and the hotel staff took the keys; called a parking service; and arranged overnight parking for 20 Euro; a very convenient service if you have a car.
310780,kobedog,02/28/2007,Great Stay in Florence We had a great stay at the Europa this past week. Great hospitality and had the benefit of an upgrade to a suite due to construction on the standard double room floor. In spite of several prior posts about towel and pillow quality; I was very happy with both. As noted; driving into Florence (first time visitors) and finding the hotel took a few loops around town before finding Via Cavour. Closeness to major sites is as advertised. In our book; Florence was more enjoyable than Rome. Good restaurant to try is Acqua al 2.
310780,pinmark,02/20/2007,hotel europa i promised myself i would write a short review of this very nice hotel close to the duomo and center of town. while the breakfast left someting to be desired we were able to book a large two bedroom suite that could accomodate our family. this was something of a rarity since we typically had to pay for two hotel rooms on most of our trip to italy and austria. the hotel staff was incredibly friendly; the price was reasonalble and the room we stayed in had a 300 year old fresco on the ceiling!!-- i would definitely recommend this hotel to families that are travelling in florence.mark pinnie
310780,mboulden,02/07/2007,Wonderful experience! Hotel Europa was by far the best hotel I stayed at during my study abroad experience in Europe. Eight-teen other students and myself felt right at home when staying at Hotel Europa. The owner; Gassim; and his family run the hotel and make you feel as if you are a part of the family as well. The hotel was clean and comfortable! I highly recommend it!!
310780,CATravelwide,02/04/2007,Perfect Place We stayed at the Hotel Europa Suites for 4 nights and had 2 rooms for our party. Location was absolutely perfect - across from the Medicic Palace and a few blocks from the Duomo. Rate at the time was 100 euros per night. Rooms were spotless; roomy and decoarted beautifully. Windows were large and overlooked a courtyrad with trees and birds singing. Although on a busy street; rooms were exceptionally quiet. Hotel had a/c and an elevator. Owner and his daughter extremely helpful and hospitable - we were treated like honored quests. We highly recommend this hotel for your Florence stay.
310780,JJJ777,01/22/2007,Charming; clean and quiet I highly reccomend the Hotel Europa. The rooms are clean; beautifully (recently refurbished) and quiet. This is very unusual for the center of Florence. The owner; Mr. Gissim; is charming; and helps to make your stay in Florence a delight.Furthermore; it is great value for money;JVB; Milan
310780,Stansworth,01/21/2007,Great location; excellent service; clean We booked directly with the hotel after doing much research for price; location; and hotel ratings. We were not disappointed. The room was large with simple decor; and we had a small patio that gave us a glimpse of the Duomo. The biggest plusses for the hotel are the great location between the Duomo and the Acadamia; the very clean rooms; and the very helpful staff. The other reviewers are right about that! For full disclosure we should mention the unpleasant smell in the entryway of the building prior to entering the actual hotel - but no unpleasant odor in the actual hotel. Also; our particular bathroom had no separate shower enclosure. The water simply sprayed onto the bathroom floor and went down a drain in the floor. Still; we highly recommend it.
310780,lissega,12/31/2006,Great location; Huge Rooms and Reasonable Prices Room
310780,YOW76,12/18/2006,Excellent; well-located hotel My friend and I stayed here in early December and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. The hotel is well-located and well-priced; and I cannot say enough about the staff/owners. They were so pleasant and helpful. Miriam booked us gallery reservations in advance and personally recommended wonderful restaurants (you must go to Trattoria ZaZa!). When we asked the front desk where the nearest store was so that we could purcahse some bottled water; the owner insisted that he give us a big bottle of water for free. In the States; that would have costed us 10 bucks in a hotel! The morning breakfast was pleasant. The room was beautiful and overlooked a little courtyard. You could see the dome of the Duomo from our room. The bathroom was huge! We did splurge and get a deluxe room. But; it was still only 115 Euros!!! This was one of the best hotel experiences I have ever had and I travel a lot! I highly recommend this hotel!!!!
310780,Oodie222,12/17/2006,Lovely Hosts - definitely recommend! This hotel was spacious; clean and very well located near the Duomo. We were given a room with a balcony and with a view of the Duomo. It was actually the hosts of this hotel which impressed us most. When we arrived on the first day; tired and sleepy; my partner and I were greeted by a warm smile and a nice cappacino. We were convinced that Hotel Europa definitely had a 5 star service. The Hotel is not grand but it meets our need for comfort. We have stayed in a lot of hotels around the world but this is definitely recommended. The service is very personal; breakfast is sumptuous and you do feel like you are treated as a valuable guest. Don't look elsewhere in Florence; the hosts will take good care of you like they did us. We will definitely be back!Hi to Miriam and her family - all the best!!
310780,brucej,12/10/2006,Lovely Hotel and Lovely People We had an excelllent room; even getting a free upgrade to a suite as my wife and I were travelling with our 2 young kids. The staff were incredibly helpful and pleasant; speaking perfect English.
310780,SDK,12/07/2006,Excellent Location Casim at the great coffee machine
310780,worldtravellin,12/06/2006,Great place I stayed here Oct. 22-24. This is a great place owned by a wonderful family. They are so friendly and helpful. They suggested great places to eat at and suggested things to do. The hotel was a little difficult to find on my own (you'll be okay if you take a taxi directly there - which is what I should have done). The hotel is actually in a great location - very close to many of the main attractions. I stayed in a regular (not newly renovated) room and it was fine - but if you stay in one of the newly renovated rooms; you'll be pleasantly surprised. A nice bonus was the availability of internet at the hotel (and not having to venture off to find an internet cafe). The owners/family are wonderful and service was top-notch. I'd definitely stay here again. - Holly
310780,gendali,12/04/2006,Enjoyed this quaint hotel This is a fabulous little hotel in a great location - easy walking distance to all that Florence offers. The family that runs the hotel is friendly and helpful. We booked a suite and found it to be quite spacious - we loved the decor. The bathroom was big; the shower was great... we heard no street noise at night. The only issue we had was a couple of mosquitoes in our room. I would stay here again and would reccomend it to anyone looking for a reasonably priced hotel with lots of charm and character.
310780,rpandjm,11/28/2006,Tremendous Location; Basic but very Clean Hotel This was a very basic hotel; but clean and comfortable; and the location was excellent. People should understand that it was not luxurious in any way; but you are not paying luxury rates. We were in a regular room. The bathroom was incredibly small. The shower was just a corner of the room; with a drain in the floor. The worst part was that the curtain would stick to you; as it was so small you couldn鈥檛 help but bump into it. We found it a bit odd that the room had completely bare walls; not a picture on them (it鈥檚 a completely minor point; just seems it would feel a bit warmer with something there).The family that owns it is very friendly and helpful. We asked about a restaurant; and she picked up the phone and made us reservations. Breakfast was very good (of course; they had Nutella; and that鈥檚 very good in my book!).
310780,suellenj,11/28/2006,what a wonderful place; and the owner and family; the best We could not find the hotel and it was late. and Art the owner told us to stay where we were and walked several blocks to our car and took us back. what amazing service. The family is wonderful and the hotel is in the most perfect location for the first time visit. I highly recommend this place to anyone who is going to florence. I love the elevator; the stairs ; the family and the rooms and my room was great. soooo; my only suggestion; get a map. a little tough to find. but worth it. suellen
310780,PopeyeMozzie,11/21/2006,Great times in Florence We stayed at the Europa with a group of six and had the most pleasant time. The entry and second floor reception threw us a bit but we were pleasantly surprised when we got to the second floor and saw our rooms.The hosts were excellent and very helpful. The rooms were more than adequate and the large room at the front was brillant. (Ask for this one if you can.)Breakfast was very nice and plenty of it. The coffee machine ran all the time becasue it was very nice. we appreciated the free internet at the front counter which was very convienient. Location is great. If you arrvie by train it is about a twenty minute walk. We did it with our suitcases but I would probably suggest a cab.I would definately recommend the Europa to anyone.
310780,NAB00,11/21/2006,a hotel where you're treated like family I was traveling alone and stayed here for 4 days. I had no tours or anything planned for what to do with those days. The hotel staff were so friendly and helpful. They pointed out things I could do and arranged for several day trips to Pisa and another one hiking in the countryside. When I said I had to see museums since I was in Florence; I didn't think I would be able to get into anything without reservations weeks ahead of time. Again they came through and told me to go see the David when the Accademia opened at 8:15; then arranged for me to get on another tour to see the Uffizi. Anytime I needed any help; they were there with suggestions of where to eat and directions on how to find places. When I would come back to the hotel; they would always greet me with a big smile and call me by name.They said I was family and treated me as such. Traveling alone this was a wonderful bonus. I traveled for a week and then returned to Florence; back to the Hotel Europa where I was greeted like a long lost relative. It was absolutely wonderful how they made me feel. The hotel is located near the Duomo so whenever I had to go somewhere; I could easily find how to get back by locating the Duomo and then walking the 1 and 1/2 blocks to the hotel. I loved the location; I could see the Duomo out my window. I had a huge room and just loved the whole time I spent there. I have never experienced such a feeling of being at home in a hotel. It was great.
310780,judeyjude,11/21/2006,Great value for money! This was the second part of our honeymoon and the hotel owner welcomed us with a bottle of wine. All of the staff were very friendly and very helpful; the owner recommended a great little area to eat. The room was spotless; very spacious and very comfortable. I can't believe that this is only a 2 star hotel. I would highly recommend it and next time we're in Florence we will definately be staying there.
310780,Realmccoy55,11/20/2006,Highly recommended! The Hotel Europa is a wonderful find; especially for the price. We were greeted with such warmth by the owner himself; Gasim; even though we arrived quite late. He quickly had our rental car taken car of (fare price) for the duration of our visit. Our suite was so large and with ceilings painted as beautiful as many in the famous homes surrounding us. We were on the front of the building; but the windows kept out any noise from the street. The bathroom was modern and everthing was very clean. Our host greated us for breakfast each morning and he and his family were ready to help with our variety of needs (tours; directions; recommendations; etc.). The location of the hotel was perfect for most all the sites as well. The hotel lobby is on the 2nd floor which we later found to be very common in Europe (at least in Italy).
310780,frankthecurmudgeon,11/14/2006,Good Location; Excellent Value The Europa is conveniently located between the Duomo and the Accademia. Also; we; as seniors travelling light; had no difficulty walking to the train station; perhaps ten minutes distant. Gassem and Miriam (management) were most helpful and solicitous; and spoke excellent English; too. Our bedroom and bath accommodations were clean and comfortable; and the breakfast spread was good. The Europa was our best value on our trip; which also included stopovers in Verona; Venice and Rome. I will recommend the Europa to my friends.
310780,VAFitz,11/14/2006,Great hotel; Great owners! We stayed at the Hotel Europa for 5 nights in early November. The hotel is located on the 2nd 3rd floor of the building. The location was great; very central to everything. About a 5 minute walk to the Duomo. We walked all over the city with no problems. The street that the hotel is on is fairly busy; but we didn鈥檛 hear any noise from inside the hotel. There is someone at the desk from 7am to 1am which was also nice. We had the Raphael suite. It was nicely decorated and fairly large. There was plenty of room for 2 large suitcases with room to move around. The room was very very clean as well. There is also a computer to use by the reception desk; free of charge; which was really nice.Miriam Gassim were wonderful. They bent over backwards to make our stay pleasant. Gassim greeted me every morning by name. Miriam recommended a company to use for a day trip to Siena; which was great. She even made all the arrangements. She also made museum and dinner reservations for us during our stay. They really work hard to make sure all your needs are met.The breakfast was good. I loved the coffee machine. Breakfast included cereal; croissants; bread; hard boiled eggs; cheese and fruit. They also had nutella; my favorite!! I had it every morning on my croissant. Overall I would definitely recommend this hotel. The location is great; it鈥檚 very clean and most of all Miriam Gassim were just so nice and eager to make our stay great.Try the Accademia restaurant just down the street. It was the best meal we had in Florence.Thanks Miriam Gassim!
310780,1929,11/13/2006,A wonderful find The Hotel Europa in Florence was perfect for us. We were there for three nights in October; 2006. The highlight was the hospitality of the family that operates this small hotel. The hotel is a short walk from the train station and a short walk to all the major sights in Florence. The family made reservations for the key museums so that we had no waiting in the long lines. They also recommended a fine modestly priced restaurant to which we returned two evenings. Coffee was available at any time and the breakfasts were beyond the usual continental fare. They also allowed use of the computer at no charge and helped with directions and reservations for the rest of our trip. The rooms are modest but are clean and with all necessary amenities. All this at a very modest price for a major city like Florence. Julie and Steve Albertalli Big Flats; NY
310780,CherylLH,11/12/2006,Couldn't Have Asked for More We had the pleasure of staying at the Hotel Europa October 14-20; 2006. Everything was wonderful; from the location; rooms; cleanliness; and hospitality. There were 6 in our group. We had suite rooms that were located on the first (second in America) floor. Also on our floor was a nice sitting room where we could have a bottle of wine and discuss our day or where we were going to dine that evening. Breakfast was more than adequate. I would love to have a coffee maker like the one in the dining room. It was self serve and one could choose from espresso; cafe Americano; cappichino; or latte. Everything was within walking distance of the hotel. The only time we took a bus was to go to Fiesole and the bus stop was only a couple of blocks away. The owners couldn't have been more helpful. One night when we asked for some plastic glasses to drink our wine; they insisted on giving us more proper glasses in which to enjoy the bottle. There was even a small refrigerator in the desk. We would definitely return to the Hotel Europa on future visits.
310780,theragans,11/09/2006,Staff is excellent View from the Duomo Bell Tower
310780,Deckka,11/04/2006,An excellent place to stay in Florence My wife and I recently spent 3 nights at the Europa and consider it the best accommodation we stayed in during a recent month in Europe. The owner (Gassim) and his staff were extremely obliging and nothing appeared to be too much trouble. Our room towards the rear of the hotel was very quiet; comfortable; clean and very tastefully decorated. The central location was an excellent base from which to explore Florence and was close to the station and bus depots. Breakfasts were more than adequate.
310780,lovingitaly,11/03/2006,Great Hotel! This hotel was great .. the staff was super friendly and helpful. The rooms were clean; quiet; and comfortable and the breakfast each morning was great. The best part about the hotel was that it situated right in the middle of Florence. We were able to walk to all of the sights and Miriam was so great about telling us which things we should see and the good places to eat. I would highly recommend this hotel and would definitely go back.
310780,EvelynB,11/02/2006,5 Star service Our family (3 persons) stayed at the Hotel Europa for 6 nights in September. This was; by far; the best hotel experience we have had during our Italy travels. The location was excellent with easy walking access to the train station and all central sites. The suites (one double and one single) looked out on a quiet courtyard and were large; well appointed and quiet. From the time we arrived; we were welcomed and treated royally by Miriam; Gassim and the rest of the family. Each morning we had a lovely breakfast - Gassim makes the best cappucino! Each evening; Miriam and Gassim made sure we were supplied with ice packs and water as one of our party had a troublesome foot that needed constant attention. Our stay was delightful. Miriam was especially helpful with recommendations on where to shop for specific items and best restaurants for wonderful local dishes at great prices. All our requests were handled quickly and we were provided with excellent information about day trips and other sight seeing options. We will absolutely stay with them the next time we are in Florence and will recommend Hotel Europa to all our friends. Thank you ;Gassim and Miriam; for a wonderful stay with your family. Florence will always hold a special place for us due to your kindness and hospitality.
310780,Joan49,10/26/2006,Great Experience at the Europa! Our room at the Europa was huge by European standards; spotless and comfortable. It was nicely decorated. Our bed was comfortable with good support. The bathroom had a shower with plenty of hot water and good pressure. The location was ideal. Although less than five minutes from the Duomo and on a busy street; our room was perfectly quiet thanks to being on the courtyard and its double-paned soundproof windows. We had a lovely view of red-tiled roofs and windowsill gardens. The breakfast featured unlimited excellent coffee; homemade granola; other cereals; croissants; meat; cheese; yogurt; juice; toast and hard boiled eggs. It was a better breakfast than our other; more expensive hotels in Rome and Florence. The staff was very friendly; helpful and completely fluent in English. They cheerfully did all we asked; making museum reservations and calling taxis; and recommending excellent low cost restaurants. Florence is a very expensive city; and I searched long and hard before booking the Europa. I felt we got very good value for our $130 Euros.
310780,teapotts,10/24/2006,Wonderfully central location Within 200metres of Hotel Europa
310780,Scarlett76,10/16/2006,a bit disappointed We where staying three nights at the Hotel Europa in Florence.As I wrote the e-mail for booking; the employee Isse was very friendly and accepted even to give us some discount on the room price. This was very appreciated.As we arrived at the hotel later on; we where very disappointed about the room. We reserved a standard double room; but it looked absolutely not like on the picture on their website. Furthermore the room was to the road side and therefore very noisy. Nevertheless; the hotel is located very near the city centre and the dome. And the elevator is small; but very useful.Breakfast we never had; because its only served until 9.30 a.m.so we can not give a feedback on that-The owner Gassim and his daughter (?) Miriam have been very friendly.After the second night; Miriam proposed another room to us; which was to the court side and more quiet.We even got 10 Euro reduction on the price; which was very kind offer from her.Unfortunately in this room you heard all the breakfast noise; because it was beside the breakfast room; beginning at 8 a.m.Alltogether we would say that if you book an expensive room or a suite; hotel Europa can be a good choice. Also the staff is very friendly and we could leave our baggage there on the last day.But if you need a cheap AND quite room; go rather for another hotel.
310780,MRXXXX,10/15/2006,2 stars with 5 stars service what more can i say about this place that has not been said already. It felt like a home away from home not just a hotel.The owners make you feel really welcomed and give you a feeling that you have known them for years. The best part of all was the friendlyness of staff which is so hard to find in some hotels. Europa is a must for all travellers.
310780,howardespana,10/15/2006,Very friendly staff Good location; very helpful with parking the car nearby and the manager / owner is very friendly and helpful. We stayed on the older floor ; so the furnishings were not so good ; but it was cheaper than most other nearby hotels and over all is perfectly good for a short stay.
310780,Search,10/15/2006,Friendliest experience in Italy! Our family of five (2 adults and 3 children 15; 13;11) stayed for 2 nights in October and loved it! While my husband parked our rental car; I ran ahead up the stairs to book in and was greeted by the lovely; smiling face of Gassim who quickly went to the fridge and handed me an icy bottle of water. My husband brought our daughter in a wheelchair plus our luggage up and was very warmly greeted by Gassim who offered us help in getting us into our gorgeous suite. It was two huuuuge rooms plus a bathroom; so cool and relaxing and not to mention spotlessly clean.While we were marvelling at the space and settling in; there was a knock at our door and there was Gassim with a tray of iced juice for all of us! I can honestly say; in our week in Italy; he was the kindest; friendliest person we came into contact with.Our children loved it so much they wanted to cancel our 2 nights planned in Sorrento and stay on in Florence!The hotel is; indeed in a very ordinary; nondescript building on the 1st and 2nd floor so if you aren't prewarned you could really miss it. Luckily I had read all my Tripadvisor info so was armed with good; useful information!.The breakfast was enough to start the day with and Gassim was always on hand to get you anything you requested; nothing was ever a problem.I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone... I haven't seen the rooms but the suite was just beautiful and; as mentioned; the service was so warm and spot on. As I wrote in their guest book.... I just wanted to put Gassim in my pocket and take him home.I hope you read this Gassim! Regards from Lucia and family from Mooloolaba; Australia
310780,wlc,10/14/2006,The Staff are outstanding! We were part of a wedding party in Sept and stayed in the Europa for a week. I can't say enough about the support from all the staff to assist us in managing all the special requirements involved in managing a wedding. At the end of our stay; we felt more like part of a family than merely staying at a hotel. The hotel is family run and it shows in the personal consideration shown to all the 'quests'. Whenever I am back in Florence; this would be my stay of choice. As for the 'bells of the Duomo' bothering anyone; how lovely to wake up on the morning of my daughter's wedding and be greeting with such a sound.
310780,HOWARDB,10/10/2006,loved the staff and location. As all the previous reviews the staff are very friendly and the location is great but I would recommend you book a suite. We moved from a room to a suite and were informed that all the rooms would be up-rated to the same level as the suites for next it should be great then. You can pay a lot more money for this type of location in Florence.Don鈥檛 be put of by the entrance like a lot of hotels in old buildings the Europe has a shared entrance.
310780,duchessx,10/04/2006,A Good Choice We stayed 3 nites at Hotel Europa. It is very well-located; nicely appointed; with a friendly; attentive; helpful staff. Our room (called a suite but really just a bedroom and bath) was very clean; reasonable in size. Museum reservations were made for us with no service cost. We would stay there again.
310780,cyclamen,10/03/2006,Felt at home We can highly recommend Hotel Europa; Via Cavour 14; Florence. We spent 3 nights at this hotel at the beginning of our trip. We had a 鈥渟uite鈥?which looked out on a quiet courtyard and the Duomo for 150euros. The room was spacious and attractive with a large comfortable bed and was equipped with an air conditioner; TV; and a safe. Friends also had an equally large and appealing room. The bathrooms were clean and more than adequate and were equipped with a hair dryer. At the end of our trip we again stayed at the Hotel Europa for an additional night. This time our room was a little smaller but very comfortable and quiet (it was also 10euros less). We did not see the regular rooms as we had decided from reading Trip Advisor before booking that the 鈥渟uites鈥?might be worth the extra expense. We were all delighted with the hotel. It is family run. Gassim and his daughter; Miriam; and the family were very warm and helpful which made the stay so pleasant. They are also fluent in English. We were happy to return there for the final night of our trip. The location is excellent. The hotel is only one and a half blocks to the Duomo. This central location made it possible to walk to all the main sites. Don鈥檛 be fooled by the entrance to the building. There is a small elevator which will take you up two floors to the lobby of the hotel. The suites are just up one flight so we used the stairs once our luggage was up. Breakfast is included and consists of cereals; yogurt; fruit; hard boiled eggs; and croissants. Especially good is the large coffee machine which makes everything: expresso; latte; capuchino; americano etc.. We booked directly with the hotel via email. Communication was easy and replies were prompt. When we return to Florence we will definitely stay again at the Europa. A great find!
310780,Clarts,09/28/2006,We don`t usually do 2 star... We don`t usually do 2 star hotels but the extortinate prices of most things in florence made it a bit of a necessity. I rely a lot on the reviews from trip Advisor when making a hotel choice and so far I have not been let down. We booked this hotel based the previous positive reviews. The Europa is in a good location for most of the sights. We booked a suite which was a good size with nice furniture. The room was clean but dark due to having only one window facing in to a small courtyard; the plus side was that it was very quiet with no street noise; that is apart from the building work which started one morning at 06.30. To be fair we were out most of the day so it was`nt a problem. The room had air conditioning and a safe ( no Charge ! )The breakfast was very basic but enough to start off the day. There is a coffe machine but 4 out of the 5 days my Capaccino was luke warm. The staff were friendly and helpfull. There was nothing about the hotel which dissapointed me and I would reccomend it to anyone who would not usually do 2 star.
310780,blueeagle,09/26/2006,Great hotel; lovely position. Excellent hotel; great position. Although close to the Duomo; the bells were not a problem during the night as they don't start until 7:00am. Our hosts were superb and couldn't do enought to help. Lovely room; large and very quiet. Coffee was excellent; breakfast was okay.Would reccommend this hotel for 3/4 nights in Florence.
310780,artsage,09/25/2006,Location was great and Hospitality was Phenomenal! We stayed in Florence in September; and this was our first stop in Italy so we were quite jet lagged upon arrival. We received a terrific recommendation for dinner; and were given a very quiet room. Florence is a busy town and the hotel is located in a busy area with traffic. However; once you step into the hotel you no longer hear the traffic. That is amazing. So we had a solidly quiet and relaxing haven to return to. And our room was immune to the traffic noise. The hospitality is amazing. Miriam; Anton; Miriam's father and mother made all the difference in us enjoying Florence. Such outstanding and warm hospitality; our every question was answered (with patience I might add!) and every need/request met. ). Our stay with Miriam and family is what made Florence even more enjoyable.Location is good - just a few minutes walking from the Academia. Our room could have used a bit of sprucing up. Miriam relayed to me that the hotel would be undergoing a renovation at the end of the year. Any lacking in the decor of our room was overcome by the warmth of our innkeepers.When we return to Florence we will definitely stay at the Hotel Europa again! Also good value for the money!
310780,Karen7,09/25/2006,Warm welcome in the heart of Firenze! We chose this based on previous Tripadvisor reviews and were not disappointed. The wonderfully friendly owner greeted us on arrival (hotel is on the second floor) and showed us to a suite; despite us only booking (and paying for!) a regular room. It was enormous and well decorated in Italian style. We had great wooden shutters to ensure a good night's sleep and the biggest shower I've ever seen! Breakfast was nice and again the owner welcomed us by name each morning and helped fellow guests. And the location? Amazing! 200 metres from the Duomo; then straight down to the Uffizi and river beyond. Despite this centrality; we found it a lovely quiet hotel. Go there!
310780,christravelbug,09/16/2006,Hotel Europa is a Gem Our family of five stayed at the Hotel Europa for 3 nights in late August.. We were in the family suite which was on the first floor off a lovely sitting room. There was an extremely large room with 3 beds; a large bedroom with a double bed; and a very new bathroom. The ceilings were very high with beautiful; old fresco paintings on them. The furnishings were lovely. The only complaint was that the street noise in the morning was noticable from this front facing suite even though there were double windows. The a/c worked very well. The owner Gassim was extremely friendly and helpful and really fussed over his guests. He and his family put out a very nice breakfast with a great espresso machine for all to use. Everything was clean and the internet free! The location was very convenient to walking everywhere in Florence - one exception was a bus up to Piazza Michaelangelo for fantastic views over Florence. The reservation they made for us for the Uffizi was a godsend - avoided a 2 hour lineup! We loved this small; friendly hotel and would stay again. It really made our stay in Florence perfect!
310780,HLinkowich,09/15/2006,Clean; Quiet; Comfortable; Great Location! We stayed at the Hotel Europa for 4 nights while on vacation in Italy. Upon arrival; we were pretty tired from the walk from the train station to the hotel lugging our bags and Gassim greeted us with a large very cold bottle of water which we really needed. We stayed in the Rafaello room; number 35 and the hotel was well kept and the room was large and clean. Our room overlooked a courtyard and we could see the very top of the Duomo from our 2 windows. I am a very light sleeper and even though we were in the middle of the city; the room was SO quiet. The location is only 1 block from the Duomo and everything is within walking distance; no subway or taxi needed. We rented a car for 2 days and Gassim helped us by calling someone to pick up the car and parking it for us overnight. Gassim works tirelessly and is extremely helpful. He is always available for directions or restaurant recommendations. Miriam is also very helpful. She made our museum reservations prior to arrival which allowed us to bypass all lines at the Accademia and Uffizi. It is also very nice to have the free Internet service which enabled us to talk to our families over e-mail after being gone for a week. We celebrated my birthday and our wedding anniversary in Florence and the day of our anniversary; Miriam and Gassim gave us a delicious celebratory bottle of Chianti. We thought this was very generous of them.We had a wonderful stay at the Hotel Europa and will recommend this property to anyone else we know who is visiting Florence.
310780,SaraInChicago,09/14/2006,Great Service! We had a great stay at the Hotel Europa! The staff was super friendly helping us with everything we requested. The hotel was perfectly situated so that we could walk to everything. The room was very clean and the breakfasts were delicious! You get a whole lot for your money here!We did have trouble finding the hotel on the first pass as we walked from the train station. Here's a tip for you: when you get to the correct street; look for a tourist information yellow sign. The hotel is across the street and a couple of doors down on the same block. Look for a brass plaque at eye hight with the hotel name on it! Another tip for your Florence trip: book your Uffizi reservations as soon as possible if you are traveling in peak season. The staff can call for you!
310780,ECook,09/13/2006,Fantastic! Here's a pic of the bathroom
310780,Gardners,09/12/2006,Great value for money with a smile What a great spot for seeing everything in Florence. We were on a tight budget and this place was excellent value for money; especially compared to other places in Italy for the same rate. The location was perfect. Close to the Station; really close to all the sights. Gazim always greated us with a smile and was very helpful with all enquiries was so friendly (this can be a bit rare in Europe). Our room was No. 47; clean; well layed out; and it had a cute little balcony off our room with a little table and chairs and it was nice and quiet (a real find in Italy) and we had a shower in our room and a safe as well. It was lovely waking up to the bells of the Duomu (which we had a view of from our room). What a great spot. Breakfast was also included and plenty for us.You must go to Michaelangelo's piazza at sunset to see Florence at dusk with a glass of wine in your hand (beautiful). We did a tour that ended with dinner by a Monastry on top of the hill. Had a great night. Also; definately definately; I mean definately book for entry into the Uffitzi museum or stand in the queue for over 2 hours (we are extremely patient people but even this broke us). You can also get to Pisa by train from there; or tour bus. There are also great markets around the corner from the hotel for leather jackets etc.We had a great time in Florence and it was in great part due to Gazim and his lovely hotel. Thank you Gazim; it was one of our best stays in Italy!
310780,AAnt,09/06/2006,Best Value Hotel in Europe I have Encountered We stayed in July and were surprised to find that:- there were heaps of room for 3 people (sorry not the best photos!)- air conditioning; a safe; a fridge; a large bathroom were all in the room- breakfast was decent- the family run hotel bent over backwards assisting us. Their ability to remember names and details of conversations really made us feel special.I would agree that a SUITE room is definately the way to go from the sounds of other reveiws. We couldn't have been happier; close to everything as well. Our room #32 was right at the end of the hall on level 1 and so quiet; which was an added bonus. The only thing that I would recommend you don't do is go to ZaZa's for dinner. We were recommended to go here but I was a little disappointed. I am a foodie and I love good food; I found the food here not great value and didn't have that real freshly made pasta taste. We ate at much better restaurants than this throughout Florence.
310780,Jessy555,08/27/2006,I loved this place!! My husband and I stayed here for my Birthday. I have to tell you we love this place and highly recommend it. It is walking distance from the train station. We did a day trip to Venice from there. We loved the shopping close by. The people at this hotel treat you like family. The breakfast in the morning is nice and they have free internet access. The rooms are WONDERFUL. We have no complaints. They even wished me a happy birthday that's how much they pay attention to their guests. It's family owned and run - they are a very nice family and give you great advice and tips. I can't wait to go back someday! We highly recommend it - you won't be dissapointed. Yesenia
310780,cookietravel,08/27/2006,Very disappointed We chose Hotel Europe for our 3 nights stay in Florence base on the positive ratings from other reviews here. However; we were pretty disappointed with the hotel room and their services. First; I think it's a two different worlds if you get a suite room on the 2nd floor rather than a regular single/double room on the 3rd. Apparently; we had a double room. The furnishings were pretty old as well as the carpet that we could see the black stains everywhere. The bathroom was so tiny and not equiped well at all. The shower floor wasn't raised up to keep the water in the shower. Afterall; the most upset experience we encountered is the last day in the morning before we check-out. We told the staff we need to go out for some last minutes shopping for about 45 minutes and will come back before 11am which is the check-out time. So; we only left the AC on when leaving the room. Later we came back about 15 minutes before 11; we found out they came to our room and took the batteries out of the TV remote. Also they turned off the AC and removed the AC remote from our room too. This behavior is so rude. we felt that we were being very unwelcomed. I understand it's a family run business but they still need to maintain certain professional services.
310780,europe06,08/25/2006,Reasonable accommodations for a family of four My family of four (including 2 teenage girls) stayed at Hotel Europa from July 29-Aug. 2; 2006. We booked a quad suite (got the Leonardo suite). The hotel was very roomy - plenty of space for our family. The bathroom was very modern. I was a little disappointed at first; as I thought I was getting a suite with a view of the duomo. While we got a very comfortable room; it did not have the view I was expecting. Nonetheless; we still had a wonderful stay. The proprietor; Gassim; was very helpful and polite. He helped us find a nice restaurant (Trattoria Za-Za) that had good food at reasonable prices. Both Gassim and Miriam were prompt in responding to my requests for assistance with booking tours; etc. While we did not have the pleasure of meeting Miriam; I am sure she is just as welcoming as Gassim was. We were also impressed with the energy conservation feature that they have - your room key has to be in a slot to get the lights and A/C to work. While it would have been more comfortable to return to an air conditioned room from being outside; I certainly appreciated their efforts to conserve energy - something we could all do more of.We would not hesitate to recommend this hotel.
310780,Almendarez,08/23/2006,Great location and friendly staff What the Hotel Europa鈥檚 standard room lacked in space; it more than made up for in kind and charming staff. The location was also ideal; situated on Via Cavour only blocks from the Duomo and the Accademia. All the sites were easily visited on foot. The room; indeed; was small and there was some street noise on Saturday night; but we got an excellent rate which included breakfast buffet and AC. Breakfast included cereals; croissants with a variety of spreads (who knew Nutella came in handy little packets?); hardboiled eggs and use of the deluxe coffee maker which provided coffee/cappuccino/espresso/etc. The reception area had a computer with free Internet access for guests; as well as access to a variety of guide books. I would not recommend the standard room for a long stay as it was a bit small; but the Hotel also has suites at a reasonable rate. The standard is a great value for a few days; however; and I would recommend the hotel to travelers on a budget.
310780,mikeriley12,08/22/2006,Great Value! Our room
310780,GypsyBoy,08/20/2006,Loved Hotel Europa Staying at Hotel Europa was like staying with relatives. Gassim welcomed us with a cold bottle of water and showed us our room.The room was large and simply yet tastefully decorated with a double bed; sidetables; dressing table; and wardrobe. There was also a TV; electronic safe and the air conditioning was excellent. Prior to our stay; I had questions and also requested for help with reservations at the Accademia and Uffizi Museums; the hotel was always prompt with responses and also made our reservations with no problems at all.Our room also had our own private balcony (10 euros extra); with a view of the Duomo; the courtyard below; and of the neighourhood. This was really lovely as we could enjoy a glass of wine after an afternoon of sightseeing and museums.The hotel was quiet and service was excellent. Gassim was always more than happy to help with any request or questions we had and without asking; he also gave us a map and marked out major attractions when we arrived.Buffet breakfast in the dining room was lovely and included cereals; croissants; breads; jams and spreads; yoghurt; boiled eggs; juice; water and also a cappucino or latte if you fancy. Gassim once again was always there to welcome you and help with anything you needed.Upon check out; we were able to leave our luggage at the hotel with no problems at all as our train out of Florence was leaving later in the afternoon. When we returned; Gassim also eagerly showed us around the rest of the hotel including some beautiful suites perfect for families or for those wanting a lot more room. One even had a 300 year old fresco on the ceiling and some beautiful sculptures!It's true that the hotel is not the Ritz; and it's by all means not a new hotel; however it is family run and has been by the same family for 30 years and is extremely well-kept and maintained. You will never receive service as warm; friendly or as genuine as this in any of the 5 star hotels. Thank you Gassim for all your help and for making our stay in Florence and at Hotel Europa such a wonderful and enjoyable one. Ciao!
310780,SiZ,08/18/2006,Can't believe it's a 2-star! We took a triple suite room (the difference was EUR30/night to the standard one). We were very pleased with the room; it was big and beautifully decorated. The room was very clean and air conditioned. We had a modern shower bathroom -- however no shower cap was provided; making it a bit difficult to avoid getting the hair wet. Gassim and the other staffs were always very friendly and helpful. The breakfast was standard (toast; croissant; corn flakes; yogurt; etc.). An automatic coffee machine was provided; giving you several choices from espresso to cafe au lait. The location is superb. Within walking distance to train station and all major attractions! We really had a great stay there... Thank you; Gassim!
310780,ringlady,08/18/2006,Hotel Europa is a Keeper Our family of 7 has just completed a 3 week trip in Italy/France.Hotel Europa in Florence on Via Cavour was our second stop.What a great find this hotel is.The location is great; the owner and his son really care about what they do. They welcome you with a glass of ICE WATER!A luxury in Europe; and priceless in 100+ degree heat.Allow you to refresh yourself before checking in! Offered us his cell phone to call the Bank and the Cell phone company when my daughter's purse was snatched. There are two floors; the lesser expensive are on one floor with big rooms and simple furniture. The more elaborate rooms are also big with antique furniture and beautiful bedding. Whether you stay in the expensive or not; you have a fresh continental breakfast in the dining room with an old but beautiful fresco on the ceiling.He also makes internet access available till 10pm on a computer by the front desk.It is a really comfortable place to stay at thanks to the ownersservice oriented attitude. It was a pleasure.
310780,doemv,08/15/2006,Great choice for Florence We (six women ages 13-70) just returned from a stay in Europe and found ourselves at Hotel Europa; Florence during a terrible heatwave. Upon arriving at the hotel; after walking from the train station (on the advice of our travel agent) Gasseim; the owner; met us and took us directly to our rooms so we could cool down before we checked in. He even brought us large bottles of cold water!! We had a quad and double and both had plenty of room. The younger girls were ecstatic to have free internet access(after the 2 euros for 15 min. at other hotels). Breakfast was adequate. The location; perfect. Everything in walking distance. Friendly; personal Gasseim puts this hotel in the above average category.
310780,earlbeatty,08/11/2006,Very Happy With The Europa My husband and I stayed at the Hotel Europe for 4 nights at the end of July. We were very pleased with the excellent service we received. Our room was a good size and the bathroom was very well appointed with shower stall; sink; toilet and bidet. There were plenty of fresh towels daily; the bed was large and comfortable and extra pillows were available when requested.The airconditioning worked well even in the extreme heat of July. Breakfast was plentiful but ordinary. The location of the hotel was ideal.My only concern was regarding the mini fridge which shut off when the room key that controlled the electricty to the room had to be taken out when you left the room. This meant that the fridge would not run during the day and so did not keep anything cold while you were out.
310780,singinginseattle,08/07/2006,Location; Location; Location! My fiancee and I stayed here in March during our first trip to Italy. The location of Hotel Europa is fantastic...walking distance to many sights. The staff was all very warm; friendly and helpful. The decor wasn't the best but you are not in Italy to sit in your hotel room. The breakfast in the morning was good and so were the cappucinos.
310780,namram,08/07/2006,not worth it!!! We had this hotel booked for several evenings. After the first night; we asked the owners to take a look at the A/C; but nothing was done. Breakfast was OK; but not great except the coffee made for us by the owner. Rooms were quite large; but beds were very uncomfortable. Bathrooms was small even by Florence standards. Owner did give good recommendation for dinner; ZA ZA.
310780,Momuv2,08/06/2006,Excellent location; Wonderful Service Frescoed ceiling
310780,flyingcookie,08/06/2006,Not recommended My husband and I just came back from the vacation in Italy for a couple days. we stayed in 5 different hotels in 4 cities for our trip. However; Hotel Europa was the worst one we found. We had 4 nights in Florence. We stayed the first night in a 3 stars hotel: Hotel Caravaggio for 83 Euro per night which is cheaper than Hotel Europa. And we were pretty satisify with Hotel Caravaggio according to their services; environment and facilities. Unfortunately; they were fully booked except the only night we stayed was available. So; we chose Hotel Europa for the rest of the nights in Florence. We were pretty disappointed with the first impression when arriving to this 2 stars hotel. It's an old hotel with an unpleasant interior settings. Although the double room we had is kind of big comparing with the usual hotel rooms in Italy but definitely excluding the bath room. It's very small and they only had the sliding door to seperate the shower and the toilet. The water was spreading out to the whole bath room and we found it so uncomfortable to come back in and use the toilet after showering. After all; the only thing we like about this hotel is their location. It's only 5 minutes walk to Accademia Museum. Anyway; we won't come back to this hotel next time for sure.
310780,SanDiegoSteve,08/04/2006,Worthy of prior high ratings Stayed here based on previous high ratings. On vacation with two teen-age daughters.Excellent hotel; super value for the price. Good location; within walking distance of train station; centrally located. Good breakfast. Nice room; very nice shower and bathroom. Air conditioning better than average; but not up to the standard of everything else.Family owned and operated. Very nice owners; helpful and full of suggestions on places to visit and places to eat. Restaurant recommendations very good.Would fully recommend this hotel to anyone; not the Ritz-Carlton but clean; safe; very nice; great value.Chose this hotel based on prior ratings. High rating is well deserved---
310780,Cincinnatitravelguy,07/25/2006,A Little Above Average Given the recommendation for this Hotel by a Friend - Great Location. Staff was friendly and helpful. Free internet by the front desk with a slow computer. Breakfast was not very good. Rooms were very big which was great but the A/C was not as efficient as other places - because the rooms were so big.
310780,MarshaMello,07/23/2006,A wonderful choice We selected the Hotel Europa based on positive reviews on this website; and were not disappointed. Gassim and Miriam were extremely gracious hosts who were at all times friendly and helpful. The location is great -- a short distance from the train station; and an easy walk to everything we wanted to see and do. We were traveling with our two teenage boys; and had reserved a quad room; but were pleasantly surprised upon arrival with two double rooms at the same price. The rooms were clean; spacious by European standards; and (thankfully) air-conditioned. I highly recommend Trattoria Za Za; a five-minute stroll away; for a reasonably priced; delicious dinner. Enjoy Florence!
310780,njr,07/21/2006,Liked Hotel Europa For the price; location and service; Hotel Europa can't be beat. My husband and I stayed at Hotel Europa for 3 nights this week and I agreedwith all of the positive reviews. We stayed in the spacious Dante suite. The bedroom and bathroom were attractively furnished; clean and in good condition. The air conditioning was adequate. The owners were very helpful in recommending restaurants and mapping out how to get to the pharmacy; grocery store; etc. The breakfast is not a lavish spread; but we found the cappucinos; yogurt and cereal enough to fill us up and keep us going until lunchtime. We were very happy with our stay and would stay there again in the future. All that being said; I will reiterate what another guest posted - this is a budget hotel. This is not necessarily a bad thing. To stay at more upscale hotels in other cities; we decided to scale back in Florence. Hotel Europa met this need. If you are expecting the Ritz or Four Seasons; you will not be happy here. If you're looking for a clean; quiet place with a great location; this is your place.
310780,Meadows5,07/20/2006,Frienldiest Service Room with a view
310780,SFwithlove,07/20/2006,Just loved it! We have just returned from Italy; and spent 5 days in Florence in this hotel. It was so pleasant stay. Miriam is the nicest person in the world. She actually made the reservations for us to Academia and Uffizi. Her restaurant suggestions were excellent. The location of the hotel is just perfect: few blocks from Academia; 5 min walk to the Dome; and maybe 20 min to Uffizi. Plus; if you rent a car 鈥?it is very easy way in/out the city. The room was large; and the bathroom was decent side as well; the mattress was very comfortable. I actually like the breakfast: coffee; cappuccino; eggs; ham; cheese; yogurt; etc. Almost forgot - we had a room with the small balcony. I鈥檒l definitely return to this hotel. THANKs Miriam.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/18/2006,Home away from home I would recommend anyone visiting Florence to stay at Hotel Europa. The hotel is ideally located near to all the main tourist attractions. Gassim and Miriam are the friendliest and most helpful hosts you could wish for. Traffic noise in Florence never seems to die down; as I found out on the first night when I stayed in a single room facing Via Cavour. I had however been able to book a double room for the second and third night of my stay and this room looked out onto a quiet courtyard. The only sound I heard was the tweeting of the swallows. For an extra 10 euros the double room is definitely a bargain. The room was very spacious with a comfortable bed. Breakfast is conveniently served from 7.30 am till 10.30am and I discovered that the best time to see Florence is between 6am and 9am; before all the tour buses arrive. I was therefore able to go and explore Florence and enjoy the peace and tranquility before returning for some breakfast by mid morning. I hope to return to Florence someday and spend more time visiting this magnificent city. If I do I will certainly book my accommodation at Hotel Europa.
310780,JamesV79,07/16/2006,A Budget Choice The proprietors of this small hotel are such lovely people that it seems almost churlish of me to say anything negative about their establishment. But I think prospective visitors should understand that this is a budget hotel. Our room; while spacious and clean; was not paticularly comfortable or attractive. And the breakfast was just plain not good. Luke warm coffee from a machine and rubbery croissants and rolls. My partner and I agreed that if we had been willing to spend more; we would have stayed elsewhere. So this really was a budget choice. And we further agreed that the next time we go to Florence; we will stay fewer days and at a more upscale place. So just be aware that; despite all the glowing reviews; this is not the Ritz. It is a place to save your euros for other extravagences.
310780,nubajelly,07/11/2006,Good location and value; friendly servce The Europa is a nice hotel for the price; and Gassim; the hotel-keeper; was very friendly. The room we had was a comfortable size with space to open our luggages; and the window opened out onto a lovely view of a garden and neighboring houses. On the other hand; the decore of the room was dated. There were paint chips on the wall and a few squashed bodies of insects long dead. Still; the air condition worked well and the bed was hard and comfortable.The biggest complain I had was that the shower was the kind that is just a faucet and spout off the wall of the bathroom. Basically; you flooded the floor of the bathroom everytime you took a shower. It drains very quickly; but still; you get everthing wet. Plus; the room for showering within the shower curtain is very small. People that are average size or bigger would definitely brush up against the shower curtain. Overall; the Europa was a great value for the money; and it was nice to be greeted by a friendly face as Gassim. The location was the best part; as it was only a short walk from the Duomo and other sights. Florence is such a beautiful city and it's great to be able to walk everywhere.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/10/2006,Hotel Europa is an Excellent Hotel / Outstanding Value My husband and I selected this hotel as a result of the feedback on this website. This hotel was outstanding; the location was perfect; the owners were very friendly and accomodating. While it is not a fancy hotel; it was very clean and had all the amenities that we needed; the breakfast had excellent choices. We would recommend this hotel to anyone and we would stay there again.
310780,McLeanVA,07/08/2006,Perfection Wow; what a beautiful hotel. Not only the rooms but the bathrooms were spacious. Everthing was immaculately clean. With 9 people; we occupied 4 rooms -- all were very quiet. The hotel is in a building that was formerly a convent with gorgeous; high ceilings. Perfect location -- convenient walking distance to all tourist sites and great restaurants. Gassim and Miriam were so helpful in making museum/restaurant reservations and pointing us in the right direction. The breakfast room was bright and welcoming with a nice selection of food. If we return to Florence; we will choose Hotel Europa again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/06/2006,Fabulous Family run hotel! Our trip to Florence was greatly enhanced by staying at the Hotel Europa. The family that runs the hotel is warm and welcoming and helpful. They were accepting and friendly with our children ages 10 and 12. It felt like coming home every night! The suite rooms are worth the extra money. They are beautiful. We stayed in a standard room which is basic but had such charm with the shuttered window that opened out to the Duomo. The location is ideal to walk any where in Florence. We will most definitely be returning!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/04/2006,An excellent choice! My husband and I stayed at Hotel Europa for 3 nights and loved it! The staff is incredible - Gassim especially made us feel like family. We received excellent service; everyone was extremely friendly and very helpful with directions; dinner suggestions; etc. The location was great and we will definitely recommend Hotel Europa to others and will stay there again when returning to Florence!
310780,pierogi,07/03/2006,Great hotel; best service we had anywhere We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 teenagers). We stayed 2 nights at the end of June 2006 in the Quad Suite room at the front of the hotel. The service is outstanding. We were warmly greeted by name with glasses of juice and shown to our beautiful suite. Our very clean; comfortable rooms had beautiful 15 ft high painted ceilings; large bathroom; good air conditioning. Miriam made advance bookings for us at our request for Accademia and Uffizi to avoid the lines; and we had quick replies to all emailed questions. Breakfast was good with coffee and food served buffet style.We were at the front of the hotel and despite the triple paned windows I woke up a couple of times due to noise; but I was the only one out of four. Parking is tricky; basically you pull over as best you can and send someone dashing into the hotel. They call the parking service (which arrives very quickly); you unload and they park. Worth the 20 euros per day for the doorfront parking service (and worth it not to deal with finding a spot in the wild Florence traffic). The beds for our teens (both over 6') were small but comfortable enough so they slept well. Basically the kids had very good twin size foldaways with extra padding to make more comfortable; with good bedding. (These are folding furniture; NOT the cheap rolling foldaways). The bed in the master bedroom was very comfortable; and the furnishings just beautiful.Overall outstanding; I'd definitely stay here again and recommend highly.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/03/2006,Friendly and Charming Spent three days in Florence at the Europa with my partner and loved every minute of it. The double room was clean; comfortable and quiet with excellent location. Most important of all was the friendly; helpful staff who were always ready to give advice and assistance. On their recommendation; we spent an unforgettable half-day in Tuscany. Will certainly recommend.
310780,BjornShorte,06/29/2006,You just don't get service like this any more I stayed at the Hotel Europa after another site failed to honour my booking (should have used TripAdvisor). The family run hotel was so helpful and friendly; it just gave my partner and me a great feeling about our stay. The hotel is right in the centre of the action; yet very quite. Rates are very competitive. Haven't enjoyed a hotel like it in a long time. Thoroughly recommend.
310780,Inky2,06/28/2006,Great Location Just returned from a week in Florence at The Hotel Europa - chosen as a result of the earlier reports on this website and we were not disappointed. The location is superb; 5 mins from the Duomo and the main Station; and although it's on the busy Via Cavour; most of the rooms are to the rear so noise is not a problem.Our room was very clean; bright and air-conditioned with a view of the Dome. The family that run this hotel are very friendly and helpful and will do anything to make your stay enjoyable.The one 'moan' I have is that the choice at breakfast was somewhat limited. I enjoy continental breakfasts but would have liked a little more choice of meats and cheeses than what was on offer. Needless to say this is just a minor point and did not spoil our holiday in any way.
310780,jennings,06/26/2006,A wonderful; wonderful experience! our room
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/26/2006,A Warm Welcome in Florence Hotel Europa; Via Cavour; Florence is a friendly; family run hotel within a few minutes walk of the Duomo. It could not be better located. While plain; the rooms are spotless and roomy; with compact bathroom and air conditioning (an ESSENTIAL in Florence). Its chief attraction is the family who run it. They anticipate their guests every need and no request is a hassle for them; even when they are busy. They are fluent English-speakers and know the city inside and out. We will be back.l
310780,lasocal,06/24/2006,Great for the price We booked here based on all of the great reviews; and were not disappointed. The hotel is in a great location; and the staff were incredibly nice. Our room was also very quiet. For the price I don't think the place can be beat. We were somewhat disappointed with the bathroom; which was tiny and had a rather ineffective shower door and drain; leading to a pretty wet bathroom. We didn't actually try the breakfast because we slept too late every morning; but our friends staying there at the same time said that it was not very good. Fortunately there is an outstanding cafe just a couple of doors down; with some of the best coffee we had in Florence. Overall we would recommend Hotel Europa as a great value for the price; but don't expect anything too fancy.
310780,vhardima,06/24/2006,The most wonderful hotel I've ever stayed in We booked this hotel because of its great reviews on Trip Advisor and all of the excellent reviews were true. Our family (2 adults; 1 child) stayed in the Europa hotel for 3 nights from June 12th-June 15th. We had a triple standard room for 160 EUR a night with breakfast included. This was our favorite hotel out of the 4 great hotels we stayed in during our trip. The room and bathroom was huge; the breakfast was excellent; and we didn't hear any noise from outside. All the hotels we stayed in had excellent staff but the service level at this hotel was exceptional. I requested some information about a tour soon after making my hotel reservation. They contacted the tour operator and e-mailed me the information weeks before we arrived. While there; I requested that they confirm my booking for this tour and they did that as well. They were also the only hotel with a reasonably priced laundry service. Two huge loads cost us less than 25 EUR. We dropped it off in the lobby in the morning and it was done and in our room by 6:00pm that night. If I ever return to Florence; I wouldn't stay anywhere else except at this hotel.
310780,IstanbulGirl,06/23/2006,What a Haven Of 3 different hotels I stayed at in the last week traveling around Italy; Hotel Eruopa in Florence was my favorite. The rooms were clean; comfortable; and quiet. There was a generous selection at breakfast; and the staff was so hospitable. None of this should have been as surprise given my first impression of the hotel: timely response to my reservation request. I recommend the hotel without qualification.
310780,nadams59,06/21/2006,Great Florence hotel for family Our family of 5 (2 adults; 3 kids 17 to 23) had a great 5 days at Hotel Europa. We had a 2 bedroom/1 bath suite for about 鈧?30 a night. The bathroom situation was a bit tight; but it was worth it for the $ we saved. We also had a large livingroom area right outside our doors that was basically all ours. Walking distance to Duomo; train; Accademia; all other sights. We never took a bus. Our rooms faced a busy street (we had just been in Venice; so the traffic noise was a bit of a shock!); but many of the other rooms faced interior courtyard. Breakfast was pretty standard European--breads; cheese; ham; cereal; cappucino. Very friendly and helpful owners.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/20/2006,Great hospitality My wife and I spent several nights at the Hotel Europa in June 2006. Spendid hospitality provided by Gassim and Miriam. Great location just a block from the Duomo; the rooms are large; quiet and clean. My first choice on my return visits to Florence.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/19/2006,Perfect place to stay in a perfect town My wife and I stayed in Hotel Europa for a week at the end of May 2006. The hotel was perfect.Location - The hotel is one and a half blocks north of the Duomo; easy walking distance to anything we wanted to see in the downtown area. If you want to see the sites up on the hill south of the river; you may need to take a cab.Hospitality - We truly felt like Gassuin; Miriam; and the rest of the staff would gladly do anything to make our stay enjoyable. They spent time before we arrived helping us plan our visit; made reservations at museums for us; recommended wonderful restaurants and activities; made sure the taxi to the train station was on time; etc.Rooms - We stayed in the Dante Suite. It was extremely quiet (and pitch black dark when we closed the shutters and shade - great for sleeping in or taking a mid-afternoon nap). Our suite was extremely clean and well maintained.Breakfast - Unlike some of the other reviewers; we thought the breakfasts were not lacking at all. The staff provided coffee; juices; milk; rolls; ham; cheese; cereal; yogurt; fruit; etc.Overall - We highly recommend staying at the Hotel Europa. If we are blessed enough to return to Firenze; we will stay there again without thinking about it twice.
310780,TulsaMom2,06/16/2006,2 Star Ask The Right Questions First the good news. Location is great; close to the Duomo and Accademia and some great restaurants. The owners are gracious and accommodating. Now the real news. From an American's perspective this is a solid 2 star hotel. Only rooms on the 2nd floor look like the web photos. The lobby is on the 3rd floor and the entrance via the street; a corridor serving other offices and apartments; requires one to travel on the world's smallest perhaps oldest elevator; 1 person; 1 piece of luggage per lap. The price is right but there are no frills; expect basic and very clean accommodations. A PC sits next to the check-in desk where one can access the internet. Watch for rooms facing the street. The owners recommended a superb restaurant right around the block. If all you need is a reasonable place to sleep; then this is not a bad choice. Buona Fortuna!
310780,FrequentlyLost,06/16/2006,Brilliantly Hospitable My wife and I spent 3 terrific days at the Europa over her birthday weekend in June. If you're in a hurry to get to the next review; just know that we were delighted with everything about our stay; otherwise.... Hotel (general)- Small and easy to miss. It occupies the 2nd two floors of a business/residential building and the sign is small - not an unusual situation in Florence on either count. Interior is well done and inviting with lots of antique furniture. The second floor (suite floor) is elegant and has a wonderfull; large common lounge area - 14 foot ceilings and tastefully furnished with lots of comfortable furniture - perfect for gatherings of 15 or 20; if you're traveling with a group. The 1st floor is not as elegant; but very comfortable and 'homier' than the second floor - a very easy and pleasant place start and end your day. The place has the feel of a BB with the privacy of a hotel. Other guests that I spoke with were very happy with their accomodations and seemed genuinely fond of the staff (as were we)Breakfast - Included in the room price and served in the 1st floor dining room. Breakfast is continental basic; (breads; cerials; yoghurts; boiled eggs; etc;) but just what most folks need to start the day. The coffee is good and plentifull.Room - We stayed in the Dante Suite. The room was very large; immaculately clean; bright and delightfull. This room is a multi-level affair with lots of large windows (that actually open.) The furnishings were not new (except for the bed); but wonderfully restored and perfect for the setting - a fair bit of successful thought went into the furnishings and decor. The furniture restorations also boasted some excellent artwork on armoire; bed headboard and desk that I'm fairly certain was done by a family member - all in excellent taste and absolutely charming. Floors are a heavy tile - new; and very attractive. The suite rooms do not face the street and the triple pane windows make for cacoon like quiet that's well appreciated after a long day burning shoe leather on the Florence cobblestones. I expect the standard rooms have the same high quality windows and should be equally quiet. Air conditioner was whisper quiet (we couldn't tell it was on at first) and very effective. The bed was a firm king size; and plenty long for me; which is not always the case in Europe - VERY comfortable. Bath - Each suite is a unique 'one off'. Our bath was large;and spotlessly clean. We had a large tub (perfect for soaking) with fully functional shower. The bidet was just close enough to the water closet for my wife to spend qualty time soaking her feet in it while sitting on the stool. I don't know it this was brilliant ergonomic forethoght or a fortunate and unexpected result - but it was perfect.Location - Could not be better. 2 minute walk to market square; 5 minutes to the Domo and square (if you walk slowly); 10 minute walk to the Uffizi; 15 minutes to the Academia; 20 minutes to Boboli Gardens. Parking is expensive if you drive (20 euro/day for a Pugeot 307 - large cars 30 euros); but the hotel works with a garage and will arrange parking for you - the price is as good as you'll find in Florence.Service - Could not possibly be better. Reading all the glowing TripAdvisor reviews; mention after mention was made of the hotel staff's eagerness to help. I was a little concerned that they may be too eager and perhaps intrusive - completely unfounded worry. We found the chief staff members (Gassim; Miriam and Robert) to be extremely warm and genuine; knowledgeable and brilliantly hospitable. I travel a grat deal in my work and have never been treated better anywhere; regardless of star count. This staff is composed of professionals who know exactly how to put you completely at ease. Side note: When making reservations weeks before our arrival; I had mentioned that we would be celebrating my wife's birthday in Florence. The staff remembered this distant remark and presented us with a birthday bottle of Chianti during our stay. Would we stay here again? Yes. I plan to return to Florence for no other reason than to enjoy this delightfull hotel and it's extraordinary staff.
310780,gstove,06/11/2006,Home away from home We travel often and have never encounted the level of hospitality that we found at the Hotel Europa. Miriam helped us with museum reservations and recommended a tour company for a day trip through the Chianti region (the highlight of our trip) before we even arrived in Florence. Her father Gassim greeted us with an ice cold bottle of water when we arrived at the hotel and gave us a great recommendation for dinner (Zsa Zsa's); which we loved so much; we ate there twice during our 4 night stay. Our room had a nice view of the Duomo; it was very clean; and there was plenty of space for the 2 of us. The bathroom; on the other hand; was very small (even by European standards); and the shower left much to be desired; especially for my husband; who pointed out that you could go to the bathroom; brush your teeth; and take a shower all at the same time. There was a shower head sticking out of the wall and a curtain in the corner of the room; but nothing to keep the water from soaking the entire floor while showering. Breakfast was included; but just ok. The location was great; right near the Duomo; and easy to get to all other major sights in Florence. Overall; a good value for the money and we would definitely recommend this hotel.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/11/2006,Wonderful Hotel Europa We have just returned from a weeks holiday in Florence - a beautiful city - but the secret hidden there is definitely the hotel Europa.Despite being just minutes from the station/Ponte Vecchio; Piazza Del Signorina; Duomo etc - the hotel was so quiet and we slept well in our elegant and spotlessly clean suites - which had everything we needed.Gassuin Miriam and their family looked after us well. They were gracious and friendly - nothing was too much trouble for them - from train times to tickets and local info on supermarkets and places to eat THEY made our holiday a memorable experience.Thank you for a wonderful time in your superb hotel.See you again Miriam!?!The Booth Family
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/10/2006,A Unique Hotel We could only stay one night at the Europa on the way to Tuscany; but were delighted with our room ( a standard one); the breakfast; the amazing coffee machine; incredibly welcoming and accomodating hosts; and the location; near to all the sights.
310780,shaulke,06/06/2006,Great value. Lovely staff. Cannot beat the location and friendliness of the staff for that price. (especially in Florence).Don't be decieved by simple looks of the building - the hotel occupies a couple of floors in a residentail building. The lobby and the rooms look nice. Our room was very bright and spacious and even had a bathtub. The breakfast is a bit on a budget side.The hotel is whithin 10min walk from Ufizzi so you're within walking distance from most attractions.If you decide to drive to the hotel; make sure to get a good map and prefferably directions. Driving in Florence is not fun.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/02/2006,Nice people; wonderful stay!!! If you are looking for present stay in Florence; this is THE hotel. I am spending 60 nights every year at hotel with business and private; still I could evaluate it was one of the most present stay as family running; holiday hotel.We had a stay in 4 nights here with children 9 and 7 years old. Our room was far enough big (may be special room; two rooms with high roof) and confortable with air condition; 2xTV; and refrige. The location is perfect that is near to everywhere; in front of large load but no noise thanks to double window. The breakfast area is like lovely; family dining. On top of that; the presence of very kind owner Gassim and his staff makes this hotel exceptional. They are very kind and helpful; full of mind of supporting you. Anyway; if you are still reading my comment; you rather book this hotel before running it out.One tip for you; if you are looking for olive oil and/or aceto balsamico; try glosary store in front; they offer tasting.
310780,moynishan,05/31/2006,At the very least; this place should be rated a 3-star hotel This is a really great hotel in a wonderful city! Miriam and Gassim are true pros at this (and the room for the money is not at all a bad deal) - a wonderful welcome for us; which included a personal tour of the room; a city map w/ all the 'hot spots' circled; and water! All the good reviews on this hotel are true. From making museum reservations (make sure you have them do this for you) to recommending restraurants; and down to the free internet service in the lobby and the wonderful breakfast buffet (fresh hardboiled eggs to boot) - this place has it all! Our only complaint is that the shower in our suite was way too small. We will definitely come back to this hotel next time we're in Firenze; and suggest you stay here too!!
310780,Surprised,05/31/2006,Great location Located between the Duomo and the Accademia; the Europa is an ideal base for exploring Florence's major sights and museums. As others have commented; it's not really a 2-star hotel (as it states); either in terms of its furnishings and facilities or its price (we paid 150 Euros for one of the 'suite' rooms - a double room with large ensuite - on the 1st floor). The welcome and hospitality were delightful; particularly in comparison with some hotels.I do wonder; though; whether the hotel might be resting a bit on its laurels; with these extremely enthusiastic Tripadvisor reviews giving it a very high Florence ranking. For example; the breakfast was not very impressive compared with many similar-priced hotels in Italy and other southern European countries: no fruit (fresh or otherwise); processed cheese slices individually wrapped in plastic - and none of those 'extra' touches - though there was fresh coffee. Readers of this site should perhaps note that not all the rooms are as wonderful as most of the reviews suggest: 'suite' No. 37 had no balcony and no view (except of the central part of the building and rather noisy air-conditioning outlets); well; we had to keep the windows closed anyway to avoid being attacked by mosquitoes. As a hotel room; however; it was spacious and very nicely furnished 'in Florentine style'; as was the wide corridor and the spacious sitting room (complete with ceiling fresco) on the 1st floor. The lack of a normal hotel foyer - just a passage from the street and a tiny lift or fairly uninviting stairs to the 2nd floor reception area - is a bit off-putting initially; but obviously something the hotel cannot do anything about. I'd probably stay at the Europa again; but next time I'd look forward to a delicious breakfast to match the otherwise excellent hospitality!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/29/2006,Miriam My 3 friends and I stayed at Hotel Europa for only 2 nights in May this year; and we were sorry to leave! We were a bit nervous when we first arrived to see the lift...but as soon as we met Miriam all our doubts vanished. She showed us to our huge bedroom...the 4 of us were sharing...and then she gave us a map and suggested places to eat; shopping etc. Mr. Gassim even had a bottle of red wine waiting for us in the lounge! The room was very clean; and the bathroom had a large tub with shower! We were in Venice and Rome as well; and had nice rooms; but they did not compare with Hotel Europa. The hospitality we received from Miriam and Mr. Gassim was above and beyond!I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to Florence. You will not be dissappointed...this is a true gem!
310780,Freischutz,05/29/2006,Quiet haven Florence must now vie with allcomers for award for the most tourist laden and crowded cities for its size in Europe. The contrast between the seething scenes in the streets; the art galleries; the churches and the scene in the Europa could not be more marked. The small and - for its class in this city - keenly priced hotel is a model of quietness.We stayed in the Europa for two nights. Our principal purpose in returning to Florence was to go to a performance of Falstaff at the Teatro Communale on the other side of town. The Europa is set on two floors (first and second) about two hundred metres from the Duomo. We had two rooms - one vast room on the first floor and a somewhat smaller (although still generously sized) one on the second. Both were quiet and classically furnished and amply met our needs. The proprietor and family were amongst the most welcoming and assiduous that I have ever come across in some forty years of what at times seemsto me like too frequest a use of hotels. If you're looking for a small modest and friendly hotel at the opposite end of the spectrum from the international four star chains; this one is well worth considering. We will certainly use it again if our journeys take us to Florence again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/29/2006,First Class! Have stayed in Florence many times previously but this was my first time at the Europa. What a treat! Great room with view and the most welcoming hotel hosts you could possibly meet. I will definitely be back and thoroughly recommend the Europa to both first time and experienced visitors to Florence.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/29/2006,Excellent hotel; lovely service! We throughly enjoyed our 3 night stay at this lovely hotel. Warm welcome on our arrival; a complimentary bottle of water was brought to our room which was very much appreciated. Considering it is classed as a 2* hotel; the service and accomodation could easily outdo a 4* hotel.Nothing is too much trouble for the friendly and helpful owners; who went out of their way to make sure we had a enjoyable stay.Highly recommend this hotel; its location is excellent; the service exceptional; and the rooms comfortable and spotlessly clean.We look forward to a return stay.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/25/2006,Miriam is a gem! Staying at Hotel Europa is like staying with friends. Miriam and her father; Gassim; greet you with warm smiles and a friendly welcome. We stayed in a standard room at Hotel Europa for 2 nights. Miriam had honestly told us when we booked that this was the only room available and it was situated at the front of the hotel; so we were not expecting a suite or a room with a view. The room was small but very clean.Hotel Europa is in a woderful location within walking distance to all the main sights.Miriam and Gassim; made our Florence experience very special; with their warm hospitality and friendly advice. They had happily pre-booked Uffizi and Accademia tickets for us and gave us wonderful recommendations on what to see and do and where to eat. We had dinner at Trattoria Za- Za both nights as the food was excellent and the service delightful.We are looking forward to staying at Hotel Europa when we return to Florence and will recommend it to our friends.Thankyou Miriam and Gassim.
310780,CloverTraveler,05/24/2006,Great Place to Stay our room
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/23/2006,Hated to Leave! I loved these people - Gassim; Miriam Robert were wonderful; and I highly recomment spending time with them. Our rooms were spacious clean; the location was perfect. (Due to flight delays; we arrived after midnight and the hotel was a bit difficult to find in the dark. Since street numbering is not necessarily sequential; we were looking for a neon sign from the street. We walked by it the first time; around the block; and the second time we spotted it. You had to look into the entranceway to see the neon sign.)
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/22/2006,Anniversary visit to Florence My husband and I visited the Hotel Europa for our first wedding anniversary. We had a fantastic time. We had a corner room with a balcony overlooking the Duomo- very romantic!We chose the Europa because my husband had used this hotel for business for nearly 20 years. The owners- Gasim and his daughter Miriam- have become friends. The atmosphere is always welcoming and relaxed and the standard of accomodation and service is always high. The location is so central yet protected from the noise of traffic. We will be returning to Florence regularly for business and we will continue to stay at the Europa. It is an oasis in the centre of this busy town.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/19/2006,Great service; great location I was in Hotel Europa with my mother for five nights. I chose it based on the tripadvisor reviews and I was very satisfied. My priorities were the location and find a place one can rest at leisure.The hotel was best two star hotel I have been and the most expensive. Yet I think it was really worth of all that.If you are looking for a hotel in Florence and you appreciate a nice; clean; everything working; spacious and silent (we were in garden side) rooms; great; discrete and always helpful service; great location (about 100 meters from Duomo); decent breakfast; etc. and you do not need a disco downstair or a terrace pool you can stop looking. Europa is one of the best and very affordable hotel choice in Florence.I highly recommend this hotel.
310780,jjapples,05/17/2006,Wonderful Owners Hotel Europa is a well located well run hotel. Miriam and her father run this little hotel; which is in the heart of the city; with care for their guests. I would stay there again should I return to Florence.....Joe A. Cape Cod; Ma.
310780,Honey5,05/14/2006,Hotel Europa Rocks! My husband and I spent Easter weekend at Hotel Europa and it truly was a wonderful place to stay. The staff couldn't have been friendlier and more accomodating; the location was perfect and the view from our hotel window picturesque!I highly reccomend this hotel.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/12/2006,The freindliest hotel in Florence! From the perfect location to the spacious comfort of the rooms; this hotel would be hard to beat. It is just blocks away from the Duomo and the mercado (and a Mail Boxes Etc in case you shop too much and need to send things home). Waking up to a breakfast that included a cappuccino was delighful but the best thing about this hotel is the friendly and helpful staff; Miriam; Robert and Gassim - what lovely people! The worst thing about the place was leaving.Tip: For a wonderful; private little balcony ask for room 47...
310780,Noise77,05/12/2006,Great Place to Stay Just returned after spending 5 nights in the Europa; Miriam and Gassim are wonderful hosts; Rooms are spacious; clean and tidy. Location is excellent. Za Za's is a good place to eat as recommended; vistied it a number of times during our stay. Also found another good Trattoria Zio Gigi in Via F Portinari; off Via Dell Oriuolo just at the back of the Duomo; good food and very reasonably priced with freindly staff
310780,kbowden,05/10/2006,Excellent Service! Outside Door to Hotel
310780,taxlyr,05/06/2006,Perfect location Stayed one night in Florence at this hotel. Stayed in the quad room with my two children wife. Room was very large beds were good. Extremely clean. Nice bathroom with another full bathroom down the hall (shared bathroom;extremely clean). Excellent location to walk anywhere. Owners were so nice and helfull. Robert called a restaurant for me for reservations. A must go to place call IL Latini. Best dining experience in all of Italy over 10 day period. My 14 12 year old had fun. Food was superb. Must be there before 7.30. when doors open. Thanks to every one for a great stay.
310780,FamilyWatkinson,05/04/2006,Great place to stay - recommend it! Just returned from 3 nights here; highly recommended. Very central; 2 minutes (if that) walk south to the Duomo; and an easy walk from train station. We stayed in a pleasant; light room on first floor with a view over a central courtyard - main hotel is on the second floor.The staff at the hotel; Miriam and her family; make the stay what it is. They are bright and cheery; and you get the feeling that nothing is too much trouble; from booking Uffizi tickets via email to recommending restaurants and offering tea/coffee when you arrive back at the end of the day. Beds are comfy; breakfast is standard continental; ham; cheese; hard boiled eggs and cereal etc. If you like a good hotel; with great staff and somewhere you feel relaxed; then the Europa is for you - we'd stay there again - thanks; TripAdvisor; for the tip. PS. Walk with Walking Tours; Via Sassetti; climb to San Miniato al Monte /up the tower at Pisa; drink at hole-in-wall wine shop near Orsanmichele; eat at Trattoria 4 Leoni just south of Ponte Vecchio. Enjoy!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/02/2006,Booked with the Best! On a recent visit (April 1-8; 2006) to Florence to visit my niece who is studying there; my sister; myself and my two nephews stayed at Hotel Europa in Florence; Italy. We stayed in Suite 39 the DiMedici Suite and it was phenomenal. The suite itself is very large. There are two HUGE rooms and a very nice bathroom with an awesome shower. Best of all was Gassim and his daughter Miriam who just could not do enough for you. Breakfast every day was complimentary and it was very abundant and filling. Having the use of the internet to check email was a big plus. I must say that correspondence with Hotel Europa prior to our trip and then booking this hotel was excellent. Gassim and Miriam always answered my emails and ALL my questions. They gave excellent advice on how we should travel from the Pisa airport to the hotel the night we arrived. I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone staying in Florence. You will not regret it. I will definitely be back. Oh; and this hotel is within walking distance to everything. Thanks Miriam; Gassim; and everyone at Hotel Europa for your kindness and generosity. Sincerely; Rev. William Kelly
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,04/25/2006,Great stay; friendly staff! We had a great time at the Hotel Europa in early April. The room was spacious and the hotel was well located (right across from the old Medici Palace!!!). Mariam and her family were warm; welcoming; and a great resource for local recommendations. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for simple; clean; and friendly accomodations in Florence!
310780,goodadvise,04/22/2006,Awesome Hotel and Staff We read great things about this hotel and they are all true. We stayed in manyhotels in Europe during April 2006 and this was by far the best. The staff(Miriam) was wonderful. The rooms were amazing. Our room (a quad) washuge with a large bathroom. It had a large window that opened into a smallcourtyard area. We felt at home here. The breakfast was great and they evenhad a computer we could use to send e-mails. I would stay here again. It wasalso just around the corner from the David. Great location; great hotel. Thanksfor everything Miriam.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,04/22/2006,Lovely Hotel Europa Beautiful memories from a lovely hotel. Gracious; helpful owners and perfect location. Decor; furnishings and frescos make for a warm and relaxing evening in your room or in the sitting area. Thank you so much for the English guidebooks to review; CNN and Internet access. Our hotel in Rome did not provide any of these conveniences. I have already recommended this hotel and would definitely return.
310780,PleasedFamily,04/21/2006,The place to stay in Florence Why go to the museum?
310780,twinmom1292,04/19/2006,THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stayed here for 4 nights and we had 3 rooms.1st - The Dante Suite - wonderful; large with a view of the Duomo. Bathroom was also large with a tub/shower. Perfect!2nd - room right next to dante suite - Triple room and even with 3 of us in the room it was plenty big. Bathroom very large and beds were cozy.3rd - Double room with nice view. Large bathroom. My parents said it was perfect.All rooms were on the second floor and are the suite rooms. All rooms had a refrigerator for drinks and snacks. There is also a large room with tables and chairs on the second floor that we sat in a few nights before dinner and played card and drank wine.Breakfast was just right and the coffee and cappicino was wonderful. There is also a small lift for luggage or tired bodies. Location was perfect. Close to everything. Also free internet that our 13 year old twins used alot. I am saving the best for last. The absolute best of the hotel is the family that run it. Miriam and i emailed countless times before our trip and she was so helpful. She made our reservations to the Accademia and the Uffizi; even changed the times for us when we wanted more time at the Uffizi. When we arrived she told us of a nice grocery store nearby and where to grab a good; fast lunch. She also recommened to eat dinner at Zaa Zaa's. I hate to admit it but we ate there 3 out of 4 nights. Something we never do; we always want to try different places. But it was so GOOD! Miriam's father Gassim made me tired watching him wait on us in the mornings at breakfast. So kind and always made us feel welcome. A true gentleman.On our last night there our 8 year old had a very close call with a taxi that was going too fast. Miriam found out and was so kind to me after seeing this almost happen. She had a similar thing happen to one of her daughters when she was little and it was so nice to talk Mom to Mom. She sent our son a little chocolate treat to cheer him up because he was so upset. We hated to leave at the end of our stay with them. All other accomendations we had in Italy; though good; do not hold a candle to this place. We truly felt we were being welcomed into their home and they would be welcome in ours anytime!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,04/18/2006,Loved this hotel Thank you Miriam!
310780,estadiva,04/17/2006,Hospitality at it's greatest. We stayed at this small hotel on a last minutes notice. We were recommended this hotel from another hotel that we previously stayed at. (We took that as a good sign)This hotel is owned and family managed. We can't stress enough the graciousness and courtesy we were given. Smiles all around and our comfort was an evident priority of theirs.We stayed in a modest clean room and were surprised to see the rooftop of the Duormo from our window.We were also given a tour of a newly remodeled wing that boasted larger rooms that can accomidate large families and or conference rooms. We were quite taken back at the 300 year old breathtaking fresco's on the ceilings.Price and value are exceptional and our room included a yummy breakfast perfect for getting our day started!Thanks again to all the staff for making us feel at home. We shall return!
310780,jetset05,04/15/2006,Excellent hotel we had a great time at this hotel the rooms were very clean great room service; the location is excellent within easy reach of all the main attractions in florence.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,04/14/2006,Excellent! My wife; 21 month old and I stayed at the Europa for 3 nights in early April and were overwhelmed by how wonderful the hotel staff were. Their recommendations for where to eat were very good. They were very helpful and pointed us in the right direction when we had questiosn. Our room was nicely decorated; much bigger than we expected and was very quiet. The hotel is centrally located and is an easy walk to all major attractions. Should we return to Florence; we will absolutely return to the Europa.
310780,James47,04/12/2006,A very nice place I stayed at the hotel for 2 nights in April 2006. We found it very nice; just as described here. Gassim and Miriam were very friendly and helpful; Gassim remembered our first names from the very beginning. Their suggestions on shops and restaurants were very good. We had a suite the first night; and because the suites were full; a regular room the second night. The sleeping quarters were about the same size; and the suite's bathroom was much bigger; with a tub. The regular room; however; had a nice little balcony overlooking a courtyard; with flowers and views of the Duomo and Campanille; add somebody playing some opera in the distance; and it was lovely. The Europa is centrally located; within walking distance of everything. When I go back to Florence; I'd go back to the Europa.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,04/09/2006,Gem of a hotel My wife and I stayed here at the start of March; we can confirm everything that has been said about this hotel. If you want a comfortable; relaxing; central base to explore Florence this is a fantastic choice. We stayed in a suite; more a large room; but clean; spacious and excellent value. The location is spot on with the Academia and Domo a minute or twos walk away; also there are a number of excellent restaurants nearby that the staff (they are as friendly and helpful as everyone says) will guide you to. We happily recommend this hotel.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,04/07/2006,Absolutely Fantastic The Europa certainly lived up to all our good expectations (having seen the reviews on this site). It's close to everything; clean and quiet; and best of all the staff are the friendliest in Florence. We asked them for advice on which restaurants to go to; and each time the advice given was flawless - it really made our stay magical. They also immediately offered to sort out our reservations for the Uffizi and the Accademia; which is just a block away from the hotel - all the reservations were made within 5 minutes.Inside; the hotel itself is beautifully decorated and maintains a peaceful atmosphere. Everything in our room was clean and in working order; and the bed was huge! There were lots of TV channels to choose from on the TV in our room; and free internet access was available at a computer next to reception.For the price; this really is the best and friendliest hotel I've ever been to. I'll certainly be staying there again - it's absolutely fantastic.
310780,lovethelake,04/03/2006,Great for the price Our family of 4 with 2 adult-sized teenagers stayed here for 4 nights. We were initially given a room on the second floor; but were upgraded to a larger room on the first floor when we found that the first room was definitely too small. Agree with all the previous comments about the staff (they even charged our kids' iPods for us!) and location. Keep in mind: 1. ask for a first-floor room; they are definitely nicer and larger; worth the extra few euros; and 2. breakfast is Continental and basic; your growing kids will be hungry in a couple of hours.
310780,pghpeople,04/01/2006,Best location--Incredible staff Stayed in 2 suites with my in-laws for four nights and had a wonderful restful stay. From the first day we were treated very well. Robert thank-you for your help getting everyone settled.The rooms were spacious and quite and charming. The locations is probably the best in Florence with lots of places to grab a quick bite right around the corner any many excellent restaurants close by. The rooms were spotless and clean. The feel of the place was more like a bb or guesthouse rather than a hotel. Never crowded at breakfast. Excellent cappucino machine and breads; rolls; yogurt cereal.My in-laws were very tired the first night and we brought food back to the lounge area and Gassim surprised us with a wonderful bottle of wine on a silver tray. Thank-you for getting our trip off to a great start. Miriam a thank-you for everything you did to make our trip so memorable. I have seen many mentions of the elevator and we found it to be fine. Used it constantly for my in-laws. The steps are easy too! Just one flight up. The best is how kind and helpful everyone is. All the time--Every time. From reservations to maps; even loaned us an adaptor.Looking forward to coming back as soon as we can!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/30/2006,Great Value for money; extremely friendly staff Hotel Europa is a two star hotel; but don't let that deter you. I stayed on the suite floor; that has virturally silent rooms (you can only hear birds in the morning); and the whole room is decorated in the same hues; including the hand-painted closet; headboard of the bed; and desk. The room itself was quite spacious as was the bathroom; and very very clean. The staff was very friendly (and will make an effort to greet you in your mother tongue) and made reservations for us at the museum; and circled points of interest on a map; including helpful tips like the nearby supermarket. Breakfast was very good; and plentiful. I would surely recommend this hotel and will return to stay there in the hopefully near future. Neta; Israel
310780,intellibyte,03/28/2006,A best bet for an inexpensive place to rest your head. ** are you going on your first european holiday and hear that their hotels are TINY and expensive ?... well; the Europa is for you **.Being a 2 star hotel;we were not expecting very much. we were just looking for a comfortable place for 3 people. Knowing that european hotel rooms are miniscule unless you mortgage your house; we were not expecting very much.we decided to take the larger sized room and expected only an average sized american type room. to our surprise; the room was very spacious and well appointed for a 2 star. While the ammenities are on par with 2 star hotels; there were some 3 star attributes like the large size of the main room with a huge bed and a quite large bed for our teenager. As well; the breakfast (the usual croisant and cereal fare) was free including a never ending supply of superb cappucino coffees. Internet is also free as long as you supply your passport number for the police to make sure you are not planning the next 9/11. Also pushing the rating up was a huge bathroom with a towel warmer which we also used to warm up our pj's before retiring. The only thing missing was a table or something to put all of our toiletries. funny how hotels give you enough space for 1 toothbrush and a few other things.the hotel is located well and many adventures are within walking distance. What pushed the quality to a 5 star hotel was the staff; expecially the owner Gassim and his wife and daughter. Extremely friendly and willing to do anything to make our stay friendly. They treated us like family. You can't put a price on that. Maybe i'll buy a room and retire there.You won't be disappointed.
310780,npl1125,03/26/2006,Wonderful hotel Great hotel. People who own/run place are incredably nice and accomodating. Rooms are roomy by European standards; though a bit sparse in terms of furnishing. Breakfast included; Continental style. If you stay here; which I would certainly recommend; take a taxi to it the first time; or you'll spend a bit of time looking for it; because it encompasses a few floors in a building with other things and the sign is easy to miss. Overall; great hotel
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/22/2006,Friendliest hotel ever! We chose this place to stay in Florence because of it's excellent location and were pleasantly surprised at everything it offered. Family run; the staff is extremely helpful and will go out of their way to help you with anything you wish to do in Florence; directions; suggestions; and any other concerns. The rooms were lovely and you also receive free internet and a delicious breakfast. Wouldn't stay anywhere else in florence. Enjoy!! -Rachel Kathy
310780,JLee,03/21/2006,Two star hotel Does this look like the same standard room on their website?
310780,glbltrkr,03/21/2006,Great Service; good Value I picked this hotel based on previous reviews and was not disappointed (once I got past the bldg entrance). As posted in previous reviews the building entrance where the hotel is located may initially throw you off but the rooms are very nice. The hotel is located on the 2nd 3rd floors of a larger building but you have the option of utilizing the 2 person elevator versus the stairs.My boyfriend and I stayed for 3 nights in a suite room on the 2nd floor with an interior courtyard view. I would recommend a 2nd floor suite room location for the decor quiet.The location is excellant for walking around the city center. Excellant staff hospitality to assist with all your needs. Upon our arrival the front desk person (can't recall her name) gave us a map and highlighted points of interest; shopping(my personal favorite) made some restaurant recommendations for lunch dinner. The breakfast was avg. Just enough to get you going. I would definately recommend this hotel because of the cleanliness; service; location; value would stay again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/17/2006,Great Location We really enjoyed our stay at this good value hotel; we stayed up stairs in the 'rooms' section. Our room looked as if it had once been part of a grand house with a fresco still visable on the ceiling. the bathroom was a little small; but for the price we paid; the location was stunning! Best of all was the glimps of the Duomo from the bedroom window; and hearing the bells ring twice a day; (only 5 minutes at a time though)breakfast was fine; i would have lost the giant TV screen though!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/14/2006,Hotel is Great Hotel Europa is a wonderful hotel that everyone should have the opportunity to stay at. We stayed here for three nights in early March. Gassim and Miriam are wonderful hosts. I wish every hotel was like Hotel Europa in Florence. The customer service is amazing! The location is great! The rooms are spacious! The rooms were very clean! Florence was the highlight of our trip and Hotel Europa was a big reason. We can't wait to go back!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/13/2006,Excellent The hotel met and exceeded all of our expectations. We stayed in a great room on the 2nd floor and loved everything about it: price; location and the amazing staff. Thank you for making our visit to Florence very special and making us want to come back. I have no problem recommending this hotel to anyone going to Florence. *****
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/07/2006,Wonderful Find in Florence Truly a wonderful hotel in Florence. We stayed in the Dante Suite and couldn't be happier. Gassim his daughter took great care of us and made sure we found our way around Florence - they both speak perfect English as well; so no worries there. There was a standard breakfast every morning starting at 7:30pm with cereal; fruit; coffee; etc. The location was terrific...a few mins walk to the Duomo and only about 10 mins to the Uffizi Ponte Vecchio. We'd definitely stay again if we return to Florence.
310780,pipjo,03/05/2006,Why stay anywhere else in Florence
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/02/2006,Pleasant Surprise What a great stay. We reserved a quad room for my wife and I plus our two children. It was by far the biggest room we stayed in on our trip. Everything was clean; the staff was polite and helpful; and the breakfast was more than adequate. I wouldn't hesitate recommending this fairly priced; conveniently located hotel to anyone. P.S. The kids loved the old fashioned lift!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/02/2006,Wonderful welcoming hotel - Highly recommended My family of 5 (three teenage daughters) spent two days at the Europa over the new year. Gassim; Miriam and all the staff provided us with a wonderful time. The rooms provided were clean and spacious with a newly renovated bathroom. They organisd the parking and garaging of our car without a hassle. Breakfast provided was of good quality and plentiful. Location cannot be faulted with the Duomo just a couple of minutes away. But it is the warmth of the welcome when you arrive and the cheerfulness in dealing with any request or question which we found to be the most endearing quality of our stay. Highly recommended especially for families.
310780,Northwestmark,03/01/2006,All I can say is "WOW" From the moment we walked in the door we were treated like family. Gassim the owner had remembered me emailing him and set aside the best room in the house for me. I believe it was room 47 or 27 and it was the one with a balcony (the only one with a balcony on the floor) with plants and flowers and a cafe table overlooking the Duomo. Gassim always remembered my name and was the last one to bed and first one to get up around the hotel. He has really put his heart and soul into the place. And it is very centrally located. It's 2 or 3 blocks to the Accedmia. And a straight shot down to the Uffizi. This hotel is highly recommended.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,02/25/2006,Terrific stay at the Hotel Europa In October of 2005; my husband and I took our delayed honeymoon traveling through different cities in Italy. In Florence; it was the Hotel Europa that was a wonderfully comfortable place to relax. I agree with all other reviewers that the staff; led by Gassim; are all incredibly accommodating and kind. With a restful sleep in our big suite (and it truly was a large room; especially for Europe) and a nice breakfast spread to start our day before sightseeing; it was a terrific place to stay in Florence. I would definitely recommend it to family and friends visiting Florence.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,02/19/2006,You won't want to leave! Staying in the Hotel Europa helped make my trip to Florence really special. All the staff gave such a warm welcome and made it feel like home -I didn't want to leave! The beautiful view from my room of the Duomo and belltower was such a bonus.The only drawback is the sound-proofing within the hotel itself is not the best; I could hear people talking at night and moving around in the morning but it wasn't too disturbing. Breakfast was very satisfying and kept me going most of the day. Overall I would highly reccommend this hotel to anyone staying in Florence; -I know I will definately be back many; many times.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,02/15/2006,A homey hotel in the heart of the city My wife and I found this hotel through this website and everything is just like what the reviews say. At first we were a bit surprised by the small entrance and the old elevator; but we felt right at home as soon as we were welcome by Gassim; the owner.All hotel staff are very kind and helpful. Especially; David who helped us get the tickets for a Series A soccer match; which was very difficult to find.We would recommend the suite room on the second floor as it's more spacious and has a comfortable bathroom.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,02/13/2006,Fantastic family-run hotel I thought that the service and hospitality of the owners of this hotel was so exceptional that it deserved a mention. The hotel itself is due a bit of renovation and is very basic. It is however extremely clean and is so centrally located that it makes it an ideal budget choice. I have stayed in many hotels of all different levels and I have to say that this has been the most welcoming reception that I have ever had. This was particularly appreciated; as I was travelling on my own. Would definately recommend it to budget business travellers; families and single travellers!
310780,Member777,02/11/2006,Thoroughly recommend it! Just got back from our stay at Hotel Europa and had a great time! The location is fab - 2 mins walk from the Duomo and about 5/10 mins to the station. We stayed in a double suite and it was great - large room with huge shuttered windows and we had a not bad view of a courtyard type thing and could see the turret of the duomo. We didn't make it to breakfast as the we had such good nights sleep we didn't wake until 10 each morning!Everyone was so helpful and recommended good areas to go and eat - we ate at Trattoria Za Za which was really good food and not pricy. By the way thoroughly recommend the hot chocolate at Caffe Fiorenze near the Piazza della Signoria(the one with all the statues) - pure liquid chocolate!!!Only minor gripe - tv was very small and didn't have any english channels but pretty unimportant during the stay!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,02/11/2006,Excellent Hotel in Great Location Fantastic location; great room (suite); amazingly quiet; superb service and very good value for money. Thoroughly recommended.Martin Ruth Jennings; England
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,01/28/2006,Great Trip We had a great stay in Florence. The Hotel Europa; run by Gassim and his sister Miriam; was conveniently located for walking to most sights. The room was very nice and quiet; and we had a good rate. The staff was friendly; polite; and helpful in every way. We slept well and had a nice continental breakfast in the morning. There are so many good places to eat or have cafe in Florence; that we were never far from a great meal. Hotel Europa suited our needs perfectly.It appeared that part of the hotel had been recently refurnished; and that is the part we stayed in. You might want to ask about that when reserving a room. I did not see the whole hotel; but we were on the first floor. To get there; take a taxi from the airport or the railway station; although you could easily walk from the station with a backpack or light luggage.Our original plans were to rent a car for traveling and park it at the hotel while in Florence. Even though we had the car rented for a longer period; we just returned it in Florence rather than pay the parking fee and fight with one-way streets. Nevertheless; I did experience rush hour driving in Florence more than once. Oddly the kaotic driving style grew on me; and I found the drivers more polite and forgiving than Americans. If it were not for road signs I couldn't read; a random street plan; and the maze of one-way streets that make up Florence; driving would have been fun. Take my advice and experience European driving somewhere else; unless you have lots of time on your hands.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,01/24/2006,very pleasant place tostay we have recently returned from a short break in florence and stayed at the hotel europa. our stay was made more memorable by the kind attention of the owners who couldnt do enough to help us enjoy our break. gassim got up early on our last day to serve us breakfast; even though the breakfast was not officially served until 7.30.and we had to leave early.our room was very large and nicely decorated and spotlessly clean.it was extremely central for all the sights and miriam was able to advise us on reasonable and good places to eat which was a real bonus. we would have no hesitation in recommending this hotel and have already told our friends about it..
310780,Spicerd,01/19/2006,EUROPA... EUREKA!! - Could not have been better! - The Light Path
310780,gregfilms,01/19/2006,Great This is the second time I have been there in 2005. I must say this Hotel should be 5 star. I think this is a first class hotel with EXCEPTION CUSTOMER SERVICE. Miriam; Robert; Gissam. I WILL STAY THERE EVERYTIME I GO TO FLORENCE. ITS THE BESTGreg Lassiter(---)
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,01/11/2006,A Florentine Treat!
310780,UtahNative,01/07/2006,Great location and great service Very nice hotel; in a very good location. We were upgraded to the 1st floor rooms; which were large and clean with nice tile floors. The breakfast was the best we had in Italy; with a great selection including hot croissants. The service was very good; and nice to have internet access in the hotel lobby. We stayed 2 nights because of the reviews in tripadvisor; we were not let down.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,12/24/2005,Great place! My husband and I stayed here with our 15-year-old son in July. We had reserved a standard room but were told upon arrival that it would not fit three and were instead put in a suite for about 10 euro more per night. We weren't happy at the switch until we spent three nights in the room -- it was spacious; clean and air-conditioned; with a large bathroom. The location was extremely convenient -- a short walk to the Duomo and the Accademia; and not much farther to the train station. No outside noise filtered in. Added bonuses were free Internet; a substantial enough breakfast to keep us going till lunch; and the graciousness of owner Gassim. We paid 120 euro per night; making it one of the pricier places we we stayed during two weeks in Europe. But we would stay here again in a heartbeat.
310780,smurfette9,12/21/2005,We loved the Hotel Europa! We stayed at the Hotel Europa from Dec 5 to Dec 11 and loved our entire time there. The location is great; very close to the train station and right across the street from the main tourist office. It is also within walking distance to the main attractions. The staff was very friendly and had great suggestions for restaurants and were willing to make reservations for museums for us. Our room (#47)was huge and had a cute little balcony that looked into a courtyard. The breakfast was simple (cereal; granola; milk; yogurt; bread jam; and; most importantly; great cappuccinos) but plentiful. They also have a computer with free internet for all the guests to use; which is so useful for finding out the weather and train/bus schedules and interesting sights in Florence. All in all; we loved the Hotel Europa and would stay there again if we return to Florence!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,12/16/2005,Loved Hotel Europa This hotel went above and beyond accommodating my family and myself at the such sort notice. The service was extraordinary and the continental breakfast was delicious. I would recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to Florence.
310780,tckmc,12/07/2005,Very Friendly Hotel; Great Location My husband and I were married in Florence in September 2005. Because we were traveling with 5 other members of our family we chose the Hotel Europa mainly for the price; however the location was wonderful; just blocks from the Duomo. The Hotel lobby is located on the 3rd floor of an average building but they have beautiful suites on the 2nd floor. I would suggest paying the little bit extra for a suite; the second floor sitting room is a perfect place to gather and relax. We booked 4 rooms which included one of the suites the other rooms were large although definitely not as warm as the suites but 2 of them had a nice view of the Duomo dome. We stayed for 2 nights and moved to a different hotel after our wedding but our family stayed for 4 nights and had a wonderful visit. Breakfast is served in a large breakfast/sitting room and it was pretty generous compared to some of the other places we stayed. The family lives in the building and they are very helpful even arranging to have my wedding dress and 3 tuxedos pressed upon our arrival. The only complaint I had was that you have to be in by 1:00am or make arrangements prior to your departure because the main street door is locked. Also; we got locked out of the second floor suite section because we forgot our key when we went up to the lobby. These minor inconveniences aside we truly enjoyed our stay and the price; location; and wonderful family who run the hotel more then makeup for any of the downfalls.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,12/06/2005,Great location; fair price; wonderful service We stayed in two different rooms. A double when there were just two of us and a triple suite when there were three of us. Both rooms were absolutely spotless. The breakfast was nothing fancy but good and the coffee was wonderful. It was nice having access to the internet. And it's a great location; easy to get to all the major sites. I will definately stay there again the next time I am in Florence and will recommend it to all my friends.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,12/06/2005,Wonderful spot We stayed unexpectedly at the Hotel Europa courtesy of the hotel we had originally reserved having water problems. It turned out to be a wonderful change in plans!! The room was clean and comfortable; complete with heavy wooden shutter and its own fresco on the ceiling. The proprietors were gracious and welcoming. The location of the hotel was very convenient to the major spots to visit in Florence. Breakfast in the dining room was a treat in the morning; our luggage was safely kept after checkout while we spent the day in Florence and the young man at the desk had a cab waiting when we had to (reluctantly) leave. When we return to Florence; which we hope to do; we will definitely stay here again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/29/2005,Friendly and Clean My husband and I have just returned from Florence; Italy and stayed at Hotel Europa. The people were very helpful with everything; especially Gassim; and my husband was so impressed how clean it was. Prices are very reasonable. The restaurant that was recommended for dinner was amazing--exceptional food and very close to the hotel. Everyone was great and answered all of our questions (and we had many). The location was perfect. The only problem we had was keeping the water in the shower area. Thank you Hotel Europa for a great time!Sharon and Joe Zimmer
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/28/2005,Loved the room My boyfriend and I stayed in Hotel Europa for 3 nights. We paid a little extra for our room (definitley worth doing so). I have to say it is one of the best hotel rooms I have stayed in. Each room has its own charm and character making it very unique.In terms of room facilites we had problems with our hot water on the first day but that was sorted pretty much straight away. Also just to note if you do stay here it is worth bringing a travel iron with you as there are no ironing facitlities. Breakfast at the hotel was very simple and basic-lets just say it fills a hole.In terms of location this hotel is fantastic. All major sights and tourist attractions are within walking distance!What was nice about the hotel was the fact it was family owned- the owner knew our names and greeted us personally when we went down for breakfast.Overall a nice and friendly place to stay in!!
310780,dklaw,11/18/2005,Great Place to Stay in Florence Hotel Europa is centrally located and reasonably priced. We had a large room with two windows that looked out on an interior courtyard. Room rates include a full breakfast; and the hotel has an internet terminal for guests to use; as well as bottled water and other beverages available at about half the price charged on the street. The staff is very welcoming; and quick to assist with directions; restaurant recommendations; taxi service and other requests. The entrance to the hotel is inside a doorway. Look closely or you may walk by without knowing it.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/18/2005,Why pay more?
310780,travelingtogether,11/17/2005,Hotel Europa - a pleasant surprise This hotel surprised us in many ways. First we took a cab after dropping off our car at Hertz (a whole other story in itself). It was pouring rain and then we pulled up in front of a building that didn't have a lot of direction. In deed; the elevator (lift) was the smallest ever. Inevitably; I got in the elevator w/our luggage - not much! and my husband climbed the stairs. We had a wonderfuly warm welcome. We chose to stay in a standard room; there on the 2nd flr (we would consider it the 3rd). There was a little noise; but we survived. Not like we didn't make noise of our own! The room was clean; large and had a small patio with small table and chairs. The bathroom was less than to be desired - and very very small. Once you took a shower; everything was wet... that is the only downfall. It is my understanding the suites on the 1st flr (would be considered our 2nd) are bigger. However; for budget accommodations - this is good!The breakfast was plentiful. Yogurt; cereal; bread; cheese; juice; coffee/tea.Free internet in the lobby - til 10pm. Can update logs and emails; though we chose to go to an internet cafe around the corner to upload photos (cheap!).Before arrival; I had emailed the hotel asking if they could make the reservations for Uffizi and Accademia. Oh my gosh it was great! They emailed me my confirmation code; I got in line to get tickets and it worked. No hassle; no extra fees; etc. The morning we left we got up before anyone else in the hotel - including the staff! So we settled the bill the night before and we received a nice goodie bag of soda; water and croissants to ensure we got some breakfast that morning. Completely unexpected and VERY much apprecited!The staff were always friendly; available and welcoming. Very family oriented with a great sense of humor. This hotel was close to everything - at first I wasn't so sure; but the hotel has a great pocket map that can be used to get anywhere. If you are ever in Florence - eat at ZaZa's. AWESOME food and FANTASTIC house wine!!!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/16/2005,Great place to stay Gassim greets you with a smile and will go out of his way to see that your stay is perfect. Davide was also very helpful and responsive. Great location; clean; large room (we upgraded to a suite); lift/elevator and overall a very welcoming and functional place to stay. We would definitely recommend Hotel Europa.
310780,Hikebikeandlike,11/16/2005,Clean; comfortable; and convenient My boyfriend and I stayed at the Hotel Europa for two nights in early November; and chose the standard double room to save some money. We were very pleased with the convenience of the hotel. It was a short walk from the Duomo; Accademia; Uffizi; Bargello; and many other sights. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly. Our room was fairly large; but the bathroom was typically small. The bed was comfortable and everything was very clean. The furnishings were basic. We got a good deal directly from the hotel via e-mail before leaving the USA (quoted 90 Euros); but; when we were there; I noticed that they had an 80 Euro per night deal advertised on their website. (Internet access was available in the lobby.) I mentioned it and our rate was reduced to 80 Euros. On another positive note; I was unable to directly obtain a reservation for the Uffizi Gallery; but I sent the Hotel Europa an e-mail asking for help; and they were able to get it right away for our desired date and time! We would *definitely* stay there again!
310780,ukresident12,11/15/2005,great room excellent locationexcellent room (more like 3/4 star than 2 star)excellent serviceok breakfastgood pricefor the room standard and the location; you can't beat this hotel.
310780,bbjj0827,11/12/2005,Budget Hotel - although quite nice My partner I chose this budget hotel for our 4 night stay in Florence. When we first arrived; the taxi stopped in front of a rather depressing store front. We struggled with our luggage in the world鈥檚 smallest elevator 鈥?we only had one large luggage item each. But things improved with the help of the very friendly staff. The room was also unusually large and very quiet. We had a nice view with large open windows. The location was also quite close to the Duomo. While the hotel was cheaper than other options; it may not have had the qualities of more expensive hotels. However; the staff was very helpful and friendly; the bedroom and bathroom were quite large; the room was very quiet (at one point we thought we were the only ones in the hotel); the windows were huge and opened onto a very pretty and calming backyard; the breakfast was your standard meal; and the hotel was conveniently located to the big sights. As a gay couple; the hotel was comfortable and welcoming. The only slight negative comment is that the bed was hard as a rock. If you鈥檙e looking for less expensive lodging; this is definitely your best bet 鈥?as the service was sincerely helpful and the room was very peaceful (especially after a day of walking through the crowds of tourists).
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/11/2005,Dante was enchannting Our 5 day stay in the room Dante was enchanting. The room with period funiture was beautiful and the bathroom was modern 2005. The manager/owner (Gassim) lives on the premises and seems to be there 24/7 to serve you breakfast; answer your questions and help with directions; tickets; etc. I must also mention Miriam and her husband as well as David who were the best! Location is within a few steps of everything. This hotel far exceeded our expectations.
310780,LataBelle,11/09/2005,Wonderful hotel We were looking for a budget hotel and found an extremely impressive hotel that far exceeded our expectations. It has an exceptional staff; great location and very clean. I highly recommend.
310780,borita,11/08/2005,Not as expected; but still a good value We had a pleasant stay at Hotel Europa at the end of October. The room was not what we expected though. Just make sure when you book that you request the suites on the 1st floor. The room we were in was on the 2nd floor and the decor left much to be desired. The room was large but the carpet was old and the walls stark without any frames or color. The pictures on their website only show the suites. On the plus side; the customer service was excellent and Roberto was very hospitable.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/08/2005,Hotel Europa is wonderful Hotel Europa was a delight. The owner and staff were extremely warm and helpful. Breakfast is substantial; and there was free access to the internet in the hotel lobby. And indeed; we had a room with a view of the Duomo. The hotel is very centrally located; and our room; which looked out on the courtyard was very quiet. While the suite did not have a separate sitting room; the room was clean; bright and spacious; and included a little hallway to our private bathroom. The price was very reasonable. I highly recommend this hotel and would go back anytime.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/07/2005,Hotel Europa should be your choice too!! We stayed at Hotel Europa for 8 days during our recent trip to Florence (Oct 2005) and it turned out to be an excellent choice of accomodation for us. The hotel is famed for its beautiful Florentine styled suites and we were offered an amazing suite at an even more amazing price! Each suite is individually named with it's own colour scheme. Ours had a deep rich red colour theme. The sheer size is unbelievable! The room door opens into a huge living area with a few large; comfortable sofa chairs (that we later pushed together to create a sofa bed for lounging); a side table (which we later used for our late night cozy suppers); a TV set and lots and lots of space. The bedroom is separate and also very big. It has it's own TV set too. Everything was clean and very comfortable. There were beautiful ceiling frescos both in the living and bedroom. The rooms had triple windows so there was no noise disturbance at all. The bathroom comes with a shower box which surprisingly was like a mini spa with sauna facilities and also numerous water jets that could be activated for a spa-like bath massage. Apart from the room itself; the winning aspect of Hotel Europa has got to be it's owners. Gassim; his daughter Miriam and David are all very helpful and made our stay extremely welcoming. From the moment we stepped in and were showed to our room; the service never stopped. Both Gassim and Miriam gave excellent restaurant recommendations (you must try El Gatto La Volpe- in my opinion the best italian pasta and pizza we had in Florence; just ask them where to find it); helped us to make museum reservations; car garage reservations; directions etc. The one thing that stood out and is truly worth mentioning is when we found extra pillows placed in our room without us even requesting for it. We had brought the sofa chair pillows into the bedroom to lean on while we watched TV and left it there the next morning. When we came back that night; we found extra pillows placed in the bedroom for us. We didn't even have to ask; our needs was silently met and we were truly thankful and appreciative of that! Breakfast each morning is from 7:30-9:30a.m and the spread very good with ham; salami; cheese; croissants; toast bread slices; cereal; boiled eggs; excellent cappuccino and more. They have an elevator and also provide free internet usage which was a big plus for us. The price of the suites are very affordable. Contact the hotel directly and they will quote you their best rates. The location totally convenient in proximity to many of the main attractions in Florence. I can't think of any drawbacks to choosing this hotel. We had a wonderful stay and confidently recommend Hotel Europa to anyone who wants a home away from home.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/06/2005,Great service We recently spent nearly a week in Florence; Italy; and stayed at the Hotel Europa. We were very happy with the location (two blocks from the Duomo); and the service was excellent. Gassim; Miriam; and David were more than willing to answer any questions we had; and Miriam went out of her way to arrange for a driver to take us for a nine-hour trip into the Tuscan countryside. We felt like family! Our room was on the first floor and was clean and comfortable; with typical Florentine-style furniture; and looked out onto a lovely courtyard with a view to the Duomo. The bathroom was spotless; with all modern conveniences. We will not hesitate to recommend Hotel Europa to anyone heading to Florence.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/02/2005,Ya gotta love it! Not expecting something this great in a hotel is always a pleasure when you arrive and are greeted by lovely staff who take you to a fantastic room overlooking the main street Yes the windows are double glazed so there is no noise. The staff were fantastic and the location is the best. Make sure you ask for an upgrade when you book direct with the hotel Have safe travels.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,11/01/2005,magnificent suites we stayed at the hotel europa in september 2005. we found the hospitality amazing. the father is quite a character. they went beyond our expectations in every way. my advice is to pay extra for the suites as they have 15 foot ceilings and are much much bigger than the normal rooms. also contact the hotel directly for the best prices.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/31/2005,I would highly recommend - We loved our stay We loved our stay at Hotel Europa. Our hosts Gassim Miriam were very friendly; extremely helpful respectful at all times. We enjoyed our beautiful large suite (bigger than average!); lovely clean bathroom very nice view. Good air-con - large comfy beds. Great location just near the famous Dome Cathedral not far from the train station. The breafast was ok - good coffee but the croisants left a bit to be desired. That could be improved perhaps - but all in all I would highly recommend this excellent value for money and delightful hotel. I'll definately stay there again when next in beautiful Florence.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/23/2005,American style comfort in the heart of Florence Lovely; hospitable; comfortable with all the amenities that an American tourist would dream of. In the heart of Florence; on Via Cavour; and about two blocks from the famous Cathedral popularly called the Duomo; and the bell tower of Giotto. Some of the rooms have great views of the dome and the belltower. It is a well furnished hotel; with amenities such as remodelled bathrooms with showers with towel warmers; hair dryers; and 120V/240V ellectric outlets; individual room heaters and air conditioners; refridgerator hidden in a handpainted desk.Close to the central train and bus station; where you catch buses or trains for day trips to Chianti region or elsewhere.Moderately priced with 5 star ambience. Wonderful service from the family that has owned it for more than 30 years. I wouldn't stay anywhere else in Florence!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/23/2005,Heartwarming Hospitality ! Mr.Gassim and us in breakfast room
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/22/2005,A Wonderful place to Stay We had a wonderful time staying at the Hotel Europa in Florence. The location is fabulous. It is very near all the major sites. The rooms were spotlessly clean. The service was excellent. Best of all; the owners and staff made us feel like a member of their family. This is a wonderful value for your money. Stay there; you will love it.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/21/2005,Centrally Located Hotel Europa is quaint; centrally located near the Duomo and Santa Maria Novella train station and their staff is very accommodating. Both Gassim and his daughter; Miriam; went out of their way to make us feel at home during our (too brief) stay. I highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for value and wants to be in the heart of the historic district.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/19/2005,Loved the Europa! Gassim was Sweetheart and taught me some Italian!The hotel was really beautifully decorated and clean. I had a double room which was more spacious than some other places I've stayed.It was a less than a block from the Duomo and very central to other sights. It couldn't have been more convenient!I was traveling alone; and felt very safe there. I would definitely stay there again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/17/2005,Not as represented We didn't actually stay at Hotel Europa; we had made reservations for a suite and when we arrived apparently there were none remaining. While the gentleman at the front desk was very friendly and helpful; the room we got instead was not in any way acceptable; more like a dorm room than a hotel. The shower was only 2 folding doors that connected and no basin; water just onto the floor; and if the shower doors were closed you could not use the toilet. The furniture was old; looked cheap; and the hotel did not feel clean. We stayed there only long enough to find anther hotel.The location was convenient; and they did offer guests internet access.
310780,Angelik,10/16/2005,Hotel Europa was Charming! I stayed in a suite (32?) - was a lovely room with very nice furnishings. Windows opened up onto a square - was very quiet. Was nice and sunny in my room - very pleasant.Bed was a queen size; extremely comfortable. Bathroom was a good size. Room was very clean.Overall; the service was great. Owners were very accomodating. I felt very much at home.Would highly recommend.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/13/2005,Fantastic location The Hotel Europa is the most centrally located hotel I could see in Florence - about 2 mins walk from all the main attractions. The Duomo; Giotto's bell tower; the baptistry are one way and the Academy Gallery (Home of David) is the other. It is also very central for shops; restauarants and the fantastic market stalls selling everything from shoes to handbags.We had a huge room - 1 double bed and 1 single for 2 people with a view of the Duomo and a big bathroom. The buffet breakfast was great and all served by the incredibly friendly owner Gassim. I would highly recommend this hotel - one thing book the Uffizi Gallery before you go as we missed out !!!!!!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/12/2005,Excellent The hotel ia excellent in all respects and just a few minutes walk from all the main sights. We stayed for 5 nights in a suite room which was beautifully furnished in traditional Florentine style. The bathroom was large and the shower worked well. There was a small fridge in the room which was very useful. Thoughtfully; a plug in insect killer was provided in the room so the mosquitoes were not a problem. Everything you might need had been thought of and provided.The breakfasts were good and plentiful and the famous coffee machine provided endless excellent coffee.The greatest charm of this small hotel are Gassim and his daughter Miriam who together cannot do enough to ensure the comfort of their guests. Nothing is too much trouble. The young man on the desk; whose name we unfortuneately didn't find out; and the rest of the staff were also very friendly and helpful.Although they all spoke perfect English we had asked them to speak to us in Italian which we have been studying hard for a year. This they did with considerable patience and encouragement and to Gassim's great amusement.When we left we felt we were leaving friends and cannot wait to return.
310780,SweetLou1,10/10/2005,Best service in Italy First off; the hotel is centrally located in Florence. You are easily able to walk to all major sights. The rooms were clean and comfortable - I would recommend you book a suite for 20E more - definitely worth it. The thing that stands out more than anything was the service. We received the Ritz Carlton treatment as soon as we walked in the door. Gassim; his daughter and staff made our honeymoon quite memorable.the montana's
310780,mij,10/06/2005,Hotel Europa highly recommended My wife and I spent 2 days/1 night in Florence and stayed at the family-run Hotel Europa in early September 2005. We stayed in a Superior Double Room.Our Europe holiday involved touring around all day and using hotels as a base for sleeping and showering. So our criteria for hotels was location; cleanliness and a comfortable bed and Hotel Europa passed all these with flying colours.The lack of street frontage and drab ground floor lobby may seem to be a worry; but once you go up the lift you are reminded not to judge a book by its cover. This is a fine hotel that more than meets 3-star standard IMO. Also; I was able to arrange reserved tickets to the Uffizi and Galleria through the hotel (by email correspondence) with no fuss. POSITIVES:Very clean. Great location; walking distance to most attractions and SM Novella train station. Very friendly and helpful family; nothing was too much trouble. Example; my wife had a painful pinched nerve; Miriam stopped what she was doing and spent over 30mins trying to find a therapist in town who could treat it. Very large rooms and bathroom (by Italian standards). The breakfast included in the rate is standard continental but more than adequate to start the day.NEGATIVES Nil.
310780,vdasilva,10/02/2005,"A" for Location; Value and Hospitality Beside the fact that the Hotel Europe is in a great location (easily walk-able from the train station and rooms within eye shot of the Duomo) the staff really goes the extra step to make you feel welcomed and comfortable. The rooms were well kept and an added bonus was the computer in the lobby with free internet access. A highlight of the breakfast room was the self-serve coffee/espresso/cappuccino machine-it served surprisingly good java. The atmosphere was warm and friendly and it was nice to chat with fellow travelers from all over; many of them repeat visitors to the Hotel Europa.Great value; great hospitalityVince da Silva
310780,AndreaSP,09/30/2005,Excelent location; wonderful staff; great rooms!!!! I stayed 5 nights at Hotel Julia. The location is great (couple of blocks from the Duomo and Galleria Accademia). The room is enormous (for a 3 star hotel) very quiet and tidy. The staff is wonderful!!! Gassim and his family were adorable!!! Would definitely stay there again.
310780,BigDman,09/26/2005,All the reviews were true After a recommendation from a friend and reading some Trip Advisor reviews we booked 3 days at this hotel during our honeymoon in September. I booked via email directly with the hotel which was very pleasant and easy. Knowing we would be spending very little time in the hotel it was nice to come back after a long day of site seeing to relax in our suite. The recently renovated floor looks fantastic and our room was great. Miriam and the gang are fantastic! Excellent recommendations on restaurants in the area and helpful in booking museum tickets. Location is perfect; close to the train station makes for a quick cab ride and hitting the main sites. A very special personal touch.
310780,caros,09/24/2005,A very pleasant stay! Hotel Europa is superbly located between the Duomo; shopping; restaurants and museums. The staff was tremendously helpful and very nice. Rooms were large; nice bathrooms---it was a little on the warm side (there is only a small air conditioning unit). Our time at Hotel Europa made our stay in Florence a joy!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,09/23/2005,Excellent hotel and service This is a great hotel with an excellent location only a couple of minutes walk from the Duomo and David was just around the corner. All other essential tourist attractions were close at hand.Beautiful rooms and the staff were really friendly especially the breakfast dude!!! We loved him.We would stay here again if visiting Florence.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,09/21/2005,Hotel Europa is nice. Good location. A family of two adults and two children stayed at the Hotel Europa in June 2005. Hotel Europa is clean; reasonably priced; and in a good location.
310780,Robbiey,09/20/2005,Great place to stay The location is perfect - just a few minutes' walk to the Duomo (just a block and a half away). It is on a wider street and a bus route. Less than 10 mins. by bus from railway station. The No. 7 bus runs from right outside the railway station (one euro each) - once you see the Duomo and the Baptistry you are almost there - the bus turns left onto via Martelli (which is only one block long) and you get off at Via Martelli - the bus stop is at the end of the block - walk in the direction the bus took - the street becomes Via Cavour and the hotel is about halfway up the next block on the right. There is a wide staircase and a smallish lift. The building is three stories above street level; and the hotel occupies the first and second floors. The reception is on the second floor. The hotel is very; very clean; and very safe. It is a safe area. The beds and pillows were very comfortable. Ghassim; the owner; was really great and speaks fluent English; and was a great host - Maria too; and all the staff were friendly and so nice. Breakfast consists of fresh bread rolls; pkgd croissants; butter/jams/honey; cheese; fruit yogurts; cereals; orange juice; and a push-button machine that makes coffee; cappaccino; and there is tea - it is served from 7.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. At reception there is one computer which guests can use to access the web and read their emails. The first floor rooms have recently been refurbished and the floor looks great. Apparently the second floor will be updated soon. We were on the second floor and loved our room. It was a very enjoyable stay. We were extremely pleased with our choice and would stay here again without hesitation.Train travellers beware. In Venice; and also in Florence; the ticket teller at the railway station held back E5 when giving us our change. Both times we pointed out we were short and the missing note would be handed over. In Florence an Italian man had the same thing happen to him when we were there. Buy your tickets a day or so ahead of time; and count your change before leaving the ticket window. Good idea to count out your notes to them so they know what they receive from you.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,09/18/2005,wonderfully welcoming My family stayed at Hotel Europa for four nights in June. We felt welcomed and cared for from the start when Miriam brought us a cool drink after our hot walk from the train station. The rooms were large and comfortable with the best bathrooms of our stay in Italy; the breakfasts were just right before a day of sightseeing; and the internet access was greatly appreciated by all (especially my teenage son!) The location was perfect for getting around and Miriam was most helpful with suggestions for the train for a day trip to Lucca and museum reservations. The slight problem with the airconditioning was corrected quickly and assistance with getting clothes cleaned (for seven people after two weeks of travel) was outstanding. We feel like we have friends in Florence now...and I hope we get to visit again!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,09/18/2005,Excellent Location The staff at the hotel were very helpful and the location was excellent.
310780,mcrose97,09/10/2005,Great place to stay in Florence... My husband and I stayed at the Hotel Europa at the very end of July. Florence was our favorite of all the cities we visited on our three-week trip through Italy; and Hotel Europa was a great place to stay.Our room was quite large and the air conditioning was excellent. The bathroom was small and without a separate shower stall; but the hotel was very up front about that; so I knew about it ahead of time. In retrospect; next time I will pay more to upgrade to the suites; which have separate tubs or shower stalls. The room and bathroom were cleaned thoroughly each day. Our room offered a view of a great courtyard; and the Duomo was visible over the roof. The breakfast was more than enough to keep my husband and I satisfied. Of particular note was the impressive coffee/cappucino/espresso machine. It was great fun to use; and tasted better than the cappucino I paid 2 euros for down the street! Gassim and his family were very helpful and could not have been nicer. They arranged Uffizi tickets for us; and made great restaurant recommendations. They also offer a laundry service; which saved us from having to spend an afternoon in a laundromat. For about 15 euros we had a couple of weeks' worth of dirty clothes picked up; washed and dried; and delivered back to our room.By far the best thing about the Hotel Europa is its location. It is within a few minutes walk of everything there is to see in Florence. We had just spent hours walking from place to place in Rome; so it was strange to be at the Duomo or the Ponte Vecchio in less than 10 minutes. Walk the other direction and you're at the open-air market or the train station in the same amount of time.In the end; we enjoyed our stay and would recommend the hotel to our friends and family. The price was great; the service was great; and we loved Florence. Hope to stay at the Hotel Europa again!
310780,TopTrumps,09/08/2005,Fantastic start to our honeymoon We chose Florence for the start of our honeymoon and the Hotel Europa because of the reviews on TripAdvisor. And it didn't disappoint. We arrived late at the airport and got a taxi to the Hotel. Slightly expensive. but it was midnight and we'd just got married the night before!!! We were greeted at reception and shown straight to our suite which was very spacious and had a terrific view of the Duomo. We loved the old fashioned lift. It reminded us of an early James Bond film. The room was excellent and cleaned everyday and the bathroom had a bath large enough for two!!! The location of the hotel was fantastic. Right in the middle of everything. We walked and walked all over Florence and couldn't have wished for a better base from which to leave from. One direction led to the Duomo and the city; the other to covered markets and the 'old' town. Just excellent. It set the tone for a great honeymoon.
310780,Lunateege,09/03/2005,Great place to stay Our view from the balcony patio
310780,logoball,09/02/2005,Wonderful welcome for weary travelers Don't be put off by the less than inviting exterior; or by the cramped old-fashioned lift; because once you reach the second floor reception desk you will be glad you selected this hotel. Gassim was a charming; helpful; warm host who greeted us by name every time we met. Having arrived after an overnight train ride from Paris around 8:00 a.m.; we were tired; and in need of a shower and something other than a water closet. Our reserved quad room was not ready that early; so Gassim upgraded us to a suite; took us to the room and helped with the luggage. He even brought us bottled water and ice before we could settle in. We could not have asked for a better host. The suite was absolutely lovely; comfortable; and spacious. The A/C was adequate; but shut off when the key was removed which we did as we left the room each day. The bathroom was the largest bathroom we experienced in 3 weeks of travel in Ireland; England; France and Italy. The hotel was within comfortable walking distance (10-15 minutes) of the city center and all of the traditional sights (Accademia; Uffizi; Duomo; Ponte Vecchio; etc.). Gassim also recommended a restaurant called Za-Za which was charming with good food; reasonably priced. The breakfast was no better or no worse than any other breakfast we had in Europe. We would definitely stay there again.
310780,Devkap,08/26/2005,Great location; spacious room and warm hospitality Does not look inviting from the outside; the reception is on the second floor accessed via a tiny lift. We were pleasantly surprised by the large spacious room and the warmth and friendliness of our host who spoke very good english and was extremely helpful. The location is perfect; 15 mins walk from the station and about 5 mins from the center of Florence with a tourist information office just across the road.The main downside was that the bathroom was tiny and the water from the shower flooded the bathroom. Also the airconditioning is turned off from the mains around midnight; this happened all 3 nights I was there.The quality of the breakfast has not improved.
310780,amigadecuba,08/23/2005,Perfection in Central Florence! The Hotel Europa is the perfect place in Florence. It's within 2 minutes walking distance of the Duomo; and thus; is cental to all the other main sights. It is very reasonably and fairly priced. As it's a family run hotel; the service; hospitality; standards; attention to detail are superb. Gassim; the owner; is the one of the most charming and helpful people we've met. Not only did we enjoy talking to him about many different topics; he always gave us excellent advice. Thanks to Gassim; we were able to secure advance tickets to the Uffizi with a short walk and a few minutes' wait. On Gassim's recommendations; we had some excellent meals at 2 local restaurants within easy walking distance. We felt we were staying in a home away from home. the rooms were safe; secure; and immaculately clean. The bathroms are small; but no problem as you're only in the bathroom for a short time every day. Apart from Gassim's friendliness and hospitality; we really appreciated how close the Hotel Europa was to everything. The time saved by this alone was phenomenal; that way we could squeeze as much sightseeing/appreciation of Florence's beauty; as much as possible. If desired; we could swing by regularly to freshen up or to drop off parcels. Hotel Europa is the place to stay in Florence!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,08/23/2005,Hotel Europa is a best bet We stayed at the Hotel Europa for our 3-day stay in Florence in August 2005. We were hesitant at first; but quickly found the hotel had an attentive staff; a wonderful location; a quiet spacious room (we had a suite room with a private bathroom) with a quaint view of a quiet courtyard.Regarding our room - the bed was firm; the room was quiet (we could not hear any road/alley noise or other guests); the bathroom was larger than some we have experienced in Europe; and the AC worked quietly and efficiently (critical for a visit in August).We coordinated our reservation through Gassim; and he took care of us very well during our stay.
310780,alibali79,08/21/2005,Impressive This hotel completely met our expectations. Only 2 blocks from the Duomo and also close to the main train station; the manager was also extremley helpful with his recommendations regarding nearby eating establishments. We stayed in one of the newley remolded suites...a must. it was the biggest room we stayed in; in all of italy. They went above and beyond to make our stay enjoyable and comfortable. A DEFINITE MUST if your planning to stay in Florence.
310780,Micho123,08/19/2005,A Wonderful Pick Everything about this hotel was wonderful! When we arrived in Florence by train from Rome we took a taxi to this hotel (a good idea; although it wasn't too far; but you don't want to be walking the narrow streets of Florence with luggage. When you first arrive at the hotel I must admit it is a little strange. The entrance to the hotel is actually on the second story of a non-descript building in Florence. You must either take an small elevator to the second floor or walk the stairs (not a big deal after you have dropped off your luggage). After getting past the first impressions; we were warmly welcomed by a sweet lady who spoke wonderful English (a relief after a few days in Rome). We told her our last name and she treated us as if she had been expecting us for years! She walked us through beautifully decorated hallways to our room. Once there she walked us in and immediatly opened the windows to let in the fresh breeze from the gardens below. Then she began explaining the amenities and made us feel right at home. Our bathroom was down a hallway from our room and I immediatly became concerned that it was a shared bathroom (a common thing in Italy). She laughed and reasurred me that the entire hallway; along with the bathroom; was ours (the doorway at the end of the hallway was the entrance to our room). In essence we not only had a beautiful room; but also a beautiful entrance. Our stay at Hotel Europa was nothing short of wonderful! Each morning we were greeted as family and the hosts were very open with suggestions and hints about the city. One piece of advice.. we chose to stay in the suite room Dante rather than the standard rooms. The price difference wasn't much; although I'm sure the standard rooms are just fine; also. Finally; the bathroom and shower were large. When we visit Florence again we will definatley stay at Hotel Europa. One more wonderful thing...it is in a central location in Florence. We could see the Duomo from our room. Happy Travels!
310780,moirwill,08/17/2005,Coolest place in Italy Wow what cant I say about this place; first it is centrally located about a 2 minute walk from the Duomo. Second when I was there it was game 7 of the NBA finals (Pistons vs. Spurs) and I am from metro Detroit and they did not have the game at the hotel; the receptionist who is the owners daughter spend about at least an hour on the phone finding me another hotel or pub to watch it at. Third the A/C actually worked and got cold enough to cool the room down a first for us. Lastly the breakfast lacked a little but it is Italy and no breakfast is a good one and this place was better than most. i urge anyone to stay at Hotel Europa.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,08/14/2005,Great I found Hotel Europa through Trip Advisor. I must say; the positive reviews are accurate. We had a wonderful stay. Our room was large and extremely clean. We had a great view of the Duomo. The service could not be better. Free internet was like icing on a cupcake.
310780,snowy55,08/11/2005,Ideal Hotel The Europa Hotel lived up to all expectations. It is ideally located for all the tourist attractions. The room was very clean and comfortable and the shower very adequate. The breakfast was very basic but adequate as there were plenty of places in the local area that you could visit to get further refreshments. The owner was extremely friendly and helpful and I will return when I next visit Florence.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,08/11/2005,Europa Hotel Stayed at the Europa June 2005. Good hotel in great position 5 min walk to most of main sites 15 -20 min walk from station. Had a suite which was roomy and over looked a court yard at rear so was very quiet. Also had air con which was essential when visiting at this time. Would definitely stay here again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/27/2005,Magnificent Hotel I have stayed at Hotel Europa with my family for a week. It was a lovely and an unforgettable stay. The owner; Mr Ghassim and his lovely and ever smiling daughter; Miriam have made sure that we get the most out of our trip to Florence; not to mention the royal and unbiased hospiality they extend to their guests. My daugher Nadia; was so enamoured to the owner that she keeps bugging me to preplan our next trip to florence. A barbie doll given to her by him is well cherished and maintained. This gesture touches us enormously. The hotel is very clean and its location at the heart of florence simplified our visting historic places. Mr Ghassim is so well seasoned that every question we asked about florence was well answered. His daughterand him are linguistics and that was a great help. In a nutshell; we enjoyed our visit to florence and in particular Hotel Europa and we have got far more than our money's worth; and this trip reminded me another one that I did in seoul and Hongkong sometime before the olympics. I stayed in Lotta Hotel in seoul and the Holiday Inn in Hongkong and both places I was treated like a king as every need was answered with a bow.Abdulaziz Sufi Omar
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/23/2005,Absolutely Terrific Hotel My friend and I recently stayed in the Hotel Europa and it was one of the nicest hotels we stayed in Italy. This is a family run hotel with a personal touch. Miriam and Gassim were so very kindand hospitable. The rooms are immaculate and very spacious. It is also very reasonably priced. The hotel is located very close to the Duoma. Just a wonderful location. I would highly recommend it. I think it is rated as a 2 star but I would rate it as at least a 3 star.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/18/2005,Excellent Service Rooms were decent and clean. Bathroom was not great at all. Each time I took a shower; I flooded the bathroom floor. However; the service provided from Mr. Gassim was excellent. He recommended places to visit for us and treated us like we were his children. He took great care of us. THe hotel is also centrally located and walking distance to major sites. Will definitely stay here again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/12/2005,Great Personality The hotel was in a great location and the manager was the most helpful of any we encountered on the trip. He went out of his way to make our visit enjoyable and made a great capucino.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/10/2005,Gassim- What A Legend Gorgeous little hotel in a spot on central location- just down the road from the Duomo and San Lorenzo; only a short walk from the rest of the major sights. On the same road; literally a few metres; from the Palazzo Medici (must see). Breakfast is a good selection; and the atmosphere is cosy enough to feel at home; yet also extremely professional.We booked a standard room but for some strange reason got upgraded for free (!) to the suite rooms at the front of the hotel. Therefore I can't really comment on the standard accomodation; but judging from the lovliness of our suite I'm assuming it's pretty good. We even had old painted ceilings- would be interested to know what sort of a history the building has.The owners are great and Gassim is a legend. Um.... the only thing I can fault really is that on most descriptions it says 'on a quiet road'- which certainly isn't true! Because the hotel is located so centrally; Via Cavour on which it is situated is a pretty big; busy road! I think most of the rooms at the back of the hotel however would be pretty quiet in spite of this. Do not book the suite if you're sensitive to noise; it's right at the front of the hotel and looks out onto the road- noisy even on quiet nights.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/08/2005,Great place to stay Europa sitting room
310780,CaptainTrips,07/06/2005,Great Location; Price and Service We had a most enjoyable stay for 4 nights towards end of June at Hotel Europa. Originally; we had only reserved for 3 nights; but Gassim and Miriam were kind enough to accommodate our needs; which involved switching us for several nights to a beautiful room with a balcony and great view of the Duomo. We ate a nice breakfast on the balcony. The two restaurant recommendations that Gassim gave us were both outstanding (I can still taste the truffle-infused sauce on the spinach ricotta ravioli; and the Eggplant Parmesan was simply yummy). Additionally; Gassim helped to arrange for an excellent tour of the Uffizi Gallery which typically requires weeks for a normal reservation. For the price and location; you can鈥檛 beat Hotel Europa in Florence (they also offered us a discount for cash payment). The only recommendations to Gassim and Miriam would be to only use fresh croissants for breakfast (instead of the pre-packaged ones they serve); and make the computer with Internet access available to at least midnight or later (they turn it off at 10pm currently). Otherwise; we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and plan to come back again next time in Florence. Their service and hospitality was top-notch; something one would only expect at a 4 star hotel.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/06/2005,my home far away from home It was already the third time that I stayed in this hotel( once with a friend of mine; then alone and the last time with my sister). Everytime I return to Florence I check in in the lovely Hotel Europa wich is situated in the city centre and near all the famous objects of interests. Nice staff; beautiful rooms; good price; perfect location. I would recommend it to everyone. I'll return there as soon as possible because I feel as if I were at home in this lovely hotel in Florence!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/04/2005,Charming little hotel the Hotel Europa is a charming littel hotel; centrally located in the middle of Florence. The rooms are small; but this is more than overcome by the hospitality of the owner/staff and the reasonable price. The room with the balcony is especially attractive; and provides a peaceful setting after a day of touring.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/02/2005,Lovely family-run hotel We loved the people at Hotel Europa and would recommend it to anyone staying in Florence. They were very helpful whenever we asked questions about site seeing etc.. We would definitely stay there again in the future.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/02/2005,LOVED IT! The hotel is great; location is great; price (for Florence) is great; but the big score is Mirriam; Gassim and family!! We wanted to take them home with us. From someone who's stayed in a LOT of hotels; you can't go wrong with this place if you're looking for a very nice (not fancy); clean; freindly; centrally located hotel with an old world charm feel to it and the sweetest and warmest hospitality that is so essential when traveling.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/01/2005,The best buy in Florence This hotel was a great find. The locatiion is great. Every major attraction is real close. One to ten blocks at most. The owner; Gassim; and his daughter Miriam make you feel like family. The same is true for the rest of the staff. The rooms are spacious and immaculate. We stayed 6 nights and will definitely stay here on our next visit to Florence. The daily Continental breakfast was very good and offered an adequate selection which included cereal; yougert; pastries; cheese and numerous coffee selections.In the afternoons the guests gather on their own to chat and sip wine in a second floor lounge area. It's an enjoyable way to meet other guests and rest after a day of walking through Florence and Tuscany.jean roger; palm city florida
310780,DCSusan,06/30/2005,Fabulous gem of a hotel This lovely family-run hotel was the perfect spot from which to visit Florence. The father and daughter team were wonderful; very welcoming; and very sweet. Our room was downright huge with beautiful handpainted furniture and a large; clean bathroom.The hotel has original frescoed ceilings and is a perfect gem. The suite level where we stayed was super quiet. The location was fantastic; a few blocks from the duomo and right near everything you want to see. My husband and I were thrilled with this hotel (and I am very picky!) and the wonderful service from Gassim and his daughter. Definitely would stay here again!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/27/2005,Best Boutique Hotel - Beautiful Views Hotel Europa is one of the best boutique family-run hotels I have stayed in across not only Italy; but Europe. This is the place to stay if you want a taste of Italian family culture where you will receive genuine warm hospitality.I stayed here twice in the busy month of June for a total of 6 nights. During my first stay; I stayed in a double room that had a little balcony decorated with plants and colourful flowers with a gorgeous view of the Duomo - in a nutshell; wow. The room was spacious; with a modern bathroom and spotless clean. As I was returning the following week with my husband; I asked for the same room and the owners were more than happy to oblige.I have stayed in a number of hotels across Europe ranging up to 5 stars and never have I had such a nice room with a beautiful view; perfectly located; away from the street noise AND accompanied by such warm; hospitable service...all for such a reasonable price! You would be silly to pass up Hotel Europa. It is perfectly located and provides a service that only a welcoming host family can provide. You will leave Florence with the feeling that you experienced its true culture after staying at Hotel Europa.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/27/2005,A little Gem; our home from home. We cannot recommend more highly the family-run Hotel Europa. Gassim; Maria and family make us feel so welcome every time we visit Florence (twice a year on business for the past few years) and go out of their way to give helpful advice; restaurant and train timetables etc. as well as valet parking your car. The Suite rooms are newly furnished and all the hotel rooms are exceptionally clean and have great beds. A little gem and great value.
310780,MelbinLondon,06/27/2005,Fantastic Hotel We stayed at the Hotel Europa for 3 nights and really enjoyed it. The location is fantastic and our room was lovely; with a frescoed ceiling and view of the Duomo. Our hosts were amazingly friendly and we will definitely return to the Hotel Europa the next time we are in Florence.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/26/2005,An Amazing Hotel with Wonderful Hosts! My wife and I spent 3 days in Florence at the beginning of June and stayed in the Dante Suite. It was incredibly quiet; with two windows from the bedroom opening up onto a courtyard. The room was large with lots of room to move around in. The bathroom was recently upgraded and again; provided a generous amount of room. No need to worry about hot water or water pressure - there was ample! Ditto with the air conditioning when we needed it.The breakfast area was charming with a beautiful fresco on the ceiling. A highlight every morning for us was the coffee - self-served from an amazing espresso machine!The location can't be beat. The hotel is located in the heart of all the action. No need for taxis; you can walk everywhere you want/need to explore (wouldn't recommend renting a vehicle - there's no need unless you want to explore outside the city).I must say; however; that the highlight of our stay at Hotel Europa was the hospitality shown by Gassim and Miriam. They're absolutely delightful and really made us feel welcome. My wife and I strongly recommend this property. Its 2-star rating doesn't do it justice.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/26/2005,home away from home I recently visited Florence with a group of 14 friends and our stay in Florence was made much more comfortable due to our stay at Hotel Europa. Though we had moved from a 5 star to a 2 star we were treated with kindness and respect. Gassim and his daughter Miriam did their very best to accomodate our needs. Their breakfast room was a very comfortable meeting place for us and we met some other tourists who were also very pleasant an interesting. For the price and location and especially the warmth of our hosts; it is a bargain all the way around. Thanks to all.Caio!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/25/2005,Excellent service and location My family of four stayed at Hotel Europa for 3 nights recently based on reviews found in Trip Advisor. We were very pleased. When we arrived at the hotel after a long day of traveling; we were met at the door by Gassim who was gracious and watchful over our satisfaction for the entire stay. Our room was large; clean and comfortable (even for 4 people) and the location was right up the street from the Duomo. Even with its central location; the room was very quiet.My family and I really enjoyed the Europa Hotel and strong recommend it.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/23/2005,Excellent hotel - great location The hotel was recommended to us by a friend and we were extremely happy with their recommendation. We spent two weeks travelling around Italy and this was by far the nicest hotel we stayed in on our trip - and also the best value for money. The owners Gassim and Mirriam were extremely helpful and had no problem in extending our check-out time the next day. Our only regret was that we could only stay one night 鈥?will definitely be going back to this hotel and for longer next time!!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/22/2005,First Class Hotel!!! My wife and I stayed at Hotel Europa for 3 nites as part of a 1 month holiday through France and Italy. Our travel to the hotel involved a 14 hour train ride from Nice; France. Needless to say; we were cranky and tired upon arriving at Hotel Europa at 11pm at nite. This all changed as we were greeted by Gassim with his warm hospitality and complimentary large bottle of cold water.For 120 EUR/nite; we stayed in the spacious #40 (if my memory is correct) room; very clean; simple and away from street noise. It had a balcony facing the Duomo. It was air conditioned. Breakfast was simple with croissants; yogurt; cereal and a very good cappuccino/expresso/cafe machine. Gassim is constantly manning the food table to ensure enough food is available and is often seen cleaning and serving the hotel guests.The location of the hotel is ideal; 5 min walk to the Accademia; 10 walk to the Uffizi; the Tourist information booth is across the street and 2 minute walk to the outdoor market and indoor supermarket (definite highlight if you enjoy immersing in Italian culture).The beauty of this hotel is the first class hospitality of this family run hotel headed by father Gassim and his daughter Miriam. Both work tirelessly to ensure all guests were well taken care of. The hotel also provides free internet access.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/21/2005,A Fabulous Find We stayed seven nights in May at the Hotel Europa. Both Gassim and Miriam were gracious hosts as were all the staff and made the hotel feel like home. Our room overlooked a beautiful courtyard and was quite large compared to other hotels we have visited in Europe鈥揳nd quiet. The hotel is right in the center of the city and was within walking distance of all the major sites. They recommended Trattoria Za Za for dinner and it turned out to be one of our favorite places to eat. We would definitely give this hotel our highest recommendation and hope to return some day!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/20/2005,An excellent hotel This is the best hotel in Florence (I've stayed in most of the others in 30 years). Hundred or so yards from the center; close to San Marco; comfortable suite and; most generously; a birthday present from the owners.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/19/2005,Exceeded our high expectations View from our room
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/18/2005,solid value; great staff I just returned from a week at the Europa where I stayed while traveling alone on business. This is a very well-run; comfortable two star hotel in a prime location. Your experience of the room will vary according to where you stay; at first I was in a single room that fronted on Via Cavour which while entirely functional; large enough and very clean; was a little dark and even the triple glazed windows could not entirely block the sounds of the buses blasting down the street in the middle of the night. Oddly; in the general hustle and bustle of the day you don't really notice the sounds. I mentioned the problem the next morning and they very gratiously moved me to an interior triple. That was an excellent room; totally quiet; large; light; and it opened out on a charming courtyard behind which loomed the tower of the Duomo. Hard to beat that. I should probably say that it looks to me like most of the hotel rooms are actually back off the street. Breakfasts were a mix of fresh and packaged rolls; yogurt; cheese; jam; cereals; juices; and the excellent expresso/capaccino. The desk help was always friendly; always helpful. The resturant tip from them was the best restuarant I ate at in Florence. One hint regarding the internet. Someone (not the hotel) was running an open WIFI network that you could hit from the desk where the shared computer sits.
310780,pasto,06/12/2005,Wonderful hosts! My wife; son; daughter-in-law and I stayed four nights. It is ideally located; walking distance to the Duomo; the city center; etc. We were especially pleased with our hotel hosts; they were very helpful and Gassim especially made our stay such a pleasure. Not only was he helpful with directions; getting tickets; information about restaurants; etc; but also his friendliness really was a pleasure. He is a gem! We look forward to staying there again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,06/12/2005,Fabulous Find Intially; we had our reservations on the first Saturday we were in Florence. Our room was a huge 2 room suite (160 Euro per); with painted frescos on the ceilings; but malfunctioning air conditioners made sleeping impossible. The father (of the family owners) couldn't move us to a room that night; but said a technician would come to fix it on Monday. (admittedly; at first; we had trouble convincing him there was anything wrong with the air conditioner). The next day; Mirriam (the daughter) overheard my husband in the hallway suggesting we ask for another room. She immediately took action; came running down the stairs; and moved us to another room (Michaelangelo; #34). Though the room was much smaller; it was bright; cheerful; great air conditioning; and had windows that opened up onto quiet private rooftops and its own personal refrigerator. The next morning; Mirriam's father showed me how to use the cappuccino maker and was going to wait on me (even though it was a self-serve breakfast). Mirriam compensated us by charging 140 Euro per night; and when we left she gave us a bottle of chardonnay as a parting gift for our troubles. If you have an issue at Hotel Europa talk to Mirriam. She is effective and incredibly gracious. Note: If you have laundry done or buy water; it is expected that you pay cash up front; they keep their hotel room costs seperate from these sundries. Hair dryer in bathrooms.My husband and I have traveled to quite a few different countries and we find that people are as nice to you as you are to them. This is one experience that went from poor to terrific and we'd be happy to stay with them again.
310780,nbdoc,06/06/2005,Unpleasant surprise after all these reviews Location is A+. The entrance with the tiny elevator did not look too attractive. The fromt desk area and the dining room are rather worn out. But when I entered the room; I was shocked: peeling off paint; broken shower; no window treatments of any sort. When I mentioned the huge discrepancy with the photographs on the web; I was shown the room that was pictured; to prove that it did exist; but it was occupied. After some hot negotiation both parties in our group were upgraded to suites for no additional charge; but with no smile or acceptance of wrongdoing on the side of the staff either. Breakfast was rather weak; compared with others we had in Italy (second worst in our 5 hotel experience). At departure; we were presented with the charge for the parking - time and a half of what was quoted initially. Again; after we expressed some unhappiness; fornt desk person paid the difference himself. So; even though all our problems eneded up being resolved; the bitter aftertaste remained.
310780,lcwms3,06/03/2005,Great staff and charming room Just got back from Italy; stayed 2 nights at Hotel Europa. very friendly and helpful staff; we had no need to go to the tourist info office across the street. Were upgraded to an available suite; the Leonardo; at no extra charge - this room was enormous compared to our 3-star hotel in Rome; also had large bathroom with full tub. Staff recommended Trattoria ZaZa and it was fabulous; we became regulars there during our stay. Not sure why this hotel only gets 2 stars; we would rank it higher - felt very at home here and really enjoyed it.
310780,Eaden,06/03/2005,Friendly; charming; elegant I'd just sprained my ankle when I arrived; a refugee from a rather grotty hotel and Miriam and Gassim managed to put myself and my husband up at short notice (and were incredibly hospitable and attentive; offering me a seat and a complimentary drink in the heat). The first night we stayed in a standard room; which is just that; but it was clean and although the road was noisy at the front; it wasn't when the windows were closed. The second and third nights; they managed to accommodate us in the suites; which are fabulous; elegantly furnished and very quiet; and made me feel like a princess. The whole family made us extremely welcome; particularly as it was my husband's birthday. All this at a very reasonable rate in comparison to other hotels. Thanks for everything!
310780,Scotwoman,05/31/2005,Quality Accommodation and Service We have just returned from spending 2 nights in the Hotel Europa Suites in Florence and had a wonderful time. When we arrived the hotel's computer system had malfunctioned and there was a problem with the number of rooms required. However; after we returned from lunch the situation was resolved; three beautiful suite rooms as reserved.The family could not have been more helpful. The hotel was so peaceful it was difficult to believe that you were staying in the city centre.Perfect location; perfect accommodation and service.Thank you Gassim and co. We will return again soon.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/31/2005,Great Hotel The Hotel Europa in Florence; Italy provided a wonderful experience. It is operated by a very friendly staff (family-owned); is very clean; the rooms are spacious; the location great for travel throughout the city and the breaksfast is just right. Would recommend to anyone and would use again on a future trip.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/31/2005,Great Hotel for Relatively Small Price If you are travelling to Florence; make the Hotel Europa part of your journey. It's in a great location; very near to the museums you will want to visit. The rooms and common areas were very very clean and tastefully done. The hosts speak excellent English and were as friendly as family. They even have a workstation you can use for free to access the internet. Really; I can't say enough good things about the place. I'm sure if you spent 5 or 6 times the money; you'll find a more posh space. But this hotel would be a bargain at twice the price.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/30/2005,Good hotel in two star category Friendly staff; clean; comfortable and centrally located. Note that the street (via cavour) is busy and so can be noisy at night. It didn't bother us though.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/29/2005,Charming 2 star hotel We stayed at the Europa in early May for 4 nights and were delighted. We usually book 3 stars or better but I had read a very positive review of the Europa in the NY Times from a couple of years ago so we decided to try it.Our first room was on the main floor at 100E/night in high season for a double; which includes their cold breakfast with lots of choices. It was bare; small and neat but it had all the usual accoutrements of higher-level hotels. The hotel is about 3 blocks from the Duomo in one direction and two blocks from the Accademia in the other. Our room was facing the street and noise at night got to be a bit much so we switched to one of the suites on the lower floor (130E/night) and were very happy with it. Our room faced onto a quiet courtyard (some have views of the Duomo) and was about twice the size of the first room.I highly recommend the Europa. The staff is charming and helpful; plus there's a computer for the use of guests at no charge! Someone else said they were pushy about where you could sit for breakfast but we didn't encounter this ... perhaps the hotel was more crowded at that time.If you are looking for de luxe accommodations this won't be the place for you. But if you want a reasonably priced; neat and clean hotel -- try the Europa.
310780,Shoz,05/28/2005,Amazing Florence We spent a week in Florence at the end of April 2005 and stayed at the Hotel Europa. The staff were really friendly; kind and helpful and made us feel really welcome. We asked for a room with a view and got a lovely balcony filled with exotic plants and flowers - with a great view of the Duomo and Giotto's bell tower. The hotel is clean and comfortable and in a great location just a few minutes walk from the Duomo; the Baptistery; San Lorenzo Church and many other wonderful sights. We would definitely go back.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/28/2005,Excellent hotel great staff and value An affordable hotel very centrally located with an exceptionally friendly and helpful staff. The hotel run by a sweet family was clean and bright. The proprieters took pride in their business and were willing to provide for any requests. There were no hidden costs or unpleasant surprises. When checking in they offered us a tour of the rooms they had available and let us choose the one we wanted. After checking out they took care of our bags for hours while we roamed the city and then when we finally left they gave us a bottle of chianti! I would recommend this hotel to anyone who was looking for a comforatble centrally located spot.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/28/2005,Relax and comfortable stay! We stayed in Florence just for one night; but the stay in Hotel Europe made the short stay very comfortable and memorable.First of all; I do appreciate their quick responce to my inquiry through the internet. I asked them the availability of the rooms quite last minutes; but they answered my question and request perfectly in pleasant manner.We stayed in suite rooms; which was pretty; clean and comfortable.My friend is really particular about the cleanness in the bathroom; but she was quite satisfied with that.The most impressive part of this hotel is the peple working there.We received excellent service from them; especially from the owner.He seemed very happy with what he did; and which made me feel relax and comfortable staying with them.As I also work in sevice industry; I learned a lot of thing from him- friendly but not to over friendly.The location of the hotel is also good.I do recommened the people going Florence to stay with them!Thank you!
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/27/2005,Home away from home The Hotel Europa is a family run hotel and it shows....we felt safe and at home.....the rooms are lovely especially the suite rooms....we stayed in both the suite rooms and the non suite rooms and we found them both more than adequate....we had a view of the top of the Duomo as well.....the care and pride of place shows......breakfasts were fun especially using the cappuccino machine which Gassim enjoyed showing us how to operate.....simple pleasures!!!! There was nothing that Gassim and Family would not do for us and smiling always.....
310780,azredhead,05/24/2005,Great for families! Hi;Just got back from a trip to Rome and Florence; include a stay at the Hotel Europa. Our family of 4; including two kids ages 4 and 6; were travelling with my husband's parents. We were all very pleased; and both Gassim and Miriam were very pleasant and hospitable. For example; they helped us find a driver to tour Tuscany; and rearranged tables in the breakfast room so we could all sit together. We had two rooms (the upgraded ones that I believe they call suites); including a quadruple that was amazingly spacious. The kids each had their own bed; which they loved. When planning the trip; I discovered that quadruple rooms were very hard to come by; and was told that it was against the law in Italy to book 4 people into a triple room; even if two of them are kids. So; the positives of Hotel Europa are:- lots of space- able to accomodate a family of 4- central location; even the kids didn't mind walking to the Pitti Palace; which is one the other side of the Arno- wonderful hosts- breakfast included (yogurt; cereal; bread; coffee; etc.)- clean; quiet rooms with spacious bathsIf you are looking for a luxury hotel with a bellhop; tapestries on the walls; and dinner to piano music; this is not the place. If you are looking for a simple but clean rooms that are a good value for Florence; this will suit you well.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/23/2005,Decent hotel/Safe for most tourists; even picky ones We stayed at this hotel for 2 nights. Our room was very small but it was clean and somewhat updated compared to other hotels in Italy. The staff were helpfu and nice. The rooms seemed to be fairly insulated and you couldn't hear your neighbors or outside traffic very much.This hotel is very conveinently located right outside the train station and is only about a 10-15 ride into Florence. They also have a reasonably priced bar in the lobby and another one directly across the street. They do have a restaurant and a neat breakfast lounge in the top floor. The staff were a little pushy about where you could sit in the morning at breakfast but that was really our only complaint.This is a decent hotel and would be safe for the average tourist.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/23/2005,Thank you Hotel Europa Hotel Europa is a friendly hotel. All stuff is very kind.It has been very nice since when I had booked the hotel.They always replyed soon by e-mail when I asked something a lot.Thank you for Gassim; Miriam and other stuffs.I was really enjoyed there even if I was travelling alone.
310780,Viaggiatrice,05/16/2005,My Dream Hotel Have you ever had a day when the stress of travel gets you down and you just want to escape to a quiet; secluded place away from clamoring tourists? The Hotel Europa is perfect! Not more than 5 minutes from the Piazza del Duomo; you can be in a small; very clean; quiet room (maybe with a view of the dome of the Duomo and the Campanile as mine had) far from the madding crowds. You take the elevator to the 3rd floor (2 piano); ring the doorbell and instantly feel welcome and safe in the care of the your friendly Ethiopian family owners. Travel directions and restaurant suggestions are available if wanted and you're free to use their computer (without charge) for your e-mail. All rooms have ensuite bathrooms and small televisions. For the single woman traveller or anyone who's looking for an economical; clean; quiet room; I can't recommend the Hotel Europa and their kind owners more highly. The New York Times agreed with me. Several years ago The Frugal Traveller was also seduced by its charms.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/10/2005,Wonderful experience Everything about our stay was wonderful. The room was clean and spacious. The breakfast was great (the cappuccino maker is out of Harry Potter!). The family which own and manage the hotel (for 30-some years) was extremely gracious. They would do anything for you...I would go back to stay here in a heartbeat. And the prices were very reasonable.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/02/2005,Hotel Europa is very convenient in Florence; Italy If you are traveling to Florence; Italy; check out Hotel Europa. It is very conveniently located. Take the taxi from the airport. Do not rent a car. You don't need one in Florence. If you need a car to go to Tuscany; go back to the airport (15 minute taxi) and rent one. The rooms in the suite floor are newly renovated. A bit small like other hotels in Europe but quite nice. The staff is great. Local restaurants that were recomended by the staff included Za Za.. We ate both lunch and dinner there. Inside and outside. Make a reservation for dinner; arrive early for a great table outside for lunch. Tuscano was recommended for dinner. Very nice; casual. Go for it. I would stay at Europa during my next trip because of the location and the rooms. I hope to return soon.
310780,GymboMom,04/29/2005,BEWARE! Hotel cancelled my booking and charged my credit card We booked this hotel for our November 2004 trip to Italy. I made the reservations through the Florenceby website; which is the link provided by the Hotel Europa. You have to provide your credit card information in order to confirm your reservation. I made this reservation and was confirmed back in August of 2004. Literally 24 hours before we were to leave the States for our Italy trip; I received an email from HotelEuropa explaining that they were sorry but had to cancel our reservation and hope to accomadate us in the future. I am a planner and was in a panic attack to find another hotel 24 HOURS before we left for our trip!! Luckily; I was able to find another hotel that had two rooms available (we booked two suites at hotel europa). Imagine my surprise on our return home to the U.S. when I received my creidt card statement in Dec. 2004 and had been charged one nights stay for two rooms at the hotel Europa = $300.00+ US dollars!!! When they had cancelled our reservation!! I immediately sent out emails to the hotel and received replies from MIRIAM at the hotel. Through a number of emails; I was able to finally explain to her what had happened and that the HOTEL cancelled my reservation NOT me. What Miriam admitted to; was that one of their employees had sent me the email AND charged my card. She explained that this employee was no longer with them. She asked for me to send her my credit card info to them again and they would credit my card for the charges. She also admitted in her email that the responsibility was on them and they would reverse the charges. After waiting another week; I still had not received credit on my card; so I sent another email to Miriam. I sent several more emails with no response. I then received an email back from an ERIC who is with WORLDBY - somehow in connection with the booking service FLORENCEBY. Eric said in his email that it was ME who was responsible for the charges and should be grateful I wasn't charged for the entire booking (which was 2 suites for 3 nights); rather I was only charged for one nights stay. I immediately sent Eric another email giving him documentation of previous conversations via email w/Miriam from the Hotel Europa in which she admitted guilt and responsibliltiy on behalf of the hotel.Eric then sent me another email and said he had spoken on the phone with the hotel and they admitted to him that they needed to refund me the money and would be issuing a credit through their bank's Visa contact. I sent emails to Eric thanking him for his help and waited for my credit. After checking every few days and waiting; I began to send Eric more emails asking why my credit hadn't posted to my account yet. Basically after 3 months of back and forth communication; in his last email; Eric said he didn't know how long it would take for me to get my credit and there wasn't anything else he could do. So as of today; April 29; 2005; I still have NOT received my credit back; nor have a received a response from Hotel Europa since Eric from WORLDBY began communicating with me on their behalf. As stated above; I have paper documentation showing the cancellation email sent by the hotel; emails received by Miriam in which she admits Hotel Europa made a mistake and would credit my card; and email documentation of my conversations w/Eric from Worldby. So I say all this as a WARNING to those booking in advance with Hotel Europa. I would be very careful in giving out your credit card information. As for the hotel itself; I'm sure it is lovely and I would have liked the opportunity to stay there; but cannot give a review on that since my reservation was cancelled! Please feel free to email me directly if you should have any questions regarding this posting. Regards;Wendy
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,04/29/2005,Awesome Stay I stayed here w/my girlfriends the summer of 2004. The rooms are clean; roomy and nicely decorated and the location could not be better. The four of us felt safe walking to/from the hotel at night etc. Gaseem (the owner) was so friendly and helpful. I like it so much that we are returning this summer. I've traveled in Europe a lot and b/c of Gaseem's kind service along with the cleanliness of the rooms/location/appearance; it's one of my favorite stays to date!
310780,rickandpat,04/25/2005,Good value Our family of 4 stayed here 3 nights in April. The room was a quad suite; which was in the back so no view. But it was by far the largest room we had in two weeks in Italy; and the only one with a bathtub. The room was furnished very nicely (everything new and matching; but with an antique look); complete with a small fridge and desk; and everything was very clean. The breakfast was fine; there is free internet in the lobby; and the front desk staff was very helpful and nice. Being just a few blocks north of the Duomo and about a block south of the Accademia; the location was pretty good; we walked everywhere with no problem (including up past Piazza Michelangelo). I just wish the hotel wasn't on such a busy street. However; the price was excellent for a quad.; just 180 euros per night (considerably less than most places I was looking at). We'd definitely stay here again.
310780,stratford,04/21/2005,Excellent value We recently stayed at the Hotel Europa in Florence and it was an excellent experience. The facilities were great and the serivce provided was some of the best we encountered. It was close to everything and proved to be a top value for any tourist. We were lucky enough to get a large room that was on the quiet side of the building.
310780,MethuselahIreland,04/20/2005,Excellent hospitality Our large group discovered the Europa via Trip Advisor; and all the previous positive reviews are spot on. The Europa doesn't seem to appear in any guidebooks; and the entrance lobby downstairs is unpromising; but once you arrive in the hotel; Gassim and his daughter Miriam are wonderfully discreetly attentive hosts. The rooms at the back are quiet and elegantly furnished; and the hotel is perfectly placed - a couple of minutes' walk from the Duomo. Our group of 13 stayed for a week; and felt we really had found a home from home.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,04/19/2005,Extreamly hospitable The atmosphere is lovely. Decorated in French Provincial. The bathroom is clean with a great shower and a towel warmer too. The staff is extreamly hospitable and helpful. We only stayed one night but had a wonderful experience and beautiful breakfast.
310780,Declanthedog,04/14/2005,The Europa was an Excellent base in Florence The Europa was clean; well run and handily situated. The service provided by the proprietor and his daughter was outstanding; in an unpretentious way. We stayed in the normal rooms; and mine was small but very adequate; and reasonably priced compared with other hotels in Florence. The suites on the floor below are luxurious (but presumably a lot more expensive!). Breakfast is a simple continental affair; but the coffee machine made some of the best coffee I have come across. If you want somewhere in Florence which is simple but comfortable; and which is good value then I thoroughly recommend the Europa.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,04/05/2005,Great Hotel We stayed at the Europa with our three kids. What makes the Hotel great is the service and warmth of this family run operaton. The hotel is very central and within walking distance of everything; including the train station. We would easily make the choice to stay there again.
310780,Joandarco,03/30/2005,Wonderful blend of history and comfort This beautiful hotel in the center of florence has 16th century frescoes on the ceilings; luxurious furnishings and great views. It also has been upgraded with modern fixtures and bathrooms. The showers have massage heads. There are built in hair dryers and towel warmers; new ceramic tile floors and lots of space. The hand painted desk in the room hides a refridgerator where we kept drinks and snacks. The large breakfast room has a machine that grinds the beans then makes wonderful espresso; capuccino; cafe au lait or steamed milk. there is also free internet access for guests. The owners of 30 years; Quassim and Maria; go out of their way to make your stay relaxing and comfortable. The location couldn't be better; with good places to eat and shop all around. A great value.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/22/2005,Hotel Europa is great! We recently stayed at the Hotel Europa in Florence. It has a great location - only a couple of blocks from the Duomo. We had a large room with a king-sized bed and a twin. Everything was quite comfortable. The only downside was the small shower; but that was more than made up for by the gorgeous view of the Duomo and Giotto's bell tower from our window. The staff (most of whom speak English) are extremely courteous and helpful; and breakfast was included in our room rate. They have a very nice cappuchino machine; and guests have an assortment of rolls and cereals to choose from. We would definitely stay there again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/13/2005,Loved the ambiance of the Hotel Europa We spent three nights in February; 2005 at the Hotel Europa in Florence Italy and found the hotel to be an excellent place to stay while in Florence.The owners do everything possible to make your stay a good one. The hotel is centrally located and within walking distance of all the major attractions in Florence. The owners will make reservations for you too see David by Michaleangelo and the Uffizi Galery.The rooms are spacious; quiet and well-appointed. The staff is very friendly; which follows the owner's attitude to ensure the guests are comfortable. The morning breakfast is good.The hotel itself is a very interesting architecture site as the building is 300 years old and once was a monastery. The dining room has one of the original ceiling frescoes; which is nice to see in the morning.My family and I whole heartedly recommend the hotel.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/08/2005,A great place to stay in Florence!! In February; 2005 I stayed at Hotel Europa for 5 nights. What a great place to call home in Florence!! The location is central to all the major sights; good restaurants and; of course; fantastic shopping. I walked to most every major sight on the north side of the Arno; but if the bus is needed; Piazza San Marco is one block away; with all bus lines converging there. The hotel has been recently updated and is clean and well-kept and attractive. From my room I could see the Duomo and the frescoe on the ceiling was 700 years old. It was charming and quiet. (I recommend asking for a room away from Via Cavour; as the major street can be noisy at night.) Being a single lady traveler; I look for hotels that are clean; safe and reasonably priced. Hotel Europa is much more than that and exceeded my expectations in every way. I feel it's a real bargain. The owners were so friendly and made me feel at home by greeting me by name each time I appeared. During my stay I used the free internet service frequently to plan my further travels and Gassim; the manager; was helpful with suggestions and advice when asked. He's a real gem.I would highly recommend Hotel Europa in Florence and would certainly stay there again.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,03/07/2005,Hotel Europa Serves We were very pleased with our room and service at Hotel Europa. While the accommodations were not US style; (i.e. a smaller TV; small shower); the room was kept cleaner than most US hotels; the kingsize bed had an excellent mattress (there was also a twin bed in the room); and the room was extremely quiet. It is well located; just blocks from the Duomo and the train station. We were able to walk everywhere (except to our daughter's campus; which is on the outskirts of town).The continental breakfast was mediocre; with cereal; prepackaged bread; and orange juice. No fruit offered. The coffee was excellent; with several coffee options available.The staff was very friendly and helpful. We would definitely go back.
310780,RMoe,02/28/2005,Room nice; but hotel owner a bit uptight We stayed at the Hotel Europa for three nights in August 2004 during our 10-day tour around Italy. We booked a triple and received a large room (for europe) with a double bed and a twin. The room was comfortable and bathroom facilities were decent. The A/C worked well which was great since August can be very hot in central Italy. The hotel location was good - a couple blocks from Galleria dell'Academia one direction and a couple blocks from the Duomo the other direction. It was also within walking distance of the train station.Our only real complaint was the hotel owner... he is from Nigeria and has run the hotel for many years (we learned from visiting with him). However; he always seemed to be slightly suspicious or at least a bit uptight. For instance; when we bought a bottle of water from other hotels; they would charge it to the room. Here; the owner wanted cash in hand right then. He also made us pay the bill for three nights after the second night. Perhaps he had people skip out after the last night stay without paying or something. We didn't care but it seemed that he was just a bit uptight and not overly trusting of people. The breakfast was ok but not near as good as we had in Rome or in Venice.Our stay at the Hotel Europa was good but we'd probably find a different place if we return to Florence in the future.
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,10/27/2004,A good choice! showReview(2790724; 'full');
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,08/08/2004,Best Hotel in Italy showReview(2430085; 'full');
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/22/2004,The Europa was a hit with us! showReview(2314621; 'full');
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,07/12/2004,Lucked out with Hotel Europa showReview(2290896; 'full');
310780,TheOnepoppa,06/30/2004,A hidden gem showReview(2230151; 'full');
310780,ATripAdvisorMember,05/11/2004,Great location; warm hospitality; comfortable rooms showReview(1933659; 'full');
310780,Silvirgilio,12/29/2008,Como en casa showReview(23080002; 'full');
310780,lelaBarcelona,12/12/2008,Un hotel perfecto showReview(22662704; 'full');
310780,Actarus1er,12/08/2008,Tr猫s agr茅able s茅jour showReview(22541919; 'full');
310780,tobiasgsa,11/16/2008,Einfach gr盲sslich! showReview(21895454; 'full');
310780,Alvaro7,10/19/2008,Ubicaci贸n perfecta showReview(21005884; 'full');
310780,SYDNEYFLIX,10/14/2008,zentral; sauber; freundlichst ... Atmosph盲re original Florenz! showReview(20870576; 'full');
310780,DIESON,08/22/2008,Muy acogedor y perfecta ubicaci贸n Ba帽o 02
310780,LeoBa,06/09/2008,OTTIMO showReview(16788363; 'full');
310780,jansalva,05/02/2008,piccolo ma bello showReview(15593728; 'full');
310780,nadounette,04/02/2008,H么tel accueillant; charmant et bien situ茅 showReview(14733376; 'full');
310780,FRANCOIS7,10/29/2007,Tr猫s tr猫s- bon h么tel Direction accueuillante mais discr猫te showReview(10423982; 'full');
310780,Seville73,11/30/2006,Una estancia inolvidable showReview(6307748; 'full');
310780,PHE,11/22/2006,Pour un bon s茅jour 脿 Firenze showReview(6164552; 'full');
310780,SonsolesDaniel,10/31/2006,Un hotel encantador showReview(6033292; 'full');
310780,lass,09/23/2006,HOTL A RECOMMANDER CAR... showReview(11425664; 'full');
310780,didacq,08/24/2006,muy buena experiencia showReview(5703619; 'full');
310780,lass,07/07/2005,Hotel excelentemente situado en... showReview(11425665; 'full');
310780,lass,11/22/2004,Nous avons 茅t茅 satisfaits de... showReview(11425666; 'full');
310780,lass,09/13/2004,L'hotel est tr猫s agr茅able; avec... showReview(11425667; 'full');
310780,lass,04/05/2004,Forse un p貌 caro come albergo... showReview(11425668; 'full');
310780,lass,10/13/2003,Die Zimmer auf dem Stock der... showReview(11425669; 'full');
310780,lass,07/07/2003,PICCOLO HOTEL IN OTTIMA... showReview(11425670; 'full');
310867,travler2001,01/03/2009,Not Worth the Savings !!! Holes in Blanket
310867,Tamalenas,11/11/2008,Surprisingly good experience! We booked a room at this hotel with trepidation after all the mixed reviews it got on this website as we are on a budget and we wanted to stay in this part of SF (near Haight and Golden Gate Park) and we hadn't found any other decent options that weren't already booked one week in advance. I was relieved to get one of the interior rooms (104) that was neither on the street or over the garden cafe and we were amazed how quiet it was; considering another guest who wrote a review the same weekend commented on the noise the same night we were there. That said; there was a lot of post-election activity (protesting the No on 8 measure) going on in SF that weekend; so perhaps it was more noisy on the streets than usual. The bathroom was updated; we had a fan; and it wasn't as cramped as I'd expect. It's not a place where you'd hang out in your room; but I'd highly recommend it for the value; the proximity to Haight; Buena Vista park; and Golden Gate Park. Also very convienent to the Muni bus which stops a block away. We took that to see live theatre in Union Square. Very easy. We'll come back!
310867,rbgs,11/10/2008,An average budget hotel but v. noisy My mother and I stayed in this hotel for 4 nights. The location is great. It's in a funky neighbourhood with lots of cafes; restaurants and shops. There are plenty of near-by bus routes to whisk you into the centre of town.As you'd expect from the price; the accommodation is pretty basic. Our room was a bit dusty but the linens are clean. The advertised wi-fi was broken during our visit but the phone and TV worked. There is no lift and all the rooms are up either one or two flights of stairs. To cut back on costs (?); the reception desk isn't staffed 24/7 so make sure you let them know when you're planning to arrive (like you'd do for a BB).The main downside to this place is the noise. We had a street-facing room. Three out of the four nights we were (Thurs-Sat) there; lots of noise erupted outside at 1.30 in the morning (when the local bars closed?) It took me a while to get back to sleep each time because people didn't seem to be going straight home but instead standing on the pavement shouting for a while. I've lived and stayed in the centre of many big cities and to be honest; this was one of the noisiest hotel experiences I've ever had. The management can't control that the hotel is on a main street; but they could probably supply curtains (rather than blinds) or better glazing on the windows to contain the noise.The hotel advertises itself as green but this seems to extend only to the recycling bins on every floor.
310867,amd1708,10/16/2008,Great Bargain Our room
310867,Ibernes,09/19/2008,I could not stand the noise We booked a room for 5 nights and had to leave in the middle of the first night. It was simply impossible to sleep as our room (107) was located on top of the kitchen's ventilator of a restaurant. Despite the receptionist agreed that it was noisy; he did not offer anything better and charged us for that night. In short; one of the worse hotels I have been in.
310867,BillsFaninSF,07/10/2008,For students on a budget The staff is friendly; the place was clean and some of the fixtures were new. But; the room is tiny; the carpet is old; and most of the furniture looks like it is from a second-hand shop. I would recommend this place to students traveling on a budget or people who do a lot of camping. I would not recommend this place to families or to couples looking for a romantic experience. It is close to the Haight and the Painted Ladies in Alamo Square. But; you have to take a bus to most other attractions; so be sure to get a MUNI map and a bus pass.
310867,sfexile,06/26/2008,Just Like Home -- Because It Is! I am a San Franciscan who has to live elsewhere because of my job. I come back as often as I can to visit family and friends; and have been staying at the Metro for many years now; instead of with family; because I like to have my privacy. This hotel is perfect for people like me who want to experience ordinary San Francisco living while being in The City. For me this means: airflow comes through windows not vents; no parking (who in their right mind wants to spend their time in San Francisco fighting with traffic? -- take the buses for heaven's sake); cosy rooms; friendly people; firm beds; The rooms are clean. The new ceiling fans are great! And it's lovely to be within walking distance of the Castro; the Duboce Triangle; the Haight; and Cole Valley; and on direct bus and streetcar lines to downtown; the Mission; the Sunset and Richmond districts; the Ocean; the Filmore; and Noe Valley. But the best thing about the hotel for me is what isn't there and seems to be at many of the hotels in the same price range: shouting hookers and drunks. As a woman traveling alone; I always feel safe at the Metro. I wish there were coffee makers in the rooms; but that is minor. You can get coffee three doors down or go to The Grind; a block and a half away; for terrific coffee and one of the best breakfasts in town.
310867,cakp,06/09/2008,Wouldn't stay here again. I was happy to get a room at one of the most inexpensive hotels near UCSF. Upon arrival; I was disappointed. First; you have to park on the street - we did find a spot a 1/2 block away. Next; no elevator. We had to walk up 2 flights of stairs to our room. Then; the room. Well; it was quite small to say the least. The bed took up pretty much the whole room. The bathroom was also interesting. The shower and toilet were the only things in there. The sink was in the room by the bed. It all would have been fine except for it was sooo hot; it was winter time and it was hot. No air conditioning; no ceiling fan. I asked for an inside room because I have read the complaints about the noise. There was a small window; but it didn't help and we could still hear the noise from the restaurant below. I also wasn't thrilled with the desk clerk on check in. He kept cussing at his computer because the rate he was trying to charge was more that what was in the confirmation email they sent. Note: be sure to bring that email to avoid getting overcharged.
310867,ngbf,12/13/2007,Small; hot; noisy and bugs! We stayed here one night while going to an appointment at UCSF hospital. We stayed in room 105 which was just big enough (about 8 X 11) for a queen bed small chair and desk/table with the t.v. on it. The furniture was very worn and old. The window looked out onto a platform about 4 X 5 with walls and windows on all sides and open to the sky above. Not sure what we would have done in the case of a fire! We had to have the window open (no screen) even though the temp was in the 40's because the room was so hot and unable to control the heat. We smelled cooking smells most of the night. I crawled under the covers only to find worn; scratchy sheets with little balls all over it. I did call the front desk and ask them to send up a better sheet; which they did. We were right next to the stairs so heard people coming up them all night and heard every word they said while in the hall. The next morning we saw a few little tiny bugs crawling on the walls. Fleas? Bedbugs? Not sure. Oh did I mention the bed was hard? The price was reasonable ($80) but don't expect much. Some of the other rooms may have been better. I am needing to find a place to stay for 3 weeks while my husband is in the hospital........it won't be here! We did have dinner at the Katmandu next door; which I think is part of the hotel ; and it was very good. We were the only ones in there for an early 5:30 pm dinner though.
310867,Rocky995,09/17/2007,A room we couldn't get comfortable in We called ahead to request a larger; quieter room. We got one at the back but with windows on all walls so that we got to hear the conversations and cell phone calls of the people using the garden or walking around the various staircases. And the hotel or restaurant staff washing out bins at 1am. It was like a fishbowl. Also the rooms layout meant you were constantly bumping into things and it just wasn't comfortable for checking email; reading or watching TV. Even the bathroom was uncomfortable with no where to put your things. There was no coffee in the hotel and it was a couple block walk for a cup of joe. They make a big deal about being no smoking and then the hotel staff stink the place up with really smelly incense. We had a 4 night booking and left within 2 days.
310867,knewitall,08/27/2007,A Good Basic Place My 2 sisters and I stayed here overnight as they were undergoing surgery the next morning and needed a place close to the hospital. I travel a great deal for business and am used to the Hilton/ Sheraton type ammenities; and if that's your requirement; book elsewhere. However; for a no frills; clean; cheap (by San Francisco standards) place to stay; check it out. Rooms are extremely small; and don't count on all the goodies like nice soap; shampoo; hairdryer; etc. What you will find is a friendly staff; a great location; decent neighborhood; and a terrific restaurant right next door (Metro Kahtmandu). The hotel also has a beautiful courtyard and several interesting shops in the same block. Parking is a little dicey; but from 6:00 pm to 9:00 am; they have an arrangement with a business about 1/2 block away; and you may use their lot for free. Would definitely stay there again if I was just looking for a place to sleep; clean up; and explore the city. If you're a sit-in-your-hotel-room kind of person; would advise checking in elsewhere (and probably paying 3 times the nightly rate).
310867,PopArtist,05/27/2007,Very basic but clean and well-maintained View towards room entry (bathroom door on the side)
310867,11willow11,05/02/2007,Grand and handy (one problem) I went on a trip to San Francisco with an old boyfriend four years ago for a few weeks. Before we arrived we had booked a 14 night stay in a hostel by Haight and Divisadero; we had heard hostels especially in this area were very good. On arrival we saw a broken down hovel; dark ;dirty and very dangerous we decided to throw our deposit away and run as fast as we could (to the nearest bar that is). More or less across the road we found a pub called the Bodhran (since closed down) ran by a Cork man and his wife; who became friends on the trip and advised us on The Metro Hotel for our stay and said that's where their extended family would stay when they come to visit. So off we went a two minute walk up Haight Street and a small turn right on Divisadero and there it was The Metro. On the outside it was white and well looked after with hanging flower baskets etc. As it was roughly seven in the evening we were not too sure if the restaurant next door was shut down or simply closed but looked like a part of the hotel. We entered and spoke to a middle aged women who later stated she was the owner; we explained our predicament and afraid we were not going to find anywhere else decided for convenience to settle up for two weeks there and then. We also used the safe she accessed from behind her desk to hold all money; passports and licenses. We were given our key and off up the stairs we went. We were at the front of the building on the first floor. It was an average sized room with a large double bed and very large window facing out onto the road. It was old fashioned but not too dated and not at all dirty just a lot of dark wood furniture and woolly blankets on the bed. The toilet was a good size and more modern. Towels were provided and a T.V. with satellite was also in the room. No other amenities were available but it suited us. One thing I must say is in the high morning sun the room was boiling and had no other conditioning but to open the window. During the day the owner herself looked after the front desk in the small entrance area which was full of leaflets on trips and restaurants and ventures which proved very helpful for us. At night a younger man sat; both were more than helpful and even received Fax's for us on occasion. Across the road from the hotel was a pub; quiet enough with a few snooker tables and as Ive previously stated an Irish bar just down the road; a lovely restaurant next door with a terrace outside and a slushy Joe type fast food place down on Divisadero. Best of all we were a stones throw from the famous hippy area Haight and Ashbury which had a fabulous array of shops and restaurants and led down to Golden Gate Park. While the hotel was not too near to the City we were able to walk it in 30 minutes; there was a very good bus service across from the hotel; and taxis were reasonable.. In all it was a pleasant place to stay with helpful staff the only downside for me was that on our last day a collection of about 7 Cd's i had only just bought in a local discount music store went missing from my bag. As we were moving on anyway and the owner assured me she would look after the situation I was not too worried but weeks later on arriving home and my phone calls at this stage being ignored it seemed outta sight outta mind attitude for The Metro with regard to customer service. I would not let this deter you too much as I hope there has been a turnover of cleaning staff since ; The Metro did the job and we found it a reasonable price for our stay in a great safe and handy location.
310867,mrplac,04/09/2007,good little location great little hotel; nice enough rooms; staff are very helpful too. A little out of the city; but not far from the bus stop. lots of restaurants nearby - especially a vegetarian place on divisadero; 2 blocks away to the north on the same side of the road (forgot the name) it was cheap as chips; and delicious.
310867,loutzl,03/12/2007,Know what you are getting; excellent for right people I often stay at the Metro when I visit San Francisco. Know what you are getting in the Metro; or maybe what you are not getting. This is a lovely; clean boutique hotel with small rooms; knowledgeable staff (during the day; night not so much!); excellent location for folks who are experienced travelers and comfortable outside the tourist areas downtown or near the wharf. If you want to be able to walk to SOMA; Union Square; or the Wharf area this is not the locale for you. This is a place for people who are not looking to spend hours in their rooms; but are out working or enjoying the city. Nice brunch downstairs at restaurant; too!I have not experienced the noise other folks have discussed because I ask to stay in a quieter room. What makes this place outstanding are the very; very reasonable prices. This is not; however; a luxury property. There is not a concierge; elevator or in-room treats. But you are not paying through the nose for it either. Know what you are getting; a small clean; cute hotel with basic amenities; excellent location for exploring the entire city and wonderful prices.
310867,Havanafan,02/14/2007,I wouldn't go back We stayed here as part of a group in December. The hotel is small and very basic. Our friend's rooms were slightly bigger than ours but all were quite old-fashioned and very plain. Our room was so small we were constantly tripping over each other. No room for our bags whatsoever. Our room also was unbearably hot. We complained after the second night and were told that the heating either had to be on or off for the entire building they could not turn down or off the room. they offered us another room but the noise from the street in the other room was terrible.Location-wise it isn't great as it is a bit far out. I usually prefer a more central base.Having said all that; the en-suite in the room had an excellent shower and I will forgive a lot if the shower is good. The staff that we met were very nice and the chambermaid service was excellent; The room was cleaned meticulously every day.Also on arrival there was a lovely christmas tree in the lobby which made it very welcoming.Price-wise it is very reasonable and good value.I would not have chosen it and won't be going back but for someone on a budget it isn't a bad choice as it is very clean. It holds good memories for us as it was a great family trip and we all enjoyed ourselves tremendously.If you are staying there or in the area head to the restaurant owned by a Korean lady called Margaret up the street for a great breakfast; a croissantwich and some lovely coffee!
310867,Globetrotter5678,12/07/2006,Great Maids I stayed at the Metro for 12 days in rm 112 for a medical procedure in the city. They put me in rm 112; the quietest room in the building. Usually; it was very quiet and private. On one weekend; there was a party or something nearby; perhaps at the restaurant downstairs; and it was noisy (but not really loud) with hip hop playing. Otherwise; the stay was extremely pleasant. The staff were polite and knew a good deal about the surrounding businesses. Among the better recommendations are Herbivore; an EXCELLENT vegan restaurant two blocks away; and Film Yard Video; a welcoming movie rental shop about three blocks away. Both are north of the hotel.I especially liked the chambermaid service. They figured out quickly what our schedule and preferences were. Thus there were very few knocks when we were in the room after the first two days.The hotel is beautifully kept; well-managed; and clean.I do recommend booking directly if you are staying for 7 or more days; as the booker takes your 10% discount as its commission otherwise. I was very displeased about this; and this was the one thing that I take points off for in the customer service area. I had called about combining my reservations and getting a quiet room and had learned about the discount. When I spoke to the manager; he told me the above scenario and wouldn't give me the discount.
310867,Gillbyjones,08/01/2006,Disaster Area... This hotel was without a doubt the worst place I have ever stayed in; in my life. Upon entry we trudged up the dreary stairs to be greeted by a tiny; dingy room which wouldn't look out of place in a mental hospital. There was barely enough room to put the suitcases on the ground and when they were put down; we had to step over them to get by. The hand basin was next to the bed as there wasn't enough room in the bathroom. I will echo other peoples' sentiments about this hotel who would only recommend to those on a seriously low budget and for no longer than 2 nights because it's not the kind of place you will ever be glad to get back to after a long day in the city.
310867,ATripAdvisorMember,06/08/2006,Nice hotel with good; but noisy restaurant in the backyard Metro Hotel... we麓d stay there for three night. The room was nice furnitured and had a window to the backyard. The staff is very friendly and relaxed.The hotel shares the backyard with a french restaurant (good food for reasonable prices!). This turned out to be a real problem; because the were guests of the restaurant arriving 11h p.m.(23h); which were served in the backyard until 1h a.m. (1h morning). After this very noisy (americancs are regretably tent to be very loud in restaurants) an annoying experience the staff of the restaurant started to pack empty bottels and to trow empty boxes an cans into the backyard. We tried to complain at the front-desk of the hotel - but without any remarkable reaktion of the restaurant staff. We can NOT recommend this hotel for a stay before a long-distance-flight; because you need your sleep before. This hotel is neither recommendable for travellers with very young children or pragnant women. For disabelded persons: there is no elevator and you have to carry your luggage yourself up the stairs!For all others the place is a nice place to be - if you have your earplugs with you. ;-)Britta Hubert
310867,Romanchick,03/15/2006,Depressing Room! When this hotel was recommended to us for a quick weekend jaunt; I thought my husband and I were in the wrong place. The room looked like something out of a mental hosptial. No decor; nothing on the wall; no light and the floor was crooked. The bathroom had a shower stall with a rusted bottom. I've seen better decor in a hospital room. The room; the hotel just had a weird; unwelcoming vibe. If you're a student or an extreme budget traveler with absolutely no where else to go for the night; then this place is acceptable ONLY as a last resort....
310867,ATripAdvisorMember,12/05/2005,Noise until 3:30AM My husband; myself; and our faimly stayed at the Metro December 3rd. When we returned to the Metro for the evening a very loud band and talking and yelling began about 10:pm and continued until 3:30 AM. It made our evening a nightmare. When I reported it to the front desk we were offered a 10% discount. I felt after only getting about 3 hr sleep they owed us a total refund.
310867,jennywenny,11/07/2005,Great; convenient bargain! We stayed in San Francisco for my husband's birthday and really just wanted somewhere to sleep as we knew we'd be out and about all the time. It was small but so much cheaper than anything else we've seen in San Francisco. If you're hoping for a room to spend more time in and more facilities; you may be dissapointed but you really cant argue with the prices!
310867,ATripAdvisorMember,10/06/2005,plenty good stayed there while going to see ufo at the independent across the street. i thought it was resonably priced at $99 a night for a room with 2 beds. the guy at the desk said next time book directly and i would get a better rate. room was very clean. a little noisey because our room faced divisidero. food in restaurant downstairs was good and reasonably priced. would stay there again.
310867,ATripAdvisorMember,03/03/2005,WONDERFUL NEW HOTEL IN PETALUMA As a world traveller I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a little slice of European Elegance in Petaluma. The rooms are a welcome 180 degree change from the horrible; stuffy; usually dirty standard rooms that populate the American landscape like a scourge. Clean; clever; and within easy and pleasant walking distance to all of Petaluma's many attractions. This is in the true (and to me much preferred) style of an European Pensione; NOT a typical American B B by a longshot. Expect to have your needs met if possible; do not expect (or need I hope!) a personal babysitter. These Innkeepers (thank GOD!) treat all guests as adults. I recommend this place to anyone I know who might either be coming to Petaluma or having family to visit. I look forward to seeing this place grow and prosper! Thank you Art and Marie for all of your help!!
310867,CharlotteAnn,02/10/2005,No Frills Just Basics Rooms are average and there is only street parking which was quite a nightmare. My husband and I stayed here to see an incredible show (Blackmoore's Night) at the Independent just a few blocks from the Hotel. It was fine for our need. Short stay and spending very little time in the room which was small and basic but clean. The French Bistro next door had courteous staff and delicious entrees. It seems they are trying to upgrade the place as they were painting in the hall when we left; we'll be back.
310867,ATripAdvisorMember,11/12/2004,Great value This is not a hotel with a tremendous amount of amenities. That said; it's a great value for the money. I stayed here for two nights in mid-October 2004 when I came up here last minute for some job interviews. It was a perfect place to stay given my limited budget. The employees were all very friendly; chatty and helpful; and the room was small but clean and had all the basics (bed; TV; private bath; sink). If you're expecting luxury; this is not the place for you. But if you want a clean; quiet room in a slightly off-the-beaten track neighborhood (but still amazingly close to everything via convenient public transit - only 10 minutes to Market Street by bus); this is a great find. I would definitely stay here again given the hotel's great value.
310867,ATripAdvisorMember,09/08/2004,I expected more... I was in California from the end of March until the end of April 2004. My first ever trip to America and I LOVED CA!! LA; Anaheim; San Diego; Tahoe were all fantastic. Except for my 5 day stay at The Metro... I was really dissapointed. The desk staff were rude and not very helpful. I had to drag all my luggage up 2 steep flights of stairs as there was no elevator. The room was tiny. The bed was terribly uncomfortable. There was no air-conditioning and no way to turn off the heat. I was lucky as I had a window (I know of at least one room without a window). There was no room service; microwave; hairdryer or jug to boil water. They ripped me off big time with the phone charges too. I only ever used a calling/phone card (it's a free number) and my bill was almost $150!! There wasn't any on premise parking. I usually love to explore my surroundings wherever I go; but; it's not in a nice area and as a single woman; I didn't even feel safe walking to the laundromat on the corner. I took a walk to Haight which wasn't far (2 or 3 blocks away); and I was followed and harrassed for money (in the middle of the day!!). I thought most of San Fran was lovely; but next time I travel 20;000+ miles to go there; I'm definately not staying at The Metro.
310867,ATripAdvisorMember,08/11/2004,Best Deal in SF! For me; location in a hotel is everything. This hotel is a great find if you want to stay off of the tourist track yet be centrally located. The rooms are quiant but adequite; filled with eclectic antique furniture. Staff if extremely friendly and helpful. This location is perfect for being near the flamed Castro district without paying the astronomical rates for a room. If you're more into being out running around the city more than lounging in a hotel with every amenity; this place is for you! I stay here for my yearly trek to SF...
312451,orpwood,11/18/2008,Bali tropic Resort we are a party of 4 adults traveling to Bali Tropic resort spa; via a 3 day trip to Singapore going and a 3 day stay at Hong Kong coming back.Singapore: beautifully clean; no jay walkers;tall buildings; friendly people; never felt intimidated when walking late at night; BUT IT IS EXPENSIVE; BALI Tropic Resort and Spa: from13th Oct 08 to 26th Oct 08temp: Day; 88-93f; night; very humid one night storm; and watched 1 sea stormafter reading some of the comments on this site we felt it may not have been a good choice; I'm Happy to report we found this place to be SUPERB; its not perfect (but its not far from it) from the first point of entry through the huge entrance hall to leaving 10 days later we had a fantastic time. we opted for the all inclusive and have to say in general it was worth it.The Place: situated in the Nusa Dua area; 30 min drive from airport; a huge entrance hall gives way to pathways taking you through flowery tropical gardens to the appartments; it is beautifully landscaped with a huge Hindu Temple; a good size swimming pool with bar; and a childens pool a 4 min walk takes you to the beach. We arrived at 11pm and went to the all night food/bar to have a well earned meal and a few pints of the local beer(very good)The Apartment: our cases; which are taken from you at the airport arrived right on cue as we observed our lovely spacious apartment; a double bed with tea /coffee facilitys; TV; table and chairs; and a mini bar/fridge; the next room had a good size bath; with a seperate shower cubicle; a sink unit and toilet; very good air conditioning; nice verandah with 2 chairs and sun loungerThe Staff : incredibly helpful (except one;more later) all staff are trained from school to get the best standards; jobs are hard to find so they are focused to give the service required or lose there job; the people of Bali are naturally happy and it makes for a lovely atmosphere; the only bad point is at the money exchange; the gentleman was a bit reluctant to let you have US Dollers due to the rates.The Food : WOW!! We was spoilt for choice; it was superb; an open buffet for breakfast had everything! from fresh fruit to freshly made omelettes; various local food as well.Dinner ; WOW!! open buffet with fresh fruit; salad;meat(incl beef surprisingly) fish; various noodles and local dishes(chicken is popular) in different styles and tastes each day.evening meal WOW!! the evening meals settings are moved around every night; from a view overlooking the moon'lit sea to a view of there impresive temple and the food was superb every night.Entertainment: this was one point that slightly let them down; they had a quartet that sang 3/4 nights and they were... actually they wasn't bad; singing with 2 guitars;a double bass and bongo drums they were pleasant to listen too; on two other night a balanese lady sang Jazz/pop/classic type love songs wonderful voice; they also had a balanese night which allowed them to sing and show local folk type songs and dance.also available was pool; a small putting green; a large draughts or chess board plus a wonderful Spa and massage parlour(I had a swedish massage and recomend it)the local beer was very good(free on all incl) but a decent wine was a bit expensive.The Beach : was clean; towels are provided free; there is some seaweed but a lot of this is cleared away early in the morning and it never caused us a problem; there are some pagoda's on view and you can get a local massage for 10 US dollers; there is various canoe's and boats available; free; and we spent many happy hours here.now if you want to get out for a walk its best to walk along the sea front; avoid going out on to main road as it can be quite busy and dangerous; we did venture out; turn left and find a small market 200yds up the road ; plus on the opposite side of road if you turn left is a small shop; turn right and you have a long walk (45mins) into the local town with no or very little pathway; if you want to visit town go along the beach. we visited the elephant safari(brilliant) turtle Island(interesting)see local beach people. and the volcano incl a trip to see local arts and crafts; silver gold jewelery( money making trip for locals but you can get some interesting items) remember to barter whatever price knock of at least 40/50% unless your feeling generousI strongly recommend this place and hope one day to return.Hong Kong: street wise clean; but air polution is very bad.walking around is safe and tram/bus and ferry service are great value try to always carry small change as none is given; great bargins to be made at markets. well worth visiting the local parks as some have amazing aviarys and wild life
312451,miloson,11/18/2008,watch out for the mozzies stayed at eh bali tropic 4-16 nov. we had fab weather in the 45s; it was very humid and could be uncomfortable at times. the hotel was v clean rooms a good size we had a delux room with twin beds; the bath was masive and we had a separate shower room with a great shower head we had hot water all the time we were there.tea and coffee making facilities but you only get 2 coffee ;2 tea and 2 creamer. and 2 small bottles of water and sugar each morning. room is cleaned each day and towels are changed.mozzies get in the room no matter how hard you try and prevent it gaps through the gap in door and bathroom window.beach not too good lots of seeweed they have men clrearing it up but they just bury it and of course its back the next day.sea is warm but not inviting and it it roped off so you can only swim so far as the boats etc are moored there. the pool is v good but i did not see them clean it while we were there. the pool bar is ok but you can be waiting a while as only one serving. food v good plenty of choice and; sweets were also good. entertainment ok balinese dancers; fashion show and lady singers and men playing instruments.the lobby area is where we spent most evenings if you want a seat near the bar get there early otherwise you will be in the inside and it can get hot if its humid.there is nowhere to go at night in the hotel that is air conditioned that was our only complaint.trips can be arrange via your rep or see the taxi men but get a price first they charge different prices.we visited the volcano and paddy fields with our rep catra; but as soon as we left the car we got mobbed by the locals to buy; be firm and just so no thank you.that spoiled the trip as we did not stay long because we were mobbed. on the day you leave you have to leave the room at 12am then your band is cut off. you are allowed one meal and drink up to 2pm after that you have to pay that was somthing we was not told beforhand. there is a supermarket right from the hotel go there and get your drinks etc.those of you who smoke cigs were 12500 for 20 we got 16000 to the pound in the supermarket they were 9500.take pound sterling and change there you will get a better rate. they also take us dollar eveywhere. out of the hotel turn left walk past the melia and you will find a market barter and you will get good prices as we did.if you need any more info contact me
312451,SWENGLAND,11/04/2008,Lovely Hotel - So Traditional If you want to do nothing 24/7; this is the place to stay.This was our second visit to this hotel; the first time was 2 years ago. Nothing had changed and we were remembered by the staff. It was like going home.The atmosphere of the hotel is very calm and peaceful. It is very traditional; bring the balinese culture to life within the hotel with it's large temple and ceremonies.The staff work really hard and genuinely look after the guest's every need.The rooms are beautiful and clean. We had a deluxe room; it was large and spacious with a king size bed; which had drapes all around it. The air condioning was working constantly; which was appreciated as it was really humid at this time of year.The rooms are in blocks of 8; 4 on the ground floor and 4 above.They are set amoung beautifully kept gardens; full of exotic flowers and trees.The food was buffet style and generally very good; although the I didn't enjoy the traditional nights. Breakfast and lunch was always good. However; they did have a restaurant/bar that was open 24 hours; and you could eat in there when the other restaurants were closed.Entertainment was minimal. There was usually a duo or quartet playing during dinner; or some traditional dancing. Then the singers would come into the lobby bar after and play till about 11pm. After that we just sat and chatted to other guests.I would not hesitate in returning to this hotel.
312451,Rubling,09/30/2008,Amazing place and will be back again!! My wife and I are newlyweds and went to Bali for our Honeymoon and we just didnt want to leave!! The rooms are lovely and got the facilities that we needed! The all inclusive package covers loads of drinks and food and some watersport activities.The staff are fantastic and will want to help you as much as possible. One recommendation is not to use the Kodak printing place opposite the resort. Wait until you get home to print your pictures as you will be wasting your money due to the photo print quality being very poor.We will be definitely be returning to the resort and will stay for a month as sight-see as there is a lot to do outside.Enjoy!!
312451,Lsweden,09/22/2008,lovely rooms Bali tropic is located on a lovely beach; but still not soft and white sand as I expected.The pool was nice but a little bit datet.They had a sunken poolbar who wasn't open for very long. And the biggest dissapointment was that they could not make any good alcoholic drink that was good.The rooms very lovely with ensuite bathrooms and very clean.A wonderful beautiful lobby and the personal was friendly but their english was pretty poor. But that was not a problem.The spa was very nice but very expensive but I tried it out anyway. It's more the feeling than what good it does for your body; the footbath meant a scrubbing for 1 minute a foot. The hotel was not full and I only saw about 3 children during my whole stay wich was lovely. No I love children but don't want that nocie around me when I am on a luxurus relaxing holiday.The biggest dissapointment and the only dissapointment for this hotel is their drinks and food. The breakfast was lovely and thank god we didn't take their all inclusive and have to eat their lunch and dinner every day for 13 day. If you eat there occasionally it's okay but the food is the same every day and the drinks we had at another restaurant near by since they were disqusting.But I will return since it was nice and clean. But because of the food and drinks we will not take the all inclusive this time either.There is shops close by the hotel and you can walk up to tanjung benoa to find markets and small shops all the way. There prices are a little bit higher than in kuta; semiyak etc.
312451,divingdiva,09/06/2008,2nd trip in 4 months! Having visited Bali Tropic in April this year; we already knew we wanted to return. After lots of discussion; we actually cancelled our trip to Cambodia in August so that we could go back to Bali Tropic instead.We wondered whether we had made the right decision as we have always said Never Go Back but in the event; it was the best thing we did. Admittedly it is only 4 months since our first visit but I was so amazed that the staff remembered us and were so pleased to see us again.On our last visit; we had looked at different rooms and decided which ones we liked and once we knew that we were going back; I emailed the Bali Tropic with these room numbers. We were given one of the better rooms which was great!We found the climate almost better in August than April. The temperature was the same but much less humid which was much more pleasant as the heat was a dry heat and you did not feel so exhausted walking around. In addition; we suffered hardly any mosquito bites but we aren't sure if that is because there was less humidity or because this time we did not have water features close to the room.Diving was great; we found the seas less rough in August and the vis was amazing. If you want any info about diving; please feel free to ask.Food was as good as we remembered; maybe one or two meals were not quite up to scratch; but in the end who cares? It's a holiday anyway! We used the A La Carte option several times; but beware that in the evening; A La Carte ends at 18.30 and does not start again till 22.00 (after the buffet has finished). This is fine if you have had a long day (as we did when we dived at Menjengan Island) but otherwise it can be quite late to eat.Most of the guests were Brits or Russians this time; so no problems with getting sun beds on the beach or around the pool which was much better than April.Really can't recommend this hotel enough; the staff are really wonderful and nothing is too much trouble. We are now hoping to return next year to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary and renew our vows with such wonderful people. I hope this review helps but if you would like further information please do not hesitate to ask; I will be glad to help.
312451,lizardflower,07/15/2008,great holiday We arrived at the bali tropic to be greeted with drinks and warm towels. The lobby looked luxurious and exotic like the rest of the resort. The deluxe bungalow was spacious and clean; really lovely and relaxing. The staff were helpful and always greeted guests with smiles. The food was lovely; plenty of choice both on indonesian and international dishes. Every night there was entertainment; either balinese style or western. The beach was good; not the best we've seen...but not the worst nonetheless. To sum it up; we loved it...we would definitely recommend it!
312451,simkritikhols,04/08/2008,Love the Bali Tropic We have recently returned from an excellent stay at the Bali Tropic Hotel in February.Our overall impression of the hotel and staff were excellent. The rooms; and we had deluxe bungalow; were second to none. The spaciousness of the rooms was certainly above average and the cleanliness was first class.We loved the fact that the hotel was very Balinese in style and we truly felt we were enjoying the full Bali experience. The food; and we were on all-inclusive basis; was great and we would not have a complaint worth mentioning. Not being foodiesas such; we found the choice excellent... Breakfast was always well presented and hot with a multitude of choices.Entertainment may have been a bit thin on the ground; but if you are looking for a full programme; maybe youl should be looking for something more in suiting to your tastes.We spent most of our time during the evenings around the hotel and I find some of the comment from others probably being quite correct; the only place on an evening would be around the lobby bar where the seating could be a bit hard to find... Overall; it was an excellent hotel with great facilities.We heard that it was probably better to experience spa treatments outside the hotel for a far more reasonable price; but to be honest; the spa treatment we had was excellent and great value and something we would highly recommend. Saves all the hassle of having to be picked up from the hotel and travel outside the hotel... why not use the facilities on site was our thinking.The hotel was a great choice and something I would highly recommend to anyone.
312451,laybrooklady,01/19/2008,fantastic hotel-wonderfull holiday pool area
312451,AchimBonn,01/09/2008,Super hotel; lovely grounds and great staff friendliness. beach
312451,pchhachhia,01/02/2008,Worst Place Ever!!! Oh my goodness; there really aer some very generous reviews on here regarding the Bali Tropics and for some to describe it as paradise; you have not lived have you!!!I FOUND IT TO BE DISGUSTING AND NOT AT ALL PARADISE.What can i say about this place; except that i found it to be disgusting.The resort itself is behind closed doors off a beaten track were most of the resorts are. Once inside the reception area is huge; very temple looking. The area is very much built up with villa type rooms; all adjoining and built to at least 2 stories high.There appear to be 6 Royal Delux Bungalows; at the top of the resort; they are nestled amongst the other rooms; it is in a block or 3 with 3 others on top. Dont get me wrong most of it is made from stone and marble; the Royal rooms are very spacious with a free standing marble bath large enough for two and a wet area as a shower.A balcony with a settee and bed type thing; which overlooks the standard rooms; its so built up and heavily populated with trees etc its like a council estate with flats and tropical trees!However it stinks of sewage near there; so if you dont mind the stench; you will be ok!There is a TV with foreign stations; nothing worth watching.The resort is extremely popular with Germans; its full of them to be honest and all they seem to do is sit at the swim up pool bar and drink all day.The resort boasts a 24 hour food and beverage place; but they only seem to serve food between 3:30pm and 6:30pm and then from 11:00pm until 06:30am.Breakfast is 7:00am until 10:00am; Lunch; 1:00pm - 2:30pm and evening meal at 7:00pm - 9:30pm at various locations in the resort dependant on weather.Food is absolutely diabolical. The al a carte menu which you can only have in the Cempaka Bar between 24hrs above consists of instant mash potato with steak and overcooked veg; hotdogs with relish; hamburgers with relish; frozen french fries; spag bol (disgusting) and Pizza Margarita and Funghi (the worst pizza ever with a frozen base; tinned tomato thrown on top; grated stringy cheese and the toppings which were all from cans or jars).Certainly no where near al a carte; more al a chavfood!The food consisted daily of warm fruit and salad; i mean if you think chopped up tomatoes is satisfactory; a bowl of lettuce leaves; roast potatoes; pork; mini beefburgers; chopped chicken; fish (which was ok); rice and soya chilli sauce; well then you are mad.If i could have got a flight home; i would have come back. If you are veggie like me then there is nothing for you to eat except the cheese pizza or tomatoes and lettuce.I am not a fussy eater and i do eat fish but 7 day and nights on the trott kind of puts you off.The resort does not have any menus on the bars as to what drinks they do provide; i mean cola and pineapple and apple juice were all we had; untill i spotted someone have a Bannana Juice (milk; ice and an almost rotten bannana whizzed up together in a blender); which they only do at the sunken pool bar betweeen 10:00am and 5:00pm.They do a fruit punch non alcoholic which i found out about on my 6th night as i saw someone having one this was satisfactory.Mosquitoes are a nightmare in this place and do take repellant if you ever venture to Indonesia.We were misinformed that this resort was a 4* but no way was it a 4*; more like 2*.The beach is shared with all the other resorts and you have about 800 yards of beach before it is divided for the next resort. The beach is brown and not white; it is brown; the pictures in the brochure arent reflective of this; its no were as nice as the Maldives.Beware of the noise from the motorized watersports; it never stops at all therefore you get no peace and the beach sellers come and try and flogg you tat.It is also a flight path; so you constantly get overhead planes; but they are not noisy; just nice to watch now and again.Out of all the people in the resort (i would say less than 70 - they tell me they call that full) we were the only british people except two scottish couples; who were lovely.The rest were 75% Germans; 10% Italian; 5% Russian; 5% Aussie; 3% French and 2% Brits.To me it was a nightmare holiday; disgusting resort and place; would never go back to Indonesia and Maldives 4* or 5* here we come.If you have been to somewhere as luxiorious as Maldives then do not go to Indonesia; it is such a come down; or vice versa if you have been to Indonesia and want quality then go to Maldives.Good job that i am off to Maldives in April 2008.P.S The only good thing was that we had 4 days of 34 degrees temp and no rain until the 5 night and day were we began to have light showers and towards the 7th day it was cool; id would say about 28 degrees.Also take Indonesian Rupiahs and about $100 USD; they do prefer their own money; its best to take it as if you try and pay with USD you dont get value for money as you only get 7000 Rupiahs to the USD and 20;000 Rupiahs to the GBP; but at the airport you have to pay $25 USD for a Visa and upon leaving the country you have to pay 150;000 Rupiahs as departure tax; so beware (it works out at around 拢10).Horrible holiday in all!
312451,Freckles1302,12/17/2007,Great holiday hotel I too do not understand the negative comments. I thought this hotel was great value for money; lovely rooms and good location.The evening bar was limited for seats but the entertainment and food was moved around most evenings to allow some variety. Great rooms and friendly staff. I would definately recomend it.
312451,auslaender,11/17/2007,Great Sunrise Scenes! Situated along the 'Creme de la Creme' corridor of Nusa Dua with beautifully landscapes walkways along the beach front. A big relief from the Kuta belt of hassle and noise!Rooms are very nicely furnished with great bathrooms - though could do with a fan on the balcony. Breakfast is fine with a nice selection.The beach is one of the better ones for size along this stretch but you can't really swim in the sea as it is very shallow and seaweedy even at high tide!Great location for trendy restaurants and bistros especially in Bali Collection complex and nearby restaurant strip. Neither are exactly walkable but most restaurants have a free pick up and drop off service if you eat with them.Would definitely stay here again!
312451,Wragg,11/06/2007,Wonderful Bali Tropic Hotel My husband and I have had yet another fantastic holiday at the Bali Tropic and I am at a loss to understand the negative reports on this site. We have stayed at this hotel on several occasions and have never received any bad or indifferent service from the staff. On the contrary the hotel鈥檚 staff has always gone out of their way to make our holidays memorable with their friendliness and kindness.As for the food; there was never any cause for complaint and the service in the a la carte restaurant was always efficient; I can鈥檛 understand why there are reports mentioning the slowness or rudeness of the staff in this area. Furthermore if there was nothing on the menu that took our fancy; the chef was always willing to prepare something special for us.On the evening of my husband鈥檚 70th birthday; the hotel prepared a lovely secluded table on the beach for us to celebrate in style and gave him some traditional Balinese clothes to wear to make the occasion very special. I would also recommend the Spa and the treatments which are professional and very good value. The Spa has several private treatments rooms with outdoor Balinese baths and showers; heavenly!!We shall definitely return again and regularly recommended this hotel to our friends and family.
312451,largerthenlife,11/04/2007,Mixed fellings but wont return This is our first time to Indonesia and although we enjoyed Bali we have mixed feelings regarding the bali tropic.The Roomwe stayed in a royle bungalow and the room was excellant except the airconditioning kept switching off and on during the night. Always a suppy of constant hot water and the room was very clean. Each room had its own water feture outside the balcony which looked nice but seemed to attract mosquitos.The BeachThe beach only looks nice when the tide is in and is not a private beach has dogs running about and beach sellers. when the tide is out its just a green mess with lots of local cockle pickers on it.lots of motor boat and jet ski noiseThe Barsyou can get a beer in a large glass; however soft drinks can only be served in tiny glasses not much bigger the a whiskey glass; there is no beach serviceThe RestrauntsThe hotel boasts a 24hr restauraunt called campaka however its only open 16 hours a day(work that one out!!!!) and it serves al a carte hot dogs burgers etcThe buffet meals sometimes was exceptionaly nice other days in was completly disgusting 3 times there was little ants crawling on the uncoverd salad (we ate out 6 times). meals can be repetitive and as most are done on the barbecue some meat is undercooked.breakfast is the best meal of the day with omelattes and toast etc; the chefs can be easily persuaded to do eggy bread for you.Hotel GroundsVery Nice well manitained with lots of birds and squirrelsHotel StaffMost of the staff are superb and offer good service however their was a large corporate group in our hotel and their needs were seen to first no matter who was first to be served.Other infomationseems to be on the approach and departure flight paths lots of low flying large passenger aircraft day and night but you get used to it.to eat out go out hotel front turn right 200 yds up nice restaurantor go to beach turn right just past Melia Benoa also a nice restauraunt
312451,HandG,10/26/2007,Highly recommend My husband and I stayed here for 2 weeks for our honeymoon in July. We were greeted with a welcome drink and a face towel and given information on the hotel then escorted to our deluxe bungalow where our luggage was already waiting for us. Upon arrival in the room there were flowers arranged in a heart on the bed with a fruit basket on the table. After being in the room for 5 mins a member of staff appeared with a 'happy honeymoon' cake. It was the perfect gesture:-)The resort provides a free shuttle service to the nearby shopping centre in Nusa Dua. Taxi's wait outside the resort so there is always one available. Went into Kuta a few times and before we depart the taxi the driver always asked us if we wanted him to wait around for us; which on couple of occassions he did; and he was there waiting for us.Our tour guide left us with brochures on excursions; and he booked which ever ones we wanted and we'd pay on the day. We had a day out round parts of the island visiting the wood making village; silver making village; the semi active volcano; rice fields and various villages on the way. Went on the dolphin cruise; was picked up at resort about 6am; but it was worth it to see them in their natural habitat. Went to the elephant safari; which is def worth doing; you get to ride and feed them!Throughout our 2 week stay; we got to know most members of staff; especially the bar staff. We would turn up and they would know exactly what drinks we would have! They were really friendly and very helpful. They would do anything to accomodate us.All in all it was the best. We can't wait to return to Bali and the Tropic Resort.
312451,TheScubaDuo,09/30/2007,Great hotel; shame about the restaurant and bar... Room
312451,Gingercrumpet,09/20/2007,Loved it but needs improvement Stayed at Bali Tropic and Spa Resort for 3 weeks for Honeymoon. We did enjoy our time there and made many friends. We did love it but it did have a few knock backs which you will read later. The place is idyllic for a honeymoon as it's so laid back and relaxing. Not so good for people seeking fun and frolics. Lots of other honeymooners there as well as anniversarry couples. Holidaymakers mainly consisted of Canadian; French; German and of course English. As long as you're prepared to circulate; everyone is friendly and being English we made a few German and Canadian friends and as well of course; English. Be prepared for some rude holidaymakers of all nationalities and that includes us Brits; some ignore you when you say hello. Bizarre really as they should be happy that there in such a beautiful place! Food was good but tended to find that the evening dinner buffet was good if the lunch buffet was poor and vice versa. Mainly Balinese food with a few odds and ends which sometimes didn't gel but it still tasted good. The 24 hours Al A Carte restaurant is only Al A Carte as the portions are a little small but again tastes good. Menu consists of burger; pizza; spag bog; jumbo hot dog etc; and the Bali Fried Rice was gorgeous. Alot of Germans grumbled that the food was awful and wanted German food on the menu. My thoughts are; you're in Bali where they serve you Balinese food. If you want German; holiday in Germany.The pool was lovely and very busy and too much like an oven for me as there was no breeze. After an hour I felt sick from the heat. The beach was far better to sunbathe and be comfortable and maintained a lovely breeze throughout the day. Alot have said that the beach is poor; but in all truth I didn't find it that bad. When the tide was in it was lovely to swim in; just don't venture out too far and put your feet down - so many urchins. When the tide is out; it's like an exploration adventure; you can walk near to the reef (wear flip-flops) and see all the water life up close. Urchins; starfish; worm things; spider things. It was great. One thing that really annoyed us about the beach was preferential treatment towards a couple and their friends who'd been to the resort about 20 times. They had their beach beds and parasols reserved for them everyday by staff; even when they were out for the day. This I found very disrespectful for us newcomers; especially as parasols are few. The management shut off half the beach for two days for a corporate event that residence were not invited to. Meaning even fewer parasols.Went on a few excursions but everything had a downside. Elephants were fab; but the near 2 hour journey each way in a clapped out Suzuki mini bus was horrendous. The seat was broken as was the air con. Suffering from lower back problems this incapacitated me for a few days. Turtle island was lovely but they don't warn you that they insist on 50;000 rupiah donation each upon leaving and heckle you to buy souveniers. The boat in which we were taken stopped off for snorkeling but once in the water you couldn't get back into the boat without suffering a groin injury as there were no steps! I banged my foot on the propeller trying to get back in; it swelled up and left me a very nasty black/purple bruise. And I'm quite agile at 34; so you can imagine the trouble retired folk may have. We also hired out a speed-boat for sightseeing and water skiing. The water skiing was a joke. Both of us having water skiied before but they have no concept of a slow set off and just hammered the 200HP engine. The pully rope handle was just metal with no grip and ripped through our hands and unfortunately ripped off some of my long nails. The jet skis were good but going up and down was boring so it's best to do doughnuts. Took the bikes out a few times and well worth travelling right; all the way to the penisula tip. You see all the grand hotels and at the tip; through the national park is a huge blow hole which is a real sight when the tide is in.Salesman on the beach are few and very nice and friendly. One guy in particular; 'Jimmy' will give you a very good price for goods. There is also a small market near the resort. Walk out the front turn left; Circle K 24 hour shop over the road and opposite that down to the left is the market. They do hassle you a little but you can really haggle good prices. There are also a few stalls to the left of the beach.We found that the Balinese were all incredibly friendly but those outside the resort had a hidden agenda to sell you a program (trip). Even one of the security staff at the big plush hotels asked us if we wanted a program. On arrival our tour agent rep gave us a sad story about his poor lifestyle and tried to sell private programs from his friends. Careful of the hotels shuttle bus. We were waiting for it in the lobby as instructed by reception and it left without us. Due to their mistake we were chauffeur driven to Tragia - don't go there; there is nothing there. The shuttle bus was due to pick us up an hour later so we waited in good time - it never showed. So we hailed a taxi to take us onto Sogo. Sogo was good but so over priced. But you could at least get a latte there at Starbucks.As it was our honeymoon we upgraded to a Royal room; which was lovely; but we were initially put into a room right next to a building site so it was noisy and the workers looked into our room. We were moved the next day to the other end of the block. All rooms are fantastic; but if you are not happy with something don't be afraid to complain; i.e. building works or noise from the next hotel.Don't get me wrong the place was lovely and we really enjoyed our time there. All the above hic-cups sound bad but most were an adventure. We empathise with the Balinese as they are just getting back on their feet from bad bombing publicity and you will find that everything is money orientated. Take both Rupiah and US dollars. Rupiah for markets and 100;000 each airport tax on exiting and US dollars for Sogo and resort treatments and excursions.
312451,HappyHornet4,09/08/2007,Very Relaxing I stayed at the Bali tropic for two weeks and had a fantastic relaxing time; weather great not a rain drop in site; food and service was good;Breakfast very good choice full; cooked to just fruit what ever you wanted; luch buffet style as was dinner; always plentful; and good choice. Al La Ctrae was a good choice as well; my room was very spacious; with double shower and seperate bath; alway keep cleanby my excerllant maid;Bar service was also good; Outside the hotel just turn right and you will find an excerllend seafood restaurant; the prawns and loster are fresh and stiil swimming until they go in the pot. Just ask for Zion.The beach is to die for; and there was never a problem with loungers.
312451,whitefeather1965,04/23/2007,lovely resort We booked the Bali Tropic Resort through our timeshare and stayed for 5 days. The resort is lovely. The rooms were large; with separate toilet; shower; bath; airconditioned (which was really important in Bali). As we were on time share; we had to pay for all drinks and food at the resort. Other travellers staying at the resort had paid for the all inclusive package; which included all drinks and meals. This was the only difference at the resort for us. The buffet breakfast was very good; with a wide variety of choices for breakfast. The pool at the resort is clean and was a godsend on the hot; humid Bali days. Our trip to Bali; Indonesia was an experience; and an eye opener. We enjoyed the Bali Tropic Resort and would recommend you take advantage of the Hot Stone Massage at the Spa; heaven !
312451,Jussieb,01/26/2007,Fabulous Hotel I stayed here in June around 4 - 5 years ago. I can fault nothing at all with the Hotel and we loved Bali.The food and drinks were great with plenty of choice and it was wonderful to sit at the swim-up bar with a cocktail!The staff were very friendly and helpful. The hotel is quite small and you get a real feel of being part of a family; especially in the evenings at the Lobby bar. The entertainment was low-key and entertaining; the Balinese theme night was excellent with traditional dancing and music. The guests at the Hotel were a mixture of German and British mainly and all mixed well - none of this 'us and them' feeling. There were also some Japanese guests from time to time; but they didn't seem to stay for long; just a few nights as part of a tour.We hardly spent any money at all in Bali and did plenty of trips. The Volcano was a great day out. We were there for the Balinese New Year which was a mad experience!I have just booked to return again in May this year and can't wait to see the newly refurbished rooms.I have traveled extensively and have never returned to a hotel so this is a true testament to the Bali Tropic. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone searching for a relaxing; excellent value holiday.
312451,SueVoisey,12/20/2006,Fantastic hotel - we will return! We stayed at the Bali Tropic in September 2006 for the 4th time and yes we have booked to go back next September 07. We have never experienced such luxury and welcome at any previous hotel. The staff are beyond expectations and cater to your every need - nothing is too much trouble. The management are truly wonderful.The accommodation in bungalows is superb and the pool and beach make it a true paradise. Cannot wait to go back and meet up with other regular returning guests.
312451,Blackbeetle,11/02/2006,A fantastic holiday We stayed at the Bali Tropic for 10 days during October after spending 4 days in Kuala Lumpur. Having been on numerous long-haul holidays; I can honestly say that we could find no fault at all with this Hotel. The rooms are beautiful and are cleaned every day. Bed linen is spotless and the towels are white and fresh. The Balinese are such gentle people and we were made to feel very welcome by all of the staff. Every morning we were met with a greeting and a warm smile by everyone we saw; from gardeners tending to the wonderful plants and flowers in the grounds to cleaners and restaurant staff going about their duties. Nothing was too much trouble for anyone and we only had to ask if there was something we needed. I had packed the wrong type of plug adaptor and within minutes of asking at reception if they could help; a member of staff was knocking at my door with the correct adaptor for my 3 pin plug.The food was freshly prepared and the choice was good. At no time did we feel the need to eat elsewhereFor those that like to sit around and just chill out; the butterfly shaped pool is very safe and is kept extremely clean.The beach is swept every day and there are plenty of straw umbrellas to offer shade when you need it. If you're looking for something to do; try a trip to the Elephant Camp about a hours drive away. The camp is set in a wonderful lush valley which you can see while riding on the back of an elephant. Our elephant was called Dheli and she gently led us around the counrtyside for well over an hour; guided by her trainer Amin. The Land Trek trip is also a good way to see Bali as it really is. You travel in a Land Rover all over the island visiting rice paddy fields; local beauty spots; temples and a stone quarry where stones are worked by hand. There is health spa in the Hotel grounds which offers many professional treatments at reasonable prices. The 1 hour massage is very good value and an ideal way to introduce yourself to spa treatments if it's something you haven't experienced before. Bali has suffered considerably over the last couple of years as the number of tourists visiting has dropped quite dramatically. All I can offer in this review is our opinion. The welcome we received was warm and genuine and the Balinese people made our holiday very special.
312451,veroturmel,10/20/2006,Excellent honeymoon Beautiful room!!! we had a delux bungalow. The pool is very nice but the beach was not very good. We want to Kuta one day but we don't like too much to swim in the sea and go to the beach. We prefere a lot stay around the pool with the pool bar. Not a lot of activities but we were in our honeymoon and we had a lot of excursions outside. The food is ok; there are buffet and card. Service excellent and manager very good.
312451,mdkate1657,10/19/2006,Distinctly average We stayed at this hotel for the last 7 days of a three week honeymoon in Bali. We were drawn to this hotel as after two weeks at various 4 and 5* hotels on room and breakfast basis; we thought a week of chilling and not having to worry about paying for meals and drinks it would be just what we needed.What can I say? It is what it says on the box! An all inclusive hotel which certalinly was not 4* compared to the proper 4 and 5* hotels we stayed at. Given the standard ofthe bedrooms; this hotel has potential to be great; but this is not taken advantage of.We stayed in a Royal Bungalow room which was of good standard and had a large bathroom and a great 4 poster bed. Unfortunately there was a problem with the drainage; causing a fould smell in the room. We reported this to reception a number of times and were eventually moved to a similar room downstairs which did not have the problem. That room was fine.If you are the kind of person who travels half way around the world to stay at an average hotel; with average unimaginative food; with the kind of people who never leave the hotel and sit at the same place on the beach and restaurant every day; this is for you! It could be any all inclusive hotel; anywhere in the world; why travel half way around the world when you could probably get the same thing on the Costa del Sol for a fraction of the price without the travelling!If you want to get a taste of Bali life do not stay at this hotel. The food was bland and unimaginative and often poor vegetarian choice. It was a cross between what all Europeans would expect but not very local.Service - poor! So bad we only ate at the hotel three evenings of the seven we were there! It takes forever to get a waiters attention to get a drink and when it arrives it is invariably wrong. On one occasion I ordered red wine and was brought a Coke. When I pointed the mistake to the waiter he looked very annoyed and said but don't you like Coke? He couldn't understand when I said yes but it was not what I wanted with my meal! It took him a further 20 minutes for him to arrive with my drink; by which time I was most of the way through my meal and thoroughly sick and tired of the poor quality cabaret music being played. The music was terrible and there was no where to eat at normal mealtimes in peace!We ate one evening at a restaurant a 5 minute taxi ride away called Bumbu Bali; billed in the guide book as one of the best restaurants in Bali. It lived up to expectations and was amazing. We a local taster menu; with the most food I have ever seen. For approximately 拢10 each it included 3 courses; with 7 starters; 8 mains and 4 desserts to taste. I would definately recommend it.In all; the Bali Tropic was average. I am disappointed we stayed there after amazing experiences as The Pan Pacific in Singapore; then Bali Hyatt in Sanur and the Alila in Ubud. If I was going to Bali again I would not choose an all inclusive hotel. There is no point; eating out at top restaurants is so cheap and it does not encourage you to explore the island. If I was choosing all inclusive I would choose somewhere closer to home.
312451,Vickycl,10/12/2006,Excellent We visited Bali Tropic Resort and Spa for 2 weeks in September for our honeymoon and we have to say this is the best holiday either of us have had.Bali Tropic Hotel was much more than we expected. The staff are so friendly and the bar staff remembered our first names for the duration of our stay. The manager of the hotel even came and saw us off on our last day and thanked us for staying at their hotel.We stayed in a deluxe bungalow which was newly refurbished. We were a bit dismayed when we arrived and noticed we had twin beds; but as soon as we mentioned it the room was re- arranged and we ended up with the biggest double bed I have ever seen!! The rooms were clean and well air conditioned and where well stocked with toiletries and mineral water.We stayed all inclusive and the choice of food is vast; although you do really need to like rice and noodles as they are avaliable for breakfast; lunch and dinner. If you fancy a change there is a 24hours a la carte restuarant that serves pizza; burgers; toasted cheese sandwiches and a lovely spag bol !!The grounds of the hotel are amazing. I have never seen so much greenery and beautiful flowers. There are always staff around washing down the paths; picking up leaves and generally keeping the place spotless.The beach is nice; although the sand is yellow in colour and quite shelly. The sea is clear; but quite seaweedy.To be honest; we spent most of our time around the lovely pool. It is not massive but is big enough for the amount of guests that can stay at the hotel. Most of the time the pool was relatively empty and we never had to wait to be served at the pool bar.There is entertainment in the evenings which consists of a 4 piece band of local men that play your requests and a duo who play 2 nights a week. Our overall verdict of the Bali Tropic Resort and Spa is 10/10. The manager is working hard to make improvements all the time and I must say; it is working.We are hoping to go back and visit all at Bali Tropic in the next couple of years we loved it so much.To give you an idea of how good it is; we met an English couple when we were there and it was their 18 visit to Bali Tropic - that says it all really !!!
312451,Kacenka,07/05/2006,Wonderful little resort! View from our veranda
312451,kenokids,05/17/2006,Excellent Alternative to Big American Hotels My husband and I stayed 5 days at this resort in early May 2006 after a three week tour of Thailand; Vietnam and Cambodia. We have traveled extensively (60 countries to date) and usually stay in 5 star hotels; often boutique hotels.The Bali Tropic differs from other deluxe or luxury resorts in Bali in that it is locally owned. As a result; it has less glitz and polish than a Marriott; Sheraton or Four Seasons; and also fewer amenities such as fancy workout rooms; full bar of call liquor; Wi-Fi in rooms; etc.We booked a Royal Room directly through the hotel with an all-inclusive package and paid under $200/day. The Royal Rooms were built at the back of the property 3 years ago and we found the rooms to be spotless; well-appointed with soaps; shampoo; complimentary water; and nicely fitted out with a four-poster bed with netting and high quaility local furniture. The decor was very nice--I would say rustic Balinese; with several niches in the walls with back-lit sculpture and a lovely balcony with a unique rattan lounger. The beach is a nice size with plenty of shade and palapas (though you need to get out early and throw a towel on one to reserve it); but is not pristine white powder. It is sand color and has seaweed that arrives regularly on the tides. There is a staff member who rakes it up and buries it...but it is also a problem in the water; though not enough to to keep us from an occasional dip.Our rate included pick-up from the airport; and staff member was waiting for us with a card with our name when we got through customs. We were at the resort in about 20 minutes and the reception staff escorted us to our room for check-in; as it was hot. The air conditioning had the room nicely chilled and worked very well during our stay. We did ask for additional towels and got them delivered within 5 minutes; nice towels of a bath-sheet size. We also were told that our rate included complimentary pressing for 8 items; a one-hour Balinese traditional massage; two and two glass-bottom boat rides.The pool is on the small side; but very nicely laid-out with a swim-up bar and plenty of shaded; padded loungers. The food was better than average all-inclusive fare. Breakfasts were varied and excellent; with an nice omelet station and the best croissants we have had since Paris. Lunches and dinners were fine; often themed with Balinese or Chinese food. Salads were fresh and available.Entertainment was so-so. One band called the Electric Duo was good and entertaining; the other was 4 Balinese men trying to to do country-western. It didn't really work well. One night they did a traditional Baliese dance; set on the terrace outside the main temple or shrine at the hotel. All the tables and chairs were moved onto the grass below the terrace. It was very well done--in fact better than a similar show we saw on tour the day before.The staff were extremely accommodating and professional; though most of them speak very limited English; if any. We didn't find it to be a problem.In all; we were very glad we chose the Bali Tropic. We wanted something informal and low-key; no pressure to be dressed a certain way. It worked well for us. We were the only Americans...met a couple from Montreal and a couple from the UK. There were many Germans. I have many photos. I will add some later or can send them to anyone with a special interest.
312451,ATripAdvisorMember,05/04/2006,Stay Away! Two friends and I decided to stay here based on the overwhelmingly positive TripAdvisor reviews. Boy were people generous on their ratings! We stayed for one week in January and would not do it again. I have traveled and lived throughout Asia and this was one of the worst places I've stayed at for the price I paid. The condition of the hotel is equivalent to a 1star in the states. Rooms: The furniture was very worn and shabby. We found stains on our sheets and the mosquito netting hanging over the beds. The floor was so dirty that we had to wear shoes otherwise our feet and socks would get black walking on the floor. Because each room is like its own bungalow; the doors open directly outside--which is a bad thing when the gaps in the door let mosquitos and 4-inch roaches into your room (I kid you not).Bathroom: DISGUSTING. Worse than the bedroom. There were stains on the tiles; toilets; mirrors; and sinks. It's obvious that the facillities were very old. Furthermore; they did not provide the basic toiletries one usually receives at a resort. They only provided 1 small bar of soap each day (and there were 3 of us!) and the shampoo that was provided was in a container in the shower that previous guests used. They were also really stingy and would not give is more than 1 small towel/person.Staff: Generally friendly; but not always helpful and a bit nosey (long story). Grounds: OK. Pool was small.Restaurants/Food: Breakfast was OK --standard fare--pancakes; cereal; fruit; etc. Dinner/lunch at these restaurants was pretty forgettable--eat elsewhere.Beach: Poor quality. The sand is dark (not in a good way) and the water is pretty polluted from people's trash and the heavy watercraft usage. My friends and I tried snorkelling not too far off the beach and all developed skinrashes within 15 minutes--even the guide quickly ran to the showers after we got back to shore! Location: Not much to do in the immediate area. We constantly had to take cabs to Denpasar or other areas.For a relaxing vacation I'd recommend you stay elsewhere.
312451,bbdeluca,04/03/2006,Good stay Resort is perfectly designed for relaxing. Short drive from airport; located with other resorts on either side of it. Adequate rooms; comfy beds; great sandy white beach. Bathrooms show that the place was probably built in the 70's; but clean and nice. Great balinese decor in the rooms on on the perfectly manicured grounds. Food was good. Bar in pool was great. Also; each room has it's own deck.Saleswomen in shops were a little pushy. When we went to check out; the hotel tried to charge us for pool towels that we left in the room. So; if you stay here; make sure you carry the pool towels to the desk when you check out and check your bill carefully. Other than that; it was great.
312451,lovetravel129,03/01/2006,Friendly staff I stayed at this hotel for 2 weeks in July while I was on my honeymoon. The staff was friendly and charming. This hotel allows you to explore and feel what Bali is all about. It is very cultural. The staff is dressed in traditional attire and the rooms are individual cottages among lush gardens. A true balinese experience. I highly recommend it.
312451,terryv,12/01/2005,Beautiful Place; Beautiful People We arrived to a lovely warm welcome cocktail. The hotel is very traditional balinese style - you really feel you are in Bali. The rooms are a little tired but spacious clean. It may be worth upgrading if you can. Lovely beach - though not the best we have been on but quiet relaxing with hardly any beach sellers; the perfect chill out place. The hotel is kept immaculately clean - every morning we woke around 8:30 to the sound of the fountains and the sweeping of paths - idyllic. Once a week they fumigate so you hardly get any insects. Food was good - particularly the a la carte; although they could do with making it available for longer as you could only order when the buffet was finished which was quite late. The buffets were also good - they tried their best with the variety we ate on the beach some nights at the open air theatre. They had themed nights with entertainment which were excellent - traditional balinese shows. They also had a band playing in the restaurant and afterwards in the lobby bar; though nothing too loud. Most nights they were good with only one exception which cleared the bar. The pool area was lovely - very clean with a swim up bar. We were quite worried when they used their electric drill to put the volleyball net up though!If you get the chance you should experience the spa - 3 hours of pure heaven for 拢40 for two of us. Some of our fondest memories were of the people - the staff were wonderful nothing was too much trouble- its so sad that the tourism they depend upon so badly will have been affected by the terrorism - don't let it put you off. We would go back tomorrow!!
312451,ladyhelen,11/21/2005,Pure Paradise Beach(careful gets red hot under foot)
312451,CarribeanQueen,10/10/2005,Honeymoon in Heaven! We arrived exhausted to the Bali Tropik but the welcome drink and the friendly faces perked us up! Our room wasn't the room that we had initially booked as it was our honeymoon we requested the Royal room. We didn't get the Royal room; we got a suite which is more expensive if a little dated. (but not the room we wanted)after a succesion of going back and forward and a few to do's which I won't go in to I was extremely frustrated and upset. I did make a complaint to the holiday company; and the staff at the hotel where SO apologetic! To them it was devestating that we where not enjoying our honeymoon and they made us feel like a King and Queen; you name it they gave it we had a beautiful honeymoon dinner on the beach. We got our Royal room; we got a free dinner cruise; spa treatments; it was unbelievable how we where treated. The hotel is lovely don't compare it to the lucious Conrad down the beach the Bali tropik is owned by a Balinese so it's more authentic! The beach is gorgeous always a lounger available; the pool was lovely as well especially the pool bar. The Royal rooms are very modern; clean; and the view to the grounds are lovely to wake up to every morning. The staff where so friendly they work so hard believe me; running around after guests and they always had a smile on there faces! The hotel is situated on a busy road but you could walk up to the beach instead and it's so much nicer. The food was quite european and although I would have liked more Indonesian cuisine I understand they where catering for the majority of European guests. I can only say positive things about the Bali Tropik Hotel I would recommened a stay here and despite the bombings we will certainly be going back for one of our anniversarys.
312451,ATripAdvisorMember,10/01/2005,Awesome Beach Resort Tropic Resort Beach
312451,larke,09/21/2005,fantastic time i thought i had been to some lovely places; but bali is true heaven; this hotel small not as lavish as others you will find;but very very clean the staff are very attentive;the food was out of this world with lots of variations; beach chairs were plenty and clean;every where was so clean and tidy cant wait to return
312451,derya,12/03/2004,fantastic holiday My husband and I returned from Bali on 30th November 2004.We were impressed with the facilities and the friendliness of the hotel staff. The hotel is situated in an excellent position - although the sea was a bit of a disappointment as there were a tremendous amount of reeds in it. It is a man made beach with very shallow water.Plenty of water sports available for those who require it.Lovely pool with ample comfortable loungers. Plenty of really nice loungers with umberellas on the beach too.24 hour service if required. Food is quite good; although a little repetitive at times - but I am really fussy anyway.Entertainment is good - but not a great deal of variety.Staff cannot do enough for you. I lost a gold bracellet in the hotel but luckily a very honest member of staff found it and I had it returned to me! Lots to see and do and taxi's are really cheap. You can hire a taxi for the day for around 拢20 and they will take you anywhere you want to go etc. Excellent bargains to be had in Bali; but you really need to haggle - and tourists do get pestered rather a lot by local traders; but at least they are polite and pleasant even if you choose not to buy.Clinic situated at the hotel is excellent. All in all a truly superb holiday I would recommend the Bali Tropic Resort to anyone - try it out for yourself. Excellent value for money. Will definately go back again.We would like to extend our gratitude to the management and staff who afforded us the very best of welcome and taught us a great deal about the Balinese culture; they are great ambassodors for Bali. The Balinese people are very friendly towards tourists.N.B. If you visit Bali you really must go on the elephant safari - truly amazing experience.
312451,ATripAdvisorMember,11/06/2004,a "must stay" when in bali Located at the south of the island; Nusa Dua. 113 rooms and suites. Traditional balinese architecture and set in lush; beautifully tended; tropical water gardens. The hotel has been constructed to blend completely into the surroundings; making it invisible from the beach or sea. This hotel provides truly excellent accomodation; food and personal service. The staff are the friendliest I've ever encountered anywhere in the world. Nothing is too much trouble for them. This is a must stay hotel experience when in Bali
312451,mandzy,10/08/2008,Le plus beau de mes voyages Gr芒ce 脿 eux la plage 茅tait propre
312451,ana90,01/07/2008,Agradable playa frente al hotel
312451,dachfred,05/29/2007,Bel h么tel mais trop touristique showReview(7711243; 'full');
312457,BatyPerthWA,12/18/2008,A mixed bag! Been to Bali heaps of times but never stayed at Seminyak. Stayed at Pelangi with my husband and adult daughter in August.Lobby and what little grounds there are very lovely - pool area a bit small - didn't like the tiered deck chair area. Didn't like the fact that everyone walking past the restaurant to the beach passed the pool at chest level - felt a bit odd. Even though we had a superior room - do not try to put 3 people in one - far too small. Unfortunately they did not have any other rooms available. There are two wings to the hotel and the balconies face each other across a central (not very wide) courtyard. So no chance of any privacy on your balcony - you can hear every conversation going!! The balcony was only bit enough for one chair - the ones on the ground floor were just a small landing with some steps.The staff were great and helpful and very attentive but the rooms are just a bit too small to warrant a return visit; sorry Pelangi. Also found with the increased taxi drivers in Kuta/Legian area not being local (ie from Denpasar) - they didn't know where the hotel was which made things tricky late at night!!
312457,cicak23,11/16/2008,Great hotel for the price that you pay. Hospitable and lovely staff. This was our 2nd stay at the Pelangi hotel. We needed a place that would have many rooms available for our friends traveling to our wedding in Bali (at a different location). The staff at the sales office were so helpful and offered competitive group rates. We all had an excellent stay there. Everyone on staff was extremely hospitable; friendly; and nice. They were interested in getting to know all our guests to ensure that they had a nice stay. The spa at the hotel was also quite amazing. For really good rates; one can get many wonderful treatments; such as massages or facials. Pelangi Hotel is very affordable and for the price that you pay you certainly can't beat the beachfront location; the close proximity to restaurants/bars in the area; the wonderful staff; the breakfast buffet; and the excellent spa. Thank you; Pelangi!
312457,Srubka,10/05/2008,Nice place I think it is a nice place. It is close to Kuta/Legian but not as busy. It has all the shops but is a little bit less comercialised than Kuta/Legian. Hotel is on the beach which makes such a difference. We liked the way it is located right on the beach. What's more for your sunbed you can observe local hookers. There are nice beach 'restaurants' just few steps from the hotel. Further down there are few more proper places to eat (There is a sushi place - really good sushi; honestly. Worth trting; I was really surprised - RAINBOW ROLL was just FANTASTIC :) )The hotel itself was really nice. It has this nice local look and feel. Rooms are nice and clean. Cant complain about anything. The only issue that we had was lack of privacy. The hotel has two building just in front of each other. You can't simply go and sit on balcony without seeing people accross. The ground floor is even worse. It is not a big deal but i found it irritating that i could not open the curtains because of people on the otehr side.
312457,BrisbaneVincent,10/05/2008,Early check-out My wife and I were booked in to the Pelangi for 3 nights as part of our honeymoon. We did as was suggested to us and sprung for the more expensive rooms. We shouldn't have wasted our money. While the room was large it was at the end of what must be one of the longest hallways in existence. The pool area is rundown and dirty and was the biggest let down of the hotel. The beach area is also filthy.We decided to move to another hotel after the first night.Whilst all hospitality staff in Bali are excellent; the front desk staff were not helpful or friendly especially when we checked out early; and wouldn't help us arrange transport to another hotel.There are a lot of better places to stay in Bali for a similar price.
312457,kintomani,09/17/2008,First and Last Time at Pelangi Basic Room. Only 1 Bedside/Lamp
312457,Kamakazi,08/03/2008,Quite and pleasant Stayed for six days in early July coming from NZ's Winter. This is a clean and very tidy 4 star hotel in a relatively quite Legian/Seminyak location not to far from AJ Hackets. (Can't be heard though at night). The entrance is on a short cul de sac with no walk out restaurants; however at night step out onto the beach and walk 100m south toward Legian and you are into food heaven back up on the beach's linking road. Note the Pelangi is direct beach with no road in between and that's a bonus. Try Lanai's upstairs for class and great price. The Hotel pool and restaurant are on the beach so another bonus; and morning buffet breakfast is a smorgasbord of choice and eating out on the tiled exterior in the balmy Bali morning air. I booked directly with the hotel and avoided the touts. Our Super Delux room room was sizeable and included an extra bedroom space for a young one traveling with us. There is a hint of a new development occuring on the Northern side so check with the desk to see its progress. If its underway book the Southern block. At the moment it is just a hole in the ground but things move fast in Asia! The property is a long narrow double blocks (2 story) complex so try to get as close to the pool and beach (Rooms 300 plus). Touts on the beach are intense as anywhere in Bali. No problem. The pool is magnificent and quite a bonus. Surf infront is closeout material all the time and you need to walk 100 meters either way to get a rideable shoulder. Overall neat stay and would come back for the location and solitude.Again nice place. Enjoy.
312457,minnie83,05/27/2008,Happy until our room was robbed I spent 7 nights at the Pelangi on honeymoon; and was having a great time there until one night our room was robbed while we were out. As we left our room I forgot to take my purse with me; which contained my credit card; safety deposit box key and the equivalent of 拢100 cash. This is the one and only time I have EVER left my purse behind;and was a complete and utter mistake. We were out of the room between 1630 and 2200; and during that time someone entered our room and took the money from my purse; leaving behind everything else. I only noticed the next morning when we were going out to get the money changed into rupiahs. Some laundry had been collected from our room during these hours. After searcing the room 3 times over (just in case); we alerted the manager straight away; who was very apologetic; and told us he would investigate. He later informed us that all staff had been searched and nothing had been found; but if the money was taken the night before when we were out then it would be long gone. To be fair; the manager did his best to help; he took us to the police station helped translate and fill in a police report. But we never saw our money again. It really put a massive downer on our honeymoon; and I spent the rest of the stay in tears. Although the manager insisted it had never happened before; the first thing reception tell you is to keep all valuables in the safety deposit boxes as they won't be responsible for anything going missing. It's also a bit suspicious that the one and only time we leave money in the room is the time it gets stolen. If this hadn't happened; I would have given this hotel a good review; as we were enjoying our stay until this happened. Rooms are decent and clean; although the bathroom could do with a good clean in places. Pool area is nice; views from the restaurant are lovley and the location is good. It's just a shame it was ruined by thieves. If you do decide to stay here; keep everything in the safety box at reception; and don't make the mistake of forgetting your purse or wallet when you go out.
312457,naranoth,05/20/2008,Great Hotel for a great price Our time spent at the pelangi bali hotel was so good that we stayed for an extra 3 days. The free breakfast was simple but pretty good and rotated throughout the week. The view from the restaurant was excellent; and I really enjoyed waking up to a cup of coffee while watching the surfers catch the 4-5 ft. waves directly in front of the hotel. The rooms were very large for the price and had a full suite of amenities. The bathroom was a little rusty but still quite adequate. The hotel staff was extremely friendly; and helped out with any possible request. The only real problem I had with the hotel was the booking. I booked through their website; gave them my credit card info; and received a confirmation...then on my day of travel they abruptly canceled my reservation. I didn't find out until I was at the hotel. The hotel was very accommodating though; and gave me a room for around the same price as the internet special I wanted (~550000 Rp) despite not having a reservation when I showed up.
312457,midwife47,05/07/2008,simply the best the rooms although small are good and cleaned daily.the pool cannot be faulted and the attendants are friendly. beach hawkers not a hassel as have stayed there many times and got to know them just a polite no then they leave you alone the most amazing massages by ruti on the beach. however be warned one of the porters is looking to finance a pig farm and gets to know you and then reels in for the money ask; this i found a little affronting and did not like. breakfasts were good as you could eat as much as you liked and my husband had his fill most mornings. room upgrade for us was a god send as we both could have our space and sit on the balcony to have our evening drinks. nice and quiet and relaxing way to spend a holiday in bali will definately make it a base always. oh and when we had a problem the management sorted this out with us straight away and even offered us a complementary dinner for our trouble (which we declined) returning in 2008 cant wait.
312457,Sally29,02/08/2008,Hated this Hotel My partner and I hated this hotel so much we only stayed one night instead of the 10 we'd booked. I'd booked a deluxe room and it was anything but. The room was extremely dark and you needed lights on during the day. We also found the room none-too-clean and the sheets were stained. The outside sitting area was tiny and there was absolutely no privacy whatever. The bathroom was also very dark with a lethal slippery floor. The inside sitting area; which makes the room deluxe would have been like sitting in a container; it was horrible. We found the general attitude of the staff to be unfriendly. This hotel has a restrictive cancellation policy and we had to pay for an extra night for leaving early but it was worth it to get out of there. Their on-line rates were $80 US; I later found a site quoting $66 US and they did honour that rate (although they then refused to do an airport pick-up) but in all honestly that is still way too much to pay for this third-rate properly.
312457,chooky80,02/04/2008,Pelangi rocks!!!! Anyone who's has any worries about staying at the pelangi; dont be worried at all. The staff were really friendly and being a small hotel we got to befriend quite alot of them. Rooms were clean and tidied everyday if you wish them to be; fresh water in rooms everyday. pool is beautiful and loved the pool bar also loved the fact that the pool overlooked the beach which was great for the sunsets. Locals on the beach are really nice( after you get through all the you buy you buy). Cant think of a nicer place to stay that was within our budget. totally impressed!!! :)
312457,marcnice,01/21/2008,only stayed 19 hours Arrived in Bali Airport at Dec 30 th 2007 and the Denpasar hotel agency i only findthe Pelangi hotel was the only hotel available for Dec 30 th or one nights and I could stay on if there schould be a cancellation on Dec 31 th.On my arrival they told me that there was only 10 % change I could stay on ; so i spent the rest of the afternoon going all the surrounding hotels who where all fully booked.On Dec 31 th 2008 i they had good news that i could stay on; but on one condition.I had to take part of the new year gala dinner for 650.000 Rp.As i was one my own I had other plans for this big new years night I told him I would like to stay without taking part of the gala dinner.They made a phonecal to there boss who passed on the message that of i join in for the gala or i had to leave ! !So i left and lucky i find a much better place just next door without any gala dinner at all where i stayed on for another 5 nights.And on new years eve it has been raining non-stop with strong winds from 11 PM til the early morning.So proberly not big fun for al these people sitting there in the storm to start 2008.Other bad experience i had that they do not resect there breackfast serving / pool opening hours .Cam at 9.30 AM and there was no more breackfast wat scould be served til 10 AM.Pool schould be open til 8 PM and when i arrived just after 7 PM they told me : only 5 minutes sir !!Been already 3 times and stayed in 8/9 hotels in Bali Jakarta; but sorry this one was my only bad expirience.
312457,Renovator51,11/09/2007,Great Value! My wife and I; as well as two of our friends just returned from a two week trip to Bali. We found the Pelangi on line and checked out reviews on trip advisor. Our agent had never put together a package with this hotel before; preferring to place people in the quieter Nusa Dua or Benoa areas. We were encouraged by the predominantly positive reviews and booked for the two weeks; at what we thought was a very good rate. It was as good as we had hoped! The place is very clean; the staff very friendly and attentive. Our room was on the second floor and as nice as you would expect a 3 star hotel to be. The air conditioning worked perfectly [ a must at these temperatures!] ; and the room was cleaned daily and the towels and bedding changed daily if you wished. You can just have the bed remade and hang the towels to help reduce water consumption etc. an option that we chose immediately. There was a nice clean pool; plenty of towels; and loungers. Breakfasts were included and while not fantastic; there were lots to choose from and plenty of it. [ Sweet girls at the egg station ].The beach frontage is a bit busy with hawkers but they are not allowed past the front wall to the grounds. The surf is rather big and so it isn`t great for swimming here; so the pool is welcome. Seminyak is not as busy as Kuta but it is still too busy for many; so we chose to take a couple of 2 day trips to other areas. [ Got to see the real Bali that way! ]. There are plenty of restaurants to check out up the road behind the hotel as well as Gado Gado down the beach about 100 metres. [ excellent food and ambiance; especially at night. ] Lucky Day and Gateway to India were both good; as well as reasonably priced. [Even the warungs on the beach were ok] .We enjoyed our stay at the Pelangi; and would recommend it for those not expecting a 4 or 5 star experience. It was a great location and a bargain for the price!
312457,booster26,11/08/2007,Bad; bad; bad My husband and I go to Bali yearly and have always stayed around the Kuta/Legian area so for a change we picked Seminyak this time. I picked the Pelangi based on the great reviews so I was really shocked when we got to our rooms after a night flight in from Singapore.The long and dark corridor we were led down to our rooms resembled a jail with high-walls on one side. When our porter opened the door to our room; it smelled like mildew and when the air-con was turned on; the musty smell intensified. Who needs a large room when it smelled this bad. When I peeked into the bathroom; it made me really curl my toes as I walked in and saw mould in the corners. The ventilation fan made a funny noise and the towels were no longer white and was spotted with stains! The bad experience continued the next morning. Construction nearby started banging away so we got up and went to breakfast. Even the great location and proximity to the beach did not help. Breakfast was nothing spectacular and in any case; you'll be too busy swatting flies. The pool which looked so good in pictures is really small and narrow with constantly had well-oiled folks contributing to the layer of grease on the surface. I sure did not want to get into that water.We got the hell out of Pelangi and headed to another hotel to salvage our holiday. Mind you; I'm not a prissy traveller. I have no qualms about roughing it out and have paid USD18 a night for simpler accomodations in Bali that's more pleasant than here. What pisses me off is that I paid USD68 a night and it just ain't worth it.
312457,seanbeaver,10/28/2007,Good value hotel Just back from 3 nights at the Pelangi. Got a good deal on a Superior double with breakfast. Met at the airport by friendly driver; smooth easy check in;welcome drink; cold refreshing towels; friendly smiley service in general.Rooms are OK; good size; comfortable beds; everything worked.Bathroom could have been a little nicer. eventho was clean..a little mould here and there; gave it a very slight grotty feeling. But hey; for the price and for the amount of time that you ACTUALLY are going to be in your hotel room in Bali; it's fine. I think it could be a really great hotel if they spent a little more time and effort upkeeping it. The grounds and gardens are generally nice enough.Breakfast was disappointing; presentation and variety were sadly lacking. Staff a little lackadaisical tho polite. Nice view of the surf tho. Pool looks almost as good as in the photos on the website. Had a lovely evening swim under the stars which was great.If you want a 5 star luxurious stay; this aint it. There are heaps of villas for rent that will do the trick but the pelangi is good value for money;comfortable and is pretty well situated. Getting a flight into Bali was difficult; with most of them sold out. our flight was packed...but once out and about in seminyak - it felt a little dead...heaps of great restaurants; shops and bars but all empty.
312457,Tasha77,10/04/2007,Don't listen to the negative views about this hotel! Room at the Pelangi
312457,Cikarang5,09/20/2007,Better than most !! Just back from our 11th trip to Bali but our first time at the Pelangi;and I must say I'm a little surprised by the recent negative reviews.Having stayed at many 4 and 5 star hotels on the island the Pelangi has a lot going for it.We were in a super deluxe($64 through an internet site) and the room was very good;huge bathroom;seperate lounge;good size balcony and a large 6' bed.Proably not enough storage space for some but overall pretty good.Minor problem with the airconditioning was sorted out within the hour and the maintenance guys couldn't have been more helpfull.Plenty of sunbeds were available despite some of the koreans or taiwanese thinking they should save 3 or 4 sunbeds just in case they fancied lying somewhere else later in the day.The beach location was fantastic and as for there being a lot of noise from the Bungy tower well we never heard it once and we were in the hotel at the same time as the reviewer who complained about it.Loads of places to eat both on Jl Laksamana (a 5 minute $1 cab ride away) and on Jl Dhyanapura itself.The hotel is only 15 minutes walk down the beach to Ku De Ta and is only 5 minutes from Gado Gado.Maybe if you want burger and chips then this place is not for you but if you like good food you're in the right location.As for the shopping;there are loads of individual clothes shops mainly for women on Jl Raya Seminyak and some of the funkiest furniture and lighting shops are in this part of Bali.All in all this hotel is very good value in a great location and is a lot better than many on the island and is a world away from some of the overpriced rubbish we have to put up with in Europe.
312457,Michaele5,09/16/2007,Rundown and packed but nice beach View from the suite
312457,jlzPerth,09/02/2007,Not all that impressive Myself and 4 of my girl friends have just arrived home after having stayed at the Pelangi for a week. In all honesty; we weren't all that impressed with the place. Two of our group were in a twin share room upstairs from us but had to be moved after a couple of days coz the stench in their room was so bad and then the new room started to smell after a day of being in there too. The beds were far too firm for my liking; I think the pool lounges would have been more comfortable. The staff were very friendly and the daily breakfasts were nice. The hotel restaurant has a good selection on their menu and everything that we had was nice and not too expensive either. The hotel is quite large. so if your after a smaller more intimate place to stay; then the Pelangi is not for you. There are plenty of places to eat just down the road on Dhyana Pura but if it's shopping you're after; then you'll have to cab it everyday back to Legian or Kuta coz there really aren't too many bargains to be had around Seminyak. If u need a cab; go around the corner to Dhyana Pura and up a bit on the left hand side and you'll find some blue taxi's parked waiting and they have meters in them; so you'll get a better fare. All in all; this was an 'okay' hotel but I probably wouldn't stay there again.
312457,reelmick,07/21/2007,stay again we could not fault this hotel;read the forums before booking avereraged it out; and stayed there;some of these people must have been jet lagged when staying; from some of the reviews
312457,flipviet,06/18/2007,Step out to the beach! We stayed at this hotel in May 2007. Room was clean - no issues. Loved the pool. Also; another plus is that we just stepped out onto the beach! Front desk and staff were efficient and friendly.
312457,MickyBlueEyes,06/12/2007,Good choice for the Seminyak area Pelangi is definite value for money. The room was clean and comfortable and the staff are very friendly and cheerful. The pool area is nice and bigger than a lot of pictures give it credit and there was always enough loungers to go round. Location wise it is right on the beach; and a good stretch of beach at that. That is it's real attraction for us. The beach at Kuta is nowhere near as nice. It's also a short walk along the beach to nice restaurants like Ku De Ta and plenty of others if you walk up the street into town. Breakfast was decent enough as well.I know a lot of people are annoyed by them; but some of the hawkers near this place on the beach actually made our stay very enjoyable. Some can be annoying; but a firm no and they get the message. However; 3 really do stand out as very; very nice people. There is Dewa (pronounced Day wa) who is directly in front of the entrance to the beach (if a little to the left) and he sells much cheaper Bintang than the hotel. A real nice man if you want a chat as well and we used to watch the sunset while having a few of his beers. There is Sui Me who is a little more to the left and does a great massage for a very good price. Finally; there is a lad called Ben who rents out boogie boards and surf boards. He gives a 2 hour surf lesson as well; way cheaper than the big companies and I was actually surfing after that.Overall; a great stay; without breaking the bank.
312457,emmalucy,06/08/2007,Great Location Staye here for 6 days paid $60 a night for a superior room. I would not pay any more than this. it was clean and comfortable; but needed airing it had a bit of a musty smell with it. The room was not very bright inside as all the rooms look onto each other.The pool area is very squashed with sun bed which could do with replacing. More maintance in this area is needed.The pool itself is nice.The staff are very pleasant. The lobby area is very clean.Very close to Ku De Ta. The best place to eat was the Warrison although you have too book . we had some great meals in Bali. We never ate at the hotel.We were hardly ever at the hotel since we were at wedding celebrations most days. So the pool area never bothered us. This would not be my choice of place to spend a week at; but saying that others are very happy with the standard of the accomodation as they have weddings at the hotel.Visited the Istana Villa in Uluwatu this was amazing. Also spent time at the Conrad hotel in Nusadua which is very nice and you could get a double room for 拢70 inc. breakfast. Which I thought was good value.Yes I would tell people about this hotel because of its location but I would check out the Resor first as they have some good deals including airport transfer if you contact them directly.If changing currency in Bali take largerdenominations you get a better rate of exchange.
312457,invilia,05/25/2007,Excellent value hubby at the pool
312457,denka1,05/18/2007,great pool area pool area very relaxing
312457,Provost2,05/15/2007,Great Hotel - Great Prices On our first trip to Bali we stayed at two hotels; one in Sanur and this one in Seminyak. This was by far the better hotel and was significantly cheaper.We got the superior rooms but that wasn't really necessary. Its good if you have a group and want to congregate in the sitting rooms to plan your days; otherwise the regular rooms are just fine.The pool was great and there are lots of places to sit around it that are far enough away to avoid the beach hawkers becoming a nuisance.The staff here were very friendly and I found myself at ease here and felt really safe and secure. Its close to all the amenities but far enough away to just relax as well.
312457,Babiguling,05/02/2007,Great find! Booked the Pelangi with hotelsbali.com and got a great rate of USD$46 plus tax inclusive of breakfast for 2. Room on the ground floor facing garden. We could not fault the place considering the price we paid. The pool was great; breakfast on the beachfront; lovely Balinese people and smiles; nice walks along the beach and up on the street to explore. We went to the famed Kudeta one night for dinner and walked home on the beach lighted by moonlight. Very nice. We also rented a car from one of the many car rental places along the street. It was offpeak so we took the cheapest car - Suzuki Katana 1000cc! which we were offered for 100;000 rp but we bargained to 70;000 per day for 2 days rental. It was good for exploring the area; Uluwatu and Sanur. We later traded it for a better car to take us around to Ubud which we know better. Some warning: money changers. Those with amazing rates seem to have a system to make sure you leave with less money as they would definitely make a loss. We tried 4 or 5 and they all played the same game; usually with some friend next to them to distract you. In the end; we just withdrew from the many ATMs everywhere.This is our second trip to Bali; first time on Seminyak.
312457,gordonblue,03/14/2007,"Loved the Pool" We stayed at the Pelangi from 25/2-6/3. Would love to have stayed longer. Value for money is what this hotel is. We paid roughly $50 (aussie) for a deluxe room for 9 nights. Im sure the superior rm would have been fine although we hear otherwise. As stated in other reviews the hotel is in a great location. Not far to walk to night clubs or the beautiful Gado Gado restaraunt. Also a ten minute walk along the beach to the stunning Ku DeTa. This place is like being in another world at night. The hotel staff at the Pelangi were lovely. We had a lot of laughs with Dennix Asra; we learn a lot about the Balinese (Hindu) culture. People on the beach can become a little annoying when you are trying to relax by the pool they kepp yelling out you want massage; etc etc. You do get used to this. The only main downsides to this hotel are the buffet breakfast; the food wasnt that great not much variety. Also the pool bar isnt always staffed and on a number of occassions we had to get up to order lunch drinks. Overall for what we paid we cannot complain
312457,mackiep,02/12/2007,Great Value; and excellent location This hotel is really good value. We are a family of 5 (2 adults; 3 kids under 11) so we booked two adjoining standard rooms. The rooms were big; nice aircon and bathrooms; and good Satellite TV. The pool was excellent. The buffet breakfast that was included was good; and changed daily. The best thing was the price. I can't remember what currency I paid in now but I think it was $US and it worked out as only 拢48 for the two rooms inc breakfast per night. Another terrific advantage is its location. It's only 50 metres along the beach to Gado Gado; which is one of the best restaurAnts around. Only 15 mintes walk along the beach to Ku De Ta; which is one of my favourite restaurant/ bar/ clubs in the world. 20;000 rupiah would get a taxi into Kuta when we wanted to buy cheap DVDs and kids clothes. A 15 minute walk into Seminyak and we could buy stuff from the more upmarket shops. Oh and did I mention the hotel is right on the beach.
312457,Travelgypsyisme,02/05/2007,Great Spot hotel sign
312457,MJHoneymoon,01/24/2007,Great location Pelangi Bali hotel is in a great location - right on Seminyak Beach. It is only a 10-15 minute walk along the beach to the great restaurants on Seminyak beach. Great location to go for a beach swim and get a beautiful massage on the beach. The sun lounges ar ein prime position to enjoy the beach but without being hassled.The rooms are very large with a good comfy bed. The bathroom was small; the shower head was great but it wasn't spotless. We had a ground floor room but some of the first story rooms had a balcony - perfect for a drink.The downsides for this hotel was the pool was in the shade most of the day; the pool bar was never staffed and the breakfast was OK. The pool service and drinks wasn't great by Bali standards with beers 3x the normal Bali price.Overall though it was great value for money and good for us as we don't laze at the hotel too much.
312457,Denbo1,12/01/2006,Love the Pelangi Hotel We just spent 12 days at the Pelangi and loved it. Best deal in Bali. Great loction and very friendly; accomdating staff. The restaurant was below par; but you are only a 1$ cab ride from restaruant row in Seminyak. If you like being in the middle of it all then this is the place. It is right on the beach; but only 2 rooms actually face the beach. The pool is on the beach which is were we hung out. Enjoy.
312457,louisedean,11/20/2006,fab hotel I felt that I had to write a review after reading someone say the management were rude at the Pelangi. I spent two weeks with a girlfriend and we absolutely loved the hotel. When we were ripped off by money changers in the main street- (beware ONLY go to authorised money dealers!!!!) we went to reception to tell them about our ordeal and they immediatley called the Manager. He then got the hotel car and drove us to the shark and proceeded to get the 100$ back that we had been ripped off. The staff were fanastic but please don't take up the offer from a staff member to go to Jimbaran for dinner as it was very expensive. We really could not fault the room; the view from the breakfast table and the sunsets. For anyone who is thinking of going to Bali go it is amazing and the friendliest people you will meet. I sure you will fall in love like we have with the place. Will be back next year Lou Tracey ( well travelled girls)
312457,gedhart,11/08/2006,A very clean hotel with attentive welcoming staff Part of the infinity pool - the rest of it is to the left!
312457,ianna,10/14/2006,great holiday; excellent staff;wonderful location. showReview(5951410; 'full');
312457,SharkRescue,08/18/2006,Not too bad... but abit over-rated showReview(5622446; 'full');
312457,oooommmm,08/11/2006,Bad choices spoil the holiday showReview(5600435; 'full');
312457,seah,07/30/2006,Best location in Seminyak showReview(5530512; 'full');
312457,livinginpenang,05/02/2006,Well run hotel; good location; good value showReview(5027224; 'full');
312457,ATripAdvisorMember,01/08/2006,Pelangi is Great! showReview(4332698; 'full');
312457,JaynRob,10/25/2005,Great service; clean hotel dressing table
312457,ATripAdvisorMember,07/10/2005,A 3* gem of a hotel with 5* service showReview(3654229; 'full');
312457,Spleegs,05/22/2005,Great location + Great hotel = Great Holiday! Breakfast overlooking the beach
312457,ATripAdvisorMember,03/30/2005,Friendly co-operative staff great position showReview(3311941; 'full');
312457,lass,01/23/2008,銈广儫銉嬨儯銉冦偗銇潤銇嬨仾銉涖儐銉?#x201d; showReview(19913558; 'full');
312457,lass,07/11/2007,銈兂銈躲儞銉笺儊銉涖儐銉?#x201d; showReview(19911462; 'full');
312457,lass,06/14/2007,銇勩仱銇嬨倐銇嗕竴搴︺兓銉汇兓 showReview(19911331; 'full');
312457,lass,05/20/2007,灞呭績鍦般伄鑹亜銉涖儐銉?#x201d; showReview(19911236; 'full');
312457,lass,01/22/2007,寰撴キ鍝°伄瀵惧繙銇屸棊銇с仐銇熴€?#x201d; showReview(19910969; 'full');
312457,lass,01/15/2007,銉撱兗銉佹部銇勩伄瀹夈亸銇︿究鍒┿仾銉涖儐銉仹銇欍€?#x201d; showReview(19910945; 'full');
313039,JontourTyneandWear,12/30/2008,Great hotel It is difficult to find fault with this high standard hotel. The rooms were modern; sleek; clean and tidy while the bathroom with an emphasis on glass and marble were even better. The beds and pillows were one of the most comfortable i have used. The fridge was well stocked with not just drinks and the air conditioning worked fine when we discovered and closed the most marginal of gaps in the window. There was a CD / DVD option that we didnt have time to use and the TV channels included BBC and ITV! The breakfast room was cool and spacious with the hot range of food consisting of scrambled / boiled eggs; thin sliced bacon; some unusual dish of vegetables and a local spicy sausage. The rest of the buffet bar included a good choice of breads; local cheeses; ham; a fish option; cakes and the usual fruit and cereals. We found all the staff friendly and helpful with the breakfast staff being enthusiastic about clearing the small rubbish away from the tables. We did not use the outdoor pool as the opening times were 10am - 8pm and we were never in before 7.30pm. There were two small grocery stores and a useful postbox (its the only one we saw) nearby with Urgell metro station 5 - 6 minutes stroll down the road.
313039,qtverse,12/20/2008,Nice hotel Bathroom
313039,alanfar,11/27/2008,Noise next door We spent three nights in the Acevi Villarroel Hotel. Our initial impression of the establishment was positive: the reception staff were friendly and helpful and found us a 'quiet' room at the rear of the hotel on Floor 6. Spotlessly clean bed area and bathroom; serviced daily; with good; albeit standard; fittings and a free safe (some places charge up to 3Euros from reports I've read). There is no bar; which I think is a good thing; and whilst we didn't try the restaurant; both the evening dining and room service menus seemed reasonably priced; unlike the breakfast tariff which at 14Euros sounds outrageously expensive - like many before; we found a decent enough cafe further down the road on the opposite block where we were able to buy a Cafe con leche and croissant for 2Euros per person.The down side: whilst we could barely hear the traffic noise; our neighbouring room unfortunately was occupied by loud (or very deaf) people (who were obviously practising their tap dance routine on the wooden floor) with apparently little appreciation of either accoustics and other guests who might wish to go to sleep before 1.30 am! There was a locked link door to this adjoining unit; presumably intended to open to provide a family room for those with kids; which certainly didn't help; but the walls appeared to be of the standard (I hesitate to use the much-repeated phrase) paper-thin variety!The Urgell metro stop is a handy 2 minutes away and the bus service to the airport is excellent - just two blocks from the hotel and taking 20 minutes (4Euros each); so don't bother arranging a taxi. In summary; though the room noise didn't really spoil our break; it did rather detract from an otherwise good; well located hotel; and I wouldn't stay there again for that reason alone.
313039,IrishWedding,09/03/2008,Excellent Hotel We recently stayed in this hotel where we were planning on exploring Barcelona. It is an excellent value for money hotel; spotlessly clean; facilities are good. We were very impressed with the free internet access on every floor. Most hotels you have to pay locally so this was good. The rooms were above average in my opinion. Bathrooms were particularly nice with v.good air conditioning in our room. The hotel pool was a bit small and they could do with a few more sunbeds at the pool; even if you don't go swimming; it was nice to sit by the pool and enjoy the sun.This hotel is about a 15min walk to the main city centre square/La Rambla; this is fine if you have 'comfy shoes'; I didn't so thought the walk was a bit long until I purchased new shoes!!!!! Be prepared for a lot of walking in Barcelona but it was quiet an impressive city and the shopping is fantastic!!!!Overall; I would recommend the hotel and I would stay there again if I was going back.
313039,jpgaudi,08/20/2008,If you like Minimalism! In some areas this hotel takes minimalism a little too far - a complete lack of drawer storage space in the bedroom and no character to the bedrooms - white blank walls with no pictures or adornments. There is also a shortage of plug sockets and quite what the socket 5 foot up in the middle of a blank wall is for we could not work out!The rooms themselves are clean and very functional although if you take a triple room and have a child with you (as we did) be prepared to fall over yourselves. We were spending a few days in Barcelona after a cruise and there was more storage and hanging space in our smaller cabin on the boat that there was in this hotel room.On the pictures the bathrooms looked fabulous - however what looks like marble is actually plastic tiles and some of the fittings are cheap and falling apart. The hot water regulator in our room didn't work properly and the shower only varied between hot and boiling - and changed of its own accord!!The hotel is however clean and pleasant and the staff friendly and helpful. The restaurant was good (the menu was a little limited) and reasonably priced.In positional terms its a little too far form Catalunya Square and Le Rambles - its an OK walk in the morning when you are fresh and its not too hot - but after a tiring day sightseeing its seems a long way back to the hotel. A bit off the beaten track and not in the most solubrious surroundings - not really positioned where we would expect a 4 star hotel to be.I would not rank this as a four star hotel (more like 3 and a half - we were never offered any help to get cases to and from our room and had to put them into and get them out of the storage cupboard ourselves). Really more a business man's hotel than a family hotel - you will be relatively comfortable here and we have stayed in far worse!
313039,tapper70,08/18/2008,loved the acevi villaroel Just returned from a long weekend with a few friends; and had a lovely time. Hotel reception staff were so helpful and the rooms nice and clean. In a quieter area; but does not take long to walk to busier areas; like las ramblas. When it got hot it was really great to have the pool and just relax for a bit. Only negatives; probably not enough sunbeds and the pool is quite small. Overall would definately recommend it and if I go back to barcelona would stay here again.
313039,Lara33,08/06/2008,Not good value for money I have rarely been to a hotel with such unhelpful staff; with a few exceptions; staff hardly spoke any English and were extremely unflexible when faced with requests. We were given a noisy room and were unable to change it; when we were 5 mins late for breakfast one day (upon having been misinformed upon our arrival on the previous day by a receptionist struggling with English); one of the staff denied us entry to the breakfast room. On four (!) occasions; phonecalls from abroad could not be put through to our room because the person on night shift did not know how to do it (this might be due to the hotel catering to Spanish guests primarily who use their own mobile phones). When we asked whether it was possible to keep the room an hour longer on our day of departure; yet again; our request was denied in a very unfriendly way.On the positive side; the rooms are clean and nicely furnished; and there is free wireless internet in the rooms. If you don't mind the bad service and decide to go for this hotel; make sure to ask for a room which does not face the street!
313039,bevjane,08/02/2008,Clean; friendly hotel We booked this hotel at short notice for a three day break in Barcelona. It is situated in a quieter part of the city; about a 15 minute walk to the central square and the shops; bars and restaurant. This wasn't a problem though; as it was a pleasant enough walk. The hotel staff are very friendly and the rooms are beautifully clean and well furnished. There is free internet access provided with two computers on each floor. The breakfast selection in the dining room was not huge; but there was a varied selection of items available and we certainly had no complaints. I can recommend the chocolate pastries!!I would recommend this hotel. Nothing bad to say about it.
313039,InspirationLondon,07/18/2008,Good but not really a design hotel I stayed at this hotel 2 years ago and more or less the standard hasn't changed. Good location if you want to be in the Eixample; it's about 10 to 15 mins walk to Paseig de Gracia (for shopping) and Ramblas; but at night you'd want to use taxis to get around. Rooms are nice and comfy; even though they are starting to show the first signs of wear and tear (which is not that stilish to me). This time I tried the breakfast room (breakfast was included in the room rate): there's a good variety of food and nice wholemeal croissants (never seen these before); but not sure the whole lot is worth 鈧?15;00 per person per day (if you have to pay it separately)? Pool is very small and the gym is tiny (more like a small area with free weights and a treadmill rather than gym). Still a good option if you just want to burn the extra calories from an evening out eating tapas :-). Overall a good hotel with good services and a decent standard; but don't expect the Hilton or Mandarin Oriental! :-D
313039,ceeceeAmsterdam,04/07/2008,Disappointing We reserved parking at the hotel and even phoned the hotel to confirm this. Upon arrival the receptionist told us in a very rude and dismissive manner that the parking was full and that we'd have to park elsewhere. The elsewhere turned out to cost 23 euros a day and was quite far from the hotel. My husband then asked to see the manager who was even less accomodating and extremely unpleasant. She had a contradicting story and said that the parking had flooded. She also pointed out that a person should choose a hotel for the room and not the parking!There was also a terrible smell of sewage in the elevator which also filled our room and did not make for a very romantic ambiance (perhaps it was the flooded carpark.)At times there was no hot water and we ended up taking cold showers. We were all in all rather disappointed with the hotel and do not think it is worthy of 4 stars.
313039,Elparaiso,03/09/2008,Not bad all round Stayed for four nights based on tripadvisor reviews. The hotel is quite well located; a couple of minutes from Urgell metro stop and under 15 minutes walk from Las Ramblas. The room was modern; stylish and clean. It had a bath with shower and separate shower; which is great if you want to avoid a fight over who gets up first. We had a double room which was really a twin with two beds pushed together. Not the best but the beds were comfy enough.Made little use of staff at reception; but they were friendly and efficient and spoke good English. Did not take the breakfast as I found the 14 euro price a little rich. Happy enough to go out and get something elsewhere. Took a taxi to the airport at the end of my stay to avoid metro/train hassle and it came to 20 euros before tip.Overall happy enough with my stay; but it is not the cheapest accommodation for its class and if I return I will probably book elsewhere.
313039,rbrys,02/23/2008,Great hotel ! I spent only few days in Barcelona and needed to stay in a hotel with a close location to the main attractions. I was travelling with my wife and 2 years old daughter so we were looking for some quiet location.The hotel was just exactly what we were looking for. It's really new; with well furnished rooms and wide range of services. The junior suite we took surprised us: it offered a lot of space and comfort. Big plasma in the living room; some smaller LCD in the bedroom; jaccuzzi; shower and a lot of stuff that came out to be really helpful as one of our bag had been lost during the trip.The staff is really friendly and helpful; no problem with english and arranging things.You can find bus stops and subway station close to the hotel and it takes only 15 minutes to get the to the main square of the city.We spent there wonderful time and it acctually convinced us it's possible to go around and visit cities having a lot of fun with a small kid.
313039,Gillym32,02/06/2008,Nice Hotel Stayed here for 3 nights from 1st - 4th February with a group of 8 girls. The hotel is lovely; modern; clean and the staff were very friendly and helpful.The only thing that upset us was that when we arrived at the hotel around 5.00 p.m. that we were told the kitchens don't open until 8.30 p.m. and we couldn't get anything at the bar or any room service. The kitchens are open from 7.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. then from 8.30 p.m. to 11.30 p.m.. In between those times there is no food available. We went out in search of somewhere to eat but there is not many restaurants around the area.The hotel itself is a 10-15 min walk to Las Ramblas when you get your bearings but the hotel ring for taxis for you and they are very cheap.The breakfast was nice with a great variety of foods both hot and cold. Plenty of bread; cakes; fruit; youghurt; cheese; meats; salmon; juices and cooked foods; e.g. omlettes; sausages; rashers; eggs. I tried some of the cooked foods and didn't really like them so I just stuck with toast; cheese ham.The bar is quite small but the drink is very cheap. We had a few there before heading off to different locations.All in all I would stay there again but would prefer a hotel nearer the sites and within short walks of restaurants and bars etc..We didn't use the spa or pool facilities. We tried to book some treatments before we went but were told there was no facilities. I think maybe the staff didn't understand us but there are lovely treatments available; we just didn't avail!We had to fly to Reus Airport as our flights were cancelled to Barcelona. We used the bus transfer from Reus to Barcelona for 鈧?0 return. The only thing was the bus company only put one coach on and that was full; they did organise a 2nd coach after about 20 minutes. Coming back on it the same thing happened and this was a bit of a mess and there was a delay too. We didn't miss our flight but it just added to the travelling times so I would definitely fly directly into Barcelona the next time I travel there.We went on the open top bus on the Sunday but the heavens opened and we didn't get to see many sites; but these things happen and we'll just have to return to see them again!!
313039,Raymondas,01/28/2008,Flawless stay We made a booking having relied on previous reviews. It's great that our expectations were neatly matched by reality. Due to flight resheduling we arrived late at night and were warmly and promptly checked in. Despite the late hour the receptionist kindly advised us on places to visit and supplied us with the city map. The room itself proved to be modest but well kept. The bathroom was modern and cosy at the same time. Throughout our stay we were spending most our time exploring the city so we showed up at the hotel at nightime only and were always glad to find the room properly tidied. The hotel is situated a bit away from the main attractions so we had a good chance to have meals at several nearby non-touristy places and get soaked through with the city air. Getting to the center wasn't problem either - a nice 10 minutes by foot or approx. the same time by tube. Recommended.
313039,Bluemilky1968,01/26/2008,Great base for exploring This hotel is situated about 15 minute walk from Las Ramblas but there is a metro station 2 mins away with a direct line to the main tourist area.The hotel was very clean and the staff very helpful; although we did not use the spa or swimming pool there is free internet access on each floor for guests to use. Breakfast was ok but as it was not included in our booking it was expensive at 13 euros each. Our room was ok in size however the walls are very thin and you can hear everthing in the corridor but did not affect our enjoyment.
313039,DublinSar,12/10/2007,Very pleasant stay... We have just returned from Acevi Villarroel where we had a very pleasant stay indeed. Certainly a hotel we'd recommend; thats located in a quiet area but within walking distance of Las Ramblas (about 15 mins) and very near a Metro stop called Urgell (5min stroll.) Lovely small bars and bakeries nearby with alot of restaurant choice in the area too (inc. a Vegetarian). Overall interior of the hotel was very positive with a clean; modern decor and friendly staff. The room was again very modern with a really comfortable bed which is a definite plus! On the downside however there was a really odd gap around the bathroom door which meant sharing the room can be an interesting experience (!!) a bad design flaw that sadly let the room down. This combined with the fact that the shower wasnt working (going hot and cold) for the 5 days we were there and even though we did tell the staff (twice) nothing was done to fix it! We would go back however as this was hopefully a once off experience!
313039,learnlanguagesfast,10/31/2007,Modern; comfortable; friendly Modern hotel; suites are spacious; restaurant has good food yet very hard seats. Not that many bars and restaurants near the hotel but there is a great deli nearby and a cafe on the end of the street which does nice breakfasts (you can sit outside). Good location for town too with buses outside the hotel and a metro 2 blocks down.
313039,beccasparkles01,10/16/2007,so classy! we booked here very last minute and ended up paying a lot to stay here but it was well worth it - a really lovely hotel! we'd come from a trip around older parts of europe and this hotel - although business orientated and on the outskits of the city - was fantastic. very new and clean; superior bathroom decor; beautiful bed; desk; flowers; mini bar etc. quite spacious and cool which was nice as barcelona was hot! it's quite a walk to the main part of the city but is fine if you enjoy walking...maybe 15 minutes to la rambla. we had a really nice time here although i would recommend trying to get a deal where breakfast is included - always a good bonus and we missed out!
313039,getzklein,10/08/2007,Great hotel! This hotel was fantastic! I would have rated it excellent if it weren't for the location being a little out of the way. I wanted to stay up in this area to see how locals live; but there was nothing going on. It wasn't a very long walk to La Rambla; etc; but I wouldn't recommend this location to people who want to walk everywhere.The hotel itself was awesome. The rooms were modern; new and nice. The staff was polite and helpful.I was happy with everything and would recommend this hotel. We had the opportunity to stay in the Born district for our first few nights in Barcelone; but we stayed in L'Eixample district when we got back to town before flying home. I would highly recommend others areas to stay in first; eventhough this was a great hotel.
313039,Deeliteful,09/23/2007,We loved this hotel and its location We (a group of 4 women of un certain age!) stayed here for 3 days. We loved the hotel.The rooms are lovely all glass and wood and the bathrooms are fab!The staff are very friendly and speak much better English than we do Spanish.Spa was great and the decking is lovely with really comfortable sun loungers around the pool (but - our only BUT - the pool is really shallow - less than a metre).We got a great rate via booking.com and it was worth every penny - great location - walking distance of Urgell Metro and even to Catalunya Sq (about 15-20 mins).Highly recommended.****
313039,BandJH,09/16/2007,Loved the Acevi We have just returned from a 5-night stay at the Acevi Villarroel and it was first class. We got a great deal via asiarooms.com.The rooms are ultra-modern; spacious and clean. Even had BBC1 on tv and a cd/dvd player! The staff are friendly and helpful. The restaurant and bar are good and serve food until 11.30pm. Buffet breakfast was more than adequate with plenty of choice which was ideal as I am diabetic.Each floor has two computers with free internet access using fast broadband connections.The hotel is centrally located - just 2 metro stops from La Rambla. Don't forget to buy 10 metro tickets for a good saving. For an excellent and inexpensive meal try CafeMama on Carrer Doctor Dou.Would also recommend a day trip to the mountain top monastery at Montserrat. 19.50 euros for a combination ticket from the station at Pl Espanya which includes metro/train/cable car/funicular - brilliant!!
313039,John013,09/07/2007,My new favourite in Barcelona I booked this hotel on their website and got a great deal ! This hotel is DEFINITELY the place to stay in Barcelona !!! Great location in the heart of Barcelona鈥檚 Eixample.Wonderful lobby area with really comfortable and tasteful seating 鈥?WiFi throughoutOutdoor Swimming pool on 2nd floor which I dod not use; small boutique in lobby selling merchandise including bathing suits 鈥? Onsite SPA treatments and spa鈥?br/>I paid Euros 202 for 2 nights which was a great deal鈥?.my room was a roomy King on 7th floor; bathroom with a walk-in power shower and separate bathtub; twin sinks; laptop sized in room safe 鈥?well stocked mini bar 鈥?TV with English TV channels (ITV; and two-three BBC channels as well as CNN and BBC news) In room CD Player and stereo radio.Very high tech d茅cor and tasteful d茅cor 鈥?good amenities in the bathroom.Excellent Room Serviced Menu good value for money (Three course dinner room service with a full bottle of wine was Euros 32) excellent quality of food.Breakfast buffet is one of the best I have seen in Barcelona at any hotel. (Euros 12) I found it so refreshing to find a hotel in Barcelona with a GOOD product; excellent staff who all really enjoyed their roles and went out of their way to exceed your expectations; the hotel was full when I was there; which offers good value for money. I definitely recommend this hotel 鈥?if you can get a room; both dates I need in future are already sold out !! On 7th floor there were courtesy desktop PC鈥檚 with high speed Internet access available.Food Beverage service and the Chef were TOP class !!
313039,trollgutten,08/27/2007,Very; very good Great hotel in a fairly quiet neighborhood. The reception staff is very helpfull. They recommended a restaurant called L'Olive(5 min walk from the hotel). It was excellent! If i go back to Barcelona i will stay at this hotel again:)
313039,aquariusem,07/29/2007,Reached all expectations Couldn't fault it! This beautiful hotel has everything you could wish for from cleanliness to amenities; service was superb; restaurant was amazing. Having stayed and (previously) worked in hotels I have high expectations and this hotel reached it. If you like class you are in your element.
313039,GiancarloRoma,07/27/2007,Great ... for the nigthlife lovers! Period: 20jul-23jul(3nigths)Price: 鈧?60;00 (per nigth - dbl)- LOCATION (5pts):just in the heart of the eixample area; few blocks from the nigthlife venues; walking distance from everything;- SERVICE (5pts):simple but efficient;- ROOM (5pts):modern design; pretty large (considering the price I paid);- BATH ROOM (3pts):it's ok ... but ... why do they use glass door for bathroom in Spain?- POOL (4pts):middle size but nice;- BUILDING (3pts):modern building in the eixample.
313039,eddlemc,07/10/2007,great city! We stayed in accevi villarroel for five nights in June 2007. As a young couple; we were looking for somewhere relaxing; yet somewhere that was within walking distance of the city; and we were extremely happy with our choice! We found that the hotel lived up to everything that we had expected; and more! The hotel is situated in a lovely area; we felt extremely safe at all times of the day and night. we got the bus from the airport to the hotel; and it was very easy to find- using a great map that we got at tourist information at the airport. the room was fab- we were very impressed by the size of the room and the bathroom. the air conditioning was excellent and the bed was very comfy! We had a tv with a good selection of stations; a cd/ dvd player; and loads of little extras; from bottle openers to sewing kits! we found that the standard of cleanliness in the hotel was excellent. the pool is very small; and is surrounded by other apartments; but the sun deck is lovely; and it was so nice to be able to relax under the sun after a long day sight-seeing! the waiter service to the pool is excellent. we had six full days in barcelona; and we were kept extremely busy everyday as there is so much to do and see. the tourist bus; the bus touristic is excellent; and a two day pass is great value; as it is not possible to see everything in one day. Overall a great hotel;which we would definately recommend!
313039,Degas,04/13/2007,Good Business Hotel Had a night here in early April - just out of the main tourist area - about a 5 min cab ride; but convenient for the hospital. Good business hotel - wireless access in all rooms and PCs with internet acess on the landing. Pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to a 7th floor small suite on checking in - very roomy with teak floor and decor. Flash bathroom with loo/bidet in one room - large circular jacuzzi bath in another and multi jet shower in yet another!! Varied breakfast buffet next morning. Only criticism was the noise percolating into the street facing room overnight -was convinced that the fire alarm was going off at 6am - it was only an ambulance siren below - but felt like it was in the room!
313039,noonie4,11/07/2006,4 star hotel without hot water Stayed in this hotel for 4 nights nov.2006. Lovely rooms ;Lovely bathroom but no hot water when we needed it! This was very disappointing as you don't expect this in a 4 star hotel. The hotel have said that we may be entitled to a part refund! Will keep you posted!
313039,Dave07,10/06/2006,Perfect for a long weekend city trip We visited Barcelona at the begining of October; for 4 days.The hotel proved to be a wise choice; since we wanted to visit the city as picture snapping tourists.Location: the neighbourhood is quite safe; enough restaurants and breakfast places (Dino Pan rules; just one street away from the hotel; going to Hospital Clinic). Easy access to Metro (2 stations within 10 minutes walk) and bus in front taking you to the harbour; beach; etc. Also; Aerobus (bus to airport) was around than 10min away from the hotel; if you did not feel like paying 20EUR to get there with a taxi (taxis seem quite cheap in Barcelona - compared to a glas of sangria for example).Hotel: the lobby looks bigger in pictures. The breakfast is too expensive considering the alternatives around the hotel. Otherwise; restaurant very nice (not expensive for main courses); staff very helpful (although their English is sometimes a challenge). The spa (sauna; jacuzzi; fitness) located in the basement were adequate; well maintained and not very busy. If you really want to sweat; you have to tell the reception beforehand to heat up the sauna more than 60degr Celsius. The pool from the second floor is tiny and flanked by other apartment blocks which stare at you while you sunbathe or try to swim....Room: Clean; reasonably large; shampoosco. provided daily. Minibar stocked; but with rather high prices. Our room was a standard double and featured bathtub and shower cabin. Our friends room; called the same; got only bathtub. A thing to consider maybe when checking in. Safe was present. Cleaning staff were very careful; nevertheless spoke nothing else but Spanish (bring your dictionary with you if you have no Latin friends; else you will end up ordering randomly in any restaurant).The neighbourhood of the hotel (about 3 blocks in any direction) is a gay paradise we assumed; since in the evenings; besides tourists (easily to spot); all the rest were paired accordingly and walking on the streets; going to the restaurants; etc.. No freaky stuff going on and no red light district feel or image in the area. Just that it looked to be a little different from this point of view; than other reviews pointed out (some might feel uneasy; especially in pubs or restaurants in the proximity of the hotel)....However; the location again of the hotel is VERY good; providing enough separation from the busy tourist center (worming with pocket thieves) and from the harbour-adjacent neighbourhoods; which are NOT suitable for returning late in the evenings; and yet offering easy access (i.e. either by walking 20 min to Gaudis houses or by using the metro for 20 min to get to Tibidabo Amusement Park) to any of the cities attractions.We would definitely go there again if we visit Barcelona in the future.
313039,ameldamarcus,10/05/2006,Fantastic Hotel in a quieter area of Barcelona Stayed at the hotel for a week in September 2005. We wanted a hotel with a pool so that we could sightsee all day and then return and relax for a while at the pool side. The pool is small but it did the trick. Also the hotel did not charge for the towels for the sunbeds - that was a first!Staff were first class; both at reception and in the dining area. The breakfast was fantastic; fresh fruit ;coffee; bread; scrambled egg etc.The hotel was very clean and modern. The beds were huge and very comfortable and the bathroom was absolute luxury. We brought a few CDs with us and we found the whole experience very relaxing.The hotel is in a quieter area of Barcelona but only 15 minutes walk to Catalunia square. Strongly recommend eating at the Italian restaurant across the road from the hotel nicest pizzas I have ever tasted in my life.The 2 day tour on the sight seeing bus is worth every penny. I recommended the hotel to 2 other couples; who went at different times and they also had a great holiday.Also the airport bus stops not too far from the hotel and 7 euro for 2 one way it was great value.
313039,Nutter08,07/19/2006,It's Beautiful! I have booked this room through hotelopia website for my sister's hen weekend for a very very resonable price.To be honest at first we all feel bit out of place and far too casual for this hotel; but then we ignored our fear and enjoyed our holiday. Its defo not the place for you to walk around in towel with nothing underneath!! Not that we minded of courseThe rooms.... wow.. its so modern. luxury; massive! couldn't ask for a better room; this is definetely by far the best hotel i have ever stayed in! The bathroom is so clean; i fell in love with that huge mirror and wash basin! The bed itself was sooo comfortable; never had the best night sleep in my life!! the pillows; i have check is hypoallergy; you have got nothing to worry about!it got sauna; jacuzzi; swimming pool; gym etc... what more can you ask for?? They even got an internet access one computer on every floor of the hotel! even better; free of charge!! So i was really pleased with my booking and we were off ready to explore the city itself; the staff could've been bit more informative about the direction especially to find the darn metro!!the first two days trying to find the metro (mind you not the whole day; did explore some other areas) failed miserably even with the hotel staff's drawings of a map on the paper.. at the end i finally found it and it was completely different directions from what the staff have drawn... but other than that they have been really helpful and booked taxi for us quite often.Restuarant was beautiful and the food was really lovely...only little downside of this hotel; they don't provide tea or coffee even in the room our elsewhere apart from breakfast... but there's a cafe that opens until very late just two doors away from the hotel! also resonably priced... that cafe even make lovely crepe would recommend anyone who love them!Think i better stop waffling now;one last question.. would i go back again??YES YES YES!!! without doubt!oh i forgot one little warning; they have a full lenght glass revolving door at the front; just be aware and try not to walk into it!! one of the girls in my group did! The staff wil help you if you did anyway! :)
313039,Punchinello,02/23/2006,Modern; Clean and Quality The Acevi Villarroel is west of the old town and about 15-20 minutes walk from Las Ramblas. As soon as you pull up to this hotel you can see that it is ultra-modern even though it is terraced within the other buildings. The lobby is clean; fresh and bright and gives you the feeling that you have picked a good one.This is a business hotel and so check-in is efficient and easy. There are no racks of tourist information like you get in other hotels but you are given a good map at check-in.Our room was a rare triple but it looked more like a twin with an extra bed slotted in because it was placed across the wardrobe 鈥?but that was no real problem. The wooden floor was smooth and cool. There was a TV and a CD/DVD player ( DVDs could be hired from reception) and a free safe in the wardrobe. The bathroom was splendid with toilet; bidet; shower and separate bath. The only downside was that the wash-hand basin was in the bedroom; admittedly behind the wardrobe; but I have never liked this setup. However; I got used to it after a couple of days. The TV boasted BBC 1 on channel 23 and CNN on channel 24 but I never did find BBC 1. There were a few German channels; 1 French and the rest were either Spanish or Catalan.Just outside our door was a desk with two free internet PCs 鈥?privacy was maintained using translucent glass shields. You had contact with the world on-tap!The breakfast was nothing to write home about 鈥?an average business; continental affair 鈥?but again no big drawback. The staff were very friendly especially the barman who did not know that a scotch is not poured in the same quantity as a glass of wine!! Cheers mi amigo!There are lots of restaurants around the hotel if you do not want to go back into the heart of the city and they should cater for most person鈥檚 tastes 鈥?meat; fish; pasta; pizzas; vegetarian etc. Right next door on the left is the Salvi which is a good choice but not open on Sundays (speciality buckwheat filled pancakes). La Bella Napoli across the street is OK but the language barrier can get you the wrong meal.If you are arriving at Girona Airport by Ryanair; after picking up you luggage; exit the door into the passage way in the main terminal; turn right and you can purchase your bus ticket and timetable for the Barcelona Bus for 19 euros return. Exiting the airport; the bus is across the road towards the right. Make sure you get the one to Barcelona because they also go to Girona city and Barcelona Airport (our tickets were green if that helps). The bus drops you off at Estacio Del Nord in Barcelona and that鈥檚 where you get the return bus. The cost of a taxi from Estacio Del Nord to Acevi (pronounced A-THAY-VEE) Villarroel is less than 12 euros. I would certainly use this hotel again.
313039,ATripAdvisorMember,01/09/2006,Very disappointing We stayed in the Acevi Villarroel from the 1st January for 3 nights I have to say we were very disappointed. The first room we were given was tiny with a window that looked onto other guest rooms virtually no natural light. The receptionist was helpful enough to find us another room and though this was slightly bigger it still had a small window bore very little resemblance to the pictures of a room on the hotel's website. The bathroom was fine but the swinging door complete lack of privacy was a bit off putting the light was very dim made getting ready to go out a bit difficult. The rooms are not soundproof we were located on the main street above a bottle bank so ear plugs were a must. Barcelona is a beautiful city we really didnt spend much time in the room but we would have preferred something slightly less minimalist austere. There is a dvd player cd player in the room but the surroundings aren't conducive to relaxing having a glass of wine before you go out. All in all I wouldnt rate this hotel highly will not be returning.
313039,devastar,12/15/2005,Fantastic base in a beautiful city! We stayed in the Acevi Villarroel Hotel Barcelona for a long weekend at the end of October 2005 and found it to be a great place to stay. Area: It is not in the tourist area but is only 15 minutes walk from Las Ramblas. It is quiet at night; it feels like a residential area but quite safe; we never felt threatened or intimidated and it means you get lovely nights sleep. The streets are well lit and a taxi will get you there cheap enough if you don't fancy walking. It cost 鈧?0 from the beachfront to the hotel at night. The metro line is also at the bottom of the street and gets you most places for a few Euro and the buses are quite close too. It鈥檚 a great spot to get wherever you need to be. Hotel: The hotel is quite new and has a bit of a business hotel feel to it; but that is not a complaint. There is lovely original paintings and sculptures around the place which are for sale so it feels a little like a gallery. The rooms are fantastic! We had a massive bathroom with his and her glass sinks; big shower and a large bath with a central tap so two could happily share :) and the whole bathroom was clad in green marble. The beds are comfortable and our room overlooked the outdoor pool. It was a great room for a couple; a few candles and it was very romantic. They even have a mini hifi system in each room so you can listen to the radio or play your cd鈥檚. The d茅cor is very sharp and modern and well thought out; but the bathroom doors are glass and are frameless so you can hear what鈥檚 going on inside a bit and see shadows so it may not be the best of place if you don鈥檛 know the preson you鈥檙e staying with that well. In reception there is a DVD library machine where you can rent DVD鈥檚 and watch them in your room; or you could bring your own to watch. Each floor has 2 computers where you can access the internet for free which is really handy for finding good restaurants and checking emails. The hotel provided a book on the area in the room which had details of restaurants and shopping as well as tourist attractions and maps. The air-conditioning in the room worked fine and was very quiet. The only downside was that although the rooms are advertised as soundproof we were woken early on Sunday morning by builders working on a nearby building. I don't think we heard much from the other people in the hotel; but we defiantly heard noise from outside. The hotel also has a bar and restaurant in it. We decided to treat ourselves that first night; but it turns out that the restaurant in the hotel is actually average price for a nice restaurant in Barcelona. We found the service and the food to be fantastic and the waitress more than happy to help us choose a wine or give some information on the city. The breakfast is fine; nothing spectacular the usual continental breakfast of bread; jam; cheese; ham; yoghurt etc. Fine for setting you up for a day if it's included with your stay but I wouldn't pay any extra for it. We didn't use the spa or swimming pool so I can't comment on them; but we could see the pool from our window and it isn't a huge pool. It's more of a watering hole type one for cooling off; don't think you'd manage many lengths in it but it looks like a nice place to splash about a cool down. The whole area is on the 2nd or 3rd floor and overlooked by apartment blocks a few stories higher so it's not very private. All in all; the service was great; the facilities fantastic and the city amazing. I鈥檇 happily stay there again next time I go to Barcelona providing I can get a good deal on it.
313039,ATripAdvisorMember,11/22/2005,Not Central This is a lovely hotel; rooms were very nicely decorated; the bathroom luxurious. It was nice quiet by night for sleeping and the beds were very comfortable. Rooms were well cleaned every day. Staff were friendly. I thought the restaurant was a bit pricey. It is wise to arrive earlyish for breakfast if you want hot tea coffee! I dont think the hotel was tourist orientated though. There is no information regarding public transport or places of interest available in the hotel lobby as you might expect although we were given a street map. The staff at reception were approachable but I found their English difficult to understand. We were directed everywhere on foot. It is a long walk to the main streets like La Rambla. Being very pregnant; this was hard going.We were not informed about the bus service or the Metro. Overall I think this hotel is very reccomendable but do your homework regarding the modes of public transport available to you because if you find walking difficult this hotel is too far from the main attractions.
313039,llewelynmawr,10/09/2005,An excellent hotel An excellent hotel. We found the staff very helpful. The only minor criticisms are that there were not enough coat hangers in the waredrobes considering two people were staying there. Extra hangers were supplied however the following day. The only complaint with regard to service is with breakfasts. The staff did not seem to be able to anticipate when there were going to be shortages. The food however was excellent- as was the coffee- not always the case in hotels. I wish that I had read all the reviews as we would have used the bus service instead of walking to the Metro- but the bar at the end by the station was worth the walk. There did not seem much evidence of being close to a gay area but BEWARE PICKPOCKETS particularly on the Metro. Every one seemed to have come in contact with them in one way or another. I would certainly use this hotel again
313039,ATripAdvisorMember,09/20/2005,forget about the staff and the hotel is excellent as i am writing this i am sitting in the internet corner of the hotel; as all barcelona is full of people i was luck to stay at this hotel which is almost perfect. however when you come here you have to take into account the staff who can be a bit terrible. they wont speak english that easily and might be problematic as into questions about there area; but just dont take it to hard as we say take it easy .
313039,lgkinney,09/13/2005,An Excellent Hotel in Barcelona Acevi Villarroel 4 STARS . VILLARROEL 106 08011 BARCELONA ------ I have traveled extensively in Europe over the past several years and I have to say this hotel is by far my favorite. True; it has the feel of a business style hotel; but with class. It is well decorated with modern art. It sits on a typical Barcelona commercial street. I stayed at the Acevi Villarroel in September of 2005 for three nights.I had no problem with any of the staff at the Acevi Villarroel. They were business oriented but were patient with all my questions and took the time to go over locations to visit on maps they supplied. The staff's ability to speak English was adequate to very good. The rooms are large by European standards; all with individual air conditioning. They all have hardwood floors. The bathrooms are luxurious; modern; large; with full glass showers and tubs. The baths are all done in marble. They are by far the best bathrooms I have seen in a hotel in Europe. All rooms have televisions with radio/dvd players and if you wish you can get a movie at the front desk and watch it on your TV. The beds are firm and they have ample extra blankets in the closet if you need them. Outside street noise is almost non-existant. Each floor of the hotel has two modern desks side by side partioned by privacy glass with free high speed internet access on LCD monitors. There is a restaurant off the lobby. There are numerous good restaurants within a ten minute walk from the hotel. The breakfast buffet was good. It included cereals; fresh fruit; bakery items; coffee; tea; various juices; cold cuts; cheeses; and melons. The buffet also has hot scrambled eggs; bacon; and small hot sausages. The hotel is about a ten to fifteen minute walk to the Plaza Catatlunya. It is a short two minute walk to the metro/subway stop called Urgell. The bus stops are in front of the hotel. This hotel gives you an absolute pleasurable lodging experience.
313039,ATripAdvisorMember,09/05/2005,Acevi - good allrounder ! showReview(3844478; 'full');
313039,ATripAdvisorMember,09/03/2005,A hotel with class showReview(3839902; 'full');
313039,Queen56,08/20/2005,Great Hotel for the Money showReview(3791836; 'full');
313039,ATripAdvisorMember,08/04/2005,Excellent Hotel showReview(3737306; 'full');
313039,KilosUk,07/28/2005,Perfect hotel showReview(3709252; 'full');
313039,KatrinaUK,07/14/2005,Shame about the staff. showReview(3666322; 'full');
313039,jessiej,05/09/2005,Expectations were exceeded showReview(3451759; 'full');
313039,j0nnybarfly,03/22/2005,Very nice hotel showReview(3293672; 'full');
313039,ATripAdvisorMember,03/09/2005,Recommended showReview(3261887; 'full');
313039,DublinJane,01/04/2005,Brilliant Hotel showReview(2974851; 'full');
313039,alexam,11/29/2008,Bello; molto bello!!!!!! showReview(22292095; 'full');
313039,andromaque,09/20/2008,Beau compromis! "tout brille"
313039,aeg08,09/10/2008,Peccato per la posizione!!! Lavandino del bagno
313039,lass,09/02/2008,Mittendrin und trotzdem ruhig showReview(20553154; 'full');
313039,lass,09/01/2008,Gerne wieder; Empfehlenswert showReview(20553153; 'full');
313039,lass,08/26/2008,Ein gutes Hotel in naher Lager zur Rumble showReview(19643912; 'full');
313039,djoules,08/12/2008,Bien situ茅; bien 茅quip茅; confortable showReview(18879406; 'full');
313039,lass,07/30/2008,J'y retourne sans h茅siter showReview(18537479; 'full');
313039,lass,07/18/2008,Gerne wieder showReview(18537478; 'full');
313039,lass,07/02/2008,ACCUEIL TRES CHALEUREUX showReview(18537469; 'full');
313039,lass,05/06/2008,Cet hotel est assez agr茅able... showReview(16730150; 'full');
313039,lass,04/26/2008,gerne wieder showReview(15579411; 'full');
313039,lass,04/19/2008,Barcelone au moins 4 fois par an ce sera l'Acevi Villarroel showReview(15579412; 'full');
313039,lass,03/25/2008,Hotel Acevi Villarroel showReview(14732494; 'full');
313039,lass,03/18/2008,Bon rapport qualit茅/prix showReview(14732495; 'full');
313039,lass,03/06/2008,Super Stadthotel showReview(14732492; 'full');
313039,lass,02/19/2008,Tr猫s d茅sign et agr茅able showReview(13978015; 'full');
313039,lass,02/05/2008,pienamente soddisfatta showReview(13978014; 'full');
313039,lass,01/11/2008,Ottimo rapporto qualit脿 prezzo showReview(13200422; 'full');
313039,lass,01/11/2008,Hotel sehr angenehm showReview(13200423; 'full');
313039,lass,01/10/2008,Eccellente showReview(13200424; 'full');
313039,lass,08/03/2007,Tres belle hotel showReview(11457645; 'full');
313039,lass,05/17/2007,gutes Preis-Leistungsverh盲ltnis showReview(11435364; 'full');
313039,lass,02/12/2007,A deux pas du metro; tr猫s content du comfort et du calme de cet hotel. showReview(11394352; 'full');
313039,lass,06/02/2006,Tr猫s bel 茅tablissement o霉 nous... showReview(11402852; 'full');
313039,lass,12/19/2005,Hotel situato in posizione... showReview(11402854; 'full');
313044,Brodiej,01/08/2009,Good value; and not too far from anywhere This was the 2nd time i've stayed at the Open which says a lot. The location is slightly out of the mix of the main tourist sites being situated near Rockefort metro stop; but you can walk there in 10 minutes or get a tube. Its pretty quiet; the rooms are modern and clean; the staff are friendly and helpful and it didn't cost too much cash either. Only piece of advice is on car parking....the entrance is so hard to see and you need to have checked in before you can get in; so have a plan of where to park up to check-in beforehand. If you've got a car wiith you; the location actually works more.....you can get onto the Grand Via simply by turning right out the car park and going 3-4 blocks down. From there you can get anywhere East or West of the city.
313044,HitchHiker26,08/29/2008,A good base for exploring a great city. This is a good hotel. It's not a great hotel; but it is a good one. When you visit a city like Barcelona; you spend so little time in your hotel that all you really need is a good; clean comfortable place to stay and the HCC Open certainly foots the bill in this regard. Mrs H and I like to walk; and this is a lovely 15 - 20 minute walk to the Placa Catalunya and the start of Las Rambas. If walking doesn't suit; a taxi will cost around 5 Euro or their is a Metro stop nearby which will have you in the midst o the action within 5 minutes at the grand cost on 鈧?.30.
313044,rr123,07/11/2008,Decent stay Hotel is in nice location close to metro stop and Plaza Espana. Faciltiy is nice. Room is good size and bathroom is also a good size. Free wi-fi available. Did not get room requested and had to pre-pay 3 night stay. Front Desk clerk stated that this was hotel policy. Breakfast very pricey so we eat out. Lots of places to eat near hotel and reasonable. We found Barcelona the most expensive of the cities we visited in Spain. However; people are friendly. Little cava near hotel was unique you must stop bye if you stay here. A little hole in the wall. Metro very easy to use and get around city. Don't eat on the The Rambla TOO expensive try the restaurants on the side streets much better and less expensive.
313044,Pad97,07/04/2008,Great weekend This is a great hotel for anyone wanting to stay close to the centre but in a local area which is non touristy and friendly. There were lots of good local restaurants and bars which were very reasonably priced . Staff on the reception were very welcoming and did all that could to assist us with our stay. The rooms were spotlessly clean and very comfortable. We would definetly return. Our only problem was on the metro . As a group of women we were targetted twice by girl gangs of pickpockets. Watch out for women working in threes blocking your way when you get on the train and trying to open your handbag as you try and move out of the way. Gangs also came up behind us and attempted to cut the strap of a handbag ! We were fortunate not to have anything stolen but it was'nt good to feel that we had to be on guard all the time.
313044,CazGor,05/08/2008,Never fails to disappoint This is the third time we have stayed in this hotel and it never fails to disappoint. It may not be in the centre of Barcelona but it is a 10-15 minute walk away from the centre. There is also 2 metro stops about 2 minutes walk from the hotel; thus making the hotel very accessible to see all of Barcelona.Would strongly recommend the metro to anyone. Trains run regularly and get you anywhere in the city much quicker than the sight seeing buses do. If using the metro there are automated ticket machines at all the stations. Would recommend that you buy a ticket for 10 journeys as it is better value for money than single trip tickets. You will be surprised how much you will hop on and off the metro.Check in was as straightforward as ever. All staff are very helpful and polite. Rooms are quite spacious for some European city hotels and are maintained to a high standard and cleaned on a daily basis.The rooms are lacking tea and coffee making facilities but with cafes and eateries near by you do not really miss this. The hotel also does not have a restaurant but there are that many eateries in Barcelona that this is not a problem.If eating out I would recommend that you eat away from las ramblas as this is much cheaper. There are many good places but my personal recommendation would be to eat at the maremagnum. There is an exceptional italian restaurant called Gino's. I have never been able to fault the quality of their food or the service. There is also a good all you can eat buffet at the maremagnum also.For those looking to relax; I would recommend a trip to the beach at barceloneta. If you want to go to some of the main attractions such as Gaudi's house I recommend you get there early as queues can be long.Another tip would be if you want to go to see the fountains in the evening I recommend you are there for about 9pm as this seems to be when the main show starts. All in all Barcelona is a city that never disappoints and neither does this hotel.
313044,jaxxy123,04/10/2008,Adequate accomodation for a mini-break We have just returned from a weekend break; staying at this hotel. We being 1 adult and a teenager. The hotel staff are friendly and accomodating; the rooms were comfortable and very clean and the location is perfect for touring the city.We became very familiar with the workings of the Metro and this hotel is in a location that is accessible to all of the major sights; whether you want to walk or ride.Booked room only; and never realised how much I would miss the 'luxury' of tea and coffe making facilites in the room. After a long day out; the restaurant was closed and the room service menu very limited. The nearest cafes have not quite caught up with the 'Starbucks' take-away culture so be prepared to navigate your way back to your room trying not to spill a very hot coffee from an ordinary plastic cup! Breakfast in the hotel is expensive at 15 euros if not included in your booking and whilst offering quite a selection is only average.Satellite tv is provided but the only english speaking channels for those of us who can't be bothered to be bi-lingual is CNN and Eurosport.
313044,Gemma1977,12/20/2007,Good hotel - need to taxi to centre though Arriving in Barcelona in the middle of a fiesta; this was the only hotel tourist information could offer us. It was a good standard with helpful staff; but a long walk from La Ramblas and waterfront. Parking was under the hotel; breakfasts were buffet style and OK.
313044,Tinkerbell12,12/04/2007,HCC Open and Barcelona - Amazing Barcelona is a fabulous city that is a must see for all. Have been twice and loved it both times. People comment on how unsafe Barcelona is; I never felt unsafe once. Stayed at the HCC Open Hotel; I admit the accomodation wasnt that cheap but it was well worth it. The room was spacious and very clean and also had an immaculate en suite. The staff were so friendly and helpful; nothing was too much bother. It wasnt in the main centre but with the metro five minutes from the hotel its hard to complain; its a nice walk back to the hotel at night; roughly 15 to 20 minutes at a comfotable pace. The benefits of not staying right in the centre is the opportunity to explore the quite resturants and bars which are also much cheaper and the people extremely friendly. I would recommend this hotel to everyone and anyone who wishes to travel to Barcelona. I would also recommend Barcelona as one of the cities that you cannot miss out on. Its absolutely beautiful!
313044,jimmylonghurst,10/24/2007,Perfectly fit for the purpose We stayed at this hotel last weekend and would recommend it to anyone. It is a clean and modern hotel with helpful staff and reasonably priced (E110); there is a metro stop about a two minute walk away and the Rambla is about a 15 walk away.We didnt use the bar as it looked a bit soulless but there were enough in the neighbourhood for it not to make a difference. The magic fountain at Placa Espanya is a 10 minute walk away.
313044,Jayaw,09/18/2007,Not great Maybe we were unlucky; but our experience of this hotel wasn't great. On check-in; the girl was indifferent and took literally 10 mins to check us in. She kept answering the phone instead of checking us in.The room was fine; except the bath and shower tap didn't work- you had to run a bath at the same time as having a shower! We left a fault card filled in; but nothing happened.The breakfast is served from 7-11am; which is good; but it was no better than basic. The croissants weren't fresh and the toaster took forever. It did amuse us watching people wait for toast though! One guest asked for soft boiled eggs; which should have been available according to the menu- but the grumpy waitress clearly couldn't be bothered and just said no!The location is good- about 5 mins from the metro- just two stops and a few mins to Las Ramblas. Or you can walk it in about 20mins.In summary- the Open Hotel is ok; but that is about it; we've stayed in nicer hotels for a similar price. I wouldn't go back.
313044,freddiesno1,08/16/2007,Good Choice Clean; tidy; quiet hotel with helpful staff. Our triple room was spacious; clean and quiet.Breakfast is served until 11am which is very handy if you have a few late nights!The location is good; just a few minutes walk from metro red line; 5 minutes by taxi or 20-30 minutes walk to town (Ramblas; gothic quarter; loads of shops; bars and restaurants).No hesitation in recommending it.
313044,WAYLEAF,06/26/2007,City Break Stay We celebrated my husbands 50th birthday in this fabulous city! The hotel lived up to its expectations - the staff were very friendly and helpful. The room was very clean and the linen immaculate. The air conditioning was efficient and the breakfast was excellent. We requested extra pillows and within 5 minutes our request was granted.The only down side was the distance from the Ramblas - it was a fairly long walk but taxis are fairly reasonable. However; Barcelona FC was only a very short distance and was the highlight of our stay!!!!We picked the weekend of the festival of St John (we didn't know at the time of the booking) and the fireworks continued until about 5 am!! We would definitely recommend this friendly hotel to anyone wanting a long weekend in Barcelona.
313044,BigDLondon,05/28/2007,Hum Drum Hubbub with a Hike Stayed here with a friend; in the last month for a long weekend. Room was on 7th floor; fine and functional; the bar was a morgue thoughout our stay; and as it was simply a counter ajoining the eating area; it didn't really feel like a bar. So.. this meant the hotel was simply a bed and shower to us. It was quite a hike from the hotel to Las Ramblas; the Gothic area; or the more old-city part of town that I imagine most tourist would want to visit. It is about 70m from the main thoroughfare and 300m from the metro though; which eases the pain somewhat.As a hotel it seemed to have very little character ; and the communal areas were anonymous and small. A satisfactory ; though forgetable hotel; and if you really want the hotel to be part of the holiday experience; then try elsewhere.
313044,ajinternational,05/15/2007,Great base to discover Barcelona First visit to Barcelona and this hotel suited our needs perfectly. Chose to stay here since feedback from friends and family was that the city centre tourist areas (Las Ramblas etc) would be loud well into the wee small hours. Getting to and from hotel was simple 鈥?we took airport bus (Aerobus) to Plaza Espana 鈥?hotel is a 10 minute walk away.Modern hotel; friendly staff; clean spacious rooms 鈥?pictures on the internet are exactly what we got (not always the case!). Beds are comfortable; air-con is efficient; rooms are double glazed so you鈥檒l get a good night's sleep! Booked through Lastminute.com Special Offer and paid 拢294.00 for 4 nights. Emailed request for high floor to the hotel; which they allocated us. Didn鈥檛 have breakfast at the hotel 鈥?it wasn鈥檛 included in our rate and at 14 Euros per person; it seemed a bit expensive for what was on offer; we did; however; get a free glass of Cava (although the bar area where you claim it from is dead!) There鈥檚 plenty of small caf茅s and great cake shops in the vicinity which offer much better value for money. Hotel is about a 10 鈥?15 minute walk to the University then a further 5 minutes or so to the Plaza Catalunya and the start of the Ramblas. It鈥檚 a nice walk along tree lined boulevards with lots of interesting buildings en route. There鈥檚 also the Rocafort Metro Station just round the corner for the hotel 鈥?the metro system is really simple to use (just make sure you go through the right side of the ticket barrier!)The only 'negative observation' (and not a problem) was the lack of restaurants in the local area - plenty of small bars with tapas etc; but nothing really serving anything more substantial. There's a Mediterranean Restaurant across the road which serves traditional meals - ideal of pig's trotters are your cup of tea... I would stay here again.
313044,trevostar,04/25/2007,Nice Modern Hotel in decent location This hotel is very new so the facilities are quite complete. Lobby area looks modern and efficient; albeit nothing fancy. The room was decent; although mine in particular had a stuffy smell when I first entered; it probably hadn't been used in a long while. No worries though; open the window and the smell was gone the next morning. At least not every room was like that; as my colleague's room was fine. Free high speed internet in the room; which is GREAT. Have to give kudos for every hotel that provide this service free of charge as it is becoming one of the necessities in our daily life; and so many hotels out there still charge you a rip-off amount for it. Here you just have to borrow their Ethernet cable and you're all set to go. Location is very nice; Barcelona is not that big and you can walk to La Ramblas in about 20 min. Of course you can take the subway too which is near the hotel. Nice shops and restaurants in the nearby area although it is not the commercial touristy zone. Think I prefer this to being right in the centre as this feels more neighbourhoody but still convenient. Overall; a good choice that is reasonably priced. No complaints here. So if you are looking for something non-fancy and no frills but convenient and comfortable then go for it.
313044,swisstravel,04/03/2007,A very good hotel I really like the location of this hotel - we took the bus from the airport and it stops about 2 blocks from the hotel. Close to the subway and an easy walk to the center (about 10 - 15 min). It is in a very safe neigborhood. Check-in was a bit slow but it was during a busy time and the staff was courteous. Did not try the breakfast as it was too expensive. There is a cafe right across the street; which we went for breakfast. The room size is good; very clean. The best thing about this hotel is that it i right next to a health food store that sells all sorts of gluten free product (important to me since I have celiac disease). There are cafes; convenience stores nearby. Definitely would stay here again if I visit Barcelona again.
313044,sswamy,03/23/2007,Great hotel no problems with the location I stayed at the HCC Open with my parents (senior citizens) and had a great stay. Ten minutes after we arrived at Barcelona Estacion del Norte bus station; my mother's handbag with ALL her documents got stolen (side note: beware of the rampant theft problems in Barcelona and keep your stuff in a money belt or other secure location..). After a long couple of hours spent at the police station and then scouring the station trying to locate the purse possibly discarded after the cash was taken out; the HCC Open was a nice place to come and take a breather. The staff at the front desk (who spoke great English) were pretty helpful with the whole situation. We got a triple room with 2 double beds for a great price. The room was clean and when we had problems with our TV; the staff immediately sent someone up to fix it. The restaurant food is reasonably priced and decent; and there is internet connectivity (though it will cost you 3.50 for 15 minutes). In terms of location; the HCC is a little bit away from Las Ramblas and on a Sunday/late nights there isn't much open near the hotel by way of restaurants or shops. However; the Rocafort metro stop is a stone's throw away from the hotel and you can basically get anywhere more interesting within 5-10 minutes. I've stayed in Las Ramblas during a previous visit to Barcelona and found it to get a bit noisy/rowdy during the weekends and thus decided to try something a little out of the city for my parents to get a good nights' sleep. I think it was a wise decision!All in all; this is a great hotel and unless you're particular about staying in the centre of things; I would recommed it without any hesitation!
313044,johnnyboyEngland,02/28/2007,Good Hotel; Not so good location This is a good quality 3 star hotel. It looks like a 4 star but without the add ons of gym/pool etc. The hotel is clean and rooms are a reasonable price.The downside of this hotel is that it is a good 20 minute walk to the Placa d' Catalunya and another 20 minutes to the beach/port.There is a tube station nearby but there's a long walk back from a late night out.I would recommend breakfast in a place just across the street. the food is good and because it's off the beaten track; reasonably priced.
313044,Lite,09/13/2006,Modern hotel We enjoyed a 4 night stay in this modern hotel. The rooms were clean and spacious. Although the staff were unable to provide us with the non-smoking room that we had requested in advance; the room provided did not smell.Restaurant - We enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch at Mar de la Ribera - Carrer Sombrerers 7. It is a short metro ride from the hotel to Jaume 1.
313044,Travelling2006,08/16/2006,An absolulte bargain We booked this hotel two days in advance as we were staying on the coast in Salou and fancied a night in Barcelona. And what a bargain - 拢52 for an extremely clean; bright; spacious and well ventilated room.The location is good too especially given the price - a stone's throw from the Gran Via and around 20 mins walk from Las Ramblas. It's also right next to a couple of Metro stations if you don't fancy the walk.Don't be put off by the 3 star rating - this is more like a 4 star but without the facilities such as swimming pool etc.Would definitley stay in this hotel again.
313044,AJSTRAVELS,08/05/2006,Top Quality ! Due to the reasonable price paid and good location of HCC Hotel Open I wasn't expecting great things. However; I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel's cleanliness and staff friendliness. Even though located on a main road the rooms were quiet due to excellent soundproofing and the beds were super comfortable. Breakfast is great here and you are only a twenty minute walk from Gaudi's masterpiece La Pegreda and Las Ramblas. With taxis being plentiful and cheap you can get as far afield as Nou Camp for under 10 Euros. Nearby there are several great little bars and restaurants including a Must See bogeda bar right across the street from the hotel. The only small flaw is the terrible satelitte TV channels provided which only offers visitors local channels; the boredom of CNN or the sports nobody else wants to show channel Eurosport. This aside Open is a great little hotel which I highly recommend.
313044,AnuFinland,07/29/2006,clean but noisy This hotel was OK; but one thing that really bothered me; was the noise. We had our room wright next to a brick wall; and obviously there was apartments right next to it; on the opposite side; so every evening you could here their living and noises of the kids to play even at 02.00 am! And it didn麓t help to close the window; you could still hear it.Othervise; the hotel was good. It was clean; and the rooms were cleaned every day; and the towels were changed every day. There was a good variety of travelling kits in the bathroom: soaps; shampoos; a comb; and everything. The guys at the front desk were nice and very helpful. Safety box was cheap.The breakfast was very good! Croissants; bread; jam; toasts; youghurt; muesli; cereals; milk; juices; coffee; tea; fresh vegetables and fruits; drieed fruits and nuts; all kinds of cakes and pastries. You can also order a warm omelet or for example roasted bacon.The hotel is very near metro station; and there is a pharmacy in every corner! There are a lot of supermarkets that you can buy drinking water. Also there is a Spar market near; where you can buy all the usual supermarket stuff and snacks; if needed.
313044,Frenchies73,06/03/2006,Good Location An average hotel not too far from the center - about 20 minutes walk to center but only a few minutes to Metro. We were asked if we wanted a quiet room and of course said yes - it couldn't have been more quiet as it looked onto a brick wall - very very close. To see the color of the sky we had to stick our heads out of the window and look up. The breakfast buffet was very expensive - 14鈧?- and from what we saw; very limited - no fresh fruit at the end of May in Spain! We decided against it as the welcome was very curt; all tables had dirty cups on them; and the food seemed very unimaginative. This said; it was clean and quiet and we had no problems. We had fun outside of the hotel and really were just there to sleep.
313044,steplulu,04/23/2006,Good Hotel and back again Photos took from On - Off bus
313044,TheStewarts,03/12/2006,Great value for money hotel Our first trip to Barcelona and we weren't disappointed; especially with this hotel. It may only be a 3* but probably deserves a higher rating because of the high standard of decor and cleanliness. The fact it was a totally non-smoking property adds to the freshness and comfort of the hotel. Buffet breakfast was more than adequate and gives you a good start to the day. Metro being close by saved the 15 minute walk to and from Las Ramblas. We definitely would stay here again.
313044,BNSF734,03/08/2006,Great Hotel. Would stay there again We have just returned from a weekend break in Barcelona; staying in the HCC Open and found it a very clean and smart hotel.Rooms were comfortable and quiet. My room overlooked the back of the hotel so had a good view of a wall; but other rooms in our party had a view of the street. Not that it mattered; there's too much to see in Barcelona to ponder the view from the room.Good self service breakfast; with Sausage; Bacon; Eggs and Omlettes available if you shoulde desire them. There is plenty on the buffet though to keep you fed for a long days sightseeing.Very easy to get to from the Airport. get off the Airbus at the Placa Espana and get a metro for the one stop to Rocafort (or walk as we did; its not far) Would definitely stay there again.
313044,ATripAdvisorMember,03/01/2006,Good value; Good location Basically this has to be one of the best 3* hotels i have stayed in. If not the best. No extra luxurys as you would expect from a 3* hotel but the rooms are clean spacious and have internet access (if you bring your own laptop that is). The bathroom is great also.The location is great also from my point of view. As the Urgell metro is a 5min walk alway and is a zitch to use. And links you to all the best places which are only 5-10mins away. Best thing to do is buy a pass for the entirety for your trip. Note: to get from the airport to the hotel either take a taxi or take a train to Sants Estacio and tehn metro to Urgell. But if first time take a taxi to save hassle.
313044,GeorgeB1,11/03/2005,Location OK IF you use the Metro! We stayed 3 days(2 nights) over a weekend at the end of October. The hotel room was good. clean; modern and quiet (we faced a blank wall at the back). The staff were efficient and fluent in English. We did not try the breakfast buffet preferring a cheap light meal in a cake shop (coffee/croissants/bread for less than 5 euros each.) My only doubt about returning would be location. We walked from Sants station when we arrived and this took at least 30 mins. It takes 15 mins to walk to La Rambla and whilst this does not sound much it is a pain at the beginning and end of every excursion! We walked 16 miles on Day1 and then tried the Metro. (nearest station 5 minutes) This was very easy efficient cheap and safe. I would recommend it to everyone.
313044,ATripAdvisorMember,10/13/2005,Nice hotel We stayed in this hotel for 3 days in August; also I took the advise from the trip adviser to stay in this hotel; but I did not see that I was near anything; there was nothing it took us hours to reach the centre of Barcelona; and even there was not life near the hotel; but for the hotel it was nice ; clean; the stuff very very friendly ; the buffet was nice; but no swimming pool ;no nothing; if you want to spend good time in the hotel ; you can not;you must stay out to enjoy your time; but maybe most of the hotels there are the same; not sure if I can say it if I would go another time I would choose another hotel i.e Jazz hotel which I was planning to stay there but the agent had no access to this hotel; it's exactly in the centre of Barcelona and the sea is just behind the hotel.
313044,ATripAdvisorMember,09/26/2005,Great hotel; shame about the location I stayed in this hotel for 5 nights at the start of September. my room was spacious and clean with a very nice ensuite. There was a TV; a mini-bar and room service available 24 hours - if I wanted. It was a three star hotel; but really it could pass of as a four star.There are plenty of tapas bars nearby - and because they are away from the Rambla; very good value for money. Eat at a tapas bar across the road rather than the pricy and limited breakfast buffet the hotel provides.There was a major drawback; in that it was a bit of a treck way from the Centre. A good 20 minutes walk to Place de Catalunya; for example.I got a map from Octopus travel which gave the wrong street. It took me a while to find the hotel!
313044,smartnik,07/17/2005,Great hotel showReview(3676222; 'full');
313044,ATripAdvisorMember,07/06/2005,Good hotel a bit off the beaten track showReview(3639797; 'full');
313044,philbridge,06/03/2005,Great Hotel in a Great City showReview(3527416; 'full');
313044,alanpat,03/17/2005,Very Good ! showReview(3280578; 'full');
313044,ATripAdvisorMember,02/12/2005,5 stars!!! showReview(3181164; 'full');
313044,TonyBelfast,02/05/2005,Great Hotel ! showReview(3164009; 'full');
313044,Tsgtret1,11/10/2004,Perfect... showReview(2817579; 'full');
313044,ATripAdvisorMember,09/23/2004,Wonderful Hotel! showReview(2596487; 'full');
313044,DoriChicago,05/27/2004,Very Nice showReview(2121141; 'full');
313044,ATripAdvisorMember,05/09/2004,Great hotel! showReview(1897722; 'full');
313044,Esther2008,11/18/2008,Buen Hotel showReview(21962978; 'full');
313044,PalladiumParis,08/14/2008,Bien pour le prix showReview(18946603; 'full');
313044,lass,08/01/2008,Gerne wieder showReview(19638610; 'full');
313044,lass,05/16/2008,Ganz nettes Hotel showReview(16589676; 'full');
313044,lass,05/16/2008,hotel tout 脿 fait correct showReview(16589677; 'full');
313044,lass,05/13/2008,Preis-Leistung top showReview(16589673; 'full');
313044,lass,05/05/2008,tr猫s bon hotel showReview(16589675; 'full');
313044,lass,04/27/2008,Hotel de Qualit茅 et Calme showReview(15570062; 'full');
313044,lass,04/24/2008,Bon h么tel showReview(15570066; 'full');
313044,lass,04/22/2008,Hotel 脿 recommander showReview(15570052; 'full');
313044,lass,04/22/2008,Bien situ茅 et confortable showReview(15570054; 'full');
313044,lass,04/20/2008,Gerne wieder showReview(15570065; 'full');
313044,lass,04/20/2008,Gerne wieder showReview(15570064; 'full');
313044,lass,04/18/2008,je reviendrais showReview(15570063; 'full');
313044,lass,04/14/2008,Gutes Preis- Leistungsverh盲ltnis showReview(15570053; 'full');
313044,lass,04/13/2008,F眉r 2-3 N盲chte ist das Hotel in Ordnung! showReview(15570050; 'full');
313044,lass,04/09/2008,Bon sous tout rapport showReview(15570051; 'full');
313044,lass,04/07/2008,hotel sympa; rapport qualit茅/prix sympa showReview(15570048; 'full');
313044,lass,04/06/2008,gutes Hotel f眉r Cityhopping od. Gesch盲ftsreise showReview(15570049; 'full');
313044,lass,03/25/2008,Jederzeit wieder! Sehr zentral aber ruhig gelegen! showReview(14734950; 'full');
313044,lass,03/21/2008,Je choisirai cet h么tel pour un prochain s茅jour showReview(14734949; 'full');
313044,lass,03/20/2008,un bon h么tel; 脿 c么t茅 du m茅tro... showReview(14734947; 'full');
313044,lass,03/11/2008,sehr nett showReview(14734937; 'full');
313044,kico12,03/04/2008,Hotel molto buono Baglio optical
313044,theorohan,03/02/2008,vraiment bien; bon rapport qualit茅/prix showReview(13988748; 'full');
313044,audi67,02/18/2008,Chouette h么tel! showReview(13651132; 'full');
313044,lass,02/09/2008,hat uns gefallen showReview(13982024; 'full');
313044,djekos77,11/21/2007,Agr茅able et superbe h么tel showReview(10963948; 'full');
313044,lass,08/17/2007,tr猫s bien situ茅 mais les chambres sont minuscules showReview(11448134; 'full');
313044,lass,07/30/2007,Ottimo il rapporto... showReview(11408704; 'full');
313044,lass,04/13/2007,H么tel sympa 脿 recommander showReview(11404633; 'full');
313044,lass,03/24/2007,satisfaisant showReview(11400712; 'full');
313044,lass,08/30/2006,Hotel ok showReview(11336750; 'full');
313044,lass,08/11/2006,H么tel id茅al pour visiter barcelona showReview(11336749; 'full');
313573,joeleen,12/03/2008,Candour re the Courtyard I stayed at the Courtyard with my 2 daughters for 3 nights from 30th Nov. to 2 Dec. As other reviewers stated the location is its best assett and deserves 10 out of 10 for this. We were travelling from Ireland and were tired and cold on arrival and were left feeling even colder after check in. The young hostess was rude and unfriendly and; apart from asking for my credit card details and telling us our room number she spoke not a word; no welcome ; no how are ye; no explanation of hotel facilities etc. This is so alien from other welcomes we have received in the United States I can only assume she was a stand in; we never saw her again and all other hotel staff were warm and friendly.Our room was big and comfortable but the toilet got blocked after a few uses. However it was fixed on request. We had a late flight on the day of departure and were allowed to hold on to the room until 2 o'clock at no extra cost.All in all we had a comfortable stay at the Marriott; quiet and efficient. More privacy might be afforded to guests when accessing their safety deposit boxes; however. It's a pity our first impression was so negative!Noeleen C.Kildare;Ireland.
313573,JL254,11/12/2008,Great Location Like many of the previous reviews; the hotel has a great location for tourists. A 2 minute walk and you are on Newbury Street which is a great area of Back Bay. Then a few more minutes and you are at the Public Garden and Boston Common. We loved the shower- big shower- no tub. The room was fine. The one draw back was the staff using the ice machine outside our room at 6am for 10 minutes; not allowing us to sleep in. Overall- it was a nice stay but a great location.
313573,TravellingLincs,09/15/2008,Ideal location Standard hotel accommodation with easy walking access to the touristy things we wanted to do during our two night stay. We breakfasted in the hotel; the all in menu was better value than picking individual items from the menu.
313573,yogidharma,08/19/2008,a potential problem for staying this hotel Here is the problem. Our regulations require the folio (to get the reimbursement) but the hotel won't supply one if the reservation was made by a third party organizer and the third party organizers don't have the data to provide a folio. The hotel itself is great but they are not willing to solve the problems like the one I had.
313573,DublinIrelandDanny,08/11/2008,Great hotel Spent two nights in Boston at the Courtyard and loved it.Hotel is in a magic location; walking distance to seemingly everything we wanted to do in Boston. We had a 2 queen room which seemed very large; with a huge flat screen tv on the wall.The bathroom was nice; with a shower that had two shower heads; but only one would operate at a time(?!)Interestingly; there was a little laundry room next to the ice machine on the 2nd floor! A coin operated washing machine and dryer; with a big box of detergent! Very unusual; and handy too.The desk staff were superb; and we would stay here again anytime.
313573,Lostkit,08/09/2008,Excellent Hotel and Location We booked a suite here for seven nights at the end of July and would recommend it to any fellow Boston visitors. The room was spacious with a seperate living area which was ideal for relaxing in and watching TV in the mornings. We had breakfast in the hotel most dayss and though not a massive menu; it was all cooked and served to a high standard; and the buffet was good value at $15.The hotel is in an ideal location in the Back Bay area. Situated one block away from Copley Square; the Prudential centre; Boylston Street and near two 'T' stations it is easy to get around Boston. Also a 15 minute walk from Fenway Park; which is a must to watch a game or for the stadium tour.We would certainly stay at this hotel on our next Boston visit
313573,rjmacf,08/07/2008,Highly recommended Great choice for all of central Boston and Back Bay. Very smooth check in with pleasant staff and a great buffet breakfast. The rooms are great. Large enough for two adults and two teens. Shower a little counter intuitive for Europeans but hardly a big issue.Location as has been pointed out is superb with short walks to Boylston and Newbury St shopping. Easy stroll to Boston Common and if you want even through to Cambridgeshire Mall and Fanueil Hall. Subway is close if you prefer although stations being rebuilt this year and public AC not very effective/non existent. Would like to return. Costs very very reasonable for centre of a US city and much better than anything in NYC.
313573,tsimmis,08/04/2008,We love this hotel! We stayed for 7 days and would stay there again. The location was great -- right in the middle of Copley Square; across from a grocery store and down the street from all the shops and restaurants; and right around the corner from the T. The staff was warm; friendly; helpful and accommodating. The room contained a small fridge. The rooms were clean; clean. The beds great; with nice linens. The hotel lobby almost felt like you were in a small European hotel; where you could go sit on a couch and have a coffee or tea (complimentary); watch tv; or use the computer. My daughter; who can't sleep; was perfectly fine; comfortable and safe going down late at night to make a cup of tea or surf the internet.
313573,ACS76,07/09/2008,Amazing Location We went to Boston for a 3 night stay with our 2 year old son. The hotel was in an amazing location and we could walk pretty much everywhere. It was close to shopping and dining experiences. The hotel itself was extremely clean and well kept and the staff was very friendly. The only drawback was that the size of the room was small for a king size bed and a pack and play; where my son slept. The bathroom was spacious and very clean; and the housekeeping was done in a very timely fashion. We would definately recommend this hotel for a great stay in Boston!
313573,ustraveler100,07/06/2008,Great hotel! We had a great stay at Courtyard Boston Copley Square! The hotel staff was warm and inviting upon check in. Our seventh floor corner room had a king bed and a decent sized bathroom with a great shower! The location was close to everything including Boston Common and the Freedom Trail. Beacon Hill and Fenway Park were a short walk away along with the shops and restaurants of Newbury Street . The hotel is only two blocks from a T station which makes getting around easier if your feet are tired. We would definitely stay here again while visiting Boston!
313573,Mom45,06/21/2008,Difficult Check In We booked two rooms at this hotel based on the good Trip Advisor reviews available at the time. The hotel is fine -- clean and convenient -- but nothing to get excited about. It took the staff about 30 minutes to check us in because 1)They said they had computer problems (but they checked someone else in ahead of us) 2) The lady who was helping us did not have full command of the English language and was trying to give someone on the phone directions without success 3) They just did not care very much. They also gave us a bad key and asked to reswipe my Amex 3 separate times; including after we we put our luggage in the room and came back downstairs. We were given two breakfast coupons for each room; even though we were paying for 3 people per room (which totalled $261 per room). Even after our unecessarily difficult check in experience we were advised that each additional person would have to pay $14.95 for breakfast -- which turned out to consist of the usual free type of continental breakfast you see everywhere. I made coffee in my room; ate a granola bar; and gave my kids the breakfast coupons. The other room got charged the additional $14.95 so they were not kidding. I will say the valet was great; and helped us get a very nice car and driver for our trip to the airport. Regardless; I would not stay here again.
313573,uofabecca,06/16/2008,Loved the Courtyard Copley Square!!! We LOVED this Courtyard. The location could not have been better. This was our first trip to Boston; we wanted to be in the middle of everything and this hotel is. Walking distance to almost everything. The staff was courteous and accomodating. Our room was spacious and comfortable- the bathroom was a good size and there was plenty of water pressure in the shower:) Exceded our expectations in every way. Definately worth every penny.
313573,BrianNVA,06/15/2008,Quiet Sanctuary; but Service Needs Work This is an older building; but the rooms and bathrooms are a decent size; at least for one. Two people might get a little claustrophobic; especially if one is my girlfriend. The hotel is centrally located and easily accessible by T (Copley Station). Lots of places to eat nearby. I had a nice quiet room with bay windows; a king size bed; and a large bathroom - Room 605. Itfelt like a nice quiet sanctuary after a long day's travel or work.Front desk clerk was very friendly and accommodating; allowing me to check in at 11:00 a.m. on my first day. Unfortunately; that was partially offset on the last day by a failure to cancel my wake up call as requested - a pet peeve. Housekeeping repeatedly screwed up (didn't put away the ironing board; left water in the coffee maker from previous tenant; didn't replenish the packs of coffee; failed to clean the coffee maker - they must have something against caffeine).Finally I never could figure out how to set the thermostat - there seemed to be only two settings - on (or Arctic); and off. I left it off and was comfortable in early June.I will probably stay here again when business takes me to Copley Place. I prefer staying here to the hotels which are physically located in the mall - this Courtyard seems quieter and less hectic.Bottom line is the facilities are fine; but the service needswork.
313573,TravelGal401,04/04/2008,Clean; convenient; nice staff but nothing exceptional Stayed here for 3 nights on business at the end of March/beginning of April. The first night I was in a room next to the stairs that was so small the tv was on the side of the bed (ie I had to lay in bed and turn my head to the side to watch it). Room window looked onto a brick wall; no fridge; the temperature control was broken and I heard the two heavy stairwell doors slamming all night. Beware the room next to the stairs! Staff was very accomodating the next day and switched me to another room immediately. Most staff was very nice and friendly; remembered me. My second room was much larger; window looked onto actual view; had a fridge; working temp control; etc. Much nicer. The hotel was very clean; pleasant enough though pretty generic mid-tier chain hotel. Thought the breakfast buffet was included but it costs $15. A little pricey. Go to Au Bon Pain or one of the myriad of other places near by instead if you want to eat quickly and more cost effectively. Free hi-speed internet access in the room (but not wi-fi) was nice to have. Overall; perfectly fine but nothing to write home about.
313573,MajorTravelDoc,03/29/2008,Great location; good value; loved it! View from across the street
313573,Spicetraveler,01/01/2008,Great Time in Boston My boyfriend and I just returned from our weekend stay (Dec. 28th - 30th) in Boston and had a great time!Hotel InfoThe hotel staff was great and we had a room on the 6th floor in the corner that was nice and spacious. It also had a fridge and free internet access which was perfect for us. Very convenient location; which was close to T train station and restaurants (some were expensive). We also like to go dancing so we suggest checking out Saints right down the block from the hotel. Additionally; with the fridge we went to grocery store (Shaws)across the street to get juice and snacks.The breakfast is a bit expensive ranging from $10 to $15 so we preferred to eat cereal in our room (hoping to save some money) or get something in the area.The workout room (not a gym) is a bit small but my boyfriend was able to get a workout. It just can't hold more than 2 or 3 people.Where to eat?We love to eat and had a lovely lunch at Osushi (some of the BEST sushi I have ever had). I would suggest going to Chinatown (you can also get cheaper souveniers at a Washington St store on the way to Chinatown) or Chilli Duck for malaysian or Thai food. Also you can get good seafood near Quincy Market while visiting the freedom trail.All in all; I found Boston very similar to New York and look forward to visiting again.
313573,BTraveling47,01/01/2008,Great place to stay This is a wonderful place to stay. It is located on Exeter Street in Back Bay which is within an easy walking distance of the Prudential Center and Copley Place; the T (subway) station; the Back Bay train station; Newbury Street shopping; and too many restaurants lounges to mention. It definately has the cozy feel of a boutique hotel. The front desk staff should be commended for the service they provide to their guests. They are extremely friendly and helpful. Housekeeping does a terrific job -- our lovely room was spotless. The breakfast restaurant is bright; cheerful and the buffet is yummy. Service was excellent. We booked through the AAA website and received an very reasonable rate. You will love this hotel !
313573,londongal,12/06/2007,Great staff We stayed here for 3 nights at the end of Nov/beginning of Dec and I can't fault the hotel or its wonderful staff. They were so helpful in all aspects of our stay; and seemed genuinely pleased to be able to help us. In a great location; with lots of places nearby easily walkable.Don't expect a large lobby; but also don't let this put you off.
313573,cpool,11/25/2007,cpool great location and near fantastic restaurants. I made it to a Sam Adams pub night and was pleased how the hotel made this a social time for all the guests. I met a new customer at this event and booked another $50k of business. Not a bad return. The staff in the hotel was very accomendating and the bedding was very comfortable. I am bring my family back next month to stay for a 4 day tour of Boston and am looking forward to another stay at this hotel.
313573,lolabarney,11/21/2007,cute little "boutique" style hotel stayed here for 3 nights in Nov/07. THE GOOD: interesting little (100 rooms or so) hotel with a boutique feel. nice quirky rooms; all are different; as this was originally an apt. building (built about 100 years ago). Windows are large and they open. Get a room higher up if noise bothers you as this is right downtown. Great location very close walk to the subway and lots of restaurants and upscale shops. Compared to other hotels nearby (the Lenox; etc); your money goes a little further here. Staff seems genuinely pleasant; not just going through the routines. Rooms were done in 2004 but are holding up well. Bathroom was large with lots of clean towels; granite counters; strong water pressure in the shower and toiletries of a quality that you would expect from a mid-scale chain. free use of internet in the lobby and free cookies/fruit in the afternoon at the front desk.Breakfast buffet has sufficient choices and the kitchen and service staff did a great job of keeping everyone happy. Even the cook came out to see if we needed anything.THE BAD: a few too many stray hairs on the bathroom floor (which always drives me crazy). An extra blanket in the closet would have been nice; as our room was cold; especially when you sat next to the window. it was my second visit here and hopefully if we go back to Boston; we will stay here again
313573,skmp1117,09/27/2007,Great Option in Back Bay The Courtyard at Copley Square is a great hotel with a great location in the Back Bay. It's less expensive than the other hotels in the area (Westin's around the corner and Lenox Hotel across the street) and you still get more for your money. Our package included free hot breakfast each morning of our stay. The rooms seem newly rennovated; are very clean and the beds are very comfortable. We were in Boston to see Boston; so we didn't need the extra services that might come with a Westin or larger Marriott; as we were out and about most of the time. We even had a very early flight for which the front desk arranged a car service to pick us up for the airport at 4:30. All in all; great service; great breakfast; great beds and rooms and a very reasonable rate for the area.
313573,tweeddoc,08/20/2007,Just what you would expect. Just got back from a 2 night stay here and I was quite satisfied with the hotel. Stayed with my two teens - 16 and 14. We were told only a king was available but that a double queen room would likely come open if we checked in early enough. No such luck so we all crammed in to a King with a cot - no problem but a bit cramped. Very nice room - all the amenities; very quiet and clean. Staff were very pleasent - great suggestions and eager to please. Two problems: (1) The breakfast buffet is overpriced and quite underwhelming - head outside to one of dozens of surrounding restaurants instead; (2) The exercise room is an after thought; tucked into the basement; inferior machines (cardio only as i recall) with no windows and no ventilation and no AC - the room was well over 100 degrees making exercise impossible. For the price this hotel is an excellent choice and I would definitely stay here again.
313573,NewHampshireSusieQ4,07/30/2007,Great Value; location and accomidations! I stayed at this hotel last week and was very impressed by the size and comfort of the rooms; the cleanliness; the location and the extra amenities offered by the hotel staff. Being right in downtown Boston and within walking distance of the shops on Newbury Street; the Boston Public Garden and the Copley Place was a wonderful treat. It was even better that the cost was not exorbitant and the rooms were beautiful appointed. There were also great extras such as a chocolate fountain in the hotel lobby for guests to partake in on Tuesday early evenings accompanied by the movie Willie Wonka on a flat screen TV for the kids. I highly recommend this hotel and I will certainly look to stay there again. Great valet parking too - and no more cost than what the parking garage would be!
313573,bandogal,07/21/2007,Greast Saff and Location This Hotel is in a fantastic location and has a very helpful informative staff. They have a beer tasteing night we also had a choclate evening with lots of yummy choices. Breakfast is available with buffet or ordered items. Our room on the top floor had a great view and we could access tours or walk to two large indoor malls. Lots of eating choice from high end to fast food. We are a senior couple but lots of families at the hotel for weekend specials with tours of the water on the Duck The friendliest Marriott we have encountered.
313573,nathalie27,07/21/2007,Great Hotel; Great location Stayed a few days in June. Great location. Valet parking. close to the T. close to Newbury. Supermarket across the street;Clean room; very quiet; Alitte pricy but if you want to stay in that area; it's the price to pay. Would not hesitate in staying there again.
313573,mtmsells,07/12/2007,Bad service I was deeply disappointed in their service. I was promised a specifichotel room and when I arrived; they said they did not have those types of rooms at their hotel. The confirmation sent by the Marriot stated that I would be given the room promised. No attempts were madeby the hotel to fix the situatuion.
313573,bethpage28,07/08/2007,great hotel close to t stop and duck tour We stayed at this hotel a few days in early July.Everything was great with this hotel valet parking across the street;low vehicle traffic on the street; around the corner was a Shaw supermarket;the Duck Tours start around the corner also.Two blocks away was Newbury Street with alot of outside restaurants; a little pricey.T stop block and half away.Two stops to the Boston Commons and three stops to Fenway Park.Room was a nice corner king room on the 9 floor.Very clean and had a little refigerator did not keep things real cold.AAA package came with breakfast buffet every morning.The normal charge for the buffet is $ 15 dollars.Would stay at this hotel the next time we are in Boston.
313573,DC17C,07/04/2007,Great Room Great Location I booked this hotel after seeing some other good reviews and I was not disappointed at all. I had booked a 2 bed queen suite some time ago but 2 days before we were due to fly I noticed they had a good rate for the Boston Experience Package which included breakfast and tickets for the Duck Tour; science museum and Imax theatre for only $10 more a night. I was able to make the change to this rate on the website. The Hotel location is excellent- close to the Prudential Centre Shops; the Duck Tour and plenty of Restaurants on Boyston Street. The suite (room 509) was lovely - very spacious - bed room with 2 large very comfortable double beds and a seperate living room with sofa bed; second TV etc This was very useful when our 5 yr old son was awake at 3 am and the rest of us wanted to sleep.. Nice bathroom with good quality smellies and bathrobes in the wardrobe. Breakfast was excellent. My kids loved the DIY waffle maker.
313573,robills,07/04/2007,Loved the Courtyard! Loved the Courtyard! I booked this hotel through expedia because we got a good rate (for Boston) 170 bucks (canadian) a night with the Godiva Getaway package. Was a quick 10-15 min trip from the aiport; taxi driver didn't have any problems finding it. Taxi ride was 21.95 not including tip. We took the T back to the airport since we still had our Charlie Cards to use. Front desk was quick and friendly; they were great with directions too. The room was clean and fresh; beds and pillows were the best. The best part was the breakfast (included with the godiva package); it was fabulous. Bacon; sausage; eggs; belgian waffles with WARM REAL maple syrup as well as your regular toast; bagels; cereals and beverages. More than adequate. It was also convienient to the Copley T stop (right around the corner about a 5 min walk). We took the T everywhere; very easy to figure out. Many things are also within walking distance...Newbury Street; Prudential Centre; Boston Common; etc. Great hotel; great comfort; great staff; superb breakfast; good location. I would definetly return.
313573,MadTownTraveler,06/14/2007,A nice surprise off Copley Very nice but small hotel very near the larger Marriott Copley Place. Hard to locate -- my cabbie tried to drop me at the main Courtyard by Marriott downtown. Evidently; this hotel was recently rebranded as a Courtyard.The rooms were normal large-city sized rooms -- in other words; they were a bit small. But for one person or a couple; they are fine. The shower was excellent - large with a good spray. All the room amenities were fairly new and functional. The bed was veyr comfortable and the room very quiet.The only complaints were that the room was quite cold. The thermostat seemed stuck on full air conditioning. This is NOT a full service hotel. No bar or restaurant; but there is much nearby. Cabs are not easy to catch; it's on a side street; but the bellman ran a block away to get me one.Hotel staff were very pleasant and helpful. Nice place to stay.
313573,Beach710,06/04/2007,Courtyard Boston Copley Square Worth a Look We stayed for 4 nights over Memorial Day Weekend. We got a really good AAA discount. The room was nice enough but no refrigerator as stated on the website. Housekeeping was good enough and did leave extra towels as requested.Free Samuel Adams beer on Thursday night was fun.The location is really great; close to the Duck Tour; close to a couple of malls and Newbury Street. Within walking distance to Copley Square and the Bostix booth. We walked to Boston Common and the Public Gardens; no problem. I have to admit after reading the excellent reviews I was just a little disappointed. I was definitely expecting too much! I think maybe the sign stating you can get a free $5 Starbucks gift certificate for a Tripadvisor review may be part of the reason for the great reviews.There were a couple of minor negatives: there are a couple of stairs at the entrance of the hotel we had to drag our suitcases up. I don鈥檛 know why it is not a ramp. One of the front desk employees was not very friendly. There were some really strange noises in the room; fortunately only the last night did the noise actually disturb our sleep. We were on the 10th floor; trying to avoid the street noise but I think it was a mistake.Overall for the price I would definitely recommend this hotel
313573,psf4kids,05/21/2007,Loved the convenience We enjoyed our stay. The hotel was very clean and convenient to various restaurants; the T; and tourist attractions. The staff was very helpful and friendly. We hope to stay here again in the near future.
313573,BigDaddyMelrose,05/20/2007,great location Clean room in a great location. We did not need our car. We could walk or take the T. The room had everything we needed for a short stay and the hotel staff provided good information for all of our questions
313573,kemond,05/08/2007,Great location What a pleasant surprise to see this hotel. It's a grat location; just down the block from Copley Place; across the street from Shaw's. It has a touch of history; a good-sized room; and the usual Marriott ambience. We'll definitely be back.
313573,jealibaer,05/03/2007,Enjoyed our stay! We enjoyed our stay very much. The staff was very polite and informative and the accomadations were clean and comfortable. The only drawback for us was the lack of a pool/hot tub. Other than that; it would have received an excellent rating.We would definitely stay there again.
313573,ruledbymercury,04/30/2007,Great location; nice accomodations! Copley Square Courtyard Marriot.
313573,rossbc,04/25/2007,Great hotel in a great location very nice hotel...recently renovated friendly staff...ask for a top floor to minimize noice from the street
313573,TonyATroy,04/13/2007,88 Exeter Historic Hotel I just spent a week staying at this hotel and it was very pleasurable. The staff are very helpful and friendly. They go out of their way to make your stay very enjoyable. The hotel was converted around 2003 from an historic apartment building in Boston known as the 88 Exeter. They have on display various antiques and memorabilia from the building along with the original stained glass window that was in the door of the original building. Everyday the have fresh fruit and homemade baked cookies (the cranberry-nut cookies are yummy) at the front desk for those staying at the hotel. Also; almost every day they have a themed happy hour from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. During my stay they had a massage session one night; a Willy Wonka chocolate tasting an other night and a Sam Adams tasting on another night.The rooms are well decorated; spacious and come equipped with a coffee maker; refrigerator; iron/ironing board; internet connection and bathrobe. It is between Boylston and the Avenue of the Arts right next to the Boston Public Library. Also; it is very close to a Shaws Supermarket if you want to stock up the refrigerator. The hotel also has is own restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch. Give it a try -- you will be very happy you did.
313573,na74,04/01/2007,Great Place This is the great Hotel Perfect location. We will stay here again
313573,rdk8,03/21/2007,Recommended Stayed here for three days in March 2007. Room was furnished very nicely. Common areas were small but appropriate to a Courtyard Marriott. Staff was friendly. Workout room was miniscule.
313573,MelisaAmex,03/11/2007,Geat staff and hotel The staff from this hotel is excellent; Renee will make sure; that you will have a great time in Boston services is A+++..I travel a lot; at least 45% of the time and never felt so welcome and acommodating; like in this Boutique Hotel; I work for American Express and this is my numbers one choice.
313573,dbg38,01/13/2007,courtyard surprise the courtyard on exeter street in boston; is a small european style hotel...with wonderful surprises...immaculate; charming;special location..and very courteous staff . i didn't expect this type of hotel; when i heard courtyard..I would fully recommend this hotel to anyone coming to the boston area.diana
313573,travelbugstark,12/24/2006,Fantasitic I just stayed the Courtyard in Copley Square Boston and it was outstanding. I was greeted by a lovely Welcome' when Arrived and was made to feel at ease staight away. The room was something out of this world; a large room with a king bed but it was desinged that you had a feeling of the room being really large. It had a new smell about it; the room was very clean and well appointed. Though for me the best thing were the staff really helpful and they surprised and many occasions they were just fantastic. For example Maddie overheard it was my wife's birthday and secretly sent a bottle of champange to the restaurant she had found for us. On one other delightful occasion we had our trip planned out with trips to musuems etc and at teh end when we came back there was a plate of cookie that they make on the premises but becuase we missed the cookie time they sent some to our bedroom. If ever you go to Boston you really should try the Courtyard it was great for me. Dave Stark
313573,ymcebs,12/17/2006,Very nice hotel; but... We stayed for 1 night - the hotel is very well maintained; staff was very nice; location is great!But; our room (702) was facing the Boston Library; and there was an engin noise coming out of that building all night long.I would stay again in his hote; buy stay away from room facing the library.
313573,travellinghopefully,12/01/2006,Nightmare - stay away After reading all the great reviews here; we decided to try this hotel. It was a complete nightmare!\ First; they tried to charge me for an extra night despite the fact that the manager had communicated to me that would be happened. Then she (the receptionist; one of the rudest people I have ever met) refused to honor the rate I had booked the room at. Thank goodness I had printed out the confirmation. She was nasty about the revised rate. Then she gave us a room that barely fit our luggage; much less a rollaway-again; the confirmation showed we had requested a rollaway. So she pulled a bait and switch and offered us a suite for $75 more; we were exhausted so said we would take it. What a disaster! The pullout couch had a huge hole in it; there was no one to make up the bed and the air conditioner didn't work (which she also refused to believe). It was worn; small and smelled. We left; went to the Fairmont where they treated us like royalty. Just goes to show you get what you pay for
313573,rhkfreespirit,11/14/2006,Not your typical Marriott Courtyard I had never stayed at this Courtyard since I usually stay at the Marriott Copley Place. However; with the Marriott priced at over $400 a night; we decided to try the Courtyard and I was very surprised by how modern; upscale and large the rooms were. As a matter of fact; it made me realize that the big Marriott across the street needed a facelift and that this Courtyard was much nicer in spite of the lower price! (They even offer free high speed wired internet access in all rooms!)Obviously; the drawback to the larger hotels; is that it has a small lobby and restaurant that is more self serve than a real restaurant and that room service is provided by menus from outside restaurants. However; given that you are in Boston; you have many restaurants within walking distance and tend to only stay in the hotel for the night to sleep.I will definitely stay here again and highly recommend it for both business and leisure stays.
313573,nicinchic,11/13/2006,Nice hotel We stayed here this weeekend. The hotel was very nice and the rooms were nicely updated; small; but every room in boston is. We didn't have a refrigerator; or ice on our floor. Those were the only two negatives. We had purchased the rendevous package; and for the extra price we received a half split of champagne and cheap chocolates. I'd skip the package for sure; as we only got that on one of the nights. The breakfast was Ok; but quite unorganized in regards to seating. There was one computer for the hotel to use as the business center. Couldn't ask for a better location; especially if you are taking the duck tour. Walking distance to Back Bay and the South End; Copley and Prudential are out the front door.
313573,shellman,11/13/2006,GREAT Hotel-Compares to 5 Star Hotels We stayed in this hotel during the last weekend of October. It was amazing! It is by far the BEST Courtyard we've ever seen. We often stay at higher end hotels (Four Seasons; Ritz; Westin; Fairmont; etc); and this hotel was better than most of these properties! It is a small hotel (81 rooms) with a GREAT location; GREAT service; and GREAT amenities! It is close to everything-T station; Copley Square; hundreds of wonderful restaraunts; great shopping...everything! Using Marriott reward points; we expected an average room. However; we were given a very large room that was much nicer than the room that is pictured online. During our stay; we made several different requests. Each one either met or exceeded our expectations! We visited friends staying at the Marriott Longwharf and felt that our room; location; and amenities were much better than the Longwharf (and less expensive also). Our stay even ended with a nice surprise....a Lincoln Towncar was available to take us to the airport for less than a cab would have cost us. If you are going to Boston; I would definitely check to see if the Courtyard Copley Square is available...you'll be glad that you did! When we return to Boston; this is where we will stay!
313573,acnj,10/02/2006,Great Hotel!! Great; cozy hotel in Copley Square. I recommend it to everybody.
313573,ajcjims,09/12/2006,Suprisingly Great! My company booked a room at the Marriot Hotel in Boston and I thought it was the Marriot Copley . I found out that I was at the Courtyard by Marriott accross the street. I was a little upset at first because I was in meetings all day. I never stayed at the courtyard before. I walked in and the check in was easy and fast. The front desk staff was very helpful. They had cookies and fruit in the lobby. A beer tasting ....never heard of that one at a Courtyard but I was educated while drinking beer. Who would have thought of that. I invited a couple of my coworkers staying at a different hotel and we had a wonderful time. I will stay here again. The location is great; complimentary wireless; the decor was very elegant for a Courtyard.
313573,Texas2233,09/08/2006,A hidden Jewel! We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Copley Sq in August and found this 鈥渂outique Marriott鈥?hotel as an exception to the rule.As we checked in; we received an invitation to the evening鈥檚 complimentary activity- their Willy Wonka Chocolate Fountain. We were delightfully surprised and our children were absolutely thrilled! What a great start to our weekend get away to Boston!Our double queen room had 2 queen beds with ample room for my husband and I and 2 kids! The room was clean and in- room refrigerator was an added plus.The close proximity to the Duck Tours across the street and the Shaw鈥檚 Supermarket were 2 more features that made traveling with children as easier venture.The staff couldn鈥檛 have been nicer! We always received a 鈥渉ello鈥?as we passed the front desk and the morning breakfast staff provided very good service. We loved the Boston baked beans with eggs! Tried for the 1st time! Great Location; Marriott Rewards; and great Hospitality made this hotel a great and fun find for us!
313573,MPI57,07/20/2006,Wonderful hotel! My family (husband; me; two sons; ages 10 and 12) just returned from a three day stay at the Courtyard Boston Copley Square. It's a wonderful hotel in a great location. It's not a large hotel; which gives it a nice; cozy quality. The rooms are a good size. The beds are very; very comfortable! The hotel's location is great - it's right around the corner from one of the Boston Ducks loading sites. It's also about a twenty-minute walk from the hotel to Fenway Park. Copley Square and the Prudential Tower are also nearby; along with many shops and restaurants. We did have a couple of problems during our stay; but the general manager and the front desk were very accomodating and made everything right. I would definitely stay here again and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to spend some time in the Back Bay.
313573,ATripAdvisorMember,07/11/2006,Great vacation! The hotel was nice!The service was great!The location was perfect!The accomodations were excellent! We'd definitely go back!
313573,sunseeker06,07/07/2006,Good Location and good Service Stayed here at the end of a New England tour and for the 4 July celebrations. The hotel is really small for a Marriott; but it still has most of the things you expect. The check in and out was quick and hassle free; they allowed a late checkout without charge or fuss (so we could recover from 4th July celebrations!).They do not have a car park but the valet will park / collect your car from a adjacent public park; there is a huge charge (like all hotels in Boston) of $40 a day. I really recommend NOT DRIVING in Boston as parking is a real problem and expensive. Taxi's are plentiful and fairly cheap the 'T' goes most places tourists want to see.The hotel offers free broadband in the room so take your laptop; but if you need the internet and don't have one (like me); the hotel allows use of their office and internet for free as well.Didn't try breakfast at the hotel but it looked resonable and on a par with places outside.The building is quite old and historical but totally clean and like new inside. The room we had was on the top floor (standard room) with good views across the city; tea coffee makings in the room and a fridge. Also had haridrier and iron / ironing board. Good size closet and plenty of drawer space.The area the hotel is in is just off Newbury with shops / restuarants on the door step so it is great to have a meal and stroll back. Staff were freindly and efficient. Would totally recommend this hotel.
313573,ATripAdvisorMember,06/29/2006,Right size; Right place; Right price Courtyard by Marriott Copley Square may be a small hotel ; b ut it's big on value and in a great location. The staff was very accommodating and the hotel offers weeknight activities in the lobby including beer tasting chocolate night.Our room was small but adequate. The marble bathroom was quite large given the rest of the room size. The price ( under $260 ) is hard to beat especially where it's located -- Copley Square area. It's within walking distance to all major attractions (trust me; we walked to Fenway Park and back from the Aquarium (different days mind you)). The Prudential Center is a block away as is great shops and restaurants on Boyleston as well as trendy Newbury St.
313573,ATripAdvisorMember,06/11/2006,Excellent stay that exceeded expectations We stayed here for two nights in the middle of a two week trip to New England. We stayed saturday 3rd June and Sunday 4th June. I had read the reviews on Trip Advisor before we booked and I was not at all disappointed; in fact it surpassed my expectations. The room for us as a family of four (children aged 10 and 8) was of an excellent size (two large beds and still plenty of other space). One of my daughters slept on the windowsill; it was so large and had a padded seat (saved sharing with her sister and fighting all night long!); just wrapped her up in one of the enormous quilt covers. We had a beautiful bathroom and coffee making facilities (which were easily adapted to making tea if you take your own teabags!); had an empty fridge for storing milk etc. an ironing board and iron (not that I used it!) a hairdryer and excellent TV with lots of channels. We couldn't fault them on anything. The room was clean and very comfortable. The staff were excellent; very helpful. The visit coordinator sorted out Duck Tour bookings for me and a restaurant booking for the saturday night (The Atlantic Fish Company on Boylston Street; whch was also excellent and only a 5 minute walk from the hotel). We went to the Boston Tea Party event in the hotel on the Saturday; which was excellent - lovely choice of teas in real muslin teabags in beautiful china cups; accompanied by little sandwiches and cakes (complimentary); excellent and very welcome after a long journey from New Hampshire. My girls were extremely disappointed that we missed a Willy Wonka Chocolate evening whilst there (chocolate fountain); so we will just have to go back and try that out next time. Boston is a fabulous city; feels very safe and there is loads to see. We didn't see it all; so plenty to do on a second trip!! Forgot to mention as well that the breakfast is excellent; well worth the money. Children got to make their own waffles; which was great fun. Buffet was plentiful; with loads of choice.
313573,EastCoastBrit,02/26/2006,Excellence on Exeter St! We stayed here for one night on Feb 10th.This hotel truly is top class for the the money. It is not too big in a convenient location.The staff were very helpful in recommending restaurants; bars and what to do in the city in the short space of time we had.The room served our needs perfectly and the bed was up to the usual Marriott comfort with the featherbed topped mattress and duvet.They were serving a chocolate fondue in the foyer/breakfast area just after we turned up this was complimentary and good fun; I believe they do something similar everyday.We had the continental breakfast buffet the following morning which was very good. Plenty of fresh fruits; yogurts; cereals; pastries; coffee juice; particularly enjoyed the granola topped yogurt with the strawberries in the base!We would stay here again for sure if ever in Boston again.
313573,ATripAdvisorMember,02/10/2006,Best Find in the City I work for a fortune 50 company and we held a worldwide meeting at this hotel in December as well as another smaller event in February. The location; the rooms; and most importantly the staff were phenomenal. They go out of the way to make you feel comfortable and at home while in the center of the city. My highest compliments to Eric Churchill; Hotel Manager; Barbara Bowers; Director of Sales and Juliana Roshi; the lead concierge; they went out of their way to work with us on pricing; conference needs; and the hospitality was best in class. They went out of their way to ensure that our people had everything they needed and the hospitality events each evening were unique and enjoyable after a long day. You won't be disappointed if you stay here; the price; location and the people are the best.
313573,Historiana,01/08/2006,A reasonable option in Boston An older building; nicely restored; with plenty of character. The staff at the hotel was very pleasant. Our room was spacious and pleasant. Unfortunately; it was a low floor overlooking Exeter Street. This was a problem at night as there is a club next door which seems to attract some significant street noise around midnight. As with all downtown Boston hotels; parking is expensive.
313573,elm01au,01/04/2006,Great hotel with excellent service showReview(4324931; 'full');
313573,ATripAdvisorMember,11/24/2005,One of the best!!!! showReview(4142164; 'full');
313573,nekobaby,11/17/2005,NEVER AGAIN!!! showReview(4123524; 'full');
313573,SLF4591,11/02/2005,Not your father's Courtyard showReview(4080547; 'full');
313573,LTCDon,10/13/2005,Great experience showReview(4018962; 'full');
313573,BermudaNative,08/20/2005,If a Courtyard could be Five Stars; this one would! showReview(3792909; 'full');
313573,chocolategirl,07/12/2005,Great Hotel showReview(3661598; 'full');
313573,ATripAdvisorMember,06/07/2005,Boston makes for a great visit! showReview(3538315; 'full');
313573,stratfordct,05/02/2005,Had a wonderful experience at the Courtyard by Marriott Copley Square showReview(3433637; 'full');
313573,ATripAdvisorMember,01/09/2005,Great Hotel in Boston! showReview(2990889; 'full');
313883,JJBEANIE,01/08/2009,Beautiful scenery.... The grounds on this hotel are beautiful and well cared for. The rooms are okay. The towels are pretty worn and sometimes smelled like fish!!! The bed was hard and the pillow lumpy. But do you go to spend time in your room???? Lots of hot water for a shower and the room was well cleaned everyday. The beach is breathtaking and people very friendly. If you are looking for nightlife this is not the place. There is a disco but locals are allowed in so make sure you go in a group. You only get free drinks between 11 and 12; other than that it is expensive. The buffet was good; lots to choose from. The pools are beautiful - only one swim up bar so this pool is always the busiest. I would recommend this hotel - but if you want super luxury - not for you.
313883,melandian1,12/26/2008,Not loving it WOULD NOT GO BACK.......luckily we had great friends with us.........THis hotel is soooo not a 4 star. More like a 2 starno one speaks english there........only spanish or french........1 of our 3 rooms had no air conditioning and no one would help us. Then the last night the same room leaked water on one of the beds. there are 2 free restaurants in this resort....but by the time you figure out where they are or how to book them you give up! The others are a charge of a min. $11 US pp. The kids club is terrible............we had 5 kids with us ranging from 5 to 13 and they lasted 15 min there before they returned to us! The entertainment staff didnt come out til x mas eve.......no schedules on entertainment etc. The room was ok............clean....showers had no pressure though. The beach was beautiful....however my kids personally are not beach kids........so we went to the pools (3 of them) every day...however they were freezing .....so I as the mother only went in 2x the whole week.there is really nothing to do at night......so we ended up sleeping at around 9ish....which is fine b/c if you dont get up early you miss the sun!!!!!!if you tip the waiters in the buffet you get good service.......as we were 11 ppl so we got our table saved every morning..... I recommend the banana juice and the crossaisants...yumI would never go back.....................the language barrier is very frustrating......and the kids were bored!!!!!!!!!
313883,Travelqueen008,12/26/2008,Don't Book This Hotel!!! LIBRIO BUILDING
313883,br0kenarr0w,10/22/2008,White sand and larimar waters Beach escapades
313883,nihari,10/21/2008,Loud modern disco terror Close your eyes and think about the white beach; wind; palm sea; waves and dream away. Then BOEM BOEM BOEM welcom to the club says a dark voice very loud in the big speaker boxes.This is the start tune of a 4 times per day session to activate the people for aquagym and other activities of the animation team.You can hear it all over the resort and beach. Away is your dream; your concentration in your book; or you maybe even were snoozing away on your holiday.No way; the animation team is there for the 1 to 3 persons who like it.This is terrible. If you stay there longer; you can dream it. Most people we spoke did not like it at all; but let it happen. We tried to speak about it with the 18 year old animation team leaders; but this was without result.A manager was able to arrange one normal morning without the BOEM BOEM BOEM of the modern disco terror. Only the volume was fast pushed to there usuall level later that day. The only ascape was to find a place 150 meters from the animation mosk and bars. One day with a lot of wind we tried to stay near the pool. Impossible to do something other than listen to disco music and other different music; at the same time!!!; from the animation; the pool bar and beach bar.We left the resort that day to find some rest because our room was near the pool. Even in the room you could not relax or read a book.Looking for a disco; go to the tropical princess.Want a Carribean relax holiday; find an other resort.
313883,Hilper,09/26/2008,Loved the hospitality Punta Cana Tropical PrincessDate: Sept 6--13 ; 2008Just returned with memorable experience. The hotel is the best I have had of all my vacations. The overall service was incredible--be it the check-in ; the bus; the ground ; the pool ; the maid ; the bar and the restaurant staff was beyond expectation. There is nothing to complain about and definitely my hotel for next year with my entire family.The beach was cleaned every morning and with the golden sand beneath my feet it was something to experience.On a scale of 1 to 10; I will give Tropical Princess a 15.
313883,ouseitgarnmarra,09/15/2008,Before you book READ THIS Ok then before i go on im gonna break this down for you all and then you can make your own decision so firstly boys and girls if your sitting comfortably.....Ill begin.1. AccomodationAccomodation was absolutely top notch; ive been to the Dominican before and this was the bet ive ever seen; the main area was a split level room with the dining room on the bottom level; it had sattelite TV with a lot of english speaking channels and a fridge that was stocked every day with beer; water and pop. there was loads of cupboard space in this area and also a settee. in the top level there was a double queen size bed with lamps on either side and a fan above the bed. The area leading into the Bathroom was full of mirroed wardrobes which also included a safe (no fee) in this area there was a large sink area with all round wall to wall mirrors...good for checking if youd tanned ya [----]. the rooms were cleaned to a high standard every day and the air con was freezing; lovely after a hot day in the sun.2. FoodThe main resteraunt was bloody brilliant with lots and lots of choice; for anyone who didnt want to try something a little different there was an American station with your typical American food Burgers; Pizza etc. The resteraunts which were all inclusive were also good but were difficult to book (3 days advance was the norm) not once did anyone i know get a bad tummy off the food. there is lots of different little resteraunts on the beach were you get food at anytime throughout the day and at midnight they do snacks in the main resteraunt.3. EntertainmentOh dear this is were it all started to go wrong; quite simply they do not cater for ANYONE who speaks English...If you can speak spanish then thats fine; can you speak itallion then thats ok too; maybe you speak german french or russian well thatll do nicely! not once did i hear the night time entertainment speak English and this [----] me off no end; i had a 13 boy with me and to keep a teenager entertained when there was no other English speaking kids was difficult. At the bar the staff would make a point of serving the spanish first and when they did serve you it took ages to order anything because of the language barrier.4. Things to do. The beach was gorgeous and the water was crystal clear; the sand was golden and was constantly being cleaned; we didnt spend much time round the pool as it was full of jonny foreighners stareing and gawping; we found one English family out of about 600 people so to that end we were definately in the minority. The full time we were there the everyone that was not english speaking was rude arrogant and would not apologise for anything even if they knocked into my kid.....to which i give an explicit lesson in english to one guy. The trips that we paid for were top class...The 4 wheel drive buggys are a must; and the trip on the boat to watch the sunset with dinner was ace....DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BOOK TO GO SEA FISHING....spoke to loads of english on route out and they done the same and didnt catch a thing...it is just used as an excuse for the fishermen to go trawling with nets and make some wxtra cash.Looking back it was nice to get away for a couple of week in the sun but given the choice again i would definately NOT go back to the east of the island and instead go back up north to puerto plata again were there is lots of englsh speaking friendly people. I spoke to quite a few Canadians who had the same problems as myself and got told a story of one couple that were that disgusted in the way they were treat by the foreighners they moved hotels at there own cost.If you dont mind getting treat like a mug off the staff and anyone who doesnt speak the queens english then this is the place for you.......enjoy! 5.
313883,MELHELE22,09/12/2008,Aug26-Sept 2 Honeymooners and Loved it! Honeymooners! WOOHOO...We liked Tropical Princess a lot!!Ignore all the comments of the bad things. Things do happen but make the best of your trip.I won't lie we did have problems. Our toilet clogged on us the first day and so did our tub but they fixed it right away and were great about it. they called to see if someone was there and then later on they would call to check to see if it was still working okay. That was good of them. The rooms were nice...maids were awesome..and the beaches are so nice..the food is good. Lots to choose from; different themes every night. Josie the bartender at the pool was awesome. Made your time a blast. I would definatly recommend this hotel to ppl. We had a blast and met some pretty fun ppl too... So go expecting to have a great time; and if you run into problems..so what..don't let it put a damper on your vacation..enjoy; soak up the sun and if you do go here...we are jealious! Have a blast..oh and don't forget to pack the sunscreen or Aloe Vera!!! :o)
313883,MCR1966,08/26/2008,Absolutely loved this hotel We have just returned and have to say after reading the reviews I was really anxious and spent the weeks leading up to going dreading it; to the point that I rang our tour operator to let them know that a bug had been reported at this hotel and also my concerns about the food; as people were saying it was awful. Our tour operator rang the hotel to speak to the Rep and they knew nothing of it; so that was reassuring.When we arrived; we were greeted by lovely staff; the hotel was really beautiful; to me it was paradise; and the food was just out of this world. We had the most amazing time at this hotel and all I can say is that some people are just not easily pleased. I just could not fault anything about this hotel at all. It really was such a joy to stay at this hotel and we could even go out at 9.30am and still get a sunbed and under the shade which was such a bonus.I would strongly recommend that you do not take too much notice of the bad reviews.I would go back to this hotel tomorrow.
313883,ellie81,08/18/2008,Great place to relax I spent a week at the Tropical Princess with my Mum in July and we both had a great time. We went for a week of relaxation and that's what we got.The buffet restaurant was great with a different 'theme' every day (e.g. Mexican; Chinese; Italian etc) and the waiters were all charming. The other restaurants didn't seem as busy as the buffet restaurant and we stuck with the buffet as there was so much variety. The beach is lovely but on one day the water got a little rough. However; if you turn left out of the hotel on to the beach and walk for 5 mins you reach a really calm stretch of sea. The grounds are kept immaculately clean by a huge team of gardeners and the rooms are very spacious and clean (with no bugs of any kind!). There are 3 large outdoor pools which are great for families with kids; or for a dip after a day on the beach. There is a small gym with 2 treadmills; 2 rowing machines; 1 stepper; some weights machines and free weights. It opens at 8 so we got there at that time everyday to make sure we could get on the treadmills. There is also a beauty salon where you can get lots of different treatments. I could not recommend this place more highly if you simply want to relax on a beautiful beach. However; if you are wanting to see something of Dominican culture; you might want to go to the North of the island where there seemed to be a bit more going on.
313883,walkar,08/11/2008,Fabulous! We stayed at the Tropical Princess from 22 July to 5th Aug 2008. Family of 4 (2 teenage sons aged 16 and 14). We had the most fantastic time despite being worried about some of the reviews before we went. The hotel room was spacious and clean; maid service every day - clean towels etc. The food in the main Buffet Restaurant was extensive and I defy anyone to not find something they like amongst the array of varied food. The grounds of the hotel are immaculate and are tended all day every day - green and lush. The setting (on the beach) is like a picture postcard with white sands; palm trees and blue warm sea. Yes; the entertainment is in different languages but then there are different nationalities visiting. What a lot of people don't realise is that after the main show (near the lobby) all the dancers etc. descend on the Lobby Bar where there is dancing etc until midnight. We only found this out after a few days - I thought the only reason you went to the Lobby was if you needed something from reception. DO NOT be put off by bad reviews - they worried me sick before we went. You will have a fabulous time. Room problems could be had anywhere in the world and anyone who did have this problem were just unlucky. On the whole; everyone we spoke to had a fantastic time with no complaints - sickness included. We all would love to go back next year especially my 2 sons who made some great friendships. Enjoy!!!
313883,Wombat33,08/02/2008,Paradise Found! 17-31 July; 2008. We are a family of four with a son of 12 and a daughter of 10 from London; UK. We have previously read lots of reviews of the Tropical Princess; some good and some bad. All those people who were not happy with the resort need to seek help 鈥?where have you been before? The room was superb; the maid service even better; food and waiters were well beyond our expectations; pools and beach clean and fantastic. The weather was superb for 14 days; and we had an absolute blast. We ate at the buffet and could always find something interesting and delicious 鈥?full marks there! We would cheerfully have stayed another month without running out of things to do and all were very sad to return home (yesterday!).We loved speaking (dreadful) Spanish to the staff and were very grateful for their enthusiasm and assistance. We admired the animation (entertainment) staff who worked all day then moved to the Serenata Theatre to entertain us in the evenings.With regard to Thomson; I am not sure that we would book with them again. The flight to Punta Cana was good and the transfers on time but advice from the resort rep proved inaccurate and expensive. A big deal was made of the Anton Zilli food; which turned out to be stewed sausage and mash or inedible pasta. The flight home was bitterly cold; devoid of any explanation but with lots of blankets distributed.
313883,Geordiegal8,08/02/2008,not the holiday paradise promised my husband and I stayed here in June 2008 and I can honestly say I wish we hadn;t bothered.The beach is fantastic which is just as well because there is nothing else to do all day. The organised activities are an absolute shambles. If you are not fluent in Spanish you will never know what time anything is on. our room smelt damp and all the towels were a fetching shade of grey! food is barely edible. Please don;t eat in the Dominican resteraunt. We did and by the next night were both ill with stomach cramps and the trots. there is nowhere to go outside the complex unless you are on an organised excursion. I;m so glad we did that because it meant we had one good day out of our week . I;m really pleased we weren' t there for a fortnight.from Beverley from Newcastle.
313883,Nicola2812,07/21/2008,Do not book this hotel (nightmare) On arrival at our hotel room I filled our sink with water to get washed and we found that there was no lever on the tap to release the waste from the sink this was reported on 01/07/2008 and was advised by reception this would be done the same day. The sink had not been fixed by the Wednesday 2/7/2008 when we went to see Claire our rep and we advised her of this and she said she would get it sorted which she didn鈥檛 this was not fixed until our 11th day on the complex even though it was first reported on 1/7/2008 he had to get down on both knees two-three times a day after we had been washed to empty the sink this had him in some pain for most of the holiday. We also booked 3 trips with Claire Animal Adventure Park which would cost us 240 dollars; Saona Island which cost 304 Dollars and the Monster Truck Safari which was 198 Dollars both the Saona Island and the Monster Truck Safari was confirmed by Claire to be a free bar with all kinds of drink. On the Animal Adventure Trip my partner ordered a beef sandwich which actually turned out to be corned beef and I ordered a Tuna Sandwich both of these were warm as they had been left in the sun which unfortunately I did have to eat as I suffer from Type 1 insulin controlled diabetes which later on that afternoon I suffered a stomach upset due to this which made be unwell for approx 48 hours we then went to Saona Island on 3/7/2008 where we were told that we would travel by speed boat and then by paddle boat to the island this was not to be the case as we were advised that the paddle boat was faulty but when we turned up to the area to change transport there was a paddle boat there that was in working order. I also found out that there were no diet drinks and you were unable to buy any on these 2 trips to Saona island and The Monster Truck Safari I ended up drinking water all day after the trips were sold as all drinks included. The Monster Truck Safari if you could call it that was 3 stops all day and was more like a bus ride; to my knowledge a safari is a trip on land; usually in jungle or savanna environments; which is engaged in for the purpose of viewing or hunting animals. Most often; the modern safari involves viewing; photographing; and experiencing animals in their natural habitats. There was certainly no viewing of animals unless you are classing horses and pigs in people鈥檚 gardens a safari so to me this was being misadvertised. We were also plagued by the Trip advisor for cash on the Monster Truck Safari as they were calling it he was constantly asking for cash to help the poor little children and people who have nothing which made the tourists very uneasy and as if we had to give whatever we had to help these people. Without sounding awful we all have to work for our living the same way everyone else does but they thought because we were British that we had a lot of money and all of this should have been given to them not the fact that we have to work all year round to pay for our holiday abroad. All I ate for 2 weeks was rice and sweetcorn while I was there as the food that was being served you were unable to make a full meal out of. We were also plagued by ants outside of our room which nothing was done about this either. Be under no illusion this is definitely not a 3 plus hotel in fact it would be lucky to get a rating of a 2* as they are unable to keep the area clean we had birds flying in the restaurant and on one night a rat in the pool which the pools were never cleaned so god knows what diseases people could catch.
313883,UnhappyfamilyGlasgow,07/20/2008,Very Average Hotel First impressions were very good; lovely setting.First room not good; were moved on request but next room was very tired looking; bedcovers had mould on them; pillows were filled with what felt like cotton wool balls; towels were grey; we all fought over the one white towel; complained but not much action; were offered another room change but did not want to keep unpacking and packing. Rat in pool on first morning . The staff at certain poolside bars were very unfriendly and children were kept waiting ages until served; very unhelpful. Shop staff also looked as if they couldn't be bothered. Hygiene in main restaurant and Creperie appalling; decidedly average food choice. A few nights we had to que to get in main restaurant. Mexican and Italian restaurants were very good and efficient service. Due to giving of free alchohol at swim up pool bar; it got very loud and out of hand and one fight was seen; not a pool for children. Night entertainment on too late; the list is endless. Good points were the beach; very Carribean. Won't be rushing back.
313883,pringlefizz,07/11/2008,the best holiday ever the pool
313883,tashste,06/28/2008,Wonderful Place - Go there! Lovely Lobby
313883,smudger1980,06/27/2008,2 weeks is too long! The Good...Amazing beaches; warm clean water and soft sand at your feet. Large rooms with great air conVery friendly Dom Rep people; hotel staff localsMonster Trucks excersions - great fun and really interesting to get out of the resort and see some real Dominican lifeHelpful Thompson RepThe Bad...Beds are unbelievably uncomfortable - like sleeping on bricks for 2 weeksThe food was bland; boring and monotonous; which some may expect from an all inclusive; but i have had much better!Absolutely nothing to do in the evenings unless you like watching shows in Italian or Spanish!The Saona Beach trip is highly over-rated and very expensive for what it is. The island itself could be very beautiful if it wasn't for the fact that thay pack as many tourists onto the beach who then make the beach dirty and untidy - big disappointment!Both my husband and myself suffered with a stomach upset and bad cramps for about the first 10 days of our holiday - and from what we heard from the few other English we managed to speak to - so did they! Take lots of imodium its 拢10 a pack at the resort!Warning - if you do excersions take a sick bag on the coach; we had a number of people who were sick on our excersions as the roads are so bumpyThe Ugly......This resort is not catered for English clients; on the whole we felt completely alienated the whole time we were there as the Peurto Ricons/Italians/Germans took over the whole resort. This got really annoying and we wish we could have come home after the 1st week of our 2 week holiday
313883,silverkickz,06/16/2008,Fantastic Resort!!!!!!!!!! reception
313883,geniusNottingham,06/12/2008,toilet heaven Dont get me wrong; the hotel and grounds and beach were beautiful; it was very clean and the staff were really good. There were plenty of spanish reps keeping their guests entertained however if you travel with Thomson there is only one rep and you never see her. The kids clubs are poor; i went once and was told by the lady running it who could not understand much English that she did not have enough kids so she was not just taking mine into the club. I was also advised that this would be a great place to take my kids to swim with dolphins; however when i got there i was told my children were too young for any of the trips we wanted to do. However it was the food which ruined the holiday; the quality is poor; there was obviously some sort of food poisioning in the hotel; people were in hospital some were flying home; some were even flying to America as a means of escape. Everybody I spoke to was ill and it ruined the holiday completely. They was testing the water in the pools because we saw them taking samples. In my opinion due to whatever bug was making everybody sick we should have been moved. This said; had the food been okay then we would not have been ill and the holiday would have been good. Do not venture out of the resort; you will be offered drugs and/or prostitutes
313883,PC08,05/19/2008,The Good and the Bad...more good than bad though! I went to the Tropical Princess for a week in early may with 7 girlfriends - we had just all graduated from university so we were extremely excited for everything!Our rooms were nothing special. We had requested two rooms close to each other but on the first night we were in separate buildings. We changed rooms in the morning; it was a slight downgrade from our previous room; but right across the hall from our friends. The rooms aren't very well kept; the towels are dingy; one of our toilets did not work; and the overall quality of the space is sub par. Unluckily for us; our two rooms were in between 4 other rooms of 16 year old students from Peru...meaning LOUD late nights; banging on the doors at 4am; yelling in the halls. We had called security but they did not do anything. We requested to switch rooms toward the end of our trip but they never switched us. Our last day at the resort wasn't so great...we had tried to get a free late check out since we had put up with so much with this teenagers and some rude staff but the manager; Ingrid; did not help us at all. It is $35 for a late check out til 3pm; and then 65$ until 5pm. Our bus to the airport was at 5pm. To make a long story short; she wouldn't budge; we didn't get the free late check out; and we left the resort with some feelings of resentment towards Ingrid and some of the other staff at the resort.There were good parts to the resort though!!! The grounds are beautiful! The pools are great - there are 3 but we only used the one with the swim up bar. Jose; one of the bartenders was hilarious and made the best 'dirty monkeys'. Highly recommend you try them. The beach was incredible...no seaweed; white sand; the water was clear and there were loads of beach chairs available all the time. The 'Animation' staff (the entertainers) were entertaining but got a little creepy and annoying after awhile. I guess you have to expect that when you're with 7 other women.The food was decent. We mostly ate at the main buffet...tons of choices but the food is kind of bland. They have themed dinners at night and the Mexican and the Oriental nights are great. We ate at the Brazillian a la carte one night; it was okay; but not so great for our vegetarian friend. The drinks were great!! No matter your tolerance; you'll be buzzed in no time. Alcohol was available 24/7 I believe; at the beach bar; but don't quote me on that. You HAVE to try the Mamajuana shots; you'll learn to love them. The disco at the resort was pretty good; lots of locals after 11pm; but the free drinks end at midnight. Overall it was an amazing vacation! I'd recommend it if all you care about is the beach; pool; and the booze! We met lots of people from Canada; the States; France; Austria; England...everywhere. I guarantee you'll have fun if you go.
313883,ZukiMississauga,04/19/2008,Great Beach; Nice Hotel; But Overall KInda Bland I stayed at Tropical Princess from April 10 - 17. Overall it's very nice. Hugh lobby. Large grounds (sometimes too large for my likeing) Fantastic Beach. Very nice pools and as far as buffets go - pretty good.You could walk for literally MILES on that beach...... So if a great beach is one of your priorities ---- Punta Cana is a good choice. My room is decent... just a normal average room.... small mini fridge. They supplied bottled water; coke ; sprite daily. Had to pay $5 a day for in room safe. The cost was ridiculous; most hotels offer this for free... but u gotta keep your valuables safe;; so u pay. Pillows are okay; some need replacing; The bed was extremely HARD!!!! My back was in muscle spasism; the muscles in my butt and thigh were sore from sleeping on that rock called a bed. I was not happy with the bed.Pools were very nice.. Three to choose from. max of 4' deep and oone end was wade in.... very good for those who take small children.Buffet.. large variety. but it was the same variety every day.... Unfortunately I do not know if it was the water or something I ate but I was extremely sick the last nite there.... Make sure you take Imodium and Gravol with you.. It saved my life!!The grounds are huge. It's a long walk from the lobby to the rooms/pool/beach area. Beautiful grounds but my preference next time would be a smaller resort with everything conveniently located closer together. They use golf carts to courier you back and forth you u dont want to enjoy the walk in the heat (and it was very hot!)Overall - not one of my better vacations.. I have travelled south more than a dozen times.... This was the very first time I was ever sick. My preference is Cuba or Mexico over Dominican Republic. This was third time to Dominican; and probably my last for a long time.
313883,Aaliyah0812,04/17/2008,2nd Time In a Row Because It's the Best!! the beach
313883,walneybill,04/09/2008,It's also the Caribe Club Princess Firstly; the Tropical Princess and the Caribe Club Princess are the same; the only difference is that one offers you 3 extra visits to the Al-la-carte restaurants; the main food hall; swimming areas; clubs for kids etc are all the same.Off to a very bad start from the moment we arrived at the hotel; the room upgrade we'd paid for wasn't available. Hotel receptionist refused to believe us; the rep wasn't much help either saying that Thompson in the UK don't inform them of anything. According to the receptionist; the room we had upgraded to didn't exist. It was only when my wife managed to dig out the confirmation paperwork did the rep believe us and hey presto...the room we had upgraded to did not only exist but there was one available.On arrival in the room; we were extremely disappointed. The sheets were a dirty grey colour and very creased (as if recently slept in??); blankets were old; worn and threadbare. There was a very large water stain on the ceiling above the bed in the main bedroom; both wardrobes in both rooms; the doors were either stuck fast and couldn't be moved or hanging off. The main door had a large gap between the frame and the space in the wall. After further investigation; while walking through the hotel; it was noticeable that this condition was present in most of the rooms.Used a total of 7 magnetic keys during the 1 week stay as there were continual problems gaining entrance to the room.Had to complain en-masse with others who arrived on the day we did; to get a safe key; had to carry all valuables with us for the first 24 hours and then the only way we could get a safe key was to pay for the whole week. $24 for a service which is free in most other hotels.The food was very boring and offered little change each evening; felt very sorry for those who were there for 2 weeks. Couldn't confirm it but on the day before we left; I thought I had seen a rat in the eating area.The rep was rarely on site; not her fault entirely as Thomson had given her 7 other locations to look after / supervise.Thomson on site had no record of the flight upgrade we had paid for and we were told it was not possible to have only requested an upgrade for the return overnight flight. Had to make a call at our expense to have Thomson UK fax the confirmation to the hotel so a copy could be given to the rep.The rather large Thomson rep at the airport also didn't believe we had upgraded and had another rep check on this.The pool areas were very nice though; it has to be said; three very large pools with plenty of sun bed availability. Easy access to the beach where there were also plenty of sunbeds.In 2007 we had stayed further north at the Riu Mambo; also a Thomson resort; spend the few extra 拢's and stay there instead; it'll be worth it and something we wish we had done.
313883,CHARERIN,04/07/2008,Beautiful Resort We stayed at the Tropical Princess on March 20-27; 2008. It was great! We flew out with SunWing and everything went smoothly. We arrived around 10pm and our departure flight was at 9pm. The only complaint we had is that the resort should allow you stay in your room until at least 3 or 4pm (with no charge) if you have a late flight. Their policy is that you have to be checked out by 12noon. Our bus did not pick us up until 5pm! We did get an extended time in our room until 3pm but we had to pay $35.00 extra. But all in all.. considering that this is a 4 star resort we were very satisfied. Everything is withing walking distance. The beach is pretty close to all the roooms. The only problem we had with our room was the pillows... we should have asked for replacements but kept we forgetting. By midweek we didn't bother.I seen one mosquito in our room all week. I never seen any outside. We went to 2 of the nightly shows and they were okay. Otherwise we were pretty pooped and went to bed early the other nights.The buffet had a really good variety...something for everyone. We went to the Brazillian resturant one night.. it was pretty good.We went deep sea fishing and caught a 40lb dophin fish and and a barracuda. What a blast.We went to the Saona Island trip but were were not over impressed. It took 7 hours to reach the island. We left the resort at 7am; had to pick up some people from a couple of other resorts. There seemed to be delays all they way getting there. We had to wait a good 陆 hour for people to get to our catamaran and the wind was against us going to it was a long boat ride. We reached Saona Island at 2pm. We only had 1 hour to stay on there to eat and swim. We felt too rushed. We spent all day traveling there. I would never do this trip again. A lot of money for a 7 hour trip to an island. Otherwise my granddaughter and husband really liked the starfish part of the trip (where you snorkel for starfish).I would recommend this resort to anyone! Just go and have fun you are on holidays!!!!!!!!!
313883,jennykash,04/01/2008,Beautiful Resort! We booked our All inclusive trip with onlinetravelcenter.ca through Sunwing and had an amazing experience. We had read reviews of this resort prior to attending and weren't too sure what to expect. Well; here it goes. We arrived at the airport and were whisked to the hotel in a minivan with 2 other couples. Upon arriving at the lobby; we were greeted with a beautiful and tropical entranceway. Check in was very speedy. Although we had asked for an ocean view room; there are very few at this resort. We did get the king size bed we wanted. Our location was perfect for us. We were in the Villa Trinitarium; and just outside our villa was a bar and the pool and the mini golf. We were only one building away from the buffet and a few minutes from the beach. So for us; the location was great. Our room was spacious and perfectly fine for a 4 star resort. There were a few small ants in the bathroom; but no big deal. As for the mosquitos; we did not have any problems here. There were 4-6 mosquitos in our room each day; but coming from Northern Ontario; this was NOTHING. We never used (or needed) bug spray. Jhon (the bartender at the pool bar; not the swim up bar) was AMAZING and took great care of us. Kelvin at the beach bar was also a hoot. The concierge Jasson had a GREAT sense of humor and kept us laughing. We never attended any of the shows; as we were always pooped out by 10 p.m. The buffet was good and had a good variety; although it tends to be a bit repetivite each day. The oasta and omelets were my favorite. As a big dessert fan; I was slightly disappointed with the dessert tray. The fruit and juices were amazing though. And the meat is quite undercooked so you do have to ask for it to be very well done. We ate at the Dominican ala carte. It was a good experience. We did not eat at any other ala cartes; as we had read they weren't too impressive; but the buffet was enough to keep us satisifed. We never did find the 24 hour bar or 24 hour snacks. The beach bar closed up around 11 p.m. and the pool bar was closed by 6 p.m. The lobby was a great place to sit in the evenings for a few drinks and is only a 5 minute trolley ride away. The language barrier was aparent; but the staff did everything they could to accomodate and understand. Housekeeping in the rooms would occassionally forget to leave towels; but this was easily resolved with a quick phone call. The public bathrooms were our only complaint but as soon as we spoke with the concierge; there were cleaning people in them.The beach is gorgeuos and after walking to the market (turn left at the beach and walk 10 minutes) I thought our beach was better than the other 2 resorts on either side. The market was neat; but be prepared to barter; which my husband was not.We had high winds and big waves so a lot of the beach activities were cancelled; but that was mother nature's fault. People from London attended the Sauna Island tour and they were not very impressed. We were supposed to go snorkelling at the Marinarium; but this was cancelled (and refunded easily) due to the waves.Sunwing Rep Jean Luc was very helpful and made our stay very pleasant. So was his tour buddy Stacher.Attend the Sunwing briefing as it gives you a good idea of what to expect from the resort. All of the pictures that I have seen of the resort do not give it justice. It is a beautful place. The Caribe is actually the same resort with the same facilities; but people staying at the Caribe get more sit down ala cartes. The punta cana princess is abit more separate and it is an adults only place. There were quite a few topless women and speedoed men at the pool. The pool farthest to the left was our spot and it seemed quieter and less busy than the pool with the swim up bar and the other pool. Pools were always clean. Always staff cleaning up and gardening around the resort. Even cutting down coconuts and offering you a taste. The creperia was neat; serving banana splits and milkshakes; as well as all different kinds of crepes. We did not attend the Spa or the disco. The only really irritating thing was the people who try to get you to attend a hotel tour but after awhile they discover that you're not interested.If you get the chance to be photgraphed by the people walking around with monkeys; parrtos and snakes... DO IT. For $12 you get a beautful picture all photoshopped of extremely good quality. Very worth it. The boutiques are quite expensive and we ended up paying $4 for a package of MM's for our candy fix. Buy a phone calling card because te hotel charges you $2 per connection fee.All in all for the $$ we paid and for it being a 4 star resort; it was an excellent experience!
313883,familytraveller2008,03/21/2008,Beach great....that's it! The beach at the Tropical Princess was spectacular. We had no problems finding seating at either the beach or at one of the 3 well-maintained pools.Before I continue; I would like to prefice my future comments by noting that I do not have high expectations when travelling to countries such as the Dominican or Cuba (places of which i have had great holidays) and am well aware one should not have the same expectations of a 4 star there as in places such as Aruba; the Bahamas or Toronto for that matter.Unfortunately; I can't speak highly for either the food or the rooms. When arriving the rooms we occupied were both dirty and in disrepair - we actually fixed the toilet ourselves! The food was the worst I have ever had at a resort; and we're not picky eaters! Service was great when tips were given; otherwise; it took forever to get beverages! The 4 star ranking is certainly misleading. There are other resorts less expensive and far better!
313883,abarro,03/17/2008,Great resort; though I would stay at the Club Caribe versus Tropical Princess We are a family of four (two girls aged 8 13) and have just back from spending March 6-13 at the Tropical Princess in Punta Cana.Check-in went rather smoothly though depending on the number of people ahead of you; it could take a long time due to the number of agents available and the speed of the check-in process. Lobby is nice and has a bar available.Grounds are fairly large compared to other resorts we have stayed at but is easily walkable. It鈥檚 not as large as the Bavaro Princess All Suites; but larger than other resorts we have stayed at in the past. If necessary; there are golf carts with attached 鈥渢railers鈥?with seating that follows the path between the lobby and pool area. Grounds are immaculate and well maintained with mangrove vegetation and various species of birds. Makes for an enjoyable stroll.The resort comprises of both the Caribe Club Princess and the Tropical Princess. I would not stay at the Tropical Princess. It is a two star at best 鈥?though it classifies itself as a four star. Rooms are very dated and depressing. Windows do not close fully so there were many mosquitoes in the room. We upgraded to the Caribe Club which merits its four star rating. The rooms here are spacious; clean; modern and airy 鈥?which is expected from a four star. There are three pools located throughout the resort area. These are well maintained and clean. As expected; they are not heated and rely on the sun. I hate cold water and felt comfortable swimming in the pools. The main pool has the swim up bar and is the location where most of the sports activities are held. The other two pools are much quieter and this is where we spent our time. The pool closest to the Tropical Princess side of the resort meanders around and has great landscaping. There are umbrellas throughout the pool area.The main buffet restaurant was good. Food was better than the last few times we were in Punta Cana. As to be expected; food is not overly spiced to keep it rather neutral for all taste buds but there is a very wide selection with each night having a particular theme (I.e. French; Italian; etc.). There was always some standards such as pasta; pizza; etc. for the less adventurous. Service was attentive (I.e. getting drinks; clearing plates; etc.) and staff were courteous and friendly. Though the last two days the resort did get busier and there were longer wait times to get in to the restaurant and to get drinks 鈥?no big deal.We tried the Italian a la carte restaurant. It was no different from the buffet restaurant; other than the fact they serve you. I wouldn鈥檛 do it again. There is also an Asian; Brazilian and fish restaurant available. My suspicion is that they would be similar in experience. This is an all inclusive resort so I do not expect gourmet dinners. I can wait until I get home for fine dining.Bar drinks typically use super sweet syrupy mixtures. The days of using fresh fruit to mix with those Caribbean type drinks are long gone to keep costs down. We resorted to drinking beer and water most of the time. Wines are plonk. Beaches are great 鈥?wide and long white sandy beaches. Lots of umbrellas available and we never had a problem finding one when we hit the beach at 10:30. Of course; the front row is taken by then. Water is a nice aqua colour and depending on the type of day; there are great waves to frolic in. Even on red flag days; my 8 year old daughter was jumping in the waves with no concerns.I would recommend this resort to others. You will not be disappointed. I would however avoid staying in the Tropical Princess itself and book the Club Caribe.
313883,LM77WashingtonDC,03/10/2008,Friendly Staff; Great Beach; Average Hotel Rooms; Good Value My wife and I stayed at the Tropical Princess (1 night) and then were moved to the Carib Club Princess from March 4-11. The Tropical Princess and Carib Club Princess are basically the same resort. Tropical Princess guests stay in different housing on one side of the property but use the same facilities (pool; beach; bars;etc.). We paid for the VIP package which was worth it (includes premium drinks; free room service; 20 min. massage; 1 hr. motorized watersports and 1 hr internet pp). We were put in an average first floor double bed room upon arrival. Since we paid for VIP I expected a better room. I went back to the front desk; made a fuss and agreed to stay in that room for one night after the front desk personnnel said they couldn't move us that night. Supposedly all the rooms were reserved. That was BS since they were checking in large groups after we arrived and we were told when we booked our vaction that they didn't reserve rooms. Anyway; after much complaining the following day and wasting an hour at the front desk; we were upgraded to a room with a king size bed at the Carib Club on the top floor- MUCH better!. If you're used to fine hotels (I am) these rooms are not that way. I'd rate them 3 stars but they were clean and pretty miuch how they look in the hotel pictures. I wasn't paying top dollar so they more than met my expectation. The Bad :The front desk neglected to give us the VIP bracelets (which are orange by the way) when we checked in. After figuring that out; the VIP coincierge (different desk near the main desk) took care of us. Very few rooms face the ocean but most have nice views of pool; gardens; etc. Room repairs don't always happen the first or second time you ask (our TV remote control wasn't working well). Be patient; you're on DR time.Some of the food and fancy drinks are different from what you get in the States- nonetheless it's easy to find something to your liking cause they have so much food. Not everyone speaks English but many do. Not many Americans were there but plenty of Canadians were if you want to meet other English speaking folks. I read somewhere that when in your room; only use bottled water for brushing teeth; drinking; etc. All other places on the resort; the water is fine (alcoholic drinks with ice; plain water; salads; etc. ) We had no problems whatsoever with sickness. The good: I was pleasantly surprised with the food at the buffett. (don't miss the Creperie restaurant for lunch; by the way) The food at the restaurants (reservations required) was just OK (went to La Cava; Mexican and Dominican) so we decided to do the buffett for the wider selection and so we could go when we wanted to. Staff and service was excellent. Staff members went out of their way to say hola whenerver you passed them. The men employees love to shake your hand and earnestly want to get to know you. We tipped; but not excessively so they weren't just being nice because we gave them money. Sometimes the beach bars were a little crowded so I'd go back to the beach for 5-10 minutes and come back when fewer folks were waiting. They did seem to treat us differently when they saw the VIP bracelets. (I wasn't crazy about their house brand liquor although the Presidente beer was great- I'm picky that way.). The resort was very clean- even the beach bathrooms! We liked having the free room service for breakfast in the room (again; VIP package). So my advice to you is to request a room on an upper floor (fewer or no; mosquitos); and make sure you're happy before you settle in. Make sure you get a king size bed if that's what you want and politely argue with the front desk until you get the room you want.. After that; have a Presidente ; slow down and you'll be happy. All in all it was a really good vacation.
313883,thePenguins02,03/08/2008,Great Trip - Bad Service Great place to go if you would like to inhale the beauty of colours and sights. The walk from the hotel to the main building is a memory of its own. Wonderful sand and sun. The ocean was nice and inviting. Just like any trip this one had its own unpleasantries such as the service (seems as though this hotel has been running for a long time and the staff no longer care about the human nature of the service that they give; rather than financial. If you are a big tipper and spender perhaps you will enjoy the service as well. At this point I am not saying that we are bad tippers but leaving $5 for every drink that you take in an all-inclusive hotel is a bit harsh) and from the last time we have been there the food has gotten a little worse. For the past three days we had only had hamburgers; a lot of food is out at all times but very hard to choose something that not only looks great but also tastes as it looks. I am happy we went there and have seen the sights we've seen. Going there again... is not something we would consider.
313883,WallaceMurray,03/02/2008,Great Beach; Poor Food The Tropical Princess is ascetically beautiful and complete with an amazing beach. The beach truly makes this resort! The grounds are well maintained and you very rarely ever see any garbage on the resort. It seems like the grounds keepers are always working on something from paint touch ups to pruning the trees throughout the resort. Four of us traveled to this resort and had a great time but we do have two complaints. The food is very poor at best and none of us are picky eaters! Also this resort is not geared towards an English speaking crowed. This is very apparent on the Tropical Princess side of the resort with the animation team. If you do speak English they will not give you the time of day. On the other side of the resort is the Carib Club Tropical Princess and their animation team was great! Again they cater to a Spanish or French crowed but they do make an effort. Because there are less English speaking patrons there are less people for you to interact with BUT on the bright side it pushed those of us who do speak English together and we found we met more people on this vacation then on other vacations. Overall this is a 3 star resort with an amazing beach. Remember to pack bug spray and Imodium.
313883,LondonKernel,02/07/2008,Everything was nice; great vacation-beware itravel2000.com price gaugers Spent a week at the Tropical Princess from Jan 12-19th. All food was great; did not need immodium or pepto all week. Rooms were plain but did not spend much time there. The food was great; the buffet had some of the same items each day but there was a theme each night and always a good variety. The beach was stunning and i had no complaints about the vacation.Tried to book online through Itravel2000 and they tried to charge me higher than their posted web price. was able to get a lower price from my local travel agent.
313883,Barbarajayh,02/04/2008,Great value Although this was our first time in Punta Cana; we have stayed at numerous all inclusives all over Mexico. Let me start off by saying that the Tropical princess and the Caribe club princess are one and the same resort using all the same facilities. If you are booked with the tropical princess you only have access to two a la carte restaurants; if you are booked with the Caribe princess you have access to more. There are 7 a la carte restaurants one buffet and a couple of snack bars. The grounds; lobby; pools; beach are all clean;attractive and well maintained. The buffet is quite good; plenty of variety; clean; and there always seemed to be plenty of clean tables available. But it IS still a buffet and at night we prefer to eat at a nice restaurant. This is where we were somewhat dissapointed. Our first a la carte; el Pilon; was attached to the back of the buffet and was truly dissapointing. We decided to pay extra and try Mamma mia the following night. Again we were very dissapointed in the food. Our third night we paid quite a bit more to have the lobster which we'd heard was very good; and it was. Our last night we tried the Brazilian restuarant included in our package and it was good. Enough about the food. The staff at the resort was excellent. Always friendly; always smiling and eager to help. Our room was ok; it was a room; spacious but the light fixture in the bathroom didn't work; they tried to fix it but after 3 days of showering in the dark we complained and were upgraded to a nicer room with a king size bed. We were quite happy about that. Still the bedding in both rooms was very worn and the sheets and mattress pads seemed too small for the beds and we woke up most mornings on a bare mattress. Kind of gross. One more problem was mosquitos. There were alot; everywhere at night as well as in our rooms. We tried to kill as many as possible but still woke up every morning with new bites. They do spray; we saw a truck driving around one evening at supper time that looked like it was on fire. It was spewing huge grey clouds of toxic fumes for the mosquitos right into the open lobby and beyond. Why they wouldn't wait to do this till everyone was sleeping is beyond me. We went on two tours. Saona island was a very nice day; very long but we really enjoyed it. Our other tour the country safari; again was very long; didn't enjoy it as much as it involved what seemed like hours and hours of driving between stops. The horseback riding on this tour was extremely lame (only young kids would enjoy it); we choose to skip it and waited in some sad looking hammocks in a rather shabby looking back yard. The majority of the other guests at the resort were french canadians; german; russian and french. We missed not being able to socialize with our fellow guests as we always have in Mexico. We've always made new friends on our vacation... this is the first time we didn't meet anyone. This all may sound a little negative but since this is a review I wanted to be as truthful as possible. All in all; considering what we paid I do feel we got good value for our money. We really enjoyed the lobster dinner; our massages; (they were awesome!) pizza by the pool; walking the beautiful beach; and the friendliness of the people. However we are going to return to Mexico for our next vacation; we feel the food is better and enjoy socializing with other english speaking guests.
313883,lookingforgreatdeals,01/10/2008,Loved this place We stayed at the Tropical Princess part of this resort from Dec 2-9; 2007. Cleanliness - We booked last minute and found a great deal so we were not expecting anything to fantastic. The rooms were very clean as was the resort itself; there were always chairs / loungers at the pool side and on the beach; and both were beautiful. Staff seemed to be cleaning throughout the day at various areas.Dining - The dining experience was good; Buffet food is well buffet food; lots of variety but never fantastc! There is a large variety of a la carte resturants; some you pay 8US$ for; which we never did get charged so Id say its worth checking them out. Nightlife / Entertainment - We are both in our late 20's and were looking for a week to lounge around an enjoy the hot weather.... which we did! We didnt look to hard to find night life but it did not seem to be a party all night long hotel by anymeans! The entertainment provided at the front theater was very comical; lots of laughs.Shopping - Bike into town to shop or you can walk along the beaches. The locals also come to the hotel throughout the week so you can shop right at the resort. Overall I would recomend this resort to anyone looking for a relaxing week away.
313883,Bellathegreenfairy,01/05/2008,Adored the princess I just returned From Punta Cana last night; it was the most amazing trip I have ever been on. The staff at the princess is incredible and so friendly. The food at the buffet was great; every night had a different theme. I pesonally was dissapointed with the food of the restaurants a la carte but the buffet made up for it. The bars were all really awesome (bartenders always singing and happy); the 24 hour beach bar was very convenient too! Apart from that the Beach was beautiful and very clean. I met some incredible people and i am definetly returning and would recommend this place to everyone needing some time to relax.
313883,ClarKathy,12/28/2007,Tropical Storm Olga didn't spoil our Tropical Princess experience. View from our 3rd floor balcony
313883,sunandscreen,12/28/2007,Great Family resort Surf
313883,digginducky,12/15/2007,should be 5 star we thought this resort was excelent; this was our third time to punta cana and this resort was superior in many ways. the food was very good; we had a family suite witch was excelent. gardens were beautiful; entertainment was excelent. the resort was small enough to make it personal but large enough to make it superior. beach and pools were both very nice. one complaint were the drinks; they lacked flavor so they just added more rum. just a note if you speak english you are a minority at this resort; spanish and french are the main choices. but you can always find someone to translate for you. we will recomend and likily return to this resort.
313883,DoninCalgary,12/14/2007,What a great trip! Wow; what a vacation! Let me preface by saying I was a little concerned as I had read mixed reviews for this and other Punta Cana resorts鈥?our experience was great.I traveled with my 14 year old son; a father/son get away. We understood ahead of time that this was not a 5 star resort in New York; and that we would be experiencing a different culture; with different standards; and different attitude鈥?with this in mind we hoped for the best but tried not to set our sights so high that we would be disappointed. We were NOT disappointed.The resort is beautiful. The lobby open with a beautiful set in the lush gardens and ponds; with peacocks; ducks and other birds. The lobby bar was a great meeting place for the friends we made; ending each night with drinks and conversation before the 10pm live show in the theatre. (More on this later)The path from the lobby to the different room buildings was about 6 min brisk walk or 12 minutes to enjoy the sights which worth enjoying. We stayed in the Tropical Princess which is 4 identical buildings; 2 floors. We were on the top room; with a great view of the pool. Top floor rooms have stunning vaulted ceilings and we enjoyed the open feeling. The d茅cor was nice; stunning with the vaulted ceiling; but the furnishings were not special. The bathroom was large; although there were stains on the counters and tub鈥?when they paint they are not as careful as one would expect鈥?this is part of the different culture. Our room was always cleaned. No bugs; although one Gecko did find his way in on the third night. We caught him under a cup and released him out side.There are only small drawers; not big enough for cloths; I understand this is typical in all DR resorts. The water was always hot and lots of pressure. Our fridge was always stocked with pop and water. I let our maid know we did not want coke; only diet coke (called coke lite in DR). Even though she did not speak English; and we did not speak Spanish; we could easily communicate. We tipped her $3 US each day and a little gift and we understand this goes a long way to maintain good service.The staff at these resorts make as little as $150/month鈥?your tips go a long way. We tipped about $80 over the week and always had great service. Tip the first day; and try to go back to the same bartenders waiters and you will always get great service. For the price we paid; adding $80 in tips was still a steal of a deal and makes a huge difference.The other resort that shares the same property is the Cribe Princess (my spelling is wrong); they have several buildings. Some are new and some are old. It is real hit and miss in the rooms here. Two groups of friends we met had to change rooms; others we met were not happy with theirs but did not change. Although Tropical Princess is the 鈥渓esser鈥?of the two resorts; the buildings are consistent and on average better then the Cribe Princess.The food was great. With 70 to 100 items at the buffet; if you can鈥檛 find a variety to make yourself happy; the problem is with you not the resort. Breakfast and lunch at the buffet were pretty similar and good. For breakfast let me recommend the fresh cressoints鈥?from the oven to my plate in 10 seconds. The omelettes were great; as was all the food I ate鈥?we are not adventurous and had mostly the common breakfast fare. Lunch was equally good; and if you don鈥檛 want to walk from the beach to the buffet; there are two beach eateries. These have chicken; chips; hamburgers; hot dogs nachos; cheese and such. The burgers and hot dogs did not look appetizing and I can have those at home so we never tried (did not hear good things about them.) The chicken was great.For dinner the are several al carte choices; only two were included in our Tropical Princess package. The DR restaurant was good; different but beautifully presented鈥?my son preferred the choices at the buffet. The food at the Brazil restaurant was outstanding; wow; great; get the picture. In the buffet each night there was a different theme. If you did not like the theme food; there were always lots of pasta; chicken; and safe North American style food. One foot note on food; the breads; buns; and potatoes were outstanding. I wish our potatoes tasted like they do in the DR; wow! The breads were all fresh; like hot out of the oven; and we really love good bread.One sour note; the red wine is not good; and the white wine is OK at best. All other drinks were great; love the beer and slushy drinks with or without alcohol. The beer is comparable to American beer.In the afternoon there is a Crepe restaurant that is great. The fruit creaps are just OK but the savoury ones are really good. The 3 pools were great. The one closest to the Tropical princess is mostly families and quiet. The middle one is also quit and the smallest鈥?not many people at this pool. The third and farthest pool is the party pool with the swim up bar and activities. This is where we played when we choose the pool. Now speaking of the activities; they were great. The staff speak a bit of English and they give it their best shot. Freddie we miss you! These guys are a ton of fun and put up with us throwing them in the pool and all our pranks. They appreciate tips and your good nature. We enjoyed pool volleyball; beach volleyball; ping pong; darts; and pool exercise classes. Age 12 to 60 in all these activities the week we were there. We were glad to walk to the far pool for the activities; and glad our room was far away for when we wanted a break from the noise. Our friends who moved were near the pool and hated the noise at the beach bar till late late in the evening. Not a problem at the Tropical Princess.The beach is amazing. Almost white sand; clean; beautiful blue water; few weeds and debris in the water; but the surf is active. This is great for adults and older kids riding boogie boards and playing in the surf鈥?but a little much for younger kids; say under 8. There were tons of lounges and shade canopies. Tons more then the other resorts we walked by. The resort was 98% full and we always found a spot at 9 鈥?11. If we got up earlier; we could have had the front row of loungers (they were 5 to 8 rows deep.)We took bug spray; never used it. We took meds for tummy troubles; used a bit on the 5th day for travelers diarea for me; but nothing serious. My son ate more salad then I and he was great the whole time. All the water used in cooking is filtered bottled water. The nightly entertainment was always enjoyable鈥?but much of it is in Spanish; French; and sometimes German. Some nights it is all dancing and lip syncing to English songs. We saw 6 shows and enjoyed them all; but some better then others. No Lion King or Michael Jackson shows the week we were there鈥?too bad we were looking forward to these. Sunwing was great for us. Flight on time; the rep at the hotel was great鈥?the only complaint is that we did not get free ear phones on the plane as promoted. Yes there were minor irritants at times; not all staff is as good as they could be but most are great. Things are different here then at home. If you love it so much at home; why are you taking a trip to a different culture? The locals are friendly and appreciate when you try to communicate in Spanish. I only knew a dozen words but they appreciate my effort and body language is universal.Will we go back; you bet鈥?looking forward to next fall; and yes I am going back to the same resort; it was great.I hope this helps; we appreciated the reviews from others. Have a great trip!
313883,trenthills19,12/05/2007,Tropical Princess Okay... Sun Wing Vacations Not So Good The beach at the Tropical Princess in Punta Cana was lovely; best part of the holiday. The resort; could be improved. The rooms were in need of improvement. The food our group thought was okay until about the fourth day of our holiday. 3 of the 4 in our group were ill from the food/drink. One of the group was very ill; needed medical attention. The doctor at the resort was very good. The worst part of the holiday was SunWing Vacation; the company we booked our holiday with. They have some customer service problems that need to be improved. We were 12 hours delayed leaving the Toronto airport. I would not recommend booking with SunWing!Otherwise; the holiday was very relaxing and enjoyable.
313883,JohnBH,12/01/2007,Fantastic Beach; Good but not Outstanding Resort Our family of four just returned from an all-inclusive one-weeker at the Tropical Princess. Weather was great throughout. Our only other all-inclusive experience was at the Riu Mambo/Merengue/Bachata complex in Puerto Plata last year; so that is the only basis of comparison we have.Point form summary:Beach - Absolutely wonderful. Very fine; nearly white sand; turquoise water; very clear except nearest the shore where waves were crashing. Smooth sandy weed-free bottom all the way out to the end of the enclosed swimming area. (Puerto Plata beaches DO NOT compare!) Be sure you like big surf; though (my 9- and 11-y.o. girls loved it) - it's too rough for younger children.Pools - Very well maintained; but we all much preferred the ocean!Resort grounds; architecture and layout - The buildings are very nice; colourful; photogenic; with rustic-looking thatched roofs; grounds are well-tended; the path from the lobby to the hotel buildings winds through a protected mangrove swamp - which sounds unattractive; but it was interesting to look at and it was not at all buggy.Room - Ours was quite large by our own modest standards; with a cathedral ceiling and a good sized bath. Quite clean; no problems with bugs; etc.; although the sink trap leaked a bit (and it was not fixed during the course of the week despite notifying management).Service - We wished staff were friendlier; more attentive and had better English-seaking abilities. (The Riu was vastly better on all these counts). Service was not abysmal by any means but it tended to be slow and perfunctorily delivered.Food - Not as good as we experienced at the Riu complex in Puerto Plata; but the variety made it possible to find something half decent every day. One disappointment was the absence of a good; simple grilled fish (which we enjoyed daily at the Riu) as the Tropical Princess seems to lean heavily on the deep-fried; batter-coated and sauce- and gravy-slathered; which is not to our taste. Strikes me that the hotel was attempting to North Americanize the food but not quite hitting the mark - wish they'd stick to fresh local fare prepared simply and well.We had no gastrointestinal problems (and we ate lots of salad every day).On the drinks front; we can assure you that they do not water the alcohol in the mixed drinks (as we were convinced the Riu was doing when we were there)!Hotel guests - This place is definitely popular with non-English speakers (French; Russian; Spanish; German and Italian primarily) - thus there were relatively few opportunities for social interaction with other guests. (I suspect the Spanish and French speakers are treated better by the staff.)Excursions - We did parasailing; a snorkelling excursion (swim with the sharks) and scuba. All were excellent; we were particularly pleased with the service provided by the on-site scuba shack; run by some young Germans who were very attentive with our daughters (who were doing their first ocean dives).Nightlife and spa - We were too busy doing other things or too tired at the end of the day to experience these.Overall; we had a very good time; but will probably try somewhere else - with more English-speaking staff and guests - next year. A tune-up on the food front and some better staff training would make it an outstanding resort.
313883,g250182,10/21/2007,Forget the bad reviews...........Fantastic Hotel!!!!!!! I have just come back from a fantastic two week holiday at The Tropical Princess in Punta Cana really felt I had to write a review to share just how fab I thought this hotel was!!!!!!!!Prior to departing we had been reading all the reviews here on Trip advisor were quite worried when most of them were bad!!!!! To say we were worried was an understatement.... reading stories of; bad food; bad service; poor rooms; theft food poisoning! After my holiday I really don't know where those reviews came from..................maybe it's just a brit thing.....how we love to complain.......were some made up?????On arriving at the hotel we were met at reception by a very friendly receptionist who was very helpful with all our checkin procedures; they seemed really keen to help answered all questions we had there then...............even though there was a large queue of people waiting to check in!!!!!!!! When we reached our rooms we were really pleasantly suprised by the standard..........the rooms were bright; spacious really clean we were over the moon!!!!! Yes the curtains bed spread may have been a little gaudy but hey we are staying in the Dominican Republic not some swanky hotel in the west end of london.........................the tastes are totally different!!!!!!! We also had a mini bar that was stocked with soft drinks was refilled every day when the maids cleaned our rooms.....which i must add was done to a high standard!The one area we were really scared about was the food so you can imagine how chuffed we were when we saw how great the food was...................Grilled Lobster on your all inclusive.......who could ask for more!!!!! The food was varied there was something to suit all tastes. The menu changed every day of our 2 week stay so it didn't feel samey at all! I was very impressed coming from a family of chefs resturantaurs that says alot!!!!!!! The food of course had a lot of Foreign flavours but then hey we are in the Dominican Republic it's not going to be British food.........I really cannot understand the previous bad reviews about this .................................perhaps it was because they didn't serve the heart attack egg chips type meals we brits so love???? There was fresh fruit available all day inthe resturant which was lovely.........mmm mmm the passion fruits!!!! Neither myself or my partner suffered from a deli belly the whole holiday maybe thats because we were not scared to ask the (friendly) chefs to cook the grill food to our liking! The service in the resturant was also very good the staff were friendly always there when you needed them.......you never had to wait for anything. They didn't speak much english but they knew all the important words so you could get by anyway who am i to say anything.........I was in a spanish speaking country so didn't expect them to speak fluent english!The pools were lovely well maintained the main pool was quite noisey due to the entertainers but if that wasn't for you then there was also a quieter pool that you could use the beach was absolutely stunning!!!!!! The watersports facilities were great they certainly gave you variey of things to do! The entertainers were good at their jobs kept everyone busy with activities......although I myself didn't join in they were always friendly smiley.Security at the resort was brilliant ......we had no problems ...but then we hired a safe to make sure nothing could happen!!!!!Overall this was by far the best holiday I have ever had ..............and this is one of the best hotels I have been in....... i'm an ex-holiday rep so I been in a fair few. This is not the ritz but then it's not a 5 star hotel it doesn't claim to be. It's not the most expensive hotel in the world to stay in so I think for what you pay you certainly get more than your monies worth!!!!!! I would definitely go back. Please do not let all the bad reports put you off this hotel...............................It Absolutely Fabulous!!!!!!!!
313883,sweetiepiex,10/09/2007,Amazing! one of the shows
313883,nicciandandrew,10/08/2007,A great holiday I have to say reading everyone else's reviews before I went was not a good idea; as they were all so negative before I went away. I went there very worried. I came back thinking it was fine; the resort is fine! All worried for no reason.Firstly I have decided to review this resort and counter some of the bad reviews the place has had recently. So please read the last few reviews to understand.1. The food.Was fine! There was variety; and different themes each night; and I would recommend you try the themed food as that is the freshest and nicest! I managed to have a different meal each day; lunch and dinner; and not once did I get a tummy complaint (and I suffer from IBS!). Note: If you get an undercooked bit of meat - ask them to cook it better - its not hard to do - 'Bien Hecho' means well done. Although I have to say I didn鈥檛 see any 'pink' meat.I think what also helped is we didn鈥檛 restrict ourselves to the resort either; although on AI deal; we went to a fab fish restaurant called Jellyfish (amazing!!); and also the Hard Rock. We made the holiday work for us not the other way around.The ala carte restaurants. Don鈥檛 think you should bother. The Mexican isn鈥檛 that good but they are nice in there. The Creperie during the day was lovely.2. BeachWas amazing. And I would recommend if you want a chilled holiday - namely couples 鈥?with no kids or little kids 鈥?go in mid September. We always got a lounger on the beach (no matter what time i.e no need to get up at 6.30am!) 鈥?in fact it was deserted most the time and very quiet and yet the weather was fab (even better was the rain tended to fall in the middle of the night and only happened a couple of times therefore not even noticeable).3. Pools.Didn鈥檛 actually go in them because the beach was so fab; but the pools were always being used so can鈥檛 have been that bad or dirty!4. Rooms.Fine fine fine!! Mini bar 鈥?free! Rooms huge. All in all fab. Cleaners did a fab job. No roaches; pests; great Air Con. Fine fine fine!5. Sellers.Yes there are some a couple of nights a week outside the restaurant and on beach they would walk by. But to be honest they really didn鈥檛 pester us that much; if at all. It鈥檚 not a problem.6.Reception.Checkin and checkout was easy and not slow. The girls on reception not smiley but the guys were and to be honest 鈥?do I really care of one girl on reception doesn鈥檛 smile at me? Not really.7. Saftey.Well I was never worried; and it wasn鈥檛 a problem.Maybe because I had read everyone else鈥檚 reviews I was extra safe. I always carried my safe key with me and never left anything out on the bed or anywhere in the room. I never gave them an opportunity to steal. All in all; this was a good holiday. It is not the best holiday resort ever; but I knew that from the start 鈥?I paid very little for this holiday; and therefore I got exactly what I was expecting. A nice resort; with nice friendly staff; nice food; nice drink and nice all round. If you want a better holiday then pay thousands for it and you will get it. You get what you pay for and I got a lovely holiday.
313883,libertyemotion,09/22/2007,Beautiful!! Rainbow over the pool
313883,mnguyen31,09/19/2007,Great Family Trip buffet
313883,Nedyalc,09/16/2007,Last Resort! We have been very fortunate to have travelled to many countries and stayed in a variety of hotels and this is certainly far from our best experience.The main objective of this trip was to relax in tropical surroundings; sip nice cocktails; chill and do nothing!The Positives- The Beach is abolutely beautiful; far nicer than what I experience in the North of the Country.- The ocean was fantastic; bath warm and no rocks / stones. Only slight drawback was that it got a little choppy near the shoreThe Negatives- The service. I made an official complaint regarding the service which we received. The standard of english spoken at this resort is very poor; however a smile is a universal language! Not here! I was made to feel on several occasions when asking for something (especially a drink at one of the bars) that they were doing me a huge favour! The hotel is definately aimed at non-English speaking travellers.- The Pool. The two pools at the resort are quite large. They did attempt to clean the pools everyday; but its more than a one man job and takes longer than 30 minutes. The pools weren't disgusting; but there was a lot of debris from the surrounding trees.- The Food Drink. This is not our first AI holiday; but it was th first that we wanted to skip meals throughout the day. The selection is fairly limited (especially if you want to avoid the riskier items like uncooked meats and shellfish). The pasta station was safe; but after two days was getting tiresome.- The rooms. The rooms are reasonably clean and the beds are OK; but the decor is tired and the cleaners could be better (I reaslise that they earn next to nothing; but how hard is it to wipe dead flies off walls and windows).Overall; the location is very good and neighbouring hotels looked nice. If you've booked here; try and get moved!
313883,aowen,09/11/2007,Don't visit !!!! Although the grounds and beach are very nice; the complex has to be avoided.We have just come back from 2 weeks at the Tropical Princess.The first day we got there we stayed by the pool and beach. On the evening my girlfriend wanted to dry off her bikini. We were on the ground floor and hung it on one of the chairs on the balcony. The next morning it was gone; stolen.We also had several roaches a night in our bathroom. I lost count of how many of the buggers I flushed down the toilet. The other people we met were all in 1st; or 2nd floor rooms and didn't have this problem. Maybe it's only GF or room 1114.Now to my real gripe .... FOOD :Firstly; I'm not the stereotypical British tourist who needs fish and chips; pie and chips and burgers constantly. However ... I expect my meat to be cooked through. And hygiene rules to be followed.We had chicken pink in the middle; pork again pink. When you decided enough was enough and got a burger ... yep; red raw in the middle.Myself and my girlfriend had chicken tortilla wraps one night; the next morning we were glued to the toilet. Not just us; from asking other people in the resort we have it that at least another 6 had the same problem. The hygiene standards are disgusting... food left out for far too long in the sweaty fly and bird infested restaurants; spoon used to whisk raw eggs and then left in the ham / cheese. When we told out Thomson rep about the food poisoning he said Yeah it takes a bit of getting used to What a joke!!!The hotel also invites market sellers into the complex twice a week. They setup directly outside all the entrances to the food hall; meaning you have no choice but the walk past them. They badger you constantly. Very annoying.If you do visit Punta Cana; learn to get very ignorant to the sellers. Its the only way to take a walk down the beach.The holiday is over now; but my stomach is still in pieces.THANKS A LOT TROPICAL PRINCESS CHEFS
313883,suggie,09/02/2007,Friendly place with some bad design and great beach ! This place is slow on check in; but the guys are so kind i didnt mind at all; i was there with my 13year old daugther. Better book a superior room; nicer areas; because the rest lacks on the design; not warm. The personnel is very courtois and do their best; the big flaw of this resort is the housekeeping; it was a problem for everyone in the regular rooms. Food was ok; found something good at each meal and the drinks too. Great service from bartenders and servers in the restaurants; dont miss the mexican restaurant; its fun tequila at your table ! The animators are very kind and try their best; but nightlife is inexistant on the resort; youll need to go out and they plan fun stuff to do for about 25$ per person. Somes discos are worth seing. Beach is the best part; take a catamaran tou its worth it; great staff there also.For any medical need there is a drug store with a nice pharmacist that will help you. Room are descent; if you go there in summer; pick a room on the second floor; its cooler. First floor rooms were smelly apperently from people who change room.We were on third and i was fine. The main pool; where the bar is; wasnt always clear and some people got ears infection during my trip. But we had a nice and relaxing week; we met wonderful people; from usa; france; haiti !!! Beach is perfect you can take long walks...
313883,AnnaNaz,08/24/2007,Fantastic Hotel! Shops
313883,mbysiek,08/23/2007,Service was excellent I just got back from the Tropical Princess in Punta Cana and we had a blast. Contrary to what a lot of other reviewers stated; the workers were extremely friendly and helpful. If you tipped them or knew a little Spanish; you were treated like kings. The resort was filled to capacity; and I think we were the only people from the US. Most of the other tourists were from Italy; Germany; France; or Russia and spoke little or no English. I also noticed that the Europeans never or hardly ever tip. I'm not sure if that is a cultural thing or if that they are just outright cheap. Make sure you give a dollar or two for every drink or meal. You'll make a lot of good friends fast and you'll get excellent service. The resort grounds were beautiful. Workers were outside all day combing the grounds for any imperfections. The only thing I didn't like was a smell that resembled sewage a few tropical trees gave off. These trees had what looked like berries hanging from them so we called them Poopberry Trees. Most of the tourists are families or couples so it isn't the best place for singles. I went with one friend and we are both single; but we still ended up having a great time. We met a few good looking Italian women who didn't speak English so nothing became of that. The club Arieto on the grounds was a good time; but not the best club for singles; unless you want to pay for a night with a Dominican woman. Dominican women are exceptionally gorgeous. They would come up and flirt with you a lot; but would then tell you how much they cost. I wasn't really into that. I went off of the resort into the inner Dominican and found everyone to be friendly. I didn't run into any problems. If you rent a car; don't let your Dominican friend borrow it because he will probably total it. It was interesting riding the cabs located right off the resort. These were composed of dirt bikes where my friend and I would climb on the back. We both average around 220 pounds so picture three people on one of these little dirt bikes weaving in and out of traffic. One time; the driver couldn't make a turn and we crashed right into a car waiting at a stop sign. He was not too happy with the dents in the side of his car and his broken mirror. We fled that scene quickly. The Mamajuana is a different kind of liquor and I haven't seen it in the US. Ask to try some at one of the bars. Don't drink too much during the day. The combination of alcohol and the hot sun will wear you out fast. Ask for Hansel at the Brazilian restaurant and tell him Mike and Tim sent you. He'll take care of you. Make sure you get the VIP package (it was very well worth it). Don't order any drinks with ice in them. I was very sick for a day because of this. We at El Pescador one night and the dinner was awesome. The buffet didn't have a huge variety; but the fresh fruit and pastries made up for it. The pizza was very good there. Make sure you give some beers to the workers throughout the day. They will appreciate it very much. We were there for Hurricane Dean for a day; which was an interesting experience to be part of. The crepes and gelato at La Creperie were awesome. The pools were beautiful. They closed at 7pm; but no one monitored them to see if you went in after that. The spa and workout facilities were impressive for a resort. I recommend getting a massage; but not if you're sunburned. Also; I don't recommend you try driving a car you rent down the sidewalks of the resort. Security doesn't find it as funny as you may think it is. Overall; we had a fabulous time. I can only imagine that the people who would write negative reviews are whiny; expect everyone to speak English; and are too cheap to tip. Let me know if anyone needs any info.
313883,holmesontour,08/18/2007,Paradise still exists Our accomodation
313883,love2travelwhitby,08/08/2007,Love grounds everthing else terrible Don't even know where to begin from;starting from check in not friendly at all. The room was poor it had i desk with two drawers for four people to live for two weeks. Had to put towels under door for ants not coming into room. Food was very poor not much of selection.Kids eat pizza and fries for two weeks;constantly ran out of plates had to wait to get food;if you were looking for example mango they said none left.Bars very very poor asked for tropical drink would not now had to make it.Beer was the only safe thing to ask for and still would run out of beer and you would have to go to another bar.Beach towels ran out of clean ones every day sometimes had to use same one for two days; when you ask to replace they said come back half hour go back and they reply to late come back later.The only good thing about this resort was the grounds and beach and thank god weather was perfect.
313883,greencoconuts,07/29/2007,Loved the pizza I would recommend the tropical princess to anyone; but I wouldn't recommend the VIP package unless they have to money to chuck away and like spending loads of time looking at the customer services rep in the lobby.I spent hours there !! My spanish skills sure did improve listening to them for hours on end speaking on the phone whilst I sat waiting for attention. VIP is an acronym for Very Important Person. I felt like the opposite; so did my partner when we were ignored in the a la carte resteraunt - la cava. We upped and left soon after the waitress was too busy sorting out other peoples woes instead of taking our order. Enough moaning; the place was beautiful; a real tropical haven we didn't leave the resort all week. The food was plentiful and they cooked real omelettes for you in the morning. The beach was blissful and the sea sublime. It felt cold when you jumped in but it soon warmed up with the waves. Played water polo in the Caribe pool. Scored a couple of goals but let in a few when I was keeper. Pool bar was ace ! Swim up for a coke and rum how good is that ? Seen a wedding there too. Fancy horses and all. Definantly go back.
313883,alicia1986,07/25/2007,Lovely hols - with a few bumps along the way! My boyfriend (24) and I (21) have returned from our 2 weeks hols in the Dominican Republic. We stayed at the Tropical Princess with Thomson.1) The flight: One of the best I've been on. Thomson have upgraded all of their long haul aircrafts. For 拢5 each you could upgrade the television in the back of your seat. There was a fab selection of movies (e.g. Wild Hogs; Disturbia; Blades of Glory); over 90 upto date CD albums that you could create a playlist from of over 50 songs; radio; games and lots of fun stuff for kids. The seats have an extra 3 leg room to and it's amazing at the difference it makes.2) Arrival in the DR: On arrival you are greeted by latin music and you have your photo taken (which you buy on your departure). We were quickly taken through the airport and onto the coach after greeting our Tour Rep Louise (who was lovely). The transfer from the airport is under 1 hour and we arrived at the Tropical Princess at around 4.30pm DR time.3) Check-in: Was pretty straight forward; you were given your room key; towel keys and you paid approx. $30 for a safe key. The porters take you and your luggage on the small shuttle buses to your room which is much welcomed after the long flight!4) Room: We were lucky to have a room in one of the villas. Gardenia villa - which my boyfriend was a little disappointed with but it did the job for somewhere to sleep and shower. It had a large wardrobe and quite alot of drawer space. A very large bed and balcony. The mini fridge was stacked daily and our maid was lovely. If you leave a few dollars here and there they will always leave clean towels which we had changed everyday. We had lovely surprises such as flowers and swans (towels) left for us.5) Food/ Buffet: There a variety of specialist restaurants: Chinese; Italian; Seafood; Dominican and Brazilian which are at a supplement of $8pp. The main buffet area which is free Higueros was lovely; I mainly stuck to pasta; which was the best and most popular staple food over there from the queues! My boyfriend enjoyed the pizza (also amazing); chips; burgers and hotdogs! We visited the Chinese in our first week which was quite disappointing; everything was soaked in soy sauce. We also visited the Italian but for what you get you might as well eat in the buffet restaurant and save yourselves $8pp. I was not sick during the holiday but my boyfriend had a bad stomach due to a seafood dish he ate one night; so I would be wary of seafood!!The waiter/waitress service was hit and miss; no matter how many tips you left! One day would be excellent and the next we didn't receive our drinks and waited 20mins to have our table laid- I think this is due to them being very busy - usually between 7.30pm and 9pm!6)Beach/Pool: What can I say the beach is amazing; white sands and crystal blue waters! There was a lot of seaweed but we didn't mind. The beach is also very busy; ONE WARNING - if you do not get up by 6.30am to put towels down; you will not get any beds with an umberella - anywhere!! We were up every morning to reserve our beds; which signs tell you not too; but when everyone else is doing it - it's worth it! There a number of pools which are kept very clean; we had one right outside our villa!7) Entertainment: The entertainment is a little disappointing - mostly catered for Italians; Spanish and French. 10% of the music I heard was in English; but most of the time a guy was shouting on a microphone in Spanish!There were a few good shows we went to see at the large theatre near reception - Play Back is a must see - a little like X Factor. And the Lion King was brilliant! WARNING - wear lots of mosquito repelent - I was eaten alive - I had 24 bites after that one night! It was agony!8) The hotel itself: The complex is large - and is shared with the Caribe Club Princess. When we booked our holiday the only difference between the two hotels is that with the Caribe the specialist restaurants are free and the massive 拢200pp extra to stay at the Caribe! If i was considering the Caribe I would most definately choose the Tropical to save some 拢拢拢!The grounds were huge and there is a regular shuttle bus service to get you around; however we enjoyed walking as the scenery and wildlife was beautiful. The hotels rest on large mangroves; with wild peacocks; chickens; roosters; moorhens and ducks roaming around. There are large fish in the small pools too. People would take bread buns from the buffet restaurant and feed them.9) Our major problem: The only major problem we had during the holiday was to do with our safe key. Each safe has literally a lock and key which cost us $30 to purchase on check-in. There is no master key so if it is lost you must pay $45 to replace it. One afternoon we came back from the beach before going to the snack bar for dinner. My boyfriend kept the key in a sock in the drawer next to the bed (original and silly I know but I did warn him-men eh?!) instantly he knew the socks had been moved and then found that the key was missing. We searched the room from top to bottom and there was no sign. He was sure he had put it there that morning before breakfast. The only other person who had been in the room was the maid. I phoned reception immediately who said I should go to reception. I walked there on my own as my boyfriend wanted to stay to make sure no one came in (even though at this point we did not know whether the safe was empty or full). The guy behind reception kept repeating that if I lost it I must pay the $40 for a new one. I refused as I knew we had not lost it and that it had been taken. He asked me to go back to the room and he would send an engineer to break open the safe...3 hours; 2 men and one pneumatic drill later the safe was finally opened - to our relief everything was still there! During the time the men were in the room; we stayed; at one point the maid came in and my boyfriend saw her try to give the engineer the key but he shook his head and said it was too late. At this point we saw her hanging around the bathroom before leaving. Once the lock was off I went back to reception to get another lock and key! They still refused to give me one until I paid until I blew up and he agreed out of sheer fear I think. We gained another key and learnt from the experience to take the key everywhere we went! The next day; I found the key hidden in a magazine in the bathroom which I believe the maid put there when she came to see the engineer. We never saw that maid again but our new one was lovely. To be honest I am not sure that the maids intention was to take the safe key for our valuables (as they were still there). Our suspicions are that the hotel may orcastrate this to earn an extra few $$$!10) We did two of the Thomson experiences 1) Speed adventure and 2) Swimming with sharks and rays. The speed adventure was amazing; like James Bond and the people who organised it were really friendly! The sharks and rays was also very good; but I was a little scared of the Nurse sharks!11) We also used the spa on one of the wet days - of which there was only 2 - the rest of the time was boiling hot 30 dgrees! We both had an anti-stress massage which was lovely; and well worth the money - $70 for us both for 1/2 an hour.12) Overall the experience was lovely and the people are really friendly. It also helps if you try to speak a little Spanish; I did and it did us a few favours with the staff and service. My boyfriend found a new buddy - Hansel at the snack bar - he was really nice. Also there was an annoying yet compelling song that played constantly over the complex - Estan dificile! (If anyone knows who sings this please let me know!)I hope this review has been helpful; if you have any queries I have opted to be contacted regarding my experience so feel free to drop me an email.
313883,sandy57,07/23/2007,Great B-day celebration My sister and I just returned from a 4 day 3 night stay at the resort and I must say that we enjoyed every minute of our stay. I was celebrating my 50 th b-day and was looking for a place to relax and sit back. The resort caters to all types of people: adults; children; adolescents; etc. Check-in and check-out was so simple with no complications whatsoever. There are activities for all age groups. The rooms were impecably clean and neat. Our key did not open the door initially but when reported was solved quickly. On night the AC unit was not cooling properly. When reported the problem was solved in less than one half hour. Food was excellent but my sister had a slight upset stomach; but this was do to her over eating. The biggest assest the resort has are its people. Coming from an Island in the Carribbean (Puerto Rico) where we are used to happy and free spirited people; the dominicans are truly friendly and respectful. I honestly believe they enjoy what they are doing and most of all; are very aware of proper customer service. We tipped them generously but I was saddened by the fact they were not tipped as they should have been by other tourists. Most of them work double shifts and after conversations with some of the employees; we found our that they work 11 days in a row for a very; very low salary. Nevertheless; I would return in a blink of an eye. Great B-day celebration.
313883,paulacross,07/19/2007,"Loved the Dominican but not this hotel!" Me and my boyfriend have just returned from a 2 week holiday staying at the Tropical Princess Hotel. I have to say after reading such fantastic reviews i was expecting a lot more than we got.1) Check in at the hotel was fine although for a 4* hotel i would have expected a safe to be included in the room. When we reached our room the key given to us did not work and we had to wait 30mins before we could gain access.2) In the room we had no hairdryer; couldn't use the clothes draws as the fridge was in front of them and the doors on the wardrobe were boken (which my boyfriend had to fix!). We complained to reception twice to get a hairdryer and when that didn't work our rep complained for us. We then saw a member of staff take a hairdryer from another room which she then gave to us!3) The maid service at this hotel definately needs some attention. We very rarely had fresh towels delivered everyday and when we did get some it would be between 6-7pm. I thought that this was too late in the day as after spending the day on the beach all i wanted to do was get showered and clean! 4) On one particular day me and boyfriend were on an excursion and the maid had smashed a bottle of coke on our bedroom floor. When we returned we were disgusted to find our floor covered in splinters of glass that hadn't been cleared up properly which led to my boyfriend cutting his feet twice. After this incident we were so disgraced that we had to complain. On complaining we were assured that somebody would come and clear the rest of the glass up but did this happen no! we had to ring again the following day to get somebody to sweep the rest up.5) During our stay my boyfriend got sick twice and i got sick once. I have travelled to many places such as africa; thailand and i have even been to the dominican before and i have never been sick on holiday. We only had bottled water; even for brushing our teeth and never ate the salad or anything that could have been washed in their water! I can only guess that it was the food but i won't be going back to find out!6) i've been to the dominican before and stayed in a 3* hotel and found all the staff lovely. However although some members of staff here were friendly and helpful i found many of them rude and had such a poor attitude towards service. It almost felt like they had your money and therefore couldn't be bothered to make an effort; definately not 4* service! Maybe the complex is just to large to provide such a high standard to everbody.Although me and my boyfriend complained nothing really changed and in the end we gave up and tried to enjoy the holiday. I for one didn't want to spend the whole time complaining! That is why i have left it for now!I have to say on a positive note that the grounds were lovely and the beach and pools were also georgeous. You do have the problem of getting a bed by the pool or on the beach as there is definately not enough for everybody so be prepared for an early rise.Entertainment is only really catered for to the italians which is a shame;unless you understand italian you can't really join in. We never went to the evening entertainment so can't comment on that. We just enjoyed having cocktails in the bar!!The majority of people in the hotel were french; italian and german with some american and spanish. Although English people were around we were far and few between and so you would sometimes feel a bit segregated.Although we got sick the food was lovely and there was loads to chose from. We went to the chinese which was nice and made a change; although we did have to pay a bit extra for this.Me and my boyfriend went on 3 trips 1)monster truck 2)Saona Island 3)Speed venture where you get to drive your own speedboat. All the trips were excellent and without fault. The guides were brilliant and the places you visit are lovely so i would definately recommend these.Overall this hotel could be fantastic but we just had too many problems and felt the attitude of the staff and the service we received was extremely poor. I'Ve stayed in 2* places and got a better service than here.The domincan is lovely and the beaches were georgeous but this doesnt make up for the hotel which is where you will spend the most of your time! Unless this hotel improves i would not go back or recommend it to anybody!
313883,thestarScarborough,07/11/2007,Fantastic place but only if you are italian or french have just returned home to uk; hotel good except you need to be italian or french to enjoy most of the facilitys;it is a great pity uk tour operaters can not provide brit's with the same type of quality entertainment and kid's club's as do the italian and french tour operaters. the jym is crap; broken machines; no heavy weights and air conditioning [--]. Oh yes i also advise you to take your own spoons
313883,JArruda,07/10/2007,Second FAMILY Vacation We went on vacation during the week of June 23 till the 30th. Our flight was from Toronto; Canada with SUNWING and we booked with HOLIDAY MARKET TRAVEL (Grace). Both of which gave us excellent customer service. We had a long bus ride into the hotel as Tropical Princess/Caribe Club Princess was the last stop but still manageable. We arrived at the hotel and had a not so good reception; as we travelled with a group of 4 couples and had requested all the rooms at least close together. Well; we got three together and the other couple was on the another floor and on the other side of the resort. . We did not appreciated that much...well; we had that changed but waited almost 48hours to get someone to change the rooms. The rooms need a bit of TLC but all in all the beds were very comfortable and house keeping was great (THANKS SONIA !!) . Although that was pretty much the only major speedbump on our trip. Once all settled in; we all had a great time. The El Hingo Buffet restaurant was awesome. GREAT FOOD; GREAT SERVICE. Breakfest was awesome. We tried the Dominican Restaurant too and I like that also but; not too much of a menu to choice from thou. All in all the food was great and everynight they had a different menu to choose from. Although another minor speedbump was that a few people in our groups got sick on the third day but; we can't determine that it was the food as the other were fine. The beach is beautiful; white sand; crsytal blue water ..... .AMAZING !!! Although another minor speedbump is the lack of beach chairs beach towels. You really have to wake up early to get a decent place to be at the beach and towels are only available after a certain time. The animation group was OK...they did alot of games at the main pool area. The evening show were AMAZING TOO !!! We caught the festival show and the LION KING show both were great to watch...the LION KING show get 5 stars *****. Our check-out ran smoothly although a bit early but that was cause of our flight out. Our flight back was great we actually got back into Toronto 40mins early...GREAT FLIGHT SUNWING !!!! We will probably go back to Punta Cana but mostly likely check out the other hotels on the strip as I like to see new things. But as an OVERALL rating on the Tropical Club/Caribe Club Princess I give the hotel 3.5 stars.
313883,Sungodess1973,06/27/2007,Fantastic... Just returned fom a fantastic week here. All the staff are really friendly and it caters for all ages. The hotel is 1 of 3 on the complex however no where was over crowded and lots of free sunbeds available either at 1 of the 3 pools or on the beach. Each pool caters for the individual ranging form a quiet pool area to the party pool which is fab for all ages if you want to have a good laugh and burn off some of those pounds from all the inclusive food and drink:-) It is a very mixed hotel with people from all over the world; we have made some wonderful friends and everyone holidaying here seemed really chilled out and friendly. The beach here is amazing pure white sand and turquoise sea; you can get trips here right on beach too; we went on a snorkelling trip for just $20 for adults and $10 for kids. I did get sick on my last few days here however I did not let this ruin my holiday and I am not going to blame anything I ate or drank for my illness as I dont know if I had a bug or something?! I would definatley go back here and wished I had booked for 2 weeks now.
313883,hnybear,06/05/2007,Great for all! Our group of 13 stayed at the Tropical Princess for a week in April. We had real variety in our group: Family with 2 children under 4; 2 sets of Grandparents with various health issues; very active Aunt Uncle plus 3 X 30 something singles. We all had a great time. There was something for everyone. The buffet was great. We only went to one ala carte as the buffet was better and no waiting for food to arrive. Entertainment was good; including the kids dance earlier in the evening. The rooms were good but the family room with an extra bathroom and separate room (with door) was fantastic! They even have separate doors to the balcony so you can get little ones to sleep and then feel like you can move about. The 3 pools were wonderful. There seemed to be one for each mood: 1) fun noisy with lots of things to do 2) full sun for baking in 3) quiet with trees fountains. Beach was fabulous and ocean good for swimming in. Loved the fact that no one was trying to sell us anything (no time shares; hair braiding; trips etc.) If you wanted these you could approach the vendors but otherwise you were left alone. Grounds were gorgeous!Only issues we had were sun beds are hard come by. A person needs to get up early to stake their claim. My brother had a problem getting his VIP room but this was more to do with Air Transat /Nolitrous than the resort. A person really doesn't need to upgrade anyway. If you have a room facing the Italian stage its *very* noisy from 10-11pm. We just stayed out of the room till 11 each night. My parents asked; and had no trouble; moving to the other side of the building which was quieter. Long story short: our big group with very different tastes likes all loved the resort and hope to return next year; this time for 2 weeks!
313883,BellRichmondHill,05/28/2007,Should be called "Tropical Paradise" May 11 鈥?18; 2007My mom; daughter and I (three generations of women) spent a wonderful week at the Tropical Princess celebrating a very special birthday. In honour of this special celebration; our travel agent had made note of this and also requested an ocean view room. We booked with Conquest and flew Skyservice. In the Conquest book; and also our travel agent told us; that if you purchase to stay at the Caribe Princess; you will have privileges to go to the Tropical Princess but not vice versa. This is not true! We spent our entire week at the Caribe pool. I truly feel this is a gimmick where they try to get consumers to dish out additional unnecessary money.The plane departed as scheduled at 6:25 a.m. and our flight was good. Once we arrived in Punta Cana; it was a bit of a walk from the plane to the airport; to the baggage claim area and then back outside to a parking lot full of buses; mini-vans and cars.Our check in was quite quick; however; when we arrived to our room; our balcony faced a fence (and the tennis courts); our mirrored closet doors were smeared with brown spots and the room had a bit of an odor. Needless to say; we were not happy. We called and eventually returned to the front desk to sort this out. At first; the Front desk was not very accommodating even after we explained the request for an ocean view room due to this special birthday. We waited for our Conquest rep; Wendys; who had good connections with the hotel staff and; in the end; they gave us another room overlooking one of the three pools. It wasn't ocean view but then it wasn't a fence either!We found the rooms very standard but clean. There was only a closet and no dresser and we lived out of our suitcases. The rooms were always cleaned late in the day and towels were almost never available before 5:00 p.m. We have been to Cuba a number of times and always enjoyed the little treats that our maid surprised us with 鈥?swans made out of towels; our beds turned down at night; candy on our pillow 鈥?the only thing we got on a daily basis was our bedspread turned to look like a bow. We did have mosquitoes in the room and should have brought bug spray. We took clothes; candies; toothbrushes; gums; shoes etc. with us and gave most of it to our maid and staff at the buffet restaurant. Before leaving; we went to the Dollar Store and Bulk Barn and filled up on items that come at a very high price to the people in the Dominican. They did appreciate this.Both the Lobby and the Theatre where the evening shows are performed are located next to each other and are a bit of a walk from the hotel rooms. We went to the Lobby twice 鈥?once because we were lucky to encounter one of the trams and hopped on and the second time we ended up walking.Note: 1.Make sure you remember to pack all the essentials 鈥?prices in their four shops are outrageous. My daughter forgot to bring her mousse and spent $22 US for a can of mousse; however; a package of cigarettes was $4 US;2.Internet is available in the Lobby for $5 US for 25 minutes;3.If you need to call home; call from your room and charge it to your room at $3 US per minute. We tried to call collect the first two days and were told they could not put the call through. On each phone; there is also a number that can be used to call collect directly; however; when you try it; the call never goes through. I also investigated whether we could call using our credit card but thought better of it once I was advised that there would be a $29 US charge for the connection and $3 US per minute after that. The best deal is the internet in the Lobby or charge the call to your room.The grounds of the Tropical Princess are glorious 鈥?green; lush; spotless; palm; coconut trees and flora everywhere. They are very large and again a bit of walk from one place to another.There are three large pools on the property and; as stated above; we spent our entire time at the Caribe pool. The Animation staff is very friendly; hard-working and tries to engage the tourists to join in their many daily activities 鈥?although they are not pushy.The beach was surreal and lots of it! White pristine sand that takes you for miles and miles鈥? I walked one side of it and passed the Punta Cana Princess and LTI hotels. Ocean was a little choppy and it was quite shallow for the first 50 feet or so. I ended up just putting a beach chair in the ocean and tan at the same time!The food was very good. The buffet restaurant serves breakfast; lunch and dinner; and plenty of it. We ate our breakfast and most dinners at the buffet restaurant. Breakfast was an abundance of the usual 鈥?ready to order eggs/omelets; bacon; potatoes; plantain; oatmeal; several varieties of breads; yogurts; freshly squeezed juices (cantaloupe; watermelon; pineapple) and lots of fresh fruits. The only thing that surprised us was that they did not have any cereal on their menu. Lunch was a selection of pizza; wings; hamburger; hot dog; French fries etc. from the poolside restaurant. We had lunch one day at the buffet restaurant and were treated to grilled calamari. Our dinners were at the buffet restaurant and they offered a variety of fresh pasta and; each night was a different grilled fish 鈥?grouper; kingfish; baby lobsters; shrimp. There are eight ethnic restaurants on the property that require advance reservations. We ate at the Italian one night; Mamma Mia; and it was really good. The pasta dishes were great (don鈥檛 order the tortellini 鈥?they are very small!) and the appetizer/salad buffet was excellent. If you are going to eat at any of the specialty restaurants; book these as early as you arrive; otherwise; you'll not get a reservation or get a late one.There were a number of excursions available; however; we all went on this vacation to rest; therefore; did not take advantage of any. My daughter did want to swim with the dolphins but we were quickly talked out of it as it was considered an expensive excursion ($85 US) for two minutes with the dolphins. Friends that we met down there did go to Santo Domingo but said that it was a very looooooooong day (4 hours to get there; 5 hours to come back; and a lot of walking in very hot weather!)You are probably thinking 鈥?what a long review! This is because it truly was a wonderful holiday; irrespective of the few negatives mentioned above.. The major disappointment; and really; the only one; was what happened on our return. From the first day of meeting our Conquest rep; she emphasized the importance of checking our departure flight information listed in the Conquest binder in the Lobby and to be on time to board the bus at 8:10 a.m. from the Lobby. We had an 11:30 a.m. flight departure. We checked the Conquest binder the evening before we left and the morning as we waited for the bus to pick us up for the airport. The bus arrived late and we left at approximately 8:25 a.m. from the hotel. At approximately 9:20 a.m. in line at the Skyservice counter; I was informed by one of the women who also stayed at the Tropical Princess that she had just asked the VIP staff (the airport Conquest reps) if our flight was on time and was told that it hadn鈥檛 left Toronto. The Toronto flight was to leave at 6:25 a.m. which meant it was to have landed at 10:30 a.m. I went over and spoke with the VIP person in charge and asked for details 鈥?they didn鈥檛 have any. I questioned him about when he received this information and why we left the hotel when they knew the flight hadn鈥檛 even departed. He was very rude and told us that he had received a fax at 8:00 a.m. 鈥?finished; end of story. Given this information and that it was now 9:30 a.m. (3 hour delay) and departure time was not known; why not take us back to the hotel as the buses were still there. He told me it was up to Skyservice. When we got to the Skyservice counter; I enquired whether this was true and; if so; I wouldn鈥檛 be checking in my luggage and asked to be taken back to the hotel. They didn鈥檛 speak English and proceeded to check us in and took our luggage. Then they sent us one counter over to pay our $20 US departure tax and then pointed us to the 鈥渋mmigration鈥?line. By this time; everyone was upset that nobody was talking to us and everyone seemed to be ignoring us. We were being ignored by both Conquest and Skyservice and their attitudes were deplorable. We didn鈥檛 receive any customer service and we certainly were not represented by Conquest or Skyservice. We had to battle it out ourselves. We demanded to speak with someone in charge and we wanted answers. It turned out that the 6:25 a.m. flight did leave Toronto on time but; once in the air; returned to Toronto because of a malfunction. They were awaiting a part for the plane and no one knew how long this would take. Skyservice wanted us to check through immigration and then they would provide us with a 鈥渟nack鈥? It was now 10:30 a.m.; plane still in Toronto; no part had arrived; needed time to install part upon arrival; four hour flight to Punta Cana 鈥?you do the math! Skyservice then decided it was going to take all the passengers to a nearby hotel for lunch and then we鈥檇 all return to the airport. We flatly said no to that and continued to demand that they return us all back to our hotels; at their cost; with our luggage. It was a long fight but they did concede and took all the passengers to the Catalonia resort for the day while they arranged for another carrier to take us back to Toronto. We ended up leaving Punta Cana at 11:30 p.m. and arrived in Toronto at 4:00 a.m. I know for a fact that had we not pursued this and demanded customer service; we would have spent the entire day and night at the airport in 32 degree heat!I realize that these situations do happen; however; you book with a particular tour company and it鈥檚 their job and responsibility to advise you; keep you up to date; provide some answers and show some respect and sympathy for these types of situations. We received none of this by neither Conquest nor Skyservice. It is truly when a problem arises that the greatness is measured and in our case; there was none. There was not one happy soul in the whole group that would disagree with this. I will definitely never forget this occurrence and the companies involved.Yes; we had another day in Punta Cana but we had to work for it! We value customer service in Canada and these two companies could take some lessons.Bell Family; Richmond Hill
313883,PaulAllenfamily,05/18/2007,Great place to relax Stayed there 7th to 14th May and was very impressed by the facilities on offer.We were offered the VIP upgrade but did not take it; and at the end of the day it was not needed.Food was plentiful and very edible; with service that many top class restaurants would struggle to match. Always a cheery and friendly welcome.Rooms were clean and well looked after. We did have a couple of minor problems which were sorted out - lights failed a couple of times and toilet flush handle broke. But guest services (Ingrid) were always on the ball and sorted things out. When I rang to report one problem I found that themaid had already reported it and maintenance was on its way.Beach is superb very clean and always had room availabele; likewise the pool areas had ample seating etc.Most days we were up and about at 6.30 walking the beach and grounds. Hotel staff would be working already keeping gardens tidy; cleaning pools etc.Fresh coconuts were about from own trees and the gardeners would open them right then and there for you.Reception area is a room to see; it is open sided with marble floors etc. Very nice and very efficient.No tips were expected but appreciated when given Would I go there again - yes without question.
313883,CrazyEights,05/04/2007,A nice ride.. with a few speedbumps... Ramon... Princess Activities team member and great guy
313883,CamShafter,05/03/2007,Great vacation; very few negatives My girlfriend and I spent two weeks from April 12th to the 26th. We were met by friends for the last week. We all had the VIP which I do recommend booking through your travel agency not at the resort. (cheaper)First off I will start with the few small things that bugged me while I was there.First; the Italians. I found them to be very rude and figure they had to be treated better than everyone else. One morning I really wanted to try archery and so I did. I went there in the morning when it opened and there are two targets/ranges. One range being used by two men (Italian). And the other being used by everyone else. In 45 minutes I got to shoot three arrows; while the Italians had shot well over 50. I asked them if we could use their range and take turns but they shook their heads and act like they didn't understand anything and continued to shoot. Very rude. It was a minor problem and I shrugged it off and continued on.The only second problem I had outside of all the Italians was when my friend arrived into my second week for his first week. They arrived later in the evening and when they got food and their baggage we all went swimming in the ocean. We were lightly wrestling around when his bracelet caught mine and fell into the ocean. We went to the front desk at around midnight to get a new one. The guy said you had to have to old one or it was 50$ US. Long story short he came back in the morning and was very firm with the manager and finally got his bracelet for free. In the hotel room book it says they charge 2$US per bracelet. So just watch out for money scams. Most employees only earn 6-8$US per day.Rooms were great but try not to get a ground floor room in the cayenne sp? building close to the 24 hours bar/snack bar; it can be very loud. Also the italian theatre; yes they have their own theatre; but it pales in comparison to the shows at the international theatre. The lirio building with the lower number; IE) 3201-3210 are closer to the beach and father away from the theatre.Food is great at the buffet and I never had a problem with the variety; although I am not a very picky eater. The al a cartes were fantastic; although I wouldn't recommend the lobster pieces and the Chinese; go for the duck; mmm. The other restaurants I found really good and always better than the buffet.Water sports were fun; catamarans and boogie boarding. Went banana boating once although with the VIP you get 1 hour per person per week of motorized water sports which include banana boating or a trip out to see the old tanker wrecked on the reef.Rooms; fine; always clean no problems. Although on our second week we are supposed to get a small bottle of rum and three cigars (per week) and after 4 days of calling and talking to guest services in person I finally got it delivered.The spa was great; we went the first week for our 20 min massage(VIP) and the next week we had to add 25 mins to our next one because it was so great. I believe it was 35$ for 25 extra min on top of our VIP. Very nice spa and massage rooms.Oh and the walk to the lobby is at most 10 mins from the rooms if you walk extremely slow. it took 10 mins most of the time because we were always stopping to take pictures of the beautiful scenery and animals.Theatre shows are extremely good and the Icebreaker show is always funny. Sit in the front row and its a sure thing you will get on stage once or twice.The Dominican staff are very friendly...not much to say about the Italians. The pool bar is great...can get in real trouble there. Overall I would go back in a heartbeat; but I think I might try something else in punta cana as this is my first time down there so I can compare. But any questions; send me a message. will try and get back to you asap.
313883,RsPToronto,05/02/2007,Enjoyed our Week and Comments for Improvements We had the pleasure of enjoying a great week - April 10-17/07 - at Tropical Princess. We enjoyed everything that the resort had to offer - the beach; the food; the entertainment; the drinks and the new friends that we made. It was an experience.Preface to say that we would go back but there are issues that should be addressed to help make the trip and the time at the resort as enjoyable as one expects it to be. The following comments are intended to be viewed as constructive commentary with the pupose being that improvements can be made.It was a beautiful resort but be aware that it shares common facilities with Caribe Club Princess - same site but 2 resorts. We were told that there are approx 55 resorts in Punta Cana and that they are located on approx 20 sites. Thus many resorts share common facilities. We flew down on Sunwing after leaving Toronto at 6:30 am. This was the first concern we had given that we were told the flight leaves at 6:10 am and that we should be at the airport 3 hours prior to departure 3:00 am. The reason we did not leave until 6:30 am was because regulations prohibit departures before 6:30 am. So why doesn't Sunwing adjust its schedule accordingly and indicate departure as 6:30 am.This early departure also become a problem on arrival at the resort. We arrived at 11:30 but check-in is at 3:00 pm. Again; why does Sunwing have such an early departure schedule when you can't even get into your room until 3:00 pm. Once we got to our room and on to the beach; all the recliner chairs were occupied. Like many others who have commented before; you have to get to the beach at 6:30 -7:00 am to reserve beach chairs and sombrias. We were surprised; actually we were appalled; at how many of these chairs/sombrias were reserved yet not occupied for the entire day. This was evident the entire week that we were there. The resort management should have at look at this problem and ensure that; first; there are enough chairs for the number of guests at the resort for that week and; second; that using security staff; chairs that are not occupied for considerable period of time (over 2 hours) be made available to those who have come to spend time on the beach.We also had an issue with towels in our room - either no towels at all on arrival; only 2 sets of towels when there were 3 of us in the room; etc. As a suggestion aimed at basic custormer service; management should advise housekeeping how many are staying in each room so that we do not have to go chasing after housekeeping for towels.Sunwing should also adjust is departure from Punta Cana as that was some experience having to leave the resort at 7:30 am (before breakfast) and sit at the airport for 3 hours (why such a long time) when we could have left the resort at a more reasonable time (after all;check out at the hotel is 12:00 noon) given that the processing at the airport did not require 3 hours. RsPToronto
313883,chocolategurl88,04/27/2007,5th times a charm! Let me start by saying that this was the fifth time that my family has stayed in Punta Cana; and we have loved it each time- OBVIOUSLY! I鈥檓 a 19 year old girl; my brother is 30; and my parents are in their mid-50s; early 60s. So it鈥檚 safe to say that we covered all age groups; except for the little ones; but I can tell you that I I鈥檒l start by telling you things that you won't find in other reviews; and then talk about the usual things (food; beach; room; etc.) The Princess Chain is just like Riu; or Barcelo; both of which I have previously been to. If you speak Italian then Tropical Princess is for you! They have their own section of the beach; and night-time entertainment; which is right next to the main restaurant. The Beach is divided into 2 parts; 1/3 is for the Italians and the other 2/3rds are for Caribe Club; because they have more people staying there. At Tropical Princess all the games are catered to Italians; and there is no translations; it just all in Italian. I wasn鈥檛 aware of this when booking; so I booked for that hotel. Luckily Caribe Club Princess is right next door; and we did everything with them. That is where most of you will want to book; because they are like any other hotel chain. If you are French; or speak French you鈥檒l love Caribe Club even more. 45% of all the people staying at Caribe Club are French; and 25% are North American (I asked the Animation Team). There is a group of French-speaking workers who are a team with the Animation guys; and they are from 鈥淓l dorado鈥?or something like that. There are about 3 guys; and 3 girls; and they work in the mini-club (for kids) as well as teach the water aerobics and all the other things that the Animation team does. Now on to the actual resort鈥?br/>When you arrive at the Princess hotel you will be AMAZED at the lobby. It is spacious; and if you are a night-life person; you will spend most of your evening around there. When entering the resort you will see the tennis courts to your right; and just behind it is the disco. When you pass the lobby again on the right is the entertainment area; which is where they have their big shows. While I was staying there I saw their version of the play 鈥淭he Lion King鈥?and they had some other great shows; all professionally choreographed. You can either take their mini-train or walk to your room; where you will meet a fork in the road. This is where Caribe and Tropical separate; but you鈥檒l soon see that they are right next to each other! (the only thing that separates them are the mutual dinning areas) walk a bit further an you will see your main pool; beach bar and grill (with never ending meals- nachos; roasted chicken; burgers; fries; and of course all you can drink services). Lastly; you will see the beautiful beach with little shade areas; which people reserve; even though it says you are not supposed to; and the clear ocean! (Pictures do not do the beach service! The waves are AMAZING! And you could stay in there forever!) ROOMS:If you do decide to stay at the Tropical Princess; stay in the beginning of the 3000s. That鈥檚 where I was; and we were the closest to the beach; and everything else for that matter. But really; it doesn鈥檛 matter; because everything is so close to everything else. The room I shared with my brother had two queen sized beds; and a nice big washroom; which was actually bigger than our parents! There was a connecting door for my parents and us; that we used all the time; for wake-up calls; etc. My parent鈥檚 room was really big; having a king sized bed; and a patio to put clothes out to dry; which we didn鈥檛 have. RESTURANT:The main restaurant is steps away from all the hotel rooms. The service is prompt and the people working there become your best friends in no time. There was this one guy who would cut the fresh fruit; and I don鈥檛 know if he liked me; but he would cut half of a papaya for me; and a whole mango for me; so that I wouldn鈥檛 have to choose from pieces that everyone else chose from. (Did I mention that was before the tip?) There was a variety of food to choose from. 鈥淪taples鈥?that you could count on were their soups (they were really good!) and the variety of thin crust pizzas that were inhaled by guests. There was always something special there; usually based on the theme of the night (Italian; Asian; Seafood; etc.) BEACH:Pure white sand and clear blue ocean. Not enough for you? OK! Wake up EARLY!!!! Even if you have to wake up at 5am; and then go back to bed. You want to get your spot early in the morning; whether it鈥檚 near the pool; or someone on the beach. Don鈥檛 expect to wake up at 11 and find a place. Good luck with that! Just before you go on the beach you will see an activity booth; which is where the Animation team is. They give you your towels from 9am-6pm. But don鈥檛 expect a new towel at 6pm; you might not even get a card; in which case they鈥檒l put your room number and the amount of towels you need on a paper; and give it to you the next day (can you tell that I hung out there a lot?) At the Activity booth you can borrow beach volleyballs; pool volleyballs; putters for mini-golf; and they had something that looked like mini-tennis rackets; that you can use at the volleyball court. The grill at the pool has a washroom to the right of it that is ALWAYS in use; and has a line of at least 2 people. But at the grill; the food is great if you are too lazy to go to the main restaurant to have lunch. You can have hotdogs; burgers; nachos; roasted chicken; these crunchy meat-filled crispy things (the technical term) and pizza. NIGHTLIFE:At 9:45 they start their 鈥淚CE BREAKER SHOW鈥?which is about 20 mins. Then they give out the certificates for the games that were played all day. Their night-shows last till about 11. After that; everyone goes to the lobby; and they party till 12. Those parties were fun; you get to see some great dancers; and if you鈥檙e too old to go to the club; or your kids don鈥檛 want you coming to the club with them (Like I said to my parents) then this is your time to have fun. I would dance with my dad all the time here; and we had a ball! Next; everyone goes to the club; which makes you pay for drinks; since locals can get it. Don鈥檛 worry; it鈥檚 still safe. There are too rooms. The first room plays Euro music; which has hardly anyone in there; and it ends up becoming the room that people go to make-out in. The other room plays EVERYTHING and has a cool black-light; so wear white; it looks really hot!Do me a favour; say hi to Jonathan; Victor; Eric; Fez; Ramzi; J-Louis (aka JLo) Julio; Geraldo; Santo; and all the other Animation guys for me. Tell them their Indian Princess says hi. ANIMATIONJulio is like the head of these guys; even though he鈥檚 3rd in command; really nice guy; and is there to make your stay as funny as possible. He does this funny horse impression and really knows how to make funny facial expressions (you鈥檒l want pictures of that!)Jonathan hits on EVERY GIRL! (no matter what age!) and expects you to ask how he is; before you ask for your towels. Just say hi; how are you; and then tell him how many towels you need. DO NOT TIP HIM! He gets insulted if you give him a dollar ( I saw his reaction after someone did)Victor is this young guy who just started working there. His English isn鈥檛 all that great; but he鈥檚 a quick learner. He will dance with anyone who wants to learn; and he鈥檚 a great teacher. He and Geraldo are like best friends; and both are willing to do anything to make sure you have a great time. Geraldo is so funny; and can dance!Eric and Santo are the DJs there; and they do the music at the night-shows; and at the lobby parties. They play GREAT music there. Fez; JLo and Ramzi are French workers; but are so nice. Fez runs the ping pong; and all three do the translations for a lot of what goes on there. Hope this helps. If you have any other questions e-mail me at desouza.c@hotmail.com
313883,CalgaryKell,04/25/2007,real nice resort This is a lovely resort with very well maintained grounds. They are spotless. It almost feels like you are in a national park setting. In the front section of the grounds is a mango tree perserve. The staff is real friendly; much better than cuba. The food is fine. The one night the 12 of us went to one of the a la carte restarants the food was sub par so we decided to stick with the buffett which had a different theme every night. THe resort has three pools which we really liked. They go from extremely noisy to very quite. The beach here is teuly magnificant. LOng ;wide and pretty clean. THe sand is white and fine and the water very warm. The rooms; well not that great but ok. Try to get in the newest section for a better room. Did I say we where there April 12 - 19; 2007.
313883,NotSoMini,04/24/2007,Tropical Princess is Great! We were very happy with our week at the Tropical Princess!We travelled from East Coast Canada via Sunwing; and were impressed with this charter airline and its services. We were offered champagne; a meal with wine; and complimentary drinks (non-alcoholic) and snacks on the outward flight; with the same; sans champagne; on the return to Canada. We had prepaid for seats with extra legroom; and were happy we had done so....loads of room!Tropical Princess; and its sister resort Caribe Club Princess; function as one large resort; with guests having access to all facilities; although having to pay a little extra; sometimes; if you had not paid for VIP service.Our room was spotless; and had two double beds - very; very comfortable. Housekeeping service was great. We used only one of the three large; free form pools at this resort; and found it clean and cool - but not too cool!The beach is beautiful; and we spent a lot of time floating around in the azure ocean - we were very surprised at the large number of people who don't seem to stick even one toe in the water; at any time! The resort is lovely; with well landscaped grounds; prowling peacocksand other birds; a few small shops to buy things at greatly inflated prices (by my reckoning; suntan lotion would set you back about $25 or $30 US; so take lots from home!); pretty buildings; friendly staff. We could always find something good to eat (although we were not brave enough to sample some of the more exotic offerings) and I am still dreaming about the flan available at this resort. La Creperie was great for an afternoon snack of ice cream (try the coconut!) or a sweet or savory crepe offering.We were also happy with the drinks we were served; whether at a restaurant; the lobby; the beach or a pool bar. Coco Loco and Pie Pie(I am not sure whether I am spelling that correctly) were my personalfavorites - yes; way too sweet; but really good! Even though there are a few glitches in this; as in any; resort; the one thing we'd like to note is that this resort does not seem to haveenough beach and pool chairs for the number of guests - either that; or many people are reserving chairs at both the beach AND pool. Itseemed the whole resort was up and at it early in the morning (prior to 7:00 a.m.) 'reserving' chairs.The lack of chairs and 'late arrival' of those who thought they had reserved chairs by virtue of placing their towels or other belongingson them - which were subsequently removed by other people - served as a source of entertainment for us as we sat on the beach; sunning ourselves and people watching. Loud arguments ensued in a variety of languages......All in all; however; we would return to this resort in an instant!
313883,vacationlovers99,04/23/2007,loved the weather I recently visited the resort (Tropical Princess/Caribe Club Princess) in Punta Cana from April 9-16 2007 with some family members. We had a great vacation. The resort was well kept. The staff was very helpful and friendly. The bartenders at the main lobby were great. Dominga knows how to mix great drinks. Our concierge James was very helpful and friendly. He made my birthday an enjoyable experience. The only problem we had with the hotel was with our VIP package. We arrived on Monday but only received our full VIP package on Wednesday after continiously requesting it. James; the concierge; was the only person helpful in providing us with our package. The guest service representative would tell us we would have our package in the room waiting for us but the robes; beach towels; premium liquor; cigars; etc. would not be in the room. The spa facility was great. The Gym was Ok (equipment was fair however a personal trainer is available)The food at the a la carte restaurants were good especially LaCava; The Brazillian; Mexican; Japonese and Italian. The VIP package is the way to go because the superior rooms are standards; nothing to special. Don't expect luxurious accomodations by getting a VIP package however you don't spend a lot of time in the rooms. The rooms were clean. What else do you expect from a 4 star hotel. The nightly entertainment shows are OK but could use some modernization. Certain shows were boring. A lot of people would gather in the main lobby after the shows for a few drinks. This was very nice. They also had dancing in the lobby between 11:00 and midnight before people heading out to te night club which was next door. The entertainment staff were very friendly and would get people to participate in the daily activities. If you are looking for a reasonable price resort with some activities; this resort is OK. If you like shopping/ bartering we would recommend the location because about a 10 minutes walk to the market on the left side of the beach and a 25 minute walk to the right side of the beach. beautiful beach!
313883,TorontoReviewer7,04/21/2007,Stayed at the Tropical Princess in April Like most of the DR hotel reviews; the ones on the Tropical Princess were mixed. We booked with some confidence about the place; but with lowered expectations regarding food and accommodations.Overall; the stay was above average and we got a good package deal.Food:The food at the buffet (La Higuero) was pretty sufficient most of the time. Formulaic food stations that would vary their dishes a bit based on time of day (breakfast vs. lunch vs. dinner) or each day by cultural theme. One day it was Mexican; another day Asian; another day Seafood. Go expecting generic quality and you'll be ok. None of the cultural specialties were any better than a restaurant here in Toronto that specializes in that cuisine (e.g. Italian; Chinese; Seafood; Steak). However; it was all pretty much passable. The pasta bar was pretty decent and sometimes busy. The omelettes; teppanyaki; seafood mix; were also pretty decent. I would recommend going with most of the cook-to-order food stations; as the food seemed to be fresher and you had some choice with ingredients. The pizza station was popular but pretty weak tasting. The funny thing was everything tasted just a little bit different than here. Even mainstream things like hamburgers and hotdogs; but not offensive at all. The service at the buffet is very quick; attentive and friendly.One of the only things I didn't like was the fact that it is outside (covered; but you still get the odd fly).The Brasilian ala carte is included in the standard package as is the Dominican. We found the Brasilian pretty weak and the Dominican abit better - the steak and grouper were good.Although it says the dress for dinner at the ala cartes is pants only; long shorts and a decent shirt will be ok.Got a bit of upset stomach; but nothing some Pepto couldn't solve.Accomodations:The superior room was decent - clean with ceramics but a bit rustic.We had an issue with small red ants the 2nd day on the wicker table.Called housekeeping and they came and sprayed some form of Spanish Raid all along the edges and inside the wicker. We had to leave for a few hours and didn't put anything edible on the table afterwards; but never saw another ant the rest of the trip. However; these small mosquitos seemed to get into the room because the hallway is open to the outside and they would come in when the door was open. We couldn't hear them but I woke up the first day with 6-8 bites on areas of my arms not covered by clothes. I wore a long sleeve shirt;trackpants and socks after that and had less bites. The TV has cable and gets a fair number of English stations. The bathroom was fine and the walls were soundproof but the doors are paper thin wood. Add in the open concept hallways that echo and you could hear people talking in hallways or moving suitcases and furniture on the upper level.The Resort:There can be a lot of walking because the resort is big and spread out between the units; beach; main pool; main lobby and concierge. I could see how it might be hard if you were immobile or elderly. We were at the Trinitaria unit which was a bit farther away from the main pool and buffet so a little more walking; but also a little more quiet.The beaches are nice - hot sand and a bit of a breeze. Temperature is a bit humid but we had 7 straight days of sun with no rain. The A/C in the room had trouble keeping up on the plus 30c days. There are 3 pools and lots of free activities all day. You have to get up pretty early to grab a beach hut or poolchairs.The Kids club is quite good and for 7 dollars its like a full day of babysitting and activities if you want. Stuff like outdoor pool games; pingpong; banana boat rides; soccer; tennis and they'll even take the kids to lunch.Everyone at the resort was generally friendly. We didn't run into anyone rude at all. Tipping early and often helps. I would also bring lots of 1 and 5 dollar bills. Not too many people have USD for change and you don't want to have to exchange while you are there; as you'll lose based on the rate. Also; if you take a trip to the Tower Princess Casino you can only play certain games in USD. The ATM's only dispense DR peso's.The Spa is a bit expensive and there is a free gym which is small butadequate.Overall; it was an above average resort.
313883,jujukik,04/08/2007,Nice Place We just returned yesterday from the Tropical Princess in Punta Cana. The resort was nice and the staff were great. We enjoyed our stay at the resort; but were extremely disappointed with SunWing Travel group. We booked with SunWing (and did not get the best deal) but went with them anyway. It all sounded great. Enough about SunWing for now.Upon our arrival at the resort; we were treated well and escorted directly to the door of our room with bellboy and all. The resort was well kept and fairly clean. The pool with the swim up bar could use a little TLC; but was okay. The other 2 pools were great. Getting lounge chairs each morning was fairly painless as long as you are up and out with your towels between 7:30 and 8:30 am you'll locate loungers. We were travelling with 3 of use (2 adults 1 teenager); so were looking for 3 loungers each morning and would find 3 with no problem between the 3 pools or the beach. The only time we had problems with locating loungers was on Thursday and Friday of our week (the last 2 days of our trip). Thursday was the start of the Dominican holy week; so many Dominican's came to the resort; increasing the number of guests. Then a flight to London; Eng had mechanical problems so all of those individuals were relocated for 2 additional resorts; including the Tropical Princess; increasing the number of guests yet again. The food was fairly good; but grew tiring about half way through the trip. Thank god for the pasta bar in the buffet (El Huegero). The buffet was clean and there was lots of selection; but seemed the same everyday; with a couple of twists each evening. The Brazilian restaurant was very good and the wait staff were amazing. El Pilon (Dominican restaurant) was okay; but some of the wait stuff were pretty dull and not overly friendly. This would include the bar between El Pilon El Higuero. The bar staff at this location on the resort; were more hassled by drink requests than anything else. The staff at the beach bars were relatively better; especially if you tipped consistently (they seem to remember who tips and who doesn't). Only problem with the beach bars is that there is only one bartender at each bar; but numerous people waiting and no order whatsoever.The Activity Centre staff were incredible. There was constantly activities on the go and they did a great job getting people involved without being pushy. From water aerobics; to dance lessons; beach volleyball; waterpolo; you name it they did it. Then they have quiet time for a couple of hours each afternoon and start up again around 3pm until 6pm. The rooms were clean and we were well looked after. We left our roomcleaner $2 USD each day and she insured we had clean towels each day and there was lots of water and soda left in the fridge for us. The beds were okay; but I question whether there might have been a few bibits in the room each evening.There are tons of things for young kids to do (under 12 years) and the Kids Club staff do a lot of good stuff with them. For teenagers; unless they are super outgoing there isn't a lot. The Teen Club is a small building with a couple of pool tables a foozball table and some music; but nothing more going on for them. Our son had a good time (13) but didn't get interactive with much. He met some others his age; but everyone we met either spoke French; Spanish or German. Very few english speaking folks on the resort. The only english speaking we met were those on our flight. Thank goodness we are bilingual.Day trip was fantastic. We book with Bavara Safari; which is an all day excursion. Pick up at 8:30 am and return at 5pm. It is $80USD per adult and is all inclusive and worth every penny. Spent the day seeing a real dominican family home; sugarcane plantation; visiting the market; a village school; a mountain ranch where they feed you; take you for horseback ride; make cocoa and coffee and then head to a public beach and all the while; constant drinks (beer; rum; water; soda) on the ride itself. All in all it was a good time and the weather was great. I would recommend for families with small children as there is lots for them to do or even couples without children; as there is a disco at the front of the resort and a 24 hour bar and snackbar at the beach.We enjoyed our time there; but by comparison to other places we've travelled to in Mexico (baja and yucatan) and the Turks; we will probably not return to DR.
313883,SarahMorales,04/04/2007,Best Beach!!
313883,lpbear,04/01/2007,An excellent vacation resourt We stayed at the Tropical Princess from March 17-26.We have vacationed in the Carribbean for the past 10 years and found Punta Cana to have an excellent beach.Tropical Princess is not a resourt you would immediately pick out of the book because it seems small but keep in mind two resourts actually use the same facilaties.The rooms were clean and staff very friendly.The VIP package was part of our travel agents promotion and it was worth it.Liquors such as Baileys and Grand Marnier ;bottled beers such as Miller and Heinikein could be had by simply signing your name and room number.The buffet was very good especially the chicken.We always had a nice omellete in the morning.House wine was fair but the champagne was good.We ate at the Italian;Mexican;Chinese;and LaCava.All were excellent but not very busy.We left on one excursion for Sonia Island;This was a nice change but definitely not worth the money.The Sun Wing rep oversold us on this one-a very long day with lots of people trying to sell you things!My wife really enjoyed the 20 minute Swedish massage.The walkway from the lobby to the rooms is very beautiful with lots of wildlife such as ducks;peacocks;and other birds.We would recommend this resourt.
313883,OntarioMia,03/23/2007,Great Mother/Daughter Vacation My daughter (age 17) I just returned from our annual mother/daughter vacation. Were at the resort from March 13th to the 20th. First time to the Dominican for us. Usually have travelled to Cuba. Love it there! Thought we'd try something different this year. Flight: We flew with Sunwing. Great Flight actually arrived early into Punta Cana. Hot breakfast served! Great service. Transfer: Very smooth! Cleared customs; retrieved our luggage and found the sunwing booth no problem. They directed us to our bus. Make sure to ask them were to locate the bus as even though they are numbered they are not parked in sequence. Found our bus which was a coach and had air conditioning. One word of caution. If your bus is dropping off vacationers to other locations before your stop be sure to glance out the window when they unload luggage. I had been warned about this and sure enough the stop before our hotel they took our luggage off by mistake. I ran out of the bus and had them load our suitcases back on the bus. Close ONE!!!! Thank you fellow trip advisor!!!!Check In: Went smoothly. Had my daughter wait for our suitcases and went ahead to check in. We were very lucky; this will probably never happen again. Our room was ready!!!! Normally for those of you who travel frequently already know that when you arrive early your room usually isn't ready until about 3:00 in the afternoon. We were taken directly to our room at 11:00 am. Make sure to ask for your safe lock. $24 us for the week. Never been at a place where they charge for the lock but oh well it is a must when travelling. Room: Stayed in the 2nd villa. Room was clean; everything in great working condition. Airconditioning; washroom; etc. 2 double beds and balcony. Did have a vanity and area for the tv in the room but no dresser and no shelves in the closet. I leave my clothes in my luggage anyways so I didn't mind. I'm not one to unpack all my clothes. I just hang up whats needed. So that was fine. Maid service was prompt and there were always fresh towels by dinner time when we returned to our room to get ready for dinner. Always had hot water when need and good water pressure. Pools: There are 3 on the resort. Only used the pool by our villa as it was right outside our door. Found it nice to be able to run back and forth to room if needed. Ocean was only about 2 minute walk from our pool as well. Ocean: Unbelievable; very clean beach and white sands. You could walk for miles. Ocean was little rough but oh well it was still fun!! It's very hard to beat the beaches in Cuba!!!!Food: Only tried one restaurant; the oriental. The food was amazing and very nice atmosphere. The rest we just ate in the buffet. Don't really like being on a schedule during vacation so utilized the buffet most of the time. Everynight they have a different theme. Alway a good variety to choose from. Oh yes and Creperie is amazing. Fresh crepes and icecream every afternoon!!! 2 beach bar grills close to ocean as well if you don't want to walk to the buffet for lunch. We were very careful not to eat or drink anything outside of the resort. My daughter did have a little stomach problem the last 2 days but I had taken some medication so it was no big deal. No cramps or violent sickness just a few extra visits to the bathroom needed. I think it's just the change in the enviroment. We're now home and it's been a couple days and she's fine now. I ate a variety of things within the resort and I was fine. Just remember you are travelling to a different country and be very cautious of eating and drinking outside the resort. And also be prepared take stomach medication as it can happen. Staff: All staff were very friendly and helpful. Most of the staff that work at the bar (at least by our pool); front desk and gift shops speak english. Other staff such as maids; waiters etc donot speak english. Never any issues with not being able to get questions answered. Mosquito: Yes there are mosquitos but there in ontario in the hot weather too. They are not a issue unless you happen to get a humid evening. We did have a couple of those. Just make sure you keep your balcony doors closed and because there was a small space under the door; I just put a towel down to block them from coming into the room. Old cottage habits!!!! That was only on a couple of nights though. We always take bug spray anyways; so we were prepared. But I would recommend Malaria medication because Yes there are mosquitos there. We took them; better safe than sorry. Only seen them in the early evening though. Seems like later in the evening they go into hiding. Kind of like here in the cottage country!!!Shows: Only went to 3 shows; seen one seen them all!!! Frequent traveller know what I mean!!Markets: I found very annoying. You have to barter for everything. They try to get you everytime. Very expensive! I found the gift shops on the resorts less frustrating and prices pretty much the same except you don't have to barter. Don't get me wrong I like to barter but when you're just looking for a couple of cheap keychains or tropical necklaces it becomes a 20 minute process as opposed to a 5 minute purchase unless you want to get ripped off. At the resort tshirts were $10; keychains $3 not too bad. Didn't really go to shop but we enjoy looking through markets and they are very hassling and sometimes annoying. It wasn't a very relaxing experience. Oh well; that's the Dominican! In Cuba it is not like that in the markets. People donot hassle you to buy and their souvenirs are so cheap you sometimes end up giving them more because you feel bad. The resorts however rip you off though. So it's a catch 22 whereever you go. Tours: Only did one day adventure. Went of the tour of Punta Cana area. Visited a school; house; sugar plantation a farm. Went horseback riding (20min) and to a beach. It was a long day but very educational. I'm not the touring type of person so I would probably never do this again. However it was interesting and my daughter enjoyed it. We've always done the catamaran trips in cuba so we decided to do the cultural thing this time. Now we can say been there done that! ha ha.. To sum it up; I would return to this resort for a fun in the sun vacation with my daughter. I think however if I were to return as a family i would choose and bigger resort. Because the market experiences were very annoying we ended up spending most of our time in the resort area which was fine. My idea of a vacation is sitting by the pool or ocean and enjoying the sun. However if sitting in sun all day is not your cup of tea and you like to wonder this resort is small but quaint. It offers you everything you would want but is a smaller scaled resort. It is by no means a luxury 5 star resort but it is clean and the service was excellent. We had a wonderful time and the weather was excellent. When going on vacation my most important feature is cleanliness and we cannot complain about that. In all; this resort is a great value for what you pay. It is one of the less expensive resorts but gives you everything need to enjoy the sun.....
313883,cyprusgirl2000,03/19/2007,Pretty Good master bedroom
313883,ChicaLocoOntario,03/19/2007,The Good Outweighs the Bad We went for our very first out of country vacation to this lovely resort. I reccomend the following when you travel to this location:1. Get everything you are promised in writing from your agent; the hotel and the package provider.We were promised Superior VIP and received only Superior. Big Deal you think? For us it was. We budgeted for the trip. We were told 100% all inclusive. We ended up having to pay for the restaurants that we'd been told was included. We had to pay to use internet (as it was the only way we could reach our travel agent) We were promised the bottle of rum; the three cigars (not that we smoke - but you know); the bathrobes; the beach towels and a certificate for another restaurant.2. Pay the $24(ish) for the safe. We got ripped off $100. USD So; this time around; no souvenirs.3. Bring tips for the hotel staff. We forgot twice to leave out $2 and we had to call for towels. On the last day of our stay we left early for a tour and forgot; and we didn't get clean sheets. I know this because I had a little eyemakeup on my pillowcase and it was still there. 4. Take your shoes in your carry on. They disappear.5. Make sure to get your fresh towels at the activity booth for the pool. 6. Get yer butt out of bed to reserve your beach chairs - honour system here. You put your towel on your chair and no one takes it. Very impressed with that.7. Learn Spanish!8. Be patient at the bar. It's a different style down there. A tip goes a long way in the service you receive.9. Beware of Mamajuana (no; not marijuana) It's an awesome drink - and so does the Caribe Princess. Wow; what a kick.10. Use a 30 sunblock. No kidding; I got a tan and a slight burn!11. If you are used to Broadway; you may not enjoy the shows. But they do pass the time in the evening. The discoteque isn' t that great. They should focus more on beach parties or pool parties at night. Evenings are pretty quiet.12. Get your prescription of Cipro(sp?) It sure cures the run to the banjyo's! Can't put my finger on what gave it to me...but sure appreciated the prescription.13. The food:El Pino - Dominican Restaurant. Not bad. Excellent Lamb. Not fussy on the Domincan Soup - was a stew basicallyMamamia - Italian - Great Magnifico - all four of us loved itThe Seafood - Great! Even the hubby liked the fish.La Sombrero - Mexican - Muy Bien! We even had a small mariachi band serenade us. The waiters were most fun.La Cava - very intimate French restaurant. Lovely serviceThe Daily Buffet - good lord the breakfasts were amazing! You name it ; they had it. Eggs a little runny; awesome omelettes. 14. The Beach - It was beautiful. Clean white sand. Nice thatched umbrellas to hide from the sun when too hot. Chairs were a little abused. Make sure to get a flat one so you can lay on your tummy to sun...and those ones have a holder for the drinks. There is a small group of young people - Blu Club - who get you involved in all sorts of crazy activities. Wouldn't you know the first time I get up to learn to dance we have to play a weird version of musical chairs. It was a blast.15. Flora and Fauna. Not alot of variety. Some birds; most flowers weren't really out. And there were very few insects to bother us.16. Book the VIP Saona cruise. You get a great tour of the country on your way to the boat. Gives you new appreciation of the people and the country. Treated veyr well by the tour operators. Great food. They really took care of us and appreciated our business. 17. Beach stores. There is a stretch of little shacks down the beach where you can purchase local art; jewellery; t-shirts; hats; bags; rum...etc. Looking back; had I not got ripped off; I would have bought my souvenirs there. Much cheaper than on the resort. Use USD when shopping there. And bargain your purchase. Don't pay full price. One shop keeper wanted $15 USD for a small wooden carved frog. I got him down to $6 and if I didn't need to use the banjyo so bad I could'a got to $4. Mind you; I wouldn't recommend getting the alcohol there...That I would have bought at a resort shop or duty free shop. The larimar and amber jewellery is gorgeous. Just make sure of the quality of the construction. The nicer shack operators get invited on the resort during the evening near the restaurants to hock their wares...bargain there too. Don't pay the first price asking. Would I go back - darn tootin!
313883,davecathy,03/09/2007,great time lobby
313883,StefanToronto,02/18/2007,Our first vacation to Punta Cana Lobby
313883,john6tf4,02/07/2007,I will go back Hi I went to Tropical Princess with my family and friends. After reading some of the above reviews I can't resist writing one.We had a great time. The grounds are beautiful; lots of activities; the beach is very nice. The hotel has 3 pools to choose from. I am astonished that some people don't like the food. If you call food a frozen pizza then maybe you won鈥檛 like it there. The food is good and fresh; the a la carte restaurants are worth visiting. My advice for those people who complain of the staff: A little tip will work wonders. After a $1 tip they will always bring you coffee and drinks and will make up your room. It is a poor country and the people are very friendly if you are friendly with them.
313883,dropusaline,02/02/2007,Tried Tested and True - 2nd time as good as the first activities pool
313883,Ispt,01/25/2007,Great Hotel Really good!Not a 5*; but even so; everything was great! Good rooms; very good buffett; nice staff and great vacations!
313883,Entoucas,01/09/2007,What a great way to spend New Year's! Gorgeous beach!
313883,BLEXV6,12/24/2006,Nice resort; but the front desk staff left a lot to be desired. A group of us; (14 in all); attended the Tropical for the week of December 14 to 21; 2006. Let me just say; that there are a lot of negative people writing reviews and I have often found that despite the complaints; I have usually had nothing to complain about as these resorts are generally great. I say this; because for me to complain; there had to be issues that should not occur. I also have been on several vacations to Dominican; Mexico and Cuba; incuding 4 in Dominican; including The Punta Cana Princess and Bavara Princess; which are all part of the Princess Chain; so we have come to expect good things from a Princess resort. I do note that The Tropical is not rated as high as the two other mentioned Princess Resorts. Anyway; here we go.Sunwing: We have always had good luck the few times we have used this Carrier. The planes are decent; and have very few travelling problems. This time however we were not satisfied. Firstly; about 2 weeks before our trip; Sunwing changed our time to depart from 6 AM to 6 PM; and did not change the return time and as such we lost an entire day. Suffice to say; this did not sit well with any of us. To Sunwings credit; they offered a credit on the next trip we had. We were not receptive to this as this limits your trip selection to one carrier next trip. After several calls; they credited back to our credit cards; $100 per passenger. This was fine. However when you depart at 6PM; you do not get to your resort until after 12AM; and if there are any problems; when you check-in you need to suck it up and deal with it the next day. For this reason; when we are booking trips we always look for the early departures and if we had known Sunwing was going to change the time we would have booked elsewhere. However if they change the booking time after you are booked; you are screwed. Anyway; enough complaining about Sunwing.Check-in: We did not arrive at the Tropical until 1:30 AM; so we were all tired. We were a group of 12 checking in; consisting of 4 families; and the other couple arrived the next day. There were 2 other couples in front of us also from our flight. Long story short; all couples had trouble; checking in; as the person at the front desk was just simply incompetent. The bar at the lobby was closed; no one there to greet us; no drinks while we waited. It was very annoying. Sunwing; due to their change in times; should have arranged with the Tropical; to have us properly taken care of due to their changes. The person at check-in; was so disorganized; all of the contents for each rooms envelopes; such as towel and room cards were all over the desk and mixed up. He could not get the room cards programmed etc. This should have been done before our arrival. We were unable to leave the Check-in until 3 AM; to get to our rooms. Then we partied at the beach bar until 4:30 AM.Bars: We had VIP; and this resort had a very good selection of drinks. As usual; the quality varied from bar to bar; but they were generally good and no complaints here. The employees at the bar were exceptionally friendly; especially if you exhibited some spanish words for them. Buffet: Food for the most part was delicious; with good drink service at the table. The employees here were quite friendly and helpful. There is food for everyones tastes; although hot food was sometimes cold. Minor stuff.Ala-cart: We only attended one; La Cava. I had the Steak which was good; but others in our group; were not happy with their meals. Also; the Ala-carts in general I find the food is marginally better than the Buffet; with significant waiting time; in our case we were there for 2.5 hours. This was included with our VIP package; but 2 couples did not have the VIP. The cost was $50 USD per person which was rediculous. We had however previously agreed with front management; due to the check-in fiasco; that they would not charge these couples as a peace offering. When we finished our meal the employees at La Cava insisted they needed payment to which we refused and went up to the front desk to get it sorted out. The person that had previously agreed to the 2 couples getting the meal with-out charge; said that that was the only ala-cart resturant we could not get the two couple free. At the initial time of this deal; we stated if there was a problem; please advise us and we would not attend La Cava. They never advised of the problem. Anyway; they ended up not charging us; but had us sign a waiver; that looked like a Bodily Injury release; after being paid off by an insurance company. Again; the management here is terrible.Beach: If it is not the best beach in the World; it has to be close to the best. The sand; water; just beautiful; the beach is also very clean; with plenty of chairs. The water was warm. The Bavaro beach is excellent.Rooms: We had the VIP rooms which although dated; are roomy and clean; although the bed was rock hard and broken; The frame was broken in the middle; and the front door jamb was broken leaving our room a little less than secure; although we had a safe; and all contents of value were in the safe. It looks like someone tried to break into the room in the past. Two couples had non-VIP rooms in a different building and although they were smaller; the rooms were more modern looking; with updated and nicer furniture. Must have been newer or newly renovated.Grounds: Very clean and well manicured. This resort is expansive and has jungle like walkways from the rooms to the front desk. It was a pleasant 10 minute walk from the rooms to the front desk. They have trams to deliver you but the walk was nice and the trams are too infrequent to be bothered with.Now you may think I am being too critical; and most things about this trip was great; but first impressions last; and this resort needs a management change and employee change at the front desk; and Sunwing; needs to ensure that if they are delivering us late to this resort; that they speak with the Tropical; and be ready for us; including the niceties such as a drink when we walk in to the resort. It would have made that brutal 1.5 hour check-in better. I was told by our Sunwing representative; that we should not expect the same level of service at the Tropical; that we received at the Punta Cana Pricess and Bavara Princess. While I agree with this; the decline in service usually involves; rooms that are not as nice; no beer in the barfridge; (Tropical Had this); food not as good; (was on par with the others); but not the staff at the front desk. How hard is it to check-in. I also note that this check-in is also for the higher rated Caribe Princess. So I do not get it.I will Never attend this resort again; and will rethink any attendance to a Princess resort; although we have had good luck in the past. It's a pity; because once you get past the check-in; the resort is good. First impressions however do not help. When you disappoint 12 people; plus the other 2 couples ahead of us; you are loosing a lot of would be return customers.
313883,PamO,12/12/2006,Awesome! Will go back!!!!! Just got back from TP Sunday Dec 3 and we can not say enough about how great this resort is. The resort itself is gorgeous. The staff are very friendly and go out of their way to help. The beach is just beautiful. The reviews that complained about the food....I don't think they were at the same resort as me. I am generally pretty picky about food and I just loved the food here. I had upgraded our trip to VIP as a birthday present for my boyfriend. I can tell you that it does have it's advantages BUT beware; it's cheaper to upgrade at the resort rather than through the travel agent.The only problem we had with our trip was NOLITOURS. Beware when booking with them.This resort is great and we are already trying to plan our next trip there.
313883,caribetrekker,09/09/2006,Beware American Travelers This is not the first time I booked a trip to the Domincan Republic; I stayed with 11 other family memebers in Casa De Campo 4 years ago and then the experience was amazing; which now I hear and have read in TripAdvisor that that resort has turned for the worse. Anyway; 9 of us booked a trip to The Tropical Princess Beach Resort and Spa and we got a pretty good deal. The bad vibes started with our 45 minute trip from the airport to the hotel which was about 30 minutes longer than stated on the web site. We were on the shuttle bus and the guide kept telling us to make sure we met with joanne in the morning for just 5 minutes so we could shedule our return which ended up being a Timeshare sales pitch that stole mi sister for over 4 hours. We can count this one as lie number 2. So beware. You do not have to meet with anyone from the shuttle company to schedule your pick up. The room was adequate and had no technical difficulties like friends of mine that were staying at the Bavarro Princess who were switched from their rooms 3 times because the others had flooding and plumbing issues. Make sure you bring a scented candle so you can eliminate the musty smell of the room.The resort in general was very beautiful but how can you go wrong with such an amazing location. The beach is beautiful and the pools were nice.The food was horrible. The portions at the smaller outlying restaurants were pathetic it was like going to a sampling and at the Mexican restaurant they decided that it was easier to put all the meat for the chicken and beef fajitas on one hot skillet and for all of us to share from them; how ridiculous! My daughter burnt her arm with the handle of the skillet and got no response from managment. At this point I was totally beside myself. I was disgusted and just wanted to go home.Being American is a huge disadvantage at this resort. We Americans expect a certain amount of service. We want to make sure there are standards. They (the employees and management) view us as spoiled and a pain in the butt. The help sometimes acted as if they did not understand English when you asked for a drink or inquired about services. The funny part of the whole thing was that I speak fluent Spanish and I played dumb to experiment on how one is treated depending on what language you spoke; guess what; there was a huge difference. If you spokeSpanish everything was easier. The lack of information through out the resort is a major problem. In the room there is no information on pool hours; towel pick up and return at the pools; phone use; restaurant extensions; or hotel extensions.I will never return to the Dominican Republic. I am truly disgusted at the way were treated. It was like because we chose the All Inclusive trip that we should be happy for whatever we get and that one should not complain. I go All Inclusive for the convinience of not having to bring extra money for drinks and meals not because of what else I can get for FREE.Now for the braclet joke. When you arrive you are given braclets; yes braclets; they were uncomfortable and were very confusing. They were different colors and meant that you had bought into a particular package. Here is the kicker; when my sister went on the Time share sales pitch they believed that she was going to buy and told her about the trick on the bracelets. They explained to her that if you remove the pink one you are allowed to eat at the smaller restaurants without a surcharge of $15 per person.I hate the bracelet idea. Those guests who took advantage of the extra info definitely make out better. What a scam!I am convinced that the resort is run under deceptive information and for those who do not travel do not know what is right or wrong believe that the way they are treated is out of this world.Finally; to make matters worse; my whole family got sick the day of our return. For most of us it was several days of diahrea and we just dicounted it as traveler's sickness; but my little 21/2 year old niece it was a week and we finally found out that she had salmonella poisoning. This makes me think we were all infected.How terrible it was for my little niece. I am truly upset and disgusted. The food handling standards there are definitely below standard. They are so cost concious but it seems that they care less for proper food handling.My suggestion is to really search all of the resorts under Trip Advisor and read the reviews and make your choice using all the information. This resort is definitely below standards as far as service and guest sensitivity. The resort is beautiful but it is not just about beauty. I really wish that the Princess Resorts read these reviews so that they can make changes to their service and guest relations areas.I will not return to the Dominican Republic. I will make sure my family and friends do not go there either. We will spend our money elsewhere.
313883,girasole9,06/30/2006,Tropical Princess 鈥?Fantasy Island This was our first all-inclusive with our two boys; ages 5 and 8. We didn鈥檛 think this type of travel would suit us; but we are hooked. The Tropical Princess gave us everything we wanted and more. We were concerned that there were so few reviews on the Tropical Princess but we discovered The Tropical Princess and Caribe Club Princess are the same complex that share the same facilities. So if you are looking for Tropical reviews; read also the Carib Club reviews.We heeded advice from others and took a cab from the airport to the resort for US$28. This way; we avoided stopping at all the other hotels first. Still took about 40 minutes.Service:The people at the front desk were not very friendly; and I started to worry whether we were in for typical bad attitudes that you find in so many American resorts. I had difficulty with 3 different people at 3 different times on 3 different issues. However; when you get past the front desk; it鈥檚 a different world. The rest of the employees at this hotel; from the Animacion staff; the waiters at the buffet; maids; to the coconut tree trimmers were extremely polite and friendly. They will all go out of their way to help you with anything you need.We took alot of coloring books; crayons; pencils and toiletries for the housekeepers... worth the effort. They work many days in a row without leaving the property and then go back to their homes for a few days. Some people travel 9 hours from their homes to work at the resorts. The people who work there are so kind and sweet; they deserve much more than they make; so TIP GENEROUSLY! Change in US dollars is very difficult to get so we took $100 in ones and $100 in $5 and $10.I read another person鈥檚 comment that she wished she had taken her kids鈥?used and unused sporting goods. The Dominicans love baseball and any old equipment; cleats; or clothing would go over great with them. If you took down a suitcase full of stuff to give away; you could then load it up with your souvenirs on the way home and avoid that overweight charge. (Each of your bags cannot weigh more than 70 lbs; or you have to pay extra).VIP:If you are staying at this hotel; you MUST go with the VIP package. The extras are sooooo worth it. You get a gourmet dinner at La Cava; massage (20 min. each); turn down service every night; internet usage (1 hour each) and a motorized boat tour. Food:The a-la-carte restaurants were great! We personally enjoyed La Cava; Sombrero and El Rodrizzio. If you want an early supper you must book them the day before. If you are vip and want to make reservations for the restaurants you must do this at the vip conceirge stand; not at front lobby.We thought the buffet was awesome. Each meal offered at least 30-50 items; and there was a different theme each night. Even my picky kids found a plateful of food each time we ate there.Sometimes we just ate pizza; fries and burgers at the Brazilian restaurant for lunch; or visited the fabulous Creperie next door. I gained 5 lbs. on this trip!After reading all those miserable reviews about the food; I wondered how it could be that bad. It's not. Sure; the service can be slow sometimes鈥攖he dining area is huge. Yes; the lunchmeat looks sweaty and gross鈥攕o get a fresh omelet and French toast instead. OK; the hamburger meat tastes different; but not enough to cause a fuss.There are more than enough choices to keep everyone satisfied. Just go get something else.I took acidophilous for a week before I went and took pepto each day and I still had minor diarrhea. However; it worked for the rest of my family; so maybe I鈥檓 just more sensitive. The grounds:Absolutely beautiful. A mangrove swamp lines the walkway from the lobby to the resort area. There are lots of peacocks and waterfowl milling around; and at night; kids can catch toads and frogs in the gazebo area near the restaurants.The pools were quite lovely. The busy activity pool had a bar and music. The picture takers walk around with parrots and monkeys to take your souvenir photos. The zero entry warm middle pool was more low key; and could have used some music. Other than that; the pool was a hit. The third pool is beautiful; with fountains and jacuzzis all around.The beach:Soft; pale sand; clean; perfect. One of the nicest I鈥檝e ever seen. Chairs are pretty easy to come by; but if you want a palapa on the edge of the beach you have to get down before 9:00. There is no snorkeling at this beach; it鈥檚 more wave jumping and boogie boarding. $20 will get you a boat ride to a reef closeby.The room 鈥?It was quiet and comfortable; nothing fancy. Lots of hot water; good pressure. The weirdest thing to me about the whole resort was that there are no dressers! I called and talked to 3 people before a maintenance guy proved to me that there are no dressers in any of the rooms to put away your clothes. Yes; there鈥檚 a closet; but I can鈥檛 hang up size 5T t-shirts. 2 small desk size drawers under the tv as well.Bring a candle - rooms are musty. Also no alarm clock in room. Things don鈥檛 dry very well but if you hang them up it鈥檚 a little better. You can bring dryer sheets to put in the drawers and closet to keep your clothes smelling fresh.Sports:We thoroughly enjoyed boogie boarding and jumping the waves. The kids got to practice snorkeling in the pool; and we got a free boat ride (vip). We also had a blast learning to shoot bow and arrow in the archery course each day. The teen club has some very worn down pool tables; but it was a welcome diversion during a day long rain storm. The mini golf is worn down as well and looked too hot and depressing.The Kids鈥?Club looked like fun; but neither of my kids were buying it because everyone spoke a different language. (English is definitely the minority here.) They were taking the kids out on the banana boat when we saw them one day; and learning archery another time.Buying/Bringing Stuff:We heard of someone buying Pringles for 8 US$; so we brought our own. We brought American ketchup packets too; their ketchup is brown and weird. Take insulated mugs as the sand gets hot and so do your drinks.Try to take everything you think you would ever need. The prices in the gift shop were insane. Disposable camera for $20; sun tan lotion for $25; $15 dollars for immodium. Bring all types of medicine and sun block just in case to prevent from having to pay those ridiculous prices. Use bug spray in the evening to avoid bug bites. Bring TONS of sunblock - we used baby sunblock 45 SPF and still burned! A lot of humidity; so ladies don鈥檛 even think about trying to straighten your hair. I went curly all week with lots of de-frizz. A light sweater was welcomed one night. Guys must wear long dress pants to dinner.Souvenirs:When buying souvenirs on the beach; barter low. Half the price they ask is what its worth; they know the new people coming in because they are not tanned! They held up a lighter flame to a Latimer stone to prove it was real (that it wouldn鈥檛 melt). Also; when buying jewelry from vendors; sometimes the bracelets and necklaces don鈥檛 come with the clasps. You have to buy them separately.Would we stay here again? In a hearbeat!
313883,ashley777,06/18/2006,A hundred percent in service I ent to this hotel with my boyfriend for a weekend; and for the service that they have i guess we could goback there.Maybe this hotel couldn篓t be a 5 stars hotel but in this place i almost felt like a princess ; the habitations are very comfortables; but the tv channels taht they have are almost a disaster; and are very boring..In the food they don篓t have enough variety; and they repeat so much the menus; but every body of the staff; were very kind; and u莽if they see you 7 times a day it doesn篓t matter; they smile yoy and they give you a big greeting;the beach was so wonderfull and the snack was delicious;;;;;in conclution ; i would like to goback there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
313883,ck28,06/16/2006,So So Resort I recently got back from the Tropical Princess. Not taking the all inclusive package will work to your disadvantage and lead to a horrible trip. The rooms in general could use a good amount of refurbishing and some new funrniture would be helpful. The staff was slightly unfriendly especially comapred to the Melia Caribe which i have stayed at several times. I made the wrong decision by trying someplace new.
313883,wolfman1955,04/28/2006,All inclusive NOT The first night it rained ;we were on the second floor of a three story building and when we woke up the next morning the floor was soaked we had trouble getting another room.The staff spoke mostly Spanish or french not good for English only.The beach was beutifull The weather was hot hot hot. We asked for all inclusive and I explained that I didn't want to pay any more unless we took trips off the resort NO SUCH THING.
313883,ChanCanada,04/25/2006,Very disappointed - Montreal couple :( :( After reading the numerous reviews on the website I was very excited about this hotel. What a mistake I did. Best advise is ask friends who travelled for advise; do not base yourself on reviews. Check-in very slow; staff seem to be joking amongst themself - not professional; mostly spanish (very little french and english). Rating for this hotel is no more than 3 stars (and that's pushing it) and we have travelled to Dominican Republic numerous times! Grounds are impressive; but... the lagoon smells like sewer gas. Rooms good size; BUT Air conditionaire was filthy - covered in mildew; we actually removed the filter ourselfs and found at least 1/2 inch of mildew on filter. We knew something was wrong as my husband kept on sneezing and the smell was very strong in the room. Room service sometimes late; one night we had to wait for towels until 6:30 to take a shower.We tried to have our room transfered (seems like we were not the only ones; lots of angry people at reception) and we were offered a choice of 2 rooms after a 2 hour wait in the lobby; one had a broken air conditionaire - so Not good (which they tried to fix; but no body could find the problem) and the other room was facing the buffet (which means very noisy because of clinging dishes all the time) and most importly the matress on the beds were slanted to one side (both beds!!). Not impressive after waiting an extra 2 hours in the lobby when in transit since 4 AM that day; we were exausted and I just wanted to cry from disappointment. We ended up keeping our smelly room as the options offered were worst. The Beach is beautiful; safe and very clean; BUT not enought chairs; must reserve by 6 AM and I mean it; or your out of luck. Pools are very nice and clean; you can only get towels from the main pool. Staff was very mixed; some very friendly and smiling and other staff looked mad and uncooperative. Very expensive vacation at $1;500 per person; really not worth the money!!! Gym attendant was cleaning the sand away as I was trying to figure out how the machine worked; I got no assistance from him; it was another traveller that helped me out- we were clearly bothering by being there. Buffet very greasy (oily and buttery); nothing is ever hot; never (and this is no exageration) the food is very AVERAGE. My husband started stomache problems the 2nd day there; althow they give bottled water; it was making my stomache jumpy for some reason. Lots of children seem to have la tourista on the way back in the bus. Not enough serving utentils. No napkins at table and always running after utencils; often out of spoons. THey did have fresh tropical juice which was very good; the other fountain juices are just mostly sugar; much too sweet. THe coffee is always warm; not hot and very strong. For a la carte restaurants - you must reserve the day before and expect to wait 1/2 hour for reservations; we were stuck with the Dominician restaurant (as our 1st choise was booked)- Not GOOD; but very pleasant service. People were leaving with untouched plates. The Brazilain restaurant was the only hot meal and good food we got during our stay (meat grill) very slow service. The weather was great most of week (some big rain storms at night mostly - rooms have umbrellas) we enjoyed long walks on the beach every day. Most bikes are broken or in very bad shape. We would never go back there again; unfortunately the rewiews I read did not represent the place at all. Shows/entertainment starts late; around 10:00PM for adults and everything/ buildings are far apart (no atmosphere); be prepared to walk alot (which did not bother me; but it's very hot and not much shade during day) and get perpared to line up for everything. :(
313883,Caper2007,04/25/2006,Great Resort; Food not so great My boyfriend and I stayed at the Tropical Princess April 1st to the 8th 2006.. From the Airport to our resort was about a 40 minute drive. It's true 90% of the people there are crazy drivers. We had no problem with our luggage getting to the hotel with us. Once we checked in; we were told we were being given an upgrade to a Caribe Club Room. But this does not mean you get the same advantages as the Caribe Club Members; (ex. they got 5 a la carte meals included) Tropical Princess (Our package included 2) Room- Was great very nice and clean; the maids kept our fridge stocked daily; we left them little presents as well as money some days.Beach was absolutely magnificent; i can't say enough about it.Beach Chairs- Go early in the morning to reserve one; they fill up fast!The bars- They were great; If you tipped them a dollar here and there they were more than happy to see you coming. Also; the drinks are made quite strong. I recommend the Bahama Mama; or Banana Mama. Yummy!The Resort grounds- Beautifully landscaped and Maintained; Barely any flies at all!The Weather- The only day it rained was the afternoon we got there; and for the remainder of the week it was hot and sunny; with the perfect breeze off the Ocean. And when it rained our first day; it didn't rain for very long.The Food- The only negative thing was the food at the buffet; (with keeping in mind it is a 3rd world country) It wasn't as good as we'd hoped. The choices at breakfast would have been the best. For supper we recommend the a la cartes; we only had 2 included with our package; but by the end of our stay we decided to pay for the Italian a la carte; Only 10 dollars each and it was Delicious. Worth the extra money by far!Overall; beautiful Resort; Kind People; Food could have been better; We will return to Punta Cana but try a different Resort. We would still recommend this resort!
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,04/10/2006,Loved it! I stayed at the tropical princess beach resortwith my boyfriend and his family from april 2nd till april 9th it was awesome! Everyday was nice an sunny the people there were really nice.Our room was always cleaned always clean towels. The food was excellent. We went to the Manati park which was very funny they had a dolphin show which was really good they had a parrot show which was also very good; and a horse show which was alright and a taino show which was good too. We also went snorkeling which was fun got to see alot a fish; It was really beautiful. We all went to the casino which was lots of fun they have a disco right in it too. The only time it rained was at night like 3-5 am. and doesnt rain long either.Anyways overall i had an excellent time an i hope to visit there again sometime in the near future.
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,04/09/2006,Would go back to Punta Cana; but not to Tropical Princess My Boyfriend and I just returned from the Tropical Princess. I was very excited to go and not worried at all by the bad reviews of this place. We arrived late Saturday night; after an hour bus ride. Check in was uneventful; the man who checked us in barely even looked at us; I remember thinking he was pretty miserable. Not a good first impression. The lobby was beautiful; all open air; nice big bar; and when we arrived there were a bunch of people dancing in the lobby. Looked fun! We took a trolley to our room; which was nothing special; we were happy enough to have a king bed. But we didn't really need anything more.We were hungry after our flight so we headed down to the buffett to see what they had. They basically had snack food at that hour (makes sense) my boyfriend just had a hot dog; I don't think I ate.The beach is beautiful! The water is quite warm; I went in the ocean every day. The beach is always very busy; as everyone says it is quite difficult to get a beach chair unless you want to be up super early. The weather was great; I think it rained a couple times but always seemed to be overnight; or at night when we were inside. The staff at the beach bar were great. We tipped them most days and when they saw us coming they would start pouring a couple more beers! They were they best staff by far.The english here was a lot more limited then some other places. It was a bit frustrating; just because I would feel bad when I didn't understand. Man I need to learn spanish. :)Now the food. UGH Terrible! Now I can admit that I am a picky eater; very picky; but even my boyfriend had problems finding something to eat. I was quite disappointed in breakfast. Pancakes were good; but I got sick of them; omelets tasted like nothing. Orange juice tasted like tang! The buffett restaurant is open air; which is nice; but not around food. It looked like the meat and cheese were sweating. My boyfriend had some cesar salad and it was warm. I don't like complaining but it was the worst eating experience I have ever had; I was dying to come home by the end of it to eat.Pools were nice and warm; there are 3 of them; and easier to find chairs. The actual property is beautiful. The walk back to the lobby is great; so much lush green; lots of birds; and peacocks just walking around. I can't say enough about that.Can't say much about the entertainment; we were lazy at night; and didn't go out to the shows. The lobby is happening at night; after the shows when everyone dances.So my main beef here is with the food. I couldn't go back here just because of that. Other than that it is a nice clean resort; beautiful beach.
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,03/31/2006,Loved it!! My girlfriend and I visited this resort Mar 17-26th. Other then the hellish flight with Sunwing.ca (could you have any less leg room??!!!) and the 2hr delay on the tarmac in Ottawa; all was good. The 4hr waiting period at the airport returning is very very very very annoying and travel companies have got to change this stupid %$#@! rule of having to be at the airport 4hrs before your flight. Especially at 2:00am!!!!Guest services: Excellent; easy check-in (Note: the safes are $25US/week extra). My Sunwing reps was present everyday and english/french is not a probelmo with anyone at the resort.Tours: Didn't do any - seemed boring and limited. Besides; who really wants to be in the jungle in 35C weather or on the back of an overheated horse or visit another beautiful beach. Been there; done that - save your money!Room: Excellent; was on ground floor facing buffet. Lots of hot water; good pressure and clean drinking water. Nice K鈥搒ize bed! Plenty of A/C. No worries about your room.Resort: Very well layed out. Excellent fauna and greenery. Beautiful resort. 3 huge beautiful pools (quiet; open and heated and a busy one w/pool bar)Food: Plenty of choices; especially at buffet. However; if you've never been down south to a 3rd world country be prepared for odd dishes (or if you are American for that matter because they are so g*d da*n picky!); your gonna hate the food. Also; please don't blame the food for any stomach illness. Give it up people; it's not the food; it's the booze and sitting in the sun all day that is making you ill. It's aknown fact! The food is cooked; cleaned and presented as best as they can do. All resorts down south usually have foreign chefs. Fruit is awesome!!! Drinking Water: ALL drinking water at this resort come in bottles; unopened; just like bottle water at home. Very cool!!! Excellent tasting water! No fears here folks.Drinks: Limited if you aren't a VIP paid guest; however there's still lots of unlimited concoctions and of course beer; pina coladas; cuba libre (rum and coke)etc...!! Mmmmmmm... beer.Beach: Sweet!! 10 out of 10 with awesome year 'round breeze. My only complaint is that Bavaro beach as a whole is very very busy with watercrafts and watersports buzzing around all day. Plus; the every 15min. bloody helicopter tours passing by. None of these will affect your swimming and laying around; but I found the beach noisy and very busy for my liking. At least the staff leave you alone and don鈥檛 play loud music all day. Note: All resorts have same issues not just this resort. Bavaro beach is very long; beautiful sand and excellent for walking. BUT; very very busy. There are no locals at this beach.Entertainment: I was very impressed. Professional dancers and good theme shows everynight. Also; after each show they party it up in the lobby! Be there!!Kids: I have been told and seen that this is a very good resort for children. They have lots of activities for kids and the animation team is very involved with their fun!Shopping: There are a few shopping huts along the beach near the Ocean Blue resort and a Canadian run (her name is Christina) has a hut called the Carribean...something (pink bldg). Her prices are non-negotiable. There's also some good shopping plaza's near the Bavaro casino resort to buy all the crap they sell. They love to haggle. Pay only a 1/3 of what they ask. No more!Tips: Not necessary but always welcomed. I found service was the same whether or not you tipped. Gifts for maid and staff is always appreciated but don't bring dollar store stuff - that crap is just as cheap there as here and it's all garbage. Give $$ instead of personal hygene or gift items. Just my thought...This resort is rated a 4* and I concur. Have fun!!Note: The TPR is sister resort to two other surrounding resorts. The Grand Caribe and Punta Cana Princess. Everyone shares all! Beach; restaurants; etc... however; you do have better options at the no-charge al carte restaurants if you stay at the other two resorts.
313883,gottagetaway,03/26/2006,Great Last Minute Holiday We travelled to Punta Cana March 11 to 18th 2006 for the Ontario March Break and stayed at the Tropical Princess / Carib Club Princess. We are 3 adults in their 30s with much travel experience in the Caribbean and with all inclusive resorts. Keep in mind we booked this holiday 3 weeks prior to departure so there was not much to choose from. We were a little concerned that there was so little reviews on the Tropical Princess but upon arrival we discovered why. The Tropical Princess / Carib Club Princess are the same complex that share same facilities. The only difference in the 2 鈥渉otels鈥?is the type of room you receive and where it is in the complex. So if you are looking for Tropical reviews; read also the Carib Club reviews. Furthermore the Punta Cana Princess is in the same complex; a 2 minute walk away. They have their own restaurants but shared in our trolley service; spa; etc. ( a side note I visited the Punta Cana Princess on walks daily and once at night and it is far more quiet; sedate; and smaller than the Tropical and Carib) Our flight to Punta Cana was uneventful. The drive to the hotel was an hour despite the guides saying 20 min. from airport as they stopped at 5 hotels before ours.The lobby at the Tropical/Carib is nice. The interesting concept of this resort is the lobby/nightly entertainment/disco/shops/internet/guide tours/theatre are nowhere near the rooms. In fact you have to take a trolley from the above places or walk about 7 minutes to the complex where the room buildings/restaurants/pools are. This has pros and cons. On the one hand the area between the two areas is beautifully manicured/gardened almost with a 鈥榬ainforest鈥?theme which makes for a wonderful stroll. However there are times when you need to be at the above places i.e. lobby to complain or pick up things or when it is raining that the distance is a pain. Further the trolley is on Dominican time and there are times when the wait is much longer than the 15 min. they promise. If you book at the Tropical 鈥?pay for the VIP program once you arrive. Don鈥檛 give your North American travel agent the extra commission. We bought it in the lobby upon arrival and do not regret it all! It goes into effect the next day after arrival. You get the items listed: 1 bottle rum; cigars; bathrobes; night turn down service; premium liquor (Absolut/Bacardi) 1 hour internet service; but most importantly you get a free dinner at La Cava and a free 25 minute massage in the spa!!! Well worth the $90 we spent. All the restaurants are included except La Cava and El S鈥?La Cava is $25 per person for Carib Club and $50 per person for Tropical guests. With the VIP bracelet; you get there for free and the lobster and steak dinner was definitely worth it! Further we all used the spa 2 more times after our free massage as it was at par with most North American spas. Prices were reasonable. Food: For the most part; the dinners at the specialty restaurants are good. We ate at all of them and were impressed with presentation and choices. Service was slow at most of them but what can you expect? The buffet restaurant was frustrating at breakfast and lunch. You can鈥檛 get your own pop/water/coffee so have to constantly be flagging down waiters even though the machines are accessible. Further they usually only have 1 cook for most popular items: omelets; crepes; meat; pasta etc. which generated lineups making most food warm or even cold by time you reach your table. We felt the food at the buffet was mediocre at best when compared to other resorts in Dominican and elsewhere. Where was the fresh orange juice? It was concentrated. Rooms: On arrival our door lock was broken and we refused to stay in room until it was fixed. Looked like a forced entry had been done. It was around 10:45 p.m. We got the 鈥渄on鈥檛 worry; no problem鈥?line that they would take care of it tomorrow. No way. Not with reports of thefts etc. on previous reviews plus our concerns for our own security. We had also requested a room not on the first floor which it was. Since it was Sat. night there were no other rooms available so we couldn鈥檛 leave our room for drinks etc. and had room service. They did temporarily fix it by 1:30 a.m. and promised us a new room on 2nd floor next day. This did happen by 3:00 p.m. next day and we were happy with our new room. Most rooms in the Tropical are Suites 鈥?2 rooms and 2 bathrooms. Perfect for stretching out. Our maid service was not the greatest at all despite leaving many gifts and cash but didn鈥檛 feel like complaining about it as yes; you are rarely in room anyway. Resort: We have been to countless resorts in Caribbean so have much to compare to. We swear people at this resort stayed up all night or get up at 5:00 to reserve beach chairs. This was very frustrating as we are sun-worshippers and were on the beach by 7:30 every single day and never once got seats that we wanted but further back under huts. We know pools were easier but we are not pool people. These resorts need to get more chairs to met demand; it baffles me that this is an issue at most resorts despite people complaining. There were constant chair stealers we saw and battles. Its not worth it. Invest in as many chairs as you have guests. Logic? A majority of the guests were French from France. They had their own French entertainment staff that combined with the Dominican staff who were generally Spanish only with some French and little English made interactions with the English speaking guests fairly limited. We were blatantly ignored most of the time when they were scouring the beach / pool for people for activities. It was only on the 3rd day when we realized that the guests had different wristband colours. All guests who were French had blue so staff would know the French. VIP was orange and everybody else was grey. Interesting dynamics to watch. Overall: We did not have one daylight hour of rain and clouds were minimal so how can one complain too much about a holiday? We knew going in that this was a last minute holiday at a 4* resort in Dominican. So with the exception of the broken door; mediocre food at lunch; and generally being ignored by the staff; we had a great holiday with good times in our group and the people we met. Would we go back? Almost definitely not; but that is because we never return to the same resort as we like new experiences in new places. Would we recommend Tropical/Carib? With some reservations of what to expect; to definitely buy the VIP plan; and to request a Carib room or a Tropical suite.Beach itself is beautiful and you can鈥檛 go wrong with that.
313883,Bellaaron,03/15/2006,Loved it!!!! My boyfriend and i stayed at the tropical princess from December 2-9th; 2005. We absolutely loved it there. The beach was amazing; pools were great; room was clean; food was good; staff was incredibly friendly and the animation at the nightly shows was entertaining!!! The only complaint that i had was; there was'nt really anything to do between 7-9PM; as the shows started at 9Pm daily. Other than that it was awsome; wish we would have stayed for 14 days.If you are visiting Punta Cana; i would highly recommend going on the Marinarium Adventure; where you go snorkelling with sharks. A little scary at first but amazing when you get in the water. Definately a memory i will never forget.Another excursion to try is the Bavaro trackers; this one was an ATV ride; about 1.5 hours through the beach of Punta Cana ;where you get to see Julio Iglesia's Beach Home followed by a 30 minute horseback riding trip. ( Do not buy the video tape that they try to sell you of your excursion; the quality is horrible).The tropical princess is great for families; and couples; not alot to do if you are single!!!The hotel is dominated by europeans; not alot of canadians or americans.Check IN: Quick and easy; probably because we got to the resort around 9PM!!! Staff was helpful though!! But it is up to you to figure out where everything is at the resort by just using a small map.( kinda sucks; when its dark out and you have no clue what part of teh resort you are in)Food: was good; not great. I would recommend bringing some stomach medication. After about the 4th day; my stomach was accustomed to the food. But overall is was good; there were different themes every night. Definatley go to the Dominican theme night dinner; staff is dressed is dominican outfits; and the buffett is decorated in Dominican colors and fabrics. (Beautiful)Beach: Waves at the Tropical beach are higher than any other resort; however is is great for boogie boarding. ( So much Fun!!!)Staff: Awsome; especially CARLOS; on of the animation staff!!! They work so hard for so little money and seem to be enjoying every minute of it.Rooms: Clean and big enough for the time that you spend in your room anyways. Maids sometimes would'nt clean the room until 3pm; but that didnt bother us because they were cleaned by the end of the day anyways.Pools: There were 3 all together. The one with the swim-up bar was the most lively. The staff would do dance lessons; aerobics; volleyball; and play great spanish music there all day. If you want to sit by the pool to read a book and enjoy the sun; the other two pools were less busy.Check Out: If i can offer any advise it would be to buy a phone card before you go. Very Expensive if you want to make a phone call!!!Check out time is 12PM; so if your flight leaves later in the day; you have to keep your luggage in the lobbby; or pay extra for every hour you want to keep your room. However we left our stuff in the lobby and everything was fine.I loved the tropical princess and would go back in a heartbeat!!!!
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,03/15/2006,Tropical princess- resort 3.5* We have just returned from a week at the TROPICAL PRINCESS. The RESORT hotel is magnificent with beautiful trees; beach and flowers.There is still the season of wind so we can only use Catamaran and Kayak for 2 days out of 7 days. Avoid months Jan;Feb car a lot of wind.The resort is very clean. The room is small even that we had a small suite with partial ocean view (2adults and 2 children ).Room is very standard *3*). We took VIP option (15$/person adult/day) which is really great so we can go to all restos a la carte and many options such as massage; motorised banana float...). The food is just normal even a la carte restos (chinese;italian;mexican;sea food;domnican;french ).We loved the room service 24H; the snack is good when you order from the room.The evening shows are great(Lion King;...).If you do care about having a luxurous room and excellent food then may be choose for a 5* resort car this resort has a very standard room; food is normal. Three of us were sick by eating food.Be careful for the bagages when check out. There are no system for labels or numbers assigned to each person so bagages can be mixed up anywhere.People are very nice in this resort. Service is good. It was sunny everyday 28C.
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,03/12/2006,beautiful resort but the food is lacking We went with our three children (7;1013). It was great for the kids. Lots to do. We had taken some junk food as recommended on this site. The food really was not very good. Two of us were sick and are still not feeling great at home. If we were to go again; we'd take a small suit case of healthy snacks. Probably wouldn't go here again because of the food. The beach was awesome. We did have one cockroach in our room. Saw him on the first day and a few times after. They're very fast - we never did get him. The resort was very clean; not overly big (which we liked. We left at 1 am on the last day and had to check out at noon. We were promised a courtesy room to shower but never did get one. They had assigned the same room to more than one couple. We saw two couples arguing over another room for which they had done the same thing - assigned one room twice. Not the end of the world but they really didn't even seem to care. No Sorry for the inconvenience. Just there are no rooms - we're very full.
313883,travel64,03/08/2006,Tropical Princess - great beach! The beach at this resort was fantastic -- beautiful white; powdery sand. Very small resort; which was nice. It is quiet. Entertainment is available at the other three resorts; which you have access to. The grounds at this hotel are impeccable. Restaurants were great. It is rated a 5 or 4 and half in the brochures. We would call it a 4. Only because of other hotels where the VIP service is included and that makes them a 5. We would definitely recommend this hotel.
313883,scairy13,03/04/2006,Best time EVER !!!!!! The resort was amazing; beautiful grounds; great rooms; wicked pools and the beach was the best ever. You can not go wrong staying at this resort. The only problem was the lack of putters for minature golf. You sign them out and sadly some people just kept them in their rooms leaving others without. It that was our biggest problem; life is good. If you like ketchup you might want to take a small bottle with you. We decided to take a cab to the resort which turned out great. For $25.00 we got there first and checked in before the crowd. We also took a cab back to the airport so we were able to stay longer and not have to wait at the airport for hours. Don't forget to bring your own insulated travel mugs they are perfect; they will fill them up at the bar; your drink doesn't get cold and you don't waste cups!!!!! If you plan on sun tanning at the beach and want a hut you have to get up by 6 am and reserve the chairs with you beach towels. The breeze at the ocean was lovely and you didn't notice the heat. If you stayed by the pools it was incredibly hot but hey whatever floats your boat. The staff didn't speak much English so I would suggest you learn some key words in Spanish. Another bonus thing we did was bring floating chairs. We would float out to the buoy line hang on for a while then float in with the waves - GOOD TIMES !!!! Some people used them on their chairs for extra cush. The scuba shack filled them up for us then we left them when we came home so someone else could enjoy them. We went to all the a la carte restaurants but highly enjoyed the Brazilian. It was a very cool experience especially if you like meat. A must do for a romantic dinner. If you hear anyone complaining about this resort they are the kind of people that shouldn't travel outside their own home. Hola
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,02/12/2006,Loved the Beach; Loved the People Beachfront
313883,stargir1969,02/10/2006,Fabulous Time at the Tropical Princess!! We got a great deal on a 2 week vacation; and it was awesome. We were there from Jan 21-Feb 4th. I found the deal online; and my travel agent matched it; since I am hesitant to give out info online; I was extremely happy.We did not get into Punta Cana till almost 10pm; and I was unpacking and sipping a cervasa by 11:30. The buffet is open for late night snacks; so my hubby wandered around while I relaxed on the balcony overlooking one of the pools. Our room was great--we had 2 bathrooms! One full; one with a shower; sink and toilet. We had a King size bed; a real one; not 2 twins pushed together! No problems with the air; water pressure; locks or hydro and there was only one day that we did not have hot water; it was about 2pm; and by 5pm it was running hot again. I have heard they shut it off during the day to preserve it; and while I can't confirm it; it does make sense. There is a staff member in the lobby of the buildings every morning between 9:30 and 11:30 to make your a la carte reservations and to answer any questions you may have. There are 3 buildings with 3 floors on them; and they are for guests of both the Tropical and Caribe.The weather was great the whole two weeks; and yes; the beach was a bit windy; which I thought was great--lots of fun jumping and playing in the waves; and for some strange reason the wind seemed to cut the power of the sun;;we could lay out much longer when it was windy! The grounds were very well kept; and everyone was always busy painting; raking; sweeping;==felt a bit guilty for just lounging around as they worked so hard!The food was fine; always something to eat at the buffet at supper; certainly did not starve. The Crepery was great for a light snack after a hard day tanning and swimming~for lunch we usually went to the bar on the beach for a light snack; but be sure to ask them to cook the beef patties from the steam table; we had a few that were pink; and the cook had no problems grilling them a bit longer for us. I do suggest you watch for a fresh batch of fries; as they tend to get cold pretty quick!I really have no complaints at all;;yes; you have to be out of your room by noon; but along with the option of paying extra for longer; you can also choose to just get a courtesy room for a shower--thats what I did; and it worked out just fine. It also gave me the chance to see another room; this one was much smaller then ours; with only one bathroom. As mentioned in the forum; I did have some issues with some non North Americans and their total lack of manners; but I have found that on all of our vacations; and by no means is it limited to this resort.We did not see any of the shows; or go to any of the specialty restaurants; so I can't comment on them; but I did hear great things about the shows from other guestsPlease take my suggestion to bring snacks from home seriously-we paid $9 for a can of Pringles. (We really wanted them!!!!!)I may not choose a Sunwing vacation again;our flight was delayed and the rep only let us know after the bus did not show up; and did not come and tell us; rather some of the other Sunwing guests had to fill us in. I felt he could have made more of an effort to keep all of us informed. When he finally found out a flight time and a time the bus would be coming; he posted a sign and left quickly. I did not go to the meeting to hear about the excursions because I had no intention of going on one; but once I went up to find the binder that contained the departure time for the bus and could not find it; I regretted that decision--finally found it on our 10th day;;thankfully; since there was no info posted on the board either. Please note on the package they gave us on the bus said we had to attend to reconfirm your flight --that is not true; and I felt bad for the people who went only to find that out. Again; nothing to do with the resort.We would certainly return to this resort; and will recommend it to our friends.My Hubby wanted me to mention that even though there is a Sports Channel on T.V they did not show any hockey games at all for the entire 2 weeks:(
313883,Brownclowns,02/05/2006,Beautiful grounds with wonderful beach ! My wife and I booked the VIP package to the Tropical Princess for the week of Jan 22 nd . For the additional $ 100 / pp you received an upgrade to an ocean view room in the Caribe Club Princess ; 3 cigars ; small bottle of rum ; extra set of beach towels ; 2 housecoats and slippers ; 1/2 hour of free internet pp ( $ 5 US per 1/2 hr ) ; room service ; 20 minute massage ( $ 20 / pp ) ; banana boat ride ( $ 30 / pp ); superior liquor ; ( american dominican bottled beer and name brand liqueurs )use of all regular la carte restaurants and choice between the Pescador and La Cava . The other restaurant was available for an additional charge of $ 31 US / pp . The safe cost $ 25 US for the week and the mini fridge was stocked with pop and water ; no beer . ( the bar staff always gave us the twist caps with our bottled beer ) We ate breakfast and lunch at the buffet and were very happy with the service ; selections and quality of food . There was also a creperie / ice cream restaurant and 2 beach restaurants available for lunch . The later turned into the Brazilian and Pescador a la cartes for dinner . There were also a Chinese / Japanese ; Italian ; Mexican and Dominican a la carte . We enjoyed all but the Brazilian ; but the staff made up for the food . The bar service was hit and miss with 24 hour service at the main buffet restaurant . We were treated very well by the staff at the front desk and check in and out was uneventful . The activity staff and entertainers were typical all inclusive ; working an extraordinary amount of hours and always trying to make everybody happy . The grounds are beautiful with large mature palms and a 200 yard walk through a mangrove to get from the lobby to the room ; restaurant and beach areas . The beach is whiteish with red specks and goes for miles in each direction . The ocean is a clear greeny blue with days of yellow and red flags . Kayaks and hobie cats are free but have to be booked in advance from a private company that also has the dive shop . We have travelled the busier north coast of the Dominican from Monte Christi to Puerta Plata to San Juan to the Samana peninsula and comparing ; find the Punta Cana / Bavaro area to be more for kicking back and relaxing . Santo Domingo ; 3 1/2 hours away ; is the capitol and the place to go to purchase rum and cigars . About 70 % of the cigars sold in the Domincan ; including anything sold for under $ 100 US a box ; are actually banana leaves . To determine if cigars are good ; waste one and give it the snap test . When a cigar is bent in half it should snap in two ; if it crumbles it is banana leaf . To detemine if your larimar is authentic simply put a match or lighter to it and hope it doesn't melt . Real amber will sink in a glass of salt water ; synthetic will float . Remember some airlines do not permit the transfer of 151 proof rum as it is flammable . Faceclothes are non existent in the Dominican ; so take your own . If you forget any of the many personal staples you will require while at this resort you will pay through the nose at the complex's store . The Bavaro area is a right turn and a 1/2 hr walk down the beach ; 20 minutes out the front gate or a $ 6 cab ride . When the bank machine at the resort is not working there is a casino with a bank machine on the outside of the building about a 15 minute walk towards town . It did not charge me a service fee and gave me 29 pesos per $ CAN . The hotel offers 23 pesos however if you have a bill at the end of your stay make sure you use your credit card as they convert the $ US at 30 pesos ; a 10 % savings . We would definitely return to this resort but probably not in January as it is extremely windy until mid February .
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,02/05/2006,Lovely Resort beach
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,01/29/2006,As good as I could have ever hoped for! More photos
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,01/23/2006,Great; I would go back I was at the Tropical for a week. Despite minor difficulties at the arrival (key for room not working) my stay was great and I would go back again! I am a difficult person in terms of food and I can say that it was average but you can always found something to eat. The breakfast was very good and a lot of fruits which I enjoyed very much. The personnel is nice and the service nothing to complain about.The beach is great and the pool as well (a bit cold). The room was super clean. Anyway; did not regret my choice and I will go back again. So Enjoy.
313883,stevethegreek,01/20/2006,Scuba-Do feeding the fish
313883,OhTwins,01/09/2006,Had a wonderful time Our family of 2 adults and 2 kids spent Christmas week at the Tropical Princess. Overall; the experience was very positive.Property: Very lush and well maintained. The lobby is a 10-minute walk from all the hotel rooms. We always enjoyed the walk especially after eating all that food. We never took the trolley except during check-in and out.Swimming pools: There are three. All have zero entrance and beautifully designed. We usually go to the one close to our villa since it is more secluded and less crowded.Beach: Bavero beach is very pretty. It is a bit wavy. The sand is very fine; a bit of seaweeds; no rocks anywhere. There are lots of beach chairs and huts. People do go early in the morning to leave a towel there to reserve a hut.Food: We ate mostly at the buffet which offered good variety with lots of seafood. The new year's eve feast was excellent. We also ate at the 2 restaurants which were included; the food was OK; but if you miss them; no big deal. For lunch; the beach grill has excellent BBQ's; not to be missed.Staff: All very friendly; most of them speak or understand very little English. We don't speak a word of Spanish but we managed OK.Accommodations: It's not the Ritz but the room was clean with average maid service. There were lots of mosquitoes every night we were in our room. We came well prepared with repellents; mosquito coils and an electric mosquito Zapper(looks like a tennis racket); that weapon worked like a charm and killed the bug everytime. We had to do a full house extermination before bedtime each night.Excursions: We did a sunset horse-back riding on the beach. The riding was one and a half hour except the guy did not tell use that it takes one hour to get there; so altogether it was more like three and a half hours. The ride back was scary since it was after sunset and the driver was going very fast.Complaints: Nothing major. They did not have enough locks for the in-room safe. I had to visit the lobby many times before I finally got one. There is a $20 rental charge for the lock; what a rip-off; the $20 is more than enough to buy the lock and yet they are running out of locks.Conclusions: It's been one week since we came back and we still haven't removed our resort ID wristband. We are already talking about going back for our next trip.
313883,TRIMS,12/20/2005,Lots of hype and hot air We got back form the Tropical Princess on the 18 of Dec. and I am sorry to say that we read all the reviews on this resort before we went with it and find it hard to believe that so many people fine this such a great place. Yes the beach is nice and the ocean is warm but the beach has about 60 other resorts on it; so you can't say this is a great thing about staying at the Tropical Princess when 59 other resorts offer the same thing. The rooms were plain but ok; the mini-fridge would leak water on to the floor making a small pool and the potential for a slip and fall. Every Once in a while the hot water would stop working and you would have to wait about an hour or so before you could take a shower and then the water temp. was just above cool at best. The A/C vent would give off a musty smell when just starting up; which was because the past guest in the room was a smoker which accounts for about 70% of the people at this resort; mostly Europeans. The staff was not as friendly as everyone had said most of them would just ignore you if you could not speak the language; mostly the bar staff. The food in the buffey was terrible; with most of it looking like it was re-used from the last meal; this is were I thing most people are getting sick from; us included. The front lobby is about a good 10 min. walk to the rooms which is divided by a big smelly swamp were most of the mosquitos come from and the shuttle cars are never around when you need a lift or they are going the wrong way. The pools look nice but don't be fooled;they don't clean them as offend as they should which leaves bites of plant matter and floating bugs on the top of the water; after swimming in the pool about 3 times I started to get bad earaches which went away when I stop putting my head under water while swimming; stick with swimming in the ocean. Check in is at 3 pm check out is 12 noon; remember this if booking a trip here because we had a 6:30 pm pick up in the lobby;this would leave us with no room for 6 1/2 hours.But you can extend your room for about 10.00US per hour. We went that route because we had our 7 year old with us and it cost us about $80.00 Canadian for about 5 hours more; what a burn. Lots of the kids at this resort were looking ill; probably from the food and it was hard to stand by and see this and the parents did'nt look very happy as well. All in all I would have to give this resort a 4 out of 10 and we would not return to this resort again.
313883,hurricaneblues,11/17/2005,15 days at the Princess We just got back from the Punta Cana princess;(Caribe Club side) a few days ago...The check in was non-eventful; they do not let you have your room until 3:00; so we had to wait about 5 hrs. until our room was ready. When our room was good to go; we found it on our own. We had to call the front desk/bell boys 4 times to bring our 1 peice of luggage; but after waiting an hour; and 4 different people saying it would be '10 minutes'; my husband went to the lobby and transported it back.The rooms were clean and basic. Nothing too fancy; and the toiletries offered are not of high quality; mostly the conditioner. Despite tipping; every day the room was not stocked properly; sometimes they would forget water; towels or extra TP. There was also no remote for the TV. With all the marble flooring and open air architecture; noises travelled easily; and my husband and I would sleep with earplugs every night. There seems to be a lack of signs to let people know what is what; so we spent the first few hours just checking things out and learning where things are. Despite these minor things; we were always comfortable and never that burdened.The pools were beautiful; the grounds were even more so. The beach was amazing; very relaxing; clean; and always a palapa. The water was so warm and a perfect turqouise and sand was powdery white. 10 out of 10.The Staff were amazing; mostly the bartenders (Juaquin; Eduardo) and the animation Staff. All VERY hard working for very little pay. We brought $200.00 US$ just for tips; and wish we brought more. The gardeners work very hard 'cutting the lawn' by HAND on their knees in the heat. They are all so grateful for a dollar here and there. So tip big. They really deserve it.The food was good; mostly at the BBQ by the beach bar. My husband and I both got sick 3 times each...hard to say what from though..We went to the Marinarium on our excursion. It was a great time to snorkel and swim with the sharks. A really fun day with an awesome animation team. I would definetely recommend it.Internet use in the lobby was $5.00 US for 30 mins. It was a fast connection and worked fine.All in all; we had a wonderful holiday; thanks to all the natural beauty that surrounded the resort and all the amazing hard working Staff.Any questions; you can email me.
313883,robbienorth,09/05/2005,Tropical Princess - A unique Review. I've read all the reviews on this site about the TP and rather than spewing the usual things I'll try to give a unique perspective. I'm a little more on the painfully honest and sceptical side of things. Check IN:was fine; what you'd hope for in a resort; many people working the desk and it seemd to flow easily enough. Few people we met in the VIP suites had to wait a couple hours but that's to be expected periodically. Don't bother thinking you don't need the bellboys for the luggage. Resort is large and lugging your crap around is a hassle. If you're on the cheap side be prepared to tip here... Rooms: Nice enough; nothin super fancy. If in the TP side be prepared for to hear all the giggles or CNN from the room next door when rooms are ajoining. We were there initially but after a little sweet talkin were bumped to the CP. Basically the same resort when you walk through it; the CP is just a little better side. *Heres a note tho.. make sure to properly check your sliding glass doors. The newer room's lock didnt work properly; a quick tug felt like it was locked but any real PULL and it popped open. Because our new room was on a more secluded side of the resort my paranoid side kicked in. Everyday I wedged the coffee table in the door to block the slide action (GF has learned to trust my instincts so barely peeped up). Second last day I went out on the balcony and realized the door was off its tracks; and they aren't light doors so doubt the maid nudged it off. Just be aware of things and unlike me (cheapie cheapie) get the safe for peace of mind. Pools: Nothing worth commenting on....Beach: was sweet as discussed elsewhere. Not sure what the other people were Boogy boarding on but dont count that as a highlight. Late august the waves are minimal; be prepard to float a foot or two and return them in 10 mins. Restaurants: the dominican was decent; brazilian id skip.. heard and experienced mixed results with the other ones so i think its a crap shoot. You can only eat the buffet so many times so go try them with an open mind. Entertainment: personally I could care less about the shows on resorts; they always seemd busy and didnt hear many complaints. Frankly if your under 50 im sure you'll be here n there with them. Wierdly enough unlike cuba (which I've visited twice in past 18 months) there is an atmosphere of criminality in punta cana; nothing against TP at all. Be like blameing the Hilton for crime in New York City but it does seem a little more slimey if you catch my drift.There are many tips i can give but will save them for various reasons. If you'd like to know anything feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to help as much as i can. Some will save you hassels and money.. be prepared for me to ask a favour tho... ;O) ** I meant to get a medicinal herb they sell there in abundance for my neighbour (goin thorugh Kemo; every bar and store has it) but i forgot it in the hotel when i left. No problems bringing to Canada I just rushed out and was absent minded. I'd be happy to pay double what it costs you (4$US) just to help the guy out and will come to you in the Toronto or suburbs. I tried it myself and am a firm believer in the healing properties. Please help... However; know the favour isnt manditory Id be happy to help anyway I can.All the best.robbienorth@hotmail.com
313883,hewi24,09/01/2005,Fabulous Family Vacation One of the locals with a new jersey
313883,M0nalisa,08/24/2005,Loved our stay at the Tropical Princess My sister and I stayed at the Tropical Princess from July 31st to August 13th and really enjoyed it. The room was clean and cool (once we had understood how it worked!!!); the food was o.k. (better than in Cuba) and the sun was there through our entire vacation. Though it's true that you have to get up early to have a cabana at the beach (I was there every morning at 7:00 to reserve a chair; but I was always up by 6:30. if you try to get a cabana later than 8:00; forget it!!!); you can always find a place at 1 of the 3 pools and since it is near the beach you can easily walk. The resort is very well kept (gardens; grass and path) and clean (including the beach; no seaweeds; no empty cans or plastic glasses). For people having trouble walking or with young children; note that there is a bus that drives around the resort.By reading the reviews before we decided on the Tropical Princess I was a little hesitant; but now that I'm back; I would say that I find that a lot of travellers expect too much. Don't forget that you are in the Dominican Republic and that things are different. Be patient (the notion of time is different in the DR) and please don't expect that everybody speaks english. Getting to know another culture is part of the fun of travelling!!!!
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,08/16/2005,Very Relaxing Vacation Just came back from the tropical princess. We were there from August 7 to August 14th. I travel frequently to Cuba and the Dominican Rebublic and I have to say that the Domincan Rebublic is by far the better place to travel to. Check in: Check in took a little while only becuase they had two full buses which arrived at the same time. The front desk staff are extremely friendly and go out of there way to assist you.Rooms: Our room was spacious and was EXTREMELY CLEAN. There was absolutely no smell to our room. We were in building 5238. Ask to stay in the quiet side of the reort; you won't be disapointed.Food: The food was descent. You could always find something to eat. We went to two ala cartes which were the chinesse and mexican. Both of these were fantastic.Staff: the staff overall were extremely friendly even if you don't tip. FYI make sure you bring down little gifts. I went to the dollar store before I went down and brought deodorants; shampoo candy perfume and cologne. They absolutley LOVED it. They appreciate gifts more than money.Overall I really enjoyed this vacation. In january I stayed at Brisas Guardalavaca in Hoguin Cuba which was an absolute NIGHTMARE. This by far is one of my best vacations. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me at cbascombetrack@hotmail.com.
313883,cat5000,08/01/2005,Great Vacation!!! My husband and I have just returned from our all-inclusive trip to the Tropical Princess Resort in Punta Cana; Dominican Republic. Like many of you; I looked through the reviews on this website before I booked my vacation; and I was very happy I did. To make it easy and simple; I've included my reviews under different categoried....hope this helps!!!Hotel Room:Our room was nice and clean. Like many of you; I'm picky when it comes to cleanliness; and I have to say that the room was beautiful. We had a king size bed; a long dresser with mirror; and a full bathroom. The room was also equipped with a mini fridge that had coke; sprite and a big jug of water. The only negative thing was that they didn't have a remote control. We were told that if we went to the lobby; we could give a $5 deposit and get one there. However; we tried and tried; but they kept telling us that there were no batteries. We gave up after the 2nd day there. Also; the room was nice and cool because the air conditioner worked great and we were able to keep it at the temperature that we liked/Food:If you are looking to eat american food than this is not the place to go. Just remember that you are in another country and so the food there is completely different. There were many A la Carte restaurants to choose from but we mostly ate at the Main Buffet Restaurant. If you're a coffee drinker like us; you will not be happy because it was as thick as mud and even after adding tones of cream; it still was black. Nevertheless; they had lots of drinks to choose from like juices; tea; pop; and of course alcohol. Like almost every resort; they are cheap with the alcoholic drinks. Sometimes they had lots of alcohol but sometimes it tastes like there's nothing in it. Once again; the food was ok. I ate lots of pasta; salad; bread; ice cream; french fries; and lots of fresh fruit because most of the food was stuff that I usually don't eat like rabbit; fish; cooked bananas; octopus; ect..Don't be afraid of getting sick because neither of us got sick during our vacation. Just stick to the food that you know is good.Pools:There were 3 huge pools at the resort and they were absolutely beautiful. There was lots of room to swim and they were never crowded. In regards to beach chairs; that's another subject. Like other reviews of resorts; there are LOTS of people who throw towels on the chairs first thing in the morning and don't even show up until late afternoon. I found iit to be very annoying and ignorant. We were usually down at the pool at 10:00 and we always found a lounge chair by the pool and in the shade.Beach and Gardens:I have to say that these were my 2 favourite things at the resort. They absolutely stunning and what I'd hoped they'd look like. The resort was filled with beautiful gardens; flowers and palm trees. The beach was gorgeous with its white sand and blue water.Shopping:All I can say about this is BARGAIN...BARGAIN....BARGAIN.!!!! The gift shop at the resort has set prices in US dollars. Make sure to bring everything you need with you like sunscreen; aloe gel; and snacks because you don't want to have to buy anything there. Here's a few example: They charged 2 dollars US for a chocolate bar; 7 dollars US for a big bag of chips; 22 dollars US for a little bottle of aloe vera gel; over 20 dollars US for sunscreen. They definitely like tourists!!!! As for souvenir shopping; there is Bavaro Plaza whcih is about 10 minutes from the resort. You can use a bike or take a taxi. We also found a little market on the beach. If you're facing the ocean; walk to your left down the beach for about 10 minutes and you'll find about 20 little huts set up with souvenirs. Once again; bargain with them. We got 2 big bottles of rum for $17 US dollars; and the gift shop at the resort was charging $18 US for one bottle. Great overall vacation.....Hope this helps!!!!
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,07/08/2005,When do I leave to go back there !!! I went there the week of June 12th to the 19th with one of my girl friends. We went there to relax and we did.... The rooms are clean; the food is wonderful and the BEACH...WOW !!!! We could walk for miles on the white sanded beach. A few guests complained of the chairs on the beach and about the face cloths that were missing. On the first day; we asked our maid to bring us some and we had clean face cloths every day. As for the chairs; I guess it all depends on the time that you go to the beach... We stayed at our pool until about 1:00pm and we had no problems finding chairs at that time. The shows at night are the best I've seen so far. They are worth staying up for. My only complaint about this resort is the lack of bars... There was bars with every pools but they were all closed except for one which was the swim-up bar. I guess it's okay but for us; it represented a 7 minute walk to get a drink. The mini-bar from our room really came in handy. There was water; Coke and Sprite. The bottle opener by the way is on the back of the fridge door !!! Just a tip; use sunscreen; the sun is very HOT !!! Also; if you want to buy souvenirs; maybe a ride to the mall outside the resort would be a good idea. Let's just say that we were very impressed by this resort. Good food; confortable beds; beautiful beach; great entertainment and wonderful weather !!!!! It will be very hard to beat !!!
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,06/13/2005,Great Time; but.. We were there the week of June 6 2005 and had a fantastic stay. Here are some pointers to make yours even better:- take face cloths (if you use them)as there will be none in your room- the doors have no bottom sill so insects can crawl under easily so put a towel along the bottom of your door on the inside. We had absolutely no problem with insects.- bring your own beach towels. Yes; they provide them at the beach butyou will need more than one towel to cover the blue and white chairs.- the outside blue and white chairs are in excellent shape; the best I've seen at a resort.- ask for remote control for the TV when you check in. They want $20 if you don't return it.- if you buy internet access in the main lobby; watch your start time. Its $5 for 30 minutes but the guy will try to kick you off early ; even if no-one is waiting.- look for a bartender called Victoriano. He's very hard-working and anxious to please. - take battieries; film; sunburn ointments or any other pharmaceuticals that you think you might need. The resort mini-mart will charge you $22 US for a sunburn ointment you can get at home for $5. But you'll pay the $22 because you are really sore; right?- take $ US and don't bother with pesos. Stores off the resort will give you a better price for $ US. Avoid using a credit card. They will charge you in pesos and then charge you 4-6 % extra for using the card!- take some snacks for the late evening if you are visiting during the off-season.- again; take $ US even if you have medical coverage. We ran into a Scottish guy at the Occidental Grand Flamenco whose son needed dental work. All services were cash only upfront and he was scrambling to find bank machines to pay the hundreds of US dollars they wanted. - our toilet seat was broken. After maintenance requests to the front desk; nothing happened. I gave the chambermaid $5 US and a card with our room number and Spanish description of the problem. The toilet seat was fixed within hours!- stay out of the pools after 7PM daily as they are treated then. - take a bottle opener. Free pop in the room is great but there was no opener.- the timeshare touters on the beach can be avoided with a big smile; a wave and repeating 'No thanks!. Be friendly. Its their living.Thats it. Have a great time!
313883,chewp,04/14/2005,Very Relaxing My husband and I were joined by our children; 14; 17; 22. It was a lovely vacation and the best beach that I have ever been to!! The buffet was incredible; they had 15 or 16 different stations. We arrived at 11 pm and there was lots of food and drinks for us so you don't need to worry about not having a supper on the plane. The buffet was open 24hours!! There was nightly entertainment in two different locations; one by the buffet and the other at the main entry. There were five different restaurants and three pools. We did however have to get up around 6 am to reserve beach chairs under palapas. However; if you didn't get up there were chairs to be found in the sun. We had beautiful suites with two bathrooms that were cleaned everyday. The staff was very friendly and if you tiped they were that much better. Bring hats to give away; you will make great friends and get incredible service from staff if you acknowledge them. In all it was very relaxing and we won't forget this holiday. Oh and don't forget your sunscreen and mosquito repellent for the black flies at night; that you don't see till the next day. Have fun and enjoy the beach
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,04/12/2005,Very nice but I hope you don't want a chair at the beach We have travelled many times before to the Carribean and knew what to expect. The food was very good. You must remember it is not Canadian food. There was something at the buffet for guests from all over the world so of course there are many things we passed right on by. For example one night there was a delicious hip of beef with all the trimmings. We went to the Dominican a la carte restaurant but were not overly impressed. The service was fine throughout the resort but what is our personal pet peeve when travelling is a resort that does not have enough lounge chairs at the beach. You had to be up before 6 a.m. to get a chair. People would go down and put their towel on the chair and not come to the beach til after lunch. I was surprised to see this at a 4+ star resort. We saw chairs vacant for 4-5 hours straight. Extremely rude guests. We have been away many times and always meet people from all over. This resort however had mostly French guests and we are strictly English speaking. We did meet an American couple the second to last day there and they observed the same. The attitude of the guests is something you can not hold against the hotel however they promote French guests by employing French students brought from a university in France to deal exclusively with the French guests. I have nothing against French people just only wanted to make a point that the language barrier made it difficult to meet people. The resort itself was very clean and the entertainment deserves top marks.
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,04/04/2005,Fabulous vacation at the Tropical Princess Tropical Princess Resort Spa (4*) 鈥?Punta Cana; Dominican RepublicFrom Vancouver; CanadaMy husband and I stayed at this resort from March 10 鈥?17th; 2005. My criteria in looking for a resort was that it had to be 4* or plus and be a newer location. This resort was built in 2000. We had paid an extra $80 each to have the VIP package and it was definitely worth it. It gives you added services such as: 20 minute massage; top shelf liquor (i.e. Johnny Walker Black; Remy Martin; Courvosier etc鈥?; motorized sport; free cigars and rum in your room; free pop in your mini bar and free dinner at La Cava (steakhouse) or El Pescador (seafood). Without the VIP package; you would have to pay $25 USD per person to eat at one of these restaurants. First off; I will say that the vacation was fabulous 鈥?the beach and water were beautiful; the staff were friendly and the service was impeccable; the resort had a lot of activities you could choose to join (i.e. baci; archery; fitness classes on the stepper or aquatic classes; dance lessons; miniature golf etc鈥?. For food; there are ample places to eat to suit the pickiest of eaters. The main buffet (El Higuero) had an international buffet; local food; assorted fruits; cheeses and desserts. There were a couple of grills where they would make: fish; chicken etc. There is also a pasta station where you choose the pasta and sauce and the cook heats it up for you in a pan on the spot. If you don鈥檛 want to eat at the buffet for lunch; you can eat at smaller buffets on the resort; or we liked the Grill on the beach. They grilled chicken; burgers and hot dogs. You can find french fries in probably all the restaurants. To eat at one of the a la carte restaurants (Italian; Mexican; Chinese; Brazilian; Dominican) you have to book ahead at Guest Services in your building. There is a limit on the number of times you can eat at the a la carte restaurants; my favorite was El Pescador 鈥?get the lobster; it鈥檚 huge! There is also a creperie on site. They serve sweet and salty crepes (i.e. with lobster or salmon etc.) 鈥?I liked the sweet crepes better. The creperie is also the place to go for ice cream or banana splits. The resort has 2 swimming pools (one with a swim up bar) and a hot tub. It was way too hot to use the hot tub although I did see people try it out. As probably indicated in your vacation literature; tips are not required because it is supposed to be included in what you already paid; but you can鈥檛 help but want to give something (not all the time) to those that go above and beyond their duties. I also brought along a couple of Clinique makeup kits filled with some bonus (sample) items. I gave one to our housekeeping lady on the first day and one to the ladies who gave us our massage. I think that they appreciate anything you give them. You鈥檒l find that the staff will say 鈥渉ola鈥?with a smile all over the resort; not only at the front desk; but with employees everywhere on the resort (i.e. gardener; bellboy etc). The resort is really big; so there is a tram that goes around and picks and drops off people. I believe it runs 24 hours a day. You only have to wait for about 10 minutes. One of our favorite places to go everyday was the lobby. It was so comfortable with the wicker cushioned couches. We would get our drinks from the lobby bar and sit on the couch looking at the palm trees with the breeze coming in. There are even people who come around from the lobby bar to take your drink order so that you don鈥檛 have to get up. We bought a couple of things from markets: coffee; souvenirs and larimar. Larimar is a blue semi-precious stone only mined in the Dominican Republic. There are markets to the left (15 min walk) and the right (40 min walk) on the beach. Do not buy anything from the resort stores (convenience market; cigar store; art; jewelry) 鈥?it is overpriced to say the least. For the nightlife; there is a show every night at 9:45 pm. We only dropped in a couple of times; because we would eat dinner late after our drinks. We went to the club twice (free for resort guests) 鈥?good music. There is also a free shuttle to take you to a nearby casino.I don鈥檛 have anything to really complain about. I knew this was a 3rd world country and I lowered my expectations a little. There were only 3 things that could have been better:1)a couple of times; the shower only had cold water (I didn鈥檛 mind; it happens)2)check in was somewhat slow and we had to ask more than once for our VIP privileges (ie. Rum and cigars were not delivered to our room until day 4)3)watch out where your room is; if it is close to the activity area; you will hear loud music from 11 am. It got sort of annoying after awhile with the person on the mic. We got used to it; but if we go back; we may ask to be in another building.Again; these were only minor things and they do not change my mind about this resort. I absolutely recommend it!
313883,jewelldd,03/30/2005,very nice and Would Recommend To Anyone beautiful lobby/open airy/marble floors
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,03/26/2005,Amazing.. read this if your going there Im 17 and my family of 4 arrived there on march 17. When you get off the plane it was like you were getting hit with a brick wall of heat; therefore go on the plane wearing very VERY light clothing. The airport is pretty amazing all outside but quite busy ( we arrived at night). Getting your luggage and getting on the bus that takes you to your hotel is a little bit hecktic but RELAX; when u get there its so worth it. The roads are very skinny and the drivers sure drive fast but its fun and they do get you there haha. Once again when u arrive at the hotel and checking in its pretty crazy because everyone is frantic to get to their rooms. The rooms are pretty nice but i suggest taking bug spray with dit. I got alot of bits but they were only minor. Make sure you have very extreme sunscreen; i was wearing 50spf but i still managed to burn; bubble and peel. My family adn i went on the Swimming with the sharks/sting rays excurtion. very well worth it. I was pretty timid to go into the pen but it was fine. There is snorkling included in that package. it was about 80 bucks / person. expensive but once again worth it. Parasailing was so awesome too; highly suggested. it is reccomended to take some snacks on the plane with you they didnt feed much; but the chips down there are about 6 bucks for a big bag; kinda ridiuculous.the beaches are absoulty almazing as well. If you have any questiopns e-mail me at ---
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,03/20/2005,Awesome Family Vacation We just got back and my family of 4 (kids 5 6 )had a great time. Here is a brief overview.ROOMS: Plenty of variety. Easy to switch if you need to. Don't unpack the first night and have a look around the resort to see where you may want to be. We had a family room:living room w/ 2 days beds plus bedroom with 2 doubles; 2 bathrooms. balcony;tv; mini-fridge. 3rd floor rooms have vaulted ceilings. Others offered sunked livingrooms.FOOD: Pretty good with something for everyone. Brazilian (free) Italian($8pp/$4kids) are great. Heard Seafood ($25) was good too. Crepes and ice cream avail near beach. Bar/grills offer snacks and lunch by beach.BEACH/POOLS: Best I've ever been to so far. Get up early (before 7am)to reserve your palapas with towels. The pools (3) are great. One for families with little kids; one near beach volleyball and one with bar and lots of action. NIGHT: Lively!!! Party/dancing in looby after evening show. STAFF: Friendly. Although it might not seem like it; but they do work hard all day long. You might think service is slow at times but remember where you are and be a little patient;as it won't kill you to wait a few minutes.GUESTS: We meet lots of really neat people from all over Canada; France; and Germany. If you get involved in something (i.e. beach volleyball) you'll meet people. Speaking French (and spanish) will help you a lot.OTHERS: The resort is beautiful; weather terrific; (did not see a single bug the whole time); well worth the $$$$. Shuttle bus available all day but beautiful and pleasant 5 min walk through man-groves to gorgeous lobby. $20 for safe. Babysitting is $8-$10 per hour but Kids Club free and staff spoke fluent English and French. HINTS: Bring plenty of sunscreen.- price at shop was between $20-$45 for a bottle of sunscreen. Pringles chips were $6; film $10. Bring plenty of small US bills. Change only given in peso.
313883,sunswimsand,02/22/2005,Terrible - from a traveller who has travelled. showReview(3215405; 'full');
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,02/11/2005,Fabulous Vacation Front lobby
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,01/29/2005,Tropical Princess is perfection! showReview(3098205; 'full');
313883,itraveltooBarrie,01/26/2005,Could be better! showReview(3088353; 'full');
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,06/01/2004,I Loved Tropical Princess showReview(2142750; 'full');
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,05/14/2004,Awesome at the Tropical Princess showReview(2061308; 'full');
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,05/01/2004,don't bother if it's high season;not worth it. showReview(1850949; 'full');
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,04/20/2004,Here's the Truth! showReview(1794709; 'full');
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,04/16/2004,never again showReview(1789132; 'full');
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,03/15/2004,Not bad at all showReview(1726359; 'full');
313883,839,01/06/2009,Nous y retournerons la plage
313883,muchachitaCantabria,12/23/2008,Todo fenomenal; excepto... showReview(22934042; 'full');
313883,Fabiotto,11/14/2008,Bellissimo Tropical Princess. Piscina
313883,MoniTrier,10/02/2008,Super Urlaub showReview(20549528; 'full');
313883,WMAU76,09/15/2008,Fabuloso showReview(20093544; 'full');
313883,perlapaz,08/19/2008,mas o menos??? showReview(19132205; 'full');
313883,lass,08/19/2008,Nicht schlecht showReview(22963210; 'full');
313883,Andri21,08/19/2008,Tropical Princess Un Encanto Postre En El Sobrero
313883,lass,08/18/2008,Hotel mit Klassensystem - Urlaub mit Aufbuchung showReview(22955796; 'full');
313883,lillyannahh,08/14/2008,super sch枚ner traumurlaub der weihnachtsmann und ich....sch枚n wars...
313883,lass,08/13/2008,Traumurlaub showReview(22951086; 'full');
313883,lass,08/13/2008,Super Urlaub showReview(22949676; 'full');
313883,wgspr,08/04/2008,odisea en plaza bavaro showReview(18468557; 'full');
313883,LULUBORICUA,07/11/2008,maravillosas vacaciones en tropical princess fotografiando el monito
313883,trick35,07/07/2008,me gust贸 demasiado clases de ginmasia en el agua
313883,Alvarin,07/04/2008,Excelente diversi贸n y bellos paisajes Adi贸s Punta Cana......voleveremos pronto
313883,mip177,07/01/2008,Princess es la diversi贸n... Bar del lobby
313883,ArroyoBoricua,06/21/2008,me encanto voy otra vez mi hija en el balcon de la hab
313883,slesio,05/12/2008,Rilassante Bagno 1
313883,nickyM72,05/07/2008,Soyez prudent showReview(15781485; 'full');
313883,crowee,05/03/2008,Molto bello con un piccolo neo showReview(15611533; 'full');
313883,Ale75,04/20/2008,Ho lasciato a santo domingo il mio cuore... showReview(15155566; 'full');
313883,AcadienGirl,04/11/2008,Servie comme des reines le soir les plage
313883,misterivano,03/28/2008,Una vacanza da sogno la frutta
313883,simocam,03/20/2008,top class topical princess
313883,FYG,03/09/2008,la playa expectacular...mucha naturaleza showReview(14164719; 'full');
313883,gedochile,03/09/2008,Unas vacaciones inolvidable playa
313883,TOSCANITOCopiapo,02/18/2008,menos de lo que esperaba Paisaje playa Bavaro Punta Cana
313883,fraisinetteAbitibi,02/10/2008,Super beau - j'y retournerais vue de la plage
313883,Biodda,02/05/2008,Non saprei.... showReview(13275078; 'full');
313883,mvyg,01/02/2008,Tropical Princess ; des vacances de r锚ves 脌 quelques pas du Tropical Princess
313883,Meritach,12/18/2007,Los Princess est谩n buen铆simos... Playa B谩varo
313883,SASSARESE,11/28/2007,Indimenticabile.................. Frutta colorata
313883,avaloschristian,11/20/2007,2 en 1 Lobby en la noche
313883,javiarabe,09/01/2007,Una estancia superior a la media Tropical Princess
313883,shantall,07/09/2007,De superbe vacances ! mama gina
313883,HUASO21,07/06/2007,Para viajeros primerizos showReview(8069903; 'full');
313883,oberhoffer,07/04/2007,Immer wieder traumhaft Lust auf mehr
313883,nathalie1069,07/02/2007,super voyage notre serveur
313883,picoespejo,06/29/2007,Tropical princess.........ci tornero' showReview(8026931; 'full');
313883,televisora,06/29/2007,el paraiso est谩 en PUNTA CANA. showReview(8026713; 'full');
313883,cstchileno,06/14/2007,Fascinante estadia tropical princess bailando con los animadores; en el teatro - cstchileno
313883,ssaannddrraa,05/26/2007,das Geld nicht wert! showReview(7700310; 'full');
313883,lilltasha,04/29/2007,Des vacances magnifiques!! siempre es bueno refrescarce - cstchileno
313883,cuquiblu,04/11/2007,Bonitas vacaciones!! Vista del ingreso al Tropical Princess Hotel
313883,goujo,03/25/2007,Tout 茅tait excellent Vista desde el Lobby hacia el interior
313883,sweetkimi,02/24/2007,Hautement d茅pass茅 nos attentes! Le petit cart qui nous prom猫ne sur le resort
313883,milou7,02/23/2007,my place tropical princess - caribe showReview(6832013; 'full');
313883,Silkya,02/22/2007,PeAsO De VaCaCiOnEs en el comerdor
313883,Sharkys23,01/17/2007,Tropical tourista princess punta caca showReview(6612978; 'full');
313883,Amel11,01/02/2007,Quelle d茅ception! showReview(6540874; 'full');
313883,ATripAdvisorMember,04/11/2006,unas vacaciones para no olvidar showReview(4957755; 'full');
313884,Kazmantravels,01/10/2009,This place delivered! Lots of beach..best sand; NO ROCKS!!
313884,rosanne1,01/08/2009,Beautiful Resort The resort was absolutely beautifule. We had a great 7 day vacation. If you do go buy up to the platinum membership; this allows you premium drinks including Corona; personal concierge service; 20 minute massage; cigars; etc. We did have a hard time getting our premium drinks from the pool and beach bars; they would send us to the platinum lounge; but if a female requested the premium drinks they would get them at those bars. Also; make sure they put Rum in your tropical drinks; they try to serve these without. The atmosphere was great; October was a great time to visit.
313884,travelover52,01/06/2009,I am sold on this resort;.2 thumbs up..no regrets here! Bathroom flowers
313884,SaskatchewanGypsy,01/05/2009,Great Resort We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess over New Year's. We loved the resort. We found all the staff friendly. They were constantly cleaning. The grounds were beautiful. The food was good; we have stayed at other resorts that had more selection; but we always found something we liked.The rooms were probably the most spacious that we have stayed in. We had a great view.New Year's Eve there were fireworks on the beach. All the resorts up and down the beach put on a display. We would go back.
313884,CdnGal836,01/01/2009,What a Great Experience 13-20 December 2008I am sure you have read a few reviews on the Punta Cana Princess - we read quite a few before going and we were really looking forward to our trip. The fact that many of the residents at the Punta Cana Princess are return visitors should tell you that it's an amazing place.Upon our arrival at the Resort; the check-in was quick and efficient. We were extremely satisfied with our room and even though it was quite late at night our first task was to check out the facilities. The beach was amazing that first night. Throughout the week whether it was day or night; whenever we did go swimming the water was exhiliarating - leaving Canada and being able to swim in December is indeed a novelty. One review we had seen stated that the food had been barely palatable - well there's an amazing selection of food for each meal. For breakfast a very pleasant gentleman made eggs any way you wanted them - including an amazing omelet! There was also a vast assortment of all kinds of different foods; whether it was fruits; cereals; oatmeal; etc. For lunch and supper the selection was also amazing. At lunch they would have a BBQ set up outside and the variety of the different meats was pleasing and tasty. I particularly enjoyed the pasta bar for supper - you could pick your favorite type of pasta and the gentleman would add your selected spices; ingredients and sauces and voila you would have an amazing little pasta dish. At some point during the week I did get ill - not sure what it was but I think it is something that a majority of us travellers will experience - my recommendation? Immodium is very quick in relieving any issues a person may have and you are able to continue on and enjoy your vacation.The staff was amazing - they would greet you at the entrance of the buffet area and bring you to your table and then would provide you with your drink of choice. In a previous review; someone had complained that the drinks were watered down? I didn't find this - I found the variety of the drinks pleasing and considering that the alcoholic beverages were provided from 1000 hrs in the morning to late at night - we had no complaints here!! There were bars set up at the beach; at the buffets and the swim up bar in the pool. All the bartenders were very friendly and would do their best to ensure we were well taken care of.The staff work so very hard to ensure that the diners are well taken care of for food and what not - every day you would normally see the same server/hostess. Many of the vacationers would slip a gratuity to the server/hostess to show their appreciation for their efforts.There were some complaints about the Entertainment personnel of the Hotel - they're job is to ensure that the residents of the Hotel are having a good time. They have very charismatic personalities and would do their best to engage the residents in volleyball; aerobics; Bingo; dancing; etc - if you didn't want to - then they would leave you be. The people that did join in did have fun - we played volleyball in the pool on our first day there and we had lots of fun (although our team lost against the Entertainment personnel). If anything these people worked very hard as they were often at the Resort early in the morning; were there throughout the day and would return for the evening activities.My sole complaint about the resort was the lack of English that some of the personnel spoke. But; when you think of it - I should have made more of an effort to have learned basic Spanish phrases prior to our departure - When we did speak Spanish they appreciated our efforts.In closing; if you do decide to go to the Punta Cana Princess; you will undoubtedly have an experience of a lifetime and will meet some amazing people also enjoying their stay at the resort.
313884,canontnia,12/27/2008,Again a wonderful vacation Great desserts - but who had room?!
313884,TCBaltimore,12/22/2008,Beatiful resort...awful food! My boyfriend and I just returned from an 8-night stay at the Punta Cana Princess; and while we had a nice time; we won't be returning. We had read all of the reviews before going and were prepared for a lot of what we experienced; but not really for how much it would influence our vacation.A couple of really good points...The facility is beautiful; the grounds are immaculate; the room is spacious; and I slept like the dead while we were there. The place is so quiet and dark at night that you can't help but sleep well. A note...you want to be careful when you are getting up to use the restroom in the middle of the night. Get your bearings before you make your way there. It is so dark in the room (which I loved) that you can't see your hand in front of your face. I was a bit fearful of falling down the steps into the sunken living room. I might have brought a small flashlight with me had I know just how dark it was going to be. Also; the lights in the hallways of the building are shut down at night; so if you leave your room while it's still dark in the morning (like we did to get an early pickup for our only excursion to Sanoa Island); be careful! You will have a hard time making it out of the building without some assistance.The beach is gorgeous; the Punta Cana Princess has one of the nicest stretches of beach in the area. The water was a bit chilly; but definitely refreshing and easy to get used to. It is still the Atlantic Ocean; so you will get waves; hence; no snorkeling! The waves were actually pretty intense at times; but I was still able to go out pretty deep. The staff of the resort is very friendly; some speak English; many don't. Learning a little Spanish goes a long way at this resort. Just having a couple of phrases in my repetoire was very helpful and much appreciated. The animacion team was a bit annoying; especially when we were trying to nap on the beach beds. My boyfriend was happily napping one day and was interupted by the shrieks of the animacion team trying to get people to play soccer on the beach). The excursion that we took to Sanoa Island was amazing. This was well worth the extra $100/person. The boat ride out was great; the time on the beach was great; even the bus ride was amazing.On to the bad stuff...the food. We had read that the food was not good. I had no idea. Like someone else who recently reviewed this place; when we got to the Punta Cana airport and saw Wendy's we stuffed ourselves and I almost cried with how good it was to taste something good. I found myself relying a lot on the pasta station at the buffet (which was mediocre) and I ate a lot of bread. The specialty restaurants were horrible. My boyfriend ordered filet mignon; and it was 90% fat. The loaded baked potato was a joke; and the wine is not good. We both got sick (not sure if was from food at Mare Nostrum or the fact that the bartenders wash out the blenders with water from the tap) on our vacation; and while it didn't ruin the vacation; it put a huge damper on it. We came back from vacation not really feeling de-stressed; because much of our vacation was spent being sick and/or worrying about being sick. For this; and this alone; I would not return to this resort and would be hesitant to return to the DR at all.
313884,Joanna444,12/20/2008,The Best Vacation EVER!!! Ananio - our friend and waiter at the Casabe
313884,bigdog02645,12/18/2008,Could be world class; but the food is horrible! I need to start off by saying this could be a world class hotel. The rooms are great; large; clean; good a/c; roomy bathroom; with no issues with water temp in the nice shower; and great pressure as well. The daily housekeeping was nice; and included a late nite turndown service as well. the mini bar is a great asset as well; stocked daily with soda and beer. The beach is awesome; and is one of my favorites; they have it being cleaned all day; white sand; blue water; nice waves. the vip package includes the use of the beach beds and they are great too; you can even have drinks brought to you by the waiter; though the bar is close and quicker to use.No issues with getting towels; there seemed to be plenty. The grounds and pool are well kept; and very nice; many people working on the upkeep all day; they really do a nice job. Internet access is available in the lobby; starting at 9am and is included free in the vip package; they give you a 20 minute pass code daily; though most days i got a few no problem. We dont stay up too late; so cant say much about the entertainment; karaoke one night was fun; and our friend went to the sister resort next door for a show they said was great and included fireworks. Check in and out was a breeze; very helpful; friendly; and courtious staff for the most part; though language can be a bit of a stumbling point at times; and chalenging at others; But I am a visitor; so not too many points off for that. So Jay you ask; whats up with 2 stars?? the place sounds wonderful! OK; now it gets ugly... Judi and I travel 3 times a year to all inclusives at least; we've do not go away for the food; we go for beach and fun; we usually ignore reviews about food complaints because we've never had an issue; until this place. The two ala cart restaurants we ate at for dinner were just ok; and only open for dinner; the breakfast and lunch buffets were just plain weak to gross; no better; seriously; just plain nasty; though thebeach buffet/grill I have to admit was nasty times 2. In the airport on the way home;; we ran to Wendys for a burger because we were so hungry; and i must say it was soooo good! In fact we then had pizza next door as well; we were stuffed; it was like we hadnt eaten in a week! OOOPS; we realized we actually ate at least 30 cheese sandwiches between us throughout the week for breakfast; and lunch; and snacks too. I publicly apologise to all the reviewers; and complainers that in my mind Ive character assinated; I now feel your pain; Must be Karma.LOL Hey; did i mention the wine? YUK! We are really easy people to pleas when it comes to wine; although we like fine wine; at home we we enjoy fairly cheap; though good stuff; Im telling you the house wines they serve are positivly disgusting; undrinkable; did i mention nasty? You can purchase other wines; but only at dinner at the ala cart restaurants; $22 a bottle for a cheap mondavi sav blanc; hey we drink it at home. so not too bad. They will make you sign for the bottle; no cash accepted at the restaurants; you know why? cause they add $6 to the price called a convience fee; what is that? $28 dollars a bottle; oh well; at least we got to enjoy a glass of wine with our newly made friends. Well at least I could also drink a nice absolute on the rocks right? Not so fast; hmm; this tasts funny; kinda like lighter fluid.. the manager was kind enough to get a new bottle for me though; and after sniffing both admitted there was a problem with the bottle at the bar; LOL caught ya filling the good bottles with the bad booze! any way; he let me keep the new bottle; which I tipped the bartender well to only pour for me. Ya know; I could go on ang on; which I have ;and now Im done; will we return to the PCP; not even if it was free! Unless they fire the and fix the food and beverage dept.
313884,Judy090,12/06/2008,Great time at the Princess We have just returned from the Punta Cana Princess having spent a wonderful week with 6 of our friends. We have been to this hotel on 3 previous occasions and again were not disappointed. There is nothing negative to say about the whole holiday from our point of view. If you are looking to go to a big resort; walk for miles to get to the beach; bar; restaurants or your room; line up at the buffet and bar and like the disco at night; then this is not the resort for you.The Princess has 270 rooms so everything you need is close at hand. The beach is beautiful and the pool is well maintained. All the lounge chairs are comfortable and plenty and there is lots of shade.The food is good and the bars stock premium liquor for Regency Club guests. The other Princess resorts have a la carte restaurants that are available to the PCP visitors but we have found that they are no better than the 3 at the PCP.What sets the PCP apart we believe are the incredibly good staff. They are the friendliest people that we have found in all our travels. Year after year they remember us and there doesn't seem to be much staff turnover.There have been many improvements since our last visit to the beach bar area and the lobby is now undergoing a renovation. The hotel is 5 years old and it appears that mangement is working to keep everything in good repair.This may not be the place for the very young who can get bored easily but for us retired people it's the perfect place to relax; enjoy the beach and the company of our friends.Ron Judy Toronto
313884,ggstar,12/06/2008,Poor Customer Service Then the adventure continues; we arrived at the resort and had absolutely no complaints; well except that the maid left a dirty towel that she cleaned with on our dresser; which was most disgusting; and the room had a bad smell to it; which is really not much compared to the following events:On December 2; 2008; our last full day/night of our vacation; around 4:30 p.m.; the hotel entertainment staff washaving a game at the pool. The game consisted of people walking around the pool perimeter with eggs (not hollowed out; nor were they hard boiled) the eggs were carried on a spoon; which the spoon was held by their mouth. The staff did not have anyone cleaning up the eggs that fell off the spoons during or immediately after the game. My boyfriend was walking in the pool area to go back and retrieve belongings left at our chair by the pool. As he was walking around the pool he stepped on and slipped on a broken egg resulting from said activity. He slipped and fell hurting his back. After we returned to the room and took a hot shower in hopes of soothing some of the pain resulting from the fall. After showering he was still in excruciating pain. We walked up to the guest services to report the incident; as we were reporting it the woman at the desk phoned someone (I believe Diana the guest service manager); speaking in Spanish; not knowingly that he understands and speaks Spanish as well. She was asked by Diana what nationality we were. We then reported the accident; filled out a accident report form; and was told to wait for the Diana to come out and speak with us; we were then told to wait again for the doctor to arrive. After the doctor arrived we proceeded to go to the medical facility for an examination of the injured area. He was examined and then given a shot; which knocked him out for theevening. The doctor informed us that she would call in a few hours to see how he was feeling; and then for him to come the following day to see her; there was no phone call that evening. That evening was completely ruined as we had lots of activities planned for our LAST night on vacation. The next day we went up to guest relations wanting to speak to Diana and the general manager; who stated that he does not speak to guests. Diana told us that he needed to go the hospital to get an XRAY of his back so they could determine whether or not he could travel. They refused to pay for the hospital; after arguing the fact that the injury was a direct result of the resorts entertainment activities; Diana said she would phone the hospital and take care of it. Then came back and said that they would only pay for the cab fare.Our VIP travel representative; Pedro; also met us in the lobby. Pedro was extremely useless as well as rude. He acted as if he was frightened by the manager and would not address any of the problems that we were having. I then spoke to Pedro explaining that Diana said she would take care of the hospital; as I was speaking Pedro turned to my boyfriend totally dismissing as if anything I said did not matter. This vacation was booked and looked forward to immensely. We booked the vacation while my boyfriend was in the hospital having surgery. This vacation was supposed to be OUR time; after he had spent 2 months in the hospital. Our last two days were completely ruined; and quite a disappointment and the resort and VIP did nothing to try to resolve the issue; nor did they apologize or show any concern for our situation.
313884,Maineacs,12/05/2008,Punta Cana Princess - Superb!!!!!!!!!!! November 4 to November 14 - Punta Cana Princess My girlfriend; Cyndie and I; (The Maineacs); just returned from another super fantastic vacation to the Dominican Republic; this time at Punta Cana Princess; Nov. 4 to Nov. 14. This was our ninth trip to the DR; and 2nd time to a Princess Resort (1st was Bavaro Princess).. First year at the Iberostar Costa Dorado in Puerta Plata; second year at Bavarro Princess in Punta Cana; third year at the Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus in Bayahibe; fourth year at the Iberostar Punta Cana. Fifth year at Casa del Mar. Sixth year at Sunscape the Beach. Seventh year at Punta Cana Grand. Eight year at Casa del Mar. Read on to get some pointers on the resort. Thanks to all who gave input in helping us decide where to go (Especially Lea).Flight/Airport We are from Maine; and our trip departed from Boston on American Airlines. We took the bus from Portland; ME and it drops you off right at your terminal. Worked out great Our vacation was booked through Vacation Travel Mart; and Beth Miller again found us the best deal anywhere; for the ninth straight year. No one has come close to their prices; plus you accumulate mileage; which we will use next year for our 2nd free trip!!!!!!! We were able to use the check-in kiosk at Logan and it took us 5 minutes to check in. Glad we didn't get to the airport 2 hours ahead of time. Flight down was thru San Juan and flight back was thru JFK. Flights were all on time.Arrival in DR Arrived in Punta Cana and we were met by our tour representative from Caribe. Had one other couple on our van and we dropped them off first; Took about 30 minutes. Nice new van.Check-in No wait whatsoever. No large tour (Apple; etc.) was checking in. No greeting drink!! Who cares. I had a drink in my had from the lobby bar right away. No charge for room safe - yeah!!! We thought we had VIP but I didn't ask then. We were on 3rd floor of Bldg. 4 facing pool and ocean. Fantastic room and view. Cathederal ceiling. Luggage was whisked away to our room; and by the time we arrived at our room the bags were right behind. As to VIP; the only thing I cared about was the gourmet dinner at La Cava and the internet access.Room Room was fantastic. AC worked great; always on - they had a card in the wall switch. The best hot water and water pressure of all our trips to date. Coffee pot in room. Everything was perfect. No bugs. When I saw that there were no bottles of liquor I figured out that there must have been a mix-up. Later that night I emailed Beth miller at Vacation Travel Mart telling her that I thought we didn't get VIP. The next day our room phone rings and it is Beth!!! She had called the front desk and corrected the mix-up and we had our VIP. She also said that because of the mix-up she bought us a private dinner on the beach!!!!! Talk about fantastic service. None better!!!!!They were all set to move us into Bldg. 5; etc.; but we were all settled and we loved our room. We went to the front desk and tols them we were all set; and they gave us our new wrist bands; and cards for massage; inernet and gourmet dinner. We were all set!!!!!!! Beach As many of you know; you can walk for miles to the left or right. Not as calm and clear as CDM; but always kept clean. Did miss the snorkeling somewhat; but we became pool Maineacs for this trip. No major problems getting a palapa or bed if you wanted. We didn't use a bed at all. I was in the water (pool bar) all the time Always stayed at the palapa closest to the pool bar. Pool It was fantastic and large with sloped gradual entry at each end. Brought our own floats. Nelson at the pool bar was the best. Every time I would turn around he would have another drink ready for me. What a guy!!!!!Food The best food overall that we have had to date. Buffet was great. Seafood night was super. Fantastic fish and sushi. We probably ate half of our dinners at the buffet; it was that good. The ala carte restaurants!!!! Since you didn't have to sign up to eat there; and you could eat there as many times as you like; this made for great dining. We didn't find a bad thing to say about any of them. (Mexican) - Great. As other have said - the filet; the filet; the filet!!!!!!!!!!!!! And many margaritas!!! (Gourmet) La Cava (next door at Caribe) - Maybe the best ala cart restaurant for food and atmosphere that we have ever had in the Dominican Republic. It is like going into a wine cellar. Food was exquisite. I had snapper and Cyndie had duck (quack; quack). Just fantastic(Seafood) mare Nostrum - This was also great. The appetizer was to die for. Very simple. Shrimp broiled in a butter sauce. We were there asking for more bread so we could sop up the remaining butter sauce. We definetly took an extra cholestrol pill that night!!Dinner on the beach/wedding gazebo!!!!! About as goog as it gets. Appetizer was again simple but delicious. Large avacado filled with shrimp with a Romalade (sp?) Sauce. We almost got filled just eating that. Then we had steak (filet) and lobster. Great bottle of wine; or was it two??Julius (Julio) Caesar was our waiter. Great guy. He also worked lunch and dinner at Mare Nostrum.Had a great beach party on Tues?? It was all great but they had all the food on tables in one long line; which made for a long line of people waiting. If they had it broken up in stations then it would have been better. Drink What can I say. Anything and everything you want - just ask. Top shelf drinks aren't a high priority for us; but when it is available; we will and did partake. Caiprinha's. and many Manhattan's ;-) Had any drink or liquor that you could think of. If you thought the drinks were too weak; just ask for more ron. They will give it to you with a smile. Met a nice gentlemen from Toronto(via England) at the lobby bar and he was sipping on a Scotch. So asked him what kind; he said Johnny Walker Black; and I said that sounds great. So I was sipping on many of these the rest of our stay. Staff Everyone was wonderful; friendly; and always going out of their way to make your stay enjoyable. Maids were great. Fridge always restocked each day. Animation team. They were great kids; but with this being an adults only; they could do without the constant chatter. Also at night in the lobby; they would show up and try and entertain. One night they had a piano player/singer which was great; and another night they had a band and singers which was great. Until the animation team would get involved and try to singBADLY.. If they just kept the piano player and band it would have been great. Never made it next door for entertainment. We were there to relax and unwind; and we did. Hi to all the people we met from afar Okla.; Canada (all over - especially Palsmom); PA; England; and Ireland. I think we Americans were in the minority; which is fine with us. It lets us meet more people from away.Flight back No problem at the airport. Flew through JFK; We arrived back late in Boston and we stayed at a local hotel; and took the bus back to cold Maine the next morning. So sad to leave. We would go back to this resort in a minute. Maybe even next year!!Overall it was another fantastic trip to the DR. We never made it to any of the local bars to meet up with some of you. We just vegged out and lost all sense of time. We were on vacation to decompress; and we surely did that. As usual; please email or PM us if you have any questions. Photos will be up in a couple of weeks on Webshots. [-]Mike Cyndie - The Mainiacs
313884,louisdaler,12/04/2008,PCP..Well run resort. View from our room 4113
313884,MommaNeedsATan,12/03/2008,A nice resort ..... with room for improvement The resort is a perfect size if you are looking for a quiet and relaxing holiday. The beach is spectacular and the pool is huge for such a small resort. Always ample chairs and beds. We had the upgrade package which was a nice touch; especially when it came to alcohol - Absolut; Smirnoff; MGD and Bailey's. The staff is wonderful. It truly was a nice vacation. Our only complaint - the food! You'd never go hungry but meals were hit or miss at both the buffet and a la cartes.
313884,subwayslave,12/01/2008,Nice Resort Stayed at PCP Nov.17-22;2008 . VIP Package; got bathrobe; slipers; fruit basket; bottle of rum and cigars. I had requested a room in buld. 5 and got room # 5003. Nice room close to the beach and pool. never a problem with towels. The mini fridge was always stocked and extra bottled water left in the room. The bed was always turned down at night. The housekeeping staff was wonderful. TV had NBC; ABC Showtime; HBO etc. came in handy when it rained. The weather was warm sunny and beautiful; with a nice breeze for most of the trip. It did rain one evening and most of the following day.The entertainment staff did a very good job at keeping us occupied and having fun. They set up dart game; Bingo; we had all types of board games; dancing etc. They set up in the lobby during the bad weather. In the evening; they had lite entertainment; Music; Karoke. You could take a shuttle to the big stage at the Caribe Princess for the nightly show; or to the Tower Casino. Went to the Tower Casino one nite and won aprox. $40. It is a nice sized venue. Didn't go to the Arieto Disco; if you choose to go; they will bring you there.Food I always found something I liked. Tried the Fondue Restraunt liked it. How often do I have fondue (never). Loved the Asian buffet. Enjoyed Lobster at the Seafood Restaraunt. The Mare Nostrum on the beach had a lovely brekfast each morning in addition to the buffet.Nice pool with swim-up bar. There were plenty of chairs and bali beds both at the pool and the beach. Love the beach the water has waves but they aren't too big. I found the beach clean; nice soft light sand.The PCP is on the quite side. I would've liked a bit more entertainment at the resort ;but all in all it was a very nice vacationIn addition; if you check out late and leave your luggage in the luggage room; lock your bags or take money and valuables with you. I was due to be picked up at 2:45 PM. The hotel was kind enought to let me shower in a courtesy suite and keep my bags in a locked room so I could enjoy the pool and sun for a few more hours. This was greatly appriceated. I had a large beach bag where I put the clothes to wear after the shower; my travel doucments and money were in a zippered pouch from the TA. I left the pouch in the bag with my clothes; I had ment to take it with me but overlooked it.. after my shower I got my luggage gave the bellman a tip and waited for my ride. As I was leaving I was touched by the enthusastic goodbye the bellman gave me. Waving giving thumbs up with a 1000 watt smile. As we were nearing the airport ; I opened my pouch to get a tip for the driver; when; I noticed that two $50. bills were gone. I still had about 40 singles and a few $5's and $20's. Now that enthuastic goodbye took on a whole new meaning. Bye Fool. At least I had enough to get home.
313884,ally973,11/29/2008,The Low-Budget Honeymoon Our travel agent BEGGED us not to select this resort... but the price was right. We selected quantity over quality. He suggested a short trip to a high-end resort. We got what we paid for.My biggest complaint is that I found the food inedible. I was sick the entire trip; but found out I had gall stones the entire time. My luck! I hated that the restaurants I loved most were closed randomly. The buffet was so nasty; yet always open. I lost 5 lbs by skipping breakfast and lunch for 7 days. The dinners are by far better than the other meals. The drinks to me were super sweet and cheap tasting and we had the honey moon package VIP.Here's what I loved: The room. We had a lovely honeymoon suite overlooking the beach; actually it was ON the beach. We had an amazing TWO patios. We were in Bldg 5 which is actually cooler temp. wise so you may want to request it as it's also right near the beach and pool. We always got a beach bed and seat. The staff is amazing. They are super friendly and helpful - though bring your Spanish dictionary; they speak very little English. Our maid left our room spotless and with the help of some singles every day; she jammed our fridge with waters and soda. Note that the staff works so very hard. They will do anything in their power to make you happy. The place is spotless; the janitorial staff does not stop for a minute. I didn't see one bug in our bathroom or room; this was a big fear for me as I have never been to location like Punta Cana where people warned me of weird tropical bugs. Ha ha!I was bummed that the Internet was constantly down - we lugged our laptop there for nothing. They have what I refer to as fun nazis that run around the pool and beach area trying to get you to do aerobics and other games. I told them I was fat and lazy and just wanted to chill out after planning a wedding for a year. I found out the other guests LOVE the fun squad and so I'm just a cranky American. Speaking of which; we were almost the only Americans. I found everyone who spoke English were from Canada and they were SOOOO nice! The other guests were very helpful and would say hello and chat with you in the pool. We had a blast gabbing with people poolside and my husband loved the bartenders and barflies. There are lots of choices for excursions; though I wasn't into this at all; my husband enjoyed them while I laid around by the pool. It's a nice small resort; you won't get lost or feel overwhelmed with choices. I picked this resort also to escape kids and there weren't any spring breaker types - it was a very relaxing; quiet environment which is what I was seeking.I knew the food was not their best quality so I wasn't expecting anything really. Funny thing is; I'm happy with TGI Friday's and Applebees; I'm by no means a gourmet - but it was just icky. The fondue was a big big let down - even the onion soup was nasty. Oh well. Stick with Tex Mex and the Seafood place. We loved La Cava which is at the other resort. That was great!
313884,Jenniferh,11/28/2008,Don't use the ATM at the resort and cancel your card if you did! This review will definately be tainted based on a bad experience; but rightly so. My husband and I stayed at the resort from September 27-October 3 and overall had a good time; but found everything about the DR; including this resort to be sketchy. We both used the ATM at the resort several times during our stay as no one would take a credit card for anything - shops; excursions; etc. In the past week; BOTH of our checking accounts have been cleaned out with fradulant ATM withdrawls in foreign countries. We have separate accounts and never use the same ATMs for withdrawls except for this one. Basically the resort machine was hacked and our account numbers and pins were stolen and it would have been an inside job. Oh; and either housekeeping or airport staff stole my husband's electric shaver and belt.We are definately left with a bad taste in our mouths; but wished it would have been a better trip in the first place. On the plus side; we met some great people and had a lot of fun with them. Our room was big and clean and we had a pool view. The beach was pretty and the excursions we went on were nice. The bar and restaurant staff were really friendly and nice as well. We had a very lovely private beach dinner for our anniversary. I think we would have found these things though or had hoped to find them at any resort and unfortunately nothing stood out as outstanding and the bad things really stood out.; beyond the theft. I will list out a few:1. The ala carte restaurants were hardly open - only one at once and I don't think the Italian place ever opened. And you couldn't plan ahead because it was never listed which would be open when anywhere.2. They shut down the seafood restaurant on the beach while we were there and started constuction on a new restaurant closer to the beach. We were treated to bright lights; bulldozers and LOUD noises on the beach day and night - not very relaxing.3. The buffet food was edible; but not necessarily good. 4. The salespeople on the terrace each night were beyond annoying. 5. It was inconvenient and it turns out costly that the gift shop; excursion representative; and dive shop on the resort would not take credit cards - cash only. I think many of these things are the case at most all-inclusive resorts and that you get what you pay for. We've stayed at a Secrets in Mexico and a Couples in Jamaica which are top of line resorts and did not find these problems at all. So; I don't even know if I would have posted this review before the ATM theft because the resort isn't marketed as a 4-star or superior resort. I am surprised so many others have posted such glowing reviews here and that it ranks so highly.
313884,poozieny,11/24/2008,Totally pleasant; totally comfortable resort Just returned from a week's stay at the Punta Cana Princess resort. Overall; it was a great week. The resort is lovely and met all of my expectations.Check-in and check-out were a breeze. Couldn't have asked for a quicker or more efficient process. During the week; all of the writing on my wristband wore away; but there was no problem having it replaced (I believe the continuous spray sunscreens were the culprit). Other than that; I didn't need to speak with the front desk all week; so really can't comment on how they handle true crises.Bell services were also excellent. My suitcase was delivered and picked up promptly.Maid service was excellent. I'm sure it helps to leave that little marker in your key slot; so they know when you're in your room and when you're out. Plenty of towels were provided (no wash cloths); extras when requested; and plenty of bottled water provided. I did not drink the sodas/beer from the minibar; so don't know how quickly they would have been replenished. Only one very minor maintenance issue in the room - a burnt out lightbulb in the bathroom. I left a note about it before leaving for dinner; and it was replaced before I returned to the room for the night.Room decor is simple...almost stark. Plenty of storage. Bed was comfy; and the day bed in the living room was a nice place to relax. Bathroom was fine. Double sinks I guess is considered an upscale feature; but it left minimal counter space. I'd have rather had the counter space. Shampoo; conditioner; bath gel and lotion all provided.Grounds are beautiful and very well maintained. The patio area around the pool is hosed down and scrubbed each morning; and the pool is meticulously cleaned each morning; as well. Public restrooms were also very clean. The deck area attached to the Mare Nostrum bar was a wonderful place to hang out - very comfy seating; lovely atmosphere.Beach was great. Not sure how full the resort was; but there were always plenty of chairs available; even if you showed up late. not sure when the palapas were claimed; but; unless you really need one in the front row; you could show up at 9:30 and still find one. I never made it over to the beach beds - really preferred the palapa/ chair arrangement and that you could sit up to read. The beds seemed popular; though. Surf was gentle enough but big enough for some fun. There were some strands of sea grass floating; for those of you who don't like that.Did not go in the pool and only spent two hours on my final morning in one of the pool chairs. Seemed like the younger guests gravitated to the pool.Food was; overall; pretty good. There were a few things that were not the best; but overall; pretty well done. I had most of my breakfasts and lunches at the beach buffet - Mare Nostrum. Limited selection; but plenty enough. Dinner buffets at the main restaurant were good - went to the Mexican and Asian. Also tried three of the four a la cartes - Rio Grande Tex Mex; Fondue and Mare Nostrum. All were good meals. The steak at Rio Grande was actually pretty excellent. There were late night snacks at Mare Nostrum but never made it down there to check it out. Didn't use room service at all.Drinks were good; overall. There was a little shack right on the beach or you could go to the bar at Mare Nostrum. There was also the lobby bar and pool bar. There's a bar in the large buffet restaurant; but I believe that's only a service bar - not for guests. Remember - if the drink isn't strong enough for you; ask for more rum....it's gladly poured.Service was outstanding. Always with a smile. Special kudos to Santa at Mare Nostrum and Yenny; bar waitress at Mare Nostrum and lobby bar. Lovely women; both. Santa is a mother hen sort; always making sure I had the drink(s) I needed; table setting; etc. Entertainment - the Animacion team worked very hard to get guests involved; especially during the day. But; it became a little annoying when they would just not let it go; when it was clear that no one was interested in what they were offering. Please don't sit down on my beach chair and try to talk me into doing something I really don't want to do... when I'm very clearly not interested. I know they have to try; but..... it's a minor complaint. No big deal. Evening shows were not much. Karaoke a few times; some games; some music. I guess for the real shows; you have to go next door. But; I found the little trolley system to be lacking. Trolleys were infrequent; and the drivers were kinda surly; except for the one I got on the last night - Gabino. The little pathways that the trolley takes are really dark; and kinda spooky. There's one spot; on the way to the casino; where you pass through a back stage area where there was always a bunch of men hanging out; not doing a whole lot.... nothing bad happened other than feeling uncomfortable; as a woman traveling alone.My biggest complaint about the resort is that it is soooooo dark. The lighting along the pathways is just not sufficient. And; after returning to the resort late one night; the lamp posts had been shut off - no lighting whatsoever. This is a very quiet; very sleepy resort. If you're into late night partying; look elsewhere. The guests were of all ages; but probably leaning towards the 50+ range. There were a couple of groups of younger couples who seemed to be able to create their own party; so that was good for them. But otherwise; the resort really isn't conducive to socializing with other guests; so everyone either turns in early or leaves the premises.Overall; I give the resort a thumbs-up. Was torn as to whether I should give it 3 or 4 circles but settled on 4; because what they did; they did well. No reason not to return; but not sure I will; with so many other resorts to try. Would depend a lot on who I'm traveling with; I guess.
313884,mare123,11/23/2008,Great vacation at Punta Cana Princess We just returned from a weeks stay at the Punta Cana Princess Resort Spa. We have been to other resort areas in the Dominican Republic; but had never been to Punta Cana.Of all the resort choices in Punta Cana; Punta Cana Princess met a few of our top criterias- less then 300 rooms; adults only; and more then 1 a la carte dinner options. We were very pleased with our choice.The rooms are decent sized. We had a king size bed; but 2 double beds are an option. There were plenty of drawers and the closet was double sized making it possible to unpack and not live out of a suitcase. Two steps down from the bed area is the seating area with a daybed; coffee table; a chest with the minifridge tv; and sliders to the balcony. The bathroom has a double sink vanity with the tub/shower combo. The tiling/vanity in the bathroom appeared updated; but the tub itself was; in my opinion; old and in need of updating. They should consider ripping the tubs out to make it a large walk-in shower or replace the tubs with ones that are actually deep enough for someone over 5鈥?鈥?to have a proper soak. We never had a problem with water temperature or pressure. In general the room/bathroom was in good condition and the housekeepers did a fantastic job keeping it clean and well stocked.Personal observations about the room- I HATE flat sheets instead of fitted sheets! Nothing feels worse then waking up in the middle of the night wrapped up in the sheets and your arms/legs/both are itching from the mattress pad. Our 2nd floor room had a very musty smell pretty much 24/7 even with the AC running; but I find that typical in many of the resorts I have stayed in. From past experineces I now travel with a scented candle or a glade plug-which cures the problem. I also found the clothes in the closet were getting the same musty smell so the travel size bottle of Febreeze I brought with me went quickly.Dining- as I mentioned one of the reason we chose PCP was because it offers 4 a la carte restaurants on site as well as the others at the sister resorts. I don鈥檛 mind buffet for breakfast or even lunch; but I much prefer a la carte for dinner. The a la cartes at PCP do not require reservations. Twice we walked in and sat right away; two other times we had about 45 minutes to wait. A 45 minute wait is not bad except your waiting options for the Tex Mex Italian are.. loiter in front of the restaurant; go to the lobby bar and if you are lucky you may find an empty chair/couch; or walk around. I think it would be a great addition if there were chairs outside the restaurants so people could comfortably sit and wait- which is what they have at the sister resort. At Mare Nostrum and the Swiss you can get a drink at the Mare Nostrum bar which seemed to have plenty of seating. Of the 4 a la cartes at PC; Mare Nostrum was our favorite. Our second favorite was the Italian. We also ate at the Tex-Mex which was good; but the other 2 just happened to be better. We did not try the Swiss.At the sister resort we ate at both gourmet restaurants. You have to make reservations at least a day in advance. We booked both our reservations the day after we arrived. Because it was 鈥渙ff season鈥?and rather then having both gourmet restaurant open; the La Cava restaurant alternated its menu with El Pescadors. El Pescador (with tax) was $32 per person and La Cava $35 per person. Both were a great dining experience- the menu and food presentation was definitely gourmet as well as delicious. The service was top notch. It was well worth the extra money. Some people may argue that being an all inclusive resort one should not have to pay for gourmet food... well my feeling is that everyone does what they like to do on vacation. I personally would prefer to spend $35 for fabulous dining experience rather then any amount of money for a parasail or banana boat ride. To each their own. And that is why I am so happy that the Princess resorts have the gourmet surcharge restaurants as an option- I think more all inclusive resorts should do the same!We did not try any of the other restaurants at the sister resorts- just not enough nights!Comments on dining at PCP- the main buffet for breakfast and lunch had plenty to offer. I never walked away from a meal hungry. However; I think at a resort this size; that caters to adults only; and is rated as well as it is; Mare Nostrum may be more suited as an a la carte for breakfast and omit the buffet at lunch offering more grill food items. The resort property is beautiful. It is well kept and has a very natural; tropical feel. The lobby is a great place to have drinks before or after dinner. There is a well stocked gift shop and if you are planning to shop at the airport on your return; don鈥檛 count on it! Limited shopping at the Punta Cana airport鈥?you are better off shopping at your resort- either at the gift shop or down the beach at the vendors. The spa and fitness center facilities are nice. However; I did not use any of the fitness equipment because they do not open til 8am! I was up and ready to work out by 7am and for the week stuck to power walks. Waiting til 8am to workout would have meant a late breakfast and a late start to my beach reading days! A 50 minute massage was $80.The beach is gorgeous! You could walk either direction for a very long distance. I loved that! Although we had acess to the beach beds we never used them鈥?in our opinion they were way too close together and unless you draped towels on the side; provided little shade. But most of the week they were all being used which verifies their popluarity. We prefer to spread out and have a little personal space and there are lots of huts and shade from palm trees. However; if we wanted a front row hut; we had to go down and save one by 7:30am. In the paper work that you are given at check-in it says you can hold chairs for 30 minutes. My husband and I took turns getting a hut and waiting there for the other to return from their walk and then we would go to breakfast. We saw many huts being saved with personal belongings and the people not showing up til mid-late morning; hours beyond the 30 minute time allowance.... which noone was enforcing anyway.We spent all day at the beach. We were pleasantly surprised and impressed with the beach bar service. The bartender/server Jose was one busy man.. but he had a great system and I think for once we were served at our chairs more often then we had to go to the bar ourselves. Jose not only makes the drink; he serves them. No back up whatsoever! We have had beach service at other resorts where there is a bartender and server(s) and they could not even compare to Jose鈥檚 one man show! The pool area is lovely; but we are beach people. Whenever we walked by it was pretty busy and in the afternoon it seemed to get more lively and social. We did notice that there was hut/bed saving along the pool as well. It appears there is less shade poolside so people were up and saving huts/beds earlier then at the beach.Since we are exhausted by full days of sun and reading; we did not take advantage of the night life. On site at PCP there is no night life.. although one night there was a band set up in the lobby... so the resort is very quiet peaceful which was perfect for us. You can take a short 鈥渟huttle鈥?ride to the sister resort for the nightly show which start at 9:45pm. Unless you want a front row seat; don鈥檛 plan to arrive much before 10pm; you will save yourself 15-20 minutes of introductions in 3-4 different languages! The casino disco are also a shuttle ride away.Other then taking out the Hobie Cat ($11 to get 鈥渁pproved鈥?by waterports); we did not participate in any organized activities or tours. For those who want to be more active; there are enough things offered to keep you entertained.A most often discussed topic- tipping. We choose to tip for good service we receive rather then tip with hopes of getting better service. The service at PCP is great! So we did a fair amount of tipping thru out the resort. All the staff members we interacted with were exceptionally friendly. Considering there were staff members working the breakfast/lunch buffet and then later that night you would see them at an a la carte restaurant with the same big smile is pretty incredible. Whomever is in charge of the staff at PCP is doing a great job with employee morale. We were quite impressed. ( a quick thanks to Diana in Guest Services who replied to my many email questions!)Overall it was great vacation. We would definitely return to PCP.
313884,Niffer78,11/18/2008,LOVED IT! LOVED IT! LOVED IT! Three of us just returned home from 10 days at the Punta Cana Princess and we all loved it.Property - Was just the right size; not large but not too small. The hotel was at full capacity; but it never felt full. It was easy to walk through the property and not feel cramped. We used the facilities at the sister property too; the Caribe Club and it was too big. You had to take a trolley from the lobby to the restaurants and beach.Staff - they were all super friendly; everyone says Hola! And are genuinely excited to see you. Lots of fun activities and the animation team is great!Food - We all enjoyed the food; even the buffet was good. there are 4 a la carte restaurants. Tex Mex was ok; Fondue was fun; Pasta was amazing; and the Mediterranean I recommend the grilled lobster.Beach - Was beautiful!!! We made it down to the beach between 930-10 every day and still got a cabana. For the best boogie boarding; walk down the beach about 10 minutes and the waves are awesome!Over all we loved it and i would go back in a heartbeat!
313884,CaribbeanStud,11/17/2008,It's what you make of it Well; I read reviews for months prior to my group of 6 going to PCP from 11/6 - 11/15/08. The range of comments and ratings really boils down to it's what you make of it. It is not a 5 star resort; and it's not priced that way. If you are an entertainment; food; or beverage critic; you will have plenty to write about. The best advice I can give is get the VIP Package that gives you the premium drinks. ASK FOR the Baily's; Tanqueray Gin or what ever you want. They did not have Grey Goose Vodka. The cigars in the room are OK. Don't plan on drinking the rum they give you in the room. If you go to the bar to get juices; you mught as well have them make the drinks. It's all included anyway.The rooms and resort is kept very clean. That was great. The beach is great and we loved the beach beds; that they also have at the pool by the way. Be sure to schedule your dinners at the different restaurants. Those that complain about the food or the fact that they only ate at the buffets; just didn't make the reservations correctly. You can only make them 1 day in advance; but it's worth it to just be in different places each night. The walks to the other resorts are fun. keep in mind you are in the Caribbean; and look at the stars. They are beautiful!My opinion is that the resort is fine. Great beach; everything is clean; and the food is OK. There is plenty to do with Banana Rides; boat rides; Kayaks; Para-Sailing; ATV and other excursions. Going out of the resort was not fun. Actually it is a little scary. We went to the Casino 3 nights; and even that ride passes an area that make you feel like someone might jump you and take your money. It's a very poor country; and the roads and local housing are terrible.Would I go back? Probably not. But the biggest reason is I am more of a ben there; done that kind of guy. (Except for Vegas)If you are booked and are reading this; GO. Enjoy the beach and pool; get the VIP package and be sure to ask for the good stuff. Just don't expect too much. Again; you will get what you paid for. It's actually a really good deal.
313884,rsauce23,11/17/2008,Nice resort; terrible food. This appearence of this resort is excellent! Most of the staff is great. The food was not that good. The best meal I had all trip was at Wendy's at the Punta Cana Airport. My wife and I both got sick on our 3rd day there. I can only attribute it to the food since we had not drank much at all. I will definentally go back to Punta Cana but not to the Princess resort.
313884,cochinillo,11/11/2008,First Time to the Caribbean We have recently returned home from our first trip to the Caribbean; and our first experience with an all inclusive. We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess Oct 23- Nov 6 and loved the fact that it was small; very clean; very friendly; beautiful beach; staff absolutely wonderful and friendly. We appreciated that it was quiet later in the night; knowing that if we wanted more excitement we just had to go next door to the sister hotels. The Food: We are not picky eaters; and found the food to be good. The a la carte restaurants were delicious; no complaints. The buffets had various theme nights and if you weren't particular on that theme nights food; there was still always plenty to eat with the standard pasta; salad; ect food bars.The room: We were very fortunate to have room 5114; the view was beautiful from our balcony; and we enjoyed it everyday! We could view the beach to the left and the pool to the right. The room itself is spacious and was always attended to thanks to the lovely maids we had. They always cleaned our room; turned down our bed at night and kept our fridge full of water and coke lite; which is exactly what we liked. The beach: Like I said absolutely beautiful and clean. The workers did a wonderful job at keeping it clean; the beach beds were a nice touch. My husband and I enjoyed the long walks along the beach both day and night. When you went left up the beach there were shop sellers and they were pretty good at not hustling you; which was a wonderful change from what we found out when going to the Bravaro Shopping Plaza. We lasted 20 minutes there and caught a cab quickly back; due to the constant barrage of hustling; not something we were at all used to! If you walked right of the PCP there was plenty of beach to walk as well; but beware of the woman selling hair braiding not a pleasant experience either as I so found out; while having my hair braided.Tours: We took 2 tours while there - The Bravaro Runners Safari Tour. What a wonderful day this was. We lucked out with a wonderful bunch of tourists on our safari truck. If you want to see how these wonderful people actually live; what the schools look like; and enjoy a little bit of everything; like seeing a sugar cane field; a cigar factory; where they grow and make coffee and cocoa; go horseback riding then this is the tour for you. The tour guides were very nice and very infomative. Thanks Andy and Adam! Our second tour was Zip lining. We enjoyed this tour as well. My husband had never been zip lining and I think this was a great beginner zip line tour. Having done the one in Mexico in Puerto Vallarta; it didn't quite measure up for me; but still a good tour none the less. The staff: All that we met and conversed with (even though our spanish was very limited) were above and beyond! Very helpful; friendly and enjoyable. We made a few new friends and wish them all the best. We will miss you all! Thanks to Luis; Nelson; Jose Doria; Grisdelda; our lovely maids - sorry didn't catch your names and the many other waiter and waitresses!In closing we would definately go back to this resort; and will definitely recommend it to all our friends and family! We will cherish our experience there and take home with us many happy wonderful memories!
313884,TorontoMoma,11/04/2008,Absolutely Awesome Vacation!!! Recently spent FANTASTIC 2 weeks there; Oct. 5 - 19. I just had to write a review after reading that one from Rhode Island. Honestly I had to check their review to make sure it was the same place! I couldn't belive the bad experience when ours was just unbelievable.I too did months of research and reading of reviews on different DR resorts and decided on Punta Cana Princess because it was the one with the most consistent great reviews; also it was smaller (270 rooms; and it was Adults Only. We were not disappointed one iota. Check in went fast; got the nice cold drink; but no wash cloth (big whoop - needed the drink more). Room was as requested and paid for - ocean view in building 5; also right near the pool. Mini-bar was not in our room on check in (bottle of rum; vodka; whiskey); mentioned it to guest services next day - was in our room before we got back to it. Food was excellent; whether in buffet or a la cartes. We did take a tablespoon of Pepto Bismal every morning as I had seen suggested and neither of us had the tourista trots or any nausea at all. Breakfast there is many; many things to chose from; made to order omelettes; scrambled/hard boiled eggs; yogurt; boxed cereals and always pancakes/french toast. Of course there were some things on the dinner/lunch buffet menus that didn't appeal so we just stayed away from them; but there was always so much to choose from we never had any problems. There was always a great pasta bar. I didn't care for the milk only because it is the boxed; sterilized kind and I couldn't get use to the taste. Honestly never had a bad meal and we are used to eating in some very good places. There is fish offered and also lobster; both at the a la cartes and at the buffet. Salmon at one a la carte and grilled lobster at both - they are the Carribean lobster tails so much smaller.Facecloths - don't know why they don't readily supply these but I had also read about this before leaving so packed a couple to take and used them instead of worrying about asking for them all the time. Staff was just great - don't worry about the language they know enough English to help or someone else does; or sign lanuage goes a long way. Our maid service was terrific; we did tip $2 a day which we left on the bathroom vanity beside the water we used for brushing teeth and 9 out of 10 times got an extra big bottle of water in the bathroom; besides the 2 always left in the fridge. We drank the drinks; ate the salads - they are supposed to have a purified water system and we did see huge bags of ice delivered - again we never had any GI problems and neither did anyone we talked to; honestly; and they weren't even doing the Pepto Bismal thing!Place is kept amazingly clean and if you get up early you will see the groundskeeping crew and maids washing and scrubbing the walkways every day. Wait staff at resort very accommodating. Guest services was excellent (especially Adriana) Our original room was on 3rd floor (4 flights of stairs) which we asked to change after 1 week as my husband had knee surgery about 6 weeks earlier and it was getting a bit much for him - we moved to ground floor same day we asked about it; same building; the morning we asked about it.Guest services arranged breakfast in our room the day of our 30th Anniversary and when we returned later in the day it was beautifully decorated; also enjoyed the 'towel swans/hgearts' they made up during our stay.Sorry this is so long; but wanted to let everyone know this was one great place and since our return we have already talked about going back again to this wonderful spot - if you decide to go there I know you will have a great time!Yes there were some vendors on the way to the buffet/restaurantes - ususally just either Friday or Saturday - just say no thanks and keep moving - didn't really interfere with our enjoyment and I understand this is the case at most of the resorts on different nights.If you have any questions I'm happy to answer best I can.
313884,kkllmm,11/04/2008,I won't be returning This place was OK; but as I said in my review title; I will not be returing and I cannot say I'd recommend it. Usually each year my husband and I go on vacation to Couples Negril in Jamaica (where we will be returning for sure; I like it there a thousand times better) but this year wanted to try something new.Here's what I thought of Punta Cana Princess:1) the grounds were very well kept.2) the rooms themselves were nice; better than I expected3) english is sort of a problem for many of the staff members4) the Tex Mex restaurant was decent; the only decent place. But; it is not open each night.5) the buffets were HORRIBLE. Seriously; unedible food. Especially the beach buffet....gag me. Especially the meat. Yuck. Really; really bad.6) the drinks were SUPER weak. I drank three rum drinks in a row and felt zero effect. We watched them pour the drinks; and they were adding plenty of whatever was in the rum bottle. My guess is; when they buy a bottle of booze; they dump half of it into a different bottle; and fill it up with water. Finally; my husband and I went to the gift shop and bought a bottle of rum. We asked the bartenders only for pineapple juice and then we took out our own bottle of rum to add to the juice.7) the beach was pretty nice8) the pool was pretty nice too. Except; at about 3pm; just when everyone wants to relax; they start some horrible music and beging screaming into microphones for people to play water polo; play bingo (this is an all-adults resort; right?) or to do water aerobics. Very annoying. Maybe some people enjoy that. Aerobics; in my opinion; would be an activity better for the morning. In any case; the shouting and screaming into microphones was too much.9) skip the fondue restaurant at all costs.10) they serve wine; or what they call wine; with lunch and dinner. I'm no wine expert or anything; but this wine they serve was extremely bad. I've never tasted anything like it. Both the red and white; awful awful awful.11) internet access in the lobby was very spotty. You can bring your own laptop and pay $15/day for wireless access. I'll give you a hint. You pay the $15 and they give you a user name and password to log on to the network. It's user name mili and password 123456. It did not change the whole time we were there; so don't bother paying $15 each day.12) the weather was great and I got a nice tan :)
313884,offwegoPa,11/02/2008,PCP - Mixed Feelings We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess (building #4 - nice room overlooking the pool) during the last week of October.....we have mixed feelings about this hotel.The hotel grounds are lovely; the rooms are clean and neat - the staff works very hard to take care of everything. The bathroom was a big problem......most of the time the water pressure for the toilet was SO BAD that it would never flush! We reported this to guest services but nothing was corrected. The pool and beach are beautiful - that is a big part of our enjoyment on a tropical vacation. We weren't too impressed by the Animacion Team - it was very loud and started at 3 pm each day at the pool. Also; we didn't appreciate the animacion team members approaching us to go to the bar and get them orange juice and beer.......very tacky!! If management of the Princess is reading this you might want to remind these employees that the guests are there to relax - not to be asked to wait on them!!Another disappointment was having to eat at the buffet so many times for dinner because they didn't have the gourmet restaurants open. My husband and I do enjoy the fine dining in the restaurants in the evening and look forward to that. It may have been because the hotel was not full so they don't keep everything open.The majority of the hotel guests were from Germany........we met several couples from the USA and Canada. In general; everyone was very polite.We did like the Adults Only feature at this hotel.......a good place for quiet time!Thank you to Daniela and Nelson at the pool bar for such good service......delicious mamajuana!!This was our fourth trip to the D.R. and we have already been discussing our return but I don't think it will be to the Punta Cana Princess.
313884,morgan0,10/27/2008,Can't wait to go back!! AWESOME!!!!!! Beautiful; beautiful resort. When my husband and I got there; check in was not even 10 minutes. We were greeted with a nice smile and a cold drink. When we got to our room; within 2 minutes our luggage was there. The grounds are so beautiful. I can't believe how hard the staff work to keep the grounds looking so spectacular. They still manage to smile.The food and drinks were incredible. The white wine looks stronger than it actually is; but it was great.The staff; awesome; awesome. They make you feel sooo welcome. They are constantly going around making sure you are ok. They were great!!!Overall; there is nothing bad to say about this resort. we can't wait to go back; my favourite by far.This is the resort we are sticking to from now on. Truly amazing!!
313884,JoiaLee,10/27/2008,Great way to loose weight We've just returned from our vacation at Punta Cana Princess Resort. I would like to thank everyone who takes the time to write reviews; good or bad. I have been checking TripAdvisor since we booked this vacation in April and have found very useful information.Upon arrival at the PCP; we were not given cold towels as many of you wrote about. We were however given a fruit punch drink and that was nice. Our room was on the ground floor level of buiding #4. It had been flooded in the past - you could tell from the water marks around the furniture; musty smell in general; and mildrew on the couch cushions. I would suggest getting a room on a higher level than the ground floor. We paid for a platium all inclusive package; top shelf liquor included. We did have a mini bar in our room as we were told (a mini fridge stocked with 2 bottles of beer; 2 bottles of sprite; 2 bottles of Coke; and 2 bottled waters). We did not get the assortment of liquor I expected to get in this package ; although we met other people; same package; and they had bottles of gin; vodka; etc. Not really a big deal; drinks were free wherever you went - it would have been nice to have them in the privacy of our room though. There are no ice machines in this hotel. You have to call room service whenever you need ice. We only received face cloths and hand towels one day. Just the two shower towels (and beach towels) were changed daily. If you wanted a wash cloth; you had to call and ask for it. I had a problem right away with anything with ice. I found the food to be edible but that also didn't agree with me. All the mixed drinks were made with ice; so I couldn't enjoy them. I did try everyday to have something different; a daquiri; a marguerita; a mixed drink...aside from the GI upset; everything tasted like bubble gum. No matter what liquor you had; bubble gum. When I asked for diet soda; they went to the machine and I thought; uh-oh; this will have that water again; so instead I asked for something bottled or canned. There was nothing diet to be had. Just regular coke and sprite; warm because you can't have the ice. The Mexican restaurant so many people have raved about was only open one night and I got very very sick after eating there. I did order; again; as I read the reviews; the filet mignon. It tasted wonderful. We also had the mozzarella sticks for an appetizer. They brought you nachos with different dipping sauce and automatically gave you a margueritta....so I can't say what exactly made me nauseated (with severe vomiting). In the main buffet area; if you asked for cream/milk for your coffee; they bring out a square plastic container that simply says Cow's Milk. I got sick on that also. There was no seafood at all - I would have thought being on an island and all; there would be plenty but absolutely none at PCP.We thought we would try the Caribe since we weren't having any luck at PCP. Basically the same food but birds everywhere; waiting around your feet for you to drop something. When we left; my husband had bird poop on his pants. We didn't even try the Tropical after that experience. Our package also included 24/7 room service. When you call to order something; they let you know it is not included and you will be charged. There are prices listed next to the items and at the bottom it says that there will be a 27% fee also added. A small cup of soup would have cost me around $8 - and this was supposed to be all inclusive ??We ended up getting Pringles and cheese crackers in the little gift shop and that's what we ate for the last two days we were there (that cost $14). I lost 6 pounds on vacation! Like I said; nothing actually tasted bad; but 1/2 hour after eating; we had to go back to the room; we both had severe GI upset.I agree with most of the reviews regarding the grounds - beautifully maintained. The pool was wonderful; except I heard more than one person say that they peed in the pool - kind of disgusting to think about. At night; there is a main walkway you have to go through to get to the lobby or dinner. They had flea-market style tables set up and pushy; pushy people trying to sell you stuff. You actually dreaded having to walk by them. I found that to be tacky.Many of you rated this hotel to be great; maybe we were just expecting too much. I can't believe there would be such a difference when we went in October unless it had something to do with the hurricaine they recently had ?? My advice to anyone going here; bring plenty of cup-a-soup and crackers. I am sorry to review this as a bad vacation but it really was. We could have done a lot more with the money we spent on this trip. I would not return here.
313884,inotfob,10/27/2008,Loved loved loved it!!!! This places is so beautiful; i'm sitting here at work and wishing i was back at PCP! My boyfriend and i are 24 and 29 and we absolutly fell in love with this resort.The ride to the resort isn't THAT bumpy; i don't know why people complain. It's fun jumping up and down a bit. We arrived at the resort about an hour after we landed and were greeting with drinks and cold towel. The receptionist (jose) was VERY nice. He upgraded us to VIP; and we stayed in building 5; which i must say had the most beautiful view. One morinig we got up early enough to see the sunrise from our room; so beautiful!Food- since we are vegetarian the choices for us was very minimum; we never went hungry tho !! the pasta for lunch and dinner at the buffet is more then engouhg food. We tried 3 of the restaurant. please note that not ALL the restaurants are open everyday!! we tried the tex mex( surpriseingly they had no veggie food; but they did fo out of their way to make veggie fajitas for us) the fodu resturant which was really good and the italian place. all the restuarants we tried were amazing food! Didnt try any meat so can't comment on that.Beach!- Omg.. that all i can say. Just beautiful! the princesses beachs are the nicest; we went walking along the beach( only a short walk) and found the other resorts werent as nice as ours..I was happy! there are some vendors along the beach but just a smile and a no thanks will keep them away from you. and remeber the prices you pay should be less then half of what they ask. This is for stuff they sell on the beach.Services- The most friendliest people i have ever met. Eveyone has a smile and go out of you way to help you. We would tip everyone that would help us and they did a fantastic job! Please tip everyone they deserve it! the Animacion team do such a great job in trying to get people to join in on the fun!! from veronica; mosquito; chocolate and everyone else; they are sooo funny and knwo how to dance! the resort get a bit dull after the pool closes but they is always stuff to do in the lobby after dinner; like karaoke or going over to the sister resort to the club( which i had a lot of fun in!) the only bad experience i had and it has NOTHING to do with the resort is that we had our digital camera stolen by these 2 ladies( mid-40's) one of them had been diganise with breat cancer and had maybe 2 months to live. My bf ..being a doctor took his time out to talk to her and give advise. We eventually found out they didnt bring a camera; so we were like hey we'll take some pics for you and email them to you.. we had a bit too many shots and ended up leaving the pool bar at 8 45; drunk. we went upstairs to our room and with in 10 mins realized the camera was gone; we went back down and it was no where to be found. i remeberd one of them telling me thier room number so we went to thier room to see if they thad it .. they said no( which they liedddddddd!!!!!) The ladies were leavign the next morining at 5 am... but the staff was so friendly! I told Fransico what happened and he keept on calling security every day to see if the camera had been found but not luck! we bough a disposable and we madefriends with ppl and took pics on thier camera which they will email to us!! i Loved the resort!! Highly reccoment it!! did not get bitten by any bugssss nor did anyother person i met..!! but on of out resort friends did..
313884,izo,10/25/2008,Ten days in paradise THE POOL
313884,michael039,10/21/2008,Fantastic Holiday beautiful sunrise
313884,bubblesHull,10/11/2008,cant make my mind up I was so looking forward to this trip; and wasnt greatly at all disappointed. The complex as a whole is absolutely fantastic; staff all really pleasant and willing to help; it amazes me how they manage to keep a smile on their faces all the time; so very helpful. We stayed in the Platinum Suite area (4 of us in all; 2 couples); I can only say the rooms and domestic service every day is a 10 out of 10 for everything. The villa was only a 5 minute walk to the breathtaking beach; with lots of free activites or paid activities. The shop within the complex is very expensive; so if any Brits going make sure you take plenty of things; my hubby run out of shaving foam; I bought him a small gillette tin which cost in English money around 拢6; about 25 q tips for roughly 拢4; so take plenty of things including shower gel. The food is absolutely excellent 10 out of 10 in all the restaurants including the Hespaniola in the main lobby; if you get the chance go to the Gaucho on the beach (steak house); brilliant. The only downside was the theatre bar which is within the main lobby; phew what can I say; Brits take a battery operated fan; you're going to need it; the humidity in an evening is unbearable and no air con; we found we were totally exhausted from the humidity. When you go to the beach; have some of the Mama Juana; its great fun and the bar tender gives as much as you want; the drinks are plentyful. I will warn you about going shopping outside the complex; its a very scary experience; as soon as you leave the complex; the men from the shops across the road are coming over to you and saying lady you come into my shop I have plenty of cheap things; but believe me its not just 1 man its a possey of them; and once your in their shop be warned they close the door behind you; I did feel intimidated but gradually became quite calm; however do haggle; dont pay the price they are asking; stick to your guns and the price you have fixed in your head; dont go over. The tip is just tell them you're leaving the shop. they soon come round. If you can go on the quad bike trip; really good fun; would recommend that. Hope this review helps anyone going. Have a good trip
313884,ChuckBad,09/11/2008,Wonderful Honeymoon at the PCP You can see a little bit of the ocean from room 5106
313884,jpeck1981,09/03/2008,Great Honeymoon other than getting sick My wife and I went here on our honeymoon from July 4; 2008 to July 12; 2008 adn had a great time. The only issue we had was we got sick around halfway through our trip and stayed that way for weeks. It was just a small stomach issue; but it does need to be said that we still loved this place in spite of what happened. We are still contimplating going back because everything else about our trip was unbelievable.ARRIVAL: Our arrival went without any problems. From the time we landed on the runway to the time we got to the resort it only took about an hour and once we got to the resort the front desk was awesome. They checked us in and gave us cold washcloths and drinks. We were in our room within minutes and a few minutes later our luggage arrived. ATMOSPHERE: This place was immaculate. The grounds were beautiful and the gardens were nice. Everything looked just like the picutres and was great.ROOM: We got a room in the building that we requested; building five and it overlooked the pool and the ocean. The view from our room was great and we were only a few steps from the ocean. We had a bottle of Rum waiting for us in our room and our maid cleaned our room thoroughly everyday and would make nice animals out of the towels on our bed with flowers.BARS: The pool bar and lobby bar were awesome. Emelio in the Lobby Bar was so much fun to be around. He certainly knows how to have a good time. The pool bar was always a blast; who doesn't love to sit in a pool and drink?RESTAURANTS: All of the food we felt was very good. We went to the buffet for breakfast and lunch everyday. I loved the fact that I could get an omelette every morning. We went to all of the al a carte dinners other than the Italian. The Tex-Mex and Fondue were our favorites. We also ate at the Seafood Restaurant which was also good. The Filet Mignon at the Tex-Mex was delicious. We didn't feel the food tasted badly; but we did get sick after about 4 days of being there and it took several weeks for our stomaches to start feeling better.The Beach beds were awesome and we never had any problems finding a place to sit on the beds or on the chairs at the pool. The hotel dies down really early which was alright with us because after a long day of drinking we were usually in bed early. If you get the Platinum Package you have access to all the upper shelf liquors; which they have at all of the bars; you just need to ask. I really miss the Coco-Locos they were delicious. All in all even with getting sick my wife and I are debating still going back again next year because the staff was excellent; the resort was beautiful and we liked that it was a smaller adults only resort. I would defintely recommend this hotel to a friend just be careful of what you eat.
313884,ssc71,08/23/2008,Welcoming; beautiful place but bad wine. We had fun at the Princess the grounds are beautiful; the service was outstanding; the rooms were immaculate and the food was good. We were surpised that all of the restaraunts are not open every night so that limits your selection. Its important to know the wine is terrible you can't even buy a decent bottle so bring it with you (this is not the all inclusive to go to if you only drink wine; I would go to Club Med then for their French wine). Allow yourself enough time to pick up a few bottles at the duty free shop. If I had it to do again I would have upgraded just for the name brand liquor and beer. We met very nice friendly couples there. I'm sure you'll have a great time.
313884,k8sgreat99,08/20/2008,The BEST honeymoon thanks to Punta Cana Princess beautiful landscaping
313884,CozumelDreams,08/14/2008,Paradise is Punta Cana Princess Let me begin by saying that I will gladly answer any private messages/questions from anyone. There were 4 of us traveling: Me; my husband; and our 2 daughters (20 22). We arrived July 16th and departed July 26. We also renewed our vows on the 21st.First; I booked the trip through Resort Vacations to Go; AKA Travel Impressions; and it could not have been simpler. The agent was willing to take care of all of my requests and questions with a quick yes! Everything was handled and we had no worries; including not having to pay the $20 exit fee. We also had a representative on resort daily to assist with questions or booking excursions if we needed.Upon arrival at the resort; we were greeted by Carol. She saw to it that we were given a cold towel (very appreciated) and a refreshing drink. Check-in was so quick and easy. We were directed to our rooms; 5007 for the girls 5106 for us. Our bags arrived within 10 minutes. The room: Just as lovely as the pictures. We had rum cigars waiting for us. A lovely fruit basket arrived shortly after. As we were honeymooners; a lovely bottle of champagne also arrived quickly. Our rooms were always impeccably cleaned; smelled wonderful; and never failed to have extra touches. The service: Wow! Did they pamper me every single moment; no; but they always went above and beyond for us. Anything we needed or wanted was simply one phone call away. Guest services would make sure everything was quickly handled. Housekeeping always made sure we had lovely flowers. When we returned to our room after our vow renewal; the turn down maid had even gone to the extra trouble of using palm fronds flowers to decorate the floor and spell out happy wedding and placed flowers on the bed. These lovely touches made everything special. Everyone was willing to do whatever to make you happy. Emilio in the lobby bar was so entertaining and wonderful. He was always a good way to end the day. Niki; Jose Q. Luis always made sure dinner was a worry-free affair. This included the dinner for our renewal. The wedding cake was supposed to have been moved to the steak restaurant and set up for us. It was not there when we arrived and I became anxious. Jose Q. said that he was there and to have no worries. We finished our dinner and were just about ready for the still unseen cake. Jose Q. had been on the phone and then rushed out. He returned a short while later with our cake. As it turned out; it had been left at the beach restaurant and; Jose; rather than disappoint me; ran all the way there and back (with the cake!). Such wonderful people! Food: I had no issues what so ever with the food. Between the 4 ala cartes and the 2 buffets (not to mention room service); we always had plenty to eat. The filet mignon at the steak restaurant was our favorite. The Italian restaurant had wonderful pizza and pasta choices. We only did the seafood restaurant once and had a surf turf. The fondue restaurant was wonderful as well. We also enjoyed the Asian night at the buffet and the Dominican party on the beach (so many choices!). We only went to the neighboring resort for one meal (chose not to be around the kids). We went to the Mexican restaurant. It was okay. Perhaps we are more picky about Mexican food coming from Texas. We did the main buffet for breakfast and lunch every day and snacks at the beach buffet. We never failed to find many things that pleased each of us (at least 2 very picky eaters!). I have nothing but good things to say about the food and drinks!Spa: We 3 girls did the mini spa for massages that were wonderful. It was $34 US for about 30 minutes and well worth it. One daughter also had her hair braided there for about $80 US. We did not use the main spa so I can't speak about that but the mini spa was great!Excursions: My husband and youngest daughter did the zipline tour with the Bavorro Runners. They completely enjoyed themselves. My husband came back so jazzed! My oldest daughter and I did the parasailing with the company right there on the resort's beach. The parasailing itself was incredible but the boat ride was not so great. I do get a little sea sick but I am usually able to control it. However; they kept us on the boat for a very long time for no reason. Boats came to put more people on but would leave empty. We were on the boat for over an hour after we did the parasail. I regret that I did get sick. They finally called for a boat but instead of taking us to our beach first; they went to the other end and began dropping people off. We were to be last but as I could not take any more; we got off and walked the rest of the way. So bottom line; loved the parasailing but if you have a tendency to get sick in rougher waters; make sure you get their word to let you off as soon as possible!Grounds: So well kept and absolutely beautiful. They are constantly taking care of the grounds and pool. Who could ask for more!Vow Renewal: We had our ceremony on the beach. They thought of everything from decorating the cart to drive us to making a decorative aisle on the beach for me to walk down. Everything was provided for and we were treated like royalty. Francelia; the wedding coordinator; was fully prepared for our arrival and took care of everything for us. I would definitely suggest them for anyone wanting to renew or even have their wedding.Shopping: There are many shops on the beach for shopping. As you come onto the beach from the resort; if you begin walking to your left down the beach; you will encounter the beach shops after about a 10 minute walk. Stay by the water to avoid the timeshare guys and even the shop sellers if you are not shopping. Do not be afraid to negotiate the price. You should never pay more than 50% of the original asking price and you can get it even cheaper. Simply be polite and friendly and stick to your pricing.Airport: Upon arrival; we had no problems getting our luggage. Be prepared that plenty of people will be more than ready to take your luggage for you. There's no problem with this except it is just right around the corner. As soon as we turned the corner; our representative was waiting for us and immediately got us into the van with AC and loaded our luggage. Upon departure; the line was not bad and moved quickly enough to get checked in. There were two more lines (customs security); both of which moved quickly enough. There are places to eat right after that; including a Wendy's. This part of the airport is open-air and can be rather hot. If you move over to the other part where the gates are; you will find AC; snacks; ice cream; bar shops as well. Definitely more comfortable.Overall: I would highly recommend this resort. Is it for families? No; this is an adult only resort. We enjoyed this aspect quite a bit. The rooms; service; food; people; and grounds were all that we expected and more! Everything is geared to insuring you have a good time from the beach/pool beds to the people always waiting on you. You can book a trip to the Punta Cana Princess and rest assured that you will have a wonderful trip!
313884,Bandana59,08/11/2008,"Another Fantastic Stay At PCP" Shade!!
313884,Cirquecrazy,08/11/2008,Loved the hotel and the staff Beds on the beach for the VIP's; very comfy.
313884,Dawny64,08/11/2008,Wonderful Resort Our room
313884,Adamflyers,08/10/2008,We loved it! No major complaints here! My now fiance and I went to the Princess last summer and had arguably one of the best trips of our lives. To start with; the staff was fantastic. We were making friends with all the staff members; which really gave the resort a personal touch. We felt that they knew us and treated us like VIP's. It really does make a difference when you go out of your way to treat people nicely; because a lot of times; they will reciprocate. The rooms were more than large enough for the 2 of us. The maids kept them clean and turned down our beds for us each night.I notice the bad reviews are picking on the food here at the resort. I personally did not expect gourmet meals; so maybe this is why the food did not bother me. I'll admit; their idea of pizza and hot dogs at the snack bar or not what most of us would get at home; but the restaurants and buffet did not make me sick or make me think that the food is terrible. The food was just above average. Not the best; but certainly not as bad as some seem to think. The beaches were fantastic! We upgraded to the VIP package and had access to the beach beds. Well worth the extra money in my opinion!On nights when we could think of nothing better to do; we would head out to the casino nearby. Someone from the resort will drive you in a golf cart off the resort grounds and drop you off right in front of the casino door. The casino had some black jack; craps; roulette; slots and a poker table. Perfect for any gambler! When you wanted to go home; just go out front and tell the guys where you need to go and if a Princess cart was not already there; they would call one in for you. Very easy and never felt unsafe.Some nights; we just felt like walking off our dinner; so we would just walk the resort and enjoy our surroundings. The resort contains unique plant and wild life. I do not fault anyone for writing a bad review if they had a bad experience. It is possible that sometimes we get lucky and encounter very few problems; while others do not get so lucky. So while I will not guarantee that you have a flawless vacation; but I will say that the Punta Cana Princess holds the potential for an amazing vacation!
313884,devybug,08/10/2008,Read before you go (and don't believe any bad reviews!) Let me start by saying that before leaving for this resort I was a little trepidatious because people had complained about several different things. However; upon the conclusion of my week at this resort I was left wondering if the people who wrote those bad reviews stayed at the same resort! The resort was truly one of the best vacations that my family has ever been on. I do not normally write reviews but was compelled to write this one in the hope that people will read this and not listen to the other reviewers who clearly have expectations that could not be met by any resort; much less one at this price point. I traveled with my parents; sister; her boyfriend and my boyfriend. My boyfriend and I are in our 20's; my sister and her boyfriend are in their 30's and my parents are in their late 50's/early 60's and we all had the same opinion about the resort. Beach and Pool:First and foremost; the beach was one of the most beautiful that I have seen. Between myself and my family; we have traveled pretty extensively through the Caribbean and Europe and still found it one of the nicest. The tanning beds were quite possibly one of the best inventions that was ever created for the beach and we never had a problem getting three; even when we slept in and had a late breakfast before heading to the beach. The sand was wonderfully soft and white and the water was beautiful and turquoise. There was very little seaweed and what little seaweed there was; was quickly raked up by the resort staff and removed. There was great butler service on the beach for drinks and unlike previous reviews we did not find that this service was non-existent. The pool was also wonderful. The swim up bar was great and there was plenty of activities if you wanted to participate. Again; unlike other reviews we did not find the Animation team annoying. They would recruit you for activities if you desired to participate but would leave you alone if you did not wish to do so. They did a great job keeping the guests entertained and really made an effort to have a variety of activities available. My boyfriend especially liked the beach volleyball!Spa:My Mom; sister; and I all had appointments at the spa and found the experience great. The massages were in a great hut near babbling water and the staff was nice. As a regular spa goer in a big city at home; I found the atmosphere was exactly what a spa should be and the prices were relatively reasonable for a resort.Food:Now this was the area that I was most worried about after reading previous reviews but those worries were misguided. The staff truly makes such an effort to provide a variety of food and excellent service. The morning and lunch buffets had a great selection. I think the key to the food at this resort is picking things that you know are fresh and have not sat out. The lunch buffet had a great pasta station where fresh pasta was made to your individual taste and the morning buffet did the same thing with omelets. I did not have one problem with any of the food and I normally have a very tempermental stomach and am also an extremely picky eater. We talked to several other guests and found they did not have any problems either. The a la carte restaurants were also great. My family and I ate at the Italian restaurants at our resort and at the neighboring resort and both were wonderful. They truly do special touches such as bringing bruschetta for the table or delicious welcome drinks. We also ate at the Mare Nostrum restaurant which had the most beautiful atmosphere right on the beach. The fondue restaurant was also a crowd pleaser and was my personal favorite. The shrimp there was fantasic!Room and Staff:Our room was truly lovely. The room was cleaned twice daily and we always had fresh towels and beautiful flowers upon our return to the room. Bottled water was restocked daily as well as Coke and beer. All of the water at the resort is filtered except the shower and sink water so that was never a problem! We did tip our housekeeper two dollars daily but she did such a great job; it was well deserved. The room is spacious and the beds were very comfortable. We were in building four and my parents were in five but both were close to the pool and beach. The staff all throughout the resort were so upbeat and always willng to help. You can really tell how much effort they put in to keep the guests happy. Resort Grounds/Check-in:The resort grounds were beautiful. The landscaping was well-maintained and always clean. The resort itself was spotless. The lobby was spacious and had a lovely bar. Our check in went smoothly with a cold towel and welcome drink to greet us. The bus ride from the airport was not nearly what other reviewers have written. Although it was a bit bumpy and the town you drive through is poor; this is neither the fault of the resort or the responsibility. If you have traveled to any other Islands in the Caribbean; you will find that most of them share this quality in that they are poor countries with neither the resources or the manpower to have the road systems we have at home.Overall; I have come to the conclusion that some people forget what the art of traveling is about and that is that you are experiencing another culture. In this same vein; this means that you should acclimate to their culture; not the other way around. The people who wrote bad reviews also seem to forget that this is an all-inclusive resort. Therefore you are never going to get five-star dining because you are not paying for five-star dining. The resort did a fantastic job getting as close to this standard as they could get and we were very appreciative. If you are going on vacation for five star dining then go to NYC and spend hundreds of dollars instead of an all-inclusive resort on an island in the Caribbean. My parents have stayed at several Sandals resorts which were triple the price of this resort and found the food to be the same quality. I hope this review helps those that felt the same trepidation as I did upon reading previous reviews. Don't listen to them! My boyfriend and I just completed the Bar exam two days before leaving for this vacation and needed a break from the real world after three years of law school and two months of 24/7 studying. This was the perfect relaxing; stress-free vacation!
313884,HobieCat27,08/07/2008,A Perfect Honeymoon (although more vegetarian menu items would be nice) We are so happy that we chose this resort. Being adults-only meant that it was a much more mature and peaceful environment. Yes; people still had fun; especially in the pool area; but there were no screaming kids (and no turds in the pool! Yes; we saw a poo in the pool at the sister resort where we did scuba instruction). The sister resort was a couple-minute walk away; plus they had shuttles. There are more food options; nightly entertainment (moderately entertaining); a late-night disco; and nice grounds to walk around there. There are a lot more birds wandering the grounds over there. We took a random early morning walk along the mangrove path to the neighbor lobby and were delighted by all the birds and fish we saw along the way.The room was very nice. We were concerned about some little ant-like bugs when we first arrived. We told the front desk and they took care of it. We later realized that every time the cleaning lady put new flowers in the bathroom; the little bugs came out of the flowers. Harmless; and we happened to have a little natural bug repellent that took care of them. The cleaning ladies work hard and long hours. Sometimes they'd forget a towel or something; but if it was important enough to call the desk or ask her in the hall; we always got what we needed in minutes. Even when we broke a lamp late in the night; she was there in minutes to clean it up. She certainly deserved a little tip left daily.It does help to know some spanish. It will get you things you need much easier!The staff there was wonderful. There is even one guy on the grounds-crew that will take off his boots and shimmy up a tree for coconuts and cut them open for you to drink; and refill at the bar with more drinks! He did not ask for payment; but we tipped him decent for all the effort; and we loved our fresh coconut! Try to catch their names and you can fill-out a smile form to hand in at the desk and hopefully help your favorite staff earn incentives. (the forms are in your room when you arrive)The food was all good. The buffets always had good selections. The smaller buffet has a wonderful view of the ocean. My vegetarian wife always found decent meals at the buffets. The restaurants however are not vegetarian delights. Only the Italian restaurants at both resorts had vegetarian options. The fondu place was nice also; but for some reason we only got bread to dip in the cheese; no veggies like the menu said. The seafood restaurant did make a special dish for my wife by running to the buffet for a few veggies and cooking them. Nothing special; but at least she wasn't eating bread while I ate shrimp and salmon. It was sort of frustrating to be limited so much by vegetarian needs. Doesn't seem like it should be so difficult. Overall the grounds were immaculate and beautiful! The stone walkways did get hot so remember sandles. The VIP beds on the beaches were really great; and the other bungalows for beach chairs were great too. Another nice thing about this small resort is that you don't have to worry about reserving your chairs early in the AM. There are always open chairs. We never left blankets to reserve spots while we left to eat. We always found a nice place to relax when we got back. Granted; the VIP beds helped the cause a lot. I'd highly recommend this place to honeymooners and couples not looking for wild night life.
313884,AngieFromVA,08/06/2008,Most Beautiful Beaches! Grounds
313884,mrbmom,08/04/2008,What a Wonderful Vacation!!! We just returned from a week @ the Punta Cana Princess (from July 25 - Aug.1). It was everything we hoped for - nice accomodations; beautiful beaches; a wonderful pool and terrific service.The room was exactly as pictured - we were in building 5 (room 5105). The building is the closest to the beach and to the pool - it was a little noisy in the late afternoon when the Animacion Team was at the pool; but not a problem. Our room was made up by early afternoon every day; and was turned down each evening; with clean beach towels left for the next day. The minibar was restocked every day; as well.The food was okay - not gourmet; but we didn't expect that. Breakfast and lunch are buffets; either at Casabe or at Mare Nostrum (this was a smaller buffet). There certainly was enough to choose from; even for picky eaters. Dinners can either be at Casabe (if you want buffet) or at the a la carte restaurants. We enjoyed the Tex-Mex place (the filet mignon was wonderful!) the most. The fondue place was very enjoyable; as was the Italian restaurant (food was a little salty for me; but I don't use any salt on my food!). We didn't like the seafood restaurant too much because everything was cooked in lots of butter. The grounds are beautiful - and looked after every day - the beach is cleaned; and there never was any trouble finding a lounge chair at either the beach or the pool. The resort is very quiet; without much of a nightlife.We went on two excursions - to Saona Island and the Truck Safari. Saona is beautiful; but the bus ride to get there is very long (2 hours each way!) The truck safari was great - very informative about the Dominican and the people.All in all; this was a perfect vacation - restful and relaxing; and very hard to come home and go back to real life!!!
313884,AntMarini,08/04/2008,Wonderful Experince View from our pool chair
313884,Wildw00d,08/01/2008,I did not want to go home! We spent 6 wonderful days and 5 restfull nights at the Punta Cana Princess. The resort is beautiful. The lobby is open air and clean! The tile floors are kept spotless. Any questions we had were answered by the wonderful people at the front desk or guest services. They offer free internet service ;there was never a long wait. The tram service they offer to get to the other hotels are safe and smooth. Remember do not leave the hotel property!The grounds are kept spotless also. Every morning while most guest are still sleeping the staff are hosing the sidewalks down and sweeping. The pool is kept clean and a nice temperature. The bar has stools in the water to relax on. The pool bar is a great place to meet other travelers; try a Banana Mama; or a Coco Loco. The rum is awesome. Our room was top floor facing the pool and ocean. The view from the balcony was heaven every morning. The color of the ocean is nothing I have ever seen before. (The Jersey shore will never be the same) The whole room has tiled floors so do use the fluffy slippers they give you or you will be ice skating across the room! The flowers by the sink everyday and the turn down service at night is so sweet. The maids were great ;what ever you needed they gave you. All you need to do is ask. The beach is kept clean and is never crowded the VIP beach beds were so relaxing. The food was interesting. We were so afraid at first to eat anything. We were cautious and stayed to the basics; rice; bread; steamed veggies; chicken; fruit; lots of fruit; Then as the days go on we found ourselves trying alot of different dishes. The Italian place was not our favorite there is something different with the cheese???? All the other places were nice. You need to just pick and choose and do not pig out! We drank bottle water the whole time; coke with ice and the mixed drinks. We did not get sick. We did love the deserts. The half of coconut with coconut pudding at the buffet place was great; as well the cakes and pies and cookies!We did snorkle and parasail ;we booked it through the private boats on the beach. (Look for Pedro) It was great and a low price. I have been recommending the resort to anyone who is looking for an affordable and relaxing place to run away to. We did like that it is adults only. After visiting the other resorts next door with kids; wow what a difference to come back to ours. QUIET and CLEAN. All we said on our last day to all the great people we met was We do not want to go home!!! This is Paradise!
313884,princesscana,07/29/2008,Punta Cana Princess My boyfriend and I stayed at the Punta Cana Princess in May and our experience was wonderful. It is a pretty quiet resort and a perfect getaway for couples; with lots of time to focus on each other. We were very pleased with our room; it was on the top floor and we had ocean view. the staff was very friendly and polite and we had no problems whatsoever. The food was good and everything was always clean and well maintained.I would highly recommend this hotel to couples who are not really into the party scene.
313884,jllewellyn,07/28/2008,Awesome resort! Pool with swim up bar
313884,NYMpotter,07/23/2008,Go for a good time; just don't eat! I was a bit hesitant to write the following review based on the many excellent reviews I read prior to booking my trip to the Punta Cana princess. Many fellow reviewers stated that they had an excellent time; the food was wonderful; the beach; the beds; service; all of it wonderful. This is the first time that I stayed at an all-inclusive resort; so I had no idea what to expect and didn鈥檛 expect the Ritz. Due to the gut-wrenching illness I have endured for the past nine days; I will say this; go; if you love soft sand and clean beaches; excellent service; beautiful landscaped gardens; beach beds; clean pools with bars; and silly activities鈥UT DO NOT EAT THE FOOD鈥?or drink their drinks?I cannot pinpoint the exact cause of my illness; but nonetheless; the food was the worst I have ever eaten in my entire life; and I am not a food snob. The main buffet is open for all meals鈥ach of which have typical buffet menus鈥asta station; seafood; meat; salad (or the attempt at calling whatever it was they were serving); desserts and a theme station which; for dinner; could be sushi; Mexican; etc. It is true that restaurants close on certain nights and there is no schedule; so you are then forced to go elsewhere or eat at the buffet. By the way; you do not need a reservation to go to this resorts restaurants. If you must eat at the buffet; it is bearable; but eat simply. There were insects flying around the sushi; salad and hot buffet stations that are not covered. It is also an open-air restaurant; so bugs love it and items were never properly refrigerated. Stick to breads and perhaps the pasta with no sauces. The desserts are actually good; so if you are brave; go for it.The one plus about the food scene at the princess is that as a VIP guest you are allowed to share restaurant opportunities with the princess鈥?sister hotels. Caribe club and Tropical?? For use of these restaurants you must make reservations a day in advance. Out of the ones we tried; the Mediterranean was the best. The Mexican; much better than the buffet but DO NOT go near the Chinese restaurant鈥nless; you like super salty sauce鈥hink soy sauce with a half cup of salt. We left before our meal courses were over. The Creperie is decent鈥ow can you really screw up crepes; but be careful of the toppings you choose and you don鈥檛 need reservations to go to the Creperie.Luckily; both my boyfriend and I did not get sick until the last two days of our trip; so it is really hard to tell what it was that did us both in; and he is a vegetarian. It could have also been the water; but we were told that all drinks were safe because the water is filtered; even the ice. The bottled water they give you does taste off; but not horribly and we drank it anyways.Overall we did have a good time. The beaches there are amazing; clean; and the sand is super soft. If you are a VIP member (and I am not sure if everyone gets this right because it was the only option available when we booked); you get access to the lovely beach beds that line the beach. They are super comfortable and from time to time someone may ask you if you鈥檇 like a drink. You also have rights to premium liquor; but you really have to ask for it. Yes; the animation team can be really annoying; but not so much during the day unless you are around the pool area. Once they know your name; it鈥檚 all over and you will get dragged into their silly skits and games. We saw it happen over and over. The service itself is really great鈥he front desk; maids and most restaurant workers. And; the non-motorized water sports were decent; but did incur extra charges for certain activities.Do go on an excursion or two to get you away from the resort. We went on the Bavaro Runners tour of Punta Cana and it was amazing. You get to see how locals live and work; and also see the countryside; which is so beautiful. I highly recommend this tour if you are curious as how Dominicans live their life. The speedboat and snorkeling tour was good too; I just wish there was a little more time to snorkel.If you already booked your stay at the Princess; take my review for what it鈥檚 worth. As I said in the beginning; I booked my stay here based solely on the whole 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get sick; had a great time鈥?reviews I read back in April. Perhaps the issue with the food is cyclical? We stayed during the week of July 9 鈥?6th; and I really hope that future visitors will not get sick too.It is a beautiful resort and everyone is super friendly. If you have a planned stay here; you will have a good time because we sure did despite the sick feeling the last two days. If you are thinking of visiting this resort; wait a few months and see if the 鈥淚 got sick鈥?reviews go away.
313884,nik128,07/22/2008,Take soft Toilet Tissue If you only read one part of my review...skip down to Illness.Resort in General: It was very beautiful. Grounds were well kept; pool was perfect with a swim up bar; beach was clean white powdery and the staff was very friendly. Never an issue finding a lounge chair and many tiki hut umbrellas were available for shade. They don't seem to believe in wash cloths so make sure to bring your own or a puff. Rooms were a bit musty so a candle is a great thing to pack.Bar: If you upgrade for the platinum be sure to ask for those premium products. Also; they are only available at the swim up bar and lobby bars. The other bars did not stock premium alcohol. Also; you can't get these drinks after 12 as those bars are closed and the resort becomes a ghost town. They don't seem to encourage socializing. Besides the swim up bar; there were no bar stools around the actual bar to sit around and mingle with other hotel guests. Pina Coladas were like dish water but the Coco Locos and rum were tasty.Food: Only 1 sit down restaurant open per night but no schedule provided as to what it was. We missed our first meal and thought we were going to be on a French Fry diet the entire trip because the food at the 24 hour location was HORRIBLE. Tasted bad; not cold; not hot; mayo on cold meat left out in the heat...just bad bad bad. Fondue was tasty. Italian was less than desirable. Heard Tex Mex was good but never made it. Casabe buffet was the most decent (rice; bread and noodles are hard to goof up). We had one great room service lunch and one wretched room service late night.Illness: Became horribly sick 1 1/2 days into it. Toilet tissue in the washroom was not conducive for the illness that hits. I say this with humor but I'm also not kidding. I've been to Cancun and Jamaica and always get a touch of an upset stomach but this is something I've never experienced. Almost missed a planned excursion because I was fearful that between the doubled over pain in my upper stomach and the trips to the restroom that I wouldn't make it. Airport waiting and airplane ride were interesting but somehow I made it home. Read this site and found that it seems to be a recent problem at this resort. At the advice from another reviewer I contacted my travel agent and she is investigating it to see if the resort had made and efforts to correct the situation. Traveled with 2 others and although they weren't as ill as I was; they felt it at 1 1/2 days into it as well. We drank only bottled water (however; it was bottled in the DR so pack some water from home in your checked luggage) but we did have ice in our drinks. I really think it was the food that did us all in. The precautions for food just weren't taken...see the Food section above for examples. All I can say is luckily I was with true friends and they listened to me complain the entire time of this illness without making me feel like a whiner.It's a shame that the food and sickness were such big problems because the resort has so much potential with its beauty.
313884,rsthomasHouston,07/22/2008,Loved the Princess We spent 7 days at the Punta Cana Princess (July 9th to July 16) for our 30th Anniversary. It was fantastic! Very clean; people were sooooooo friendly; food was excellent and plenty of drinks. We would certainly go back
313884,blues2uz,07/16/2008,Punta Cana Princess-Guaranteed to Lose Wieght! Ocean Breeze
313884,perfectprincesslove,07/11/2008,Paradise!-Paraiso! EVERYTHING is like PARADISE here! .....from the time you are greeted getting off of the plane....to the time you arrive and are warmly greeted with a sincere Hola! with a a smile with security ; to the reception desk and a welcome drink; cool towels at the front desk and the welcoming feeling NEVER stops at the hotel by ALL ...to the time you have to say Hasta la vista to all who have made your vacation like HEAVEN on earth! We stayed in Bldg 5 ...I believe 5102 from April 24th -May 3rd and it was an AWESOME room and thx to all for helping us with those accomodations! The views of the ocean; the breeze; the accessibility and help doing that ; the pool; the pool bar and bartenders; the animation team who showed all alot of fun and did not force ya to do anything but watched people have a ball joining in the fun who wanted to. ;;;;;and Emilio at the lobby bar and the others also.....do you remember my name Emilio? It's not a common one..ha ha The resort 's location is INCREDIBLE! The views ; the beach and to feel silky;powdery; white sand on your feet ; the aqua; teal and blue; warm; calm waters and the breeze and with all your senses being used....and then ya add the beach beds ( all included in VIP and all well worth the little extra)and butler service..a seafood restaurant and two bars and showers and restrooms if need be and a pool in the near distance....what more can ya say about that???? As they say; LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION! They got it going on there even with no resort...but the resort and it's staff are the icing on the cake and then some....When it comes to service they are TOPS! trust us on that one...we have worked in the hotel and cruise industry for many years in the past..at major world interantional hotels also..in FB and also as a concierge; and when it comes to this type of industry it is all about SERVICESERVICESERVICE and they sure know how to reach HIGH BEYOND EXCELLENCE.....hats off to ALL who work there! ..and MUCHAS GRACIAS! ....From ALL at the front desk including Diana in guest services who knows what excellent service is and how to do it .....to all who follow or lead along with her....to Karen and Carol and Steicy andeveryone else ...and for understanding when a person has disabilities and accomodating you and your spouse to ALL you need during your stay and realizing some people's needs may be different than others and it being an extra blessing for them accomodating you so your energy can be used on having A MOST MEMORABLE VACATION!!!....to All who greet you along the way ALL of the time..the gardeners and maintenance crew; who I may say keep the grounds sooooo BEAUTIFUL and IMMACULATE...to the people who drive you to your room and make sure all is well .to the rtrams you can use to get to and from the sister resorts and the crepes are great there I may add and also the Japanese/cniese rest as well and as well as the service.but I liked the Adults only idea here and the resort was excellent for people with disabilities and very undeerstanding about them also.....to the people who drop off your welcome basket and other goodies with a smile and a warm Hola as well and ....to the note we received for welcoming us and wishing us a Happy 10 yr Anniv and all from the staff...to the surprise platter of cheeses and caviar for our anniv too sent to our room as well..ths again all and Diana.....to the maids who ALL were WONDERFUL and hardworking as well and would help to make your stay comfortable and clean and having the conveniences of all filed every day to all cleaned everyday to turn down service to whatever you also needed.....to ALL in the FB/REST ...from Pedro and other FB managers who's performance ranks REAL high and are aim to please as well with warm hearts as well and including Louisa; Stefany;Hector; Sandra; Nelson;Serapio and ALL at the Seafood restaurant ( still waiting to hear from yas and we have pics we are gonna send soon which we love looking at remembering yas all too and miss yas alot! )and ALL others at ALL of the other restaurants .....and we went to ALL of them and had all the works..ALL were AWESOME from the servers to the prep cooks to the maintenance crew....you should ALL be proud of each other too.......4 course meals; drinks( both alcohol and not) and desserts too; of course!...and never ever were we ever sick and never had to take any meds from home for any stomach problems at all...(we took our antimalarial meds and used spray and all only as preventive to stay safe; that's all.)....to the MOST ROMANTIC and MOST UNFORGETTABLE private ANNIV dinner under the stars and on the beach in the pergola/gazebo with palm lined pathways with candles; warm smlies; our own private waiters; a 4 course dinner we could choose and drinks and champagne and a menu to keep and ALL decorated soooo beautifully from the food; and hat's off to ALL of the chefs in ALL of the restaurants; and the presentation to the most caring service we have EVER received! ...and even LOTS of pics to remember such an INCREDIBLE ONCE IN A LIFETIME EVENT....and more pics for the same to CHERISH FOREVER! All we can say is that if you want a MOST MEMORABLE and MOST BREATHTAKING place with EXCELENTE service than GO TO PUNTA CANA PRINCESS and if anyone has anything to complain about here than you shouldn't be on any vacation but stay home and stay unhappy ......cause this place itself just sitting at the water's edge makes ya forget all your troubles and adding the service and people here is ; as I said; the icing on the cake;...who are sooooo down to earth I can't emphasize that enough; and who offer you the most incredible service imaginable ! Please tip all who work here ...ALL...they appreciate your appreciation! We would be back here again in a heartbeat!!!!! and as we said to all who have touched our lives and hearts and made our vacation the BEST so far and our 10 yr ANNIVERSARY like paradise....we will never forget you and pretty soon .....Hasta la vista! and Muchas Gracias to ALL! PS the ONLY suggestions we have because one of us has disabilites ....and this place was great for them to begin me with the size of the resort etc.....is to put a small boardwalk/pathway from the beach to showers and seafood restaurant so if someone has trouble with disabilities and sand to get to beach beds; etc so if ya have an unsteady gait or a cane;or walker or wheelchair it could work for all and even without a disability....and another suggestion....for rooms close to the beach and who may be able to get a room that can receive an ocean breeze......it would be nice to have the option of opening the sliding glass dorrs with a screened door that locks too so that at night if ya wanted to sleep with the doors open you would have the natural ocean breeze and room fan too and be able to hear the ocean and feel the breeze and not have any bugs esp mopsquitos bothering you and talk about PARAISO!
313884,TexasWillHoustonTX,07/10/2008,Great Resort; Lousy Food! What a beautiful place! The staff was fantastic and the resort was in impecible shape! We read all the reviews before we left and we took all the advice that people had wrote about ie: take bug spray; etc. We didn't have any problems with bugs on the beach or at night. The rooms were very nice and the housekeeping staff was very prompt and courteous. However; during our second day; Montezuma swam across the gulf and landed at the resort. While we took extra caution to NOT drink tap water and only drink bottled water; Montezuma still found his way to the food and the buffett food was terrible and the selection was plain and not very assorted on each day. Fresh fruit was served with a cover and not protected from the local flies. I fell ill then my wife on the third day. After talking with at least 12 other couples; we learned that they had fallen ill as well and they had met even more couples that had attracted the gut wrenching sickness too. By the fifth night of our visit; we just wanted to go home. We couldn't pin point if it was something we ate or drank; but none-the-less; we all got it. The entertainment group was very pushy and didn't get the hint that we just wanted to be left alone while on the beach or at the pool. We just got up and relocated when they would show up. We weren't into the type of music that they played loudly every day. While most of the people at the resort seemed to be in their late 20's; 30's and 40's; the nerve wracking rap music and dance music was just very unwelcoming and would have suited a younger; single crowd rather than a romantic couples get-a-way. Other than the food and entertainment; the resort; the rooms; the staff; the bar staff; the pool and the beaches were very pleasent. Would I recommend this place to my friends? Probably not; due to the food and what the end result would be more visiting the bathrooms; rather enjoying the friendly people from around the world. Oh; one more thing. Guys....take a pants for the ala carte restaurants. Had it not been for the front desk clerk Julio Ceasar lending me a pair; I would have been regulated to the buffett for days! The ala carte restaurants were very average adn not really any different than what you would experience in your home town; and get there early. They don't have circulating air and it get's very stuffy and hot in there. Especially the Fondu restaurant. You'd think if they were going to give you an open fire to dip food into; they would at least have air conditioning and vents to pull the hot air out! When we arrived we were so looking forward to a beautiful vacation and it would have been had the food been better. We now have been home for 3 weeks and we are still experiencing stomach problems. This resort could easily be rated a 5 star place; but; as most of us know; we can be sitting in the most beautiful restaurants in the world; but if the food is bad; we won't be going back. The overall experience we had could have been a 5; but again; with the food and the sickness resulting from that; we rate this experience a 2.
313884,Goodtimingman,07/10/2008,Great Resort will be back My partner and I went to the Punta Cana Princess for 7 night at the suggestion of our travel agent. It was more then expected. Great people; good food and plenty to drink. We met guest from all around the world and every body got along like all good friends. You will need to pack Pepto-Bismol; amodiem and dont forget to take a large insulated mug for cocktails. The bar tenders do not mind filling them up. Your room gets cleaned between 2 4:00 PM. But that wont matter because you are at the beach; pool or a bar. Ride the trolly between the other three resorts and see the shows and disco. The food is a little better at the Caribe Resort. The jeep tour and the booze cruise tours were great also. I highly recomend these. Take plenty of $ 1.00 bills; no one will give you change back in american money. Credit cards only used in the resort at the tour booking or the front deck. You will not really know the exact exchange until you bill comes in. Go - Enjoy - and just lay back and relax.
313884,SweetPJakefromDolo,07/10/2008,Great Beaches!! We heard so many wonderful things about this resort but after staying there; we want to add a few items of interest for future travelers. We booked our trip through bookit.com. We had the Platinum Package which includes bottle of rum; fruit basket; unlimited room service and robes/slippers. For those who want to stay at a nice resort; for relaxation; quiet nights and beautiful beach views; all inclusive with plenty of variety of food; this is for you.. We stayed in the 4th bldg; on 3rd floor; near everything; our balcony view was beautiful; we could see the ocean and the pool along with the gardens. Food at Fish restaurant was fantastic!! Service there was awesome! Other restaurants were very good as well; however; the a/c didn't work in most and it wasn't much better at the buffet; always hot; not enough fans. Even the lobby area; with the main bar; was very hot at night; no breeze; not enough fans or ventiliation. Poolside bar was the highlight!! We made many friends there. Pool was immaculate. There were even ducks swimming in it every morning. Spa - a disappointment; asked for deep tissue; got a relaxation message instead. Therapist kept checking her cell phone for calls during the massage; ugh!! Don't go into town unless you want to be mobbed and insulted by vendors who want to take you for every penny. Distance from airport is about 30 minutes; rough cab ride will cost you $33.00 one way; no matter how many people need it. Service was excellent; front desk; concierge; maid; restaurants and bars. We especially liked; Jose; Elvis; Hector; Nelson; Altagracia; Ingrid; Anderson; Emilio. The beach was beautiful; white thin sand; you can walk for miles... awww!! Animation Team - RATING: poor. They should all be fired. They were more interested in their own activities and didn't do their best to interact with the guests. Volleyball games were fun; however one day we were given a damaged volleyball instead of another and we were told to use it; no one offered to get a new one. It was almost like the animation team worked for a 2-star resort... thanks to Fernando; we were able to get a volleyball and start our games again. Best Restaurant - Fish; Worst Restaurant - TEXMEX. Resort stores were WAY overpriced! There was really little to do on this property at night; we went to adjacent resort for shows; disco; etc. We want to say hi to Dave; Tiffany (thanks for the Tiffany Special); Todd; Adrienne; Bob and Terry. Lets keep in touch! Pura 'n Victor
313884,ShaNewYorkCity,07/08/2008,great hotel! just don't eat the food The hotel is beautiful!The staff fantastic!The grounds immaculate!JUST DONT EAT THE FOOD!I just returned home after a seven day stay at the Punta Cana Princess (July 1 to 8 2008) My travel mate got severly sick from the food; along with several other guests from the hotel; and this review should not to be confused with any other travelers reviews who might also have experienced the same fate!The food is not kept at room temperature; thus inviting a potential for a real food born outbreak; which indeed happened. I was fortunate enough not to get sick; but I ate several yogarts a day; and stayed with rice and beans as the quality of the food was poor to low grade.I hate to write a review like this; but I feel managment should be made aware that guests are getting sick; with mild to severe stomache problems and the food issue should be immediately addressed for the safety of all concerned.Otherwise; this hotel is truly great and has the potential to be outstanding except for the food issues.
313884,mikenchris,07/08/2008,Beautiful Place Averaage Food Just returned from a 8 day vacation at the Princess...Having done my homework on ths resort ; I really can't complain...I have to agree with most of the reviews...Beach is gorgeous..Rooms are very nice..Fridge is always stocked with water ; coke and beer...Air Conditioning in room worked well and bed was comfortable...The food at best was mediocre ...I enjoyed the fondue retaurant the most....The buffet style breakfast and lunches got tiresome after a couple of days...My biggest complaint was that the MIlk was not really kept cold and I found the fruit not so special...The pool is great ; especially the bar that sits in the pool...The beaches are gorgeous; the staff is friendly...I agree that the only thing stopping this from being a 5 star resort is the food...It is reallya beautiful resort so I wouldn't stop anyone from going there...Bring immodium and pepto bismol...Also bring sunscreen from home..bring more than you think you will need as the prices at the hotel store are high..So try to plan in advance any medicines or lotions that you need to bring with you so you don't overpay...Although I enjoyed the resort I probably would like to return to Punta Cana but I would spend a little more $$ and try to find a place with better food...
313884,jimich626,07/08/2008,a wonderful vacation My Husband and I stayed at the Princess from 6/26 to 7/3 for our 15th wedding anniv. We had a great time! The resort was beautiful; our room was great (building 5; close to the beach and pool). We received a very nice welcome when we arrived; loved the fruit punch! We were able to get into our room early and we felt the room was perfect! The beach is fabulous and the beach beds......so comfortable! The pool was clean and refreshing. It would have been nice if the pool was open at night though..it's still hot and a night swim would be nice. We met some wonderful people....hi; San Antonio; Georgia; Virginia and Liverpool; England!! The staff was wonderful; we have no complaints....the girls/guys at the breakfast buffet; bartenders; animation team (Pablo; Luis; Celina...) were great!Our room was cleaned well; I liked that they knocked on our door around 6:00 pm each day to ask if we needed anything. We didn't get turn down service each night; but that's okay. The only (small) complaint I have is not enough bath towels. But if you could find a maid in the hall you could get more. The food was okay; not the best; not the worst. The best dinner we had was at the Shangay in the resort next door. It was definately my husband's favorite! The fondue restaurant was good; it's different......it's a long time in there. Fortunately; we did not get sick. We heard a lot of people talking about stomach problems. I actually gave Imodium out to people. Since we've been home our stomachs are a little off but nothing major. We did one excursion to Sanoa. Pedro from VIP travel couldn't have been nicer. He was very helpful; had a lot of information and booked our trip for us. Unfortunately it rained almost the whole trip! It was cold; wet and lots of mosquitos on Sanoa. If you go; bring your bug spray!! Miguel was our guide (from VIP travel) and he was very nice. He spoke very good English which was helpful when we had a sightseeing tour on the bus ride. We loved our vacation and we would definately go back to Punta Cana Princess!
313884,wylie1,07/04/2008,Still sick!!! After reading many reviews on the Princess we decided to give it another chance. We were there 4 years ago and I got sick then. Not as sick as this time but my gut was not right for a month after returning home. The reviews seemed that there had been some improvement with the food but my experience was again; not good. Yes; the beach;the rooms;weather are very good. Thats why we went back. The setting is beautiful;if only they could get their act together with the food it could be a 5 star resort. I was there one day and a half and I got diarrea. I was very careful and also had no drinks but bottled water and 2 beers. By thursday I had to go to the clinic. A very nice Dr. in the clinic on the grounds prescribed me anti- biotic; pills for my bowels; pepto bismol and intravenous drugs for 2 days; to the tune of $430. Nice vacation; I spent most of my time in the washrooms. I have never had anything like that in my life. I am back to work this week and still I'm on gatoraide for my electrolights because I'm feeling so weak. It's not hard to figure out why people get sick. The buffet food is NEVER hot. It sits there room temp for hours. Sure there is plenty of food but all of it has no taste and is sitting there growing bacteria. I even tried a hard boiled egg;thinking that was safe. It was so over cooked;black yoke that just disentegrated it was so dry.My husband ordered a caesar salad at the Tex Mex and it came like soup with so much dressing on a hot plate.Don't bother trying to make a caesar if all you have is iceberg lettuce. The food is a joke. Will I go back? Never. I can spend my money in many other places with a nice beach and not get so sick ;it ruins my holiday. I went knowing it was not gourmet; I did not expect that. The only word I can use to describe the food is slop. By the way a wedding party had 5 sick people and another young couple from England were sick.My husband spoke to another lady that was ill also. The animation team are so irritating. This is supposed to be a adult resort. I can make my own fun. I don't need someone pulling me out of my chair to teach me dance lessons or play volley ball. The music they blasted at the pool everyday was for their pleasure only. The same 4 songs every day. I did not see anyone else looking like they enjoyed it. as a matter of fact some people got very mad at them in the pool; they were so pushy and overbearing. People tried to ignore them but its pretty hard when the music is blasting and you can't get away from them; they just take over for 3-4 hours every afternoon. Go somewhere else!!!!
313884,beachbuddie2u,06/26/2008,Visited - 6/18 to 6/25 View
313884,TiffnDave,06/26/2008,Lovely beach and resort grounds but that's it! We stayed at the PCP from June 18th throught the 25th and had the VIP package for what that is worth. We have been to many all-inclusives and consider ourselves not very picky or hard to please. Let me start out with the positives: Yes the gardens are well kept and we even tipped the gardeners for their hard work. The beach was nice; the water clear; the sand white and smooth. Expect to walk out about 15 feet and then it does drop off. The most beautiful beach we encountered was on our tour with the Dune Buggies. That beach was called Macao Beach. If you take this tour you will get extremely muddy and the mud doesn't come out of your clothes; so bring clothes that you don't care about. Do bring candy or treats for all the children that come out of their houses to bring you pictures and flowers. I gave a few of them a dollar; but wished we would have known to give them something else. Check in was smooth and you do get their punch and a cool washcloth which you will need after your very bumpy ride to the resort. Every resort I have been to has done the same thing though. It took about 45 minutes as you have to drop everyone else off and this is one of the last resorts. My advice would be is to get your own taxi to and from so you don't have to wait. Friends that we met paid 33 USD at night from the airport which is higher than their daytime fees. The conceirge service in the lobby was helpful; polite; took us to our room right away with our luggage. We did get the fruit basket; 1 small bottle of rum; 1 small box of 3 cigars; and the towel decorated with flowers. Yes the room stays moist as it is humid. Remember to bring a candle and it will keep your room smelling fresh all week long.The rooms need major updating. The bathrooms are very outdated. They were rusty. Our drain was always stopped up when taking our daily showers; wash cloths were only present on the first day; but we knew this and had brought our own. Maid service came in the early afternoon and late at night for turn down service which was a nice touch.We stayed in the 5000 building on the bottom floor which was nice since it was 20 feet from the pool. We are not early risers and we were never disturbed by any pool noise. Some friends had the third floor and said the high ceilings made your room feel larger and they could see the ocean. There were many channels to watch about 1/4 in English.The food: After reading the reviews I expected way more than what was spoken about. The Tex-Mex filet mignon I received was tough but my husband's was cooked just right but not anything to brag about. The plates always come out hot and so will your caesar salad. This is really the only salad to speak of here at the resort. Everytime you get a drink; make sure you ask for your glass to be filled with ice or you will be drinking hot whatever you drink. This is throughout the resort. Il Bacio; the italian restaurant was way below average. I ended up getting sick after eating the smallest portion of lasagna I have ever been served. They did serve my husband a second piece to compensate for him being able to eat it in 4 bites. Our friends said they had enjoyed it there and got big helping of the raviolis and fettucini. We never ate at the Fondue but heard it was good. Our friends said it took 3 hours and there was no ac in there and it became very hot in there once they served the different fondues to everyone.They also said the seafood restaurant was good; but we don't care for seafood so we didn't eat there. All the buffets were way below average. There is no taste to any of the food and it is very bland. Luckily I survived off of rice and bread all week. Everyone we met got sick at the resort including us and we could never pinpoint what we ate or if it was what we drank. The bar tenders were average and not very animated compared to other places we have been to. The drinks were just ok. And I finally had to make up my own drink for the week as they could never get it right. There is no cranberry juice here; nor coconut rum or real orange juice. The margaritas are nasty and they don't even carry any named brand tequila. The animation team is just plain annoying. The same stupid dancing and yelling of applauso throughout the day at the pool made you not want to be there. We had our everyday players for volleyball in the pool which was fun except we had to fight the animation team to get a decent ball everyday to play. Then once we were out there; they harrassed us to do their activity which we didn't want to do; so they would come over into our game and try to take over. The gift shop was way over priced compared to anything else. If you want to get deals you must go down to the beach about 1 mile to the left. You must heavily barter to get a cheapy cheapy price. They will give you the calculator and tell you what do you want to pay. We always ended up paying half of what they were asking. Don't pay more than 5 dollars for any shirt or hat. Coffee should be around $6 and windchimes $20.Paintings $20-30 medium sized. Make sure you bring pants and dress shoes for the guys as you can't get into any of the restaurants except the buffets without them. We thought this was ridiculous as the girls could come in with just shorts;flip flops and a tank top. Go figure! We went to to Caribe Princess for the shows. One day we had walked over there to find out no shows were going on even though it was advertised. Would we go back to the PCP or the Dominican Republic again? No. Just a note Our best waiter for the week was Serapio at the Beach Breakfast Buffet. He was so attentive and really went out of his way. If you go in to the Bavaro Shopping Center; expect to be called names and be insulted over trying to barter. They don't want to go down even a 1/4 and I guess they don't need the money even though it was one of the most poorest countries with trash everywhere; with dead animals on the side of the road waiting to be slaughtered. The roads were the worst I have seen and wehave been to many places. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me for an honest review. Hi to Victor; Pura; Adrienne; Todd; Terry and Bob. Shoot us an email we would love to hear from you.
313884,SK,06/26/2008,Punta Cana Princess is Just Perfect! A group of 6 of us (mid-20鈥檚/early-30鈥檚) stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from June 16-21; 2008. We were all in Bldg. 4 on the 3rd floor 鈥?great views of the pool and ocean! The resort seemed only 陆 full while we were there 鈥?plenty of chairs on the beach and at the pool! Overall; we loved this resort 鈥?the size; friendliness of the staff; food; atmosphere; etc. The resort is smaller (less than 300 rooms); but still has the same amenities as larger resorts. We liked the fact that it is adults-only 鈥?not having to vie for seats at the pool bar with kids drinking virgin drinks! J This overall made for a quieter; calmer resort as well. Rooms 鈥?Beautiful; did not feel they needed 鈥渦pdating鈥?as some have mentioned. We liked the island-y feel and vaulted wood ceilings. We were platinum guests 鈥?thus had the rum; cigars; fruit basket; robes/slippers; stocked mini-bar; etc. I鈥檓 not sure; but this may be the standard. There was a note that we could upgrade to 鈥淰IP鈥?for $15/day with a 4 day minimum. I personally didn鈥檛 feel it was worth it; unless you really want the massage and special meal. Beach beds (actual beds; not the chairs under palapas) seem to be open to all 鈥?and they are HEAVENLY!!! (this may have been because the resort was not crowded and all and 戮 of the beach beds were not being used every day).Beach 鈥?Clean and beautiful. Beach beds and chairs/palapas are both nice. Water was warm/refreshing. Great breeze off the water. We did have a server on the beach; Francisco; who also manned the beach bar. He鈥檚 great! Excursions 鈥?While exiting the water our first day we were approached by Fernando; who was selling boat/snorkeling trips. We 鈥渂ooked鈥?a trip with him (he鈥檚 with Cayena we think 鈥?he had a yellow shirt on). This trip was AWESOME and only $25/person for over 2 hours 鈥?just the 6 of us were on a smaller boat. They took us to the big roped off snorkeling area in the water; passed by the sharks/rays/dolphins area; went to the natural pool (all 3 of these are parts of the 鈥渂ig鈥?snorkeling trips that are $70-$90); and then took us around the shipwreck (which we requested). 2 of us girls also got to sit up on the padded area at the very front of the boat for the ride and sun ourselves! It was a fun trip and I鈥檇 totally recommend it! The other commercial snorkeling trips take longer to get the 50 or so people on/off the boat; once in the water everyone is crowded and kicking each other trying to snorkel (we left soon after the big boat arrived); and the only thing extra you get is some rum punch and mamajuana! I鈥檇 definitely advise 鈥?GO FIND FERNANDO (he walks along the water in front of and to the left of the PCP).Food/Drinks 鈥?We enjoyed the food. Breakfast and lunch buffets were good. Breakfast 鈥?yummy omelets made to order; fresh chocolate croissants; lots of fruit; etc. Lunch at the main buffet was good too 鈥?they had a fresh pasta station; grill (chicken skewers were amazing!); and my favorite; the freshly tossed Caesar salad area. I really like all the made-to-order stations. Lunch at the beach buffet was OK 鈥?good for a quick pressed sandwich with the freshly grilled chicken! The fries (with the nacho cheese sauce!) and pizza at the beach bar were excellent. NOTE: All a la carte restaurants are not open every night 鈥?check with the front desk to find out which nights each restaurant is open. Dinner 鈥?we ate at 4 a la cartes: Swiss/La Petite Fondue (the Chinois sliced beef was delicious; shrimp app. fondue and swiss cheese fondue were both great; brought us a bunch of cold apps. too; chocolate dessert was yummy!); Italian/Il Bacio (florentine chicken was good; great bruschetta app.; good service); Tex Mex/R铆o Grande (great food and service; filet was better than the other cut of steak offered; cheese sticks app. were the best we鈥檝e ever had; interesting 鈥渕argaritas鈥?; and Asian/Shangay at Caribe Club Princess (the beef dish and chicken/broccoli dish were great; fried rice was good; fried ice cream 鈥?AMAZING!!!). The boys ate at Brazilian/Rodizzio at Tropical Princess when the girls ate at Shangay and they said it was OK. One word of advice 鈥?if you go to the Dominican Beach Party on Tuesday night; go early or plan to eat somewhere else and then go to the party later. We went at 9pm and the roasted pig was pretty much gone and the 鈥渃old鈥?salads had been sitting out for hours (I ended up getting a stomachache that night). One thing I tried right before we left that I wish we鈥檇 went to more was the Creperie at the Caribe Club/Tropical Princess. As for drinks 鈥?they鈥檙e all great. If you want top-shelf liquor; just ask for it. I had many blended Absolut vodka/lemonades. The Caribe Club/Tropical Princess lobby bar had tons of top-shelf liquor 鈥?again; just ask. The usual blended fruity drinks are always good (but melt so fast!). Presidente with a lime is always a solid choice too! Nelson at the pool bar was great!Atmosphere 鈥?Our group loved the Anamacion team; especially Jose and Louis!!! They had fun activities/pool games during the day and Friday night was karaoke. They have so much energy 鈥?passing out sangria; organizing games; etc. Nightlife was pretty calm (except for karaoke night). We went to the Caribe Club/Tropical Princess (really 1 big resort) several nights for the Arieto disco and show (Lion King 鈥?surprisingly pretty good!). The lobby bar at Caribe Club/Tropical Princess was also pretty happening. We also went to the Tower Casino one night 鈥?fun atmosphere there! The staff overall at the PCP was EXCELLENT 鈥?so friendly! We never felt that tips were expected; but gave them because of such great service. So; we loved the Punta Cana Princess. The resort itself (grounds; rooms; etc.); atmosphere; staff; food/drinks; etc. 鈥?we could not have asked for more!
313884,shann0n9,06/24/2008,Girls getaway landscape
313884,NYgirl68Ny,06/22/2008,LOVED IT! Don't listen to the bad reviews! I'm a NY girl; I know my stuff! I stayed at this resort from June 14-20th. Let me tell you; this resort was great. Don't listen to the bad reviews of people complaining about the animation team; or the food. These people don't know what their talking about. The animation team is SUPPOST to be loud and get people into a vacation feel. What do you expect? I'm from NY so I'm a picky eater. The food wasn't the best I've ever had; but it wasn't horrible. There was always something I could eat.The grounds are beautiful; and the beach; breath-taking. The people who work there really go out of their way for you. Can we please keep in mind that this is a 3rd world country; so if your not happy with something; chances are it's because your so use to living easy in your home-town. My boyfriend and I visited Manati Park. If your thinking of swimming with Dolphins; that's the place to go. I've been wanting to for so long; however when we went we didn't have enough money on us. (I guess we just have to go back then!)The Fondue place; and Tex-Mex were the best resturants on the resort. The food was great; and the atmosphere was nice. Overall; please don't listen to the bad reviews; these are people who are probably high-strung; and are living in mansions LoL.
313884,Candi1024,06/17/2008,Wonderful time at the Princess! Beach Bed
313884,JBOOGIE1,06/13/2008,Would Visit Again Pool Area
313884,jerseygirl333,06/12/2008,ONCE WAS ENOUGH I am in full agreement with the folks from Atlanta. They could not have described it better. We stayed May 31-June 7 and I was happy to come home. While the beaches and resort are lovely; there is nothing to make up for the inedible food and loud anamation team. It was nice to visit but once was enough. Oh! And the transfers to and from the airport? SCARY!!! Do not trust everyone's wonderful reviews. While the main buffet claims to have theme nights; every time it all looked the same. I don't go away just to eat but I do not want to starve either. ITS BETTER IN THE BAHAMAS!!!
313884,Trendy777,06/09/2008,Ok ;i guess? nice rooms; great ac system.
313884,cel1962,06/07/2008,This place is AWESOME! Don't believe the bad reviews this place is awesome. We just returned from our honeymoon May 30- Jun 6; 2008. I wanted to write a review as soon as I got back. We arrived on a Friday; when we got to the hotel check-in was a breeze. We booked a Platinum package(definately the way to go). The hotels website didn't have any platinum packages available; but we were able to book one on Bookit.com. I am in the food business; so good food is important to me! The food here was good. It's not great and it's not San Francisco or New Orleans; but the food is good. Even finicky eaters will find something they like here. The ala carte restaurants were better than the buffet; generally; but the buffet was good as well. We also got married at the resort. It was a wonderful experience. The staff could not do enough for us! Even when it was raining the day we got married they moved us from the beach to the lobby and made everything great. I can't say enough about the staff at the Punta Cana Princess. One thing we did was take alot of 1's and 5's in US currency and tipped everybody. We were treated like kings. What most Americans don't understand is if you treat people with the respect they deserve in THEIR COUNTRY; they in turn will treat you with courtesy and respect. I have traveled all over the world and the Dominican people are some of the best we've ever encountered. If you want to have a great no stress vacation book the Punta Cana Princess!!!!!!!!!
313884,NewJerseyCzarina,06/02/2008,Do not go. They are running a bait and switch. We booked for adults only; small resort and paid for Platinum VIP service. When we arrived; we were there were no rooms available and they were transferring us to a sister resort. They tried to make it sound like they were upgrading us but we had paid for the upgrade already and did not want to go to a large resort. We personally met 4 other couples that had the same thing happen to them and were also very unhappy. We could not believe it - and that's just the few people we met. Imagine how many others it happened to. When you complain the staff just look at you and say there is nothing they can do. You needed to use a trolley to get around the resort. which is very inconvenient. The housekeeping was not good - once our room still was not cleaned by 5:30 and once by 7:00 pm - both times we had to call for housekeeping. We called for towels 3 times another time; and never got them. Food was OK but certainly not up to the rating. There was supposed to be butler service on the beach; but we never saw anyone the week we were there. Definitely not worth the extra money. We were very unhappy with this resort and would never go back or recommend it to anyone. We have been to 3 other facilities in Punta Cana; and would recommend any of them.We wrote Bookit (who we reserved through) to complain and never got a response. Once they have your money they do not care.
313884,AlexSilva,06/02/2008,Great time in this Hotel - Recomended My wife and I went to this Hotel for our Honeymoon and we loved!!The Hotel is great; the people are very friendly; always smilling; the hotel is always clean; including bedrooms; garden; pool... We are thinking in coming back next year. We recomend the Hotel Punta Cana Princess All Suite Spa resort to everyone who visit The Dominican Republic.
313884,pharmgirl2008,05/31/2008,Great choice for adults-only Resort:The resort was very beautiful and well-maintained. It was laid out very nicely and not a far walk from anywhere. We stayed in Building 5 which is closet to the beach and looks out to the pool. If you like to nap in the room it can get a little noisy around the pool at 3 when the activities group plays games; but we were mostly at the beach so it didnt matter. We went the 1st week of May and the weather was absolutely perfect-it rained for 15 minutes total the first 2 days and that was it.Rooms:We had a platinum suite which i don't think is much different from the other rooms except you have a bottle of rum and cigars in your room upon arrival. Rooms were tidy and maids were great; especially when you tip them. You could tell a little updating was needed; The bathroom showed it the most and we had a mysterious leak by patio doors but it was only during the last couple days. Activity:I loved the fact this resort was adults-only. Having no kids running around the pool or crying at dinner was great. It was very peaceful. If you're coming to do a lot of activities this is more of a laidback setting. The 2 sister resorts had restaurants and a casino if you wanted to go there. Excursions are offered-my boyfriends parents went horseback riding and rode thru the towns to get to the ranch; which was a little scary.Food;We enjoyed the food and didn't get sick at all. We didn't drink the water they pour at dinner; just stuck to beer; soda or juices. The 2 restaurants at the Princess were good-loved the tex-mex one!People: The people who worked there were very nice. Communication was ok if you knew a few spanish words for the maids to understand what you needed (washcloth; soap).Overall it was an enjoyable and relaxing vacation. The first time we went out of the country to vacation-beach is more beatiful than I could describe. The tipping could get to be a little much but that is probably more my fault beause I can be a sucker. I might go back but most likely will try to visit other places
313884,Corri68,05/30/2008,Good value and beautiful resort! Whirlpool at Mini-Spa
313884,emeraldkay,05/30/2008,Punta Cana Princess Paradise!!!! My husband and I went with another couple to Punta Cana Princess. We stayed from May 21-May 28. This was our first time to an all-inclusive resort our first time in the Dominican Republic we absolutely loved it! I did extensive research before we booked this our vacation was worth every penny we spent!AIRPORT:No problem getting through customs. I read that there was a $10 tourist entry fee at the airport; so we were prepared. A guide led us to our VIP Travel services rep we got on an air-conditioned van. Then we were on our way to the resort.CHECK-IN:This went a whole lot smoother than I expected. As soon as we arrived; we were greeted with a cold cloth (which was a break from the heat) and a welcome drink. I requested rooms in building 5 (closest to the beach pool) and our travel agent hooked us up with rooms in building 5; and our friends were in the room next door. ROOMS:Honestly; the rooms could use a decorative update; but we were only in the rooms to sleep change clothes; so it wasn't a big deal. Our king sized bed was very comfortable! I have back problems; and it's hard for me to sleep comfortably in hotel beds; but I never had any back pains the whole time we were there! My husband enjoyed our free cigars and rum in our Platinum room. I liked the stocked mini-fridge (coke; sprite; beer; plenty of water). The maids cleaned our room twice a day we tipped them generously. Never saw a bug in our room.BEACH:This was my favorite part! They brag about the world's best beaches I would have to agree. White sand clear warm waters were wonderful. I really loved the canopy beach beds because you can control how much sun you get.FOOD:We didn't have any problems with the food at all. We ate at all the a la carte restaurants at our resort. We liked the Fondue (get the shrimp appetizer meat variety enree) the Tex Mex (highly recommend the steak; fajitas; ribs) resaurants the best. We ate at the buffet (La Casabe) for breakfast lunch most days. The buffet had more selection for lunch than the beach buffet. We ate at the buffet in the Caribe resort for breakfast once; but it wasn't much different than our resort. We did try the Brazilian restaurant at the Caribe resort; but we weren't impressed. We had all been to Brazil before; and the food in Brazil was much better; plus 3 out of the 4 of us had bad stomach issues the next day.SERVICE:This was one of the main reasons why we chose this resort over others. I read reviews here for months on this resort everyone kept complimenting the service here. We prefer good service over luxury. All the workers greeted you with Hola had a big smile on their faces. They were always busily working to serve the guests (which we rewarded generously with tips). Whatever you wanted; they'd go over and beyond to make sure you got it.BARS:The drinks kept coming. Ask for premium liquor because they have it. The lobby bar was the best out of all of them; but the swim-up bar was cool. We hit the swim-up bar around 4-5PM most days.The Presidente beer with a lime is good. Highly recommend the Coco Loco; Mamajuana (they call it Dominican viagra); Blue Lagoon. OTHER INFO ADVICE:*Bring around $50 in small bills to tip because most workers there work 12hr. days for little money.*Go to the tanning bed (or have somewhat of a tan) before you go. Three of us did we never got burned. Of course; we applied sunscreen every so often too.*Bring SPF 30 and above sunscreen. We did and we didn't get burned; plus we got even better tans.*Bring Febreeze or another air freshener because it can be a little musty in the room sometimes. Keeping the A/C going helps.*Try learning some Spanish before you go. The workers will love to teach you they like it when you speak Spanish to them. They appreciate your effort. It might help to bring a Spanish dictionary.*Drink more water than alcohol. I know that's a given; but especially because it is soooo hot there. Their water is filtered; so it's okay to drink (except the tap in the bathrooms).*Only the Fondue; Tex Mex; Italian restaurants have air-conditioning. The buffet; seafood restaurant; lobby do not have A/C; so keep that in mind.*The resort is adults only. We liked not having kids around. However; some people did go topless; but it wasn't a big deal.If you're thinking about coming to the Punta Cana Princess; I'd highly recommend it! We looked at other resorts talked to others staying at other resorts the Princess sounded the best to us all. For the price service; it was worth it!
313884,col46uk,05/30/2008,loved it our room
313884,Rolop,05/29/2008,Unbelievable Honeymoon Pool Bartender Kelvin
313884,LJR,05/28/2008,Great time at the Princess Our party of 8 stayed at the PCP from May 18th to the 25th. We were all in agreement that the week was a success.Check in was effortless. We were in our rooms and changed within an hour. The suites are good size and adequate for a weeks stay. Glad to have the mini-fridge and coffee maker. Off to a good start!The first sight of the beach and ocean was breathtaking! The sand was so soft. We got a drink at the bar and just took in the clean air and the peace and quiet.Our days were mostly spent at the beach in the a.m. (beach beds way cool) and poolside in the afternoon. We did venture into Bavaro plaza for shopping and found Steves Corner Bar. A must! Some of us did swimming with the dolphins at Manati Park; others did horseback riding; and the Carribean festival. All were enjoyed. Everyone was pleasantly surprised with the food. Alot of choices; as one guest doesn't eat red meat or chicken. Ate breakfast and lunch at Casabe and dinners at different restaurants. (La Cave; Shanghay; Mare Norstrum; Tues. night beach party; Tex Mex.) The only one we wouldn't have gone to again would be the Fondue. It just took way to long.We contacted guest services and had a private table and dinner on the beach for my friends 40th Birthday. It was spectacular. One that she will never forget. The wait staff; maids; guest services; etc. were proffesional and friendly. We had one problem with a dinner reservation; but guest services fixed it in no time. Do bring bug spray. Those buggers loved my sweet blood! I was the only one out of the 8. But I dealt with it and enjoyed the rest of my stay; bites and all!All in all; if we were to return to the DR; the consensus of the 8 of us would be to go back to the PCP!
313884,sms08,05/27/2008,A little piece of Heaven Early May 2008; I was given the wonderful gift of a week long vacation to your Punta Cana Princess Resort. As a first time traveller; I knew nothing of what to expect. I was accompanied by a very good friend my daughter.It was the experience of a lifetime! Beautiful country with beautiful people. Amazing sunshine; beach; ocean; beds on the beach (a must have!) pool. Truly wonderful Resort with exceptional staff; in every area. Loved the food offered at both the buffets the restaurants. Great waiters/waitresses; bartenders housekeeping staff/grounds keepers (so clean!) Staff was always smiling! Enjoyed the Disco Casino. Animation team were fantastic on the beach; around the pool in the lobby. Never a dull moment!The portion of the vacation that I least enjoyed was returning to Canada; leaving your wonderful country; people Resort behind. We will be returning to Punta Cana hope to be bringing new faces along with us. Hope to see you next spring at the Punta Cana Princess Resort! FABULOUS!
313884,HomerandJazz,05/27/2008,WOW we loved it Punta Cana PrincessWe just got back on Sat May -23rd;and loved every minute of it;the reviews we read before the trip could not have been more accurate.First of all the sheer beauty of this place is unbelievable;the grounds are immaculate;and the beach was incredible;more than we had anticipated. We spent alot of time on the beach;always reserved a palapa by getting up early.The food on the resort was excellent;although some people are different than other's;every one has a bad day i guess you could say. Cold beer and pizza and nacho's for lunch;or go to the buffet.Excellent buffet breakfast in the morning;we never missed;the juices are a little sweet. Mare Nostrum was our favourite restaurant;lobster;wine ;beef ;mashed potatoes etc.There are so many things to list;and you problably have read all the other reviews;just go and check it out.Oh and one more thing..there were no bugs in our room;a few people had mosquitoe bites;but nothing to complain about;4000-5000 wings have the best ocean and pool views.DONT BE CHEAP! these people are very polite and helpful and extremely hardworking;tip them.Lobby at night for a good time.Lots of toplessness on the beach;its adult only and it is a mixed bag so dont get upset just go with it.We are going back next year hope we see the same people we met this time.KevBrenOntario
313884,dmcurtis,05/27/2008,Wonderful; Relaxing Vacation Punta Cana Princess Pool and Building Five
313884,aknsa,05/25/2008,Punta Cana Princess; 5/18; 2008 The hotel itself is impressive in decor and spotless. Beautiful grounds; big pool; gorgeous beach with canopy beds waterside.Our room was nice; and a bottle of rum; cigars and basket of fresh fruit were there upon arrival.Maids were very efficient. Small fridge was stocked with Sprite; Coke; beer; and two large water bottles.Beach towels were included; so you did not to bring any.On to the restaurants- You need to make reservations; and can make as many as 3 ahead of time. Tried the Fondue place. Atmosphere was nice an intimate. The food was fair; and it took 2-21/2 hours to finish; due to the long waits for the fondue.Regular drinks are included. We decided to pay for two bottles of wine. While the meal is all included; we left a 20- (US) tip on a 90-tab for the wine. This was met with a rather displeased look by the manager; as if it wasn't enough. That turned me off to the restaurant for the rest of our stay. a 20% tip is generous; especially when tipping is not necessary in an all-inclusive.The Italian restaurant was excellent! The carpaccio; bruschetta; and Tartalle pasta were all delicious. Dessert was delightful; and the cappucino was wonderful.The buffet changes nightly and provides salads; breads; and themed nights for food. A lot of the food was of the greasy type.Pastas can be made to order. The breakfast buffet was quite good with fresh juices; fruits; yogurts; crepes; waffles; ham; bacon; and omelets and eggs made to order.The Mare Nostrum is open 24/7; and the bar next to it as well. The food is ok and standard: appetizers; salads; burgers; fries; pizza; and you can make a panini.BEWARE! You DO need BUG SPRAY! The mosquitos at night can be awful!For great meals; at an additional price; book La Cava and El Pescador at the sister hotel. They are 25- and 32- per person; but well worth it. THE ONLY PROBLEM is getting a shuttle from one hotel to the next. We waited for 45 minutes! This happened frequently; and was quite annoying; as we kept being told 15 minutes.The Disco Arrieta was a lot of fun. Opens at 11 p.m.; and you drink free until midnight. Tower Casino was okay; ask for coupons before you go; to double your bet; or play 10- free.The shops downtown are sketchy. The shops in our hotel are OK. The Caribe had nicer shops.The sting ray and swim with sharks was worth every penny. BUT make sure you eat a good meal and bring snacks. They push the 151 rum; and Mamajawna. You can get drunk real easy. I would also bring your own snorkeling; as they do not clean it well.It was a nice trip; great with a bunch of friends.
313884,joncoope,05/16/2008,Paradise found; what an escape!!! At the Italian joint on the resort.
313884,keith226,05/16/2008,Loved This Place View from our balcony room 4219
313884,bigdaveNewJersey,05/10/2008,Can't get much better. My wife and I are in our 50's and have been to the Islands several times. We just returned from the Punta Cana Princess and rate it as one of the best we have stayed at. We stayed at Sandals in Antigua a few years ago and we weren't as impressed as we were with the Princess. We read some bad reviews about the resort; but after staying there we just don't agree.The staff is what makes the difference. They are hard working; friendly and go out of their way to please the guests. The food was plentiful and good. The grounds are the best we have ever seen. The beach is cleaned twice a day.Don't get me wrong; there were monor problems but nothing to spoil a great vacation. I found we have more complaints regarding some of the guests. We witnessed some of the guests treated the staff like dogs; yelling at them and complaining they didn't speak english; (dah your in their country.) We saw another guest fill a dirty water bottle with juice at the buffet and another walking around the buffet with their fork picking at the food as she went along.In other reviews people complained about the mosquitoes. We found this to be false. If you want to fight a war with mosquitoes come to Ocean county in New Jersey and hang out at dusk on a humid July night.We would highly recommend the Punta Cana Princess to anyone who want to have a great vacation.
313884,naturby,05/09/2008,Great Stay Just return last night May 8; 08; from a 6 day stay here and overall it was an excellent break. If you want to relax just lay by the pool or on the beach this is the place; if you want to party and all that try another resort. They do have exchange privileges with some of their other properties that have a casino and disco; so you can always go there to get your party on.FoodAverage; it will get you through.PropertyNice and CleanRoomNice - top floor has vault ceiling; nice touch when it rains.StaffVery helpful
313884,AlisAngel,05/07/2008,Didn't Exceed Expectations My husband and I went to the Dominican Republic as part of a larger vacation (we stayed in Florida for a few days prior and a day after our Dominican trip). We chose the Dominican because it was reasonably priced and was easy to travel to from the Florida area. We chose the Princess Punta Cana resort because it was an Adult Only All-Inclusive resort and had favorable reviews on the site.Accommodations: We stayed in a top floor suite and the room was beautiful. The high ceilings and large daybed were nice surprises. Housekeeping was not exceptional; everything seem to be done in stages and began early in the morning so after the first day we did not get new towels and were left without washcloths for the remainder of our stay (the towel person came knocking before we got of bed in the morning so we always had to turn her away). The in-room mini-bar was limited - two bottles of pop; two beers and two bottles of water all restocked daily and one bottle of local whiskey.Amenities: Pool was very nice; kept at a comfortable temperature and the swim up bar is always great. However; there were a limited number of chairs; daybeds; and tiki huts which all filled up by early morning. There was a rule about not saving spaces but who wants to get into a fight with someone over a chair when you are confined to the resort space with them for the next few days? The beachside huts and daybeds; when available; were fantastic. Huts were especially nice when it rained all day 鈥?allowed us to be outside but kept us dry. And surprisingly all of the nightlife activities were next door at the family resort so this resort was very quiet after dinner.Service: I have to admit that the service was below my expectations. I have previously stayed at all-inclusive resorts (Sandals begin the most recent) and resort staff is generally exceptional. One thing I was not happy with was tipping for everything was expected and didn鈥檛 seem appreciated. Also; while US $ was the standard in the resort; the resort staff was very limited in their English language skills. I have generally had a feeling of pampering when I stay at all-inclusive resorts and here I felt like I was intruding most of the time.Food Beverage: Definitely edible; I certainly didn鈥檛 starve during my stay. The fondue restaurant was fun and it was nice to have options outside of buffets. I was disappointed in the 鈥減remium鈥?shelf liquor. As a VIP guest we were suppose to have access to the premium liquors however it was difficult to find any. I think they keep any name-brand liquors hidden in cabinets at the bars and you have to ask specifically for them when ordering drinks.Overall; the trip was very nice; the island was gorgeous; the resort was satisfactory and beaches were great.
313884,RyleyNS,04/30/2008,Great trip but not perfect My husband and I along with two other couples traveled to the Punta Cana Princess the beginning of April 2008. Overall I have to say we really enjoyed this resort; however we did have some problems. This may be a bit long but bare with me; hopefully it will give a good honest review.Flight - We travelled down with the Regency Club through Air Transat. Flight was fine. It was very early in the morning and a bit cramped but I guess that is to be expected on these kinds of airlines. Bus to the resort was actually a lot of fun. Check in - Check in on the other hand did not go so well. If you go here and have someone by the name of Solomon serve you at the front desk wait for someone else. He was rude and just overall a jerk. We had requested to be in the same building as our friends and we had also requested king beds. They had us in separate buildings in two double beds. Also we had been told that Regency Club guests were in either building 4 or 5. This is not the case. You only get in building 5 if you specifically book an oceanview room; which was not offered to us at the time of booking. However if you kick up enough of a stink and maybe throw in a few tears they are pretty quick to try to accomodate you. They were not able to do anything for us the first night but asked us to come down the next morning and they would move us which they did. We also waited a long time for our luggage to arrive at our room got fed up and finally went and got our own. So once we were all situated in our final rooms for the week everything went much better.Rooms - We ended up in a king room in building 1. I was a little concerned about this but actually the room we were in was really nice. We were in 1009. It was very spacious and very clean. The bed was surprisingly comfortable and the shower had good pressure. May seem trivial to some but I like a shower with pressure. The rooms do however have a smell to them. Not a bad smell but I was wishing I had brought a scented candle or some room spray. I did brew some coffee and that helped. It is almost an over air conditioned smell or something but not so bad that it bothered you.Resort - The resort itself was beautiful. The grounds were so well kept and everything was clean. The pool was really nice with a swim up bar. We really didn't have much trouble finding a lounge chair but if you want a bed you had better plan to be out early; like 6-6:30 am. We really didn't care and really didn't want to get up that early so we just took what we could find. Although you are not suppose to; everyone does reserve with towels and books.A la Carte Restaurants - We ate at all of the a la cartes with the exception of Mare Nostrum in the evening. We really enjoyed La Petite Fondue. The Tex Mex Steakhouse was good as well. The Italian was OK for the main dishes but the starters they bring are delicious. We also tried two restauarants over at the other resort. We ate at the Mexican which again was good and the Chinese which I think was my favourite. The starters there were excellent as well and I really enjoyed my curry chicken dish. However we had two who had the pork and did not enjoy it and one who had the beef and said it wasn't very good either.Buffet - We ate primarily at the main buffet up by the lobby for breakfast and we alternated between there and the Mare Nostrum for lunch. The selection is better at the main buffet but I did enjoy the nachos and pizza down by the beach. The Mare Nostrum also had one of our favourite waiters; Sarapio. Another great person was Santa. We ate at the buffet one night and it was fine. You really don't go to an all inclusive for the food.I guess that is about it. Overall we really enjoyed our stay at the Punta Cana Princess. It was relaxing and quiet. The fact that it was adults only was a real bonus as we were there for a relaxing take it easy kind of time. Now I will warn that this is not a party resort. There isn't much in the way of night life. There were activities in the lobby at night that we went to but at the end of the day we were so exhausted we really weren't all that interested in night life. There is however a disco on the other resort you can go to if you want a party. So if you are looking to just kick back and relax in a quiet surrounding definitely consider this resort.
313884,Willy899,04/24/2008,2 Weeks at the Punta Cana Princess We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess From April 7 to April 21 and our stay at the resort was for the most part enjoyable.This is a lovely well kept resort . The grounds are perfect and the pool and beach are spectacular. This resort seems to be maintained better than its two sister resorts next door.We found the food to be better than most resorts we have visited ( 4th time to the DR) and there were always lots of choice at the buffett each night. We ate at 4 of the restaurants are they were all good - Steak house; mexican; fondue and italian. The restaurants on the resort don't take reservations so you need to show up early (before 7PM) or you could be in for a long wait. The restaurants of the sister resorts next door need to be reserved and I like this better as you know there will be a table available for you.This is a very quiet resort with little night life - after 10PM everybody is gone to bed; Perfect if this is what you want but don't expect it to be party central. You can go next door to see a show or go to the disco (only has free drinks from 11-12) if you want a bit more nightlife.I had a few issues with trying to get a place to lie down at the beach or pool. People are up as early as 5:30 reserving their chairs and by 8;00 there is nothing left. Hotel policy says this is not allowed but everyone including the staff ignores this. They really could use more loungers on both the pool and beach areas.Service at the buffett is good but there were times that it seems the staff were overworked and it was difficult to get a second glass of wine or water.The biggest issue I had was with fly bites. The first week we were there it was windy day and night and we had a few bites despite wearing repellant every day. On our second week the wind died down and we were literally eaten alive. I was getting 3 or 4 new bites each day and the old bites would not heal. It came to the point I did not want to go out after dark as I could not handle getting any new bites. There were not Mosquitoes but very small flies that had a huge bite and did not seem to know that DEET was not the main course for their dinner..This resort and its two sisters resorts are surrounded by a huge swamp that is the perfect breeding ground for these pesky bugs. Their were alot of people complaining about this on our trip home. For this reason I would not return to this resort as the bites were very painful - enough that I could not sleep at night. The bites on my arms became infected and I am now taking antibiotics 4 a day for 10 days to clear this up.They really need to deal with this issue if they want people to return.
313884,TwoBlondSisters,04/23/2008,Great Resort; So Much Fun!! My sister and I went to this resort for our annual Mommies Vacation from March 28th to April 4th; 2008. We have been away every year for the last ten years to many different tropical resorts. This resort was definitely our favourite to date. The front desk staff were very friendly and accomodating. Our first room was on the main floor and we really did not want to be on the ground floor. When we went to speak with the front desk -Julio - a very handsome man - happily changed our room to a third floor room. The room was incredible. We had wonderful views of both the pool and the ocean. The room service is fantastic. I don't see many people mentioning it but it is available 24 hours a day and they deliver your order very promptly. (I really liked the salads on the room service menu - I acutally found them to be better than the salad at the buffet. ) The staff at the resort are by far the nicest I have ever encountered at a resort. All of them SMILE constantly and are very pleasant and try very hard to speak English with you. The bartenders are very nice - but I did find that they do not serve the international brands of liquor and beer unless you ask for it and it gets kind of tiring to always have to ask when you go to order a drink. The bars all close at midnight except for the beach bar and they do not budge on this. A group of us were in the lobby one night and they would not serve anyone a drink after 12:00. This is not a complaint - they still have one bar open 24 hours - but when you are enjoying yourselves in the lobby - it is a pain to walk all the way to the beach bar to get drinks. The animation staff are really this nicest I have ever met. Jesus; Jose and the rest of the animation team are very pleasant and try really hard. It was the perfect balance for me because I don't really care to get all involved when I am away - there is just enough to do and they are not in your face all day trying to get you to do things you don't want to do. (My sister; on the other hand; loves to participate and managed to keep herself busy all week joining in most of the organized activities!) I could go on and on about this fabulous resort. We met so many incredible people who will remember and think of often. Thanks again to everyone at the PCP and all the great people we met who made this a trip to remember!
313884,ChrisHickson,04/23/2008,A great place to disconnect! Bath Room PCP
313884,drea68,04/13/2008,Fantastic vacation at a fantastic resort My husband and I just returned April 11/08 from a glorious week at the Punta Cana Princess. This resort is amazing; we have absolutely nothing negative to say about it. I won't go into detail as the other reviews have pretty much covered everything. The resort is beautiful; well maintained; impeccable grounds. The beach is awesome; white sand; turqoise water. Everything is very clean; the pool deck is scrubbed every morning. Our room was always cleaned well everyday. The food was great in all the restaurants. The staff at all restaurants and bars were great; especially at the Mare Nostrum; which serves breakfast and lunch and then turns into the seafood restaurant at night. Would highly recommend this restaurant for a nice seafood dinner. We can't say enough about it. We religiously checked the reviews before we booked our vacation and even afterwards; and all that was said in the positive reviews is 110% true. It's a great resort to go to if you want to relax and unwind. There is not a lot of partying going on; you can get that at the Caribe and Tropical Princess next door to this resort. We found that people liked to get up really early; 6:00a.m.; and reserve the palapas around the pool and the beach so.....if you're an early bird; we would highly recommend doing this; if not; chances are you will still find chairs or a bed. Bring mosquito repellant as there are quite a few in the lobby which is where the nightly entertainment takes place and people congregate at night to chat and have a few drinks. Ask for Emilio at the lobby bar; he will treat you well. Check it out for yourselves; you won't be disappointed. We would definetly go back to this resort.
313884,baseballgus,04/11/2008,Loved the Special Attention at the PCP Store by the lobby area
313884,Forester123,04/10/2008,Your welcome to use our room the other 49 weeks but in March it's ours The Grounds
313884,xinfinity,04/08/2008,Better than expected A couple friends and I stayed at Princess for a week in February 2008. I've been to a few all inclusive resorts in the last few years and this was my first time in DR. Punta Cana is a very developed tourist area and there were many resorts to choose from. I found it difficult to narrow down my choices; but ultimately it was the recommendations from TripAdvisor and the cost that helped me decide on Princess.The reviews I read all had good things to say about the resort and I don't recall anything bad standing out in my mind.With that being said; I was somewhat worried about whether everything would run smoothly. Because there were three of us staying in one room I was worried about whether we would get a room with the right number of beds; towels; etc. I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find that; yes indeed; there were enough towels in our room. Sometimes it's the little details like that that make the difference between relaxation and stress.I wanted to write this review to point out that I feel Princess is well run. There always seemed to be help available; seating at restaurants; chairs around the pool; etc. The grounds were well maintained; the staff were friendly; and many staff made an effort to get to know us. I had a less than ideal experience with food in Cuba; but I found the food at Princess surprisingly good; especially the lobster tail one night.A final note about the resort. My friends and I range from 26-33 and while we found the resort to be an older crowd (adults only); we enjoyed the quiet; relaxing aspect of the resort. There were fun activities available; but what was great was that we had access to the two neighbouring resorts where the guests were noticeably younger and more interested in partying.
313884,deaconkls,04/08/2008,rest and relaxation Sunbathing huts on the beach
313884,HollywoodPaul,04/07/2008,We Loved It!!! These beds are wonderful.
313884,domdom56,04/02/2008,loved the PCP room 4112
313884,aquapoolco,03/31/2008,Great Resort My husband and I spent our 10th anniversary at this resort. We booked the Platinum Package through Vacations To Go which I recommend. We go somewhere twice a year; always all inclusive Caribbean and Mexico; so we are familiar with what to expect. Other that one minor thing this was a great resort. I would rate this a solid 4; maybe 4 1/2 out of 5.First the bad:When we got to the resort we were told it was our lucky day we were being upgraded to a Honeymoon Suite. When we booked I requested a regular room in Bldg. 5 by the beach. We were given a room in Bldg. 3. It is the building farthest from the beach and the room was on the top floor at the far end. I wasn't happy about the location but the view was AWFUL! We were overlooking the resort dump. Broken palapas; etc. The room was done in all white with a balcony and whirlpool bath. Being all white; it showed every scuff. It could have used a paint job. The next morning we switched to a room in Bldg 1. This was a regular room but was MUCH nicer. The front desk was nice about the switch.The good:Everything else. The grounds are very pretty. The pool is really nice; although a little cool for my taste. Wonderful pool beds and beach beds and palapas. Great beach. Lots of chairs.The food was about what you expect at an AI. The buffet was pretty good. The Italian restaurant had good food but the service was slower than most. The steak house was ok too. We really liked the fondue place. The seafood restaurant by the beach was very good. Excellent ceviche! We also booked a beach dinner on our anniversary. I was overwhelmed! I expected a table on the sand and maybe a tiki torch or something. We had a table in the pergola outside the seafood restaurant. The beach was lined with palm fronds; fig leaves; flowers forming a pathway to the pergola. They took our arms and escorted us to our table while humming the wedding march. We were served 2 different wines plus a bottle of champagne. Had a 5 course meal with dessert. They really went out of their way to make our evening special. We were given printed menus to take with us; they took pictures for us; 3 waiters served us. All this for $50 US !!! Worth 3x that.The people in DR are fantastic. They are the friendliest; happiest; most helpful people we have encountered. They genuinely love tourists. Please understand that these people live off of their tips; not their salary. Even though tipping is included in the package we always take $100 -$150 in $1's and $5's. Let's face it. 1. The service is always better when you tip 2. They really need it and work their backsides off for it and 3. If you can afford the trip; you can afford the tips.For anyone contemplating DR or Punta Cana Princess; you won't go wrong with either.One tip: Watch out for the Mamajuana! It tastes pretty good; and a shot or two is fine. Just don't drink too much of it because it will give you the WORST heartburn you've ever had the next day. (Normally we never have it.)Also if you want to take it home make sure that it is in a bottle. Don't buy the stuff in the plastic bags - they confiscate it at the airport! We found out the hard way.
313884,Onemarmot,03/29/2008,Do Not Stay Here! They Steal!!! It saddens me to write this report; as our vacation was great. HOWEVER; while my luggage was in the Punta Cana Princess' secured luggage lock-up for the day; my video ipod was stolen. Not my passport or money; but my ipod. The hotel is refusing to take responsibility for the theft and will not file a stolen property report in order for me to get compensation. Please be wary in trusting this hotel with anything.
313884,Sasa27,03/28/2008,No point going anywhere else but here!!! Dominican Night on the beach
313884,CanadianSue33,03/25/2008,A little slice of heaven! Paradise My boyfriend and I stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from March 6-13; 2008. The hotel is magnificent and we have never experienced such incredible service before. The front desk staff were very helpful and the housekeepers kept our room amazingly clean; never a bug in sight. The beds were comfortable and the room was always nice and cool. The grounds of the hotel were always kept in beautiful condition.We had full access to the sister resorts next door and you could either walk or take a golf cart. Those resorts were beaituful too and we also had access to the casino which was quite fun too.The beach is breathtaking; absolutely spectacular. The ocean is so warm; we found it warmer than the pool. The weather was fantastic. I had checked the weather before we left Canada and was worried because it said partly couldy and showers everyday that we were supposed to be there. Well...partly cloudy meant the odd cloud here and there and rain showers lasted about 2 minutes and then the sun was out again. It was HOT HOT HOT. It was only about 31 celcius but felt like 40 when you were away from the beach and didn't get the lovely breeze off the ocean.The service on the beach is great too; especially if you tip the server a dollar or two! He kept our drinks topped up all day :)The food was ok; the buffet was good and the steakhouse was great. The seafood restaurant was alright; but was a little disappointed with the lobster.The animation staff was great; always trying to get you involved in their activities but didn't pressure you. If you said no; they moved on to the next guest.No children...ahhhh! Bliss! This is one of the best features of the resort!!!The excursions were fantastic. We went on the ATV tour and snorkeling tour. Both half day excursions and they were well worth the money. Especially the ATV tour.I highly recommend this resort for honeymoon or couples looking for a romantic getaway.
313884,rtgaway,03/25/2008,Perfectly Pleased! My husband and I stayed at the PCP for the first two weeks in March and all I can say is that we'd go back again next month if we could! We've travelled extensively all over the Caribbean and have never experienced an all-inclusive and were somewhat apprehensive as to what we'd encounter even though most of the reviews we'd read were positive.First of all; let me say that the hotel staff is the most hospitable; helpful; friendly and accomodating group of people we've ever met. From the moment we arrived (two hours ahead of check-in) until the minute we left it was very obvious that EVERY maid; bartender; waiter; waitress; groundskeeper; maintenance man; guest service representative; etc. had one goal in mind and that was to make sure their guests were satisfied; they did an outstanding job (even when often times faced with a language barrier!)!The food was surprisingly good. Granted; it's not gourmet cuisine but the buffet strived to offer a large variety and the a la carte restaurants were a nice option. The salads and fruits were as fresh as could be and the desserts were amazing. We visited La Cava and Momma Mia's next door and would highly recommend both. Overall; out of the l4 days we were there we were only disappointed in maybe three of our meals (including breakfast and lunch). We never were hungry; we never got sick to our stomach and we never had to ask for a refill for whatever we were drinking; we enjoyed the service immensely!The grounds at the PCP are beautiful and maintained to perfection. The beach is gorgeous; with just enough breeze to make you feel comfortable. The sun beds are awesome and a welcome relief from the chaises; we never had a problem with having to be the first one to the beach to get either - there were plenty for everyone (be careful with those chaises; though; a couple were broken and are probably still there!). If you enjoy walking; I would encourage you to go out on the beach to your left; when you get to the flea market the view is breathtaking and that stretch of beach is magnificent.The rooms at the PCP are spotless; spacious and extremely comfortable. I especially liked the double sinks in the bathroom; as well as the outstanding water pressure. The towels were not the most plush but they were clean and plentiful. Our king-sized bed was super; my husband didn't snore for two weeks! We were also impressed that out mini fridge was replenished daily;along with our coffee; again; the service was superb!The entertainment; better known as the Animacion Team; was certainly not Broadway or even cruise quality. They provided a tremendous amount of fun; however; and encouraged everybody to participate; day or night. If you're looking for a lot of night life; I'd suggest checking out another resort or possibly going to the outside theater next door; the Casino or the Disco.Make sure to experience a massage or two in the Spa or on the beach; you'll want to pack your masseuse in your suitcase! We couldn't believe it was possible to be that relaxed!!Our vacation at PCP was truly one of the most enjoyable ones we've ever had; we met some really neat people from Canada; we had l4 days of perfect weather and the hotel was l00% to our satisfaction - who could ask for more?! !!
313884,Fredericton81,03/24/2008,Awesome!!!!! Hello All;All right; better late than never!!!! I have been meaning to post this for a month and I am finally getting around to it. It has been on my conscience because I read every word of every review every posted on this resort and feel I could bring something to others looking for some info. Im going to do this a little different than prev reviews cause it does get somewhat repetitive. Here we go. Food awesome. Service awesome. Room awesome. Resort awesome. Get the idea? It really is great all around. Now that that is out of the way here are a few less published facts and tips.You do not need a power adaptor. We bought one and didn鈥檛 need it. All of our stuff (hair dryer; camera; laptop etc. all worked off the electrical plugs in the room.Laptop does fit in the safe. I have a Gateway 2 yrs old and not small by any means. If you have a normal size laptop it should fit fine. No concerns with bringing it. Resort felt very safe. Safe if free also.Learn a little Spanish or get a pocket Spanish-English dictionary. The girls were all about this before we left and I though it was a waste of time. But at 3pm when you are all drunk trying to explain something to your new best friend the bartender; It is almost impossible. We ended up drawing pictures and using hand gestures to figure out that Andy lives in Santa Domingo; and is going home in a couple days to see his son and wife.Tipping is something you always hear about. Everyone asking to please tip cause they are soooo poor. Here is my take. The same people get all the tip money. The same bartenders; all the maids; and serving staff. We tipped very well to everyone; but in retrospect I wish we had of given a larger percentage to the people that don鈥檛 see allot of tip. (the gardener; busboy and the less traffic bars.) I really believe that the maids and popular bar tenders do a great job and deserve a good tip; but these people are really coining it. I bet you that they make up to 10 times there salary in tips. The guy that keeps the grounds in such beautiful shape may see a tip a week. Do as you please that is just my take.Premium drinks are hiding. If you get in with the bartenders; you will drink like a king all week. A good tip early; and some conversation with the bar tender go a long way. World famous Nelson at the pool bar is really great. Everyday; all day; I was at the pool bar and we had a great relationship. When I would walk by the bar on the way to the beach or somewhere and I would hear a whistle from 200 yrds away. Look over and there is Nelson arms in the air as if to say 鈥渨here do you think you are going; get over here and have a drink with me.鈥?As soon as my toes hit the pool Nelson had a big smile a wave and my drink was started while 3 others were waiting to order a drink. If the bartender likes you; you don鈥檛 have to ask for the good stuff. You just get it!!! Lots and Lots of BOOBS!!!!! Like it or not; I don鈥檛 care; but there is no way around it. I think it has something to do with adults only resort. The good; the Bad and the Ugly!!! From 18yrs old to 70 yrs old. Some really beautiful girls too!!! Sorry honey. A la Carte鈥檚 no reservation and unlimited visits. This is a real bonus. You could literally eat at all 4 every night. Grab a group of new friends and visit the Fondu restaurant. It was great.Drink water not just booze!!! One of our group got dehydrated and passed out. Off to the medical center on the resort (which is as good as any clinic in Canada!!!!) Into an ambulance (which is not a donkey and wagon) and off to the hospital; I.V. in arm. They said the hospital and service was world class. $1600 later she will drink more water next time. Luckily she had insurance through work.This is starting to drag on. I鈥檒l end this now. Hope this helps. Hello to all our new friend鈥ou know who you are. Hope to see you all at the weddings next yr. JB
313884,ChelseaRae,03/23/2008,Relaxation At The Spa....... Beautiful Beaches Everywhere
313884,PCPfirsttime,03/20/2008,It was great... This was our first visit to Punta Cana and hopefully not the last..we read all the reviews on the PCP and would say that they were very accurate. The hotel is quiet; small resort so very easy to get around; minimal walking distance to all services. The beaches were beautiful; lots of opportunities for long walks. Pool was great; swim up bar staffed with friendly courteous staff; very helpful. Rooms were clean and housekepping staff always had the room cleaned in a timely manner. Turn down service at night was a nice added touch. Hotel is appearing a little older; but still in very nice condition. Checkin and checkout were uneventful. Front desk staff were helpful and friendly. The restaurants were accesible but men did have to wear long pants. No reservations were required so that was also nice; as you could decide to go at the last minute and were accomodated. Buffett was good; lots of variety; different theme each night although some food was available every night..so you could stick to a specific preference if you liked. Desserts could have used a bit of variety..these seemed to be the same always..lots to choose from though so something for everyone. The beach grill was great for breakfast; fresh omeletts and great toast...less congested and right by the ocean so was nice to have breakfast there..very casual as well. Santa was a great waitress...Entertainment was ok; the Animation team tried very hard to get folks involved although there was not a lot of variety; there were disco's and other stage entertainment at the adjoing hotel so you could find a bit more action if you wanted. This is a great place to go if you want to relax; and stay fairly low key..a great vacation. We visited the casino and it was a lot of fun..they have a disco there as well that starts at about 11 at night...looked like a lot of fun. The shuttle was great to go back and forth on..took about 10 minutes and the wait was not too long. The Catermeran half day trip to snorkel and swim with the sharks and sting rays was great..the staff on the boat were full of energy and made it a lot of fun. It was certainly a good time; lots of rum and dancing...If you snorkel make sure to go to the Advanced side as the Beginners side does not have a lot to see. Advanced side was great..and it does not matter if you are new at the game...Try not to forget any essentials at home because they are very expensive on the resort and that is really the only place to purchase items..sunscreen; advil; cough medicine etc. Markets on the beach were ok and they do barter; but it was things like cigars; clothes; paintings; carvings..rum. vanilla; coffee...Cigars in the hotel store were just as reasonable. We did go to Nicoles jewellery store in town and it was small but had something in most price ranges...we were told by the travel rep it was a safe place to buy authentic jewellery and not get ripped off...we did buy some..This is a beautiful place to visit; the resort was very clean and the staff super friendly...made our first visit very enjoyable..
313884,lamb57,03/18/2008,Great for couples!!! We just returned after a relaxing week at this very nice resort.We were there from the 3-10 of March 08.The grounds; rooms and restaurants were very clean!The bathrooms need to be updated.We had a bad experience at the sister resort next door at the entrance to the Disco didn't feel safe there. Stay for the entertainment at the Princess and you will be happy.The entertainment staff is great.Although we enjoyed it we liked the Excellence Resort up the beach that we stayed in last year better. They are opening a Palace Resort in the fall Moon Palace Punta Cana. I will try this one next as we always stay in the Palace resorts in Mexico they are wonderful!Palace and Sandals are still # 1 in our books.Hope this helps.
313884,curamala,03/18/2008,Amazing Vacation overall I just returned last night from a glorious week at the Bavaro Princess in Punta Cana; Dominican. There was four of us; me; my husband; my son (11) and his friend (12). I don't know what people are talking about when they bash this resort. We had a wonderful vacation. The resort is absolutely beautiful; the grounds are very neat and well kept; the rooms are spacious; clean and cozy ; the food is good (there is always something to eat).and the people that work there are very friendly. We went to cuba last year and my son's stomach did not do very well. At the Bavaro Princess he had absolutely no stomach problems!!!!!!!The two boys had a blast playing soccer; basketball; pingpong; shuffleboard; swimming; pool; and fooseball. We didn't see them at all during the day. At night they have a kids show at 8 and an adult one at 10:00p.m. in the main lobby.Our favourite restaurant was the Japanese Restaurant. It was an amazing experience and the food was amazing!!!! The one we didn't care for was Bella Pasta. The food was okay. Other than that all the other ones were great.We will definitely come back again!!!!
313884,CaribeandCanada,03/17/2008,Great beach; great staff and food; Quiet (that's OK though) Phil and JackieOntario; CanadaJust got back from 14 days at the Punta Cana Princess. It was great; maybe a 4 or 4 1/2 star... would not give it 5 only because it doesn't have an exotic pool and fantastic entertainment. We've been to Cuba(2); CostaRica; Cancun; Panama(2); Aruba; Barbados; St.Martin; Florida (5) and we're in our mid 50s. We're fussy about safe food; not musty rooms and gotta have shade without fighting over it.Bottom line:CLEAN; SAFE FOOD and GOOD FOOD; QUIET; lots of shade; Great Staff.-great beach that's cleaned every morning and has lots of palapas (don't have to get up at sunrise to reserve one)- very clean and orderly (just the way baby boomers like it)- halls; pool area and rooms cleaned AND RINSED every day... wow.... your feet don't get black like other places we've been-staff is great... about the best we've come across.... no complaints at all... only saw 1 waiter look a bit disgruntled one time.... not bad for 2 weeks-quiet place where everyone pretty well respected your privacy... if you are bunch of rowdy 20 yr olds looking to party-on all night; try some other place.... this place is a bit classier than that.. there were lots of young people but also lots of us more senior (50s) and older.... a good mix -FOOD - ranged from good to VERY GOOD and maybe even excellent at times. Most of the time I would say very good and VERY SAFE... that's a big deal !! We were pleasantly surprised since our daughter had gone to some other place 1 mile south a few weeks earlier and 28 of the group of 30 got really sick. So we came down expecting to only eat bananas and drink bottled beer. After about 4 days we were eating everything and no problems at all. Everything is fresh; spotless; as tasty as you want.. Ate almost all meals at the ala cartes without 1 lineup. Had to wait 2 minutes 1 night for them to set a table at the fondue place... Good variety... the odd meal was only just good but believe me; it was SAFE. Drank the water at the restaurants after seeing that my wife drank it for days and was OK ( I use her as my food tester then I wait for 2 days.... just kiddin). Sure; if you see lunch meat that may have been out for a while; I would stay away from it. That goes for anywhere. Really it's good food... some interesting items on the menus and you can go back as often as you want (I think.... well; we did). After 14 days we still had not exhausted the menus......close though. So I would recommend the Princess.... it's small; quiet and perfect for couples and small groups... lots of interesting European clients to give the place a nice flair. One word of caution (oh yes; there has to be one) is that ground floor rooms tend to be musty; but that's the case everywhere in the Caribbean and Central America... you can't get away from it on the ground floor. Get the 2nd or 3rd floor. We changed from ground to 2nd floor (no problem) and it was fine. The best buildings are 5; then 4 ; then 3. Building 1 or 2 we did not care for too much. See other reviews for excursions; parasailing; details of restuarants; photos; etc ... I think I've given you the bottom line on this very nice place..... ENJOY.
313884,kellchooch,03/12/2008,A little slice of Paradise! cool sculptures
313884,SandraDW,03/11/2008,Beautiful Beach; Mediocre Food Buffet Restaurant
313884,GraceRDH,03/08/2008,Beautiful Hotel in Punta Cana lobster dinner at La Cava
313884,reh012,03/07/2008,Can sum it up in one word...Paradise We stayed at PC Princess from 2-27 thru 3-5 2008 and adored the resort. The Amimacion Staff was wonderful...Danny; Andre; Selena and Katrina made each day and evening fun filled with activities. We got involved in almost every activity they put together throughout the day and in the evenings. I would advise anyone to join in when they ask for volunteers and if you don't join in...get front row seats and be prepared to laugh.The restaurants were great. We really enjoyed the food at Tex-Mex. The Margaritas are also very good there. Le Petite Fondue was excellent and I advise not waiting till the last night to go there because you'll wish you had gone at the beginning so you could have gone back for more! The beach area and the pool area were clean and tidy. We never had a problem finding somewhere to lay out in the sun or rest in the shade. We did do an excursion to Saona Island and it was a great trip. Bring lots of sunscreen because you don't feel yourself burning. Although the bus ride to get there was long; it was worth it once you got on the catamaran and headed out to the Caribbean Sea. Our only bad experience was our deep sea fishing excursion. We booked through the resort and the company was Gone Fishing. The fumes from our boat caused severe illness/carbon monoxide poisoning. It was a terrible adventure and I would not recommend that trip to anyone. We had 8 foot swells and in the 4 hour trip only 1 fish caught the line. It was an expensive trip and not at all worth the $100 per person. We heard the Safari Trip would have been much more worth the money we spent. Overall I would say our trip was excellent. I would return in a second if I could.
313884,Davidsonjt,03/05/2008,Nice Adults Only resort My husband and I stayed at the Punta Cana Princess - Regency Package - January 7-14. We have been to a number of all-inclusive resorts throughout the Caribbean; including two Sandals resorts. This was my second time to Punta Cana; but my husband's first trip.When we first arrived we were surprised at how small a group we were - because the hotel has only 270 rooms (or so; I think); when we got off the plane there only was us and two other people destined for the hotel! We are used to be part of a huge group that is herded onto a large bus...then when they drop you off; it takes forever to check in! It was nice that we were only two groups - check in was a breeze; and then we were off to enjoy the day.Our room was great - decorated with flowers; and included beer/water/coke/sprite as well as bottles of rum/vodka/rye. This was probably the largest room we have ever stayed in; and thought it was great - lots of hot water; drawer space; electronic safe included. We tipped our maid with a few dollars and little shampoo/perfume samples every couple days; and she was great.The beach and pool were highlights. We never had a problem getting a pool or beach chair; or a beach bed (included in the Regency package). Towels were normally in our room courtesy of the maid (Regency package); so we never had to go get them. The one time that the maid forgot; though; the towel service were out of clean towels; so we had to wait a while. No big deal. The beach is beautiful and the water is warm. The pool bar is great - try the Mamajuana - it is the local drink - made with rum/wine and and herbs marinated altogether. The locals say that if a man and woman have two shots each; each night they will have a long and happy marriage (no doubt!)The grounds are beautifully kept; and everything is quite clean.The food was not the greatest though - the buffet is okay - we could find something to eat; but I wouldn't say it was delicious. The Steak House Rio Grande was the best meal of the week. My husband said he wished we could eat there every day (but it is closed weekends; and normally full). The Mexican was good; and the Italian places; Chinese; and Swiss Fondue were fine too; but nothing to write home about. Overall; the a la cartes were much better than the buffet. We aren't seafood eaters; so did not try those a la cartes; nor did we try the Brazilian. La Cava costs an extra $25 per person; and I was not willing to fork out additional money. Neither of us were sick; and we gained a few pounds (as one should when on vacation and at an all-inclusive); so all-in-all; not too bad.At lunch we ate at the buffet mostly - the restaurant on the beach would have a smaller version of what was in the buffet; but if you waited until 4pm; they serve really good sandwiches...only works if you book a late dinner though!!We did go over to the partner resorts - Caribe and Tropical; and they were a little bigger; but filled with kids. They do seem to have a better selection of fruit at the buffet; though. A negative point was our Air Transat rep Sonia. When we arrived we were told to meet our rep in the lobby the following morning for the standard briefing on the hotel/tours/etc. We showed up early; and the rep was no where to be found. There was also another couple waiting to hear the presentation. We asked the front desk if they could call; which they did....the Air Transat office indicated that the front desk should try Sonia directly; as she was supposed to be there. The front desk did so; and there was no answer....we waited around a little bit; and then left. The following morning we ventured to the lobby again; and the rep; Sonia was there. We made a comment regarding the previous morning and how we were waiting for the presentation - she quipped it was my day off. Oh - we didn't know - we were told to meet you....we asked if we could hear the presentation - I just finished it. No offer of apology for the inconvenience; no effort to tell us when the next pr! esentation was or if she could help us in any way. My husband ended up booking a tee time through her; but we didn't book anything else as she was terrible to deal with. The other couple we had met talked with her a few times about a possible outing - something they always have done while on vacation; and really wanted to this trip; but was so turned off by Sonia's negative attitude and lack of help; that they didn't. Hopefully you don't have an experience like this.We tried the casino - not the greatest - they have black jack; craps; roulette; caribbean poker. They also have a texas hold'em table - buy in minimum $200 up to $1000. Wouldn't waste your money there.Another disappointing thing is that there is only one hot tub; and it closes at 5pm. 5pm is when I would actually start wanting to go in the hot tub! As a result; we never tried it out.At the end my husband said that he would never pay Sandals prices again; as this resort was more than adequate; but I would - the food for me was fine - but if you pay the Sandals prices you get GREAT food; not just okay food. Besides that; everything was perfect.
313884,Bughater,03/03/2008,Mosquitoes!!! Punta Cana had the most beautiful beach I have ever seen and miles of it! The weather was amazing and the beds at this resort were extremely unique and fun to suntan and read on. The beds were both on the beach and around the pool which was very nice if it was too windy near the beach you had the option to move near the pool.The food at the a la carte restaruants was great....if you can eat at them every night do so... it isnt necessary to make a reservation so you can go whenever you choose. The buffet food was pretty good and we really enjoyed the breakfasts. They really don't know how to make north american desserts so don't be dissapointed if you are a sweet lover like I am.The biggest dissapointment of the trip for me was the mosquito bites that I got in the gym at our resort....the workout room was swarming with them. I guess that they really enjoyed the air conditioning and I didnt even realize they were biting me as they are smaller than our mosquitoes here and you dont feel them bite. I had 110 bites on my lower legs and was very uncomfortable the entire trip. I became very aware of where and when they were around and found that in the lobby in the evening they were plentiful also. BEWARE!!!! I ended up having to take antihistamines the whole time and was very happy to get home and out of the mosquitoe zone! I also was happy that we had decided to take our antimalarial medication as some vacationers had not done so. Apparently malaria is quite prevalent and becoming even more common among the caribbean islands.This resort was well worth the money if you want to just chill out and are happy just hanging out at the beach or in the pool. There isnt much else to do in Punta Cana; I had been to Puerto Plata previously and found more activities/excursions offered there. The drinks were also TOP NOTCH and our room was the best. We stayed in building #5 on the top floor and had a view of the ocean. We read about it on someone elses tripadviser note so requested it and they were wonderful accommodating us.My girlfriend and most of the others did not get bothered by the bites like I did; so don't worry that this happens to everyone; there were only about 2 or 3 others that got bitten as bad as I did and not all the ppl got the bites in the gym. I just happen to be a person that mosquitoes love....both here and in the DM! Stacy Edomonton AB
313884,tullyLondnonOnt,03/03/2008,why would you stay anywhere else We have never been to the Dominican Republic before. We had the best time we were honored to be there while it was the Domicican Republic independace day. the resort was so clean and the staff was so fun to be with they really made us feel welcomed and there are many things to do we recommend that you take the half day trip and do the zip line. Beware of Nelson he is the bartender at the swim up bar this guy will have you smiling from the time you get there to the time you leave. The grounds keepers are so friendly as well Raphel alway had a freash coconut for me each day. Would we go back again in a split second. The best thing was that there were no kids. and I love kids But this aloud us to just focus on the two of usThanks Punta Cana Princess Staff.
313884,martra,03/03/2008,"Amazing Hotel/Staff" Just returned on Saturday Night from a one week vacation at the Punta Cana Princess. You can not go wrong with this resort. Staff are amazing; truly happy people always working with a smile on their face. If you get slow service it is because they are very busy not because they are not working hard.We did not suffer from any stomach problems during our stay the food was good to great. Highly recommend the Tex Mex; ate at this restaurant three times...........very good!I could go on on regarding how much fun and how great this resort is however it would be repeating the other positive reviews. Should you have any question please feel free to email.What i would really recommened and was very surprised the lack of people who did not use it is Deep Woods Off. We all seem to know of the Malaria issuses in this area; the mosquitos are comparable to what we experience at dusk and dawn during the summer months. We sprayed before dinner every night and did not get one bite. The lobby bar; gym and computer area seemed to be the hot spots for the mosquitos however if you wearing the deep woods off you will not be bugged.We had no issues with bugs/ants in our room or around the resort.If you are into a quite relaxing and truly amazing vacation you will be very pleased with this resort; we would go back in a heart beat.
313884,HarleyWomanRider,02/29/2008,Wonderful little gem in Punta Cana Punta Cana Princess
313884,napcatLouisville,02/27/2008,Disappointed! My husband and I and another couple (their first time at an all-inclusive out of the US) stayed at the Punta Cana Princess for 5 nights. Check in was fine. We did have to go back to the front desk several times during our stay because either my card worked in the door or his - they finally got them fixed although neither of them ever worked in the safe - we had to share our friends safe.The beach ocean was everything you could every dream of BUT the food was very disappointing. Dinner at the beachside restaurant the first night was good but went back another night and it wasn't. The buffet during the day by the beach was rather unfulfilling - I would have killed for some pretzels chips or nacho chips to munch on. The service at the restaurants and the room cleaning was good but language barrier did come into play at times.My husband and his friend were playing golf at White Sands Golf Club on Monday Wednesday. Monday's pick up went fine because we had a tour guy call on Sunday arrange for the pick up. My husband arranged for a pick up after playing on Monday for Wednesday morning and that didn't go so well - after waiting an hour after the designated pick up time - my husband asked the girl at the front desk for help in contacting the golf course and after much frustration finally got someone to help. I will say the Golf was not part of the package but felt they could have tried to be more helpful. Remember just put your watch away because you are on Dominican time which is whenever THEY decide it's time.
313884,natecashier,02/23/2008,Excellent; Relaxing Resort; I'd go back in a second bavaro beach
313884,babeandbelle,02/22/2008,Good Value Just returned from the Punta Cana Princess and had a great vacation. I will try to touch on what I felt others may have missed. First off; we spent weeks analyzing other reviews on Trip Adivsor and had a really hard time trying to decide on where to stay. I think we finally chose the PCP for the adults only; beach; and the fact that the reviews were about 90% positive; which is Very high if you read a lot of reviews. We were not disappointed as we got exactly what we were looking for ; beautiful soft sandy beach; gorgeous turquoise water; and a nice clean resort. I will now touch on things to be aware of : - Arrival off the plane: we got to our bus quickly; then sat on it for about an hour before it left. It stopped at about 5 other properties before getting to the PCP; which is always the last stop on any excursion. Our flight from Toronto left at 5:20 and we got to the resort at about 1:30 am. If I go again ; I will take a taxi ride straight there; it costs around $35.Check in was quick; I had requested a room in the 5000 suites and a King bed but we didnt get it; the next morning after much coaxing; I managed to get a room in the 5000's on the main floor; better than nothing with a King bed.. After checking in we went to the 24 hr grill and ordered hamburgers; as I had read some reviews that raved about them. They were undercooked; however; we were so hungry we ate them anyway. We tried them once more the next day ; again undercooked ; this time with a hair in them. No more burgers for us. I cant quite figure out how people could have raived about them? Breakfast Buffet was boring and tiring; I couldnt imagine staying here for 2 weeks and having breakfast here all week. The egg station was good and that was it. Limited variety of cereals; good selection of breads; fruit was average and I found it odd that they did not offer any berries; or nuts ; which I love to put on my cereal.There was no fish offered for breakfast; until the last day ; I did notice some smoked salmon . Lunch was buffet as well and you could forget about getting a nice fresh sandwich; it was all precooked foods that sat in the troughs for the entire period it was open. To be fair ; they did have a section that had processed slices of ham and turkey and salami ; along with a decent assorment of cheeses; they just didnt look apetizing at all . They offered some types of fish; inlcuding sea bass; however; it was alway undercooked; a shame for a nice type of fish. al a cartes were decent; never outstanding with a couple of exceptions. The fried mozzarela sticks were excellent at the tex mex ; as were their nachos and dips and the stake was good; again undercooked ( you can probably get around this by orering well done for medium). Best drinks we had were the frozen margueritas at the Tex Mex. They seemed to have them figured out there; which is strange as I think all the drinks come from the same place? The evening buffets have different themes everynight; which means 85% stays the same and they mix up some of the meats for the theme of the evening. The first one we went to was the seafoood Buffet ; I was quite excited about it ; as I love seafood; only to find the lobster to be about the size of a very large prawn and it was mushy; I decided to go the mare nostrum ( the seafood restaurant) instead of eating at the buffet and ordered the lobster there; this was very good; however again not very large; All in all I would give the food a 3 out of 5; probably the least favourite thing at the resort. You could probably order room service to get around the boredom of these restaurants. Cleaning of the rooms was decent ; however ; my girlfriend had a pair of her pants stolen by the maid service and forget about trying to report it; it was useless; this was the only problem we had with the room services; everything else was decent. You do get a good variety of tv channels; which are usefull ; as the place is dead at night after dinner; they have some lame shows in the lobby and if you want to watch them ; spray yourself for mosquitoes; particularly if you are female; they seemed to bite all of the women there but trust me tv is more exciting. The staff are very friendly and easily confused if you ask for anything out of the ordinary in English; ie. I wanted cream in my coffee instead of milk ; they could not figure it out; so I order Baileys with my coffee and that solved my cream problem. I will not go over beach topics as they have all been covered; with one exception; you do not see the sun set so make sure you get up early to see the sunrise; it is absolutely gorgeous and it rises fast; this also ensures you can reserve a beach bed or lounge chair on the beach. The wind always blows strong on the beach ; so if you dont like wind ; consider the pacific coast of Mexico; I quite enjoyed it ; as it gave you relief from the heat of the Sun. We booked through Transat Vacations; which gave us the Regency Club ;which meant absolutely nothing; everyone had the same thing there. Oh yeah you got three bottles of cheap booze ( which we left; only one of them was sealed); and three cheap cigars. Please dont get me wrong ; we had a wonderful time ; I just wonder if we would have had the same good time at a less expensive resort; as the beach and Sun ( the two major reasons we loved it so much) are the same at every resort in Punta Cana. We would go back to this resort in a flash; IF the price were right ; I would say at around $1000 this would be good value.
313884,paulettec,02/20/2008,Punta Cana Princess - Excellent vacation I will not make this review too long because enough great things have been said about the Punta Cana Princess. Excellent resort. Very quiet; adults only and that is great if you want total relaxation. We tried 3 of the restaurants and all were quite good. Buffet was repetitive but food was good. Staff is very friendly and cheerful. Most could speak English quite good and some even spoke French to us.What can I say about the beach; fantastic. We walked that beach every day for about 2 hours and it is superb.We were lucky to get a room in building 5 on the third floor as I had requested in an e-mail. Other people that I met had also requested building 5 but did not get what they had requested. But frankly; the resort is small enough that all rooms are quite close to the beach. I saw the sunrise every morning from my balcony while having my coffee......exquisite. We went 3 times to the casino (we took the free shuttle) that was fun for a few hours.If you want total relaxation go to this resort. I truly recommend it.Thanks to all of you that have answered my questions since last October. Your reviews and/or comments on this resort were really helpful once I got there.And yes Nelson at the pool bar is the best.
313884,fitzright2001,02/20/2008,Perfect Vacation; Perfect Resort We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from February 8-16;2008. This was our forth trip to Punta Cana and our first stay at this resort. This resort is the smallest we have ever stayed at. We loved the size of this resort and the adults only policy.We upgraded to VIP-Platinum when we booked our trip. The upgrade is worth every penny to stay in building 5000. This is the best building on the resort. You are maybe 50 feet from the beach and you have a good view of the ocean from your balcony or terrace. We stayed in room 5013 which was on the ground floor on the end by the beach. The room was great; we had one problem when we first got there; the lock on the sliding glass door was broken; we notified guest services and it was fixed promptly. The beach is beautiful; warm blue water with small waves to play in or body surf and powder white sand. The waiter service on the beach is hit or miss; he serviced the beach bed area more frequently than any other area. Tipping him did not change the service; but the bar is so close it was no big deal to get your own cocktail. There were plenty of beach loungers and huts available everyday; we never had to worry about finding a spot on the beach. We did not go to the pool during the day but from what we saw there were plenty of loungers and huts available there also. Because the resort is small its not over crowded and being adults only you dont have kids and teenagers running all over the place. It is quiet and peaceful. This is the perfect place to unwind and have a relaxing vacation. In my opinion if you are looking for a place that has a lot going on during the day and looking for nightlife this resort would not be for you. But like other reviews said; the 2 sister resorts are a short walk away and they have shows at night; there is a lot of activity and were very crowded I was very glad we were not staying at either of the sister resorts. You can also take the shuttle to the casino; it was maybe a 10 min ride to casino from the Punta Cana Princess. The food we thought was good for an all inclusive; its not gourmet but its plentiful and you can always find something to satisfy you. The specialty restaurants were good; they have a no reservations required policy. We never had a problem getting seated. We ate at all the specialty restaurants and were happy with the food and the service except for the fondue restaurant it was OK; we liked the shrimp appetizer but we were not too happy when they brought out the main course and they had raw chicken;beef and sausage all on one plate. But like I said the food was good and prepared well in the restaurants and buffets. There is always fresh fruit and plenty of choices.The resort is kept spotless; and the grounds are beautiful.We went on 2 excursions; deep sea fishing and the bavaro splash where you drive a small speed boat and go snorkeling. The fishing was OK; the bavaro splash was a blast; very much worth going on.I would return to this resort without hesitation and I would recommend it to anyone. The only thing I would like to see them change would be make the minimum age to stay there be changed from 18 to 21. If you have any questions feel free to e mail.
313884,letrbuck,02/20/2008,Better Than Cancun First of all; Air Transat sucks!!!!!!!!!!. We departed from Edmonton; Ab; Can on Jan 31/08.We decided to take our golf clubs on this trip .Upon checking in that morning; Air Transat tryed to charge us extra for our clubs because they said that the allowable weight was 15kg.Their website clearly states 20 kg.I'd expect this kind of treatment in Cancun; but not in Canada.I also think that it is very rude for flight attendants to be speaking in French to each other on a charter that leaves from Western Canada.On the flight down; not one hot meal .They serves a cold bagel breakfast and an hour before landing ; they gave us a cold fist sized burrito.Unfortunately if you want to stay at the Punta Cana Princess; you have to fly Ait Transat.The peolple at this resort try very hard to please you.The maid service is good; not always excellant but good.If you need extra water; beer; or towels; they don't take all day like in cancun.Usually within 15 minutes.The resort is exactly what it looks like in the pictures.If you want to go lay on the beach for two weeks; this is a good place to go.The food is what I expected it to be.Average at best.Afterall; you are in a 3rd world country; don't have high expectations.The service in the al'la'cart's was terrible; we spent most of our time at the 2 buffets offered.The food and service at the sister resorts was horrendous.I wouldn't recommend them at all.Unlike the mexicans; these people are always smiling and happy to have you around.The flea market on the beach was fun to shop in just to haggle down prices.Don't go into town to shop; it's all the same stuff and the merchants are very aggressive in getting you into their store.Overall; with exception to Airtransat; the trip was 100% better that Cancun last year.The flight is long; 6.5 hrs going and 7.5 hrs coming home.If your planning on golfing; don't take your clubs and don't use the online golf registration service offered via the internet.They tryed to screw us out of a golf reservation at La Cana.They didn't pick us up at the resort and we had to call them to straighten it all out.If you want to golf; book it when you get there and rent clubs.La cana is a very nice coures ; Cocotal; is an average course at best.This was the only time in my golfing life that a marshall made us skip a hole.They started a group on the back nine when we were golfing our 11th hole.He claimed we were going to slow and made us skip the 12th hole.Also; there are no washrooms on the front nine; and we seldom saw the refreshment cart.At La Cana; we saw the refreshment cart on the 2nd hole and not again until the 13th hole.Not a big deal; but when your golfing in 30 celuis weather it's nice to have a cold drink now and then.Punta Cana Princess: could us an upgrade to the rooms; beds and such.No frills; just better service than mexico and nicer people.
313884,labrown2000,02/19/2008,Awesome resort our building ( # 2)
313884,MAandPAToronto,02/19/2008,Not Worth Its Money Definitely NOT worth its money. We should have booked at the Tropical Princess instead. Bigger; better; cleaner. So there are children. Children keep us alive.
313884,Jimbo08,02/17/2008,Punta Cana Princess ; A great adult resort! Punta Cana Vacation Review Nancy Jim - OntarioWhen: Feb. 4th 鈥?11th 鈥?2008Where: Punta Cana Princess 鈥?Regency Suites-Transat Holidays packageFlight from Hamilton; ON- flight from Punta Cana was late so our flight was delayed 1.5hrs. (6pm). Pilot made up about 30min. of this.- flew Skyservice for the first time and they are very good.Arrival/ customs- got through customs/luggage and sitting on the transport bus in 30-40 min (Transat rep. Ready waiting)Check in- as we were the only people checking in at 1am; everything was taken care of in 5min.- given a room in block 5 ( rm # 5008 main floor ). Had previously requested an upper level room in blocks 3;4 or 5. but none available that night. Works out we were satisfied with this room remained there for the week. Bags arrived quickly to our room- I was hungry so we went to the 24hr. beach bar/grill and had a freshly made grilled chicken on a bun/fries/salad/Presidente and it was very good and Andy on the bar was a riot. What a great view as we sat on the outside deck of this beach front restaurant listening and viewing the wavesRoom: - King bed in a very large room that has separate bathroom with two sinks; bathtub with shower.- electronic safe in closet.- Step down into a large sitting area that had a sofa with large cushions trundle bed under it. coffee table; TV fridge stocked daily with water; pop beer. Patio doors open up from here to a nice patio with two chairs a table.- Rooms were cleaned daily usually before noon. Nightly turn down was a nice touch and generally room was made up with fresh flowers.- Usually received daily clean beach towels to our room; bath towels; 鈥渁鈥?hand towel. Face cloth hit miss. (but no problem as we have learned to bring our own face cloths)Food- this resort has good to great food at all the A la carte鈥檚 ; buffets and beach grill. The seafood restaurant was very good as was the Italian. Punta Cana Princess recently dropped the reservation requirement at the A la carte's and we think that this works very well. The buffet always had plenty of selection to suit our tastes. We did not go to any restaurants off the resort at the sister resorts but I was told that they were very good. You will need to call reserve at those restaurants.Beach- Punta Cana Princess has a large beach for a resort of this size. They offer plenty of beach cots both under the beach huts and in the open. If you want one of the beach huts in the prime locations you better get there by 8:am. They also have about 30 beach beds in a roped off area and they usually go early. We didn鈥檛 try them because they don鈥檛 allow for you to sit up. The beach is cleaned raked early in the morning. - (I find it amazing by how much trash [ empty cups straws etc ] is left behind on the beach each day by some guests. Shame on them!!- They have drink service at the beach although spotty at times.Pool- the pool is about 4鈥?deep all over. It really is a good size for a resort this small. It has plenty of cots and a few beach beds. As with the beach the earlier you get there the better your location. The towel on the cot game is in play here even though signs are posted to refrain from this practice. (Early bird gets the worm.)- The pool has a swim up bar waiter/waitress service at poolside.- Lots of organized activities by the animation team at the pool site in the afternoonEntertainment The lobby offers some form of entertainment most evenings. Lobby is large and always a good place to sit and people watch. They also have evening events at the beach weather permitting. You can go to the sister resorts for nightly entertainment.Animation- all very nice and work hard to get people involved in variety of activities.Staff- we found all staff very friendly and appreciative of our efforts to speak Spanish. They were always very polite and often replied in english.ConclusionWe have stayed at two other resorts in Punta Cana; one of them a family resort the other an adult resort and they were both very nice 41/2 鈥?5 star ratings.We prefer Punta Cana Princess for its size and the general layout of the resort. It is really easy to find you way around.The food was great and staff very friendly.We will return here as soon we can would recommend this resort to anyone looking to kick back and take it easy.
313884,jeff692,02/17/2008,Wonderful vacation; Punta Cana Princess is Great Shopping Plaza on the beach
313884,marcman,02/11/2008,I have never been to a place where i felt so welcome and invited I have never been to a place where i felt so welcome and invited; the staff treated us with respect and kindness.This was my first trip ever. When we arrived to the resort; my mouth droped it was beautyful. The bus ride getting the was short and comfterable. I had dectied on this place after readind review after review. And i shure made the right decision. Ill start with the food. NO and i mean NO reservations needed for the a la cart resturants this is a total plus.I foun the food to be a little greasey at times but for the most part good 4 a la carts 2 buffates; no need to rush to get something to eat there is always a table somewear. there were 5 bars and the wait to get a drink well there was no wait. The thing that impressed me the most is the fact that the entire resort except the wasrooms and showers HAS PUIRAFIED WATER; so dont be afred to get that extre ice cube or glass of water with your dinner I was'nt.I think we had one of the LARGEST SAND BEACH OF ALL THE HOTELS; and this was somthing out of a post card. night life a little quiet thins seamed to shut down after midnight; but if you wanted to keep going all you had to do was step on to a shuttle and go to the casino or disco and thies were open till 5 am. The disco was loud but I liked the music it had a bit of dance mixed with cariben sound.The rooms looked just liked the broshure bee nice to your maid we got 6 pellows and extre water and pop. when you get to your room you will get 4 bottles of booze i mean a 40 0z 2 26 0z and a mickey plus 3 stogies.pretty cool. I am 30 rys old and I had the best time I think I could have I did not party much ;but took in a lot of RR. You still have 24 hr drinks yes rum and beer as well as fried chicken; hotdogs and hamburgers so if you want somthing to eat at 5 am go ahed. daly actives were good tenis; archery; vollyball; darts;pool volyball. lots to do. This was not the cheapest for me but It was one of the best moment of my life I WILL GO BACK WITH OUT A DOUT.I hope this gives you a little more in fo and thank for reading
313884,sackie,02/09/2008,A Nice Small Adults Only Resort with the best staff! The Selection and food at the Beach buffet was not much different then the main buffet for break
313884,RosieNJ,02/04/2008,Heaven on earth! We were at another resort in Punta Cana last year. It was big and impersonal. We decided to try a smaller resort this year and booked at the Punta Cana Princess for 10 days. It was heaven on earth.Check in was smooth and pleasant. A cold drink of something pink and sweet from the bar; and a cool damp towel to wipe off the travel grime. A quick trip on a golf cart to a room with a fabulous balcony view of both the pool and the ocean. A chilled fruit basket and cold sodas; beer and water in the fridge. Since we booked as VIP's; there was also a bottle of rum; whiskey and vodka awaitng (full size bottles); as well as 3 local cigars. A quick change into shorts and then we walked around the complex.The grounds are beautifully maintained; with music piped in along the walkways. We found the food at all the restaurants to be wonderful; especially at the a la carte restaurants. And I can't say enough good things about the wonderful dominican coffee. The beach is beyond compare....white sand; turquoise water and friendly people everywhere. We were able to use the beach beds (you can't even imagine how wonderful this is unless you have been there); and the waiter service on the beach was great. We met lots of great people; includng the staff. When you spend 10 days in a small resort; you get to know everyone. We met folks from far away; and are actually planning to meet them there next year. I would have booked my next vacation with them before we even left if I could have!If you go; please tell Julio; Louisa; Serapio; Emilio; Celine; Jarol; Alberto; Felix; Santa; and Danny that Rosa says hello and will see them proximo ano!
313884,redheadgirl98,01/30/2008,Lovely place; some good some bad! Saona Island trip
313884,AlbertaTrudy,01/30/2008,We Found Paradise!!!!!!!!!! Hola!! The Punta Cana Princess is the best resort we have been at so far in our travels. We loved it so much we tried to stay an extra week but they were totally booked up and we couldn't stay- we even offered to sleep on the beach if we could stay! This is the only resort we have ever been at where we weren't ready to go home! The food was excellent with a fresh pasta bar at lunch; omlette and pancake bars at breakfast and usually fresh fish bar at the evening buffet. For breakfast they also have yogurt; toast; cereal and all the usuals you would find at home. The 24 hour snack bar makes the BEST hamburgers- even better than I would find at any restaurant in Alberta; Canada. The fruit was always fresh and plentiful and was always my favorite food! The baked tomatoes are very; very good; too!The a la cartes are now reservation-free so you can enjoy them on any night and as many times as you want during your stay. This was fabulous cause when we met new people and wanted to go for dinner with them we could go to the a la cartes for a special meal on a moments notice.The beach party on Monday night is a whole lotta fun even though ours was moved inside due to windy; rainy weather.The nightly shows in the lobby are fun and we went to almost every one. We got to know the Amination team very well so we had fun with them during the day and at the shows at night. We ended up in the show one night; much to my husband's dismay!Kelvin; Danny; Jarol and Celina are a very energetic group of people!!! This show ended about 11:00 and then you could go over to the disco if you still craved more excitement or you could go for a quite stroll on the beach. If you chose to retire then; it was nice and quiet and you could get a good sleep.The staff at the Mare Nostrum Snack bar are amazing! Give a big hug to Serapio if you go there- he bends over backwards to make sure you are taken care of. Daniela is an excellent bartender and will make whatever you ask for; even if she's never heard of it!!We were part of the VIP group and had access to the beach beds. They are fabulous!!!!! Talk about a fanatasy- falling asleep on a bed on the beach listening to the ocean and dreaming of paradise.....and waking up actually IN paradise! There is also butler service on the beach for the VIP's- another amazing perk of being a VIP. There is also a fruit basket in your room; a 26 ounce bottle each of rum; whiskey and vodka and a stocked mini-bar. We also had a little box with 3 cigars in it. There were bath robes and slippers also for us to use. The maids were fabulous and we had nightly turn down. We also had free internet access.The beaches here are out of this world and unlike any we have encountered. It's like walking in icing sugar and the sand never gets hot! Amazing! As you can see; we are very taken with this resort. We have already made plans to go back next January but it will be for 2 weeks this time! Hola!!
313884,Caribbeantravelers,01/29/2008,Almost Perfect Christimas
313884,Davluv,01/26/2008,quiet paradise my wife and i as well as my brother in law and his wife just got back from the princess and thought i would write this while it was fresh o in my mind In one word terrificwe arrived late in the day half hour by bus ;check in was fast and efficientgot our luggage to our rooms in quick time and went looking for food .it was noted that beach bar was the place to go but for whatever reason was closed that night .But the staff told us to go to the main buffet .it had the beach bar menu and was very good and the beer was cold.tired;we went to our rooms and were greeted with a large suite with king bed; fruit basket ;free rum and three cigars.I normally have trouble sleeping in a strange bed but had no trouble here at all;slept like ababy.We were in building 5 on the ground floor and we overlooked the pool;with the bar straight ahead.unlike other people we had no trouble getting the same 4 chairs every day by the pool ; usually by 8.30am.the beach was very clean and the sand was soft and pleasant.allways chairs available; and the beds were a nice touch.Though you needed v.i.p. for these it was well worth it.Food the buffet was always with a different assortment; and at night had a new item on the carvery. my only complaint would have a better variety of desserts.of all of the a lacarts we only went to 2 but enjoyed them so much we went twice to both. The tex mex did a great steak; just dont order med rare it came out mooing ;but the corrected it and the chef even came out to check; again great service.mare nostrum is great we had lobster and it was very good.Also the when you are finished you are offered afterdinner liquers the pool bar is terrific during the day ;and i found nelson and fransico very friendly and well versed in mixolagythe lobby bar is nice at night with the animation team getting people involved . a great server there was dayanra? she was always friendly and fast. dont forget these folks live for tips so dont shy.all in all if you wish a vacation that is quiet and laid back; then this spot is for you .
313884,btkoiter,01/26/2008,The place to go if you want to relax with no kids !!!! Nelson the bartender at the pool bar
313884,GillisTrip,01/26/2008,Paradise on earth ! Beach beds
313884,Bookbox,01/20/2008,A Wonderful Holiday This is one of the smallest hotels in Punta Cana and because of that there is a wonderfully intimate feel. The absence of children means that it's a very calm; peaceful environment. The hotel; the grounds and the beach are kept immaculately clean. You very quickly get to know your way around and the staff become like old friends.There are less facilities and activities on offer than at other hotels but you can always visit the other Princess hotels if you're feeling bored. Similarly the choices at the buffet restaurant were more limited than we're used to but the quality was excellent throughout. When I mentioned to the restaurant manager that I was vegetarian I was overwhelmed by the response. The Head Chef came and spoke to me every day to ask whether I would like something special in addition to what was available in the buffet.We visited two of the a la carte restaurants and both were very good. We also heard good reports from everybody who visited the other two. There were a further six a la carte restaurants available at the Caribe Princess hotel as well as a larger buffet restaurant but we were more than happy with the food at the Punta Cana Princess. There are three bars and the choice and quality of drinks was very high.The animation staff do their best although the entertainment ; particularly in the evening; is very low key. Again you can visit the Caribe Princess next door for a wider choice of activities and evening entertainment.The beach is stunning and there were always plenty of sunbeds available.I can't praise the staff highly enough. There were too many special people to name individuals but everybody that we came into contact with was friendly and helpful.The rooms were large; clean and very comfortable with all the facilities you would expect and need in a holiday hotel.Overall; a wonderful holiday in a fantastic hotel!
313884,kallileigh,01/19/2008,PC Princess Beer drinking contest; organized by the hotel animation team.
313884,sdipasquale,01/19/2008,Awesome!! We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from Jan 7-12; 2008. I'll I can say is we can't wait to go back. I travelled with my husband; my son and his girlfriend. We all had a great time and can't wait to go back. From the staff to the accomodations; everything was perfect. I liked that this resort is adults only; no kids jumping in the pool; etc. Very relaxing; the staff cannot do enough for you; from helping you decide on which excursion to do (we asked the staff for alot of advise on what to do; they were extremely helpful) to climbing up a tree to get you a fresh coconut! The food at the buffet was pretty good. We never went hungry; but we definately enjoyed the al a carte restaurants more. The Tex Mex Steakhouse and La Cava were incredible. Bring a sweater for the restaurants; they are air conditioned. The swim-up bar with Nelson was great. He makes the best Coco Locos; as well as BananaMamas. Once he was off shift; I stopped ordering Coco Locos; no one else can make them like him! Also; don't forget to visit Emelio at the Lobby Bar. He puts on an awesome show; as well as pouring some really good drinks.We did a sport fishing excursion; using Mikes Marina as our contact. We booked a half day; and though the fishing was pretty slow at first; we ended up catching 3 Dorado (Mahi Mahi). My husband is still smiling thinking about the experience!Our kids did a sunset horseback ride on the beach and said that it was great! Overall; no complaints. We meet alot of wonderful people from Canada; which we hope to keep in contact with. Americans were certainly in the minority here; but that was not a problem for us.If you are on the fence about this resort; don't hesitate. The only thing keeping me from booking again right now is we have told so many people about it; and they all want to come down with us; we are juggling too many schedules at this point. We may just have to book it and say to the rest come if you can!
313884,Lizzieb122,01/13/2008,Adult Lazy Daze Wonderful Experience Pool Side
313884,LUCAWhitby,01/07/2008,Gorgeous resort small beach bar
313884,fullmonte,01/03/2008,Third Stay Loved P.C.P. Even More This was our third stay at the pcp 2003;2004;2007 I think this time was the best due to the fact the resort is adults only now.We requested the same room as the other 2 stays and we received it 5107.The food was great never a problem finding something tastey.The room was always clean;always hot water;fridge restocked. If you want extra water just leave a short note asking dos agua por favor and leave a dollar if you want they deserve it.We keep returning here because we also love the location on Bavaro beach; we love to walk 1-1.5 hrs per day;1 day turn right next day turn left.Always feel safe as there are resorts all along the beach.Can't wait until April we're going back to pcp with 2 other couples.Please please please DO NOT be afraid to be generous with your 1 dollar bills the staff try very hard to make our vacation enjoyable a small tip does make a big difference.
313884,lis199,12/27/2007,great vacation i don't understand all the negative reviews i read before we went.everything was great!! service; food ; weather and hotel!!!!
313884,2687,12/18/2007,Couldn't have been better We stayed at the PCPrincess All Suites from Dec 8-15 - even with the tropical storm Olga passing through we had an awesome time. We have no complaints - great front desk service from Julio and lobby bartender Emelio and the most happy guy at the pool bar Nelson - all very friendly and can't do enough for you. We ate at all the a la cartes except the fondue - as well as a few at the Tropical and Caribe- all excellent. The buffet was really great for breakfast and lunch - huge selection. We had the Regency Suite package and the rooms are gorgeiou; huge with a king bed and double sinks - lots of storage space and a lovely balcony. The beach beds are great and there are also lots of palapas and a huge beach. We would consider going back - great to have adults only.
313884,JRCan,12/16/2007,Descent Resort; update needed. We booked through Sunwing Vacations.Price was good but they almost hide the fact; that you fly into Santo Domingo; which is a 3 1/2 -4 hour bus ride from the Airport to Punta Cana.Trust me; make sure you fly right into Punta Cana. Hotel Good points-great beach; good restaurants; good food; great drinks and descent service. The variety of restaurants are good and the service was quite good. The grounds were perfectly manicured and spotless; thanks to the mostly Haitian workers.( who deserve a tip for sure) Negative points; check in was slow. Smoking seemed to be everywhere; even though there are designated smoking locations.(mostly because of the Europeans)Rooms could use an update; they need new beds and new plumbling fixtures. Overall it was a good trip with good food and good weather.I would recommend the resort; but make sure you fly into Punta Cana.
313884,dropusaline,12/04/2007,Great Value Adults Only resort; built for R Buffet Food Decoration
313884,canadagirlincancun,12/03/2007,Very happy with the Punta Cana Princess (loved the beach beds!!!) Lobby
313884,dontouchit,11/17/2007,This could change your life. View from room
313884,mikegemma31,11/17/2007,Nice Hotel but The Food is below average Me and My new wife stayed here for our Honeymoon.Overall view of the hotel - very clean and great pool and beach but the food is not the best - dont expect great food here you wont get it.Check in - Very good - cold towels and drink are nice touches. When we checked in they asked for the copy of our marriage certificate and took it away and photocopied it. We expect a upgrade or something else but when we got to the room it was just the same as all the others - excepet they brought a basket of fruit and a bottle of rum to the room later on.Pool and beach - Brilliant; If you like lying aroung the pool all day then this is the place for you. The swim up bar is great and Nelson will put a smile on your face straight away - hes always smiling. Try the coco loco's they are superb. You wont go thirsty with Neslon serving you as soon as you coming to the end of your drink another one is placed in front of you- Great. The beach is very clean and I loved the sea - great waves.The staff are very friendly ; not one member of staff whilst passing failed to say ola. We didnt tip much ; just the maid for the room which she kept spotless and the lobby bar waitress who kept sure our table was never wanting for anything.Food - The biggest disappointment at this Hotel. The buffet is OK but not great and the Restaraunt are only slightly better. We Eat at the Italian and were very Disapointed and the Chinese was OK. We did have fun at the Fondue cooking our food at the table but again the food is just passable. We did eat at La Cava and that was very nice - the best meal we had all two weeks we stayed there.The entertainment is very poor for a Adult only resort and a 5 star hotel. They all try their best but I expected better.Me and my wife were ill with bad stomachs and spent most of the first week on the Toilet but we were much better the second week - Not blaming the Hotel for that just Bad luck I suppose.But overall very nice hotel and resort but dont expect great food or you will be very disapointment
313884,Pinghead,11/11/2007,Great Property; Great Staff; OK Food Returned from a week at the Punta Cana Princess on 08 November 07. Best vacation value for the dollar that I have experienced. Loved the 'Adults Only' policy. The property was beautiful - large and lush with a great pool and an excellent location on the beach. Staff were very friendly and always responded to any requests for information; assistance; etc.We traveled with another couple. E-mailed ahead and asked for adjoining rooms in building #5. Received a quick response and our request was granted. We were right beside the pool and very close to the beach. Lots of loungers and beach beds; both at the pool and on the beach. Not crowded at all - not sure if this is a slow season or if this is typical year round. Anyway; it was great.Only down side to this resort is the food. If you looking for cruise ship cuisine you will be sadly disappointed. Food is plentiful and more than adequate; if you are not a picky eater. Food here was better than at AI's I have stayed at in Mexico and Cuba. However; food is not the 'strength' of this resort (and I suspect of any Caribbean AI resort).While the food wasn't great; it met my expectations of an AI resort. However; in all other areas (rooms; pool; beach; grounds; staff; etc.); the Punta Cana Princess exceeded all my expectations. I would not hesitate to recommend this property to anyone looking for an economical 'laid back' vacation on a beautiful tropical beach!
313884,didig,11/04/2007,Don't waste your time or money let me start by saying I'm from manhattan and have traveled EXTENSIVELY...all over the world. This was my first all inclusive. I've stayed in hotels in Indonesia for $4 per night to suites in Paris for $5;000 per night so I have a very broad traveling history. I went to the princess with my boyfriend.I wasn't impressed AT ALL!!! Rooms:We had to change rooms 3 times...I know that I shouldn't expect strong water pressure in a third world country but I also didn't expect a trickle of 3 drops of water at a time. I couldn't wash my hair for 3 days. The rooms were clean. The decor was okay. Buildings 4 and 5 are the best ones; they are very close to the beach and pool. Forget about buildings 1 and 2. Terrible location. The last night we stayed we got a free upgrade to the honeymoon suite. It was very nice. Duplex; jacuzzi and daybed upstairs-very romantic.Staff:The best part of the trip. Everyone was very friendly. I suggest tipping well. Food: Disgusting. I ate toast and cheese everyday. None of their food was edible. Very difficult for vegetarians. We had to book 3 days in advance for an a la carte restaurant; which wasn't worth it. Did I mention DISGUSTING? I would have rather eaten toast and cheese. Chinese restaurant was awful. Italian restaurant was awful.Mexican restaurant-after the meal I went to the room and threw up.Guests: Not many Americans. A lot of South Americans; French; etc. I met a Siberian couple who had traveled 21 hours on a plane to get there. My only question was...WHY???? None of the guests were very friendly.Beach and pool: The water was a bit rough for me. I prefer the placid water in Martinique or St. Martin. But if you like waves then you'll enjoy it. The beds on the beach were great; was worth upgrading to the VIP; though many non VIP guests were using the beds. Plenty of seaweed all over the beach. Not very clean.Shopping: Nothing. The flea market was nice. About a 10 minute walk down the beach. We bought a lot of beautiful painitings there. Plaza Bavara was ncie too. Bought some great wooden carvings and more paintings. Only go there if you know how to bargain. they harass you. They will start at $400 but will eventually go down to $60 if you know what you're doing. My boyfriend couldn't handle the haggling and pressure the people put on you to 'come look'. I didn't mind(used to it) but after a few days it became very draining. The hotel has one lousy gift shop. Major rip off. On my last day I bought a painting for $80 which I could have easily gotten at the flea market for $30.Nightlife: Be careful. That's all I have to say. I went to Mangu discotheque one night(off hotel groinds). Nothing special. I wasn't impressed. I didn't go to any shows at the hotel. I was so bored by evening I just wanted to go to sleep. A few times we played connect four in the hotel lobby.If you have the extra money(maybe $50 a night more) I suggest staying at the paradisus next door. It was GORGEOUS!!! Upscale; gorgeous tropical grounds. we missed out. I have no idea how this hotel(the princess) was rated #10 in Punta Cana. Probably one of the most boring unoriginal places I've ever stayed at.Good luck.
313884,meadvic1,11/03/2007,great time picture perfect
313884,fallvacationer7,11/03/2007,relaxing vacation We stayed at the princess Oct 26 through Nov 2 and had a lovely time. We were there through the tropical storm; which limited our sun time. The resort grounds were very well kept. We were in the 4000 building and had a good view of the pool and ocean. The beach was beautiful and the sand felt like powder. The food was not bad; our best dinner I believe was at la cava. The only problem we had the whole trip was that we did not speak any spanish and it was hard sometimes getting answers; but I can say that they tried very hard to understand and get you what you needed. We booked the VIP and upgraded the massage to 70 minutes which my husband and I enjoy very much. The only thing I did not like was the 1 hour boat ride; the driver was traveling to fast and the ocean was ruf; I did not think we would make it back so when visitors at the tropical princess got off the boat we got off also and walked back to the princess. One young girl was crying. Overall it was a relaxing vacation.
313884,gemgemGemgem,11/03/2007,fantastic! cant wait to go back i loved this hotel! myself and my partner went for 14 nights in october this year; the hotel was beautiful; the staff were great! the entertainment in our hotel and the sister hotels were fantastic; i couldnt fault anything about this place!I will be booking to go back next year and i cant wait!!!!!
313884,lmm623,10/31/2007,Great Honeymoon We went to the Princess for our honeymoon and had a wonderful time. The rooms were clean and well kept. The A/C was ok but we would have liked cooler. When you came in from outside you could feel the difference but it was not a big difference and when we both showered it made the entire room hot. That is our only complaint about the rooms.The beach is WONDERFUL; The sand is never hot and the beach is very well maintained. It is breath taking the first time you see it. The pool was our favorite spot and Nelson the pool bartender was GREAT. We liked the pool because it was not salty; for some reason the salt was really bothering my skin so we stuck with the pool. Being able to swim right up to the bar was great and we loved the pool side and beach side beds. It makes such a difference when you can layout all day and be comfortable.The food was good most of the time. Breakfast was a little tough; we had a hard time finding food that was hot; specifically the pancakes; waffles etc. The eggs and that type of food were warm but not hot. Lunch was great we went to Mare Nostrum for the buffet everyday and the grilled chicken was very yummy! Dinner was also great we ate at the buffet as well as the specialty restaurants. Our favorite was the Steak House; but we also tried the Italian and Lacava and all were very good. We would suggest making a reservation for a specialty on Monday nights as I highly do not suggest the Dominican Night buffet. We heard from alot of people that they got sick from the food (we were there for 2 Mondays and that was the case each time).Overall the resort is wonderful; well kept and the landscaping is beautiful. We plan to go back and would suggest it to anyone. My only suggestions would be to improve the breakfast food and have better A/C.
313884,Happybeanies,10/27/2007,Loved the Punta Cana Princess Suites We stayed at this resort from Oct. 19-26th 2007. We absolutely loved this resort. We were in block 5000 and had a great view of the ocean as well as the pool. We had a king size bed with a step down to a small sitting room which in turn walked out on to the balcony. Our room was always clean and the fridge was well stocked. We did the VIP package and would recommend it. Not only did it get you the premium drinks we also got the 20 min massage; small snacks at night that were delivered to our room and a free meal at the Le Cava or the Seafood restaurant as well as some other bonuses. The filet mignon in the Tex Mex was to die for as well as the lobster dinner at the Le Cava. We had heard negative things about the Fondue Restaurant but 6 of us went and it was great.Nelson at the pool bar always makes sure you are looked after as well as Kenya up in the Lobby. The Catamaran/Speedboat excursion was a great trip. I ran into a problem with my camera but the Manager was great about and even sent a huge fruit basket to our room. We did a lot of tipping but that was because the workers that got the tips were the one who made you want to come back. We also met great people from other cities from Ontario as well as Texas and they also made it a memorable holiday. We will definately put this hotel on our return list.
313884,travellerkittie333,10/24/2007,Had a great time My boyfriend and I stayed here for 7 nights last week (15 Oct 07 - 23 Oct 07). We read loads of reviews before going and found a great cheap deal with DirectHolidays.co.uk. We were unsure on what weather to expect but we had glorious weather all week with only one day of clouds. It was hot all week (day and night) but the rooms had air con so it was lovely. It probably rained every day but didn't cause a problem and was only ever a quick shower.I have mixed opinions on what we found compared to some of the other reviews I've read. We weren't mad keen on the 'animacion' team. The americans and spanish seemed to like them but they took over the pool at the same time of day everyday playing games that I never ever understood.....I tried to work out what was going on but it was mostly in spanish so had trouble. People seemed to like them though! The americans and spanish also seemed to enjoy the cheesy music (eg abba; ymca; grease).....sorry bit of an over-generalisation there....just our observations! At night the animation team took over the lobby bar a couple of times with another weird show which we didn't get....they do it so with rather loud speakers so did take over quite a lot.Which brings me on to the nightlife......or lack of to be honest. The resort does lack a little after dinner time. There are a choice of 2 bars (lobby or Mare Nostrum on the beach) which are both nice but quiet (if the animation team aren't there). We struggled a little to entertain ourselves in the dark.....we did go next door to the Caribe a few times and they had a beach party one night but other than that seemed quiet too. We're not party animals so didn't want a rave or anything but it was lacking a little something on this front.....On the food topic......a mixed bag. We tried all restaurants on the resort. El Rio (tex mex and steak house) - food was ok; quite nice; nothing to write home about. Fondue (good fun although service a little slow both times we went there....best place to eat on the resort in our opinion). Mare Nostrum......gave me a bad stomach for just over a day.....I blame the seafood crepe - can't be sure though I suppose. The seafood was dissapointing to be honest and we didn't go there again. El Bacio (italian)....not great food and didn't go there again. El Sombero in next doors resort was good and the food was nice there - a close second favourite.During the day the buffets were good. Breakfast was in the Caribe every day and was good. Lots of fresh fruit and fruit juices (including a favourite to all the women....banana milkshake.....they couldn't refill the jug quick enough!). There's a guy on the egg counter cooking omeletes and eggs - really great too. There was a pancake counter with waffles and stuff for the americans no doubt ;). Too sweet for us brits in the morning I think. There was all sorts to eat - I'm sure everyone would be happy with something.The all-inclusive part was great. Free stuff - woohoo! it was a great feeling. Beer anytime you like and refills you don't even have to ask for....great. I'm sure some people took advantage but we didn't ask for more than we really wanted. One tip - learn some cocktail names as we didn't know any and expected the barmen to make you something exciting if you asked! If you ask for a cocktail with rum in it.....you'll most likely get a shot (albeit a large one) of rum and ice. All drinks come in a plastic cup which was fine by us. Presidente beer was great too. Cocktails that we learnt about: Meringue (has a banana liquiore and orange juice and rum I think - one for the girls :) ); coco loco (a white milky one with chocolate sauce).Our room was in 4000 and faced the pool. It was ok but did smell progressively worse as the week went on. It was generally damp and musty which we put down to the fact that the room is in a humid island on the carribean! All the same; I found it more and more unpleasant (but my boyfriend was less bothered). They did clean the room everyday and the aircon worked well. No other complaints really. The second day we left a note in an attempt at spanish for more water and Presidente beer (rather than the standard stuff which isn't as nice). We got it but just the standard beer and water from then on. We left a nice tip when we left as they did a great job.On leaving our flight was delayed by 16 hours (MyTravel......). The hotel were wonderful and let us keep our room without question. The even brought us a plate of food on our last night. We didn't pay an extra penny and had all-inclusive all day. Can't thank them enough for that.I found the resort to be really nice all in all. Very clean always; the staff were so polite and friendly and cheerful always - lovely!! There could have been more to do in the evenings and the food wasn't great to be honest but the pool and beach were great. We didn't go on any of the excursions and we didn't find the water sports place until the last day so didn't do that either - maybe we should have.I'd recommend this hotel to anyone with the caveat that I have returned home feeling as though I've been on a butlins holiday camp and that I really didn't see the true domincan republic at all......perhaps our fault for not doing the excursions but a lot of them were a long way away and we didn't fancy spending our time sat on a coach. I recommend the people and weather to everyone though!!!
313884,BostonEllie,10/21/2007,wonderful just returned from a long weekend at the punta cana princess.what can i say but it was wonderful. The resort was beautiful. The people who work there from the front desk employees to the gardeners; and everyone in between were some of the nicest people i have met. The hotel itself is not a brand new resort. It does show a little wear and tare. It is kept very very clean. Hotel staff are always out and about cleaning and making you feel so very welcome. The beach is beautiful; white powder sand and no sea weed or trash. The water is that carribean blue that just takes your breath away. The pool was great. It was clean; warm and had a swim up bar. The food at the buffet was good not great. Had plenty of choices for everyone. Never felt any stomach upset. We ate at the Italian; chinese and La Cave specialty restaurants. All were delicious. WE did the vip package; so we got the massage; cigars and rum. Was it worth the extra charge. Yes.. the view from our room (4000 block) was to die for. What can i say.. reasonably priced; wonderful people (who speak English) and no children; what could be better?
313884,Nelson90,10/16/2007,Fab Time I have decided to write this review as I have religiously checked trip advisor for the past 6 months and have found all the reviews for the punta cana princess very helpful; so on my return I thought I would try and help some fellow potential travellers. One word of advice-if you are thinking about going to the PCP... do it! My boyfriend and I travelled to the PCP at the end of September for 2 weeks; we went to relax and enjoy the sunshine-this holiday met and exceeded all our expectations. I have travelled to the DR 3 times previously; I have visited Sousa; Cabarette and most recentley Playa Dorado-out of all these places I would definatly rate punta cana as being my favourite destination-it is just as you imagine the Caribbean to be- white sand and clear blue sea. The PCP is fab-it has beautiful grounds that are kept immaculate and throughout it has speakers which play quiet chill out music (not quite the ear deafening sounds some other reports have suggeseted!?!). The pool is large and kept very clean; there was always plenty of chairs and shade around the pool-the swim up bar is great and has a very friendly bar man (Nelson). The beach is gorgeous. it is kept very clean-there was plenty of chairs here too. Whilst on the beach or by the pool we were never really bothered by sellers or staff-the first few days we got approached a few times but once we made it clear we weren't interested in the activities we were left pretty much alone. It seemed to us the staff were very good at spotting who was up for their games and who was more interested in chilling!We were allocated a room in the 4000 building overlooking the pool-the room was lovely; nice and large with 2 large beds and a sofa a nice big TV and clean bathroom. The room was kept very clean by housekkeping and the mini fridge stocked every day; we did leave the maid a tip every other day but I do not think this made a differnce-on the whole the hotel was of a good clean standard. There was some previous comments about the water temp. and pressure; we had no issues with either; but I do think some people should remember they are in the DR in a reasonably priced resort so somethings you kind of have to expect not be the same standard as a 5 star resort in the States. There was also a safe in the room to use (free of charge).The lobby area was lovely and had the best bar man (Emilo) who made some lovely cocktails. The best thing about this resort for me was the food. I have not got a strong stomach; I usually avoid meat on holiday and normally have atleast a day or two of being unwell. However I was absolutely fine at the PCP! We ate in the buffett for breakfast (and yes there WAS cereal every day-see below?!?) there was tons of fresh amazing tasting fruit and lots of hot selections inc; pancakes; waffles; eggs cooked to order etc. For lunch we usually ate at the beach buffett; again no complaints here; yes it was similar food everyday but to be honest its usually too hot to eat too much anyhow in the middle of the day; we did go up to the main buffett a few times and this was nicer (but further to walk from the beach :-) ). Dinner time we varied between the buffett and a'la carte restaurants. the buffett was a hit every time; always loads of different stuff and always hot food. We ate at the Tex Mex which we had no complaints about; Mare Nostrudam (seafood) which again was lovely and the fondue-which was by far our favourite; mainly for the novelty factor-you have to try it for the chocolate fondue alone! We did not upgrade to VIP and I still struggle to see the real benefits; we already had a lovely room; once you have one rum who knows if its premium or local brand and who wants to spend their holiday surfing the net!! But it is a personal choice so I guess its good to have the option but you def; dont have too. One last note about the PCP-the staff. They were some of the nicest; most helpfull and happy people I have met. Yes it helps if you make an effort and try and speak a little Spanish (even if its just Ola!) and yes it helps if you smile back (you'd be amazed at the amount of miserable people we saw on holiday!!!) but I can not fault them; they all (especiially Emilo) helped make our holiday. A couple of other things-do the Jeep Safari (it will open your eyes to the real DR); try the swimming with sharks trip (not as scary as it sounds they are nurse sharks so no teeth); try out the spa ( we had massages and they were lovely) and go to the disco next door if you want to get a bit lively for a night; we went on a Friday and it was packed and really buzzing.So to sum it all up; go to the PCP if you want to chill out enjoy the sunshine (although we did have some rain!); let your hair down and drink rum!
313884,buddy127,10/13/2007,Our 20th Wedding Anniversary Trip Toms River; New Jersey We arrived at the Punta Cana Princess All Suites Resort Spa the day of our 20th Wedding Anniversary and it was beautiful from the moment we stepped foot in the lobby. We were greeted with a tropical drink and our check-in went very smoothly. Then we went to our room and were greeted with a beautiful room with lots of fresh flowers in it. We opted for the buffet restaurant the first night and was kind of disappointed. This was the only complaint we have with our entire stay at the hotelThe next night we went to the Caribe Princess and ate at Mama Mia's and it was delicious with very good food and drinks along with dessert.The third night we ate at the Rio Grande Tex Mex Restaurant and the ambiance was nice along with the food and everything to go along with it. The last night we ate at Mare Nostrum and had lobster. It was fantastic and the view was beautiful. This restaurant is right on the beach with a view of the ocean.For breakfast and lunch we also ate at Mare Nostrum for the buffets and they were great. No complaints at all.The beach was so clean and the water very warm and clean. The beach was cleaned daily.We enjoyed the nightly entertainment. They put on a different show every night and was very entertaining.The week we spent at the Punta Cana Princess is one to remember always and will visit again sometime in the future. Thanks for making it so special.
313884,EileenLancashire,10/03/2007,Absolutely fantastic My husband and I stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from the 18th Sept - 2nd Oct. From the moment we arrived we were made very welcome. Our room was spacious and clean with lovely furnishings. My husband is very fussy about his food and I can honestly say he had no complaints; there was so much choice - even the fussiest person could not fail to find something they liked. Presentation of the food was excellent. Choice of buffet restaurants and a la carte was very good. The pool and was very clean and plenty of sunbeds around it. The beach was kept clean - each day the staff cleared the seaweed!!!All the staff were extremely helpful; courteous and very caring; genuinely concerend that you were enjoying your stay. Always smiling and it was a pleasure to be around them. The entertainment team were great and worked hard; if you didnt want to participate then they did not pressure you. With the limited resources available (small stage on beach) the team put on enjoyable and entertaining shows in the evening. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and will be back.
313884,davissummer24,10/01/2007,Good value Bathroom
313884,ACP63,09/30/2007,Disappointing We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess (PCP) from the 17th - 24th September.Good points: 1) Check in was smooth and speedy and the staff friendly and polite (the welcome cocktail and cold towel were nice touches)2) Rooms are a good size (we had twin queen beds) and the bathrooms; while small; are well appointed (the double sinks are great when you're sharing with a friend)3) The resort is nicely laid out with everything within easy walking distance and low-rise buildings. All rooms are within 50 yards of the beach; pool and lobby.4) The location is gorgeous - the beach really is that white and the sea really is that blue :)Not so good points:1) The noise! Firstly; the resort has a sound system wired up throughout the grounds and gardens. From 7am till 11pm; music is piped EVERYWHERE at quite a considerable volume. It's like being trapped in a lift with muzak playing ALL day. This non-stop background noise is supplemented by music playing at the pool bar; in the lobby and in all the restaurants. By the way - every location plays a different CD...Secondly; the entertainment staff offers activities during the day (aqua-aerobics for example) on the beach or by the pool. When these activities are running; they set-up a sound system which would make the Rolling Stones envious - the volume is quite something! Unfortunately; the other sound systems playing around the resort are not switched off during these activities - so it all becomes quite a cacophony. Then; just to put the cherry on the cake; every night at 10pm the entertainments staff put on an hour-long show; either in the lobby; by the pool or on the beach. Out come the Rolling Stones speakers again...2) The entertainment. The PCP positions itself as a 5* property. This seems to me to be at odds with their entertainment policy; which is more like Butlins. I don't want to be harassed at the pool by people wearing blue and yellow uniforms trying to get me to participate in water polo; pilates or anything else. If I'd wanted an activity based holiday; I'd have booked one :) Equally; when enjoying a drink at the bar after dinner; I don't want those same people interrupting my conversation and shrieking at me show time - by the pool - 5 minutes!!Overall I'd class the PCP; at best; as a 4* property and wouldn't return.
313884,Theoneandonlysmitty,09/29/2007,One of the Best Pool and Bar
313884,cocohead,09/25/2007,Wonderful...AGAIN.. We stayed at the punta cana for 2 weeks again this year. Still a wonderful place. After contacting the hotel direct; i asked if we could have the same room as last year; we got next door !! thats not bad is it. we stayed in block 5000. this year it was a little on the noisy side; there was a beach party going on from around 10pm till midnight over at the mare nostrum restaurant that wasnt active last year; its not to noisy; but they have also built another hotel next to the punta that has discos till around 1am. so if your a light sleeper; try to get rooms in blocks 2000 or 3000. again the staff were fab; nothing was to little or to much for them. i firmly believe in the chuck a buck approach. if they do something out of their way for you; a dollar tip will make your stay special. Food was again excellent; ricardos coco locos are out of this world; and a big hand for the pool guy who works is socks of to keep the place tidy. Also a special thanks go;es to the lady doctor on site who looked after my g/f when she got an ear infection. Would i go there again ?? prehaps not for a 3rd time. maybe we would move down to the bavaro princess if we went back; just for that extra bit of luxury. But if its your first time on that coast;and like things not TOO quite; you;ll love it.steve and sarahwales
313884,Waterbaby57,09/19/2007,Loved it! Reading some of the other reviews I'm not sure they are talking about the correct Princess resort. This one is an adults-only so there was no issue with children. The pool was clean; uncrowded and refreshing. I am a swim lover and used the pool everyday at all hours (also swam in the ocean everyday!) One of the ladies we met did have red spots on her legs. She figured it was from sand fleas or something - her husband didn't have any. No one suggested bed bugs. Found the staff very friendly - we made it a point to say hello; get to know their names and got a big hello whenever we entered the dining area. Tried to use a little Spanish even if it was only Si! Grounds and beach were spectacular. Room was always clean. Sometimes had to be careful about food choices in a la carte restaurants. Beef is not going to be like what we have in Canada. Buffet had good selection. Very relaxing week - had many activities if you wanted to participate. But didn't make you feel you had to do things. We are considering going back in 2008!
313884,andb2000,09/18/2007,Wonderful Vacation My wife and I went to the Punta Cana Princess Resort about a month ago for our 2 year anniversary. After we departed the airport we were both pretty shocked about how bad the country looked and felt. This is obvoiusly a third world country; but there is a ton of construction showing that the country is getting better.The hotel itself was very nice. The one problem we had is when we got to our room we noticed the patio door wouldn't lock all the way. We had to wait about 2 hours for someone to come fix it; but they did fix the door. The room and bathroom was bigger than we expected and everything was very clean. We stayed in the 5000 block of the hotel. The room did smell when we first got there; but my wife sprayed some body spray and within a few hours it didn't smell anymore. The grounds were kept up very nicely from the lobby to the beach. We stayed during hurricane Dean and after the hurricane everything was pretty dirty; but within 24hours they had just about everything looking very clean again. The food was ok. My wife really liked the mama mia italian place and I really liked the mexican restaurant at the sister resort. Everyone highly recommended the fondue place; but we were unable to get reservasions for this; which we were dissapointed with. The buffet was pretty good. We made sure to take pepto tablets after every dinner and this helped settle our stomach from the different kinds of food we weren't used to. Both of our stomachs were pretty upset the last two days; but I'm not sure if this was from the alcohol or the food. The drinks were very good. We tipped the bartenders a dollar every other drink. We were one of the few people tipping; which I found very suprising. Because we were tipping though; we were always the first to get refills and we normally didn't even have to ask! I would highly recommend tipping a few dollars ever now again for much better service. We also tipped the maid the first morning we were there and asked for extra beer and she left a 6 pack in the mini fridge :)Don't forget to try the mamajuana! It is just a shot of rum that has been soaked in some kind of bark for a few a days. Be sure to ask the bartenders what it is to enjoy a great resonse.We stayed for 6 nights; but because hurricane Dean ruined one day we felt that it was to short. I would highly recommend this hotel. I hope that we can someday go back; but next time we will be won't be going during hurricane season and hopefully staying longer.
313884,joanaraquel,09/18/2007,It was amazing! II went to Punta Cana with my boyfriend and we loved! The beach is like the ones that you see in the movies鈥hite sand and blue turquoise sea!The hotel is amazing: beautiful grounds; good pool and the rooms are big and clean (no bugs in the bed!). The food is good and tasty; there are a lot of restaurants that you can try; but be careful with the choices you make: my boyfriend spend the night vomiting after we diner in the Italian restaurant 鈥淚l Bacio鈥?but he asked for shrimps with a strange sauce鈥fter that night we start to go to the buffet restaurant 鈥淐asabe鈥?and we doesn鈥檛 have more problems!We did two tours: saona island and seaquarium鈥hey worth the money!This vacations were unforgettable鈥hank you Punta Cana Princess!!!
313884,bigel2,09/18/2007,wonderful place...until we got stuck for an extra day beach
313884,smokyj,09/12/2007,The Princess was Spectacular saona boat ride
313884,Kris827,09/11/2007,50/50 rating for Punta Cana I spent 4 days in Punta Cana and the resort is really a pretty place; but overall I would rate it 50/50. The people there are nice; but don't speak great english at all. The games that were played; were played in Spanish which unless they were doing little stunts that didn't require any speaking; then you didn't understand what was going on. I really thought the food would be better than it was. The best place that I ate at was the Italian resturant and I had chicken and mashed potatoes. Other than that place; the food was disappointing and I am not a picky eater at all. The beach was beautiful; the bar and pool were really nice. The massage/spa was great. I had a great time b/c of the people I was with. I am undecided if I would go back there again.
313884,jenharris06,09/05/2007,HORRIBLE-Bed Bugs Bed Bug Bites
313884,djcube1,08/20/2007,Loved the princess View from balcony
313884,bev9443,08/19/2007,This resort is overrated! Having been to Punta Cana numerous times; we've never been so offended and disappointed after leaving a resort. The problems were numerous and in retrospect; we should have taken heed to the reviews posted by previous guests. To name a few issues: 1. Upon arrival; the key to the room did not work.and no one seemed to care. After waiting for approximately 2 hours; we walked back to the reception desk and found that our problem was never addressed.2. We requested a honeymoon package; which we never received. Our initial king-sized bed was two single beds joined together. The room was filthy; bathroom contained mold/mildew; towels were ragged/dingy; walls were dirty and furniture old and unkept. 3. The advertised mini bar contained beer; soda and water...there was no hard liquor as advertised. 4. The staff was dismissive/impolite/unattentive. 5. The larger of the two pools was filthy with leaves; straws; and had an odor of feces. It was gross! The bartender at the swim up bar seemed bothered when a guests requested service; to which they were entitled. Alcohol was extremely limited and totally off-brand (cheap liquor). It was NOT top-shelf as advertised! 6. We did not have A/C for three days and it was extremely hot and unbearable.7. The bathroom faucet was broken; but in fairness; fixed the very next day.8. On our last day; a water main broke and we were essentially told to either wait or do without. Luckily; we improvised and showered with bottled water; in order for us to catch our flight on time.9. We observed one staff member scamming a European tourist by selling him a bottle of wine; which he was entitled to as part of his inclusive package. My husband understands Spanish and became aware of the scam.10. Did we mention that the waitresses lacked manners?11. THE BEACH WAS BEAUTIFUL AND THE LANDSCAPING WAS FABULOUS! We figured they cannot mess up the natural beach. 12. The staff selling VIP membership to Princess hotels was aware that the resort was crappy and used that as his selling pitch. For example; we were approached by one staff who stated; I know this resort has alot of problems; but if you purchase the VIP membership; those problems will be addressed effectively. Is this a set-up for failure? The APPLE representative even expressed that this resort was by no means a 5-Star resort; but that was the rating for it...Ghee; Thanks...13. The animals around the resort compensated for the resort's shortcomings and they (animals) seemed friendlier than the staff. Go figure!14. The scenery is beautiful; especially the landscape (superb)...our pictures were very lovely; but the negative experience is not worth the photos.Not to dwell on the worse vacation we've experienced; but I would not take my pet to that resort. Really; it is not child/family/people friendly! On one day; the poolside entertain required that a participant/tourist touch an entertainer's gential; as if turning off a faucet. It was funny to us; but if our kids were there; it was have been totally unacceptable and inappropriate. Some of other entertainment were great; but that was a bit too lewd.There are so many beautiful resorts in the Dominican Republic...this is not one of them; especially as a family vacation.
313884,zoola,08/17/2007,Hit and Miss Well unfortunately there was a lot more misses then hits; but anyway here it goes.Hit- Awesome landscaping and cleanliness of resort overallMiss- We were put in a room that had joining doors with the one beside it; you could hear every single thing in the other room; even a drawer closing sounded like it was right in your room. Not to mention the sound of a couple of hyper ladies. You can鈥檛 blame them though; they were on vacation just having fun but the resort should not put people in these rooms unless people traveling together request them.Hit- We could seen the ocean from our balcony; literally steps to the beach and pool; this type of room placement would set you back a lot of money at other resorts.Miss- VIP seemed like a big hassle to the workers; you were made to feel as though you were putting them out by asking for bottled beer or premium liquor. Room service was a joke; first time we used it; and it actually never even came! Were pretty easy to please and don鈥檛 complain much so we just went to bed and let it be. Tried it again a couple days later and it took about an hour and a half and they only brought the calazone and forgot the two cokes and the pizza; he was very apologetic but it took another thirty minutes to get the rest. We tipped every one from the bartenders to the maid to the gardeners; about $150 in total and another $100 in gifts for the maid like kids baseball gloves and makeup and such. some were seemed grateful others not so much; but I tip to get something extra or because I recieved good service not to feel like a hero for tossing around a few ones.Hit- Massages with the VIP were great; paid extra to get the 45 minutes; very happy with themMiss- Hard to get the maid to even leave a couple of Presidentes in the mini fridge; she did a couple of times but man we had to work for it.; towel were ratty; shampoo bottles and such looked like they had been used several times over.Hit- Spacious rooms; beautiful beach not to hard to find a chair or bed at the beach or the pool; nice and peaceful resort; never felt crowded at all..Miss- Sometimes we had to wait 10-15 minutes just to get some one to come over and ask us if we would like a drink; while other times you would have someone greet you almost immediately and then come back three or four time to see if everything was okay; it was like every day you were in a different place with two totally different levels of service.Hit-Emilio; Lobby Bar this guy would make a killing in tips if he bartended in North America.Miss- This is the big one here. The food is dangerous to eat. That鈥檚 right dangerous; lots of it was tasty like La Cava and some of the other a la cartes; and even the buffet had some very good food like the omelet station and the pasta station. Now some of the food was crap as well and I am by no means picky ( I could live on pizza and burgers and such for a week and be quite happy) but you should never have obvious leftover hotdogs covered with a yellow sauce (hollandaise maybe) on your breakfast buffet.. Anyhow back to the dangerous part. I was sick for about one and a half days and then was better ;but not a hundred percent for a day and then I got sick again for another two days. When I say sick I mean nasty stomach pains; nausea; and lay in bed this really sucks sick. Luckily I brought all medical marvels like Imodium ; pepto etc though I鈥檓 not sure if they even worked but you never know maybe it would have been twice as bad if I didn鈥檛 take them. I know not everyone will get sick but when it happens to you its brutal. I work in a restaurant so I know how to be careful but It didn鈥檛 seem to help me at all. But in between my sick days I saw what I was up against when I had a burger from the beach grill and took a bite into it and it was raw inside; I went back up to get another and asked him to cook it longer and he did but then just after grabbing a bunch of raw chicken to put on the grill with his tongs and spatula he grabbed my burger for me to put on my plate and the raw chicken juice was dripping all over my burger and plate if this is what goes on right in front of you; trust me what鈥檚 going on in the back is ten times worse. Also at the Tropical next door I saw the bartender at the lobby bar grab a dirty glass rinse it under the tap for two seconds and serve up a new drink in it; not the end of the world but still who wants to drink from that and like I said if their doing this pretty much out in the open you know its not any better in the back. Just a note I am by no means a picky person but when you get sick you start to think of all the negative things that happened and you don't tend to overlook them as much as you would had you not been sick. But really its 2007 and if you can build a rsort that is as nice as this why can't you have food that won't make people sick.So in conclusion it doesn鈥檛 matter if its one of the most beautiful places on earth ( and the Punta Cana Princess is) if you can鈥檛 enjoy any of it because if your sick it just not worth it. Remember as well that once you get sick like that even when you get better you can鈥檛 help but to be very scarred of eating anymore of the food that made you sick so you end up eating bread and french fries for the rest of your trip because you don鈥檛 want to miss out on what little time there is left on your vacation. If you like to gamble with your vacation go here; chances are you won鈥檛 get sick (my wife didn鈥檛) but if you do you鈥檒l be laying in bed pissed off that you spent your only week of vacation and a few thousand dollars to feel like crap and watch VH-1.
313884,DebbieMc3,08/15/2007,Very relaxing and beautiful We've recently returned from a 7 night stay at The Punta Cana Princess (PCP). There were 3 couples ages from late 30's to late 50's in my group. Five out of six of us had stayed at other all inclusives so we had something to compare the PCP to. We all had the VIP package so after a quick check in; we went right to the VIP desk to pick up our information. I highly recommend the VIP package. It was well worth it.We went to our rooms and had our luggage about 5 minutes later. The rooms were a nice size and perfectly clean. The grounds were amazing. They were well taken care of and spotless. The pool was the perfect size for a small resort and also spotless. The pool bar was a fun and friendly atmosphere. The beach was beautiful. The waves were big enough to have fun in yet small enough to just float around. The water was a pretty blue. Having the VIP package allowed us to use the beach beds and gave us bar service on the beach. That in itself was worth getting the VIP package. We also did the 1 hour boat ride that was included in the VIP. It was a lot of fun. The mini spa was perfect for our complimentary 20 minute massage (vip package). Having a massage while hearing the waves break behind you was so relaxing. The entertainment staff kept people having a good time with volleyball; aerobics; softball... but I was just there to relax so I chose not to participate in the daily activities. The nightly entertainment was silly but again; I wasn't there to be entertained. We enjoyed the music and the cocktails. We met a lot of nice people and had lots of fun with the bartenders and cocktail staff. By 12:00 am things got pretty quiet but you could always hang at the beautiful beach bar 24 hours per day. The food... Here's where my review will get more negative. As a self proclaimed foodie; I thought the buffet food was mediocre at best. There was always something that I liked but it was just ok. The a la carte restaurants were better (except the Asian place; it was awful).La Cava (also included with VIP) was amazing. The atmosphere was great and the food was even better. The Italian and the fondue restaurants were also good. The Dominican beach party was very nice. Don't forget; men must wear long pants to the al a carte restaurants. We saw a lot of people get turned away in shorts. If you are going on vacation for gourmet food; this may not be the place for you. I would highly recommend The Punta Cana Princess for anyone that wants a quiet and relaxing vacation. We had a great time and can't wait to go back again.Debbie from NJ
313884,DeniseO,08/14/2007,Princess at Heart!!! Hotel grounds
313884,zatchmo,08/11/2007,A pleasant surprise I just got back from a week at the Punta Cana Princess; and I had a great time. We booked through Bookit.com; which had the cheapest price we could find; even though there was a airfare increase in the last step of booking. I concur with some other reviews; Americans were definitely the minority here; and English the 2nd language; spoken by the staff when needed. We were VIP; which is worth it if you can get it for a good price. It would not be worth it for the $25 a day the resort charges. We paid $50 for the whole week when we booked. You get top shelf liquor and beer (through sometimes a hassle) 2 free hrs of internet; 20 minutes massage each; mini bar in the room; turn down service; a bottle of rum; 3 cigars; 1 hr each of watersports; and other things.The breakdown:Arrival:When you arrive to the Punta Cana airport; you immediately get your picture taken with some local women. Then you stand in lines to buy your $10 Tourist Card; which seems like a huge rip off. Immediately after customs; you hand in your card.After you claim your luggage; there will be a lot of guys yelling out the names of various travel companies in an effort to carry your bags. DO NOT LET THEM. They will only carry your back out a door to the booth you are looking for; only about 20ft. And then of course; you have to tip them. Luckily we had this experience before; so we didn't fall for it this time.The resort is only about 20-25 mins from the airport; so not so bad.Check-In/Room:Yes; it takes longer than it should. I don't know why...we were the only ones checking but it still took about 15 minutes. But no big deal; a fresh cool towel and a drink helped. When we got to our room; we saw that we had 2 double beds. We called back to the front desk and asked for a king bed. Julio was very nice and told us that they are booked up for that day; but tomorrow they will give us a new room with a king bed and a better view. Ok; great. My girlfriend was happy because she thought our room smelled. Both rooms did have a musty smell; but you have to remember that you are at the beach with high humidity.The next day we were moved to our new room around 2:30. It was in the 5000 building; which is the closest to the beach and the pool; great location. If you think you might complain about the noise from the pool; then don't stay in the 5000 building. They often do dance lessons and aerobics at the pool; so the music might wake you up if you like to sleep past 10am.If you are VIP; you get a mini bar with 2 bottles of water; coke; sprite; and Soberana beer. USe it up; as they will refill it each day. The Soberana beer might be one of the worst beers I've ever tasted; but what can you do? Well; I heard all you have to do is call the front desk and request Presidente instead; but we never did.The grounds:Very well kept and pleasing to the eye. I really like the color scheme and layout. It's a bit of a walk from the beach to the lobby though.Pool:Very nice and big; with a swim up pool bar. Very often the chairs and beds at the pool are taken all day. You can usually get a spot if you hang out for a bit and keep your eye open; but there were times when everything was taken. If you see a chair with a towel that has been un attended for a while; just take it.Beach:Well kept and very nice. There was a lot of washed up ocean plants because we just missed a Tropical Wave off shore; but they cleaned it up a few days later. There is a VIP section of beds on the beach; which is real nice. There was always a bed available; if not 5 or 6. And someone will walk around and take drink orders. ***NOTE ON THE BEDS*** The beds have a retractable cloth roof to help keep you out of the sun; but THEY DO NOT BLOCK THE SUN COMPLETELY!! I made the mistake of laying on the bed for 2 hours mid-day; and got very burnt. Always wear your sunscreen!Food:I didn't have any problems; and I eat and drank everything in front of me. But I am always like that. There were people that said they had some stomach problems; but I've come to realize that they were people that don't have a very adventuress appetite. If you don't normally eat different foods; don't try now. Over all; the buffet was good; and there is something for everyone. If you can't find anything; you can always (at lunch and dinner) get pasta prepared with several choices of toppings and sauces.We only ate at one of the restaurants; the Dominican restaurant called Pilon. This was a really great meal and I am glad I went. The problem is you are expected to wear pants at all the restaurants except the buffets. I was so uncomfortable and hot the whole night that we canceled our reservations for the rest of the week. Also; I just didn't want to have to follow a schedule on my vacation. Also; the sister resorts are crazy! They are very nice looking; but there is way to many people (and kids) at the other resorts.Bars:Yes; there always seems to be a problem with the VIP and getting top shelf liquor; but I wasn't so worried about it. Most of the good liquor is at the lobby bar; where you would hang out at night. They do have it; you just have to request it; and usually add a tip. There is always somewhere to get a drink 24hrs. Usually the beach bar is open all night; and you can get food there too.Staff:For the most part they were very friendly. You will almost never be spoken to in English unless they know you don't speak Spanish. Some staff; including bar tenders don't speak much English at all; but here is your Spanish lesson: Dos Coco Locos mas por favor mmmmm.....coco locos...I wish I had one right now! The first night I did have a run in with one of the chefs that knew I didn't speak much Spanish; and I think he was taking a few shot at me to his buddy who was laughing. Oh well; I've seen many Americans do that to foreigners in our country too.Over all; a great time; and I would definitely go back. If you need pampered and every need catered to; this report is not for you. If you think Americans are better than everyone else; stay home. If you want excellent food; this resort is not for you. If you are an easy going person looking for an inexpensive; relaxing break from the norm; I would definitely recommend the Punta Cana Princess.Oh; and you are not allowed to take Mamajuana (the drink) out of the country; as it had leaves and branches. So; either pack it in your suitcase and lie to the USDA; or don't buy any.
313884,Yackswife,08/11/2007,Beautiful but somewhat disappointing I booked our reservations through AAvacations for me; my husband; my sister-in-law and brother-in-law for July 8-14; 2007. We chose the PCP because it was all adults and a smaller resort and from all the positive reviews I read on TripAdvisor. The plane from JFK in NY left on time and was a pleasant flight. We arrived at the Punta Cana; were greeted by lovely ladies and island music and had a bit of a wait on line for Prieto Tours for our transportation to the PCP. The other lines for tour companies were much shorter. When we were finally assigned a bus; there was no room for the four of us; so we were taken off and put on another bus; hoping that our luggage was also being moved; and it was. We had to wait until this bus was full before it finally left. The bus ride was close to an hour and made numerous stops at other resorts to drop off people. The PCP was the last stop. The ride was a bumpy one; but it's good to see that they're working hard to improve the roads. The transfers were part of our package; but if you have a choice I would suggest taking a cab. Going directly to the resort would have been a lot quicker. Checking in was quick. We were given a warm fruit drink; no cool towel as some have written. We booked the VIP; but other than the great dinner at La Cava; it probably wasn't worth it. We requested rooms in the 5000 building; but were told there were none available. We were given room 4114 and my sister-in-law 4l08 on the second floor. I requested a king size bed and that too was refused. We were given a map of the resort and other information and told to go to our rooms and our luggage would be brought by shortly; which it was. The room was very spacious; had a sitting area and a balcony overlooking the pool and the air conditioner worked fine. The bathroom was a nice size with double sink and vanity. The towels; as many have written; were worn; thin and have lost their whiteness. We had beach towels in the closet which also were in bad shape. These were never replaced; which I thought was part of the VIP package and we always had to go to the hut to replace them with dry ones. The refrigerator had water; soda and beer; there was the small bottle of rum; which was part of the VIP and three complimentary cigars. There were also robes in the closet for us to use while there.As the days went on; we did have to go to the front desk to report some problems. The frame around our mirror in the bathroom came off and we were afraid the very large mirror would be next. The toilet kept running at one time and wouldn't stop and there was some water accumulated on the floor and we couldn't figure out where that came from.I would say that our main problem was trying to communicate. I know it would be hard to learn the many languages of the guests that stay there; but I don't know if they try. They gave us one very small bar of soap. When I saw the maid in the hall I asked her for some more and she didn't know what I was talking about. After a lot of had gestures and finally another maid who figured it out; our maid finally got it; although there was no soap on her cart and she had to go upstairs somewhere to get some. Same thing when we needed another box of tissues. A couple of days later; our used towels were taken away; but not replaced. This time we called the desk. We did generously tip the maid after she brought us the soap; but I wouldn't say it made much of a difference. One other disturbing thing that occurred was that we never got phone messages. One of our daughters and a friend were staying at another resort that week. When we tried to contact her to make sure they arrived safely we were told that she wasn't registered. Since our cell phones didn't work there; it took calls to NY to our other daughter to track her down and we learned that she was registered at that resort and she had called and left a message at the PCP for us. We never got that message or another that my daughter in NY left for us. When we checked with the desk they said there were no messages. This bothered us because if there was an emergency we would not have known. Also phone cards that we brought with us were useless there and we had to charge our calls to NY on a credit card - beware the average 5 minute call cost about $42 and then you were charged $2 by the resort.I must say the resort is beautiful and the gorunds are well maintained. The pool was great; never crowded; there were lounge chairs all over but covered with towels from early in the morning. It appears that people put the towels down to reserve them and then go off to the beach or on an excursion. Some were never occupied by people. Since we spent most of our time at the pool we wanted to make sure we had a spot so my brother-in-law did what everyone else did. Made sure he got down there early and put towels on 4 lounges. The swim-up bar is always fun; although they usually had only one bartender who cared for the people in the pool and on the upper level for those who just walked up to it. We went down to the beach a couple of times and the beach is beautiful. The sand is white and soft and they do their best to keep the seaweed away. As for the food; it is pretty average. There is a variety at the buffet so you will find something. We ate breakfast and lunch there and two of our dinners. The other nights we went to El Sombrero (Mexican); Shanghay (Chinese); Mare Nostrum (Seafood) and La Cava; also seafood; which was included in our VIP package. La Cava was our favorite; but I must say it's very dark and very chilly. They have to keep it that way because the room has bottles of wine everywhere. The grilled lobster I had was outstanding. My in-laws ordered steak at the El Sombrero and had to send it back. It was so tough they couldn't cut it. We weren't too impressed with the Chinese restaurant either but being from New York it's very hard to find Chinese food anywhere else that compares. As for nightly entertainment; there is very little at the PCP. The animation team does try; but the space in the lobby where they perform is limited; with very little seating. Isabel the waitress is very sweet and we had fun speaking with her. I do believe that We never went to the other resorts for entertainment because it didn't start until 9:45 p.m. After having dinner and walking around in the heat and humidity; by that time all you wanted to do was go somewhere cool. We did go to the casino a few times which was fun but small. We went to Manatee Park where we met up with my daughter and she and her friend and my husband swam with the dolphins. Well; it's not acutally swimming. You get into a pool with other people; the dolphins come up to you and at one point a worker directs you to hold onto the dolphin's fins and it pulls you to the side of the pool. Sorry this is so long; but when I was looking for a resort and spent many hours reading reviews (mostly positive); I decided that I should share my thoughts and our experiences at the PCP. I hope my review was helpful. It's not my intent to scare anyone away from staying there. It is a beautiful resort and the fact that it's small and adults only is definitely a plus. It's a quiet place to get away from crowds and kids; if that's what you want. Wherever you go and wherever you stay; I hope you have a safe vacation and a great time.
313884,phillygirl105,08/06/2007,Enjoyed Our Stay at the Punta Cana Princess! We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from July 18-25. My husband (30)and I (27) went with another couple; who are also in their late twenties/early thirties. My husband and I have been to an all inclusive adults only resort before. All four of us really had a great time; but there were two things that we found to be disappointing. 1)Desserts- every dessert that we tried at either the buffet or ala carte restaurants were not good at all. 2)Drinks- of all the reviews I read on this site; I had heard some people say the drinks were not consistently cold and I would have to agree. Sometimes we would order a nice tropical drink like a Pina Colada for example; and it would be nice and cold and slushy like; but sometimes we would get one and it would be like drinking Pina Colada juice; it was all liquid and not very cold/icy. When I think of a Pina Colada or Daiquiri; I think of a nice icy cool refreshing drink and I did not get that very often. Although we were not happy with these two things we would actually still return to the Punta Cana Princess. And now onto all of the positives about the resort: Check In- We had no problem with check in. It was nice to be greeted with a cool towel and a glass of yummy tropical punch. We were then off to find our rooms and when we got there our luggage was there. Room- Our room was great; we stayed in 5107. It was the perfect location; we were on the second floor and loved that our building was so close to the pool. The room itself was very big; we had two queen beds and then there was a little sitting area where the tv and fridge were. The bathroom was also a nice size; I loved the double sinks; it was great cause my husband and I each had our own space to get ready. Also the AC worked really; really well; it actually got pretty cold in our room the first day and the rest of the time there we stayed plenty cool by turning off the AC and just having the ceiling fan on. Food- I thought the food was really good. We at at the Caribe buffet twice. Our first night; Wednesday; it was an Asian buffet and we definitely found enough to eat that we liked there. We also ate there on the Domnican buffet night; Monday; which was really good too. They had music playing while we ate too and it was just nice to get a little taste of Dominican culture. The rest of the nights we ate at the ala carte restaurants. We tried Il Pilon; Domincan food; Il Bacio; Italian food; La Cava; the fancy retaurant and Tex Mex restaurant; I forget the name of it though; anyway we enjoyed the food at all of them. La Cava was very nice; I had the lobster. It came with two lobster tails; my first one was really good but the second was overcooked. At the Tex Mex restaurant; when we got there it was super hot in the restaurant and they sat us right near the kitchen. My husband went to talk to someone at Guest Services and right away the manager came in and was over at the thermostat checking on the AC. We were pretty happy that they took care of it so quickly. Our meal was really good and I loved the margaritas they gave out there as well as the guacamole and chips. Staff- We found the staff to be incredibly friendly. From the Anamacion staff to the hostess at the buffet to the bartenders; everyone we met greeted us with an Ola! and was happy to help us. I have noticed that some people that have reviewed this resort has said the staff was unfriendly. I am wondering if it is just the language barrier. I was not really able to speak Spanish much; I really tried though; and I did feel that I wasn't as connected to the staff as those guests who could speak fluent Spanish. I don't think it has anything to do with being not friendly I just think it is harder to connect with people if you do not share the same language. I feel like I tried as much as I could to talk with the staff and they tried as much as they could to talk to me. And that is all you can ask for. Beach- was beautiful although actually we did not spend too much time here. We did do a few activities on the beach like ping pong and pilates; but beyond that we really just liked being by the pool. Pool- We loved the pool! It was huge; had a nice pool bar and each day we found a nice palapa to sit under in the same spot near the pool. There were also lots of activities at the pool; we did aerobicos a few times which was a little silly but fun and also played pool volleyball. Cleanliness- The resort was very well maintained; I would daily see people at work clean up the debris on the beach as well as working on maintaining the gardens around the resort. Overall: We all really enjoyed our stay at the Punta Cana Princess. Although we were not too happy with the consistency of cold drinks and the below average desserts; everything else was wonderful our nice; spacious room; good food; friendly staff; beautiful beach and pool. We would go back again!
313884,naproxen,08/06/2007,Beautiful introduction to Punta Cana Dinner at La Cava
313884,RDF30,07/31/2007,The food is TERRIBLE! I stayed at the Punta Cana Princess for 5 nights too long. The hotel was beautiful; overall; the service was good. However; the beds and pillows were very hard. It almost seemed that the pillows were made out of rubber. Finally; for a 5 star hotel; the food was by far the worst I have every had. There were 6 of us in our party and we were all sick with an upset stomach every night. Good luck if you're planning on staying there. By the way; the food at the other hotels in the Princess chain are just as bad; especially the Dominican Restaurant; El Pilon; at the Caribe Club Princess. Oh; and be prepared for a long wait at the restaurants!
313884,Rbnorway,07/30/2007,Princess resort We arrived at the resort and got checked in pretty easy. There were 16 of us and we all stayed in the VIP. The rooms were great. The bottle of rum was small but that made it easier to pack. The pool is really nice but it closes at 8pm. We played volleyball and it would have been nice to do more at night. There is not alot to do at night. The casino was smaller then I thought it would be and we were treated very rude. We didn't leave our place anymore. The food was good for the most part but there were times we were not sure what we were really eating. Advice for anyone going is to book your night meals the first day you are there. We were there for 4 nights and only got in restraunts 2 of those nights. The seafood places had great food. There weren't alot of people there but they said they were booked. Maybe we had problems getting reservations since there were 16 of us but we always saw empty tables. I wish there were more things to do at night. This is a adult resort so it really sirprised us that there wasn't more going on. Room service was good but it takes 45-60 min. We didn't have a menu in our room but the lady I talked to helped me on the phone pick out some food. Most of the staff was nice but there were a few that didn't seem like they liked americans. We really tried to to speak some spanish but it had been several years since I took it in school. Take a book with you and it will help you. One of the things that we were disappointed in was the one hour free motorized water sport. things were booked up and the only things available you could only get 15 min because they said that was equal to one hour on the boat that was booked. The banana boat only had half of the straps that worked and that made it hard with 8 people on it. The driver kept whipping us off and after about 5 min riding we were done. The spa was good and we had no problems getting in. The VIP was nice but I guess we thought it was going to be more. There were some miss leading things that we thought we were going to get and didn't . The only beer was presidente and budwiser. Over all it was a nice trip but this is not a place I would return to for a vacation
313884,PortugalLost,07/30/2007,What can i say?? My wife and I (ages 33 and 31from Portugal) stayed at the PCP July 15-21;2007; but NO VIP guests. This was not our first all inclusive. After reading ALL the reviews; our only concern for our much anticipated stay was the weather. Allow us to thank all of our fellow trip advisor members for taking the time to share their thoughts. Here's ours; we will try to be as brief and thorough as possible.CHECK IN: smooth although I was denied room requested in building 5000 or 4000; because I was not VIP guest; I found that hard to believe; because I read that other guests with no VIP were in building 5000 or 4000; so we went to 3000. I quickly realized that begging and pleading was getting me nowhere. We were instructed to find our building and room without assistance. (our luggage would follow). Not that we would have had difficultly; but we expected to be escourted with our luggage and shown to our room properly. We are not uppity people; but we have been to enough resorts to know and appreciate quality and class. We settled into our room 3124; slightly disappointed; but happy to get our vacation underway. THE ROOM; was very accomodating; although; the AC worked quietly only on low fan speed. The fridge was warm.THE BATHROOM was spacious with double sinks; one drained very;very slowly. Hot water; good pressure at all times. The bath towels are a disgrace; 2 stars at best. They were small; some frayed; rough and tinted gray.. We regret to inform you that the FOOD IS BORDERING ON AWFUL in the buffet!!!!. Just as a recent reviewer stated; the ala carte restaurants are a pity. We came to realize that there is something not quite right ; we went to 鈥淚l Bacio鈥?the Italian (Lasanha was good); 鈥淢amma Mia鈥?other Italian in Tropical (porc with hot sauce was good); Tex Mex (the best filet mignon ever!!); El Sombrero the Mexican in Tropical (with nice porc and beef) and the Chinese that I don麓t remember the name as also good鈥?Despite these shortcomings; we are actually looking forward to returning because the beautiful beach; R R; no kids and hopefully better weather is what it's all about for us. When you stay at the PCP; please keep in mind that you get what you pay for. The major disappointment; all things considered; would be the food. The weather is always a gamble. In conclusion; the beautiful grounds; white sand beach; gorgeous turquoise waters; pleasant service people (front desk not included); spotless spacious rooms were the highlights that couldn't be ruined by the afore mentioned drawbacks.We would recommend this resort for those who can temporarily put aside their culinary discretion to enjoy the otherwise positive benefits. As for us; we will re visit the Trip Advisor web site in search of true Luxury Resorts; because overall; many little disappointments add up to one large disappointment .Last Note: The resort is Emilio (from Lobby Bar) and Emilio is the resort鈥?if you don鈥檛 understand please ask for Emilio and you will see!!
313884,joanienewjersey,07/27/2007,Had a Great Time We stayed at the PC Princess from July 7th to July 14. We were 2 couples - Tommy Joanie and Bobby Denise. We were in building 5 #5106 #5004. We requested to be near each other but on arrival there was a problem. Bobby Denise stayed in building 4. The next day we again complained they moved them into bulding 5 to be near us. Of course we tipped the front desk. The rooms were clean the refrig always stocked with plenty of beer. Even Budweiser that my husband requested along with Presidente Soberana. We overlooked the pool ocean view. We had the VIP plan which allows you to make reservations ahead of time for the restaurants which is a great idea. That was worth it. We did upgrade our 20 minute massage to 55 minutes it was well worth it. The beds on the beach were great and the huts are too. Never had a problem getting a spot - plenty of space. The beach is gorgeous as is the ocean. Sometimes you did get sea weed but it never bothered us the cleaning crew was always cleaning up. We did try to book the free motorized sport which was a boat ride but they told us it was booked for the week we did this our 1st day there. So we weren't that happy about that. Our husbands went deep sea fishing caught a marlin which made their trip great.We have been to the DR 5 times and love the people and the hotels. This resort was great because it wasn't too big like some of the others. You have the option to use all the facilities at the other 2 sister hotels which we did. We met people from all over the country (Atlanta;Georgia (Andrew ; Nicky friends) Saratoga; NY. Also our friends from Canada - Sav Leanne Lena Tom. Wonderful people. They made our week wonderful. The casino is nice. We had some fun there too. As for tipping - I noticed at this resort they were looking for tips all the time. We are all tippers but it seemed to be at times too much. Hands out a lot more than usual. But we tipped anway made the best of it. The Pool was beautiful again met great people there every late afternoon after the beach. The tram ride to the other hotels was a lot of laughs. Sometimes the driver went to fast other times nice slow. The food was average at this resort. Plently of food and a lot of choices. The lobster everyone said was great - me not liking seafood ate steak which was okay. You had plenty to eat and enjoy. I didn't care for the mixed drinks so drank plenty of water once in a while a rum with diet coke. We agree we would return to this hotel in a few years because we did have soo much fun liked mostly everythig about it. If anyone has questions; please fell free to e-mail me at trip advisor. Joanie from Bergenfield; NJ
313884,VickiGordon,07/25/2007,4th time to Dominican in the past year and this was the best resort so far! Over at the Tropical Princess waiting on diner
313884,Tipsie,07/23/2007,Absolutely Adored the Punta Cana Princess!!!!! Our Room
313884,steveandbarb,07/21/2007,Beautiful; quiet resort; left much to be desired My husband and I (ages 51 and 53) stayed at the PCP July 14-20;2007. VIP guests. This was not our first all inclusive. After reading ALL the reviews; our only concern for our much anticipated stay was the weather. We were so sure we would find our personal paradise here; that we booked another week for 4/2008; sight unseen. After reflecting on the week we just had; we MIGHT NOT have considered going back to the PCP. BUT; for the price for a week in April; ($2000.00 USD) we could not resist. Next time; being forwarned; we will have lower expectations. We need to say that the AFFORDABILITY of the PCP is one of the FEW ATTRIBUTES this resort has to offer. Allow us to thank all of our fellow trip advisor members for taking the time to share their thoughts. Here's ours; we will try to be as brief and thorough as possible. CHECK IN; smooth although I was denied room requested 5215 or any third floor in building 5000 or 4000; Monica said with a frozen smile; they had none. I found that hard to believe; it being July. I quickly realized that begging and pleading was getting me nowhere. When it comes to room location; I am known for trying all theatrics to get my way. Didn't work at the PCP. Upon arrival; we were given a cool towel and a 1/4 full glass of warm juice. We were instructed to find our building and room without assistance. (our luggage would follow). Not that we would have had difficultly; but we expected to be escourted with our luggage and shown to our room properly. We are not uppity people; but we have been to enough resorts to know and appreciate quality and class. We settled into our room 5106; slightly disappointed; but happy to get our vacation underway. THE ROOM; was very accomodating; although; the AC worked quietly only on low fan speed. The fridge was warm; it needed to be defrosted. After 2 calls to the front desk; to no avail; our housekeeper took care of it the next AM; because she spoke to someone and they understood her language. We were instructed to leave the fridge door open when we left the room for the day. THE BATHROOM was spacious with double sinks; one drained very;very slowly. Hot water; good pressure at all times. The bath towels are a disgrace; 2 stars at best. They were small; some frayed; rough and tinted gray. (Meant to be white.) For those of you who are in need; they did supply face cloths. We regret to inform you that the FOOD IS BORDERING ON AWFUL. Just as a recent reviewer stated; the ala carte restaurants are a pity. Even La Cava; which hides behind an intimate atmosphere and pretentious service. (Ladies beware; it is freezing in there; we asked to have the AC turned down; they did so begrudgingly). We came to realize that there is something not quite right with the beef at the resort (or perhaps in this Country). We found this mystery meat to be dangerous to our digestive tracts. We never cared for buffet style dining; but that was the only time we felt safe. The weather did not help our overall sense of disappointment. We were there for 5 full days (not counting 2 travel days). The first day was partly cloudy; second day; cloudy; no rain;the next day; pouring rain until 2PM; the next day... total washout. The last day of our vacation was picture perfect weather. Despite these shortcomings; we are actually looking forward to returning because the beautiful beach; R R; no kids and hopefully better weather is what it's all about for us. When you stay at the PCP; please keep in mind that you get what you pay for. The major disappointment; all things considered; would be the food. The weather is always a gamble. Oh yeah; speaking of gambling; The CASINO; we found it to have a sleazy feel to it and I did not feel safe on the tram going on the public road. The SPA on the other hand was one of the nicest I have ever visited. During our vacation; I celebrated my birthday. The staff delivered a fruit plate to our room; nice thought; except the delivery person helped themself to our complimentary cigars!!! I reported the theft to guest services. I was more concerned that in the future; more items would be missing. Nothing was done about the incident for 3 days. I reported it again and the guest relations manager said she had not heard of the incident. Our cigars were replaced x2 but the management never apologized for the dishonesty of their staff (which concerned us much more the the cigars.) In conclusion; the beautiful grounds; white sand beach; gorgeous turquoise waters; pleasant service people (front desk not included); spotless spacious rooms were the highlights that couldn't be ruined by the afore mentioned drawbacks. We would recommend this resort for those who can temporarily put aside their culinary discretion to enjoy the otherwise positive benefits. We hope that the management responds to the complaints and resolves some of these problems. As for us; we will re visit the Trip Advisor web site in search of true Luxury Resorts; because overall; many little disappointments add up to one large disappointment .
313884,CHAPEAU,07/19/2007,Awesome Resort Adult Only What A Gem Montreal; Canada; Punta Cana Princess ;Awesome ResortJuly; 2007JOHNNYVacationed at the Punta Cana Resort on two occasions in 2007 10 June; 2007 to 17June; 2007 LOVED THIS PLACE SO MUCH RETURNED ON THE 06 July; 2007 to 13 July; 2007Travelled with Air Transat Both occasions excellent flights and transfers.On both occasions arrived at the hotel at approx 1800 hrs check in smooth welcome drinks served; second occasion requested same room as first trip in building 4000 with ocean and pool view. Upon arrival booked all al la carte restaurents no problems.Baggages brought to room within 10 minutes bell services; excellent Room: spacious and large; cleanResort :clean clean cleanBeach: AwesomePool: Nice size great pool barRestaurants. On this resort the are all good. If they have the ingredients they will make it for you Our favorite was the italian and seafood with a spl mention for the tex mex. Breakfast buffet awesome. Anamacion Team: They were nice they tried very hard. This is an all adult resort its hard to get vacationers off of there asses such as me for different activities. Thanks to Carlos and Danny and all of the team for there smiles and good humours. I did play water polo and participated in the ping pong tournament. was greatOver all this is a beautiful resort with great employees who work very hard to please everyone. From the gardeners to the service staff . Thanks to all of you who made my sejour so great.Felix a grounds keeper who cleaned the beach bed area every morning. Alejandro from the morning buffet ;Poo Poo Inside jokeSerapio from the beach grill at lunch time thanks for the sprites and sevices Fast worker he had the sprites and cokes and beers on the table before you were sitting down. Thanks Sammmy Sosa.Pedro and Jose Captains of the sea food and italian rest you are both great.Jose May the lord bless you for your kindness towards us. and last but not least the Managers of this Resort Jesus; his assistant Raoul; and Customer service person Diana; Thanks for your hospitality I will recommend this resort to everyone and I will return.These managers are hands on people they are on the streets as they say they do not stay locked in the offices. They will assist you in any way they can. they care about this resort and they are looking to improve the resort every day.
313884,Sandraq,07/16/2007,A little disappointed My husband and I stayed at the PCP from July 1-8th. We were not able to reserve VIP before arrival and we chose not to upgrade for $44.00per day after arrival. We did not see any premium liquor at either the swim up bar or Mare Nostrum which are the areas we were in most of the time. The resort is kept clean and our room(4108) was fine after being moved from one with water leaking from the bathroom ceiling(4016). We tried a variety of restaurants and they were all okexcept Shanghay. We arrived 5 minutes early with about 15 other people and we were all told to wait. They then rushed around to take off the food orders without even offering a beverage. They brought usan eggroll/wonton appetizer which was cold. The main course was better but the service was terrible. Service was great in all the other restaurants; we left this one before they could bring dessert.The resort was fairly quiet which was great. The beach was nice and easy to walk on. There was quite a bit of sea grass though. We have been to many all inclusive resorts and non A/I in the past. I would probably not return to the PCP unless it was quite a bit less than wepaid. I called guest services to make a manicure appointment. I asked to be transferred to the spa and was charged $2.00 to do so. I was not told in advance this would be the case. Upon checkout they said I owed $6.00-$7.00 for using a calling card from the room. I do not own a calling card and we spent about 20 minutes waiting while the manager (in the back) decided we did not have to pay for that. I
313884,JOSEYB,07/16/2007,how about english as a 2nd language Where do I begin......Well besides being bumped off our flight from JFK and losing our luggage for three days; after day 3 it was ok for my first all inclusive trip.Suggestion................................My suggestion would be to have the hotel assign a person to help guests (BILINGUAL WOULD BE A PLUS) for special situations like arriving at the hotel with no luggage. I do understand that it is not the fault of the resort; but alittle compasion goes along way. Possible have a LOST LUGGAGE WELCOME BAG which could possible include toothbrush/toothpaste; deordorant; razors and maybe a couple of tee shirts (with Punta Cana Princess advertising of course). After travelling ALL DAY and checking in with no bags; we ended up going into the Gift Shop and purchasing 2 toothbrushes; a small tube of paste; 2 razors and a small thing of deordorant and it cost us $26.00. Since the front desk could not help with our baggage situation; I had to contact AA bagage claim in Punta Cana. This venture involved purchasing telephone cards and paying $2.00 for a outside line every time I made a local call. Fifteen calls later (@ $2.00 a call = $30. + the two telephone cards at $10) ; I finally was able to locate my luggage and it was delivered Tuesday morning. Other than that; beaches were beautiful; service was good; food; well that's a whole nuther story. They should also hire an entertainment director. We shuttled over to the sister hotel for that cuz ours wasn't too great.The room was beautiful. Never saw the gym or jacuzzi (probably someone at the front desk could have mentioned it at check in).ALSO....never new there was a refrigerator in the room until day 4. (oops....something else for that front desk to do).All in all; a good trip. Probably would go back to Punta Cana but would try another resort.
313884,lisachill2,07/16/2007,MOST amazing honeymoon EVER My new hubby I went to the Punta Cana Princess Resort from July 3 to July 9th and we had the BEST time!!! We took the VIP package (since so many ppl raved about it) and it was absolutely; completely; one hundred percent worth it. Just the 24-hr free room service made it all worth it!!! One night; around 2 am we ordered 3 desserts; 2 sandwiches salad (we were famished from doing honeymoon activities ;) and the guy brought it to us with a smile!!! Even though the tip is included they don't expect tips; we would always tip ones to the maid; room service guys; the customer service men women; and the bartenders. Everywhere we went staff smiled at us; shook my hubbys hand; patted him on the back - it was fabulous! One thing we were amazed about was that there were no bugs! We couldn't figure it out! They must spray for them all the time (altough we never smelled anything chemical) but when we got back home to Texas; we found more mosquitos in our back porch than on our whole 7-day stay!! Another perk is that it is adults-only and a lot smaller than the two sister resorts (although it was fun to go there for the shows; the a la carte restaurants; and walk through their park with random peacocks roaming the landscape! ). At night it's much quieter most of the time; in the evening; you have like the entire beach to yourselves to take romantic walks; with our toes in the wet sand hear nothing but the roar of the ocean waves... it was amazing. Also; the VIP beach beds ROCKED. It didn't matter what time we woke up (8 am or 11 am) there was always one available! All the food was AWESOME; especially all the fresh fruit I loooooved the grilled chicken! My bubby loved the burgers DEFINITELY loved the size of the steak at La Cava. The only problem we had with the food was that we always ate too much! Also; my hubby (from Brasil) thought that Rodizzio (the Brasilian a la carte) was good food; but not Brasilian by any means. The drinks were amazing too. I should note though; that neither of us drink alcohol so it took some convincing of the staff that we really; truly wanted our drinks sin alcohol; virgin . At first; many thought we were kidding. and I had to throw away a few drinks (I just can't stand the actual taste of alcohol; I know; it's weird) but they'd always make me another one without alcohol; laughing in disbelif ;) We did the parasailing (not included) and it was totally worth it for my hubby I thought it was really neat too; but I got kind of motion sick towards the end I felt gross on the boat ride back. We also went to Manati Park (not included) and swam with the dolphins! That was AWESOME! We also loved the other shows! It was all GREAT fun! We really had a great time it was always easy to book the a la cartes for dinner by phone in the mornings. But truthfully; I really liked the all day Casabe buffet the best!!! There was just so much variety you didn't have to choose just one thing! That probably relates more to my personality preferences than the actual food itself! They were both about equal in quality (for my middle class taste anyways! ;) but I enjoyed the variety and flexibility more of the buffet. We only have one warning for fellow Americans who don't travel all the time (like ourselves) ; the Europeans are very flexible with their bodies exposure! Even the old men (...in string thongs!) it was funny; but awkward to see at first... lol - we got used to it by the end of our trip though. Overall; we want to send every honeymooning couple there - it was AMAZING.
313884,ryandrach,07/11/2007,Ok; but wouldn't return My wife and I recently spent our honeymoon at this hotel; after reading all the positive reviews we couldn't wait to go. Unfortunately our stay was a bit of an anti-climax.Check in was fine; the receptionist was really friendly etc. As honeymooners we asked about a possible upgrade and were told yes this was ok as long as we were willing to pay an additional $100 per night.........we didn't take her up on her kind offer!!! (the brochure states honeymooners get a free upgrade when available)The room was lovely; very spacious; air con VERY good and the fridge had beer!! We did notice several damp patches in the ceiling though; so did the maid when she was cleaning one day when we were in there! Apart from that we have no complaints; apart from channel 96 only showing adult films on one day!! :-)The beach is lovely; probably the best we've ever seen; spotless soft white sand and clear blue sea. It is picture postcard stuff and it really took our breath away when we first saw it.The grounds are immaculate; the friendly gardeners will offer to climb up and get you a coconut too which is a nice touch.We found a few problems though which put us off ever going back to this hotel; maybe not the DR but definitely this hotel:THE STAFF:Whilst most were very courteous and friendly there were the odd few who gave you the impression this was too much like hardwork! The pool bar gentleman is one; also the gentleman who works the lobby bar was only interested in serving you if you were lining his pocket with dollars. There is a certain favouritism to Spanish guests too; whilst I have no problem with the Spaniards I object to waiting at the bar and then a Spaniard appearing from nowhere and being served immediately. It's not as if we didn't tip on a regular basis; much more generous than most but it didn't seem to matter. THE FOOD:The buffet is probably your safest bet; I found the food pretty good in there although my wife didn't and subsequently lost half a stone on our trip. There is a different theme every evening and I found the food to be of a pretty good standard. I never eat veg at home but the veg here was amazing; so was the rice and all the meat dishes. (if you're a very fussy eater then perhaps this hotel isn't for you) The a la carte restaurants aren't worth going to; the Chinese is pretty bad; Tex Mex steak didn't taste like steak to me; the Mexican in the other hotel is average but the Italian is probably the worst meal I've EVER had.My biggest problem of all was certain cliental; for a so called 5 star hotel I find it disgusting that people smoke in the pool and flick their ash in the water. I also don't understand why people took the time to walk to the lunch buffet at the Mare Nostrum (beach restaurant) and then walk back and eat their burgers; pasta; sausages etc IN THE POOL?????!!!!In my eyes the hotel consisted of 80% Spanish; perhaps 10% American and the remaining 10% a mixed bag of other nationalities. The staff seem to favour certain nationalities; one in particular and I find this pathetic in this day and age.To sum it up; nice beach; beautiful weather; the sea and pool water are like a bath; the buffet very good; and the rooms are very spacious but a little TLC would make them immaculate.My review is honest and to the point I feel; please feel free to get in touch.
313884,MrsKris,07/05/2007,Fit for a Princess!!! We arrived at the Punta Cana Princess at 6.30 pm and check-in was quick and easy. We were given room 5004; attached a label to our luggage and then walked to find the room ourselves. The bags were delivered within a very few minutes of our being in the room. We did not upgrade to the VIP package but had a ground floor room near the beach overlooking the pool. We had bath robes provided and also beach towels were in the room even though we had been given towel cards. The room was very pleasant with two double beds and separate seating area. There was a coffee maker and a digital clock; ample storage space and hangers; and also a TV with a good number of channels in English. We were also pleased to have a room safe provided free of charge which was programmable with your own numerical code. There was also a fridge containing soft drinks and beer. We never touched the soft drinks and only had a couple of the beers so I am not sure how often the fridge was replenished. There was a 2L bottle of water which we used in the bathroom for teeth cleaning and also to make coffee. We left a note on the first morning requesting extra water and always got it after that. The room was kept spotlessly clean each day and fresh towels provided. We tipped a small amount each day and had flowers and towel sculptures left by the maid. As other reviewers have said; the beach is fabulous. There were a great many people playing the 鈥渢owel game鈥?and although we are early risers and were actually sitting on the beach by 8 am all the palapas near to the ocean were already reserved. No big deal; we found a place we liked and sat there every day. The towels provided for the beach are collected from the aquatic centre which was only open from 9 am 鈥?5 pm which I did not think was quite long enough. Also the actual towels were often in really poor condition 鈥?thin and even holey! Let the hotel down in my opinion. The pool is really nice and because the hotel is for adults only; never felt crowded. We always moved our 鈥渃amp鈥?up to the pool mid-afternoon and never had any trouble finding beds and shade. The reason we moved from the beach was that we received a number of insect bites in the late afternoon on the beach. I was badly bitten around my face and eyes and even ended up having to see the hotel doctor. One eye was so badly swollen; it was almost closed. I looked ghastly! The doctor is located 24 hours at the Caribe Club. I spoke to him by phone and then the bellboy took me over to see him on a golf buggy. The doctor spoke excellent English and was thorough in his treatment. This incident was the only thing to mar a really excellent vacation. We had breakfast everyday in the main buffet restaurant. We liked the fact that a young lady meets and greets and shows you to a table. However; we did find that service in the buffet was erratic. There was no shortage of staff or willingness but the waiters and waitresses seemed to rush around a lot and not achieve all that much. They were not very good at topping up water or wine at dinner but this was just a minor irritation. We found the food to be hot when it should be or cold when required. The variety was not huge but there was always something acceptable. We preferred to eat dinner at the a la carte restaurants when possible. Lunch was taken at the beach bar. The setting is superb and they did a really good job of keeping the sand out. The food was always the same but varied and enjoyable. The waiters went to the bar for drinks for you. Some days they did a barbeque on the beach and provided a delicious sangria. On Monday night; they move all the chairs out of the buffet and on to the beach. The Mare Nostrum becomes the buffet for the night. Now this is just my personal opinion but WHY???? We absolutely hated it. You had to walk on sand in your good sandals; it was too dark to see; could not find a table and it was impossible to get a drink. The food was not very nice either. They also allow traders to set up stalls on the path to the beach and they were unpleasantly persistent.. We resolved not to go to the beach night on our second Monday and were able to book the Tex Mex that night. We had no problems booking a la carte restaurants. We went to the lobby in the evening to Guest Services and never waited more than a couple of minutes. We could book 3 nights at once. We went to all the a la cartes at the Princess twice and once to the Dominican at the Caribe. The Dominican was by far our least favourite. The staff were surly and the food tepid. My friend had an upset stomach after we had dined there. That was the only tummy troubles we had. We enjoyed all the restaurants at the Punta Cana Princess. Le Petite Fondue was fun and the melted chocolate dessert was to die for. The Italian was good but portions huge. I had a pizza and could only manage a couple of slices. They were very worried that there was something wrong with it and wanted to get me something else. I was just stuffed. The Tex Mex was excellent and I can recommend the Fillet Mignon. I am not a big meat eater but I enjoyed this. We only went on one trip which we booked via the aquatic centre. It was the catamaran trip. The cost was $84 each for the whole day. We walked along to the left of the hotel to get to the boat but were brought back by Jeep on a 20 minute drive which was fine. The catamaran was much smaller than the ones we had traveled on around Puerta Plata but this was nice. The day was varied with a trip around the wreck located by the Iberostar; snorkeling time; a big beach slide; a visit to a shark/ray sanctuary and then to a natural swimming pool. The bar was included and a light lunch. A lovely day. In the evening; the animation team put on some kind of a show in the lobby. We did not like this. It was very unsophisticated and not in keeping with a 5 Star Adults Only resort. It would have been much more preferable to have say a pianist playing there each night. There was not a great deal of seating in the lobby and this could be much improved. The only other alternative is the beach bar. This is a beautiful location but all the drinks are served in paper cups which is not great at night. In conclusion; we rated the Punta Cana Princess very highly and would return. The fact that there are no kids is a huge bonus. We walked around the two sister hotels and found the atmosphere manic. We were glad to return to the calm of our own hotel. We have been to quite a number of hotels in the Dominican Republic over the last ten years and nowhere is perfect but without doubt the negatives at this hotel were far outweighed by the positives. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
313884,linbad2,07/04/2007,You will love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will love this resort! The resort is really beautiful and gorgeous. The grounds are impeccable and really pretty. It is so clean and pristeen. The staff really goes above and beyond to make your stay wonderful. They always say hi and are so friendly even if they do not speak your language. A smile even goes a long way. We had VIP and we felt it was worth it as you get the extra perks. We stayed in room 5213 and it was great. Our room had a cathedral ceiling and we overlooked the pool and the beach. Our mini bar was stocked at all times. We walked down the beach and the PCP was truely the nicest resort around. The beach is just beautiful and there are plenty of chairs to go around and if you are VIP you get the really comfortable beds as well to use. We usually went to the sister hotel for dinners and entertainment and it was fun. Going there was a snap as it is a short walk if you want or the trams comes every 10 minutes or so that drives you there. The other resort is for families so it is more crowded and has kids everwhere. The PCP is so quiet and serene and you really feel like you have the whole resort to yourselves. We have never been to an all adult place before and it was really nice; you don't miss the kids at all and it is really nice. We would definitely recommend this place and would love to go back again someday. We took the all day excursion on the big truck and went to a sugarcane platation; a private house on the mountain and saw a typical family and we went to a private ranch on the beach and rode horseback on the beach; swam in the ocean; and in the private pools and then they served us all lunch. It was a very nice way to see the real Punta Cana and surrounding areas and it will really give you an appreciation as to what we have in our own homes. The only things that were not mentioned anywhere before we chose this resort was that there are no elevators as in most of the hotels there are only 3 floors. The main large buffets are open sided and not air conditioned so it is hot. We just booked a different specialty restaurant each nite and they are air conditioned and have really good food as well. It gets really hot and humid all the time and I am a sun lover and love to sunbathe and I will tell you to bring alot of sunblock (the higher the better) as you will be looking for the shade as the sun is extremely hot. Also bring aloevera for sunburn as you will need that too as you do get burned even with 50 sunblock on you. Other than that we have nothing bad at all to say about the resort. You will enjoy it! If anybody wants to ask me specific question I will be happy to answer you. My email is linbad2@msn.com. I am sad to be home and back to the grind but I have lovely memories of it.
313884,Julia21,07/03/2007,Relaxing and beautiful experience at the Punta Cana Princess! Double Sink Bathroom with flowers!
313884,goni76,07/03/2007,Punta Cana Princess rocks!!! Punta Cana Coastline...
313884,Noellcakes,06/28/2007,Loved every minute! Excellent honeymoon! With a sculpture
313884,Kristy31,06/26/2007,Amazing - Go Here Punta Cana Beach at the PCP
313884,edewaele,06/26/2007,If you want food posioning and horrible service; this is the place!! First off; the AC did not work in the room. It was like pulling teeth to get a room change. You would think with the number of American tourists that vacation this place; that the locals would learn some English. But no. Huge Language barrier. Numerous times would I have to ask 3 or 4 times for something as simple as a refil of my coke. The humidity was herendous; not to mention you are eating dinner outside almost all the time. No air in the lobby either. You also have to ask for the chefs to recook the food; because almost always is the food either undercooked of sometimes raw. A number of people had food poisoning. The entertainment was sub par. The beach needs to be cleaned badly; with cigaratte buds and trash everywhere. On several ocasions at this all inclusive resort (tipping is optional) we tipped the waiter or bell hop; only to get a snide ungratful remark; thats it!! I would never go to the DR or recommend this place/'country to anyone.
313884,sabineFallRiverMass,06/25/2007,best all inclusive resort ever first do yourself a favor and don't even bother reading the review by LITTLE BUNNY 06 ;MONTREAL .my husband and i stood at the PUNTA CANA PRINCESS june11 to june21 and totally loved it . Last year we went to St.Lucia and stood at the Sandals resoert; well let me tell you we loved that resort alot ; but the Princess topped the Sandals resort .We thought that the Princess was all the five stars that it claims it is. The place is so clean and beautiful . everyday and all day long you would see workers and staff keeping up with the place; and a great job they did. As of speaking the language well we don't ;granted my husband is portuguese there may be a handful of words similar ; but as for me i'm german born american citizen . so we would ask some phrases mostly used and learned them before we got there. but i did not thing there was a problem if we didn't know something in their language and spoke english .they would also do their best to understand what we were saying.what travelers have to remember they are poor people thry were born there work their butts off; they should not be expected to speak our language nor anybody elses.oh and by the way the food is great ; there are so many selections at every seating wether it was breakfast; lunch; or dinner.all those critics that say not much of a selection or not too much food or even the vegetarians who complain about no selections;all i have too say is were the hell do they go to eat to get satisfiy their hunger.you mention it and i pretty much think they had it. i will leave you future travelers with a heart warming thought .you need to remember your going to the caribbean; this means be on vacation enjoy the view the people and learn to relax ; you will get your drink and your will get your food and your room will be cleanned and made up by a maid. just smile and relax greet the people in whatever language and they will smile and greet you back in their language and they are there to please you however thay can.LOVE SABINE ; GO TO THE PUNTA CANA PRINESS!
313884,GeorgiaMamaof6,06/24/2007,Better than Hawaii!!! What a wonderful trip and hotel!! We just got back June 18-22; Friday and can't imagine how anyone could ever say anything negative about the Punta Cana Princess. The staff was WONDERFUL; friendly; generous; thoughtful and all of this with no additional tipping!!! The food was all wonderful; there was always something great to eat! Breakfast is spectacular and a most enjoyable meal. Lunch out by the beach was terrific with sandwich items; hot items; fruits; desserts; salads; salad bar; barbeque grilled hamburgers; chicken; pork and steak. There was a delicious rice dish with lots of fresh seafood at lunch also. At night; all of the a-la-carte restaurants were great but the grilled lobster at the Mare Noistrum was fantastic; anything we raved over; they bought us another one. If you walk over to the sister resorts; you really appreciate the quiet atmosphere when you return. Romantic music was always pumped thru the speakers in the gardens in the evenings and very pleasant island music in the daytime. No kids! We left 6 at home so it was a nice change for some romantic ; stressfree time away. I honestly can't say enough good about this resort. Beach was beautiful! Everything was very clean and immaculate ALL OF THE TIME our room; the grounds; buffets; restrooms; beach; everything; much cleaner than the US. Couldn't believe that we got all that for such a terrific price! If more people knew about this; Hawaii would go out of business! Enjoyed it so much more and can't wait to go back again next summer!!!!!
313884,DG1970,06/23/2007,This resort is absolutely perfect!! Check out the view in the sunglasses
313884,LITTLEBUNNY06,06/21/2007,God! What a disappointement! After reading so many good reviews...I was sure this would be a great hotel!Boy; was I mistaking...I'll get to the point:The good:-the beach-the weather-the rooms ( good size; very clean; working A.C) The BAD!!!:- service: terrible !! We had never been treated this way anywhere...If you didn't speak spanish ( andI do; but my husband doesn't );nobody would give you the time of day when tryingto ask for an information...they just turned their backs and pretended not tohear you...It was as if our being there was an inconvenience for them; they weretoo busy laughing and joking with each other...As for getting something to drink during any of the meals...well; good luck!Tipping didn't help either...Total disrespect !- food: horrible!!! disgusting...lack of choice...and whatever they had wasgross...the only time you could actually eat something was at breakfast (eggs bacon)Yes; you could go to the sister resort and eat( they had a larger buffet )...butit was really crowded all the time !!! We tried the Mexican restaurant and waited for about an hour to get served aFajita (was ok ) Chimichangas (gross)...At our hotel we tried El Mare Nostrum ( everything was either burned or coveredin some weird sauce...) We love trying new food; but this was just NOT GOOD!We also ate at the Italian restaurant Il Bacio which was ok...We didn't get a chance to try the Tex-Mex...you can only make reservationsbetween certain hours and it was all booked by the time we got there...This was our fourth all inclusive resort...we had been to Cuba 3 times and wewould NEVER EVER return to this resort...We loved Cuba each time and were superdisappointed with this trip...We still enjoyed the beach sun but the staff disgusting food made us never want to hear about this resort again.There are plenty of great hotels in Punta Cana...please don't chose this one!!
313884,oldgazza,06/20/2007,Nice time at the punta cana princess My wife and i; both 49; stayed at the Punta Cana princess for 14 nights from 4th June 07. Overall we had a super holiday which we booked last minute 4 days before departure. At 拢1150 for two of us we thought we had excellent value for money. Clientele mainly Canadian; American; German odd French and a few English.I have tried to be honest and critical where i thought fit in this review; but must emphasize; we had a great time!!!!Accomodation; Generally good; although our first room 4018 was rather damp and musty smelling; we requested a change of room on day 2 and were given an odourless room without argument; but on the ground floor again. Fellow guests were also complaining of damp smelling rooms on the ground floor. Guests with British tour operators who we spoke to all seemed to be allocated ground floor rooms.Pool area; Nice pool and swim up bar; good water temperature and seemed pretty clean; although we always avoid late afternoon swimming in the pool as we feel pollution is at its highest then. A small army of cleaners washing everything down; loungers; patio area at 7.00 a.m every day. Poolside loungers were a disgrace though; nearly all of them being broken underneath and virtually collapsing; very uncomfortable. Replacements were made on some days but these were also used and also broken.I cannot understand the management mentality which allows something like this to mar what is generally a great pool area. Blimey; youv'e gotta lay on em most of the day after all; we don't all wanna come home with sciatica do we!Beach; Great beach area; as good as anywhere i've been.Gardens; Wow; manicured and tended to perfection to make this resort a natural paradise; one of the high spots. These gardeners deserve a medal; spare em a buck or two there worth it.Food; Good all round. Casabe buffet good always; found something good to eat; whether it be from the carvery; griddle or selections from the hot plates. Could be a but repetetive but hey where isn't on a 2 week holiday. Quality control regularly probe testing meat temperature etc which has to be a good sign.Steak House. Good; nice tender steak; Petit Fondue. Good again.Mama Mia at Tropical Princess Very good. La Cava a la carte at Tropical Princess; excellent . I found the beach restaurant to be the least appetizing so only ate there twice. I would rate the food at this resort highly overall and say it was a high spot of the holiday.Service; Generally very good; happy faces from most staff and a willingness to give good service whether tipping or not.Drinks; Presidente beer o.k. cocktails pretty good; local spirits leave a lot to be desired but are drinkable. We upgraded to v.i.p package for last four days of our stay; this made a lot of difference. At 22 u.s $ about 拢11 a day per person this was well worthwhile as it entitled you to premium brand drinks; a dinner at la cava ( very good) which would cost $25 per head; A massage $35 per head; internet access; an hour motorized watersportsand use of vip double beach beds and other little extras. I would reccomend doing this even if for only part of your stay.We did have a problem with one of the lobby bar staff trying to give us local drinks after upgrading to vip but we soon put him straight and had no further problems; just be aware.Entertainment; The animacion team were fine during daytime doing usual stuff; volleyball; aerobics etc; and were a nice bunch.But the evenings were a big disappointment; childish games; shouting down overloud microphones; this was the pits. the worst evening entertainment i have experienced in 5 trips to the caribbean and countless holidays in europe. Totally out of context for a laid back over 18 resort; the only big disappointment of this holiday. You could go to the Tropical Princess and watch the shows there if you wanted to though.We booked 2 trips during our stay; one to Saino island; through airtours via coach catamaran and speedboat; a long trip 11 hour round trip but i thought worthwhile and enjoyable; a beautiful island.The other a deep sea fishing trip; from the marlin fishing co; booked through airtours. We were ripped off; 9 on a small rundown boat for half day; stayed close to shore caught 1 fish; gave us a glass of coke though;well it was only $95 each and managed to cram 13 of us into a vehicle with 10 seats for the trip there and back.Obviously no one could belt up. Are these trips meant to be vetted by the tour operators ??????? Avoid this company MARLIN; I would research a company online before i went next time and book independentlyTo conclude; we had very little in the way of stomach / rear end problems; myself suffering one morning which i put down to an excess of mamajuana rum the night before. This is a very clean and well kept resort and i heard nobody complaing of any stomach problems.Did we enjoy our holiday? Too right we did. Would we go back to the Punta Cana Princess again? Too right we would. Would we recommend it to you ? Yes we would . Enjoy !!!!!!!!
313884,JoyLim88,06/20/2007,Best Vaca Ever! First off The PCP was GREAT!My girlfriend and I stayed at the PCP from June 10 to June 17. One week is not enough. The flight there from Toronto was not bad about 4hrs; left T.O at 10:20am and arrived at 2:10pm. We were a little late checking in so we did not get to sit right beside each other on the plane. They did give us seats together but we were separated by the aisle; no big deal. When we arrived in Dominican customs was fast; there were those guys in white you hear about ready to take our bags; but we only had 1 piece of luggage each so we did not need their help; but they were not aggressive at all; as some people stated. Bus ride to the resort was a little longer than I would have liked but they had to drop other people to their resorts first; so nothing much to complain about. When we got there check-in was a breeze; the only thing we had a little problem with was; when my g/f booked the hotel we wanted a king size bed but when we got there they gave us a room with 2 doubles. The concierge told us the king size bed room was on the ground floor without a good view; but the 2 double bed room was on the 3rd floor and it had a pool/ocean view. So we checked it out and stayed with the double room. We were in room 4221; great view of the whole pool area and a pretty good view of the beach. After we got settled in we went to the service desk to get our tickets for our massage; 1 hour motorized sport; and internet access. While there we also decided to book what restaurants we wanted to eat at. It was a bit confusing as to when we have to book the restaurants; because there are certain times you can do so; but in the end it was ok. We tried to book for the same night but we couldn鈥檛 but luckily the guy there had a cancellation so on our first night we ate at Shangay; at the Caribe. The food there was pretty good; we both had lobster. It was dry but free so we really didn鈥檛 care about it too much. The other restaurants we tried were La Petite fondue (Very good); Rio Grande (O.K; but they messed up my order); and the other Seafood place at the Caribe (Very good but couldn鈥檛 finish because it was too much food); but I forgot the name. We also made reservations for Sombrero; and La Cava; but we ended up not going; and just eating at the Buffet. The Buffet had almost the same stuff all the time; with a couple of different dishes. It was good though nothing really to complain about.We went with the VIP package; and having access to the Beach beds are fabulous. Our first night there we stayed up really late; and on Monday morning we woke up really early had breakfast and just slept on the beach beds for a couple of hours getting tanned. Throughout the whole week we never had to wait or look hard for a beach bed. There was always one available. And even if you leave like your towel or a book on the bed and go away for awhile no one will take your spot no matter how long you鈥檙e gone. The beach at PCP was so nice and clean. If you were to walk over to the neighboring beaches they had seaweed all over the shore. But at the PCP they always kept it clean. We walked to the market on the beach but that was probably my least favorite thing to do there. The vendors there are so aggressive and they all have the same stuff. And when you do go into there stores they try and give you a deal but they end up asking for a price that is ridiculous. But you should never agree on the price they ask for. ALWAYS bargain; if they ask for 90US you give them the most 15US-20US; nothing more. My g/f and I did a couple of excursions; we did the 1 hour boat ride to the ship wreck and along the shore line. That was fun; but they said the boat comes and picks us up at 2pm; they came at like 3pm. We also went parasailing; we did the tandem one so both of us were in the air at the same time that was OK; but we had to wait on the boat for 3 other couples to go first so we got a little sea sick; so that made the parasailing not as fun because we felt sick. And then on Friday we went to the Marinarium. That was an experience everyone should try. Forget swimming with Dolphins. Go swim with Sting Rays and Sharks. We went at the sunset trip that is when they feed the Rays and there aren鈥檛 as many people who go on that trip; so it is not that crowded as if you were to go during the daytime. When we went at sunset there was about 10 people; plus the crew. When you go during the afternoon there could be up to 30 people plus crew; so going at sunset is way better.Every night at the Caribe Resort they would put on a show at 9:45pm. We went to all the show except one. The performances were OK. Some performers were really good they can really dance and stuff but some looked like they did not know what was going on. If you go and check out the show try and see 鈥淕othic鈥? 鈥渢he MTV show鈥? 鈥淏efore鈥? and there is one more but I forgot the name.This trip was our first all inclusive trip and going to PCP made it a great experience. I hoped this helped anyone who is thinking of going to this resort; because honestly now that I am home I want to plan another trip there ASAP.
313884,genmgr,06/19/2007,What a great vacation! You will love it; if your normal? clear water
313884,kaylarosie88,06/19/2007,Best Vacation Ever! I know this review is kind of late; seeing as how my mom; brother; my best friend and myself went almost two years ago. But when I saw this hotel on the review page I knew I had to comment.This was my first tropical vacation; and I became hooked. The only bad part of this trip was the flight and bus ride; and that is ONLY because I get motion sickness quite easily and I am really not good on planes.Aside from being beautiful in just apperance; I would have to say that I met beautiful people as well. My brother became frends with Micheal he was an amazing guy who kept him entertained; my brother who was 15 at the time had lots of fun teaching his basketball tricks etc. It was good for him to have someone to talk to especially since I had brought my best friend with me.Rooms:The rooms were absolutely beautiful; they were MUCH bigger then i had expected; we had a standard room and it was lovely. The beds were a bit hard but that is to be expected anywhere you go; this happend to be a good thing for me because it helped my back quite a bit. The fridge was always stocked every day; we always had towels; and when we came back to our room our maid always left us a flower on our bed as well as two in the bathrooms; one by each sink. Although we didn't really have money so we couldn't tip; we always left a thank you note and when we left we left some perfumes and stuff behind for her. Food:The food was really good; we ate at the buffet as well as all the specialty restorants that they had. I loved the chicken fettucini alfredo i had it almost everyday. The deserts were always good; and the staff always made sure we had fresh drinks and were doing well. Beach: The beach was amazing you could walk forever it seemed in both directions. when you go onto the beach if you turn left and walk for about 5-10 minutes there are local vendors who are willing to bargin to give you a good price... we got lots of stuff and spent only a little. The beach was clean and there were always chairs available. Warning. It is a topless beach; be prepared for that; it suprised my 15 year old brother quite a bit; and he always blushed and looked away when a topless women would walk by. So if you have small children prepare for sunless tanning not only on the beach but by the pool as well.Day Trip:My mom took us all on a day trip as well. This included a bus ride through the town. it is beautiful and colourful; but it saddend me... I tend to take things to heart to much; and when I saw the size of the houses and the surroundings it made me feel bad for being at a big luxurious hotel. After the bus ride we ended up at another hotel where we went down the beach and boarded a speed boat; which took us to a huge Catamaran. Once boarded there were drinks and dancing; it was so much fun. We ended up going to a private protected beach where we had lunch and spent 3 hours swimming in the warm crystal clear water. We bought some necklaces from the local vendors and had a great time. After that we boarded a speed boat and went out into the middle of the water; way off the shore where the water ended up being only waste high; we saw starfish as well as other fish and it was amazing. It was really worth the extra money spent; I would recommend this to anybody! After that we boarded the catamaran again and went back to our hotel. Overall:This was a fantastic vacation and I would recomment anybody go to this hotel; I would love to go back; the staff was amazing; the rooms were spotless; and I had the time of my life! This hotel definetly got me hooked on vacationing; and I hope to someday go back! This really turned out to be a lot longer then i thought it would be.. but its such an amazing vacation that I just had to comment!
313884,Beachbunny33,06/16/2007,Garden of Eden This resort is the very best we have ever stayed in. My husband and I stayed here from 9 June - 15 June. We are in our mid 40's. The staff is friendly and helpful and the resort is kept as clean as a hospital. Checking in was only a 10 minute stop and checking out was even easier. Eat at the Ala Carte restaurants and you can make up to 3 reservations at a time. Men must wear long pants to these restaurants. Buffet areas are open to swimsuits; shorts; skirts; tank tops and wraps. Buffet food is pretty good with a different variety at the Casabe and pretty much the same everyday at the Mare. Mondays is when they do the beach buffett but it rained and it was cancelled. I really suggest upgrading to the VIP status. The rooms and beachside beds are worth it alone. VIP's also get a 20 minute massage and 1 hour of motorsport use (although this only consists of the banana boat ride or a boat ride to the sunken ship (which is just a rusty ole boat). Only problem is that the 1 hour ticket can only be used once and the banana boat ride only lasted 15 minutes. You do not get a credit of 45 minutes. The same with the internet use. You get an hour pp but must use it all at one time. Our one off resort dinner (free for VIP's) was at the La Cava. This meal was absolutely fabulous. My husband had the NY steak and I ate the grilled lobster tail. A lot of food. The beach had about 30% topless women but most are European so no biggie. Only the American men seemed excited about it. Same at the pool. Swim up bar was a nice addition. I recommend this resort to anyone looking for a laid back place to enjoy one another. We can't wait to go back.
313884,barb111,06/16/2007,Absolutely Fabulous!!!! My hubby and I stayed at the PCP from 6/2-6/9 and we had a wonderful time. I am going to try to organized in this review; but I tend to ramble. Firstly; the trip from PVD was fine to Charlotte; but then we waited 40 minutes on the tarmac due to traffic congestion and then 25 for someone to come and opoen the door to the plane. No biggie; our flight to PC was delayed 90 min. Still on vacation; no worries. We arrived in P脟 at 4:30; got our bags and went through customs in about 15 minutes. We were asked if we had food; and then waived through. Hubby agreed to let someone carry the bags 20 feet; because he's a nice guy!! Told Prieto tours were taking a taxi and 25 min. later we were at PCP with a glass of cold punch in our hand. We were given room 5209 with a cathedral ceiling and a larger balcony than the others. Plenty of drawer and closet space. Bathroom was large and I found lighted well; as others have not. The bed was a King with lots of pillows and very soft. The fridge had plenty of beer and soda. The maids cleaned morning and night and restocked everything. We tipped her $2 am and pm. VIP get towels in their room daily. You can go up to the dive shop for more during the day; By the end of the week we had 3 each!!We had a great ocean view!!! Our VIP envelope was waiting for us as was the items in the room. At check in; we made a reservation for that night. One was made before arrival; but we decided against italian and went for Mare Nostrum. After settling in; we went to the beach. Absolutely beautiful. We took a quick nap and then went back and made the rest of our restaurant reservations for the week. No problem.Mare Nostrum - good seafod; right on the beach;Brazilian - our least favorite. It is really buffet with them bringing different meats to your table.Dominican - good; and a fun place. I'll note that in the Brazilian and Dominican; people had on shorts; T's and even bathing suits!!La Cave; nice place; good food; slow. But; again..who cares!!!El Pescador; we paid to go (32pp) and it was probably our favorite. Less formal than Le Cave and really good seafood. Right on the beach and fun staffThe beach party is Monday nights and they have vendors come in. The buffet is in Mare Nostrum and they have tables and entertainment right on the beach.We ate breakfast at the buffet every morning and lunch either there or at the smaller buffet at Mare Nostrum. We did try the Creperie one day. Bad mistake. I know people have raved; but.... The chicken and cheese was orange cheeze wiz and some very dark meat chicken with lots of gristle.. Coouldn't eat it.Drinks were plentiful and we used our bubba keg; but saw NO ONE else with them. The bartenders kinda joked about them. We did tip with each drink order and left $2 at Breakfast and Lunch for our drink server. $ dollars at dinner and $10 at El Pescador; because they were so nice; In all honestly; we saw tipping VERY rarely.We did our excursions with the hotel. $20 for snorkeling. Unfortunately; the water was very choppy and not great. The free one hour boat trip was fun. We had booked the sunset cruise; but 3 days in a row it was cancelled. The boat driver was tired!!! Hubby did parasailing.We spent most night in the lobby or at the beach bar. We did see the Italian's show over at Caribe; but never ventured to any of their other shows.We only got top shelf liquor once in the lobby at PCP; everywhere else they don't have it. At Caribe; they lied and said they gave it to us; but we saw what they poured. Received and saw no one with bottled Presidente. None of this was a big deal to us.We used our free 20 minute massage and purchased additional 55 min. and it was well worth it. The spa is lovely and would recommend it over the mini one at PCP. Caribe and the spa is only a 2-3 minute walk away. It took longer to wait for and take the trams.I did have to see the doctor while there. My eyes were a bit swollen from too much sun. She gave me some shots and meds and checked me for the next 2 mornings before breakfast for additional meds. overall; it was $350 which my private and trip insurance will cover. Well worth it.We did not bother stopping at the beach markets; because they were just too aggressive and the items looked too much like stuff I didn't want. I found nice T-shirts at the resort for a reasonable price and we bought jewelry; a painting and rum from the vendors the night of the beaqch partyl.Overall; our stay was great!!!! The beach was wonderful..loved my floatie. The pool was never crowded. It was hard to find a palapa after 6am; but we managed. The food was good; not excellent; but not why we came.Unfortunatelly; the trip home was not good. The flight out of PC was 4 hours delayed; so we missed our connection in Charlotte. Found a hotel at 1am; got up at 4 to go back to the airport to come home the next day. Luggage was lost; and when it arrived; the rum had broken and the bags were ripped. Kudos for trip insurance; once again.Please feel free to contact me with any questions!!!!
313884,Crazy8NC,06/09/2007,Great Resort! My husband and I just returned from the Punta Cana Princess on Sunday; June 3rd. We traveled with 6 of our friends. Our experience was great! I feel I can say that for our entire group. We traveled from America. I must say; that we were some of the few Americans at this resort. That was interesting to say the least. We met several people from different countries. The diversity was great! We had not problems with immigration going into and leaving the Dominican. Once we arrived at the resort; the staff was very helpful. All of our rooms were spacious; very clean and stocked with a great mini bar. We took the advice from other reviews and tipped the maids each day. They always left us extra bottled water and drinks in our rooms. The food at the buffet was okay. Our group tends to like more spice and we found in this country; more sweet spices are used or none at all. But; we always found enough to eat! We ate at the Caribe twice. Our group upgraded to VIP. I strongly recommend this. You get the perks of the beds at the beach and the pool. I usually took our towels down to the beach around 7:00 am to save 2 to 3 beds and 8 lounge chairs. We never had a problem with enough space. The beach is large and very beautiful. Unlike another all-inclusive resort that my husband and I visited; at the Princess you could walk for miles up and down the shoreline. The sand was white and baby soft. The weather was great. Only one hard rain storm and a couple of afternoon showers. We took advantgage of our VIP motor sport package by taking a speed boat up the coast toward Dolphin Island. The driver stopped beside a Rum-Runner boat which was cruising the coast. Two words: BUBBA-KEG! Those in the know; will know what I mean! Overall; our experience was great. The one thing that was hard to adjust to was the topless beach. As Americans; we are not used to that. However; after the first day; it was not a big deal. I know the guys enjoyed it! We are all ready to go back. Definitely a world class resort. As many reviews here have said; your vacation is what you make of it. We certaintly made ours FUN! Oh; please say HI to Carlos if you visit the resort. He made the week alot of fun! THE LEGEND LIVES!
313884,sonrisa129,06/06/2007,Loved it! Fun in the pool
313884,cher818,06/06/2007,loved the princess we just returned from the pcp on june 5th; we had a great time; the hotel is nice and kept very clean. rooms are large and stocked with soda and dominican beer. the pool is large and never crowded. there never was a problem getting a lounge chair as some reviews stated; we did not need to go down and save a chair at 6am..same at the beach there is plenty. the food is average at the buffets; ala cartes are very good; we ate at all of them at the princess and 1 at the caribe...never disapointed.as far as the vip goes; if you want it for the upgrade on the drinks only; dont bother they use the i dont understand you when it comes to asking for something premium; my husband got maybe 3 budweisers while there and they always had to go find it. but everything else was well worth the vip. the room alone was worth the extra cash/ we had room 5211 beautiful pool and ocean view and all the extras beach towels; cigars rum....all in all it was a great vaca spot . the beach is beautiful to say the least and the staff are excellent; very very nice...friendly...this is a very nice resort not a 5 star but a close 4 star in my opinion.
313884,CtBoaters,06/05/2007,Just what we needed pool
313884,AnnetteandSteven,06/05/2007,Annette Mare Nostrum deck
313884,flytrumpet,06/04/2007,Awesome honeymoon !!!! We went to the PCP for our honeymoon from may 13-20.What a fantastic place.Everything is immaculate;lobby;grounds;rooms;pool;restaurant;beach...just great.Employees are great and the service is top notch.Don't forget to bring $1 bills as they will be really appreciated at the bars.Don't forget the maids either;they work extremely hard.A far as food goes;no complaints here;buffet was huge and it was basically impossible to not find at least a couple of things to like.A la carte restaurants were also good(we did La petite fondue;(which is excellent);tex mex;which is also very good;and the italian at the sister resort.What more is there to say;just go and enjoy;you won't be disapointed.If you ask for a room in the 5000 building;you will be minutes from the pool and beach.But the resort is small so everything is a very short walk.
313884,LadyBugDi,06/03/2007,Hail to the Princess! Dominican Entertainment
313884,birthday55,05/28/2007,forgive us we strayed! we visited punta canna princess in may for five days and four nights; the room was very nice ; the concierge service was confusing and very abrasive . we were dealt with very short patience and non accomodating service ;we found trying to get hotel and dinner information for same day arrival and or to make reservations that we thought were needed for the remainder of our stay was almost impossible ; everything was booked and booked and booked .we were able to get two dinner bookings after a second visit to the help desk or concierge desk .we felt intrusive to the staff . and the pressure to tip was strong even thou it was an all inclusive ; would we go again NO ! Never! No
313884,Afroricanqueen,05/27/2007,Fun and Relaxing Time in Punta Cana White Sand beach
313884,PrincessNyc,05/25/2007,Wonderful Vacation Experience Two friends and I stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from May 17-May 22; 2007; what a beautiful resort! The front desk staff was exceptionally friendly when we arrived and we were given an excellent room in the 5000 building (best location)...we were steps from the pool and beach as well. The grounds are kept immaculately clean and the staff is always friendly and eager to make your stay enjoyable. VIP is definelty the way to go and worth the few extra dollars. The beds on the beach are extremely comfortable and always kept clean. Some of the staff that deserve a notable mention are Nelson (bartender from the beach bar)...he was extremley friendly and made the best drinks! The whole animation staff was great but Super Carlos was definelty super with us; he always invited us to participate in all of the activities and made us laugh the whole trip! Alejandro from the buffet was very friendly and always made sure we were satisfied at the buffet. The buffet offered an excellent variety of food...breakfast was excellent....if you plan on tipping during your vacation don't forget the omelete guy and the juice guy...they will be extremely grateful; as was everyone else who we tipped during our vacation...they make very little money at the resort and they work 11 days straight before getting 4 days off...and most of them live over 4 hours away!!!!!If you plan on going dancing; Areito was okay but not a great mix of music...oh yes and if you are planning on paying with American $$$ take plenty of singles....BEWARE OF ADA the bartender at Areito....she caught amnesia when I paid with a $20 bill...she implied that I never ordered a drink from her; then she claimed I paid with a $10 bill.....at the end of it she made of with $14 for herself....not to ruin my vacation I let it go.The beach is absoluelty beautiful; if you plan on taking an excurssion the half day snorkeling trip held by Carribean Festival is the best....great time on the boat and swimming with the sharks and stingray.Overall the resort is excellent and the staff make the trip all the better....I would definetely recommend this resort !!!!
313884,happyseniors,05/24/2007,A Wonderful Holiday My husband and I are seniors (in fact he is a senior senior) and although we seldom go on all inclusives this one was truly wonderful. As he has some difficulty with stairs we asked for and got a ground floor room in Bldg 5 the closest to the beach and the pool. The room was large and clean BUT very musty smelling. We turned the AC off and opened the patio door ( and main door when we were there) and got a lovey breeze which after a couple of days cleared the air. We believe it is the air conditioner that causes the smell . We found the beach to be lovely ( very much like the beaches in Antigua where we go frequenlty. ) However being as it is the Atlantic and not the Caribbean; the sea is farily rough..you can certainly swim; and we did every day but it can be quite a challenge!!! I am not sure if it is ever calm. But great for sailing !We thought the food was really quite good. The buffet was great with a lot of variety. Breakfasts were wonderful!!!The a la carte restaurants were good too . As other reviewers have mentioned; if you want to book one of the exclusive restaurants at the other hotels that come with the VIP package; do it immediately upon arrival or the best one (La Cava by all accounts) will be taken.We went to El Pescador instead which was ok but not great. Staff are so friendly. My husband speaks Spanish and I can stumble along in it and they realy liked that!!! They were always chatting and smiling and nothing was too mcuh trouble for themWe did find the DJ at the pool very loud around noon each day as he gets people to do aquacises in the pool. and the music (and his voice) is deafening and pretty irritating actualy. . He does it again aroudn 4:00. But it only lasts half an hour or so. We just closed the door!!!At no time did we have any mosquitoes and we had our door open all day long including the evening...No did we have any stomach or other upsets..I strongly believe those are caused mainly by over eating; over drinking and too much heat!!!This is a small (270 rooms) hotel with nothing more that a three or four mintue walk away. This is good for us older folk!!!I would recommend it highly to anyone. I think if you want a really lively nightlife you woudl need to go elsewhere.
313884,CristinaPorto,05/23/2007,Paradise on earth Casino
313884,TennesseeBelle,05/22/2007,Great Staff; Great Beach; Great R This has been a wonderful vacation. We did the Adult Onlyall inclusive at Punta Cana Princess...We also enjoyedthe other properties...There is nothing missing.You do need to book you dinner reservations; beforecoming....they were all booked prior to our arrival....So when you book your trip...book your dinners.Make sure you ask if they are included in the all inclusive...some are and some are not.The Service was Exceptional...very professional...The Beach is soooo beautiful...Topless bathingis premitted and 30% did it...young and old alike!Make sure you weigh you luggage...cannot be over45 pds at the island and 50 pds in the states.Carry an extra $100 for unexpected expenses; likethe tourist tax...extra weight...The Presidente Beer was Great...free flowing 24/7;as well as the liquors....BahamaMaMa with DarkRum was Wonderful....You will not be disappointed!!! The Best timeto go (free of bugs) is April and Early May.
313884,sunseeker64,05/21/2007,Wow... you won't be dissapointed at the Punta Cana Princess !!! That is a promise.... So.... I was obsessive about reading the reviews and checking out the forums for the PCP for weeks before my trip and all I can say is this resort is fantastic. If you go with the attitude that you are on vacation and leave your expectations at home; you will have the time of your life. That being said; there are some areas that will exceed your expectations.Rooms: Very nice; clean; clean; clean. a/c worked exceedingly well and the maids were fantastic. Don't forget to tip... They work from sun up until very; very late at night and make next to nothing. Pool : Beautiful; well kept; lots of shade and the swim up bar was great. No kids; no loud music and if I had to offer only one morsel; it was that there was no pool side drink service. You had to either swim up or walk up to get served.Staff: These people are the hardest workers I have ever seen. They work and work and work to make this resort clean and comfortable. They are quick with a hello and the hugs are a plenty. Tip; tip; tip and you will not be sorry. A buck goes a very long way. Beach: Not much to say here but lovely. One of the most beautiful I have ever seen... Food : Well ........This is the only negative experience that I can speak of. Although there are many choices; don't go with an expectation that you will be having a fine dining experience. The fodd was tolerable and I always found somehting to eat; but honestly it just isn't very good. From everything that I have heard and read this is not just at the PCP; but at most of the resorts too. The cuts of meat are different and they try very hard to have something for everyone. To me (and I am a foodie from SF) this is not a deal breaker. Drinks: Unless you like really sweet drinks; you might want to consider bringing your own mixers.. I know that sounds crazy but even the mixer were a little odd. The soda was odd; the tonic was odd and the OJ tasted like tang. There really is no good wine choice and if you are a wine drinker; bring your own. The beer is okay when cold (don't forget the bubba keg) and there is always a very happy and gracious bartender to get you whatever you want. I love my morning mimosa(s) !!!! Bottom line - this is a terrific place. I would not hesitate to return or to recommend the PCP to anyone. Go with a good attitude; plenty of ones and fives (100.00 of both); a couple of good books; ton's of sunscreen; bug spray and a bubba keg and a good time is assured !!!
313884,Fox43,05/21/2007,Love the Princess We were at the Punta Cana Princess May 11-18. I wish we could have stayed longer. The staff went out of their way to make our time there absolutely perfect.We did the VIP upgrade; and it was worth it. The room had everything we needed and more. It was very nice to have the option of room service; however the restaurant choices were more than ample. Even the buffet provided such a nice variety; it was hard to decide where to eat. Believe me; we didn't go hungry!The drinks were all good. The bartenders would make anything you wanted - and made it well. I'm sure some people may have thought the drinks were weak; but all you have to do is say something. All the staff wanted the guests happy and they would do anything you asked.The grounds were kept immaculate. The beach area; and pool area were constantly maintained. I never saw trash laying around and the bathrooms were constantly being cleaned.We loved that this was Adults Only; and it's a small resort which makes it feel more intimate. Everything was a short walk away. We visited the sister resorts Carbe-Princess and Tropical Princess; and they were nice too; but we were so glad that we booked at the Punta Cana Princess.I have nothing bad to say about this resort. It was PERFECT.
313884,pkes,05/20/2007,Loved the Princess! We traveled to the Punta Cana Princess from Apr 29-May 3. We had a fantastic time at the resort. We booked it through [--] and although we had to wait about 20 min for our driver; we made it to the resort with relative ease. Our room was not ready; but we were able to enjoy a nice buffet lunch at the restaurant. The food at the buffet was pretty good. There was always something you good find to eat. We also ventured mainly to the pool buffet for lunches since you could eat while still wearing your bathing suit. We really enjoyed the a la carte restaurants for our dinners; particularly the Mare Norstrom and the Fondue restaurant. We also enjoyed the Creperie at that neighboring resort for lunches and snacks. We found a range of quality at the bars. We found the pool and lobby bars to be the best. As for the resort; the grounds were beautiful. Our room was spacious and we were able to easily switch from two double beds to a king-size bed. The only issue in the room were the mosquitoes that were sometimes let in from the housekeeping staff. I would recommend bringing some bug spray. The pool and beach were beautiful as well and we didn鈥檛 have any trouble finding huts to sit under. We had thought about the VIP package; but ended up not getting it and were just as content. The Princess is the 3rd and newest (built 2003) resort in the complex of Princess resorts. They have trams that take you to the other 2 resorts and the casino. You sometimes have to wait a bit for the trams but the walk is not that bad (about 10 minutes to the Caribe). You cannot walk to the casino; but it is really not worth the trip there despite how much they promote it. (but we aren鈥檛 gamblers)They have shows every night that occur in the theater by the Caribe. If you have an 8:30 dinner reservation it is hard to make the start of the show at 9:45; but we caught the end of a few shows (magic; carnival; etc)During the day the staff runs activities such as archery; darts; ping pong; volleyball; etc. The staff is very nice and will teach you how to do anything. It was; however sometimes hard to find where the activity was meeting when it was supposed to be occurring. The staff at the resort was super friendly and extremely hardworking. Overall; a great resort; very reasonably priced for this quality!
313884,Kathryn75,05/18/2007,Paradise! I have just returned from a two week stay at the Punta Cana Princess. If you are planning on travelling to Punta Cana I would most definately recommend this resort. I travelled to Punta Cana with my finace and two of our friends. For the first two hours of our arrival we were all simply awestruck by the beauty and perfection of the resort. Within minutes of our arrival we were greeted with drinks while we waited to check in. Our room was by far the nicest hotel room that we have ever stayed in. Not only was it huge; it was immaculate and air conditioned to perfection. The mini fridge was stocked every single day with sprite; coke; beer and water. One day we asked the maid if she could supply us with two bottles of each and she did so without any hesitation. We did tip the maids $3 a day which we found extremely fair. They work so hard all day long; it doesn't really matter when you leave the sign out to have your room cleaned; wether it is 8 a.m or 3 p.m. it is guarenteed to be finished within an hour. Every single member of staff that we encountered were extremely friendly. From the maids; maintenence people; bellboys; and security; to the guest service representatives; enteratiners; bartenders; waiters; waitresses and cooks; all the way to the manager and medical team we were greeted with a smile. The staff are willing to help at the drop of a hat and will go out of their way to satisfy you. We were shocked at how much variety and how good the food was. There was definately no shortage of food and it was always kept warm. Obviously; if you go for breakfast at 9:45 a.m the food is in worse condition than it was at 7a.m. However; we did eat breakfast at this time on many mornings and the food was still excellent and plenty of it. As for the lunch and dinner buffets it really didn't matter when you went; the food was always great. The resuraunts that you have to reserve were excellent. Once again the food was great and the staff were outstanding. Remember though that you do have to reserve for the specialty resturaunts and reservations go fast. The sister resorts next door (Caribe Club/Tropical Princess) also have extremely good food. In fact; not to take away from the food at the Punta Cana Princess because it was also outstanding; but the sister resorts had even more variety. We ate at most of the resturaunts and have no complaints about any one of them. All of the bars are great. The bartenders are so comical and a small tip goes a long way! The Beach and Pool areas are kept in excellent condition; the maintenence people work so hard to keep the seaweed out of the water and off of the shore; and the sand is groomed nightly. As for the pool the area is also in spectacular condition. Heads up though; there are a ton of shaded areas on the beach but we found that since were are younger (early 20's) we woke up much later than the other people; and were hard pushed to find shade on the beach when we rolled out of bed at 11 a.m. This was totally our own fault though; if we had got up earlier I'm sure we would have had no problem. Even with that being said; we always found somewhere to sit. Tips for travelling to Punta Cana/ staying at Punta Cana Princess:1) Bring bug spray (oh my goodness; we got eaten alive. This could possibly be due to the time of year but it sucked. We had to by bug repellant from the resort store which cost us a whopping $14 for the smallest bottle). 2) Stay hydrated! Unfortunately my finance did not do this so well. This was a combination of being over excited for free beer and beautiful sunshine. He learned his lesson after a two day stay at the hospital. Thank god we had travel insurance. 3) Tip the staff. They work so hard to please everyone; $2-$3 goes a long way. It might not mean a lot to you but it really does to them. Plus; it gets you fast service. 4)Bring medicine like pepto bismal; immodium; advil; gravol etc. Travellers stomach bugs and diarahea is really common there. 5) At the airport as soon as you arrive they charge you a $10 airport tax. We were unaware of this and were scrounging for our money.6) Don't buy from the store on the resort. It is a huge rip off. Walk down the beach a little and there is a market. They will try to way over charge you. Usually you can talk them down to less then half of their original offer.
313884,jim48d,05/18/2007,great resort We stayed at the Princess May 6 thru the 12. The resort is fantastic;rooms clean; staff friendly and drinks are great. The only thing that I would even say was a little bad was the food selection; you need a wide pallet to find something to enjoy; what they had was always fresh just a little different. The pool is beautiful and the swim up bar great. I have never seen such lovely beaches; the sand is so soft you just can't belive it. The only problem we had was with our airline; DELTA. Take my advise and avoid them like the plague. They delayed us leaving Nashville and we missed our flight out of Atlanta and when we got to Atlanta we got more stories than Mother Goose wrote as to why the delay. No help from respresentives just a gate person who listened to us but could not do anything. On the way back same problem this airline does not seem to know what it is doing. Punta Cana is still trying to develop itself for tourist but be prepared the tours are nice but not quite organized as I would like to see them. As far as going back I would to the resort but will give the country a few years to catch up with development.
313884,PooandSat,05/16/2007,Best Place Ever! Poo and Sat- London EnglandWe stayed here from 30th April-7th May 2007 and loved it!This place is FANTASTIC!! The 9 hour journey from London was worth it. The Punta Cana airport is a sight in itself with its thatched roof; musicians and traditionally dressed woman to greet you on your arrival. To make you aware- when these ladies grab your arm; they arenot crowd control- a photograph is being taken. This will be made available to purchase on your departure for 10$. Nice little touch. The beach is the best we have ever seen- and we have seen a fair few. It was long; wide and clean. You could walk miles and miles. Gorgeous!The resort is self contained with everything easily accessible. We loved riding the shuttle bus through the beautiful grounds.The nearby Casino and Palma Real (the shopping centre) arrange their own shuttles to and from the resort. We did kind of get addicted to Blackjack thanks to the gentleman from the Casino who kindly taught us how to play in the lobby. Bavaro Plaza was great for shopping. Find the right shop and you can get everything you want at a good price. Always offer much less than the original price quoted and pick up some bargains. Disappointingly; the rum was not as inexpensive as we thought it would be.Nightlife wise- there is a club- Arieto- within the resort and this has free entry and drinks until 12am. We did go a couple of times and whilst we enjoyed it- they could do with more non spanish music. The staff were friendly and helpful. Language was a bit of a barrier but everyone managed to communicate somehow. The food was excellent and cannot be faulted. We easily managed to overeat at every meal every day. We mainly ate at the buffet restaurant but there are a number of al a carte restaurants available so we tried out the mexican and italian and found them to be very good. Drinks wise- as the other reviewer mentioned- the mixers were very sweet and so there are only a certain number of cocktails you can stomach. So; stick to good old rum and coke. We checked the weather forecast prior to travelling and expected rain however were pleasantly surprised as we had sunshine every day and it was HOT HOT HOT!There was a good mix of other nationalities particulary Canadians and Americans. We made some good friends from Newfoundland and Quebec City (you know who you are ;-)) who we will keep in touch with and hopefully return to PCP with. The resort manager took care of the guests and the resort. Always very friendly and eager to please and even personally secured us a reservation to an already full al a carte restuarant.There are many excursions available but we did not book any. We did parasail though and that was an enjoyable experience. Can't wait to return to this place and can't see us wanting to holiday anywhere else ever again!
313884,Leslie45,05/16/2007,Treated Like Royalty Treated Like RoyaltyThe Punta Cana Princess is by far the nicest Resort my husband and I have ever been to.The warm welcome upon our arrival was just the beginning of our 2 week vacation in Paradise. The Friendly Staff went all out and made us feel as though we were family. Walking along the paths of the resort we found the beautiful gardens and landscaping to be flawless. Our room was kept spotless and whatever we needed was always delivered minutes after we asked. We found the selection of restaurants and their delectable meals to be just amazing.If you are thinking of visiting Punta Cana; visit the Punta Cana Princess and see what it's like to be Treated Like Royalty. You will never want to leave.
313884,RIRested,05/15/2007,Beautiful Place to Vacation We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess Resort May 5-12 with friends from IL and CO. Traveling to and from the Dominican Republic was fine. Our check in to Princess was easy and the room was very nice. We were all on the 2nd floor of the 4th building (it overlooks the pool and you can see the ocean from there). The beach was probably the nicest sand that I have been on and the resort does a good job of removing the seaweed compared to the other resorts. The resort facilities and landscape are nicer than the sister resorts; Tropical and Caribe. The food was kind of hit or miss. We found that the buffet style restaurants varied between the two resorts. Ours (Casabe) was better for breakfast and the one at Caribe (El Higuero) was better for lunch and dinner. I think most of that had to do with the Caribe being a much larger resort with more variety in food. We did run into more difficulty with vegetarian options than we did in the Mayan Rivera. The a la carte restaurants do not list all of their ingredients on the menu and often times a dish would arrive to the table with meat on it. The staff was accommodating once we explained vegetarians don't eat meat. We ate at La Cava for our speciality dinner and it was the best meal we had. The desserts were a bit bland and wish I would have brought some chocolate with me. The staff is amazing; very hard workers; and always smiling. They have basketball; tennis; ping-pong; shuffleboard; bocce; archery; volleyball (beach and pool); fitness center; and mini golf available.I would definitely recommend Princess Punta Cana. The adults only was a nice change from screaming kids. I would also recommend the VIP package. The VIP area on the beach was great and you did not have to arrive early in the morning to get a spot. VIP package included 20 min massage; premium drinks; 1 hour of motorized watersports; 1 SCUBA dive for certified divers; a complimentary dinner at a speciality restaurant (others are charged a fee to eat there); 1 bottle of rum and 3 cigars in your room; 2 beach towels in your room per day; nightly turndown service; 1 hour free internet service; room service; bathrobe use and access to VIP area at the beach and poolside. The VIP 1 hour of motorized water sports (as it is stated on a ticket that the VIP desk hands you) is only valid for 15 minutes for some reason and only includes the banana boat; tubing; water-skiing or a boat ride (this one lasts 45-60min). It does not include the other activities they advertise at the booth. We did do the free SCUBA dive that was included in the VIP for certified divers and we were glad it was free. Unfortunately; the Pelicano dive operation is poorly run and the health of the reefs are poor. If you SCUBA dive I would not hassle with bringing your own gear down with you like we did. We planned on diving several times; but after the huge dissapointment with the first dive; I wouldn't waste my time.We all tried to speak Spanish as much as possible to locals. I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling there as it was much appreciated by all the staff. We also brought little gifts (books; crayons; nail polish; toys; etc) for the staff and their family which was also very much appreciated.
313884,TAZJT62,05/14/2007,Great Resort / Awesome Beach My wife and I just returned from a 6 day stay at this resort and for the most part loved it!Pros: 1.) Super clean resort2.) Awesome beach front3.) Friendly staff4.) Awesome pool area5.) Food and Drink always available6.) Adults onlyCons:1.) Nightly entertainment could improve2.) Buffet food was good but had enough of it after the 3rd day 3.) Room was nice but smelt musty. Also slider would not lock.4.) VIP not really worth it.5.) Ride to hotel is long especially since it is last on the drop off list.We will definetly use this resort again if we are to visit DR again.
313884,Paaj,05/14/2007,Relaxing Resort filled with Friendly People This is the most comprehensive review. It's long; but it's worth it. These are my views and hints for traveling to this resort. I traveled with my boyfriend to this resort from May 4-8th. When booking this trip we were very worried about whether we would find a good place. When we looked at the reviews on tripadvisor we were amazed at the great reviews. We were still a little skeptical and thought that there must be something wrong with the place since we got such a great deal. Boy were we wrong. We had an absolutely wonderful time at the resort. The lady at the reception desk was a little rude when we checked in; but the receptionists after her were very friendly. We quickly noticed that there was a language barrier between ourselves and the staff. Everyone spoke Spanish; but very few people spoke or understood English. We didn't expect this before we arrived so we didn't prepare ourselves by bringing any type of translation dictionary. I think this would have been handy at times when we wanted to ask something; but had no idea what to say. As we walked through the resort we were constantly greeted by the employees with a cheerful Hola!. Everyone was so friendly. our room did smell a little musty; but that's expected for a sealed room in a tropical resort. I would suggest bringing your own pillow or an additional pillowcase since some of the pillows also had a musty smell. The room was very clean and spacious. If you're a late sleeper (ie. past 9am) I would suggest putting the Do Not Disturb sign on your door before you go to bed. We were often awoken by the staff. It did take until mid afternoon to have our rooms cleaned; but I think that was because we kept returning to the room and changing the sign. When we wanted our room clean we contacted the front desk and it was done within the hour. We also received a call from the management asking us whether our room was cleaned to our satisfaction.The food at the resort could be considered hit or miss. The restaurant food was amazing. You have to make a reservation at least the night before for the restaurants on your resort and 2 days in advance for the restaurants at the neighbouring resorts. This was a disappointment since our stay was only for 4 days and we were not able to eat at the restaurants our first night. Also; some of the restaurants are not always open so make sure you check with the receptionist to see which days they are closed. The lunch buffets were usually the same and were not very good; but the dinners more then made up for it. The breakfast buffets were enormous and usually your stomach got full before you could try everything you wanted.We wanted to take advantage of the activities that were offered and found that we got the best deal from the beachside business. Snorkeling was very cheap and only $20 a person for 1 hour of snorkeling. Parasailing was a little expensive at $45 a person for only 15min; but it was well worth the money. The helper on the boat even took tons of pictures for us since by the time it was our turn most of the people were taken off the boat.The beach was absolutely beautiful. The sand was powdery white and felt so soft on your feet. The lounge chairs under the huts tended to be taken up very quickly in the mornings and usually covered with towels; but no people. The neighbouring resort had a no reservation policy and I would have preferred that since it seemed as though no one returned to 'their' chairs past noon. Beach towels were available for free everyday and you could exchange them as many times as you liked; but don't lose them otherwise you'll pay for it.One big this to note. Do NOT use the international calling from your room. We were charged 50 pesos for just using the phone and then my boyfriend was charged $30US for a 1-2 minute call to the US. I would instead bring a calling card and use the payphone in the lobby. You might get a better deal that way.US currency was widely accepted along with credit cards. All items for sale in the little stores were in Dominican Pesos; but when it came to the purchase they would convert the amount to US dollars and put it on your credit card. I don't know if this was the best rate; but there were no additional charges on my card. There is an ATM onside; but the rate along with the fees your bank charges is worse then what you would get at the front desk. My suggestion is to either bring Pesos with your or exchange them at the front desk.One suggestion to the resort would be to have better maps available for each guest. We often had no idea where we were going or where anything was. All 3 resorts are within walking distance of each other; but I would take the free trolley the first time so that you get a feel for where everything is.Well; I hope you've enjoyed my thorough review. I hope you enjoy your vacation as much as we did!!
313884,london7254,05/14/2007,fabulous! Fabulous hotel; extremely polite and friendly staff; food was good; the buffet was even better than some of the a la carte restaurants! Very relaxing resort with no children.
313884,jackattackbrighton,05/14/2007,rock out at the princess! My boyfriend and I stayed 10 days at the PCP 5/4/2007-5/13/2007 and we loved every single day. The resort itself was very well polished and much; much prettier than in the photos!Next door to the resort is it鈥檚 sister property; where children are allowed. And you are welcome to make reservations for dinner at their restaurants; and use their facilities as well. I never saw a child at our resort; they are very good about being strict on that policy.Behind the resort there is a huge stretch of marshland where you can see practically every type of bird the Caribbean has to offer!We did tip our bartenders and maids; which I think accounted for our drinks being just about as strong as you can make them! But it seemed that everyone was getting great service all around. Neither my boyfriend or I speak Spanish; but most people at the resort did perfectly; some more than others. Aside from a few awkward moments; we had virtually no language barriers.For the downsides to the resort; well there were very few. It is important to make reservations at the specialty restaurants for dinner. They are very quirky about this policy. You can make 3 reservations at a time; but you can go to each one as many times as you like. If you; hypothetically; get way too drunk at the swim up bar and miss your reservation; it鈥檚 ok; because the large buffet always has something great cooking. HUGE plates of pasta where you can add in your own mix-ins; a grill cooking up different fish; and meats; and chicken; sometimes they had a Caesar salad station; and that was phenomenal!. During the day they have a huge buffet as well; but also a beach buffet where you are allowed to enter in your bathing suit. They make the best fried chicken of all time!The breakfast buffet is open from 7-10 and they have a huge juice bar with 10 different types of fresh juices and juice blends that they make right there in a blender. So good!The beach was great; like a caribean post card! You could swim out or snorkel a little ways; but you couldn鈥檛 go too deep because there is a lot of boat traffic right off shore. People doing motorized sports; and taking speedboats out to snorkel and such like that.They have snorkeling everyday at the beach at 11am and 3pm; its 20$ and they take you on a 15min speed boat ride; out to a section of coral; and let you swim around for about an hour and then they zip you right back to the hotel. It was really nice and we saw a lot of fish.We never made it out to the disco; but we could hear the one next door at the LTI and it sounded like an extreme amount of fun.So all in all our room was always clean; our drinks always strong; and the beach always an endless; soft; white strip of inviting fun. We鈥檇 recommend the PCP to anyone!
313884,lorijeannj,05/13/2007,Muy Bien! My husband and I just returned from Punta Cana Princess All Suites with VIP package for 6 nights; May 2 - May 8. We had the most relaxing vacation of all vacations.Having travelled extensively elsewhere in the Caribbean and Europe; this was our first visit to Punta Cana. Our experience with Punta Cana was fantastic. We had no problems nor issues thanks to all members of TripAdvisor for their shared experiences of which helped us in our travel plans and what and what not to expect in Punta Cana.We booked our airfare directly with Spirit Airlines and did hotel separetly because Spirit did not offer Punta Cana Princess in their vacation packages. This trip was our first for booking with an online travel agency and we used bookit.com and I have to say we were very pleased. Three days before we were to leave; I sent an email to bookit asking for a reconfirmation and Nicole responded that everything was okay on their end. Experience with bookit.com was very pleasing. Checkin at Punta Cana Princess confirmed this; uneventful and quick. We had our voucher and they had our wrist bands and room key ready.We arrived at 2:00 p.m. and were in our room by 2:20 p.m. Luggage wasbrought up by the bellmen minutes later. It was now time for a cerveza.Our room was wonderful. Our welcoming gifts (part of VIP) greeted us as we entered our room; cigars and a bottle of rum. Flower pedals were adorned in the bathroom. Fridge had cold soda; water and beer. We had a nice step down sitting area that led to a nice sized balconywhich overlooked the pool and the beautiful ocean. There is a safe we used. A shower with hot and high pressured water. The room was very comfy for the week. Our 6 nights were wonderful; very; very relaxing. We never really left the resort except for a night to the disco; casino and our gourmet dinner at La Cava at the Caribe Princess.The beach is awesome. We hung out there most of the time except for the time we walked to the beach bar for mas cervezas; which was quite often :)Never ever had a problem finding a VIP bed by the beach. The cabanas seem to all have been taken daily; but we really didn't notice because we were happy with our beach bed. The pool; what pool? We were there for the beach. But have to admit a dip in the pool before noon and a Bloody Mary at the swim up pool bar did the trick.The beach is awesome. No shells; no rocks; no nothing. Just sand and aqua clear waters. Sunbathing topless for woman seems to be acceptable and did not deter wifie from doing; it is quite relaxing.Make sure you have plenty of sunscreen for the areas that don't see the light of day much and leave some for the rest of your body. The sun is strong! We aren't buffet eaters so our dinners were at the al a carte restaurants. Tex Mex was the worse. La Cava (gourmet; Caribe Princess) was great except we had to wait over an hour just for our appetizer; but it appeared everyone in the restaurant that night did as well. Not sure what that was about and didn't ask.We had breakfast two mornings in the main buffet area (we are not early risers). Not bad. Loved those fried bananas.Lunch; we always found something at the beach bar; all day. As a matter of fact; the beach bar is open 24 hrs; so if you are thirsty for a cerveza or hungry at 3 a.m. and want some chicken; they will cook it for you.Not once did we get an upset stomach or even have a feeling of getting an upset stomach. We weren't afraid to try anything and ate different foods such as burger; fried chicken (yum yum!); fish fritter; shrimp; lobster; fruit; different salads; caesar salad; ice cream; crepes; sandwiches and pizza.We have read so many different reviews of people getting upset stomachs in Punta Cana (not necessarily the Punta Cana Princess) and from what others have stated; we believe it is from overdrinking and too much sun. When the sun is cooking and you are drinking alcohol; dehydration comes into play. Remember to drink water.Went to the Arieto disco one night. It was okay. Five dollars for a cerveza. Locals come here after work as well as tourists. All we can say is be careful and watch your back. Not saying we had a problem; just saying be careful. This disco is not managed by any Princess resort and you are on your own..Another night we went to the casino. If anyone should decide to go here; please email us and we will give you our address so you can just send us the money instead of dumping it there.Two nights we went to the Caribe Princess; just for dinner. La Cava and the Brazilian restaurant. Other than that did not spend any time at the Caribe.There is a tram that takes you to all three places above; the casino; disco and Caribe. This was nice. Even nicer was walking back from the Caribe on the beach. Banana boat ride is a must (included with VIP). We did a snorkel trip as well for one hour; twenty dollars per person. Well worth it.For both they pick you up on beach. Reservations can be made at beach activities area.For transportation to and from the airport we prepaid with Rafael Silvia for private transportation (no sharing). On arrival to Punta Cana Airport (PUJ) there was no representative for T.S.Silvia there as stated per our voucher. There were other drivers holding signs similar to this name; but someone approached us and we told him we had a voucher and he called for us and someone was there in fifteen minutes; no biggie; our flight was early anyway. When getting off the airplane; a souvenir picture for purchase on departure is taken then you step forward and pay ten dollars per person (US$) for a tourist card of which you hand in steps away. Departure was just as easy. Our driver was prompt at picking us up at Punta Cana Princess and we picked up no one else on the way to PUJ.No problems or issues at airport. Of course we did purchase the souvenir picture!Our experience overall with Punta Cana Princess was wonderful. Hector at the beach bar and Amarillo our room maid made our trip very comfortable and relaxing. The employees here go out of their way for you and for this service we tipped appropriately. We rated our experience as a five star; because everything went perfect. If you go; remember to take a minute and notice all the beautiful flora that grows there; beautiful colors and the greenest foliage. Whatever we missed to relate of our experience we are sure someone else has experienced and shared.Ed and LoriP.S. - We brushed our teeth everyday and night with the tap water. No problema.
313884,Sarabring,05/12/2007,Wonderfully relaxing A group of 42; 55+ just returned from a week stay (May1-8). We had a great time. Relaxed; tanned; and no one went hungry. Some had VIP; some not. We did and would have had a great time without. The beach towels in the rooms were nice but it was no hassle to get fresh ones at the beach. As everyone has said; the resort is very clean. We stayed in the 5000 bldg and would recommend an upper floor. We visited a few ground flours and they were musty smelling. Everyone was very friendly and made us feel welcomed and took care of every need. I do have some issues with the VIP liquor. I like Absolute and couldn't get it at the pool bar. At the lobby they had to send to the beach bar for it. They did; but I felt like they only had one bottle for all the bars. Also; it seemed like they only had sweet mixers. I couldn't get cranberry juice. As you can see; no big problems. We found food to eat. We ate at the El Baccio and the La Cava and The Fondue place. We enjoyed them all. The sea food at La Cava was very generous and good. Don't expect to eat and run at the ala cart places. Dinner is usually 2 hours. We enjoyed the Animacion team. Fun and friendly. We went to the shows at the Caribe. Sometimes long; but not bad. We went to the Casino. Not large but fun entertainment. Watch the water. I took Pepto Bismal every day and had two days when I didn't feel like drinking; but didn't stop eating! Overall we really enjoyed it.
313884,RooseveltL,05/09/2007,Good All-Inclusive - not luxurious but nice I required a 2 nt stay to attend a wedding held in Punta Cana area. I choose this resort because it didn't have a minimum stay requirement and also was adults-only no rugrats running around.The check-in and room process was simple. The room had some small ants in the bathroom but I was in the Carribbean so didn't complain or think of it as a problem. Room was furnished with bed; sofa/bed; tv; ceiling fan; balcony; fridge (stocked with beer; coke; sprite bottled water); and iron board. Beach was great; adequate number of bars (none were full or long wait) and VIP section was nice. I didn't venture to the other properties available via the same wristband.The buffet area for food was okay - nothing to write home about as I would've like more Dominican flavor meals (plantains; mangos; etc.) but I guess they must cater to a wide range of palettes.I found the staff nice but most didn't speak English beyond their basic functions. A good place just for relaxation and a few beverages.There is no major nightlife at this resort and things are very quiet after 10pm.I attended a wedding a Majestic Colonial which was much larger and nicer accommodations (each room had a shower huge jaccuzzi tub) but they had a 3 nt minimum; but if I were to return to this part of DR I would choose this facility. I would probably not stay at this resort again but not because of anything negative just think there are better places available.
313884,Babas,05/08/2007,Wish I was still at the Punta Cana Princess April 21-28We enjoyed a glorious week at the Punta Cana Princess. Our experience went way beyond our expectations as we'd read a lot of negative postings. We are actually considering returning. Arrival Sunquest states in their brochure that the hotel is a 20-minute drive from the airport. What they fail to tell you is that we had to stop at 3 other hotels on the way which makes the drive last just over an hour. Our arrival at Punta Cana airport was very quick and very well-organized. We arrived at the resort around 10:30 p.m. and check-in was quick. We bought the VIP package and the front desk clerk gave us our VIP bracelets and asked me if I minded coming back between 9:00-12:00 the next day to pick up my package which was locked at guest services and she didn't have a key. I really didn't mind because I wanted to make all our a-la-carte reservations the next day after breakfast anyway. They tagged our luggage with our room number and it followed about 5 minutes after we'd let ourselves in our room. Overall Cleanliness Layout One word - spotless! From the rooms; to the lobby; to the grounds - there's always someone cleaning. Also; the proximity of every service at the resort is pretty close. In our opinion; this was definitely one of the advantages to a smaller resort. Rooms We had room 5205. Third floor; king size bed; full bath. We'd requested Bldg 5/3rd floor and got it. Our view was beach and pool bar. It was cleaned every day in the morning and towels and beverages were replaced/replenished around 6:00 p.m. every night. Each room has a big golf umbrella and bathrobes that you can use during your stay. The safe requires you to program it with your own 4-digit code. We had no theft problems while we were there. Guest Services Arrived at Guest Services shortly after 9:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. There was one couple in front of me waiting to make reservations while another couple was finishing up. My total wait time was about 15 minutes so no biggie there. I was able to make 4 reservations at once including La Cava which was part of the VIP package. She told me that I could reserve another if I'd like but only later on in the week and at least 24-hours prior. She also informed me that the opening of 脿-la-carte restaurants varied from day to day. I found this out while making our reservations. For example; I would ask for Brazilian for 8:30 on Monday and she would reply they're closed on Monday but I can give you Brazilian on Wednesday and Tex Mex on Monday. FYI - all the 脿-la-carte menus are on a rack next to Guest Services and you can look at them any time which makes it much easier to make your choices. She then gave me my VIP envelope which included two cards for massages; two for one-hour Internet service; two for motorized water sports and two for La Cava. Restaurants Just one word of advice: if you like wine with your meal and plan on drinking from the wine list; the prices are very high. We knew this before leaving so bought 3 bottles at Duty-Free and didn't regret it. For example; a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz was $15 US and we only paid $10 CDN at Duty-Free. House red and white are available. The red isn't too bad if it's a little chilled.Dress code: the Buffet insists that you wear a t-shirt or some sort of cover up (males females) at breakfast and lunch as you will be refused entrance if you're just wearing a bikini top and pareo; if you're wet or in your bare feet. Dress code for all the 脿-la-cartes stipulate that men have to wear a collared shirt and long pants. No restrictions on footwear for men. Hubby wore leather sandals. Men were allowed dress shorts at the buffet for dinner. Breakfast was always at the buffet and was always good. Yes; it can happen that all the silverware isn't on your table but we never experienced a staffer not setting the table for us or not coming back when we requested a missing piece. We can't understand why others had such a problem with this. I can understand vegetarian posters who've complained of lack of choice; but I'm also under the impression that it doesn't matter where you go in the islands; you're pretty much out of luck if you're not a meat or fish eater. On the other hand; if you're not vegetarian and can't find anything to eat; then you should rethink travelling anywhere. Hubby actually heard someone complain that he couldn't find anything to eat because he was a meat n' potatoes kind of guy; yet there were meat and potatoes on almost every menu and at buffet. Yeesh!!!!! Makes you wonder what they eat at home. We; on the other hand; love to try new things. On Sunday; we had a reservation for the Mediterranean restaurant. It's on the beach next to the 24-hour beach bar; therefore an open-air space. Then the torrential downpour came at about 5:30 that evening. We retired to our balcony to wait out the storm which never let up for the rest of the evening. Guest Services called to advise us that the Mediterranean restaurant would be closed; however they were moving us to the Tex Mex and still offering us the Mediterranean menu. Great service indeed! Hubby had steak and I had lobster tails. Yum! We brought our own wine and there was no problem whatsoever. Monday night we ate at the Tex Mex. We both had the filet mignon. After reading a lot of reviews on this site about overcooked beef; we decided to order medium-rare (we both like medium) and it was cooked perfectly (medium). Again; no problem having our own wine served. Tuesday night we had buffet* which was terrific. There's a lot to choose from and like breakfast; everything is replenished accordingly. The food is fresh. What's supposed to be cold is cold and what's supposed to be hot is hot. We lucked out that night as they had whole suckling pig at the roasting station. Desserts were very good too. Wednesday night we had Brazilian. This restaurant is on the beach at the Tropical Princess; a 4-minute walk. If you're a meat lover; you'll love this place. There is a small side buffet open for sides like salads; veggies; etc. Then a waiter comes out 5 different times (courses) with meat on skewers which he carves on to your plate. The order being; chorizo sausages; chicken; fish; pork ribs; turkey and finally beef. Needless to say; we were stuffed when we left. Thursday night we buffet again and it was just as good as on Tuesday. Friday we went to La Cava at the Tropical Princess and it was really good. Hubby had beef carpaccio and I had shrimp and lobster cocktail. We both had lobster tails which were huge. Dessert was good too. Again; no problem bringing our own wine. Wine was very expensive here but they had an impressive wine list. Be warned that service may be a bit slow for some of you. The whole meal took about 2 1/2 hours; but we're used to it so it didn't bother us. Just wish we'd brought two bottles of wine. Also; on the night of your reservation; Guest Services will ask you to present yourself at their desk 1/2 hour before your reservation. They then print out an invitation to which they staple your card to and you bring this to the restaurant. They will also arrange for transportation but we opted to walk over. It's only about a 4-minute walk. *Note: We went to dinner around 8:30 p.m. every night and there was never a shortage of food at the buffet. Lobby Bar This was one of the highlights of our trip. Deyonera (?) and Emilio were the best. Always friendly and fun to be with. Try a Coco Loco. They're amazing. Deyonera makes the best shaken Margaritas I've ever had. There was animation every night at the lobby bar which generally started at 10:00 p.m. A lot of it was funny and it was loud as other travellers have posted; but it lasts until about 10:45-11:00. Then it gets quiet again. If you want quiet; go to the beach bar which is open 24 hours; weather permitting (open air). It seemed to only close on our 2nd and 3rd night due to rain. The disco and casino were at the Tropical but we never went. Pool We didn't use the pool at all. Since our room overlooked the swim-up bar; we took the opportunity to observe; more than once; guests who sat there for a very long periods time and drinking heavily. Draw your own conclusions. Thanks; but no thanks. I'm sure the ocean water is much cleaner. The pool is attractive and there never seemed to be a problem finding a lounger. Workers hose down the sidewalks every day that surround the pool. Beach The beach at the PC Princess is one of the less congested we saw on all our walks. It didn't matter what time one would get to the beach as there were always palapas and loungers available. We stopped setting our alarm after the first day. The water was warm and we had quite a few waves during our week which was fun. We tried the VIP beds once but ended up under palapas all week. We only saw butler service twice during our week but to be honest; we weren't really paying attention as we read and walked the beach a lot. Animation I disagree with some posters who've said that they cater to the 18-30 crowd. Not so. If you want to participate; you can. For example; after animators invited us to play volleyball twice and turning them down; they did not ask us again. Can you blame them? I looked at this as being courteous and not disturbing us. As far as guests entertaining guests; I disagree with that too. They tried hard to get people to participate in the lobby bar; but they also respected people who weren't interested. Guests who did participate were having a great time. If animation and shows are important; walk over to the Tropical for the show that starts at 10:00 p.m. every night and go to their disco and/or casino. There's plenty to do if you really want to. Spa There are two spas - one at the PC Princess on the beach and a more formal one shared by the Princess and the Tropical. I was given the choice for our massages and I picked the formal one because it was so quiet. The massages were wonderful. They're usually hit or miss in the islands but these were really nice. We'd booked 8:30 a.m. and it was a great way to start the day. Tips We tipped the maid $1 US/day. We also tipped at restaurants and the lobby bar staff; who; I will add; never looked at the amount - very professional. So it didn't matter if you were tipping them $1; $5; or $10; everyone got the same friendly service. Skyservice We were scheduled to depart PC at 8:45 p.m. this past Saturday (Apr. 28) and land in Montreal around 1:00. Unfortunately for us and about 200 other passengers; this did not happen. First of all; our flight was one hour late taking off which should have landed us at Trudeau International Airport at 2:00 a.m. The pilot announced the usual we're sorry for the delay followed by the reason for the delay. Allegedly the plane originated in Cancun. Which to us meant it flew from Cancun to Montreal; then Motnreal to Punta Cana. Well; almost at the end of the flight; the pilot announced that due to strict noise regulations; they could not get clearance to land in Montreal or in Toronto so we were being re-routed to the Hamilton; Ontario airport. What a treat! Not! We spoke to one of the flight attendants and he told us he'd attended this same flight over the past 4 Saturdays and in the previous 3; not only were they late every time; they were able to negotiate clearance into Montreal. So we were the exception. He was under the impression that Transport Canada got fed up with them being late all the time. Upon getting off the plane; a flight attendant told us that we would get our customs over with and would probably leave for Montreal around 5:30 a.m.Now; you would think that a Skyservice representative would have kept us informed as to when our plane would leave Hamilton. No such luck. And to top it all off; nothing was open at the airport. All they ended up offering us was a free Tim Horton's coffee around 6:00 a.m. before we finally got to check in.IOHO; Skyservice offered no service whatsoever as far as keeping us informed. We feel that Transport Canada is very much to blame in the sense that they should not offer landing schedules so close to a curfew and should re-think re-opening Mirabel International Airport (no noise restrictions). We will definitely be writing both agencies to express our disgust as well as try to get someone to pay for our extra day's parking at the Trudeau Airport. . Vacation OverallOverall; we can't wait to go back but not with Skyservice. If you have any questions; please fee free to address me in the Forum.
313884,Fionna2003,05/08/2007,The Best Holiday Yet! We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess Resort April 23rd to May 2nd - 8 nights which was just so right. Not too little as you wish you had more time there; and not too long as to make you feel your homesick. We travelled with My Travel there and Thomas Cook on return. We paid extra for the Premair service. In fact any flight over 3 hours long I would recommend paying the extra for the better service. And Yes; it is better service. We had a slight problem on our outbound journey. Apparently; My Travel double booked seats at Gatwick prior to arriving at Manchester and therefore before we boarded; we had our seats changed. Not too happy a start but hey ; we were going on holiday !. Quite a bit of leg room and comfy seats on the flight; plenty of food and drink and attended to really well. we arrived at PCP at 8pm ish; we then took a bus ride to the hotel which is one to be experienced. Definately not like the roads over here; no no; I must admit they do take the ' joy riders' very seriously as there were a whole lot of sleeping policemen ( road humps ) a couple of miles nearer the hotel. Part of the journey we all heard the loud bang; we think the driver had a blow out - but he carried on going. Arrived at the hotel at 9.15 pm rushed to get some supper before the buffet closed. Weather for the first couple of days was rainy then sunshine; and when the sun shone - it really shone ! So hot there you forgot it was raining 30 minutes previously. The hotel rooms were so clean and spacious. the best hotel room we have been in and we havent stayed anywhere less than 4*. We were in Block 4 room 4004. The most central accomodation to everything.( just be carefu when walking on the tiles corridors - can become rather slippy ) The maids came in each day to change the towels and make the bed ( and dressed the bed with flowers and petals - wonderful ) In fact there were 2 king size beds and a bed settee in the lounge area of the room which turned also into a bed. So much storage space too. The shower is fantastic - really forceful and you can change the style of head too. The Hairdryer is brilliant. I tool mine but never used it at all. I also took straighteners and they heated up fine. You have a coffee machine in your rrom with coffee and tea and creamer and suger which is replace each time you used it. There is a fridge inside the cupboard which the TV sits on. That is always stocked with lemonade; coke; and water. The TV channels arent too bad - Dont turn on channel 96; you will now wont you ? ha ha. Now to the Food halls. We used the Caribe buffet each morning and evening. The omeletts are so lovely; and plenty to choose from . Smoothies; Juices; Cereals; toast; Oatmeal; Fried food; doughnuts; croissants; fruit; yoghurt; - Im starviing now. At lunch time we went over to the snack bar by the beach; again; salad; fries ( not very hot tho ) chicken; lamb chops; pork chops; burgers; and then each evening they had a different theme night on. Failing you like the theme night choice you could always back up with fries - potatoes; soup; salad; and they usually had a roast on in the corner. The Turkey is to die for ! Fantastic. The restaurants on site I believe are very good; we only went to the Tex Mex - Mexican - That was fine; the margarita they gave us was awful tho. Entertainment on in the Lobby in the evenings began at about 9.30 till 11.30; the animation team are full of energy and the games and re-enactments they try and get you to take part in are so funny - quite adult watching in some cases. Good job theres no Kids allowed. If you want to learn Merengue dancing - go there in the evening; and the boys and girls will get you up and give you a chance to try it out. ( theres music piped through the gardens and round the pool all day - can be a bit noisy by the pool) If you need internet access there are 2 computers for your use. $10 for 60 minutes which is quite good. Bit of recommendation tho - Get a hotmail address and you can MSN Messenger to you friends - so much cheaper than Mobile calls. Each day they have a photographer coming onto the beach and then onto the area by the pool. Each day they bring a different attraction to take the photo with; I have a Snake Phobia; so I was always on my guard when on the beach watching for what they were bringing with them. i have since found out; they bring the snake on a Sunday. they have a tiny monkey; and a chameleon too. Now onto the beach area. Well what can i say; the beach is extremely soft white sand - so clean; the sea or as I have been told to call it - the OCEAN is like stepping into a bath of turquiose radox bubble bath; so soft and creamy and luxurious. Yes that describes it well. I dont normally like going into the sea; but it was wonderful. Sometimes the waves were a little rough but you need to enter the water till it reaches you chest and then you move with the waves and they dont push you back to the beach. Make sure you have lip block on all the time - sore lips are not to be laughed at - in fact you cant laugh - it hurts too much. We walked both ways from our hotel along the beach if you are looking out to sea and turn left - you walk about 10 - 15 mins and you will come up on the beach huts where there are plenty of lucky lucky men behind their stalls trying to vye for your attention. Walk through the middle of the huts and you wont be bothered too much by them and at least then you get a chance to see what each of the stalls have to sell; then on your way back you make up your mind. Beautiful jewellry; I bought 2 necklaces; 1 pair earings and he asked for $75 I bought them for $40 so always say you only have ' X ' amount of $'s and they will take that instead of losing the sale. We had a beach party on Monday night and they had some stalls on site then too; same products being sold; but as least if you have dollars to use before leaving PCP you can spend them then. There werent many British visitors to PCP plenty of canadians where we met 2 lovely couples there; but the other canadians were also so friendly. I know now where people from spain and germany go on holiday to. Dom Rep. I took some spanish phrases off the internet before I left for the holiday and hopefully intended to try them out - only found the phrases as i was packing to come home. So if poss - get some phrases ready to use - the staff love to hear you ask how they are in their native launguage. If poss leave one of your card keys in the electricity recepticle which is on the right hand side as you open you room door. This then ensures your air con is on when your out of the room and keeps it lovely and cool for your return from the beach ahhhh. I had been receiving updates off Tripadvisor a few weeks before we travelled on this hotel and looking at the photos; when i got there I felt like i knew the place very well. I promise you wont be disappointed holidaying here - We are definately returning - we have been to the Gran Ventanna in Playa Dorado - north coast - this is far superior to that holiday - And you know what I thought the best part of it was - NO KIDS ! - until you experience a holiday with no kids running round - splashing in the pool - crying and being under feet - you dont realise what youve been missing. I could go on forever ; but I bet your fed up now and just itching to get on that flight ! I do hope you found this review helpful; I thoroughly enjoyed typing it and reminiscing. Have a lovely holiday;. Fionna Dave
313884,greeta,05/07/2007,The trip of a life time it is a place where every woman feels like a princess and every guy a prince. The staff is the greatest; you cannot find better staff anywhere. from the lobby; maids buffet and beach; the best staff ever..i will return to this resort for sure.everything was perfect.
313884,NunoPovoas,05/07/2007,Nuno P贸voas; Porto; Portugal - I was a King and my wyfe a Queen Me and wife at the pool bar
313884,superjudi,05/06/2007,PCP The Place to be--Judi fron NJ Returned home May 5 from the Punta Cana Princess-- What can i say; It was a very nice; relaxing and fun vacation. The resort is very nice; totally clean at all times and very; very friendly. I am from New Jersey and very hard to please--but I have really NO complaints. Arrived on sat 4/29 at 1pm and was able to check in right away. Went with the VIP plan--which was worth the extra $$. The 20 minute free massage alone covered the extra cost. The beach is absolutely gorgeous-and extremly clean. There are sun beds for VIP only and let me say that made my vacation-they are clean and comfortable and enough for all. The pool area is well equipped with chairs and shade huts. Many other reviews that I read complained about the food-Myself and friends thought that the food was good-of course there were a few things that we did not enjoy; but there was always something else to eat. Dinners at the restaurants were very good; my favorite was the italian restaurant at the PCP. Chicken Parm excellent!!The staff could not be more accomadating; always friendly and and sweet!! The best bar is in the lobby with Emilio; he works the 3pm to 11pm shift; great personality and lots of fun.The only thing i would have liked to see was alittle more music in english-mostly spanish playing all the time-but you do get used to it. The animation crew really tries to bring entertainment to you all day and night; but to no avail-not there fault-most people want to just relax.I would reccomened this hotel to anyone-LOVED IT -will return!!p.s. if you can try and fit a noodle or a blow up float in your suitcase(deflated of course)do so; good to have for both the pool and ocean.
313884,jdinbow,05/02/2007,Wonderful - Loved Everything We stayed at PCP from 4/22-4/29. After a very rough start - we were to leave Boston at 9:30 am - didn't get off the ground until 7:30 pm - Apple Vacations - that's a whole other review - poor service.We arrived at PCP at 1:00 am - even at that time everyone was scrambling to accommodate us - they were very sympathetic to our situation. We ended up going into the main buffet at that time for something to eat and drink - Merengue's for all - great drink!Our rooms were really nice; comfortable bed/couch; clean and spacious; maid service was terrific. The sun was great; rained every day pretty hard at times and the wind was blowing pretty hard; so we opted for the pool most of the time which was wonderful! Loved the swim up bar. Only problem we had was being VIP (worth the up-grade) we had access to the day bed's (worth the up-grade very comfortable) were that regular guests would occupy them it is not posted at that pool that the beds are for VIP only - the beach area is. The resort was filling up as the week went on; so we did find ourselves reserving a day bed. Food was very good; good assortment in the main buffet (Marina night was not so great); Mar Nostrum was our favorite restaurant during the evening (beef with stuffed lobster in wine sauce A++++ can't say enough about that). The Fondue restaurant was a lot of fun - it was our daughter's birthday and they went all out for her. We went over to the Caribe Club for their buffett one night - similar in food - but it is very; very hectic and much larger. We couldn't wait to get back to the PCP! The night entertainment was a lot of fun - tequilia funnels! OMG! Emilio at the bar was so funny - ask him for a bikini! Bernardo Jose at the pool bar - were just great - lots of dancing; singing and fun. This resort was great in that it is small and intimate; but that is what we like - we met the best people from all over the world during our week; something you don't encounter at a large resort as easily. My daughter and her boyfriend got engaged while we were here and they will go back for their honeymoon. Overall; my husband and I would definitely go back to the PCP we had a great time. Would definitely do the upgrade to VIP again as well; it comes with some really nice extras.
313884,Chooch77,05/01/2007,Awesome for a 1st trip Wow; where should a start.... it was our 1st trip ever for me and my boyfriend and we would go back in a heart beat.The staff is awesome; i have never seen people enjoy their job so much. They are always smiling and at your service.The buffet at the beach kind a sucks; its always the same thing every single day. But its really practical because you are right on the beach and you dont need to be dressep up; you can just go in your bathing suit. So thats pretty cool.The a la carte restaurant were pretty good we thought; we tried the Tex Mex; Mexican; The sea food place; and the very best one is La Cava'' the one we had included on our VIP package. We had the lobster and it was absolutely devine. And also its pretty much the only place that you can buy decent wine instead of the crapy house wine that they serve you and all the other restaurants.The resort is so well kept; they are always busy cleaning. Our room was on the top floor; which was nice cause we had the cathedral seiling. The fact that its an ''adult only'' resort is awesome; not that i dont like kids cause we have a daughter but its really nice to get away and be only with other adults.Anyway i am probably forgetting some stuff; but the main line is.....its awesome. If you have questions you can ask me.Ciao
313884,babigirlgee,04/30/2007,Very Nice Resort.... only one thing.... Just returned from my stay @ the Punta Cana Princess from 4/22-4/29--- The resort is very nice; always kept clean with tons of workers; working on the landscaping; cleaning the pool; etc. The room was definitely amazing; we had a direct view of the pool; and the beach.. room 5211. I would definitely say to not stay on the ground floor because at night the amount of bugs is crazy; and I would not want the milipedes crawling into my room. The pool was kept in tip-top shape; and cleaned a few times throughout the day. The bars; I would honestly say the nicest people are at the lobby bar.... and at the ebach bar at night.... other than that; some of the people working there looked like robots; even after you tipped them-- I am not expecting a song and dance; but when i order one or two drinks and give 2 dollars everytime I at least expect a thank you. Not all of the workers were like that; there were definitely some who were very gracious to recieve the tips. The Food. #1 I am a New Yorker; who has access to the best restuarants in the world; and I will say that it is nothing like food in the United States. I would say it is decent. #2 I am a vegetarian and there was honestly not much for me to eat... I know people will say oh you could have had pasta.... but when you come from New York; and an Italian family... you cannot eat Tomato Sauce that was made in the Dominican Republic... it tastes like Ragu. There were some things I could eat; which kept me going... They had a very small salad bar; and once during the week they had vegetable soup.... In the A la carte restaurants; I had asked if there was anything they could make that did not have meat in it; and they said NO... so I was a little upset about that because I had stayed at RIU; Iberostar; and Breezes before; and all of them helped me out with my food issues. My fiance said that he enjoyed the chicken that they made daily. Out of all the a la cartes; he said that RIO GRANDE tex mex steakhouse; was the worst because the meat was very tough(he ordered filet mignon.. that is not supposed to be tough); He loved the Chinese! He liked the italian because he had gotten pork filet which he said was very tender. The mexican was very good -- I order chicken fajitas; and just ate the peppers and onions out of it .. they had a very nice taste. You are definitely better off booking all a la cartes. The buffet at the Caribe is huge; but extremely crowded with kids who are sneezing on everything; which is always lovely. overall; I would say is was an average place to stay; 3 stars.... definitely not 4 or 5also; the bavaro shopping mall..... unless you want to be hassled and being begged to come in and check out their stores ... stay away.
313884,ATLEddie,04/26/2007,PCP- What a great resort One of the large statutes on the grounds
313884,KandS67,04/26/2007,FANTASTIC Punta Cana Princess PCP from the beach
313884,honeymoon15,04/24/2007,Quite and Relaxing I have been home 24 hours now from our trip to the Princess. I have travelled for several years and never have I stayed at such a relaxing resort. I have 3 children and love them dearly but Adults Only is the way to go. The restaurants; pool and beach were NEVER full. I was amazed that no matter what time you went to any of these spots you would get a chair. As for being clean the grounds are immaculate. The rooms are clean and bright. Very comfortable beds and all rooms face the pool and everything around it. Small amount of odour of must but a scented candle works great.The food was good. Your not at home so remember these people can not please everyone. Book the restaurants as soon as you can they go fast.We shopped in town for our gifts. The Bavero Plaza is 10 minutes from the resort and has everything you would need. My husband bought his cigars there and was amazed at the price.No night life but it was nice spending time with the man I love.I don't know if I would go back but I would say this was the most relaxing trip I have done.Always remember your not at home your in paradise and only you can make it beautiful. Have a great trip. Honeymoon
313884,djMaine,04/24/2007,great vacation We stayed from 4-15 to 4-22.Arrival was easy and smooth. Breezed through the airport. Ride in wasn't bad about 1 hour as we were the last drop off. Check in was fast was given keys and the bell boy took us to our rooms.Room: Beautiful room. Prob the best we have stayed in. We had a king bed sunk in living room spacious bathroom. We went vip had the perks in the room cigars rum bathrobes. The room is spotless and kepted that way all week always had clean towels. We tipped $3 a day with a candy bar and a present for the day maid and $2 and a candy bar for the night. We always got extra for our fridge. We were in building 5 had a view of the pool and could see the ocean. Resort: It was well groomed and beautiful small enough so you would walk to the lobby or resturants and bars nice if you want to make a quick trip for something. Staff is the best the bartenders are very good and fun. We met a couple the first day who were a blast and made our vacation. My husband and hers got up at 5 in the morning and they went down and got the beach huts and spent everymoring at the beach bar gearing up for the day. the beach bar is open 24 hours and the bartenders there are great. The food I thought was fair. All others in our group thought it was horrible. Out of all the resorts I have stayed in; it was the worst. But the pasta station was good ala carts were good. La Cava was really good. Drinks were really good. We had access to Cribe/tropical but really didn't go there. We took a short walk in there but basically stayed at our resort.We did one tour Saona Island it was alot of fun and worth the trip even with the long ride I am really glad we did it. It is not a snorkle trip though. The island is absoultly beautiful meal was really good and was fun.We had a prob the last day we were waiting for the bus at 11:30 and after a 1/2 hour I asked the bell boy if he know when the bus was due. He said sometimes they are late and to give it some time. We waited for another hour then I had the front desk call the apple rep and there was a mechinical prob with the plane which didnt leave boston and would be a 14 hour delay. No problem so we threw our bags in our friends room went to the beach it was cloudy all day no sun but was still nice. We were picked up at the lobby at 9 pm never flew out till 3 am. There were a lot of angry people at the airport but there is nothing you can do about it and I would rather be delayed on the departure then the arrival and we made the best of it.Beach: Best yet. Have to get up early to get a hut. we didnt use the vip beds but they are really comfortable. There are vendors a short walk as you look at the ocean go left. Good buys. We walked the beach each day and it really is beautiful.Weather: Had a nice week but had about 3 days where it rained for 3 hours or so mostly in the later afternoon which was ok as the sun is really hot and we came back with super tans.All in all we had a great vacation with the exception of the food. We went to Pureto Plata in 05 and prob will not come back to this island. If any one has any question pm me and I will be happy to answer.
313884,Anitahd,04/23/2007,Wonderful trip! What a wonderful trip! We just got back on April 20th after a 6 day stay. I can't say enough good things about this resort. The grounds were so beautiful; the staff was so good to us and treated us like family. The Animacion Team was fun and entertaining. The beach was absolutely gorgeous! Crystal clear warm waters. The waves were fun. The sand is so soft under your feet and there is a nice breeze most of the time. It rained one day while we were there but not until in the afternoon. The food was good at every restaurant we ate at. I liked the Pescador the best and had lobster there. The best drink; I think was the Coco Loco; yummy! We had the VIP package; and was well worth it. We stayed in the 5000 block. Very nice room; good air conditioning and the bed was so comfortable. Fridge was stocked well and drinks were cold. My husband liked the beer. I drank the diet coke. If you like strong coffee you will like their brand. I kept watering mine down. You get used to it after a couple of days though. We didn't do any excursions; our choice; but had plenty to do and mostly we just wanted to relax on the beach. Be forewarned though that even if you like seashells and want to buy them from the locals; it is illegal and you may get arrested. I almost bought one before I read in the Punta Cana brochure that it is illegal. Glad I didn't. You won't see any shells on the beach but they have them for sale everywhere. I could go on and on about all the wonderful things at the Punta Cana Princess. If you have any questions please write and I will be happy to help.
313884,nottmorr,04/12/2007,Better than Expected!! My husband and I (both 50ish) stayed at the Punta Cana Princess for 1 week March 30-April 6; 2007 and have absolutely nothing negative to say.Transporation to and from Airport was quick and pretty well organized however don't expect to be at hotel in less than 45 minutes once the bus gets underway. Roads aren't good so can't go very fast; sit back and take in the locat way of life. Check-in: Quick friendly (didn't get the welcome cocktail but checked in at about 945pm bar was still open so were able to get our own)Lobby: Large; clean; a great gathering place after dinner with a bar and lots of seating.Rooms: we were in building 4; ground floor; location central to everything. Rooms were spacious; clean and nicely decorated. Air conditioning worked fine and was needed to keep out dampness (unavoidable given the climate and humidity). Mini bar always stocked with soft drinks (my husband thought he'd died and gone to heaven when he saw the coke was in glass botlles! ) Did say the beer in the fridge was disgusting however we met a few who didn't mind it. Grounds: Beautiful; well maintained and constantly manicured. Pool: Large; clean; refreshing with plenty of chaises available in or out of the sun and a swim up bar with plenty of cold Presidente` beer and Banana Mamas. Beach: Beautiful; we are walkers and we never ran out of beach in either direction; able to buy souveniers at either end and also available at the hotel. Always lots of chaises availability at the beach. Both the pools and the beach area were far more crowded and noisy at the sister hotels where kds were allowed. Much more relaxcing and quiet at this 18+ hotel. Food: Very good;. The al a cartes were very nice; presentation great; decor very nice and food very good. We ate at Mare Nostrum (seafood); Tex Mex (steak) Shanghai (chinese) and both Italian restaurants; one at this hotel and one at next hotel over. Buffet was also very good always a couple of good meat choices (much larger and more variety at the hotel next door; worth the 3 minute walk! ) Entertainment: Day time activities around pool and on beach were good and well organized; however night time activities in our lobby were a bit silly. There were shows at both the sister hotels and both the ones we saw were quite good entertainment. They didnt start until 945-1000 and most nights; after long days in the sun we were just as happy to stretch out on the bed and watch a little TV at that time. We did hit the casino one night; very small; most slot games unfamiliar; lasted about 20 minutes. Didn't do any excursions so can't comment on those. Tips: Bring lots of suntan lotion; bring a face cloth if you use one; bring insulated mugs; bring lots of ones for tipping. (We started tipping restaurant bar staff but toward the end of the trip we started tipping the guy who cuts the grass; the man who cleaned the pool; the omelette maker etc these are the hard jobs and unlike the others probably rarely get tips. Tips are not shared so whoever picks it up keeps it for thmselves. I did get several bites during the week; never did figure out what was biting me; could have been no-see-ums however strangley enough my husband didn't get any and half the people we met got any bites; mostly the women; guess we're sweeter. They were very itchy so pack some after bite or equivalent.
313884,Starz331,04/08/2007,Felt like a Queen at the Punta Cana Princess Splitting open my coconut
313884,Stashrock,04/01/2007,Nice Stay More photos
313884,javex6,03/27/2007,Wonderful Honeymoon! View from Honeymoon suite
313884,mainesunseeker,03/24/2007,Punta Cana Princess - "Why not; baby?" My boyfriend and I (35 and 33) visited the Punta Cana Princess from March 13-19; 2007. We booked air; hotel and transfers through a TA and paid $130 extra for the 2 of us to upgrade to the VIP package. Here is our (very long) review of our trip:FLIGHTS AND TRANSFERS:We flew US Air from Boston; connected in Charlotte; no problems with out flights. Transfers were prearranged through VIP Travel (no relation to hotel) and we quickly found our shuttle. There were no other passengers to drop off so we arrived at the resort in about 25 minutes even after a small traffic tie up due to a truck broken down.CHECK IN AND WELCOME:Our bags were unloaded and set aside. There was no one else waiting to check in so we walked right up. A bartender from the lobby bar showed up within moments with a delicious fruit punch served in Champagne glasses. After quick check in we put ID stickers on our bags and visited the VIP concierge who explained the perks of our package and gave us the rundown on booking dinners; etc. We moved quickly to the lobby bar for another fruit punch; this time with rum.After about an hour at the bar we moved on; with our luggage; to our room.THE ROOM:Our room was on the top floor of building 4. To us this would be the 3rd floor; to them it is the 2nd (ground; 1st; 2nd). The room was spotless with a cathedral ceiling of wood and a ceiling fan. We never turned on the AC our whole visit but did use the AC fan and the ceiling fan. We had 2 queen beds; there was a large dresser/vanity and the closet had plenty of space for hanging clothes as well as shelf space. There was an umbrella in the closet along with an iron and ironing board. The safe was in the closet and measures about 12鈥漌x6鈥滺x12鈥滵. We did not pay additional for the safe which was controlled by entering a code you pick rather than by using a key. There are two steps going down to a living area with couch; trundle bed underneath and bureau. I fell down the stairs the first night we were there and would recommend placing something in front of them overnight as we did going forward. The room is dark at night with the curtains drawn; leaving a light on is advisable. The bureau has a couple drawers and houses the fridge; water glasses; ice bucket; etc. The fridge was stocked daily with 2 liters of water; coke; sprite and beer. As part of the VIP package we also arrived to a bottle of rum and box of 3 cigars in the room.The bathroom was clean with a double sink; full tub and shower. We always had hot water and plenty of water pressure. There was a hairdryer and makeup mirror in the bathroom as well as a bottle opener attached to the wall (handy!). There is little room for your stuff though; just counter space and the lip around the tub; there are no shelves and only one hook on the wall. For us; this was sufficient though.The patio is off the living area and the view from our room 4219 was out over the pool (pool bar area) with the ocean beyond. The noise from the pool was never an issue for us and at night the pool lights with the ocean sounds beyond were very nice. If I were requesting a room I would ask for an upper floor room in buildings 4 or 5 as they would have the best view.THE RESORT:This is a fairly small and compact resort. The lobby is furthest from the sea with the buffet and 2 ala carte restaurants in front of it.. Shops are to the right of the lobby coming out towards the pool.Rooms run down either side towards the water with the pool in the middle of the area. There are walkways with lots of green space and palm trees between. Throughout the property are large sculptures of birds; animals and tribal figures making for interesting strolls around the grounds.The pool area has plenty of palapas and beds surrounding it and a pool bar/swim up bar that played latin music though never too loudly. The pool was large enough that the volleyball net could be left up constantly with plenty of space for a quiet dip elsewhere.The beach is lovely - wide and white and the water warm. Most of the time we were there it was quite windy and the waves were fun to play in. The breeze made our time in the sun much more pleasant than it would have been. There is a separate area roped off with beach beds for those who have upgraded to the VIP package. The beds had retractable awnings over them; approximately 30 in all. We never had a problem getting one; even when arriving to the beach quite late in the morning. Outside the VIP area are lounge chairs and palapas. The chairs were comfortable and the palapas plenty. On the beach was the watersports center; also where you exchange towels; and animation area. We cannot comment on the watersports but they were friendly when we exchanged towels. The animation staff led aerobics; dance; volleyball and more on the beach. The beach bar has several tables in both sun and shade. Butler service on the beach was convenient. We brought two Bubba Kegs; one we kept filled with ice water; the other Santo Libre. Yum. The restaurant next to the beach bar had food available from late morning until dinnertime; then late night snacks. Mid-afternoon was 鈥渢ea time鈥?at the beach bar 鈥?sandwiches; salads; fruit; etc. One afternoon we were there we were treated to a BBQ lunch at the beach which was one of the best meals we had there.THE STAFF:These nice folks work HARD to make your visit enjoyable. We can鈥檛 figure out how they remember everyone鈥檚 names but they do. Everyone greets you with a happy 鈥渉ola鈥?as you walk by and there is always someone there with what you want when you want it. The maids and the groundskeepers spoke little English but were always happy and would attempt to engage you. The waitstaff; bartenders; etc. were providingfirst class service and the language barrier was easy to work around. Learn even a little bit of Spanish and it will go a long way. We found the bilingual staff to be extremely helpful and eager to teach you more Spanish if you just asked. If you speak only English you will be fine with the staff you need to interact with most. Overall; the friendly staff made our visit. 鈥淪pecial for you鈥?is heard often but still seems sincere.THE FOOD:We ate breakfast at the buffet daily. The omelet bar was good and you can never go wrong with bacon. There was a variety of pancakes; French toast; fresh fruit and some other; less appetizing; sausages. The coffee is delicious and the mimosas just the way we like them 鈥?lots of champagne and a little o.j.Our appetites were generally small while we were there; probably because of the heat; so we usually skipped lunch and grabbed late afternoon snacks at the beach bar.We ate once or twice at the buffet for dinner. Very average. We ate at 3 of the ala carte restaurants: Italian; Tex Mex and Fondue. The fondue was a good meal and a ton of fun. We had the shrimp app.; meat (in oil) main course and the chocolate fondue dessert. All were excellent with dipping sauces on the side and fun fun fun! We both had Filet Mignon at the Tex Mex which was good; but not as tender and tasty as we get in the states. The Italian was disappointing but we heard others who had ordered different dishes praising it. We both had pasta dishes 鈥?my boyfriend the ravioli with Bolognese and me the spaghetti with pesto. His could have been Chef Boyardee from a can. Seriously. Mine okay but not nearly pesto-ey enough. We were going to go for our complimentary gourmet dinner at El Pescadore the last night of our stay; but it burned down. No; actually; we decided to operate on island time our last night and just missed our dinner; but it did burn down; so good thing we spared ourselves the disappointment and had decided to skip it anyway.OTHER STUFF:We went to a show at the Caribe/Tropicale which was a Broadway review. We had fun. Short ride in the golf cart train with friendly folks we tried our best to communicate with. With our VIP package we got complimentary 20 minute massages. They will try to get you to pay for an upgrade to a full hour. I'm sure for the extra $30 or so it would be worth it but we stuck with our freebie and enjoyed it very much.We tipped about $200 in the 6 days we were there. We felt it was appreciated and might have got us a little extra attention but we saw superior service provided to those who didn鈥檛 tip at all. Those who don鈥檛 get tipped so frequently; like the groundskeepers and beach cleaners; were appreciative as well.As mentioned above; I fell in our room. I actually hit my head harder than I ever have before. We called resort medical staff and there was a doctor (or nurse?) in our room within 10 minutes. I ended up agreeing to go by ambulance to the local clinic. Care was fine all around; the clinic clean and well staffed though maybe not so well equipped. I had x-rays taken there and the option of a CAT scan which I declined. Be aware that if you need medical care you will have to pay for it out of pocket. The ambulance wouldn鈥檛 roll out of the resort until I paid them ($155 US) and the clinic wouldn鈥檛 call me a taxi until I squared up with them ($420 for exam and 2 xrays). Both took credit cards and I will get full reimbursement from my stateside health insurance. Care was fine overall though.SUMMARY:This is a beautiful; quiet; adults-only resort. I would give it a 5 star rating if it were not for the food. But I would not hesitate to go back.
313884,MarkChicago,03/20/2007,Loved It!! We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess hotel from March 8th-12th. When we left Chicago it was 20 degrees and we had winter coats on. When we got to the Dominican it was in the 80's the whole time. We had a great time there. Everything is so clean; and everyone is so friendly. Check-In was a breeze. Saloman helped us; and he was very nice. Most of the staff speaks English so we didn't have any problems. We stayed in building #4 and left the maid a few dollars everyday. We still got the turn-down service and we were not apart of the VIP package. We did request more towels one day; and they sent them up in no time. The beach and the ocean was beautiful. There are some little shops on the resort; but everything is way over priced. They also will not bargin. If you walk down the beach about 5 min; there is a little market that you can get things really cheap. Stick to your guns about how much you are willing to pay. They eventually will give in! A friend of mine got two necklaces and a braclet for $10; and the guy kept insisting $20. We got it for $10! We did swim with the dolphins at Manati Park for $75. It was fun; but not worth the money. They said we would be able to do it for 20min; I think we were in the pool less than 10. There is another place that you can do it; that is $95 and you can swim with them longer. I would have rather paid the extra money for the better one. We booked through VacationExpress.com and had the option of paying $15 per person for hotel/airport transfers. That was worth it; you didn't have to worry about getting a taxi. This resort is also connected to two other princess resorts and you can take a tram to the other resorts and make reservations at their restaurants. We ate at the Brazillian and the Italian Restaurants which were very good. Get the chicken dish at the Italian. We heard the steak house was really good; but they are not open on the weekends. If you want to check it out; make reservations during the week. Wish we would have known that. The adult only resort was the way to go. No annoying screaming kids around. No splashing in the pool. A very relaxing and restful trip!! I would definitly book here again!
313884,TequilaQueen44,03/20/2007,A little bit of perfection We stayed at the PC Princess March 3-10th...not a drop of rain for 7 days...it was so hot we sought shelter under the majestic palm trees for a little relief. We stayed at this resort 5 years ago and loved it so much we returned to the adult only side. The buildings and their warm bold colours stand out amongst the regal green palms and beautifully and immaculately groomed gardens. Everyone is busy working each day to clean walkways and the gardens...it's really breathtaking. We had a second floor room in block 4 ~ 2 double beds; sunken living room with day bed; lots of storage for clothes... computer in your room if you want internet access ($40 U.S. for the week) ~ Fridge filled with beer and water etc; large bathroom...it's all so clean and comfortable; but how much time do you really spend in your room anyway? The beach is like a photograph...warm turquoise waters...little seaweed...waves that encourage even the most timid to rent a boogyboard and try bodysurfing...it's so much fun. What can you say about the drinks...their pleniful; tasty and quickly catch up with you...before you know it the sun is going down; you've spent the entire day enjoying the hot caribbean sun and it's time for siesta. We tipped the bar tender each day a couple of U.S. dollars ~ this goes a long way to encourage quick service!! We used the buffet on the Caribe side...it's much bigger; better selection of food and a 5 minute walk....Al a carte were good...we tried Italian; Tex Mex and Chinese....everything is beautifully presented and taste excellent...not a wine drinker but I heard it was not very good...stick to the bahama mamas. Lots of activites around the resorts...tennis; volleyball; archery etc...staff is amazing...always friendly and smiling ~ the Dominican people are so welcoming. This was our 11th time to Punta Cana...no wonder we keep coming back. I would highly recommend this resort.
313884,spunkyVernon,03/19/2007,pure heaven We just came back from two awesome weeks !! I read the reviews on the princess before we left and some really surprised us ; as both my husband and I can not say enough good things about this resort !! Looking for a GREAT vacation check this resort out !! Adult only is a bonus; and all restaurants on site were excellent !! We also found having the privilages to the ohter princess resorts was a super bonus !! I could mention all staff are just super ; always smiling and keeping everyone happy happy . So if you have never been to the princess you are missing a great vacation and as one other said we will return and hope there is room as they are very busy !! This tells the story ; when we were they were always full . This resort and beach are very clean !! We certainly hope to return next year ; and make it another awesome two weeks!! of RR.
313884,chaverskev,03/18/2007,Loved the Punta Cana Princess!!!! We just returned from the Punta Cana Princess. It was amazing! The resort was so clean and beautiful!!!!! There are gorgeous palm trees everywhere. The pool is beautiful and so clean. The service is amazing!! Everyone is so friendly. The beach is absolutely gorgeous. The sand is so white; there are no rocks or shells and they clean the seaweed off every morning. The water is pretty warm and a beautiful color of blue-green. The weather was perfect. The food is ok. The buffet is ok; there is always something you can eat (bread or fruit). The restaurants are pretty good. We ate at the Bacio and the chicken was good there. We also ate at the Brazailian one and it was really good. We were told the Rio Grande is good also. The rooms are very clean and pretty. The maids are wonderful. They clean it every day beautifully. It's no problem to get extra towels for the room or for the beach. The massages are great; we used the spa outside. There isn't a whole lot to do so if you're looking for an exciting vacation; this might not be for you. But if you're looking for a relaxing vacation; this is the perfect place. It's not too busy; you almost feel like it's just you. It's nice that it's an adult only resort; it makes it even quieter. The staff is so accomadating and friendly. We had a great time and would definitely go again. We did one excursion; swimming with the dolphins at Manitee Park. It was fun; the swimming was less than 20 mins and there wasn't much to the rest of the park. I don't really think it was worth the money. But the resort was definitely worth it!!!
313884,Magoo07,03/14/2007,Fantastic Resort - Jim Just returned on March 11th from a two week stay at the Punta Cana Princess.You could not ask for a better resort to stay at in the Caribbean.We have been to numerous islands and resorts over the years and this is the first one that we have decided to certainly re-visit.The resort is relatively small which makes it easy to access any part of the facility and the fact that it is an adults only resort means that it is quiet and relaxing. The resort is maintained super clean and you could not experience a more firendly and helpful staff. Eveyone goes out of their way to make you feel comfortable and to assist you in any way that they can; from the administration staff to the servers; maintenance crew and the cleaning staff.We took the VIP package and would certainly reccommend it to anyone. The main perk of the package is the use of the private beach area that has tanning beds that are worth the cost of the upgrade in themselves.The food in the alacarte and buffet restaurants is not gourmet style however it is more than exceptable. The specialty restaurants on the other hand are excellent. The VIP package provides you with a complimentary meal at one of the specialty restaurants and we found the experience at La Cave so great that we returned for another meal at our expense. The meal we had would blow your socks off!One piece of advice........lunch is served at the beach-side buffet and for the most part is repetitious from day to day but is acceptable. Make the effort and go to the main buffet for lunch and you will have a much better selection and quality of food.We left a couple of dollars ever other day for the room staff and that proved to be very beneficial as a simple request would give you anything that you wanted.Can't wait until we have an opportunity to return to this bit of heaven.
313884,bc713,03/11/2007,Loved Every Minute Pool Beds
313884,2495,03/09/2007,Great Place- Mar 4th to the 8th Just got home and had a great five day stay. The resort is spotless and very clean. The food is good. The TEX-MAX is the best and the Italian is good. However; the buffet always had things everyone can like. We had a choice of either the Pescador or La Cava. Unfortunately we picked the Pescador which is a very limited menu. If you do not like shell fish. This is not the place for you. We had a very enjoyable meal at the Sombero; Mexican Restaurant; at the Caribe. Remember you can go to any other Princess Hotel to eat and they can't come to the Punta Cana Princess. The real joy is the adults only. Just go to the other hotels and you will run back to this one. We had a problem with check in. Apparently they overbooked and told us that we were cancelled. No one told us about this. However; once we showed them our paid vouchers they got us a room in a hour or so. While this was in building 2 at least it was on the second floor. Everyone says that building 3; 4 5. are the best. Unfortunately unlike airlines when you are overbooked you get upgraded this did not happen to us. However; the rooms are all the same and the cleanliness makes up for alot of things. They are constantly cleanning. Now for some tips. Definitely; get the VIP. The price is worth it. You get the beds on the beach in your own area. It is the envy of everyone. You get premimum liquors and a choice of specality restaurant. Plus many more things like internet; turn down bed services etc. Thanks for the reviewer who let us know about wash clothes. They do not have any. The natives don't use them. Glad we brought our own. The beach is beautiful and the resort is the envy of all other resorts at Punta Cana. The house wine was a disappointment. They wanted 6 times the market to purchase for named wines. They really need someone to teach them about wines. Watch your luggage on the way home. The bell captain put ours on the wrong bus and we had to have him get it back for us. We were lucky that they returned with it. Bring alot of singels and use them. They are very appreciative of a dollar or two tip. We brought a hundred of them and didn't bring many home. I know that it will be harder to make reservations here again with all the good reviews but they deserve it. We had great weather and only rained one evening. The entertainment was to loud and appeared to cater to a younger crowd.
313884,ajmrjm,03/08/2007,Well worth every cent!! This was our third trip to the Dominican Republic but our first stay at the Punta Cana Princess. We took the VIP package and it was well worth it. It included top shelf liquors; a 20 minute massage; motorized water sports; one hour internet for each of us; use of canopied beds on the beach; etc. We truely were treated like Very Important People. All employees were incredibly cheerful and went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable.... and they succeeded. The grounds were beautiful. The food was just okay but it didn't seem to matter since they have so much else in their favor. I will go back and I will recommend this little piece of Heaven to all my friends.
313884,PuntaCanada,03/04/2007,Best Resort we've stayed at in Punta Cana We just returned from the Punta Cana Princess after a wonderful 2 weeks of r and r. Ditto all the positives as reported in the previous reports - the front desk staff was exceptional to us!! The Dominican people have a contageous joy - we constantly asked them what made them so happy - They loved their job - they loved their family and country; and were CONTENT with their lives. Plus; they had the merengue!!! :) Thank you Emilio and Kinya for the last minute merengue dances as we waited for our shuttle to the airport. The resort was CLEAN; rooms were spacious and beautiful; food was excellent - We've done a lot of travelling; and know what's out there - this was the perfect place for us. Adults only was a bonus. The most beautiful beach in the world - lots of hot water; everything worked - If it needed fixing; they fixed it right away. Thank you Karen; Julio; Jesus Super Carlos and all the staff for making our stay a memorable one. We hope to come back again next year.The McConnells from PUNTA CANADA :)
313884,CWTTTW,03/02/2007,Amazing Poolside View
313884,SixtiesLady,02/26/2007,Wonderful vacation We just returned from our first 'get away from it all holiday'; in 23 years and cannot rave enough about the Punta Cana Princess. We are both in our sixtys; and just didn't realize what an all inclusive; adult only vacation could be. Although my husband ended up with the flu; the size of the Punta Cana Princess was just what we needed. The Princess is a smaller resort and was so easy to get to the pool or the beach without a long walk. Just what the Dr. ordered. There is lots to do if you are wanting adventure from swimming with the dolphins; snorkeling; tubing. We could lay around the pool and tan or sleep in the shade; we could always find a spot at the beach and watch the people or swim. The service was beyond expectations. It didn't matter if it was water; or a drink; the friendly staff was always there to assist. The ala carte restaurants were an adventure in fine dining. Although the language was a small barrier; it was not hard to explain with gestures and a small dictionary that we had a bad stomache and they adjusted my husbands meals accordingly. We had alot of fun at the Domincan Restaurant at the Caribe. The staff was fun to be around and they certainly enjoyed their work. The Steak at the Tex Mex at the Punta Cana Priness would give our good Alberta beef a run for the money. The amount of ala cartes allowed was terrific but we found that we enjoyed eating at the buffet as the food there was also great. The work and effort put on by the resort was greatly appreciated. The whole buffet area was moved to the beach for a beach party one evening and the meal was to die for. The cleanliness of this resort is at least 10 **********. It didn't matter if you used their public washrooms or your own suite; they were spotless. The grounds were gorgeous and the grounds keepers just fade into the landscaping keeping it in beautiful shape. Although my husband was ill for the first 2 days I felt right at home wondering around the resort on my own even going for meals in the evening and never once was worried about my safety. We took the trip to Manaiti Park and were treated with the same hospitality as the Hotel. And so handy being picked up at the door and returned in fine style.If we had a negative comment to make it would be the helpfulness of the lobby staff being able to communicate on arrival. As this was our first holiday in along while; being tired from a long late flight; very hungry from lack of eating due to a poor airline; and in a new country; better explanations of what is going on would have been a great help. The staff knew what they were doing we just didn't. And don't remove the card in the wall when you get to your room. It does not work in the safe; and you will be in the dark in about 15 minutes and trying to locate the phone. But after calling the front desk and trying to understand their explanation of what we had done the situation was righted promptly. I would also reccommend taking a face cloth as they aren't supplied.All in all we had a wonderul holiday filled with many good memories and lots of wonderful pictures. We will be recommending this resort to all our friends and family if they want a wonderful vacation. If it wasn't for the terrible plane ride; we would be thinking of going back real soon.
313884,HamiltonOntarioJules,02/24/2007,Fab resort! Amazing beach!
313884,MaidOMud,02/17/2007,Loved it! We stayed February 5-12. The hotel is adult only which is a huge plus for us. We had access to the 2 other resorts; but the screaming kids drove us back to our quiet home. We went to get-away and totally relax - and did just that. Finding a beach chair is no problem in either sun or shade. Drink service right at the beach; and food available from 10:30 a.m. on at the beach made relaxation easy.We highly recommed this hotel. The staff work HARD to make you feel welcome and comfortable. If you try to speak a little spanish; they'll turn somersaults to serve you. Small tips (2-3 dollars) cause huge smiles and are certainly appreciated - not expected.There is little to do as this resort which is why we went there. Sometimes you just have to sit on a chair for a week and not move :-)For those that crave activity; there are activities run by enthusiastic staff. You can play; or watch.
313884,dodieb,02/13/2007,Will Return to Punta Cana Princess We just returned from a group trip to the Punta Cana Princess Feb 2-10. The resort is absolutely beautiful! The rooms were spacious and clean; the beach was incredible; beautiful pool and grounds. The restaurants offer a good variety and you can always find something you like. The highests marks go to the staff; who are friendly and caring. The Dominican people are wonderful and made our vacation very special. I was concerned about some of the negatives I read in reviews prior to our trip. It turned out that the resort exceeded all of our expectations. We will surely return to the Punta Cana Princess.
313884,BeachDiva,02/12/2007,Perfect Vacation - Amazing Resort! Lobby
313884,Girlonthemove,02/07/2007,A gem in Punta Cana! The pool with beach style entry and swim up bar.
313884,acg2111,01/31/2007,beautiful resort;very quiet just got back from puntacanta princess; hotel was beautiful;grounds were so clean pool was clean and plenty of room to swim and relax. if you want a good spot on the beach or pool its best to put a towel over your chair to save it and try to do it before 9:00.our room was the best we were near the beach and pool so we had a great view and close to everything. they said no tipping for drinks but to get good service best to tip $2each time you get a couple of drinks to get better service we also tipped the maid each day she always supplied us with plenty of drinks and clean towels. the food was the biggest let down the 1st 2 nights we made reservations at the mediterraneanmare nostrum we had surfturf not like at home my lobster was smaller than a golf ball and my husband did not even get any and the steak was like rubber. the next night we ate at the rio grande everyone said this was the best ;appetizer was chicken very good steak was horrible after that we ate at the buffet which was okay we never tried the caribe food because it all looked the same. all in all i would return to this resort if they keep it all adults it was so peaceful that you have to overlook the food. if you wanted to see shows you had to go to the caribe; we did a jeep safari ;ride definetly;would recommend you get to see beyond the resort area and its very safe you travel with about 10 other jeeps. so if you want a nice relaxing vacation and you are noy a picky eater then i would suggest this hotel.
313884,NogySvelo,01/30/2007,Never again!!!!! Rude personal; never available to customer needs; limited English and no sense of responsibility. Extreme liberties are the best description. They may offend the customer out of blue and disrespectAmericans. My son was trying to reach me on the phone for several days. Nope; never happened; especially difficult to communicate to service desk after 9.00pm. Whoever is at the desk don't bother to transfer all incoming calls; they don't listen to youas soon as you try to speak English and don't make any effort to understand.They deliberately cut the line as soon as they have to speak English. I've never seen this kind of service nor behavior around the globe and I travel frequently. I had a problem with A/C in my room; I tried to reach for service; but they never get back to me. I gave up; taking in effect my soon departure. The bottom line it is their room to take care of; not my house. What do I care? leaking A/C may get fixed for the next customer if they are demanding type.The food is not good at all. Out of all restaurants inside resort I found the buffet is the only place where you may get a salad or sometimes breakfast a decent meal. Anything else- forget it or try on your own risk if you have good medical insurance.Anyway; I will never again visit this hotel; certainly will not recommend to my friends; family and coworkers. Please stay away!
313884,mexico62,01/30/2007,enjoying our vacation We are still here at the Punta Cana princess and very much enjoying ourselves; we have another week to go.The VIP upgrade is worth it and we enjpyed our complimentary massages . Also being able to book the a la carte restaurents by phone instead of waiting in line is a bonus. Also we have a private area on the beach and use of the beach beds and drink service. We have yet to try the scuba and watersports included. The rooms are very nice; they have a step down couch and tv area. Coffe makers; bathrobes and beach towels in the room and 24 hr. room service with the VIP.One recommendation prior to coming is you should be taking an anti malarial drug as this area; bavaro beach is on the travel advisory for malaria; which is transmitted by a dusk to dawn mosquito. To check this out refer to the CDC website. The medication needs to be started 2 weeks prior to travel and is taken once weekly.The PCP is smaller but we are able to enjoy privileges at the Caribe and Tropical princess next door. There are a variety of restaurents between the resorts; we haven't tried them all yet. Mamma Mias italian was quite good; but the steak place wasn't quite as expected. The buffet next door also offers a wider variety of food. A couple of our friends were down for a couple of days with stomach ailments; but that can happen anywhere. All in all; very nice. The entertainment next door was good. The lobby bars close at midnight but the beach bar is open quite late as is the disco. They do charge for drinks at the disco after midnight though. Pool is ok; needs some upgrades; but swim up bar is great; sometimes a little slow if busy. They do seem short of staff here; but they are all vey friendly and helpful. Glad we booked here; probably would try another resort next time; but worth the money.
313884,saxontraveller,01/28/2007,Small; quiet and relaxing place to go 5000 series building
313884,rhodgreen,01/14/2007,Luxurious Peace Booked this hotel as a last minute holiday; hence had very little time to research our options before we booked. The hotel was a class above many of the other hotels in the area (we went exploring and had a little nosey around some other pool/reception areas). The hotel's ground are split with its older sister hotels - this makes for a nice walk in the evening when visitng some of the speciality restaurants.This hotel mainly catered for the Spanish. Most of the evening entertainments was for them; but was in fact quite small comapred to the main events that occured in the sister hotel.The rooms were very nice (split level); we had a slight musty smell when we arrived so the hotel installed a dehumidifier in our room which stayed with us for the week.The room was cleaned daily although initially this did not happen until very late in the afteroon when we were returning from the pool area. A quick word with guest relations resulted in earlier service.The food in the restaurants were very good. The all-inc choice was limited compared to some other hotels we've been to; but the quality was far superior. The speciality restaurants were slightly dissapointing; especially the ones in the other hotel. Superb fish restaurant; don't waste time with the itallian and chinese.Staff very courteus; getting served at the bars was easy and the drinks were of a high quality (fizz also available on request).Pools were clean (and constantly cleaned).Beach was the same as the rest of the area - very nice; and nice to stroll allong - shame there's no sunset visible from this side of the island.If you go with Airtours / MyTravel from the UK you will get a ground floor room - its what's been agreed/contracted for with the hotel.My final thoughts on this hotel compared to the Riu's/Iberostars (which we have prevsiously experienced) is that it is smaller; more relaxed; more luxurious; quieter; better buffets - but am not sure which I prefer. It doesn't get 5/5 as it was lacking something - hard to say what - possible character / identidy - something that was strong in the Riu's for instance.
313884,LAL192,01/11/2007,Nicest People We just got back from a week at the Princess and I was very impressed with the resort. If you love the beach then this is the place for you. Get VIP and then you can lay on these great beach beds; the lounge chairs and fine too. The pool is very clean and there are little huts for those of you who cannot handle the hot sun all day. The resort as a whole is immaculately clean and the rooms ave very comfortable. I was most impressed with the staff; they make you feel like you are royalty. We tipped a bit and made a point of getting to know some staff and I was sad to say goodbye to them. This is a quiet resort with no kids and no disco but down the street is the sister resort which you have access to and a shuttle goes to and from regularly. My only complaint was the buffet was sometimes not the greatest; there was nothing wrong with it but if you are used to gourmet than you would probably be dissapointed. The A La Carte's were good though. I would recommend this resort to anyone looking for a very clean; beautiful; and relaxing place to vacation. Again; the beach is unreal. White sand and aqua water as far as the eye can see.
313884,Randola,01/08/2007,Poor Food We just returned to Canada after 1 week at the Punta Cana Princess resort and are glad to be home. It was listed as a 4 star but the only thing about it that made it this way was the rooms which were the most comfortable we have had in 3 stays in the DR. The beach was great and the pool was nice but the food was horrible. The buffet was the worst I have had in 5 Caribbean trips and made me violently ill one evening which has never happened to me before. The a la carte's were ok but did not make up for the limited poorly prepared buffet. The staff were polite but were understaffed. We did like the entertainment crew but not enough to return to this resort. We will pay the extra money and go to the Gran Bahia Principe or the Grand Paladium Bavaro again; both of these resorts are 2 or more stars better than the Princess.
313884,coryj1978,01/07/2007,I really liked it! I went for the week starting the 30 of december until the th of January 2007. I had a really great time. The food was great; I must have gained pounds. The buffet was varried and the items were fresh and tasty. The lunch time BBQs at the beachside restaurant was fun.... especially yummy was the luncheon Paella party! The a la Carte restaurants were easy to get reservations to and the quality was good. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the Fondue restaurant--yummy. Oh my god the drinks were out of this world. You so have to try the Banana Mamas and the Coco Locos; now I know what heaven tastes like. The pool was great; and the swim up bar was like wow! The only thing is there are some people who stay in the in pool bar all afternoon and don't get out; but where are they peeing!!! lol Another great thing is the fact that there are no kids there; 18+ all the way. the common areas; the pools; the bars are all nice and calm. The bach is super; it is clean and no sea weed; they have people raking it and upkeeping the sand. The animation team is small but they are so full of energy; and they are reall nice people. The best bar is the lobby bar; the bartender to get is Dyanara(? I think thats how you spell it) she is super friendly and nice; she will make you laugh and she puts on a great mini show of her own. The housekeeping staff is oK THEY DO WHAT IS REQUIRED AND NOT MORE; the room is clean but little extras like swan folded towels (like i have grown accustomed to in Cuba are not luxury here). The front desk is ok; not the best customer service but not the worst either. Do not use your credit cards; we had a situation and we used it they were unable to reimburse us; big deal!!! Bring cash good old American dollars or else they try to swindle you ith exchange rates that fluctuate depending on what you are buying and who you are buying from. I loved it and had a great time but then again with the friend that i was with how could i not have the time of my life ;)
313884,sydjord,01/03/2007,relaxing My husband;daughters ages 12 and 16 and I stayed the week of December 5th;2006. We have been to many islands throughout the carribean; and this was by far the most relaxing. The resort is so vast; that you can easily find your own solitude. There was not really a night life; but then again we are not nightlife people. Tours are available if you want. We did snorkel and parasail and that was fun. The food is what you would expect in a poor country. Remember you are not in the states. Breakfast was great every morning on the beach. It consisted of eggs anyway you want ; omelets; and great variety of breads and fruit. The coffee was strong and the milk is Goats milk; but you get used to it.Lunch we had again at the beach every day. Frenchfries hotdogs hamburgers and a great variety of hot dishes. My husband loved the salads; but there was no dressings only oil and balsamic vinegar. So remember to bring your own; he wished he did. For dinner we tried most of the restaurants. Chopin was an Excellent buffet; Italian was good; and The Steak house was excellent. The Seafood was so so. Remember you can always go to the buffet and eat if you are still hungry. The dinner buffet in the lobby has just about everthing you could want. Great hot entrees (some were strange like rabbit and bob white but hey you are on vacation BE DARING); a pasta station; salads; fruits and great deserts. The rooms were clean staff was great and super friendly. The language is mostly spanish; hardly any english; so brush up on your common phrases. My 16 year old loved the bartenders because they kept giving her alcohol in her drinks; so watch that with the kids. The beaches were beautiful and spotless. Get a hut at at least 8 am or they are gone. Also most of the guests were European; so remember is is not uncommon to be topless.Some extra tips1. Don't expect to get an American paper; there is none.2. When you turn your beach towels in get new ones for the next day. The Towel cabana doesn't open till 9am.3.Bring perscription Lomotil for diarrhea. Goats milk can be rough.4 . Be prepared to barter when shopping. They are very pushy and never give them what they say start at half or less.5 HAVE FUN AND RELAX!!!!!
313884,thebunner,12/20/2006,Great Value Just got back from 2 weeks at the Punta Cana Princess ( Dec. 5 to 19) and thought I would share my findings with anyone looking for reviews. We had a great holiday. Along with the fact the resort is a little smaller (at 270+ rooms) than some and is adult only (according to staff this may change back in Feb.) it is a very quiet and relaxing setting. On the other hand; if you want more action activity; you have the option to go next door to 2 large sister resorts and use the amenities and restaurants there. The rooms; resort; pool and beach are kept very clean.The food is fairly typical what you find in most D.R. resorts but plentiful and lots of variety. One would be hard pressed to not find something they like. The D.R. often gets a bad rap for people getting sick on the food or whatever but my own observation is that it is generally over consumption of sun; alcohol; food; in that order. As is the case with traveling to any strange country; you might get thrown off a bit (and yes; I do) but this can be minimized if you 鈥渆ase into it鈥?slowly and don鈥檛 go at it too hard at the start.The staff is great. While predominantly Spanish; they always seem to be able to communicate or will get someone that can. One has to empathize that they are dealing with English; French; German; and a host of other languages. Most important; they are a friendly (if you are) courteous; congenial people who seem happy to do for you what ever they can. I tip the occasional dollar out of appreciation (and also because they don鈥檛 receive gratuities as most operators suggest in their brochures) but it is not necessary in order to receive good service. A smile and simple 鈥済racias鈥?will go along way.The beach is rated by some travel magazines in the top 10 beaches in the world for a good reason. It is white; wide and long.To summarize; the 5 star rating by some operators might be a bit of a stretch but it is definitely 4+. Good bang for the buck. Go and enjoy your holiday.
313884,kdiddy,11/23/2006,Absolutely fab!! The Punta Cana Princess is a fine example of a really good all inclusive package. We arrived as a large group; check in was as swift as it could possibly be; bell boys take your suitcase; I thoughtthe hotel was well signposted so you could find your room easily. We were in block 1000; close to bars and pools slightley further to the beach.Granted; not all the restaurants are as we would expect at home; but we aren't at home;we are in the Carribean; and a very poor area of it; so taking that into consideration the food was excellent. My favourite restaurant was Mama Mia at the Caribe and the Rio Grande at the PCP. Avoid the fondue restaurant; the food is not good and you end up raiding the buffet afterwards!!The pool area was extensive and kept spotlessley clean. All of the bars were kept well stocked (except they kept running out of tonic water!!) and drinks were kept flowing. Soon as you put one down another replaced it!!The beach is breathtakingly beautiful; and is cleaned daily. There are very few beach sellers that come an pester you; you have to really invite them as security guards keep a low presence.As we were only there for a week we only did one trip; which we booked through the watersports center; it was a day on a catamaran; swimming off the reef with tropical fish (fantastic) onto a large inflatable slide (way down the beach from the pcp)(my husband loved it!) and then swimming with sharks and rays (again fab) Then lunch was salads and burgers (simple but good) and onto a lagoon; we were provided with a floating bar and as much rum and coke as we could drink. Altogether a wonderful day.Our only problem was on the 6th night there was an almighty tropical storm and our bathroom ceiling caved in !! We were moved to an identical room oppsite and other than the inconvience of having to repack; all was dealt with quickley and satisfactorily.The entertainment staff are a credit to the hotel; having so many nationalities in one place it could have been difficult but it was done with such enthusism you couldnt help but get caught up in it all. The barman in the lobby bar was a mad as a box of frogs and kept us entertained well into the early hours.All in all; a great holiday; highly reccomended to all travellers.
313884,unu,10/10/2006,ideal for a relaxing holdiay RACHEL JAY GREEN LIVERPOOL ENGLANDwhat can i say! This was the best holiday i have ever been on.Me and my Husband (age 24; 23) arrived here on 30 Aug 2006 For 2 weeks and loved it. Our hotel room was lovely and i could not believe the size of the bed it was massive!!! This hotel is so clean it is unbelievable i have never been to one like it before. The pool is also cleaned twice daily and was really nice; not to hot or cold just right. here is a little list on what we thought of this holidayFOOD-some people would have a moan about the food and i honestly dont know why. Breakfast was so good; you had so much to choose from it was my favorite time of the day.Lunchtime was the worst; the buffet selection for lunch was not good; me and mu Husband used to go to the beach bar for lunch which is part of the hotel and right on the beach. It serves burgers; pizza; chips stuff like that. Whilst on our stay we went to three of the restaurants which i must say werent great. Tex Mex was quite nice;the best out of the three. Chinese was apalling and Italian was worse.The buffett at night was quite good and that was were we eat most nights. The Spaghetti dishes in the Buffett put the Italian to shame.Night Life-this was virtually none existent at the PCP you had to go to the hotel next door for the show and the disco; this was no problem what so ever as the little bus(golf cart) comes every 15 mins and it takes 3 mins to get to the hotel. The shows were not our cup of tea as when the people on stage would talk to the audience it was in so many different languages you got really confused. When thay did speak English you could not understand a word that was said.the night club was ok; we went there 2 times and had a good little boogy. The beach bar in the PCP was our little local and it was really nice sitting there of a night time; the breeze was lovely and it was nice to just chill and have a few weeks.Overall-even tough some of the restaurants were not very nice it did not put us of our holiday; this is a lovely hotel and the staff are lovely too. Anyone one going to PCP will enjoy it and it is for all age groups; Me and my husband would deffinetly go back to Punta cana; and i would certainley recommend this hotel.
313884,Alwayshoneymooning,08/19/2006,It was good for relaxing but the food wasn't My Husband and I (We are newlyweds) went to DR and stayed at the PCP July 26th - August 3rd; 2006.The rooms were nice - we got block 5000 - it's a must if your staying there - it's by the pool and beach and has ocean view.The people are friendly as can be - Dominican Time translation 10 minutes can mean an hour - things are slow paced there. The grounds and the rooms were always kept clean. Weather great! Beach Great! We did the snorkeling tour and it was nice.The downside - THE FOOD IS NOT GOOD! You can eat it but it's not good -breakfasts were better than the rest of the day's meals for sure. Room Service Menu is very limited and the food on it stinks. The pool is big; beautiful and clean - wasn't crazy about the way the staff takes monkeys on leash's for the people to take pictures with - the monkeys are treated badly.Rio Grand - we ate there twice the food was better there. You have to make reservations MUCH MUCH in advance or forget it! Do all your reservations the first day you get there! Italian Restaurant was horrible (Mama Mia or something like that)Seafood wasn't that good either. Buffet or Rio Grand - whenever we went to another place to eat we would end up going to the buffet anyway cause we were starved! It wasn't a bad vacation but we wouldn't go again.
313884,Airlinerep,08/16/2006,PCP Very Good Experience My daughter and I just returned from a trip to Punta Cana.We loved thePCP. I was a little aprehensive reading past reviews;but our experience was wonderful.The room was large and clean. We stayed in the 5000 block;so we had a lovely view of the beach and ocean. The resortis very well kept; the pool was large and not crowded. Thebuffet had a great variety of different foods; so even if youate there regularly; you had many options. We only triedthe italian restaurant ( did not like it); and Rio Grande ( tex-mex)which was very good.We were very careful about the water; and we had no problemsat all. The weather was hot but very breezy. The ocean waterwas a little rough and murky ( due to the seaweed); but wasstill very enjoyable. The beach and pool have a large quantityof palapas and chairs. I never had a problem getting a good spot.Staff is very friendly ( single girls sometimes receive too muchunwanted attention from the male staff).Overall a very good experience; excellent place to relax.
313884,Guppi,08/10/2006,Don't Waste Your Money We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess in the Dominican Republic just recently and it was the worst vacation of our lives! Seven out of the eight people were all violently ill with vomiting and diarrhea and the staff was unfriendly most of the time. We tried this resort for the first time; and we WILL NEVER go back. Our entire trip was ruined. The food at the buffet was HORRIBLE - Don't waste your hard earned money! Many other people were sick as well - they can keep the princess!
313884,Dancer14,08/02/2006,Clean; friendly July 8;2006 2 weeks in beautiful Punta Cana. The resort is kept immaculate. Of course all the workers are friendly helpful; expecially Carlos one of the animators; he always came over to say hello and to ask about our daughter who he included in all the games and shows. (She is 17). The best thing was eating at the specialty restaurants. You need to make a reservation in the morning; but it never costs you extra and you can go to the other resorts as well. Book early (8:00am) We always ate at 6:30 and were usually the only ones in the restaurant until 8:00pm. TEX MEX Grill ...Awesome! Mama Mia.....great pizza lasagna soups. Tipping is always enjoyable for us so we bring $150.00 in $1 US bills and tip everyone from the conceirge; maid; porter; bar tender; lady who comes around with coffee at breakfast etc. We also bring old clothes; toys; candy; toiletries; medical supplies and make-up to give to the people who work at the hotel. They truly appreciate it and always give us special attention. Everything about the hotel was great. We never had to put towels on a chair to reserve a spot; there are plenty at the beach and the pool. It is great to have the trolley to take you around the 3 properties even if you just go for a ride after dinner.Beautiful spot for a Wedding if your looking they have it right on the beach in a Gazebo with palm covered arches leading the way with flowers and covered chairs with bows. The bride is brought in on a horse drawn large white carriage. No Complaints.
313884,YuliyaS,07/28/2006,All you need to know about Punta Cana Princess pool island
313884,barbbutterfly,07/27/2006,Heaven here on earth!!!!! My daughter and I booked this trip a few days before going. We couldn't have made a better choice. The people that worked at the PCP were very friendly and efficient. We were waited on hand and foot with such beautiful smiles. They really went out of their way to make sure we had a great holiday!!!!We took lots of US one dollar bills for tips and they were very much appreciated. Many people did not tip and the staff still gave everyone excellent service. We especially loved the fillet mignon at the Tex Mex Restaurant. The theme nights at the buffet were excellent. We couldn't believe how much variety there was at the buffet during the week. On our last night there we enjoyed the Beach party or Dominicana night. It was heavenly to sit on the beach with the cool ocean breeze; sip Banana Mamas and eat such delicious food. We enjoyed the excursion to Dolphin Island. Although the one macaw tried to eat my daughter and she got quite a pinch on her shoulder. Swimming with the dolphins was a lot of fun. We also went on the sunset horseback riding excursion which was amazing. We got to explore some natural areas along the beach that hadn't been invaded by resorts. After an hour they stopped to give the horses a break and one of the guys climbed a tree and brought down coconuts for everyone. It was nice to have the opportunity to taste the milk. The resort couldn't have been cleaner. In the mornings the staff actually scrub the walkways. The beach is absolutely gorgeous and they had a ton of lounge chairs under grass umbrellas.
313884,ditravels,07/26/2006,Punta Cana; Yes! Bravara Princess Never Again! This was my 4th time in Punta Cana I find it a beautiful island country with friendly people I hope someday they will be able to afford to live in comfort. However; this time the resort was way below every other one I've been to. The Apple catalog advertises it as a 5 apple. I was talked into going to it because the travel agent said it was on sale. I had another resort in mind. On the way there; the apple rep told us it was not a 5; maybe a 4. In any case; it was so large you're always on a shuttle to get somewhere. We had been in Punta Cana at the same time 4 yrs earlier at another resort (our weding was there) my husband picked gorgeous flowers for my bouquet. This resort was neat; but no flowers! The food was disappointing; even though I didn't gain as much weight as I had feared; when I'm on vacation; I want good food! Even the ala carte restaurants were lacking. The drinks were VERY weak! When tips are included; you shouldn't have to flash $ to get a decent drink. I'm on vacation not driving for gosh sakes! When you think you're getting a suite really you are getting more sitting room; which is not necessary when you're on a beach vacation! We had more amenities at the airport hotel in Cleveland. The beach was beautiful you make the best of it--after all; it's vacation! But I would NEVER recommend this resort!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/12/2006,Loved It! My husband and our kids stayed at the PCP; from June 27 to July 11th and it was AMAZING! There was always something to do; like getting a massage; going touring; snorkeling; lying and lazying around on the beach; swimming in the HUGE pool; pigging out at the restaurants; visiting and having and wild night at the casino; walking down the beach and buying some souvenirs; at night time walk down the beach and look at the beautiful view and plenty more. The hotel was always clean! Beds made; Bathrooms fixed; ect.. Whenever we left our room; when we came back it was clean. The room service was quick and great too. The food was pretty good. There were some time's that the food wasn't the right temperature. For example what should be hot was warm or cold; and what should be cold was hot or warm. But that happened rarely; not to often. On the other hand; most of the restaurants were clean and had great food! Definantley recommend the italin cuisine and the Tex Mex. Chinese food buffet had a lot of variety; something different for everyone's taste. The snack bar had a lot of variety too. The swim up bar had great service; recommend you visit it more than once. The beach and pool left me speechless! In the morning the beach would be cleaned and at night. The pool was clean and not to crowded. Before I went to the resort I thought that there was no way I could go to the pool because it would be packed with people and if you swan you would bunp into someone constantly. But I was wrong. There was always room everywhere; on the beach and pool. Probably because most of the people there are trying the activities most of the time. Definantley recommend scuba diving with sharks. It was so fun! The sharks were pretty friendly; although I didn't go near to many of them. The massage was so soothing. I live in the busy world of sitting on a computer all day and being stressed all the time. While being massaged I forgot about everything. The masseuse I had was really good! The hotel has a club for kids and teens. My 16 year old daughter had a great time going to the teen clubs. I felt comfortable knowing it was supervised. My son who is 8 went to the kids club and had a blast! He still talks about it! While our kids were at these clubs that left me and my husband alone. Alone for a romantic night. We would go to a restaurant; and walk on the quiet moonlite beach. Then go to the hotel and have some a lone time. Something we've both been to busy to have. Then our kids come bac and tell us about their night. The staff was kind; accomodating; and more than willing to cater to your every need. A few words of advice and some reccommendations...:- Don't go to the casino often; maybe once on your whole trip.- Go scuba diving! A lot of fun!!- Make sure you don't miss out on the Tex Mex; Chinese and Italian restaurant! Highly recommend it.- Don't waste a moment there because you won't want to leave; and when you do you feel you should have used that moment better!- Take walks; clears your mind of stress... trust me!!- Tips are not needed to be left; I did; but some of my money was returned... This is a resort I would recommend to families of 4 or 5 the most; and hneymooners. Very romantic and fun.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/12/2006,Will not return Stayed at the Princess resort for 6 days in May and although the resort was beatiful and well maintained they have some serious flaws. 1-Hardly anything is done or spoken in English. How can you understand songs or entertainment when everything is in spanish; even the poolside entertainment.2-None of the restrarants are air-conditioned; they try but when you walk out with sweat dripping everywhere; it makes for a bad dining experience.3-Beware at the buffets; especially the main one. While wating for it open for lunch one day I watched as these birds walked along the salad bar helping themselves. Do not eat anything unless it's cooked!!! and Yes we both got sick. You have to bring your own ketsup and salad dressing.4-Don't know why you can never get reservations in the restruants since they are never more than 1/2 full.5-Found out after 3-4 days that you have to ask for liquor in your frozen drinks. This was only after waving a tip in the air.6-upgrade to platium service. It is well worth the small amount they charge.7-You are warned not to go outside the front gate. it is definetley a third world country.had somebody tell me he wanted my camera at the little Plaza outside the front entrance. Lucky for me a policeman was walking by because we quickly left and ran across the street to safety.8-The casino; a joke spent every bit of 5 minutes in there and luckly only lost 5 dollars.9-Don't even ask for a ocean view room. There are not any. Did hear the honey mooners had a decent view.Well I could go on forever but I'm sure you get my point. They do not like Americans and our next vacation will be back at Cancun where they appreciate everything you do for them.
313884,WildAngel0521,07/11/2006,TIPS for a More Relaxing Stay Pretty as a Peacock
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/11/2006,Best hotel we've been to Polly want a Cracker?
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/07/2006,2yrs in a row and still love it!! Above all I have to say the service was awesome!!!! Anything you want or need the staff was more than willing to show you where to get it or even get it for you!! The staff was very attentive to every need! We did the Vip package and it was worth it. With the Vip pk. you get a free massage; free room service; and domestic beers (budweiser); plus more! The resort is on the smaller side compared to some of the others. However; it was very well manicured and relaxing. No nightclubs on this resort makes for less night traffic in and out. The other princesss resorts next door have nightclubs that you can take a trolley over to. The pool bar service was great! It does get crowded at times but the bartender does a good job getting to everyone!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/07/2006,"Going back"; and bringing more friends. From start to finish was a pleasure; the people from the resort were outstanding. service was perfect in all ways; the food in buffets; (very good); the food at the resturants; (excellent) we had the VIP package which I suggest anyone get when visisting. night life was great; the bar in the lobby was very fun. during the days on the beach Edwardo treated us all like we were family. Rooms were kept clean buffets were well stocked; we weren't even on the plane home and started to plan the next trip. there were 6 of us this year and now we have 26 going next year. Relaxing and carefree; Met alot of interesting people from all over the world; and the staff in all of the areas were awesome great people!!!. Beaches were clean w/white sand and clear blue water. I think we have found the perfect get away that is affordable clean and fun. can't wait until January.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/03/2006,Wonderful Resort for Relaxing Vacation Just got home from a vacation at Punta Cana All-Suites Resort and spa. Stayed from June 26 to July 3rd. Went with my husband and 2 children (3 12 y.o.) . Went to Punta Cana last year. We stayed then at Breezes. We enjoyed both locations; but PCPrincess is a muched more relaxed location. There are only about 250 rooms compared to Breezes with over 700. There were fewer activities for the kids; but they could do the kids club. Additionally; if you book the VIP service you have access to the other two resorts next door owned by Princess. They have many more activities. However you will notice the difference when you visit there. It is quite busy and loud. It is was too noisy compared to PCPrincess. We only went over there to go to La Cava italian restaurant (excellent).The beach at this location were absolutely beautiful. We were able to walk in either direction to the local vendors. This was fun; but they are very aggressive. I am not the type that enjoys a tough negotiation (I felt they got annoyed when you didn't buy). Only go if you are up for the challenge of trying to negotiate a bargan. Most of the time I felt I was being ripped off. Still they had some nice jewelry; and beach cover-ups we wore the entire stay. The beach offers all types of water sports; banana boat; snorkeling; parasailing; etc. We chose to relax at the beach. You can buy sand toys at the PCPrincess Minimarket; $9 US. The kids liked the pool the best. We could barely get them out. We were there from 9am to 5pm most days. They loved it. Rooms were clean and of good size. Checkin was smooth.Food was good. It is not what you are commonly used to eating at home. We made the most of it. They were more than willing to try to accomodate any special requests. As a matter of fact they brought out an entire cake for my son's 3rd birthday while we dined at the Tex Mex restaurant. They turned down the lights and sang with music piped in to the whole restaurant. It was lovely. We did have a few bad stomach days. Not sure if this is due to the food or the water. We didn't get sick the last time we were in Punta Cana. We would definately go back. Had a great stay. We heard from another traveler; however; that the resort is going adults only Nov. 1. Too bad for us with kids. Have fun!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/03/2006,First Class - Well Almost! We booked a week at this resort flying from Manchester. The other guests were mainly American with a few Europeans. We loved it! It was clean and everyone was really friendly the rooms are big and nicley furnished. The food was good especially the Chinese restaurant. The buffet is always a good bet but the restaurants are a hit or a miss not awful just not always great.There is a VIP package you can arrange on arrival I would say if you want room service and you like diving go for it otherwise why bother you get a mini bar with soft drinks water and beer as standard and there is a 24 hour snack bar.We found it no problem to get a sun bed at the beach or by the pool even as late as 12 noon. Definately investigate the other hotels the disco is good and the Casino not bad. The only thing that got a bit much was the Bingo every night at reception!This was our second trip to the Dominican and we would highly recommend this hotel bear in mind this is a third world country and things are maybe not as 'polished' as you would expect back home. We would book this hotel again ideal for total relaxation!!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,06/28/2006,Fifty fifty Stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from 19th to 27th June 2006.On check in we were told they had no booking for us and blamed our tour operator. Our tour operator later blamed the hotel. Eventually we got our rooms.The accomodation was ok. Big; well furnished rooms that had a musty smell. This was explained by the flooding of our rooms on the ground floor a couple of days into our stay. We left a tip for the maid most days but found we actually got a better service when we hadn't left any money. Go figure.We thought the food was pretty foul in the restaurants but the buffet was bloody good throughout the weeks stay and cant fault it (Gala night was great).The female staff were friendly and polite but the majority of the male employees were unfriendly. We experimented with the bar attendant at the beach bar who was really rude for the duration of our stay. We got our wallet out at the bar one time and the next thing he was high-fiving us.The drinks were good; but you coudn't get to the pool bar due to the american contingent that set up camp there for the week. The pool was good and very clean; with not too much competition for sun loungers.The beach was breathtaking and really hot. We visted some of the other hotels which we found to be much busier than the Punta Cana Princess and not as landscaped. Had a massage which was really great and you can haggle them down too. Went swimming with sharks and rays at the Marineaquarium but be warned that they turn this excusion into some kind of ibiza party; nightmare trip with awful music and irritating staff. The sharks and rays are good though so go for that experience at least. We heard that the safari excusion was total crap where you visit an authentic Dominican household where all the kids have no shoes but each has a brand new mobile phone.The last thing is that there's the photographers that go around each day with snakes; parrots; monkies and iguanas. This is cruel and we saw him hold the monkey out over the pool by a leash as a joke. I dont know why people condone these guys by having their photo taken with them each day. Shameful.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,06/27/2006,Beach is the best I've seen My husband and I stayed at the Barcelo Bavaro Beach Princess Hotel - Punta Canathe week of June 17-24 2006.The very Bad news is that I got very sick (symptoms of food poisoning) andhad to have the Doctor come to the room to administer meds through an IV.I was in bed for 2 days and didn't feel well until the 4th day of vacation.Many people were sick at this hotel. Not sure if sickness was due to the food; water or stomach virus. * I had Never been so sick**I didn't drink the water but did have a Pina Colada which had crushed ice in it.The beach is beautiful here; service was good; room was clean and nice butI wouldn't go back due to sickness.(I had read the reviews before we left and knew some people had gotten sickso I was trying to be careful)
313884,ILOVETHEDR,06/26/2006,Just back but wish I wasn't erika stephie next to lobby
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,06/23/2006,5 STARS I only have good memories from punta cana princess.I stay in princess from 10 june to 17 june 2006.All i can say is everbody must know punta cana princess is beautiful;the rooms are very nice and hugh;the gardens are the most beautiful i see;the food is ok;and the people is very nice.5 stars.
313884,jilldv10,06/22/2006,Had a great time for our wedding April 1; 2006! banana boat
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,06/14/2006,Wonderful and Relaxing If you are looking for a beautiful hotel; large; spacious rooms with sitting area and balconey then this hotel is excellent. Very inexpensive all-inclusive. Grounds are well groomed and maintainted. The ocean is clear-blue; beaches are white; warm and wonderful with a cooling breeze (it's quite hot with out it). If you are going to the Dominican for a culinary experience-- don't. The buffets are good: The fruits and vegetables are fresh. The meat and fish was always dry and slightly tough. Breads; pateries; cakes and ice cream were okay but little flavor. Lunch meat was fine; but the cheese is not good. Three restaurants on premises were hit or miss; same goes for the five restaurants at it's sister resort next door which is much larger and much; much busier.Tex-mex: good entrees; not apps2 Italian: non-meat filled pasta is good with any of the saucesChinese: horrible all around; except the fried ice creamDominican: by far the best of all. As the saying goes : When in Rome; do as the Romans.If you are looking for a relaxing; uneventful holiday with lots of sun then this is the place. My wife and I would definately go back.
313884,ambow,06/12/2006,Good place to lose weight My sister and I (both seniors) just returned from a week at Punta Cana Princess...We were very disappointed with the food.Our accomodations were acceptable; but the resort; while beach front; goes very deep so from the main lobby to the beach is a walk of at least 2 city blocks.Beach towels are only available at the activities center on the beach; so if you are only going to the pool it is a long walk for a towel.Our sheets were not changed for 5 days and only after we requested the service.We were told if we wanted our sheets changed we should strip the bed!!!!!We ate at the Rio Grand for Tex Mex...it was the best food we had all week; but the Cesaer salad was made with head lettuce and swimming in dressing.We also went to the Oriental Restaurant...the worst food we had all week; altho' it was a l carte; we really could not order from the menu; the courses were just delivered.Nice beach; friendly staff; lots of birds and mosquitoes.
313884,DottyJ,06/06/2006,Nothing could be better We stayed at the BP May 21-28th. We went platinum and our room was 2 minutes from the beach. Upon arrival the perfect vacation began. Rooms were fabulous; service at both the bars and restaurants were exceptional and of course the beach - well what can I say this was our second time to Bavaro Beach and it has to be the most beautiful beach in the Caribbean. The weather was hot hot hot - not one drop of rain. I was down on the beach at 7:30 every morning to get our Palapa (not supposed to but everyone else does) and we stayed on the beach until around 4PM. Never saw the pool. Arrived back at our room and would call room service for bottle(s) of wine and beer (no charge for platinum guests) and within 5 minutes they arrived- ice bucket- glasses etc. Sitting out on the balcony overlooking the ocean and gardens - what more could one say for a more idyllic setting. The only small disappointment I had was with the food. We mostly ate in the buffet restaurant as all other of the restaurants required the men to wear long pants (I really think dress shorts would have been suffice) and when the temp is 95 in the evening it is really not fair to the men. We ate at Licey and it was so so - was supposed to be airconditioned but was not. The Piano bar in the main lobby was beautiful. We also ate at Bella Pasta one night and the food they served was the same as what you could get at the Pasta bar in the buffett restaurant in the lobby and the service at Bella was very rushed. Other than that; 5 thumbs up for El Gaucho in the morning for breakfast. Made to order omelets a glass of wine and toast and sitting outside overlooking the beach - heaven.All in all we had a great time and would recommend this resort to anyone.Ola
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/25/2006,Awesome Awesome would go back every vacation My husband and I stayed at the PCP FROM APRIL 21ST TO THE 28TH FOR OUR HONEYMOON. I CAN DEFINATELY SAY IT WAS THE BEST VACATION WE HAVE EVER HAD. The hotel was amazing and the service was exceptional. The VIp package is definately worth it even if only for the room service. This was better then the buffet. We ate at all resteraunts at the PCP and at the Princess Bavaro. The best resteraunt was at The Tex Mex Steak House at the punta cana princess resort. The service was amazing and food was better then home. The resort was clean and everyone was friendly even the groundskeeping. There was plenty of entertainment both daily and nightly. It was also very quiet and romantic at the same time. Please don`t listen to any bad reviews about this hotel. It is awesome and definately a perfect honeymoon spot.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/23/2006,Beautiful Honeymoon First of i would like to say to all the soon to be honeymooners reading this- STOP READING REVIEWS! I say this becuase i did the same thing; i read every review and made myself insane... Dont worry pick a place based on the location trips they offer and accomodation; and leave the rest alone! Believe me you'll have a great time....Now for my review...The Punta Cana Princess is amazing; the grouds are beautiful and the people are amazing.. Its a great place to stay for a honeymoon you can have peace and quiet at the Punta Cana and enjoy the lively atmosphere and shows at the sister hotel the Tropical and the Caribe..Do some excursions; they are alot of fun... all in all nothing bad to say; your on vacation; lay back and relax enjoy and have a great time; and if you go say hello to Gladys in the lobby bar; she's so sweet!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/21/2006,Great place to relax! We traveled to the PCP from May 5-May 11; 2006. A family affair; myself; my sister and her son; who is 13. Having read almost every review; we went with the VIP package - definitely a must! Well worth the $60 pp for the week. We were in 5207 - right by the pool and the beach with a fantastic view overlooking the property and beach. The room was very spacious with a vaulted ceiling; two queen beds; and the living area with the trundle bed and TV; not to forget the balcony. If you're a smoker; you're definitely not in the US. You can smoke almost anywhere you like in DR. ( Even the airport). As a guest of PCP; you also had access to the Caribe and the Tropical; we hit on the Caribe for the buffett one night; the La Cava; and the Sombrero. First; the hotel is very clean; both inside and out. We left small items for the maid in the AM with a few dollars and had everything we needed. We found out on our next to last night that you actually have 2 maids for your room. One in the morning and one in the evening for turn down etc. We were only leaving items for the day maid; and aplogized to the evening maid for not knowing. Gave her a few dollars once we realized our error. The staff; in general; were extremely helpful and friendly. They definitely remember you when you have tipped them a dollar or two! I did find; however; that it definitely helpful if you speak spanish. There is a trolley that goes from each sister hotel if you perfer not to walk; but it is also extremely difficult to know where to go as the maps at the PCP are not legible. Once you're in the Caribe; to find your way back is a maze! There are no posted maps and while they have arrows pointing you to different places; find one first! The not so great - the food; most definitely. Breakfast was the best buffet meal at the PCP. Don't expect an American hot dog or pizza! At lunch; the freshly cooked chicken or pork cutlets were your best bet; the rest of the food was not kept hot when it was a hot dish. The Caribe had a buffet that was almost three times the size of PCP. Definitely worth going to one night; otherwise; do the a la carte. With the VIP package you can schedule your dinner reservations ahead of everyone else. We did the La Cava and the Sombrero at Caribe. Unless you like a lot of heat; stay away from the Sombrero and their menu was misleading. The La Cava was great! At the PCP they have the Tex-Mex which we went to twice - great beef! The filet mignon was excellent.The casino - let's say I went every night - came home a winner a few times; but as with most casinos; they want your money and they will get it. Met a couple of really nice people; and a few hard-core gamblers who need to realize this is a vacation resort - not Atlantic City or Vegas.The market by the Red Tower Casino - let's say I didn't buy much on the island. Found their prices too high; even if I did barter it down. I don't particularly care when I'm followed around or coerced into someone's store. You find it in one; it's in all the others. I bought another bottle of rum and a box of cigars at one place; only because I wasn't harrassed when I walked in to look around.Overall; the location was excellent; very quiet at night. Security was around and checked that you were a guest at that specific hotel before you went through the lobby. You have access to the other hotels if you want to party; or you can stay in to relax. If I ever decide to go back; would I stay at this hotel - most definitely.
313884,ohdonna,05/16/2006,Great Vacation More photos
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/07/2006,Puta Cana Princess - Excellent Place To Stay My wife and myself stayed at the Punts Cana Princess the last week in April 2006 We made the right choice and took the Platinum Club option. Check in was at the Platinum Club lounge. It was easy and no line ups to get in. This lounge featured breakfast and drinks throught the day everyday. The Platinum club rooms are all down clost to the beac and pool. The shuttle around the grounds is great but we did not have to use it to go to the beach or pool. because we were right there. The dinners at the ala-carte restaurants were the best. We are both fifty and have travelled throught the Carribean. This is one of the best all-inclusives that we have stayed. A1TWTT@aol.com
313884,thepaintmaker,05/04/2006,Thank you Trip Advisor authors - place was awesome... This was our first trip to the Carribean and our first all-inclusive resort and we could not have been more pleasantly surprised with the Punta Cana Princess. The resort was beautiful; clean and just the right size for a relaxing family vacation. The rooms were larger than expected and the friendliness and attitude of the entire staff was EXCELLENT...it made the trip. The beach is beautiful and the food selection; quality and availability were very good also. It was hard to think of a complaint and we hated to leave - we will be back. Try a 'Punta Cana Princess drink at one of the bars - it quickly became a family favorite! Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews on the PCP as it was the sole reason we chose this resort over other properties.
313884,ptflynn,05/02/2006,Punta Cana Princess Just OK No major problems; but not real impressed.VIP - A great deal for the right price; but be careful. Loved the massages; dinner at La Cava; and some of the other benefits. Here's the problem. The Travel Agent couldn't get it in advance; PCP told them it wasn't available. Price quoted in advance by the TA was $50 per person. Travel agent suggested asking at check in. We did and INSTANTLY were told fine; it was $17 per day per person; which came to $68 each; which was still a good deal. If you do it this way; GET IT IN WRITING. At checkout; they tried to bill us something over $100 per person. Luckily; the person who checked us in was there and remembered what she quoted us and said they would fix it; but it took over AN HOUR to get a manager to do that. We had to enlist the help of our contact from Coco Tours; who was GREAT (see more on that below). So it worked out fine; but was a big hassle. Felt a little like a scam.The Room - you MUST get the top floor with vaulted ceilings. Gives the room a much more spacious feeling. The layout is fine; but the 'suite' description is bunk. The 'sitting area' is great if you have kids; it is really a trundle bed; and is VERY uncomfortable as a sofa. Room is very clean; no bugs. The Property - beautiful; very well maintained.Beach - positively beautiful; the best. Very limited equipment for 'non motorized water sports'; we have had much more available at other resorts. Also limited choices for the 'one motorized' that is included with the VIP. We chose the catamaran and it was great because there was a staff member to steer. The other choices were with groups; one is riding a big 'banana' that is sort of a thrill ride; we watched and they always went very fast and knocked people off. Probably fun for the spring break crowd; but not for us.The Staff - all super friendly; not one will walk past you without a cheerful Hola.The Bars - the bartenders were not trained to do anything well except pour beer. The worst Pina Coladas I ever drank. We stuck to Bloody Marys or Margueritas; thinking they were 'standard' and couldn't be messed up. Those drinks were OK; but almost EVERY time; they were OUT of some ingredient; and had to hike somewhere to get something while we waited. Pain in the you know what.The Food - the buffet was fine; not great but more than sufficient. It does get a little boring every day. What saves it is the omelets to order at breakfast; carving stations at lunch and dinner; those things were the best. The Italian restaurant was just OK; the cheese bread there was fabulous. La Cava over at the Caribe was GREAT; order the lobster which is included as part of the VIP; it's twin lobster tails and was great. Bread at La Cava was good too. Funny; while the bread was SO good at the speciality restaurants; there's a BIG bread station at the buffet; which was worthless; nothing but various white breads - boring!!!Casino - awful; the worst; don't bother.Guest Services - wish I could remember her name; she was delightful and very helpful with dinner reservations; which was part of the VIP deal. You MUST make your first reservation as soon as you arrive; they have some system where they turn them in WAY in advance; so be aware of that.Entertainment - almost non-existent at PCP. Hubby went to the Caribe; and entertainment there was inconsistent. Once it was awful; he said everyone was walking out. Another time he went; he said it was pretty good.Bottom line - we would not stay there again.PS - we traveled with Vacation Express on Xtra Airways from Sanford FL; it was GREAT and I will definitely use them again. $50 bucks per person gets you upgraded to First Class; with free drinks and FOOD (sandwich or great chicken caeser salad). They were on time in both directions. The transfers in PC were through Coco Tours; and our 'guide' was Domaso and he was OUTSTANDING. He was at the hotel every day; just to be helpful. We didn't book any tours; but he didn't care. He was very helpful with the VIP overbilling problem that I mentioned in the beginning. We were really appreciative of his assistance with that mess.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/01/2006,Great holidays!!! Beach volleyball!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,04/27/2006,peaceful; restful holiday Several mothers and their senior high school daughters visited this lovely place over Easter and spring break. We all had a wonderful time. We upgraded to the VIP package which was well worth it. The staff at this facility is unbelievable! We have never seen people work so hard and be so pleasant all of the time. They are also very helpful. It is amazing that they can take care of people that speak so many different languages too. They don't make much money; so we tipped them regularly. The beach is very beautiful and the water sports available are lots of fun. The water is shallow and clear quite a ways out. The pool was also very nice and like everything else; very clean. There are bars everywhere offering free drinks of all kinds. There are also many restaurants. You can always find something to eat; but we felt this was the only area that was lacking. The food seemed to appeal to the Europeans; but the Americans......we just didn't care for most of it. The Italian restaurant was pretty good. The cheesy bread and the pizzas are ok. Also the chef at the morning buffet made eggs to order. The french fries and grilled chicked are pretty good. Our girls lived on room service; which is free with VIP. There is very little shopping; t-shirts; caps; necklaces; trinkets. There is a casino; we never went. and a discoteque; our girls went every night. The spa turned out to be fabulous!!!! We all loved it! Our Punta Cana; Princess All Suites experience was a good one. Cincinnati; Oh.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,04/26/2006,Beautiful Setting; Terrible Food! My boyfriend and I stayed at the Punta Cana Princess in August of 2005. The trip was amazing but there were a few things about the resort that were not so great.First of all let me start of with the GOOD:The resort location was beautiful! Though small; the resort was very cozy and convinient to get around on because it was very small. The pool was warm and spacious. The beach was incredible; not a rock in the sand; and the water was glorious; hot and clear. There was never a problem getting a chair at the beach or the pool. The weather was great all week; very HOT and it never rained. We had the benefit of using the facilities at the other two resorts; which was great; and they were easy to get to. Reservations were never hard to make at the restaurants and the food was much better than at the buffets.The best part of our vacation was the wonderful people we met. In our first five minutes we met a couple from Toronto; Steve and Keisha; who we spent the whole week with and now we're planning our next vacation together. What a BONUS! Along with others; such as the nicest couple from Florida; Pete and Lynne; who we had a great time chatting with in the water.Now; for the BAD:Check in was quick but we got a double bed room and they did not accomodate us by changing it to a King size bed. Then they brought the wrong luggage to our room. The rooms were nice; but felt dirty; sometimes even stunk; so that wasn't to pleasant and of course the worst part about the rooms was that the balcomy doors did not lock!The food was awful! We all lost weight because we barely ate; we lived mostly on fruits (Mango and salt; as our new friends reccomended) The drinks were OK...but nothing special. The nightlife was horrible....there was nothing to do. The disco was not even worth going to and that was pretty much the only option. So we ended up sitting at the beach bar or lobby most nights; with very few people there. The casino was usually empty and pretty far; so there was no reason to go there either.There was also nothing to buy; there were a few shops but there was nothing worth spending your money on; and they were also extremely over priced!Oh....and if you like to relax and be left alone on the beach; don't count on it; because we were constantly taken away by the resort staff to go dancing on the beach or take pictures....so watch out for them; because they will get you!This was our first trip to the Carribean; and I have to say that I would absolutely return to Punta Cana; because it was stunning! But I would not go back to the Punta Cana Princess. We had a great time; mostly because we met such fantastic people but if you are looking for luxury and delicious exotic fruits; this is not the place to go!Happy Travelling Everyone!Martyna and AndrewToronto
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,04/20/2006,Very Nice My husband and I have been to Punta Cana three times (we have stayed at the RIU Palace and Sunscape the Beach); this time we decided to tried the Punta Cana Princess (4/1/06-4/8/06). We upgraded to a VIP status and definitely suggest everyone to do the same. First; as a VIP the Tropical Princess and the Caribe resorts were also yours to use (stay at one; play at three). We also received a free 20 min. massage (each); free internet use (1 hour each); reservations to any of the restaurants in any of the three resorts (which was taken care of for you by the hotel); your beach towels were placed in your room every night; 1 hour free scuba diving; and 1 hour motorized sport of your choosing; all this for upgrading to VIP status. The PCP was very nice; pool (and pool bar) beautiful and the beach always great. Never had any problem getting chairs or drinks. The food was outstanding; especially the Italian restaurants. We decided to take the Catamaran Trip. This was great. You start on the catamaran to a private island; have lunch; swim and then take speed boats to a place in the ocean (about 3/4 mile off shore) where you can stand in the water (waist high) and look for starfish. We can't say enough about Punta Cana and will be back again (to another resort) in November.
313884,springbreakKY,04/18/2006,Great resort; beautiful beach I read many reviews of the Punta Cana Princess before our trip so want to add mine for those considering going. We were a group of 10 adults and 9 children of mixed ages. A great time was had by all. We all booked the VIP package but only two of the five groups were given an ocean view room. The VIP package without a room with a view isn't worth it in my opinion. The massage; internet etc. you have to have a coupon and it is more trouble than it is worth. The rooms overall are spacious and well kept. Again; we were VIP but didn't get the nightly turn down service most nights. Food overall was really good. We tried and enjoyed all of the al a carte restaurants and especially liked the Italian and Tex-Mex. The buffet was also good some nights more so than others. Room service was an added plus even with a limited menu. Staff was AWESOME. Very friendly. Emillio in the lobby bar was the best and the animation staff kept all entertained. My husband won a contest and was crowned Mr. Punta Cana Princess so of course we had fun. The beach is the prettiest I've ever been to. I would return here over Cancun or the Mayan Riveria for the beach alone. Constant breeze and beautiful water. I hope to return same time next year. All in all a great value for the $$.
313884,BLEXV6,04/15/2006,A great place to enjoy a quiet holiday; or party @ sister hotels. We just returned from our trip from April 8 to 15th; 2006. We attended with 3 other couples; however we went down the second of 2 weeks; where the other 3 couples were down for 2 weeks. We all had a great time. Heres a synopsis.Rooms: We were a Super VIP which gave us an Ocean view room. What a great view of both the pool and ocean. We had a second level unit. The rooms were clean and surprisingly not musty smelling as I usually find and accept at these very humid counties. The A/C worked well; the rooms had a great bathroom; very clean; keeping in mind; this resort is only 2 years old. The mini- bar was stocked every day; with bottled water; Sprite; Coca-Cola; and a beer; which was disgusting. We simply asked the maid to put in Presidente in a bottle and it was done. That is a great beer; but is better bottled than on draught. We had VIP and as such they changed our towels twice a day with a nightly turn down service. It may not seem important but it was nice. The rooms were also big suites. Another good VIP feature is the beach towels are right in the room; and as such you don't need to get cards to redeem them at the towel room. You do however have to exchange your towels as needed at the towel room. At the end of your trip; you just leave the towels in the room and do not need return the cards to the front; as opposed to trading in your towels to the towel room; getting the cards and returning them upon your departure to the front desk.Beach: What can I say; excellent. The Bavaro beach is amongst the best I have ever seen. Also; no one is allowed on your beach except PCP guests. This is not seemingly an important thing; until you go over to the Princess Caribe and Princess Tropical; (sister hotels); and see how crowded their beaches are. We have security constantly turning non guests away from the beach and property as a whole. It keeps the PCP population quite low. Also; we can go to the 2 sister hotels; but they cannot come to the PCP.Pools: Only one large pool with a swim up bar. Very nice and clean. This is because of the relatively low population at this resort compared with the sister hotels.Grounds: One word; immaculate. All publice toilets are clean and new. The layout is small and you can walk from the beach to the front lobby in 5 minutes.Lobby: Small but quaint with a nice bar.Bonus: You can use all facilities at the sister hotels; and can take a tram at the PCP or just walk over; (5 minute walk along the beach; or 15 minutes if you don't take the tram from the front lobby of PCP. You will find the food selection better and sometimes tastier at the sister hotels; but the population at these hotels is significantly larger and is more crowded and it's a bit of a feeding frenzy as a result.Buffet: Basically good quality food for all meals; at the main buffet; especially the pasta bar; but you do get tired of it; which I find with most all-inclusives. Very good deserts.Ala-cartes: We went to the Tex-Mex and I had the filet mignon 2x; (we went twice); and it was delicious. We also went to the seafood; of which I am not a big fan and I had an excellent bonless chicken. The others had the seafood which was said to be good. Both are on the PCP grounds; and one couple also went to the Italian; which they loved. There are others; but we did not attend.Drinks: At the PCP; the base beer was Presidente. As stated earlier the bottled was better than the draught but both were good. For VIPs; they had bottled Budweiser; and Presidente. IMHO; the Presidente is a better beer. At the sister hotels; they had Miller High Life and Heineken in bottles; but not at PCP. I found this strange as the PCP is supposed to be a better class of hotel than the sister hotels.The rum was good; and there were very good rum drinks. I recommend you try a Tropical. Most bartenders can make it nicely; some can not do any better than pour beer; which is tough to screw up.For liquors. VIP gets you Drambuie; Frangelico; Grand Marnier; Kaluha.This was a good trip; and if you are looking for a very good resort; clean; this is it. I have also been at the Occidental Grand Flamenco; Princess Bavaro in the last year and would recommend them all. (all on the Bavaro beach.) I liked the quiet of the PCP the best.
313884,jollyjane,04/12/2006,you'll love it we just got back and thought that since I found the reviews to be so helpful that I should also write one. It has got to be the cleaness place I have ever been; considering once you get outside the resort ; this is like an oasis in a very poor country. The resort is quiet which we really liked and there were many families with small children which was great for them also. One thing that I had noticed that the beach is so hard that many of the families enjoyed walks on the beach with their strollers; yes it was so hard that strollers moved around very well. There was lots of food and you always found something to your liking to eat. Our favorite resturant was the Italian one right at the resort El Blanca.There were theme nights at the buffet every night so actually staying right at the resort was just so convinent . The Caribe was much larger and we only made it over there once during our 2 week stay and when we did there were alot of people smoking so we didn't stay for the whole show. The people work so hard there and are always singing or smiling.We really enjoyed tipping them as we knew that it is what they needed the most.If you are looking for a nice small resort that you almost walk out of your room on the beach then this is the one for you.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,04/12/2006,One week stay April 4-11/06 at the Punta Cana Princess Just back from a week's vacation at the PCP - relied on reviews before our travels. Overall; a nice holiday - the beach was beautiful - the resort was very clean - we upgraded to VIP and the room was lovely with vaulted ceiling and fan - beautiful view of both the ocean and the pool. Food not the greatest but managed to survive - a little difficult for the kids - they ate a lot of pasta! We were looking forward to the Tex-Mex Restaurant due to other reviews but must have been there on an off night - ordered the filet mignon which was more of a brisket that could not be cut. Enjoyed the Mexican Sombrero Restaurant; the Brazillian and La Cava. A good suggestion from other travellers was to bring face cloths - your own beach towel for comfort is also recommended. My husband on day six fell ill with food poisioning and our girls not well on our last evening - the flight home was a little rough for them as well. We would return for the beach and the glorious sun - the weather could not have been better - a constant breeze keeps you comfortable from day to night!
313884,SunbumVancouverBC,03/26/2006,Outstanding Value... Great Vacation View from room overlooking pool
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/23/2006,Well worth searching for My boyfriend and I stayed at the Punta Cana princess from March 4th-March 11th. We had the best time. We spent some time researching where to go; and this hotel had everything we wanted. We booked the VIP package; and that was the best idea. For an extra $60.00 pp we had our own personal concierge-Sandra; who took reservations for us at any time of the day and generally looked out for us and provided us with information. We had access to premium alcohol (although the presidente was fine); one hour each of free internet; one hour free of motorized sports (a boat tour for 1 hour)bathrobes; cigars;rum; a free dinner at La Cava;--- which was a beautiful gourmet restaurant. I have never seen such an ornate and classy place on an island before. The service was incredible. We had steak and lobster. The nightly turn-down service was great; because it was the second opportunity each day that our mini-bar was stocked. We left our housekeeper a dollar on the bed every morning; and a dollar in the fridge every morning; and that worked great.We ate at the buffet the first night. It was fine. Other than that; we booked every night at an a la carte restaurant. We ate at all the restaurants at the hotel (super) and at the Tropical; we tried the chinese (not that great) and the Brazilian restaurant which was fantastic! The only tour we took was the tropical snorkelling tour; which was a lot of fun. Snorkelling in 2 places (including a shark pen) and then basically a booze cruise after that. Shopping was expensive we found; even after we cut their prices in half. They were very insulted when I low-balled and were not that apt to negotiate lower (on the beach anyhow).The highlight of our night life was the tower casino. My boyfriend and I are card players; so we spent a few nights there. We won every night; and ended up leaving the island with more money in our pockets than what we came with! All in all; we had the best vacation ever. We planned a lot; and really took advantage of everything the hotel(s) had to offer. I would definetely recommend the VIP package to anyone. When we checked in; the first thing that I said was that I wanted a room in the 5000 block on the second floor; and because we had the VIP package; we were put exactly there. Our view was amazing--a combo of the pool and beach.Yes it was hard to get a chair in the morning. But all you had to do was go down early; put your towel on a chair and maybe a magazine and it was yours for the rest of the day. We walked on the beach quite far; and passed around 7-8 hotels and none of them looked as nice as the princess hotels.I would definetely recommend this hotel. I have been to Puerta plata 2 times; mayan riviera; cuba; bahamas.... and this was definetely the greatest experience.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/19/2006,Lovely but... Punta Cana Princess Lovely but..Having just returned from our 2 week holiday at the Punta Cana Princess; we experienced good food; lovely room; great service and a relaxing holiday. However....we had 2 laundry bags of smaller garments;ie: t shirts; shorts; 1 pair of pants; 1 sun dress and the rest small stuff=$72.00 US. We accidently broke the 2 cup carafe for the coffee machine in the room=$20.00 US. A few added expences that we felt were out of line. Overall; the vacation was great; with great hosts and hostessess and I must mention Little Joe on the Monster Truck Safari. He was very informative and we came away from that tour feeling satisfied with the knowledge we acquired from him about the country.Dale and DonnaBritish Columbia; Canada
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/15/2006,Great Place I had the best time of my life there. I met the friendliest people that work there. Nelson (bartender); Santa (bar; restaurant); Sonto Brito (young fellow); and the man we called Brown (beach entertainment). All these people made it a great place to be. I'll be back. The lobby staff were great too. The rooms were always a clean; warm place to go to. The food was great(I gained 8 lbs) and the Pres. beer was great too. Everything was great. The only complaint I have is some of the Foreighners I noticed think that your staff are their slaves. I respect the workers and ask them politely for things. I expect service; not slaves to be ordered around. I was offended by the way these people bud in line and think they are gods. Thank you for a great Vacation; Ron and Tracey Sheppard David and Sherri MateriBattleford; Saskatchewan WE ARE CANADIAN
313884,Janezita45,03/14/2006,Beautiful Hotel with such an unconsciencious guest services staff We checked into the PCP on 3/07/06; and the mayority of the staff was very nice and courteous. The rooms were spacious; gorgeous and super clean. The grounds of the hotel were very well maintained; I found the buffet food to be very good (except for the Italian restaurant Ill Baccio; that food has tragically tarnished my husbands perception on Italian cuisine eternally); the pool was very clean and the beach was needless to say incredible. The nightlife is non-existent on these grounds; to find good entertainment you must go to other resorts. I recommend club news on the Caribe Princess grounds. Now the reason why I rated this hotel with a 2 instead of a 5 is as follows. On the first day we arrived; we headed straight for the beach and were lured by the staff to participate in some motorized water sports. The beach is swamped with hotel security virtually in every area of the property and they advised us that there wouldn't be any dangers if we left our belongings under the beach chairs. I was traveling with my husband and my friend; we went parasailing; so like the majority of the other guests we listenened to the guards advice and we left our belongings under the chairs we were using near the security stall. Upon our return from our activities; all of our belongings had been ROBBED!! (Amond them was our bag; with our room keys; my husbands cell phone; our prescription glasses; cash; and disposable cameras) The worst part of all this; when we went to file a complain to guest services; they just told us that the hotel wasn't responsible for lost articles out of the safe in the guest rooms. So we just asked them to make a report just in case the bag turned up. We also asked them if we could make a phone call to my husbands cell phone to see if someone might have picked up the bag and taken it to a lost and found; but the resort wouldn't even let us do that (and we asked several times). Since our room keys were also in the bag; they made it ridiculously clear how they were making an exception for us that they were not charging us the $2.00 fee for lost keys considering the circumstances. We stayed in this resort for 3 days; and each day we went to guest services; there was a new person attending guests; and none of them would even have any knowledge of our case; also we asked to speak to the hotel manager on several occassions; and we were refused the opportunity.So Overall PCP was a beautiful resort; and I'm trying very hard not to give a biased opinion on this resort; because overall it was a great experience. The only staff that I found to be extremely unhelpfull were the guest services; but the reception; the buffet staff; the bartenders; and the housekeepers were all extremely nice and helpful. It's sad that this unfortunate event had to ruin the entire experience for us. But we learned our lesson; in the future if anyone decides to go to this resort; maintain your cash and valuables locked up in a safe so you don't have to deal with the troubles we had to endure.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/14/2006,Absolutely Fabulous our wedding at the PCP April 26; 2005
313884,familytraveling,03/13/2006,Amazing holiday...proud to be canadian We stayed at the PCP from feb. 24th to march 3rd and had an amazing vacation. This was our 2nd time to Punta Cana; last year we went to the Bahia Principe. Both properties are super however; we preferred the PCP as we was much smaller and in return thought it was a better atmosphere for us. The food is about comparable at both resorts. We never went hungry; actually we ate too much. The breakfast buffet was really good and if you wanted you could always get fresh omelletts; cr锚pes ect.. made. For lunch; we always went to the beach grill. For the people who said there wasn't enough variety what else do you want for lunch??? Other than hamburgers; hot dogs; pizza; pasta; salads; ice cream and deserts!!! The pizza is always fresh and very yummy. For dinner we went to the Seafood; Tex-Mex (twice); Italian; Mexican (Caribe side) and the buffet (twice). We never had any problems making our reservations and we found the food very good at all restaurants. They also have a selection of different items on all of their menus and the service was outstanding except at the Mexican on the Caribe Side. We found the service very slow and also the property to be dirty and not well kept as at the PCP. After seeing the Caribe side we were really happy to be at the PCP. The Caribe seemed much busier and we found the layout of the property to be very space out.The rooms were great; spacious; impecably cleaned. We were in the 4000 building on the 3rd floor which gave us a spectacular view of the ocean and the pool without the VIP packages.The pool and the ocean were both spectacular.The service all around at this resort was extremely good. We never had to wait for anything wether it was drinks; food or at Guest Services. The Dominican people are very friendly and just paid so much special attention to our child. There were a lot of Canadians; a few Americans and quite a few Europeans. In general; the people were very friendly and nice however we did encounter some unpleasant situations with others (non canadians). I am pround to say that I am Canadian and I have much more respect for the Dominican people and vacationers.Advice regarding taxi cabs: One day we took a cab to go shopping at the Bavaro Plaza. Guest services organizes the cab and they told us that it 12$ US return and that we pay the cab upon return. We went and had no problems. At the end of the week; my husband returned by himself to go to the jewellers to pick up a necklace I had seen. Same procedure; same price told by Guest services; however when he got back the cab driver wanted 40$US!!! My husband refused to pay it so the driver locked the doors and would not let him out. The security guard heard the commotion and approached the car. After a bit of arguing in between the driver and the security guard; he let my husband out.We had a super holiday; lots or rest and relaxationa and fun in the sun....We would definetely go back.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/12/2006,Fantastic Holiday Stayed at the Princess Punta Cana for one week in January 2006. My wife and I very much enjoyed our stay there. The resort is small and quiet; which is exatcly what we where looking for. The staff exceeded our expectations; they were friendly and always willing to help. At the buffett you can always find something you like to eat; and the al la carte restaraunts where fantastic. I would highly reccomend taking in all the al la carte restaraunts; none of them are bad. Our first few days; there was quite a bite of wind; but that died down after a while. The beaches are some of the best in the world; and the pool and deck are excellant. Lots of sun and lots of booze. This is an excellant resort with all the amenities; I would go back again and would reccomend this to anyone looking for a nice relaxing vacation.
313884,tmarzoff,03/11/2006,Amazing Hotel!! the beach
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/08/2006,Had an awesome time at Punta Cana Princess ! Just got back and had to share the great times we had at the Punta Cana Princess. There were 4 of us staying at PCP from Feb. 24 - March 3. We all agree that this was a perfect vacation place. The service we received was excellent from all employees from the friendly reception and waiters and bar tenders..all great and ready to please. The beautiful clean spacious rooms were always touched up with fresh flowers; always a nice daily presentation to come back to after a long fun day in the sun. The food was great; no complaints there. Definately something for everyone; not to mention the great variety of fresh tropical fruits daily. The breakfast especially was nice with fresh croissants; crepes; pancakes great ommlettes you could order to be made to your liking with fresh juices of all kinds made there fresh while you wait. Although yes this is the smaller resort of the other 3 princess resorts; it is still large enough to have a variety of ala cart rest. and of course you could still enjoy the other sister resorts next door as well if you wanted. The Animation Staff at PCP were Fantastic. They would have some activities going on all the time mainly at the beach; at times at the pool. There would be nightly entertainment at the lobby bar usually at 9:45pm. Dance Contests; Karioke...all great fun!The beach of course ....Paridise! Always sunny hot; the water warm and enviting.All all. a great vacation for anyone..Would go back for sure...
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/06/2006,beautiful beach; friendly and helpful staff I found the staff to be friendly and helpful and always ready to please. Only one unfortunate incident happened. I think this is because I was travelling alone. But resort security was quick to help and try to make me feel at ease. But I still felt I had to look over my shoulder for the rest of my holiday. The food was ok. Lots of variety at the buffet but not too exciting taste wise. No way would a person ever go hungry there. Most of all I enjoyed the beautiful beach and people watching. The beach bar was the most pleasant place to sit and visit and have a bite to eat and a drink. I hope that they put some kind of a finish on the tiles in the buildings as they are very slippery when your feet are wet. My friend slipped on the stairs and hurt her leg quite badly. However; the housekeeping staff were quick to her aid.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/03/2006,Amazing...Amazing The Punta Cana Princess was an amazing experience!!!! We stayed( my best friend and I) from Feb 7th -Feb 14th. The moment we arrived at the resort; the exceptional service and WOW factor became overwhelming; our room was immaculately clean; with a great view; the ocean the pool. The food was awesome. Especially the TexMex restaurant( fillet mignon was out of this world) The buffet during dinner was awesome every night; somthing for everyone. They did a Mexican themed buffet one night; and as we enetered we were handed a margaita; and the buffet was incredible; we both highly recommed you go! We actually were reading some of the other review sbefore we left; and people were saying that the food was terrible and there was nothing to do; well I think those people must have had unrealistic expectations; and hid in their rooms. Everyday; all day the Animation staff got all tourists young and old involved in beach aerobics; spanish lessons on the beach; dancing lessons; and every night there was something going on in the lobby for the kids; then for the adults till 11:30pm. It was awesome... we had a blast!!!! The staff and Animation crew really made our vacation amazing; so friendly and eager to please! We both also took the VIP package; and the Spa was incredible too; the massage made us both melt like butter; the rum and cigars were great; and everynight when we returned to our room; we had fresh beach towels on our beds with cute flowers all over the place.Nice touch!!We did 2 day trips; the glass bottom boat with snorkling- was amazing.. you pay cash 38$us; for 4 hours; and you travel down the coast line and snorkel in 2 different spots; it was awesome. Great value for your buck! Also we did the Bavaro Runners $80usa it is the entire day 8-5pm; and if I could recommend any one thing to do while visiting; it would be to take this trip; you start out at a sugar cane field; and they offer samples of the sugar cane and sugar cane RUM!!! Then you go to a cigar making factory; then to the Maria house; and get to sample the freshest fruits I have ever had; and Mamawana; also pure coffee and cocoa right from the bean...beats starbucks any day!! Then they take you all throughout the country side; in the mountains and then to the edge of the island to go hourseback riding; swimming; boogie boarding and to taste a true Dominican lunch; and by the way the FOOD WAS AWESOME!!!Honestly this trip was amazing; as we were leaving we both reflected back and we could not find one thing that we would change- other than our reservation; cause we should have booked for 2 weeks- not one!!!Please note that when we were there we did notice that all the Canadiana Europians were having a blast; no complaints at all; it was and it is sad to say; but it was only the American tourists that had issue; and they treated the staff very poorly.
313884,TRYHUK,03/02/2006,A solid 4 star property Our evening vista from the 3rd floor balcony
313884,threefriends,02/26/2006,Great location and outstanding staff We just returned from a family vacation; our two sons; their wives and 4 year old granddaughter. The one week stay was wonderful. Over the past couple of months we have been reading the various reviews posted by other travelers and have nothing but positive things to say about the resort.We didn't meet a single member of the staff that wasn't genuinely friendly. The entire staff from the front desk; the room cleaners; the restaurant help; the bar tenders to the ground personnel couldn't do enough for you. A couple of the previous reviews talked about having to tip the help for service - not true. Of course we tipped them at various times but they were friendly and helpful even when no tip was offered. An example; two men were trimming the coconut trees one morning and one of the workers stopped my granddaughter and me and in Spanish and sign language asked if we would like to try a fresh coconut. He yelled up to his friend and told him to drop a coconut. He then used his machette to open up the fruit for us to drink from - he enjoyed watching our 4 year old as much as I did. Everyday the workers made this kind of nice gesture.Another review talked about not being able to get served at the bar unless you spoke Spanish. I don't know what their problem was but we never had to wait and I unfortunately don't speak Spanish. The workers all knew more English than I knew Spanish and we both had no trouble communicating. We actually had fun combining English and Spanish and ending up with everything we asked for and needed.The food - well if you want true 4 or 5 star dining go on a different type of vacation. The food at the all inclusive was fine. Each morning I ordered a freshly prepared omelet; also available were a variety of fresh juices; bacon and sausage; pancakes; french toast; cheeses; etc. We ate dinner at the buffet plus all three restaurants. The dinners were fine - had lobster twice [no additional charge]; plenty of shrimp; fish; steaks and they always had fresh pasta with a variety of sauces for those not wanting to try to clams; mussels or other local foods. Gourmet food - no; however; the quality was fine.Other reviews said to ask for rooms in buildings 4000 or 5000. We were in building 2000 and our room was very nice. The distance to the pool and beach from buildings 4000 or 5000 is 2 minutes; the distance from building 2000 is 4 minutes. No big deal and that's with a 4 year old walking. We had a ground level suite and used the room safe for passports valuables; otherwise; we left our room's sliding glass door open the entire time and never had a problem. I didn't hear of anyone having a problem with thieves during our stay.The pool and beach area are beautiful. Miles and miles of white sand and crystal clear water. No problem getting a palapa or chairs if you arrive by 10 a.m. After that hour chairs were always available but you had to look. Also; no problem getting to use the sailboats or other water craft. We have stayed at other resorts in several Mexican locations but this was our first visit to the Dominican Republic. We will definitely go back in the future.The Punta Cana Princess is a wonderful place for families. Plenty of activities for kids and a very restful place for adults. I just realized it but all last week with all the young kids at the resort I never heard any adult raising their voice or any child crying - that's pretty remarkable.The only downside to the trip was the air transportation on Sunquest/Skyservice. We were supposed to leave at 6:00 a.m. and arrive in Punta Cana by 11:30 a.m. Due to a number of bureacratic foul-ups; not weather related; we didn't arrive at our hotel until 11:00 p.m. and our luggage on a direct flight got lost and didn't arrive until the next day. Not the fault of the Punta Cana Princess. The response from Sunquest/Skyservice was a $70 voucher after losing an entire day of vacation - not very good public relations. On the return flight they damaged my luggage and their response was that I should contact their Customer Relations Office. Customer Relations Office - quite the oxymorom.Other than the transportation with Sunquest/Skyservice I would highly recommend the Punta Cana Princess.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/26/2006,Beware of credit card fraud My In-laws and I stayed at PCP from Feb 11-18; 2006. We have been to Cuba 3 times; and DR once before. Shopping:Both the PCP and the sister resort Caribe Club/Tropical Princess have on site shops. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law both used their credit cards at the shops (only once and only at the on resort shops) and had their cards copied. We are quite sure we didn't spend $1000 each in Santo Domingo on Feb 20th. So BEWARE; there are lots of crooks; even on the resorts.Flight:As usual Skyservice left much to be desired; we had the most uncomfortable seats imaginable. We got to Punta Cana and had to wait 1/2 hour extra for a bus since the one that was going to take us broke down. The flight back was delayed 12 hours; suprise. Regardless; thats par for the course with the charter airlines. We will not be flying charter again; the extra few hundred is worth it for my back.Hotel:The PCP is a beautiful hotel with immaculate rooms (only 2 years old). Check in was simple; we were on the 3rd floor in the 4000 block; an amazing room and view of the beach. I would recommend the 4000 or 5000 block like previous reviews have mentioned; be sure you get 2nd or 3rd floor. Each room has a bar fridge that gets restocked with coke; sprite; water and beer daily. Watch the water bottles; some of ours were refilled. The water at the bars is bottled and not refilled so we got all ours there. The grounds are also amazing and are constantly being upkept by very entertaining grounds staff.Restaurants:We went to the Rio Grande (Tex-Mex steakhouse) and the Italian restaurant on the PCP grounds and had great meals. We were very disappointed with all of the meals at the Caribe Club/Tropical Princess restaurants (Chinese; Italian and Brazilian); the service was exceptionally slow (even by Dominican standards)and the food was not very good; with a few cases of GI upset afterwards. The buffet at Caribe Club/Tropical has more variety than the PCP and we usually ate lunch there. The lunchtime beachside buffet at PCP was good; Santa the waitress was very attentive and entertaining.Bars:No wait service to the beach chairs as advertised; instead they have a small tent bar set up amongst the beach umbrellas. Drinks were fine; I didn't see any that I couldn't get without the VIP upgrade at PCP. Rum and Beer taste the same after the first 2 anyway.Beach:Probably the nicest beach I've been on. Take insulated mugs as the sand gets hot and so do your drinks. Chairs are easy to come by but if you want an umbrella on the edge of the beach you have to get down before 0800. There is absolutely no snorkelling to be had for free at this beach; $20 will get you a boat ride to a reef but there is none off the beach.Entertainment:The usual caribbean shows; tennis was only available from 9-5; archery only at 1130 for some reason. Not really much to do besides lay on the beach or by the pool.Excursions:We went on a bunch of excursions in Puerto Plata so we didn't bother here; we heard the Bavaro Runners was fun; but for $80 it would have to be quite the trip. The Tour reps really push the excursions so be prepared.Overall:A great resort for relaxing; food was fine on PCP; avoid the other resort's restaurants. Echoing the other reviews; not a very fast paced resort; but seemed great for families.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/25/2006,Beautiful grounds and beach! Snack Bar
313884,psspss,02/21/2006,I want to go back !!! PCP
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/16/2006,Beautiful; Smaller resort; Excellent Vacation We stayed at the PCP from Jan 28- Feb 3 2006. There were 10 of us with different opinions and different views on what a holdiay should be and I think that the PCP suited every just about perfectly.I have travelled throughout the caribbean extensively and stayed at many different resorts from 2-5+ stars. I have paid top price and have did the sell off thing as well. I think no matter what you paid for the Princess you will be satified. We are not fussy people and as long as there is good food to eat - not necessarly gourmet and as long as the rooms are clean; drinks are cold; sun is hot and the company we are with is good why wouldnt you have a great time.We flew Skyservice from Toronto and of coarse the seating is very cosy how ever the flight was direct and quick. Check in took a few minutes but someone was there to give us a drink and music was playing in the lobby to get us in the DR spirit.Our rooms we beautiful spacious suites; new- clean- large bathrooms with double sinks. We left the maid 2.00us and a gift from the dollar store and a note if we wanted our fridge stocked full of beer and this was alway done with no problem. We were on the top floor and had really nice high vaulted ceilings. The food was good; I never went hungry and there was lots of variety for everybody. You also had full exchange privileges at the Caribe and Tropical so there was plenty of selections. We ate the Tex Mex restaurant 2x which was excellent; the Italian- very good; the Seafood restaurant at the beach- very good and the La Cava( which is part of the VIP) which was my least favorite but still good. The food presentation there is top notch but very rich in flavour. I order lobster and they presented me with 2 huge lobster tails. My tummy was a bit off after but I sure it was because the sauces were so rich.You have to remember you are not in North America so be adventurous and try new things and new culture- If I wanted french fries everyday I would stay home and go to Mcdonalds.The hotel is small enough that you are in the lobby; to the restaurants; to your room or at the beach all in about 5 minutes. You can take a shuttle to the other two resorts but the walk does you good and its only about 10 mins max. The disco and the theatre are at the other resorts but the way the resorts are intertwined its no big deal. The disco allows locals in and it can be a bit intimidating. We walked the beach to the other reosrts alot too. There was a bit more activity by the pool and the resorts looked busy if thats what you are into. At the PCP we never had a problem getting a chair or shelter by the pool or beach at anytime. It was quieter but they still did do activities by the beach. We also purchased the VIP package once we were there- it was good for some of us; other it really made no big differece- keep in mind the premium alcohols are served only at certain bars. The massages were good and the only motorized watersports are the banana boats.I will return the PCP as it was relaxing; comfortable and quaint. This time we will be taking our daughter back with us. The pool gradually waded in which is good for children as well as their own little play area.Keep in mind when going to another country (in this case a 3rd world country) things are different and they try to make things as close to what we expect here in North America. Dont go to the DR with high expectation and you holdiay will be better that you expected. If your expectations are high go the the BVI ( british virgin islands) Rememer having too much sun; too many drinks and different foods in the oils they cook in you system can make you sick faster than anything- you need to ease your way into your holiday and take your pepto bismal everyday as a precaution. Those who have written a negative review on this resort are uneducated about their all inclusive holiday. You have champagne tastes on a beer budget and will never be satisfied.The PCP is a perfect smaller resort for those looking to relax; kick back and watch to world go by. It doesnt hurt that the beaches are beautiful here too!!!(watch out for the topless women- they are everywhere!!! )
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/13/2006,great relaxing holiday My husband and i just got back from pcp and had a wonderful time. I did a lot of research before we left and there were mixed reviews aboout this hotel; but we had a blast. It is the smaller of the 3 but if you want a relaxing and fun holiday without the lineups and chaos..this is the one for you.The beach and water were wonderful and never a problem finding space or chair on the beach. The food was ok..but there was something for everyone. The staff were very friendly and most did speak english. The animation staff made sure everyone had fun on the beach and pool; but this resort has no night life. You must go tot he Caribe for the disco; but we liked not having a loud resort. I would definetly reccomend this resort and we are planning on going back. Oh ya; the rooms are great..all are suites and the 4000 and 5000 blocks are the best and either view of ocean or pool. If you like 5 star all the way; gourmet food and fast service..this is not the resort for you...if you are looking for fun; relaxation and friendly staff working on dominican time with fantastic water/beach..there try this resort..we were NOT disappointed
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/07/2006,Great Triop The Punta Cana Princess is a wonderfull place to stay. We did our research on the price we were able to pay and the princess seemed liked the best deal. I find it very interesting reading peoples reports especially when you are there at the same time and experience a totally different vacation. My husband and I were at the pcp for 2 weeks and were taken care of like I have never experienced. The service from your room; bars; buffet; restaurants; guest services and the front desk was amazing. I think people with negative reviews have unreasonable expectations and would have problems anywhere they went. The food; you can always find something to eat; yes the temperature is luke warm but the breeze is always blowing. We would have eggs and toast and they were hot cause they are made for you; to your liking if you like them cooked more just let the chef know. The restaurants are great we tried almost everyone except the brazillian. Your lucky to be able to have the luxury of eating at all the princess resorts on the property the other resorts are a 5 min walk max. There is a golf cart to take you if you don't feel like walking. We did not want for anything on this holiday. We were always full and Nelson took care of us everyday. Tipping; the average wage down in the DR is horrible so why not tip; these people are cleaning your room and doing your dishes and serving your food; its the least you could do. I thank all the staff at this resort for a wonderful vacation.
313884,IvanaTravel,02/05/2006,Big group - loads of fun! Just returned from a week long (too short) vacation at the Punta Cana Princess. I had a marvelous time. I travelled with a group to attend a wedding and found absolutely nothing to complain about. (The wedding was a magical; fairy tale event and the resort staff were attentive and accommodating. Their attention to detail made the whole ceremony and reception beautiful.) There was enough variety of food and restaurants that we never went hungry or had to endure something we didn't like. The suites were clean and bright. The resort was relatively quiet; but if you wanted the night life; the sister resort next door provided discos; theatre; shows; casino; etc. Be prepared to haggle with the vendors at the straw market. Don't be afraid to walk away if you don't get the price you want. Ask lots of questions; about the spa; about the water sports and other activities; and about the restaurants at the Punta Cana Princess and the neighbouring resorts. If you are fully informed; you'll be able to pick what you want to do and you won't miss out on the fun. When we chatted on the plane home; everyone from our group of 30+ said they had a blast and a lot of us want to go back again!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/05/2006,Really Great and Beautiful Resort! statues on the resort
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/01/2006,Overall would not recommend this hotel if you are young or American My boyfriend and I stayed at the PCP from 1/26-1/30. When we got to the hotel; we asked to upgrade to VIP. The person at the front dest hardly spoke English. We had to beg for our VIP items (cigars; rum; robes; free massage; dinner; internet; and motorized watersports) and did not recieve the vouchers until the 3rd day we were there (with attitude may I add). Also when we got to our room; it was a regular 2- double bed room (not VIP) we ased to be changed and they told us they were overbooked but will change it the next day. We were changed around 1pm the next day to a VIP room; however; it was more unkept and appeared dirtier than the other. Also; we were staying on the ground floor and the sliding door was broken. I immediately checked these doors because I read a review where 14 people were robbed because their sliding door was broken. When I called to get our room changed again; they said they would send someone to fix the door. Nevertheless; we went back to our original room because it was 3pm by this time and we wasted a day just to get situated. The waiters/ waitressess/ bartenders/ maids were very nice but the front desk was very unhelpful; especially if you had a problem. The food was terrible and i was sick the first 3 days we were there. Also; they charge $15 dollars for immodium; so I suggest bringing your own. If you need to take out money and want to change it to american dollars (because the mac machines give you peso's) the fron desk wont do it for you and will tell you you have to either go into town or the airport to change it... NOT TRUE! Go to the casino... they will change it for you. Also; they jipped us on the motorized water sports and said that it was too windy to do anything. If you are going away to just relax; this place is nice for that. I do have to say that it had beautiful beaches and the pool was very clean. However; don't bother upgrading to VIP because we didnt even get to use all of our vouchers. And be prepared to pay for EVERYTHING. Also; the people expect to get tipped for everything so bring plenty of one's. Overall; this place is good for families. The resort turns into a total ghosttown at night. There is NOTHING to do. I was very open to alot because I read the reviews and didn't want it to spoil our vacation; but everyone was right... there is no entertainment; the food is TERRIBLE; the front desk does not help with any problems; and if you complain; they ignore you even more and get an attitude. Everything is spread out so bring walking shoes... And I have to let you know our fiasco about the VIP... like I said before about the front desk - When my b/f lost his VIP bracelet and went to get a new one; the woman at the counter told him that it would cost him to replace the new bracelet; plus he had to pay for the VIP. Now; when we did not get the room; the man at the front dest told us that the VIP was free of charge because of out problems with the rooms and not receiving the vouchers. She argued with us for 20 minutes; saying that No one gets anything free here When we asked to downgrade; she said that we could; but she will charge us $60 for the resturaunt that we ate at; and will find out every bar we went to and what we had to drink and will charge us for that too. After she threatened us; I was appauled. I was never threatened before at any resort; no matter what problem I had. This is completely unnacceptable behavior; and I want to let you all know what type of service to expect. Any more questions/ comments; you are more than welcome to e-mail me. I would never go back to this resort; and I suggest to you to not even bother wasting your time here. If you already booked your trip; just try and make the most of it. Hopefully you wont have the same experience we had.
313884,noel,01/31/2006,Great Vacation At The Punta Cana Princess Be prepared this is a long review. We just returned yesterday; Jan. 30th; from our vacation at the Punta Cana Princess. There were six family members; all adults over 50; and we all enjoyed it very much. We tried to get rooms together but no luck. If you're going there try to get in Building 5. My husband and I stayed there and it was amazing. The view of the ocean and pool were spectacular. My sister and husband stayed in Building 1 and it had a nice view but nothing like ours. My brother and wife stayed in Building 2 and they had no view to speak of. Building 3 is the worst. You'll have a view of the buffet unless you're on the 3rd floor. Our room was 5211 and if you could get in 5213 that was an even better choice. The rooms were spacious and clean. Be sure and bring face cloths because there were none to be seen. I had already read about this problem and just picked up some cheap one and left them there. A few other great items I brought were from the dollar store; plastic clothes pegs that wrap around the shower rod or patio chairs. Things don't dry very well but if you hang them up it's a little better. Dryer sheets to put in the drawers and closet to keep your clothes smelling fresh. Of course zip lock bags for everything. Lots of gifts for the staff. We made friends with the two beach bartenders; Arturo and Martines and found out they had a son and daughter and I gave them appropriate gifts for their kids. They were extremely grateful and asked me to write my room number and name on a napkin so they could take them home. They thanked us every day for the gifts and they were both going home when we were there and loved taking their presents with them. Of course we tipped with U.S. dollars too but sometimes it's nice for them to be able to bring gifts home to their kids.FOOD - I had read a lot about cold food at the buffet and sometimes this was true but we always had lots to eat. There is a great grilling station and pasta station where the food is make hot and fresh. We ate at the Tex Mex - very good; the Italian - also good but we got too much food; Chinese - very good and Seafood beach restaurant - our least favourite although I ordered the crab stuffed beef and loved it. You'll always find something you like in the buffets. The absolute worst food was in the 24 hour beach bar restaurant. If you happened to catch it when it first came out of the kitchen it was okay but most of the time it was cold and tasteless. We tried a few times but never hit it at the right time.BARS - Lobby bar; pool bar; 24 hour beach bar on a deck; and second daytime beach bar right on the sand. Lots of choice of drinks and they were more than willing to make up any kind of mixture you wanted. I experimented every day to try something new. Definitely bring a insulated mug. I found a nice one that held about 2 regular drinks and they didn't mind rinsing it out for me each time.POOL - The water was definitely cold. On a very hot day it was okay but if it was overcast the pool was pretty empty. If you want a pool palapya or ocean palapya you have to put your book or towel or something on them by 8:30 or 9:00. The ones in the best locations fill up fast although we could always find something.OCEAN - Beautiful with nice waves. The ocean seemed warmer than the pool and although there is a strong current it's roped off where it's safe to swim and we enjoyed it every day.WEATHER - The weather could change in a minute. It's sunny and hot and then it clouds over and a short shower or strong winds and then minutes later sunny and hot again. It cooled down quite a bit at night; more from the wind than anything else. A light sweater was welcomed for a couple of the nights.TROPICAL CARIBE - We played mini golf and had a couple of drinks there. Nice resorts but more crowded then ours. Went over a couple of times for the nightly shows but they weren't that great. I think we've seen them other times on vacation and it was just the same old thing.Finally to sum up it was a great place to stay. Small enough to get from room to lobby or ocean or pool in minutes. You'll enjoy the friendliness of the staff and a little Spanish goes a long way. They also have Spanish lessons and it's a good thing to take advange of. Keep an open mind and you'll enjoy every minute of your holiday
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/31/2006,After two other hotels We found the princess Screw up at two other hotels by the tour company we ended up at the Punta Cana Princess. Thank goodness for the screw up to come upon such a gem. Clean; quite and access to the other princess restaurants.They understood our problems of hotels and put us up in the honeymoon suites.They could not have been more hospitable. Staff were friendly; never looking for tips. Security on the beach from sale hawkers. Hotel was always cleaning and pruning. Even a little rain didn't dicourage us( umbrellas in all rooms). Between the buffet; restaurants choices; quite surrounding; it could not have been better! Long Island; NY
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/30/2006,A great time had by all 12 of us have just returned from a wonderful week at the Punta Cana Princess All Suites. If you want a relaxing holiday in a clean and friendly hotel this is it. Yes it is quiet; however you can have all the entertainment you want by strolling or taking a trolly next door to the Punta Cana Princess Tropical/Caribe of an evening; there is entertainment a disco and transportation to the the casino if you want. We were there to celebrate a 50th birthday. Let me tell you these people went out of there way to make it a special day for our friend; more flowers in her room with a happy birthday greeting in spanish; champagne in her room; happy birthday sung not once but at all three resturants and bars we went to that day complete with a champagne toast made by a staff member. The food was fine; not gourment but fine. None of us starved or got ill. The beach was fantastic; the rooms were spotless and spacious the pool was wonderful and the staff tried their best. For the most part they speak 3 to 4 languages spanish; english; french and german in some cases. The animation staff were a hoot and kept things hopping. Drink service was slow; however you are on vacation and food and drink is available 24 hours a day......what is your hurry!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/29/2006,It was good! Hey there fellow travellers! I was pretty skeptical about traveling to the DR because of all the negative reports of the staff. We've been spoiled in the Mayan Riveriea at the Barcelo Maya; but I have to say that at the Punta Cana Princess; service was great! People dont' expect to get tips and greatful when they do. But I do agree; the food at the Buffets were not that great. I'm not particularily picky. I just want a great beach and a clean room. The PCP met those requirements; but the buffets were just OK. The omlette and pasta stands were fine. We are one of those couples who try a variety of foods; so there was no shortage of items. We tried all the traditional Dominican food; so therefore; there was a variety of things to try. I can see if you are a picky eater that food would be an issue. (if you only like meat and potatoes; why would you try okra?) If so; reserve a spot at every a la carte restaurant; every night. (we went to the steak tex mex restaurant twice!)I do have to agree with most; that the beach restaurant Casa something was pretty bad. Everything was cold and old. (Of course; at 2am and drunk; you dont' really care too much)It is a relatively quiet resort. We met a few young Canadians (in there twenties) and they were bored to tears. However; we are in our thirties; we love to party at the bars; but felt like slowing down this holiday. We had the option of going to the other resorts but just chilled at the PCP. (Of the 10 minutes we witnessed of the show at the other resort; we concluded that it was pretty lame. Needless to say we drowned our sorrows in booze.)I love that you don't have to reserve lounge chairs; beg for service; nor bribe for dinner reservations. All in all; a good stress free vacation! And the staff are pretty awesome; considering we were one of those couples that didn't particpate in ANY of the activities. JUST CHILLED!Hope this Helped;ZOE
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/25/2006,Our holiday was amazing; we just got back on the 20th I had to write in and compliment the staff at the Punta Cana Princess. They were all very friendly; helpful and always smiling. The buffet's weren't spectacular; but breakfast has the option of omlettes made to order and there is also chef's making Crepes which were extremely good. The grounds; rooms; restaurants bathrooms were extremely clean. As for the beach grill in the restaurant down near the ocean; all of the meats displayed were kept in stainless steel bins in a bin of ice. Not only were they chilled; but they had an executives/management group come in on a few occasions with thermometers taking the temperature of the buffet items. If fruits or veggies eneded ice added under the dishes; it was done immediately. The Restaurants were excellent - hot food and good service. The Tex-mex was our least favourite (we traveled with a group of 6); the Italian was excellent and we ate there twice (Chicken Pork entrees were great)and the Chinese restaurant at the bavaro was definately our favourite. The walk (even though there is a shuttle every 20minutes) takes approximately 5-6 minutes if your taking your time and the scenery between the resorts is rather impressive (we preferred to walk).Not only would we recommend the resorts to friends; but we look forward to visiting it again.I think if you are a person that is expecting to eat lobster; lamb and be served crab cakes on silver platters; than yes; you may be disappointed with the selection. We made it through the week just fine; enjoying the buffet for breakfast; the beach bar snacks (chicken fingers; mini pasteries; fruit; cookies; etc.) for lunch and the restaruants for dinner. Don't put too much thought into the negative reviews; if you and your family are planning a holiday here - I'm sure you'll have a great time. All of the guests that we met on our vacation were just as pleased as we were!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/17/2006,Good time at Punta Cana Princess After writing a rather scathing report 2 years ago about a Puerto Plata 3 1/2 star hotel I am pleased to be able to say positives about my Punta Cana Princess experience.My wife; two kids (boy of 8 and girl of 4) and I spent 2 wonderful weeks at the Punta Cana Princess from Dec 24/2005 until Jan 7/2006. Highlights? The beach was very clean with nice white sand. Rooms - we moved once to get closer to the beach and swimming pool - very clean and well kept. Housekeeping staff was first rate; albeit a little slow responding to out of ordinary requests.By far the best group of folks were the animation staff. They work well as a group. Night and day they tirelessly prodded and cajoled us to participate in tons of activities including beach volleyball; waterpolo; darts; archery; dance lessons and aerobics by the pool. Not to be overlooked were the 2 fabulous mini-club directors who took exemplary care of our 4 year old daughter introducing her to new dances and encouraging her to improve her Spanish. They were gentle and co-operative and deserve accolades.Improvements should be made to the water system. It broke down two or three times during the 2 weeks; but was promptly returned to service so the inconvenience was minor to us. More night life on the property might make the 20-somethings happy; but us parents were pleased to be able to fall asleep at night without the thumping bass we experience at other resorts.Finally; the food at the speciality restaurants were almost laughable. Our preference was for the main restaurant since the pretention was ratchetted down and the meal selection was far greater; especially on New Year's eve. We got most of what we came for from the Princess and wholeheartedly recommend others taking a path to their doors. We wish them every success in the future.
313884,pankel,01/16/2006,Punta Cana Princess = Punta Cana Garbage Just returned from this resort...if you are thinking about traveling there; think again; DO NOT WAIST YOUR TIME AND MONEY AT THIS RESORT...I will admitt that the beaches in Punta Cana are beautiful; and the rooms in this resort are quite spacious and nice. In addition; the resort does seem to be fairly clean; and maintained...now on to the negatives..1) Food = ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING...now i know for a fact that this is not only my opinion; but also the opinion of just about everyone else that we talked to. These people screw up the easiest of items; rice is undercooked and crunchy at times; french fries and pizza is often cold; alot of the meat has some greasy mysterious sauce that looks awful. In the morning the eggs taste horrible; and depending on the day they are barely cooked. If you want to get a decent meal you must walk 10 minutes to the other princess resort next door to get anything half decent. In addition; I was scared to eat many of the meats because of the poor food handling at this resort. The guys by the grill have huge tubs filled with chicken and meat; yet they don't keep it cold with ice or cooler packs. Who knows how long that food has been left out; and exposed to the warm humid air.I will say that the El Rancho steak house is decent on the resort; don't waist your time at the italian ala carte it is complete garbage. Again; if you want decent meals for dinner you must walk to the other resorts...pay the 30 bucks and get the lobster dinner at La Pasquedor Restaurant (sp); and try the Mamma Mia restaurant it is good too.2) Nightlife...this resort turns into a virtual ghost town after 11 pm. I don't know how anyone could find these clowns in the lobby entertaining. If you want nightlife; again you must walk to the other resorts or go into town to a nightclub.3) Drinks...if you are a serious drinker; and will be boozing heavily than pay the money for the vip deal and get the international liquor. I was very disappointed with the dominican rum; and the El Presidente well get very old very fast.Finally; I cannot express in words how bad the food is in this place...if you are prepared to eat 1 or 2 meals a day; and go on a heavy bread and butter diet; than good luck; have fun! This resort caters to older couples; if you are young and looking for an exciting upbeat resort than THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU!!!! I paid over 1200 for this resort and that is too much. I wouldn't even classify it as a 4.5* that is an absolute joke; this place is more like a 3.5*...if people have never been to a real 5* all inclusive they may actually think this place is great; but those who have really seen a resort know that the Punta Cana Princess is pitiful.spend your money elsewhere this resort is garbage-bob
313884,cathydee,01/13/2006,Good Holiday; but ............. After spending Christmas and Newyear (2 weeks) at the PCP I have to say that we had a great time; the staff were friendly the weather wonderful and great company (traveled from Canada with my Husband and two teenage kids; to meet my sister and her family from the UK) The kids had the best holiday ever and met with lots of other kids and played volleyball all day everyday! So we were really happy. I have travelled a lot and didnt really have high expectations since I realise that I could spend at least another $6;000 for true 4 or 5 star hotel/resort; especially at this time of year. So we were prepared that not all will be upto a standard that we are used to and that was fine; we were prepared mentally. All we really wanted was to get away at that time of year and to relax in the sun and meet with our family. After visiting DR before (stayed at the Flamingo) also Mexico and Cuba Tunisia; and Turkey (all places are similar in the standards of hotel ) I think I have a lot of experience in knowing how to stay well with regard to the water and what NOT to eat. My family of four were all well and I think it may have something to do with my rules..... NO fruit or salad (usually it gets washed in the tap water) Never eat anything that has been left out at the Buffet; we always eat FRESHLY cooked food and if non available I would grab the chef and insist on it in a friendly way that is. The reason I'm telling you this is that my brother -in- law didnt stick to these rules and was very very ill just two days before the end of his holiday. He got home and he was rushed to hospital and it was realised that he had contracted the dreaded Salmonella poisoning; he was in hospital for 8 days and now is recovering at home. Since he is the chef at his own Bed and Breakfast this has serious implications for his business and life. His son was very sick for 6 days of his holiday; sick; runs and fever. I have never writen a review in my entire life since I really think that you will always find something you dont like; and it's only your OPINION anyways so why bother.I think if I'd paid top dollar then I would expect top everthing ! On the food..... Christmas and Newyears was really good; Lobster; dressed crab etc etc...fresh and good! I found because of my rules on eating I pretty much had a crappy diet for 2 weeks but it only took me a week to shed it when I got home. I ate french fries (insisted that I got fresh ones) for lunch at the beach and always found something at night; something fresh off the grill is the best way to go! Fresh eggs cooked by the chef and toast for breakfast. The Ice is fine as they use bottled water. Keep away from milky desserts too. My normal diet is salads and veggies so this is hard for me! The main reason for this review is to just warn people of this serious danger and if your going be careful.... If anyone wants to ask anything you can email me. The same rules would apply for me at any resort and I have found that I'm never sick when a high percentage of people are. At the flamingo two years ago people were being sick too.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/10/2006,POOR UPPER LEVEL MANAGEMENT AT PARADISUS; PUNTA CANA; D.R. Beautiful grounds and facilities. however staff was incapable of running this place well. DO NOT RECOMMEND.!!!!!!!!!!ALBERTO ANTONIO FOWLERROOM #2038225-362-2905
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/09/2006,Beautiful Beaches center courtyard
313884,suemel,12/23/2005,Nice quiet resort Just returned from a week at the Punta Cana Princess. This was a clean; quiet resort with a beautiful beach. As other travellers have remarked on before the food was not all that great. We could usually find something to eat for breakfast and lunch at the buffets. At least the soup was hot! The Italian restaurant was the best. Everything was very hot. Even with a scalding hot plate the Tex Mex could not deliver hot food. Amazing!Beach was wonderful you could walk for hours. The service was hit and miss and it didn't matter if you tipped them so we stopped after 3 days. We had to chase the maid for clean towels every day that we were there. We paid about 1/2 price for this vacation so won't complain too much. Went for some RR and that's what we got. If you go don't set your standards too high and you will be fine. Unfortunately if you din't get the VIP package the drinks were local brands and not very good. The solution is to buy a bottle of good booze duty free. There is Coke and Sprite in the room and ask the bartender for ice.
313884,Denico,12/19/2005,But The Food; Above Average My wife and I were there from Nov 24 to Dec 8.Beautiful siteRoom was very clean; even inside desk's drawers.Always had enough towels and bath stuff; bottled purified water; soft drinks鈥?br/>Air conditioning works perfectlyTV鈥?only if you like CNNPresence of local security people makes you feel safe anywhere on the site.Pools were nice and clean. There were always free chairs at the pools and at the beach.At the buffet and at the various restaurants; Food was very lousy; very ordinary; nothing to talk about. I have to say I got sick after 11 days and could not try the Mama Mia nor La Cava restaurants. I needed antibiotics as I could not get rid of my diarrhea after 7 days. Service was excellent! Speaking some Spanish does help a lot!
313884,madstal,12/19/2005,Far from a 5*; ok if you get a Cheap deal Straw Market at the end of the beach
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,12/18/2005,Tropical Princess (Caribe Side) Dec8-Dec16 Just returned from PuntaCana had a great holiday; yes beaches beautiful and food was very good; especially at the Cava Restaurant (French cook) for the extra $50 well worth it. You can book the different restaurants every day and have service at no extra cost. We never got sick and fresh bottled water every where.The Bavaro Runners was a great experience to see the culture and mountain side; wow; rough ride and crazy driver's; saw sugar cane field; small villages and kids chase the bus for candy; so if you bring some it makes it fun watching them run to get some!!!!Just a reminder on the beach; barter low; half the price they ask is what its worth; they know the new people coming in because they are not tanned!! Ha; smart ah!Enjoy we did.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,12/18/2005,Another great Dominican holiday Stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from Dec. 4 to 11; 2005. This was our 3rd vacation in the Dominican Republic; specifically to Punta Cana in the last 4 years. As it turns out it appears we return here approximately every other vacation south.Previously we have stayed at Occidental Grand and the Fiesta Resort just a little south of the Punta Cana Princess. We would return to any one of these resorts but it is not likely as we try to go to different places.Punta Cana Princess is smaller than other resorts but that makes it quiet which appeals to us. We had no complaint with the selection or taste of the food and ate most of our meals in the main buffet restaurant. Unfortunately sometime on Thursday we ate something that disagreed with us and threw our stomachs off for about a day and a half. We think we narrowed it down to a hotdog at the beach restaurant. Staff was friendly and helpful. One exception was one day at lunch when we arrived near the end of the lunch period and most of the staff was involved with cleaning up the tables. No one noticed that we needed drink service. After waiting over 10 minutes we approached the bar and mentioned this and within a couple of seconds a waiter was at the table. This was the only glitch in service all week and it certainly was not a big deal and was dealt with as soon as they knew about it.The beach is superb and great for walking. Never appears to be any stones or coral to worry about when swimming. Because there is constant wind and surf at Bavaro beach it stirs up the sand and snorkeling right off the beach is a useless exercise. There are snorkelling excursions you can take to some great coral reefs but we didn't bother this time.Lots of para-sailing takes place right off the beach and every time I visit I'm tempted to try but haven't quite worked up the nerve yet. I am sure there will be another time.We took the shuttle to the sister resort and walked into town from there one day. Found many of the merchants quite aggressive and for me it took much of the pleasure out of what was meant to be a relaxing stroll. We had better luck avoiding the merchants on the beach who have shops set up a little ways north and south of the hotel. All you have to do there is walk down by the water and look the other way. You have to do the same thing with the time share salespeople. One time share scout approached me when I was walking by and asked the usual questions; Do you speak English? My answer: No German? A. No.French/ A. No. Chinese? This time I answered Yes and the salesman broke into a big smile and did his best imitation of someone chattering away in Chinese. We both walked away laughing.We found the service did not change whether you tipped or not but we have got into the habit of tipping; mainly with U.S. $1.00 bills. From what we hear the people there do not make much money and a few tips can make a big difference to them. After 3 trips to the Dominican and being pleased with the service every time I really have to wonder what kind of an attitude the people who write some of the blistering negative reports take with them when they travel.If you want wild partying and lots of action this is not the hotel for you. If you want peace and quiet and relaxation you will find it.
313884,audiogal,12/15/2005,Good Trip But...... I've been to several all inclusive resorts. They are all variations on the same theme and the Punta Cana Princess is no exception. The pool is nice and clean. The beach is beautiful. The rooms are just fine. The shower has plenty of hot water and the A/C is cold. I booked the VIP package and it was well worth the extra $100 per person. We enjoyed having bathrobes (not a big deal but nice); a massage; better alcohol and a very good dinner at La Cava restaurant. The staff is exceptionally friendly and helpful. We had a few glitches with our room reservation and all was taken care of in a timely and friendly manner. The resort is smaller than others we've been to and I liked that. The staff at the water sports area was great. The food is mediocre at best. Anyone who says that the food was delicious has never had a good meal. There are some items here and there that are fine. One day at lunch there was a perfectly roasted chicken. Rice and beans were good. Some fish was OK and some smelled off. Some desserts were tasty and some were odd like a prune mousse tart. Maccaroons were very good. Fried chicken at the beach buffet; at the afternoon tea; was quite tasty. I ate a mushy shrimp and was very sick for days. My sister-in-law is a vegetarian and she went home with a sick stomach too! One can get food poisoning anywhere; but since two of us got sick eating different things I have to believe there's a problem. The hot food is not hot enough and the cold foods not cold enough. Cheeses and cold cuts sat out for hours. I had no tasty fruit except for a banana and grapes. Omelettes at breakfast were cooked to order and were fine. The breakfast meats looked awful. If you pick and choose your foods you certainly won't starve. Dinner at the gourmet restaurant La Cava was a glowing exception to the otherwise poor food. It costs $25 per person; but it is included with the VIP package. Everything we ate was really good and the wine was better too.Martin the bartender in the lobby bar was my husband's favorite; but everyone there was great. There is no theater at this hotel ;though you can go next door ( walk or ride on a small tram or golf cart) to the sister hotels theater. Since the shows at these places are usually poor we stayed in the lobby most nights and enjoyed the festivites ( karaoke; dancing). We had a really good time here with the exception of the food poisoning!! I won't go back however because of the food. You can e-mail me mamie56@optonline.net
313884,IKRYSIA,12/12/2005,Great week in the sun We just returned on Sunday Dec 11. After having been in Punta Cana this past January for my son's wedding; I was doing quite alot of comparing. The Punta Cana Princess is a wonderful resort for those who want to relax; enjoy the sun; experience the layed back people in the Carribean.A few words of advise..Avoid the Casino!!! take plenty of sun lotions.. very expensive there; and also they don't have wash cloths; other than that; and that isn't a big deal; everything was wonderful. Rooms; very spacious and clean; food was great!!! there was three buffets and 7 al a carte restaurants to chose from. The variety is there; don't expect the food to be what you get in the large cities here.. ITS THE CARRIBEAN!! The people are so wonderful; tip them.. they deserve it; and the smiles you get is worth every penny.We also took alot of coloring books; crayons; pencils for the small children and toiletries for the women; once ago...worth the effort.Remember where you are.. respect the people and their culture; and you will have a great time!!!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,12/11/2005,Great little resort Just came back from a week's vacation at the Punta Cana Princess. Must admit that I was somewhat disappointed at first; given that I thought I had booked us in to the Bavaro Princess; which I had been to before. I found out at our arrival at the airport that in fact our hotel was the Punta Cana and not the Bavaro. When we first arrived at the hotel; our first reaction was so;so... The Punta Cana is much; much smaller than most of the resorts I have been to in Punta Cana (other resorts I visited are: Bavaro Princess; Flamingo; Barcelo Beach and Bahia Principe). But I must say that we really enjoyed this hotel. It is small and cosy; so one does not have to walk on and on to get from the beach to the reception. The fact that you also get access to the two Princess sister hotels (Caribe Club and Tropical) provides the same opportunity as the larger resorts.Rooms are very spacious with lots of storage space (I never travel light)with all the necessary amenities such as: fridge; coffee maker; iron and ironing board; hair dryer; etc. The only negative about the room was that it was a little smelly. Our room was in block 5000 on the second floor. It offered a great view of the pool and ocean. I would recommend asking for a room in block 4000 or 5000 on the second or third floor - third flood would provide best view of the ocean.Food is fine. The buffet is ok for breakfast and lunch but must admit that the best food is that which they cook on site such as omelettes and pasta. Other food tends to be on the cold or warm side. The resort offers access to 8 restaurants which are easy to reserve and you can go as often as you want. The one we preferred is Mama Mia which is located on the Caribe Club complex.Service is exceptionnal. Quick service and always with smiles. You even get bar service brought to you directly on the beach. No need to even get up from your lounge chair!!!The resort also as Spa which is the most beautiful one I have visited in the Dominican Republic. It is even better than the one at the Bahia Principe... Great massages at a reasonable price ($60 US).So all in all; we had a great time at the Punta Cana Princess.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,12/07/2005,Fabulous!! We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from Nov 26-Dec 3; 2005. Three girls; all 25. It was amazing. Like most other reviews said; the beaches were beautiful. There are bars everywhere; so you are never left without a drink. Lots of bottled water is always available too. Our room was in the 4000's on the 2nd floor. We had no problems at all. We usually had the buffet for breakfast and lunch. I enjoyed the buffet. There was a great variety and the food was really good. We had the dinner buffet one night; and it was actually pretty good too. I seen other reviews that said the buffets were horrible; but I didn't find that. If you have a chance; check out the lunch buffet at the Caribe (next door) its a little bigger and its really good! We ate at the a la cartes every night except for the first night. Just make your reservations each morning between 8-12 and you can get into most of the restaurants. The a la carte food was fabulous. All of the staff and the animation crew were amazing. Expecially the animation guys. They were so much fun. :o) The disco was great too. The only thing was that you had to pay for your drinks after midnight. So; word of advice; just drink lots before midnight. If you still want to party after the disco; you can always hang out with the staff. And; there is a 24 hour bar right on the beach and you can get food and drinks there. The staff at the 24 hour bar are always happy to see people and they will probably ask you to dance. Go for it; make their night go by faster. :o) Well; that's all I have to say for now. Punta Cana Princess was great and I would go back there.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,11/28/2005,Had a good time but ... My husband; two young daughters (6 and 3) and I just returned from a week at the PCP. We spent most of the time at the beach and the pool and our daughters loved it. The beach was beautiful; the pool was clean; and the staff were great.Now for the not so great:- When we arrived at our room (3004); it smelled really bad; a combination of mold; mildew and bleach. I am assuming it is because the rooms had been closed up for the renovations and had not been aired out. I went back to the front desk and we were given a new room in the 2000 block that did not smell as much - still a musty smell.- The safe in our new room required reseting so that we could reprogram the access code. After telling 4 or five different staff members (including the front desk) about our problem and spending the first day carrying our valuables around with us; it was fixed.- The food in the main buffet was edible but was only luke-warm at best. The pasta bar was good in that the food was heated up when you ordered your personalised pasta (our girls loved it). The a la carte restaurants were good and the food was hot.- There was always a nice breeze in the buffet eating area and we did not have a problem with the heat. The non-smoking area was not well defined and it seemed to change every day. There would be a few non-smoking signs on some tables that seemed to be surrounded by the smoking section.- We tried the buffet by the beach for lunch a couple of times but the food was very limited.- The rooms were cleaned daily but one day when we returned to our room to shower before dinner; we had only one clean towel for the four of us. I found the maid but she had no clean towels left. It took about 30 minutes before we had 4 clean towels. We also had to wait for clean beach towels one day.- On one of our 7 days there we had no hot water in the shower. All other days were fine.- The drinks at the bars varied by bartender and service at the pool bar was sporadic. Each time I ordered one of their advertised drinks (Coco Loco); the contents were different; varying from great to horrible.My girls were in and out of the kids club in the afternoons; but I did not leave them there unattended for any length of time. There is a small play structure outside that they could use; and some games; a play kitchen; a tv with VCR; some colouring papers with crayons and tables and chairs inside. My girls favourite activity was filling balloons with water in the kids club and carrying them around for the rest of the day.All in all we had a good trip as we were there for the beach; the ocean and the pool which were great. The staff were always friendly and helpful. It had the advantage of being small and on the quiet side; with the accompanying resorts (Caribe and the Tropicale) accessible for the nightly entertainment and some more a la carte restaurants.
313884,JenniferUxbridge,11/24/2005,Good resort; great people; great beach My husband and I just returned from the Punta Cana Princess (we travelled from Nov 15-22; 2005) where we were on our honeymoon. We booked 2 weeks prior to our departure and needed to pick up our tickets at the Sunquest counter at the airport. The ticket printer was broken; so anyone who had booked the night before had to have their tickets hand written. This was not the case for us; but we ended up waiting in line for 20 minutes waiting for those in front of us. Normally this wouldn't bother me; but there was another person behind the counter who wasn't doing anything; but wouldn't look at any of us in the line. Perhaps he didn't have the authority to hand out tickets?? I had read reviews for this resort prior to leaving and was a bit nervous; however I was pleasantly surprised. Sunquest has rated this as a 5 star; which I don't agree with (more like a 4) compared to other resorts I have been to. I read reviews of other resorts in this area and it seems that they all have similar issues. The two areas I was disappointed in were the buffets and the room cleanliness; but even these were not absolutely terrible. We did have some run-ins with cockroaches in our room...but it is a tropical island; so I guess this can be expected. This resort had been closed for a while so they could upgrade things - I know that the mattresses were new; and they were very comfortable. We were there while they were still filling up the resort; so it was pretty empty at the start of the week. I think they were still working out some kinks as a result of the closure. On to the good...the airport is beautiful and it took very little time to get through customs; pick up our luggage; and onto the bus. We were on our honeymoon; so we presented a photocopy of our marriage certificate to get the honeymoon package (rum in your room; bathrobes; extra beach towels; fruit; turn down service; romantic dinner in the seafood restaurant). The concierge was very helpful as we originally got a room with two double beds (even though our travel agent had specified king bed when we booked). Anyway; we ended up with a king bed that faced the lobby and gardens - a nice view; especially compared to our first room which kind of looked into the back of a building. Ask the maid or front desk for facecloths; they don't seem to put them in the rooms otherwise.The people (both staff and guests) at this resort were all wonderful; very friendly and helpful. The entertainment staff and bar staff were great and funny. I have read reviews that people don't like when staff doesn't speak English very well...remember you are going to a country where the language is Spanish! Take the opportunity to learn some - the staff seem to enjoy teaching Spanish and learning some English in the process.The a la carte restaurants were very good; our favorite was the Tex-Mex steakhouse; the Rio Grande. The filet mignon was fantastic. We found that we liked the restaurants at our resort better than the ones at the Club Caribe; but we were not able to get into the Brazilian restaurant; which we heard was good. The beach was gorgeous; beautiful soft white sand. There were always plenty of chairs; even towards the end of the week when the resort appeared to be fuller. It was very nice that we could visit the Club Caribe; but those guests could not visit our resort. As a result; our resort was never crowded.You might want to take a taxi back to the airport - $28 US for 5 people - well worth the money - the bus ride back to the airport was extremely bumpy and rough - not good for anyone with motion sickness of any kind! I wish that we had taken the taxi instead of suffering at the back of the bus. At airport check-in - Each of your bags cannot weigh more than 20 kg; or you have to pay (around $5US/kg) - this was not a problem for us; but there were many frantic people who only had the $20 US/pp they needed to leave the country; and not enough to pay for the overweight baggage. Your carry-on can weigh as much as you want; but the size does matter!So; good resort; great people; great beach!Feel free to email if you have any questions.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,11/21/2005,Best trip I have just returned from the princess and it was the best vaction of my life. I recomend this trip to people of all ages. If your looking for a quite get away this resort is for you. If your looking for a great party time the discos there are amazing. The animation team at the resort was out of this world.
313884,truematch20,11/14/2005,awesome hotel I went to this resort back in April and didnt bother to write a review at the time but having just got back on November 12 2005 from Breezes in puerto plata I just have to say there is no comparison; the PCP is an absolute palace compared to the other from the beach to the food to the rooms; especially the rooms!!!! so to whoever is heading to the DR trust me Punta cana is a better bet; now I had a great vacation at Breezes cause I drank enough rum to not bother about anything else and there was some delightful staff members as always but I will stick to Punta cana and Bavaro beach next time for sure. Feel free to e-mail me any questions about the place.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,10/25/2005,I personally thought it was amazing I went to Punta cana Aug 2004 i also went down with 12 people and we all had a blast. We hung around the pool all day long and Nelson our Bartender treated us like kings and Queens.We gave him a Canadian hat and also at the 24 hr bar we met the bartender Fransico and waiter Antonio i tell you their English was great and were there to meet any and all of our requests!We took one Excursion the Horse back ride not all that fun and we really stayed on the resort the whole week.We did not like the Disco but liked the Casino and went to the 24 hr bar every night to play boci ball on the beach and have some drinks like the Blue Devil and Strawberry DaquerisI reccomend this resort if you want to enjoy exceptional service courteous employees and not a care in the world!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,09/26/2005,Paradise Spent 10 days with 5 members family; three teenagers; lodged in two bungalows in first range front to the sea; privacy guaranteed; in the middle of a garden with palms; luxury flowers alleys; rose flamngoss...The beach was very large not as some neighbour Hotels having very narrow beaches.Free sailing Hobbie Cats; snorkeling to Coral reefs at very cheap prices; excursions to protected islands were you are the sole person in miles; hot water; pelicans fishing just aside you; hundreds of incredible different fishes in colors eating bread form your hand...Many restauants or a buffet; too much to eat; specially very fresh mangos; pineapple; chinola (Maracuya);aguacates; and all tropical fruits.Obsesive rythms of bachata or merengue; caipirinhas; drinks; and long soft nights.The best of all is that we didn't need the assistance of employees; and even we didn't realize they were close to us taking care of everything and guranteing our security without our notice.The Dominicans are gentle with a permanent hapiness; an incredible sense of humour; enjoying life day by day.And finally here I am; in Barcelona; dreaming of this paradise and planning when to return to this wonderful Hotel.If you speak spanish; talk; meet and joke with Dominicans; they will return you twice more; and you will have a lot of fun...
313884,Cancelled,09/15/2005,So Upset I got a call yesterday from our travel agent telling us that the PUNTA CANA PRINCESS is under renovations and we will be moving to a different hotel. We were leaving in less than 20 days and they call to tell us this. This issue here is that it is for a wedding and there is more than 50 people going and now all the wedding plans have to be changed 20 days before the wedding day.Some of our friends had to book at the 'sister' hotel - The Caribe Princess and they aren't being moved because they didn't boook at the PUNTA CANA PRINCESSS because it was all booked (the travel agents were booking the hotel even though they new it wouldn't be ready yet)The issue here is that now we are over 5 minutes away from some of our friends and we can't go to their hotel and they can't come to ours.I can't believe that they didn't inform us of this prior to 20 days before the wedding. If they had told us that the PUNTA CANA PRINCESS was under renovations then our friends would of never booked at the neighbouring 'sister' hotel but instead the hotel they were going to move us to.Very unhappy.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,09/14/2005,Moved against our will....but enjoyed everything nonetheless! friendly and accomodating service!
313884,Redlightrita,09/12/2005,Closed for Renovation My husband and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary at the Princess; Sept 2 to Sept 9. On our last day; guests were being moved to the Bavario since the Princess was closing for renovation on Sunday the 11th. The Princess was also very empty. We are from Orlando; Florida and are big beach people. We thought we could deal with heat. It was unbelievably hot the week we stayed. The night of our arrival we had to eat at the buffet restaurant since we had not made reservations. There are no paddle fans in the buffet restaurant or the lobby and we had to use our napkins to keep the sweat out of our eyes while we ate. My husband also had to wear long pants to dinner once we had made our reservations. It was terrible to see him sweating all the way to dinner at 8:00 at night.Ahhh...the buffet! This is the only bad thing I have to say about the resort. The breakfast buffet was the same just about every day. They have a made to order omlette bar; waffels; etc. But after 2 days the rest of our breakfast was toast and fruit. Lunch was not much better and room service (ham cheese sandwich) was even worse. The evening restaurants were good. The two (tex mex and Italian) located at the Princess were very good. We also ate at 3 restaurants at the sister resort that were also good (La Cava; Sombrero and Chinese). Our appetites were not up to par since the heat was so bad. Toward the end; we booked any restaurant we could get as long as it was air conditioned.The people...could not have been more fantastic. The majority of the guests were from Spain. We speak very little spanish; communicating with them; although sometimes difficult; was a pleasure. They were so friendly and we made some very good friends. For the staff; 4 became very dear to our hearts. They went out of their way to make us happy; be friendly; and to help me work on my Spanish. The ladies of the lobby bar could not have been more wonderful. The best part of our entire trip was getting to know them. Please remember that a tip goes a long way. Change in US dollars is very difficult to get so we took $100 in ones and $100 in $5 and $10. Just their sharing of their culture was well worth a tip.The beach was beautiful. The sand is very soft and light which adds to the turquoise color of the water. There was never a problem with chairs at the beach or the pool. Excursions - we did the Lobster Tour and the Snorkel with Dolphins tour. As I stated earlier; most of the guests were from Spain. We were the only people that spoke english on the Lobster Tour and I thought the bus ride was going to be difficult. By the time we got off the bus later that day; everyone kissed and hugged us goodbye. Our television showed video of the Snorkel with Dolphins tour. The tour was so Not what the TV showed. Once on site; they suggest you don't even wear a mask and snorkel. The only thing different between your general swim with dolphins and the snorkel activity is that they let you float free in the center of the dolphin pool and you can pet them when they swim by.The room was great. Never a problem with water or power. We were in the 5000 series which is the building closest to the beach. I will say that out of all the people that we met; either one or both of them got sick during their stay; as did we. I tried to blame it on the Rum; but it seemed to happen to many people. Please remember to pack any medication you may need. I would not return to this resort since there are many other places that I haven't visited. They would also have to do something about the buffet food. On our last day; we actually celebrated that we didn't have to look at it any more!They estimate that the resort will open again for the Holidays. If you have any questions; you are welcome to contact me. I'd be happy to help.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,09/04/2005,Great place; except for the food We were at the Punta Cana Princess for a week during the winter of 2004-2005 for the wedding of a couple of friends. Being a while back; consider this a time-mellowed review that covers what we remember nearly a year later.Arrival - Getting off the plane; passing through customs; finding the bus; and handling our baggage went quite smoothly. Customs consisted of handing-over your money for the tourist card. Being a small airport; finding the bus to the resort was a no-brainer. Check-in - Check-in was also very smooth. The staff were ready for our arrival; and processed the group quickly. The baggage was sent to our room; and a drink was in our hands before we'd taken-in the setting. It was obvious that they were aware of the importance of first impressions. The room - By the time we booked; the better rooms weren't available. We had a ground-floor room looking toward the pool. Despite being on the lower end of the room scale; the room was large and comfortable. The pool and pathways on the grounds outside were set far enough away that we weren't bothered by noise; or folks strolling by. The A/C worked well; and the fans provided good air movement. The climate control shuts-down without a keycard in the activater-thingy; so expect a ten-minute delay before it's comfortable. Our only complaint about our room was that the patio and entry door weren't sealed all that well. A half-inch gap under the front door provided a freeway into the room for the endless parade of caterpillers. We found ourselves on tiptoes each time we were back in our room until we had time to de-bug (sorry PETA-folks; catch-and-release was not maintained... crunch-and-wipe was the order of the day).The grounds - This resort is not a large one. It's very well maintained; and the effects of the nasty hurricane season were only visible if you strolled down the beach and looked at some of the neighbooring resorts. The beach was fantastic. This resort has one of the best spots in the area; which we found-out while strolling a few klicks in each direction. The dive master related to us that the weather had been unusual since the hurricane seasion; kicking-up a lot of sand in the water. The waves were a good size; but never so large as to make swimming unpleasurable. However; if you're looking for crystal-clear water and picture-perfect snorkelling; you will be disappointed. The pool; swim-up bar; grounds; and beach were all excellent. I can't be certain of the capacity that they were running at during the week; but being late December; it must have been nearly full. Despite that; we never felt crowded. There was always ample room on the beach and by the pool. There were never line-ups for food or drink. This gave the resort a relaxed; comfortable feeling. The lobby provided an excellent evening spot for relaxing and chatting with friends. The open-air buildings were always cool; and the mosquitoes seemed to have taken the week off elsewhere. I've read other reviews complaining about the lack of A/C in the dining area and lobby. We didn't find that to be a problem at all; and likely would have preferred open-air to A/C if given the choice. Then again; if you're planning on going in June; you may want to pull-out an atlas and make note of the tropical location. I hear that Alaskan cruises are great...Activities - Being a smaller resort; there wasn't much in the way of activities. We enjoy relaxing (rhymes with 'lazy'); and so this didn't bother us at all. With a limited population at the resort; the staff; despite their best efforts; were hard-pressed to drum-up the usual fun games on the beach. Every day they would try to coax us into it; but were never pushy. If you're looking for an amusement park of a resort; this isn't the one for you. If you're adept at the max-relax; you'll love this place. Activity-junkies can always take advantage of the sister resorts; which are larger; and more crowded. Better yet; book a room at a resort that advertises the activities as a feature; and leave the snoozing on the beach to me; rotating every 15 minutes... ahhh; the bliss!The food - Alas; even nine months later; the food is still... memorable. Sunquest gave the resort a '5-star' rating. Either that rating was out of 6; or their reviewers survived on rum alone. The food was sub-par; at best. The buffet was best avoided; save for the made-to-order pasta. Of the resaurants; the Tex-Mex was the best. If gaining weight on a trip seems inevitable to you; this resort will break the pattern.A basic problem appeared to be that the food was designed to be bland; and North American. I would put dollars to doughnuts that the staff could have made excellent local food. As it was; cannaloni made with fish; and a dirth of flavour; shouldn't be tried at home; let alone in the DR. I understand why resorts try to cater to our tastes; but this resort was a good example of why that's a policy that should be followed with great care. The staff - Excellent. I can't say enough positive things about the staff. From the dinning staff; bar staff; diving team; lobby staff; and cleaning staff; excellent. The guest to staff ratio was solid; not once were we searching for a friendly staffer. Now; keep in mind that this isn't a thousand-dollar a night place. You aren't going to get wine recommendations with your dinner. If you need a somelier; you've spent about a third of the required money. Heck; if you want a choice beyond 'red or white'; you're still only halfway there with your vacation spending. If you order the same drink every day; expect a wild variation in what actually makes it into your glass; if you venture beyond rum and coke or beer. The lobby bartender at night knew his stuff; and was obviously the senior bartender at the resort. The beach and pool bartenders were... creative. If you appreciate a decent scotch; then book ahead and get the upgraded bevie package. Then again; if you fall into that category; read about the food before you book.In any case; the entire staff was extremely friendly; helpful; tolerant; and attentive. No reasonable request was turned-down. If you want your mini-fridge in your room stocked with something; leave five dollars and a note for the cleaning staff (we did that once; and for the rest of the week the fridge was stocked with cold water and beer; even though we expected that to be a one-time thing). The policy seems to be all smiles; all the time; and they execute on that policy. Overhearing one decidedly ignorant guest get a dinning staff member's attention by yelling; Hey; amigo!; I was surprised to see him smile and do his best to make the guest happy. As with all resorts; a well-placed fiver; a modicum of spanish; a little patience for 'island-time'; and a smile will get you just about anything you need to make your trip a good one. Even without the tip; spanish; and smile; I'm sure that the service would be great.Overall - We're not planning on returning to this resort. That's not to say that it was terrible; overall it was a very good trip. It's a solid 4-star resort. To gain a half-notch; or even a full notch; the quality of the food needs to make a stellar leap. A little weather stripping on the doors of the ground-floor rooms wouldn't hurt either. I was torn between a 3 and a 4 rating only because of the food. I've decided on a 4 because our positive memories of the resort outweigh the negative. Basically; the staff and the beach tipped the balance toward a 4; despite the cringe that the phrase 'seafood canalloni' still produces.If you're a couple looking for a medium-small resort with an excellent beach; great pool; and winning service; without spending a fortune; then go for it. If food is a major part of your typical vacation experience; give this resort a year or two to adjust (which I hope they will).This year we're looking at trying Secrets in Punta Cana. The food reviews look promising... maybe this time I'll get home a pound or two heavier; not including my liver.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,08/31/2005,Would go back again and again Went to the bavaro princess resort from August 19th to the 26th. There was a group of 15 of us and 4 of the 15 were children from ages 5 to 12.We all had a wonderful time. The food was great; the beach is fantastic and the people were very nice. If you are vip and want to make reservations for the restaurants you must do this at the vip conceirge stand. NOT AT THE FRONT LOBBY. We ate at a different restaurant every night and never had a problem with our entire group eating together. The kids even liked the food. It is a very big resort. It took us a day to find out where everything was but we had alot of fun doing it. We had no problems checking into our room or with any of the service. Our shower was broken and when we called it was fixed within 15 minutes. VIP has some benefits. My husband had all the Heinken and Miller beer that he wanted. If you order room service you can get an entire bottle of unopened wine or champagne. Their white wine is great.As far as a hut on the beach we got up early to get one; but if you go out to the beach around 2 there are many huts available. At night it is nice to sit under one of the bar huts. Very nice breeze. Better than sitting at the lobby watching the shows where it is too hot. If you tip the bartenders at the beach restaurant they will come out to the beach hut and wait on you. If you are good to them they are good to you. Bring a radio if you have one since there is no night life on the beach. All of us loved the resort and the food. Try the Chopin buffet. It was excellent. The El Gaucho restaurant had a very good filet mignon. We would all go back again.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,08/30/2005,Great resort and location My wife and i just returned from the Bavaro Princess and I have to say we loved it. I am extremely particular and have been to the Dominican Republic several times. The beach; service; food; room and landscape was excellent. The nly complain I have might be that some people were a little noisy on the beach and there were many people from Spain partying in the pool that were very loud. Otherwise it was great. Here are my reviews by category:Beach: Excellent sand; beautiful water for swimming and scenery.Rooms: Large suites. AC was excellent. The bed was firm and very comfortable. Cable TV and mini fridge was stocked and included. Room was very clean. Food: Buffet is available for every meal and the selection and freshness was great. Allways a Pasta station and grill where you can have pasta; steak; fish or chicken made to order. In the AM; there is a juice bar where fresh juice is made to order and an omelette bar. There are several ala carte restaurants that are all good that require reservations; however i preferred the selection of the buffet. The buffet dining room was very nice.Service: Outstading and allways with a smile. Really nice people. Give them a dollar a day since the average wage in the DR is $200 per month. They were allways filling glasses; taking dirty plates away; etc. Landscape: Immaculately maintained. The gardens were spectacular. There are also exotic birds roaming around like Peacocks and Pink Flamingo's and odd varieties of ducks. Great for kids and even adults like me!Entertainment: A bit better than expected. They were amateurish; but fun and funny. Better than other resort entertainment offered by staff. Every evening there's a band that played for around 20 minutes including merengue; followed by a show.Activities: Sailing; wind sailing. activities all day by the pool including water aerobics; dance lessons (very entertaining); volleyball; shuffleboard; soccer on the beach; etc.I highly recommend this place. I was considering the Secrets Excellence resort that cost almost 50% more. No need to go there. This is a great place. Not sure what people with the bad reviews expected.
313884,bigdtexas,08/30/2005,We had a wonderful relaxing vacation! beach bar
313884,juegagirl,08/25/2005,stay away this is not the place for you if your looking too have fun.there is nothing to do for excitiment beside go to the pool which is full of bugs and feels more like a jacuzzi than a refreshing experience.the food and drinks is horrible. you feel like ur in a lunchroom where they cater to the masses with cheap food and drink rather than with quality and flavor. the shows at night are boring might as well stay in the room and the animation during the day is non exsistant. forget about getting anywhere fast the place is far too big and not enough trolly cars. get ready to walk and walk or wait nearly half an hour for a trolly. it's ridiculous. you would have a better time at barcelo bavaro beach resort. p.s. stay clear of the gift shop if you don't want to be robbed with the prices.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,08/25/2005,Traveller's Disease waiting to happen! The following is my review of the Punta Cana Princess All-Suites Resort in Punta Cana; Dominican Republic (I visited this property 8/15-8/22/05): After a great deal of shopping around; my girlfriend Heather (24) and I (23) chose Punta Cana Princess (PCP) All-Suites resort for our vacation. We used the reviews on Debbie's (and another site) and prices provded by our travel agent to shop around for the best value. We specifically wanted a 5-star property. This review is going to be long and detailed; as I just returned two days ago and have quite a lot to say. We were originally interested in Jamaica or Mexico. However; Dominican Republic seemed to offer far better value. Since our prime interest was relaxation; Dominican Republic seemed to be the best choice for us. We arrived on a Monday at about noon. As we had been told ahead of time; check-in time was 3pm. Onto the review! Check-in:Check-in was rather smooth for us. Based on my previous experiences; we sat near the front of the bus and were the second in line for check-in. There were only 2 desks open for two busloads; and it seemed to be taking 5 mins per check-in! I doubt the people at the back of the line felt as good about their check-in. We were supplied with our room keys (cards); towel cards; bracelets; and a sticker to put on our luggage so it could be delivered to our room. We were not supplied a map of the resort. If you want a map of the resort; go to the Guest services desk to the left of the check-in counter and ask for one. This is NOT a 5-star Right away I noticed it. Right on the bracelet was marked * * * * sup. Sunquest lists this resort in their catalog as 5-star. This was clearly false information.By 2PM; we were hot and tired. We decided to try our room. Alas! It was ready early!The BuffetRight after check-in; we made our way to the buffet. The very first thing that caught my eye - The buffet is NOT AIR CONDITIONED. There is a nice breeze going through; but it is hot and humid nevertheless. The food was TERRIBLE at the buffet. I'm not a snob. I don't eat at expensive resteraunts at home; and my standards are not very high on vacation. However; it was nearly impossible to eat at this buffet. Breakfast is a hard meal to mess up. Made-to-order omellets are generally good anywhere you go. However; when the chef douses the cooking surface with what must have been 3-4 tbsps of oil for each omelet; what results is a fresh omelet that tastes as much like oil as it does like egg. On the buffet itself was bacon; which was poorly cooked and almost pure fat. The eggs on the buffet were terrible. All of the pastries were mediocre. The fruit was not fresh; nor was it any good. After trying everything to find something good to eat for the first few days; I ended up settling for toast with margarine and jam. Very dissappointing. Lunch and Dinner were equally awful. My girlfriend is a big vegetable lover. She was terribly dissapointed by the poor quality of the vegetables; and the very limited choices. All of the prepared salads had HAM in them. The lettuce was not dried - it was literally SWIMMING in water at the bottom. The creamy dressings that were available were cloppy messes. There were various oils and vinegars; which were okay. ALL of the cooked vegetables were the same. They were all made in some sort of butter sauce (and thus tasted like nothing but butter). Don't expect any good healthy choices; not even fresh/grilled/steamed vegetables.There was a pasta-to-order chef cooking custom pasta at lunch and dinner. The pasta was okay; probably the most edible thing available on the buffet. I personally enjoy beef. I was terribly dissapointed in this respect. A few times; there was no beef dish at all. A few other times the beef dish was empty and was not refilled in the entire time I was at the buffet. When I did get beef; it was fatty; chewy - basically your standard poor quality meat. The chicken at the buffet was perpetually over-cooked; though it was probably the best prepared of any of the meats. The fish was mediocre; and (pardon my pun) had a fishy taste to it. There was often a chef grilling fish fresh-to-order; but; similiarly to the omelets; it tasted like oil more than fish.I should also mention that despite heat lamps; most of the food was only luke-warm; and was often old; having sat out for way too long. The french fries (a no brainer; right?) were always cold and mushy; as if they had been cooked hours ago. Deserts were mediocre. The ice cream was good; although there is only one scoop; so it can often be an exercise in patience while you watch seven little Spanish-speaking children with no manners cut in front of you. The cakes were generally bad - it seems hard to mess up a chocolate cake; but alas it was awful. The cheesecake was good - but they only had it on the buffet 2 days out of 7 that we were there. Most of the pastries; including the cookies; were mediocre. How do you mess up cookies? I have no idea... but they did.I should say that other less discriminating folks seemed to be piling food onto their plates and enjoying it. I don't consider myself picky; but I guess to some people A LOT of food equals GOOD. However; if you value food quality; or you have any desire to eat even somewhat healthy; I don't think you will like the food on this buffet. Notably; if the buffet area was air-conditioned; food would probably be better as humidity has a way of degrading food quality. On a positive note; the waiters at the buffet were good-to-excellent. Most of the time; they were quick to server water (or coffee) at breakfast. They would also get you any drink you wanted on request. They would even take bar drink orders for you. If you like coffee; I suggest asking for a cappucino. The regular coffee leaves a lot to be desired; and the espresso-based beverages are much better.To briefly describe the smaller buffet near the beach - it was disgusting. The hotdogs were TERRIBLE. There were hamburger buns; but they never had any hamburgers. Overall; a terrible disappointment. This smaller resteraunt is also the only 24hr food source - in short; unless you're desperate; wait until breakfast... A La CarteOn the first night; due to arriving after noon; we were not able to make a reservation at an A La Carte resteraunt. The second day; I woke up in the morning and made a reservation for the that night at the Rio Grande (Tex-Mex) and for the next night at the Mexican Restaurant (which is at the next resort over). Rio Grande offers the best food anywhere on the resort. When you arrive; you are served hot corn chips along with salsa; green salsa; guacamole and cheese sauce to dip in. Excellent start. The appetizers were decent. I had the taco; which despite it's description is just some paste of a sauce wrapped in a soft taco shell. It was okay; so I don't care that they described ingredients and just used a paste. The main courses were excellent. I recommend the Beef Filet. It was the best piece of meat available at the resort; in my opinion. Heather had the Filet Mignon; which was decent; although she ordered it medium and they cooked it well-done. On our second visit; Heather had the Cheeseburger - and they forgot the cheese! Nevertheless; it was very decent meat. Also; notable is that the A La Carte restaurants are air conditioned; which is a pleasure when you're used to eating outside in the humidity.The Mexican resteraunt (located on the neighboring property; 5-10 mins walk away) was a disappointment after our first night's experience at Rio Grande. The Appetizer menu seems nice; until you realize that all it is is a desription of the dips that are served with your corn chips (the same as the Rio Grande serves). There are no actual appetizers to be ordered. The food here was okay; nothing special; and the Rio Grande was better. On our third night; we tried the Italian restaurant. The Calzones were okay; if you like meat. The only vegetables that they had were brocoli; cauliflower and carrots - strange choices for calzone fillings; in my opinion. The pasta dishes and pizzas/calzones are full size; so don't expect to be able to have one as an appetizer. We tried; and they told us that it was a main course and we couldn't have both. Overall; the Italian was decent; but the Rio Grande remained our favorite. One thing - whatever you do; DO NOT order the carpaccio. I know ... what was I thinking? I'm not sure if it was a coincidence; but it was the night after I ate the carpaccio that I got sick. Then again; Heather did not eat the Carpaccio; and she got sick one day after me ...The RoomOur room was excellent. The first thing I noticed - within seconds of putting my card in the slot (that activates the power and AC in the room); there was a very nice stream of cold air coming out of the Air Conditioner! The room was very spacious. We got the King-size bed that we requested. There was also a pull out bed in the living room area. We had a balcony that faced the pool with a little bit of ocean in the distance. The decor in the room was simple yet very nice. The mini-fridge was stocked with beer and soda; but strangely no water. No problem - we just got bottles of water from the bar; two at a time; and stocked it ourselves. The bathroom had two sinks; which was nice. The bath/shower was spacious. The water temperature left a lot to be desired. It took a good two minutes for anything other than cold water to come out. Even with the water set to the very hottest setting; the water was just-warm at best and barely luke warm at peak times. At one point; the water was dead for about an hour. I called guest services; and they apologized and said there was a maintenance issue and the water would be back shortly. It was back within an hour.Closet and drawer space was plentiful. You won't have trouble finding drawers for all of your stuff; no matter how much you bring. We were on the second floor. Sound proofing of the rooms was decent; as long as people kept their doors closed. Unfortunately; some very rude Spanish folks across the hall from us like to make noise at 7:30 every morning. Their favorite thing to do was to knock and then yell through the door. A dirty look from me and they stopped. There is no soundproofing to speak of between the floors/ceilings. If you're not on the top floor; expect to hear every step; every dropped item and every loving-bed-thump from the people above you. Lucky for us; the people above us were creatures of habit and always stopped making noise about half an hour before we liked to go to sleep; so it was no problem for us. Maid service was slow. We were never out of our room early enough for the early run (usually we took of the DND sign at about 10:30am) and so we had to wait until around 2-4pm to have the room cleaned. One day; it wasn't cleaned until 5:30pm! We tipped every day; and were treated to towel-animals; decorated with flower petals. On a side note - the maid never once refilled our toilet paper; even when it was COMPLETELY EMPTY - we constantly had to go ask for it as we ran out.The PoolThe pool was beautiful and well kept. There were always plenty of empty chairs; and plenty of sombreras to offer shade if you choose. The pool bar is nice; however at most times there was only one bar tender to handle both the in-pool side of the bar and the adjoining bar for those not in the water. Towel service is NOT at the pool; it is on the beach. This is annoying; because you are forced to get your feet sandy to get towels. It didn't make much sense; but the towel service was decent nevertheless. The pool bar attracted all of the loud day-time drunks. Situate yourself far from the pool bar if you want peace and quiet.The BeachOne word - beautiful. The white sand and crystal blue water left little to be desired. There were plenty of chairs. I never tried to get drink service on the beach; so I can't comment on that. The ToursI did not take any tours; so I can not comment on these. The excursions are rather pricey; and to be honest I personally went to the Carribean to relax and so tours just aren't my thing. We did; however; go parasailing. We paid our $80 (for 2 people) and showed up at the designated time. Five minutes later; we were picked up by a boat and taxied up and down the coast while we picked up a few other passengers. We then met up with the parasailing boat; and were asked to change boat mid water. This was fine for me; but it might be dangerous for older folk and young children. Parasailing was fun - a nice relaxing 10 min float. However; as they were lowering us back into the boat; they slowed to much; and we were pulled under water for about 1 second. I thought it was a bit strange; and after I got back I looked into it - it turns out that dunking is extremely unprofessional and dangerous. I thought so. Getting pulled under water while harnessed is very bad. As such; I would not recommend the parasailing in Punta Cana. The GymHeather is an avid gym-goer. On the first afternoon; we made our way to the gym. It was very small - one treadmill; one eliptical machine (that was broken for our entire stay); dumbells; a couple of barbells and two weight machines. We figured that this was the gym for PCP; and so we asked where the gym was for the other two larger resorts. There was none! This was it! The amazing thing is that the gym was ALWAYS empty. There was never more than a single other guest working out when we were there. I guess most people just don't go to the gym on vacation ... All in all it was adequate; but only because we had the place to ourselves. If there had been 3-4 guests there; it would have been very crowded. The InternetI paid $7 for 30 mins of Internet access half way through the trip just to check my e-mail; etc. I was amazed - in a world where a decent; basic Logitech keyboard costs $10; this $12/hr internet cafe had a keyboard that could not have cost more than $2. It was honestly terrible. I'm a 65 WPM typist and I could barely type. Aside from that; the internet worked fine; connection speed was fine ... no complaints. The Service in GeneralA friendly hola is required by all staff as they walk by you. It's a nice touch. The staff did not speak English. Some couldn't speak a single word. Generally; I don't care - I don't need to converse with them; and the staff with specific jobs that required speaking (such as the waiters) spoke just enough to do their jobs. The problem was the you could not special order your food (easy on the grease; for example) nor could you enquire about it (What's the best crepe on the menu? for example). The staff was friendly; which matters more than anything. Do expect a thick language barrier; though. One interesting thing that we noticed is that roles are divided by genders. All of the waiters were males. Women were only allowed to serve drinks. I just thought it was a bit odd; but I guess it's cultural.ConclusionTo begin; despite the shortcomings; Heather and I sucked it up and made the most out of our vacation. However; I would never return to this resort. I was tricked by Sunquest into going to a 4+ when it was a 5* I was seeking. In fact; I could have gone to another resort owned by the same company in the same part of the same town; the Bavaro Princess for EXACTLY the same price; and that resort is actually a 5*. The food was awful. It only took 4 days for me to get traveller's disease (known more commonly as awful; endless diarhea); and I did not even drink the tap water! I like boast that I have an iron stomach; because I can eat just about anything in abundance and I NEVER get sick to my stomach - yet I found myself visiting the toilet for 20 mins every 2 hours for 18 hours one day during my trip. Not pleasant. The buffet was not air conditioned; and the buffet food was terrible. It's hard to mess up on pastries; for example; but the Princess Pastry department has no trouble mucking them up every day. If you like food just because it's food; or if you have a disorder and don't eat; this would be the resort for you. Everything aside from the food was just fine. However; the food was SO bad that I really couldn't recommend this resort to anyone with ANY TASTE AT ALL. Sorry for the harshness.In closing; I'd like to answer to the reviewer who wrote if you can't find something to eat here; you're just too picky. You are correct. The bread and butter were just wonderful! Please feel free to contact me at jordancohen@sympatico.ca if you have any questions.
313884,jaluck,08/17/2005,Great Vacation!! My husband and I just got back from the Punta Cana Princess and we cannot wait to go back again. We went from Aug. 8 - Aug. 15 and the weather was perfect!! Everything about the vacation was amazing!! The Hotel Size and our room- Perfect!! There are around 215 rooms and every room had a beautiful view. We had a 30 second walk to the pool and a 2 minute walk to the beach. (We visited another resort that was huge. People had to take a shuttle to the beach from their room.) We had a really comfortable king-size bed and also a huge couch that was in front of the tv. We were both shocked because there were great channels such as ESPN; Cinemax; HBO; Showtime; news; etc. The rooms were also cleaned to perfection everyday. We had great air conditioning. We were extremely pleased with our room and everything about it. The Pool and Swim-up Bar - The pool was a nice size and there were activities going on all day long such as water volleyball; water polo; and water aerobics. The swim-up bar was never too crowded and you always could get a good cold drink. We were disappointed that the pool closed at 7pm. My husband and I really wanted to take a swim most nights after dinner; but couldn't because it was closed. Hotel Grounds - Breath-taking!! They worked very hard everyday to keep the grounds manicured to perfection all over. The palm trees are larger than any other place we have ever been to and plus there are a ton of them!! There are some really cool statues all over the resort too. The Beach - My favorate part. The beach is such a beautiful blue. There is a small amount of seaweed; but what beach doesn't have that? There are small waves that make the water a fun place to play. This resort has kayaks; boggie boards; snokeling gear; hobie cats; and more that is included for the guests. Take advantage of all of these activities because they are really fun. There is also a dive shop on the resort on the beach. We actually went diving to a ship wreck and that was really cool. The dive master was really good and able to take us through the interior of this huge ship. I recommend diving in Punta Cana especially with this place. The sand is white and very fine. It is almost like a powder. Also very important; no matter what time of day you go to the beach; you will always find plenty of chairs to relax in and plenty of shade. The sun is intense so I recommend bringing lots of sun block. The Food - Not the greatest; but we always found something to eat. We really liked their pizza for lunch and the tex-mex restaraunt for dinner. They had great filet mignon cooked to perfection!! We did not get sick at all from the food which was a concern of ours from previous reviews. Tipping - Not required; but we tipped all the time. Before the vacation; we went to the bank and got $100 in ones. Everyday; we gave the maids candy and some money. At the nice restaraunts we would give a couple dollars. We gave the bartenders some money here and there. We ended up tipping around $75 the entire vacation and it was worth it. The employees work very hard to make sure our vacation is enjoyable. The workers have lots of enthusiasm and are a real pleasure to be around. They have great personalities and really enjoy their job!! Tips - Avoid the gift shops. Try to take everything you think you would ever need. The prices in the gift shop were insane. Our friends bought a disposable camera for $20 there and sun tan lotion for $25. The worker would not come down on the price at all. I tried to buy a tiny bottle of solarcane and they wanted $18 for it. I was shocked at the outragous prices in there. Bring all types of medicine and sun block just in case to prevent from having to pay those rediculous prices. Also bring some snacks from home. We really wanted some potato chips or just a taste of something from home. I hope this helps and you will not go wrong from picking the Punta Cana Princess.
313884,Trobers,08/12/2005,I want to go back! My husband and I went to the Punta Cana Princess from July 30 - August 6 and we we loved it.Arrival: The flight was very long as well as the bus ride so by the time we got to our resort we were hungry and tired! We were greeted with Pina coladas and friendly staff. Check in was quick and simple. Rooms: We had our room in the 5000 builing on the second floor. It was very nice; exactly as it is pictured on the website. Kind size bed; sunken living room; balcony with oceanview. AC worked perfectly and the maid refilled our room with drinks and new towels everyday. She also make a cute design with my night gown and my hubby's PJ's.Pool: Didn't go into the pool the first few days as we swam in the pool but the last few days that we did go in it was clean. Our room overlooked the pool and every morning I saw staff cleaning the pool and the surrounding area. Never had to save chairs even the ones under a palapa.Hotel: This is a quiet hotel which I didn't mind at all. The grounds of the hotel were very nice and clean. The gardeners worked very hard in the hot weather; trimming and cutting and landscaping daily.Food: We never went hungry staying here! The 24 hr all-inclusive is a real plus as well as being able to eat at the sister resorts. Food at the main buffet was good; the made to order eggs and pasta were great. They had a theme almost everynight with different selection of foods. we didn't eat at the main buffet much though because we preferred the larger selection at the sister buffet. We also booked a la cartes for every night. We wanted to try all the a la cartes but couldn't make it on 2 nights. We did try the Tex Mex; the Italian; The Mexican (CCP); The Dominican (TP); The Chinese (CCP). Our favorite was the Mexican restaurant. The Dominican restaurant wasn't so good. Had the filet mignon at the Tex Mes which was recommended by many and it was perfect; my hubby had the ribs and he said they were delicious. Lamb at the Italian were also very good as well as the Salmon filet. We also tried the beach restaurant at the PCP for breakfast and snack and they had very good pizza and fried chicken! Tried the beach restaurant at the TP as well; not a very large selection but good as well. The Buffet at the PCP/TP was where we ate our lunches and breakfast mainly. Very good selection; wasn't very busy but compared to the PCP I guess it would be. They has a pasta station and 2 grill stations making fresh meat all the time. Drinks were always refilled; never had my glass empty for longer than 2 minutes before someone came and brought me a new drink or asked me if I wanted another. Same as plates; they were cleared seconds after finishing it. Food was always hot and fresh when we went. Bars: Always got a drink in under 1 minute. Never watered down; once they gave me 1/3 rum in my pina colada! Too strong for me. Service was fast and friendly.Beach: Picture perfect! I did see them clean the beach very often; raking seaweed and combing the sand. Also there were staff cleaning the beaches of litter everyday round the clock. Once again; never had to save a chair. PCP/TP: The sister resorts were nice as well; they had 3 pool altogether but we didn't go in any of them as our pool was big enough. The tram that goes aroundt he resorts came probably every 10 minutes; sometimes we had to wait but other times we like to walk along the beach or across the paths to the other resorts. The grounds were very nice to walk through.Overall: Very nice and clean hotel. Staff were very friendly and helpful; always got a friendly Hola from any staff that walked by. The shared ammenties is a real plus. There was plenty of variety of good food; especially with the 8 a la cartes; 3 buffet restaurants and food 24/7! It's hard not to be able to find anything that you liked! We loved the PCP and would go back any day!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,08/11/2005,Not the best; but not the worst We visited the Punta Cana Princess the first week of August. Overall; the resort was good value for the reasonable price we paid. I would rate it a solid four...it is definitely not a five as some sites may rate it.Here is the break down:Resort - the resort itself was very clean and well maintained. However; if you are looking for fun and excitement; this is not the place. It was very quiet and activities were minimal.Food - the buffet was average; but please be careful what you eat. Many people; including us; all got sick at one point or another. I would recommend eating a la carte every night for dinner. Lots of options because you can visit the restaurants at the sister hotel Caribe next door. TexMex Restaurant - the filet mignon was greatIl Baccio (Italian)- calzones were amazingShangay (Chinese) - deliciousMexican Restaurant - good; but they don't have soft tortilla shellsBrazilian - great and unique dining experienceMare Nostrum (Seafood) - different; but goodLa Creperie - awesome! Bars - keep this in mind...no one at the resort speaks English so knowing basic Spanish will go a long way. There is no drink menu so when you see someone with a drink that you like; ask them what it is so you can order it too. Be cautious of the mashed banana drinks that may upset your stomach.Beach - absolutely perfect. Gorgeous white sand beach and chairs are always available.Pool - pools were good; but definitely more going on at the Caribe. If you like peace and quiet; stay at Punta Cana Princess. If you like activity; go the Caribe pools. The pool at Punta Cana Princess was much cleaner. The pools at the Caribe had too many bugs.Weather - the weather was great the week we were there; but can be unpredictable. A lot of humidity; so ladies don't even think about trying to straighten your hair. I went curly all week with lots of de-frizz.Other tips to rememeber:- Building 4 or 5 are great; closest to the pool and the beach- Use bug spray in the evening to avoid bug bites- Book your restaurant reservations at least one night in advance to avoid disappointment- Visit the Bavaro Princess at night - this is definitely a 5 star and the shows are so much better here than at the Caribe- Visit the Casino if you like gambling - pretty impressive and there are coupons for $5 matching your playOverall; our visit was good and it served its purpose of some rest relaxation in a nice environment.
313884,diamondsuz,08/10/2005,PCP Paradise Vacation Just returned back from our first vacation in DR on Monday. My daughter (18 yrs. old) and I had a great time. We were a bit concerned with weather; sickness and hurracaine issues but turned out had absolutely nothing to worry about.Flight by Skyservice went very smooth. Only complaint was how cold the plane was and lack of blankets. Arrived at PC Airport and was quickly transported by Sunquest bus to resort.Check in at resort went quickly. Offered us cold drinks while we waited in line. Front desk greeter was very friendly and met us with a big smile and a bit of personal chit chat. Room was not ready but only a 45 minute wait. Gave us a chance to grab a cold drink at the lobby bar and walk around for our first look at the resort. Bags were brought right to room by Bellboy when ready. Room was exceptionally clean and cool as AC was already running. Room had two double beds; ceiling fan; sunken living room with sofa bed; television; bar fridge that was stocked daily by maid with beer; coke;sprite and bottled water. Had our swimsuits on and were in the pool within minutes of getting our luggage.The PCP is so quiet and private. Never a problem to get a lounge chair at the pool or beach. No lineups at the bar. A la carte could be booked every night if you wanted. Food at a la carte restaurants was great. Especially enjoyed the fillet mignon at the Steakhouse and the Calzone at the Italian. Booked four nights of restaurants; ate buffet 1 night and enjoyed dinner on the beach at the Saturday night Beach Party. Always lots to eat and plenty of selection. Neither my daughter or I suffered any sickness. We did make sure our tetnus shots were up-to-date and got a hep A shot on the advice of our doctor.My daughter and I both did well purchasing souvenirs at the local beach vendors booths. They love to barter. Word of warning...their prices start very high; however; they are happy to negotiate. PCP guests have the opportunity to share all of the facilities of both the Carible and Tropical and yet they could not use ours. That meant great restaurants; bars and entertainment to use there with quiet and private facilities at our resort. The best of both worlds. The shuttle to Caribe was convenient and kind of nice on a hot; summer evening. Walk was very short if you didn't want to wait for shuttle. We went to see the entertainment every night. The DR people really put on some great shows. Nothing more relaxing than sitting under the stars with a cold drink and watching a show.Beach was beaaaautiffffulll! Blue water and soft sand. We enjoyed a few long walks along the beach shore as well as swimming in the crystal clear water. Weather made it all the better. Sunshine ever day of our vacation. Very warm but who can complain when you have a cold drink in your hand and the cool water a step away. Staff at resort were very friendly. Never had to wait to be served for food or drinks. First night there; realized sliding door lock was broken. Probably nothing to be concerned about but being two females travelling alone thought it best to get fixed. Went to lobby at 10:00 pm and told them problem. They had a repair man in our room within 5 minutes. He replaced both sides of the door lock and had it locking properly within 15 minutes. Maid left lots of clean towels with pretty fresh flowers laying on them each day. Fridge was stocked and room was clean including sparkling clean sliding door windows. We made sure to bring a lot of goodies so that we could leave her gifts every day. It was very much appreciated. Flight home was smooth. Biggest complaint about whole trip was Skyservice handling our luggage. We waited at the carousel for over an hour. When approached by us as a large group of concerned travellers; the reps had no answers and actually left their booth to avoid us. Skyservice will undoubtedly receive lots of complains about this and lose some business. It was a fantastic holiday! We will definitely return to the DR again some day and this resort would be at the top of our list of choices to stay!
313884,manateeboy,08/09/2005,Will Not Return to the Punta Cana Princess Just returned from Punta Cana Princess and it was the first vacation in a long time that we were more than ready to leave. First let me say that this was our second trip to Punta Cana this year. We stayed at the Ocean Blue in March for one week and loved it; including the food. The OB main food buffet was always very FRESH and the alacartes were very good. Not so at the Punta Cana Princess. First of all the GOOD:The weather was perfect; not a drop of rain all week.Checkin and checkout were no problem.The resort is layed out nicely (very much like Ocean Blue) and the staff for the most part were helpful and friendly.The room was spacious with plenty of closet and drawer space; double sinks and nice balconies. The air conditioning worked well. We stayed in building 4000 on the second floor.The beach; as we already knew; was great and the ocean was the perfect temperature.Dinner reservations for the alacartes were easy to make - we made them all in one day. Guest Service desk was good.Now for the BAD:The food at the main buffet was terrible. Perhaps the lack of air conditioning was the reason. Some of it (especially the cheese and fruits) looked like it was recycled from the last meal. The breakfast buffet was probably the worst. The OJ was from a can and not cold. The pancakes and waffles were never made fresh; always laying in a cold tray and tasted like rags. When I asked one of the cooks to make me a fresh waffle; he said; No. The bacon was all stuck together and tasted terrible. The breads weren't great either -- not much taste and sometimes they were stale. The sweet buns were Yuk! The only thing that was OK were the eggs; that were cooked to order. Although; they were fried in a lot of oil. The lunch buffet wasn't much better. Hope they repaired the pizza warmer by now. You couldn't get a hot slice of pizza. The Caribe buffet was a ZOO! We didn't eat at the buffets at night; we ate at the alacartes. They were hit and miss -- mostly miss. One night we were at the Tex Mex and ordered filet mignon. They served it ROAR! And the waiter said that's what we ordered! We said; Medium Rare; not Roar. As far as the drinks; we only drank wine which was OK. The bar drinks were awful. We did have more than a touch of illness (both of us) as did MANY of the other guests we talked with. Most did complain about the FOOD! This did not happen at Ocean Blue. Luckily we had an antibacterial prescription with us that we both took for 3 days.Don't count on the shuttle to the Caribe - it's quicker to walk.The Pool: The first day we arrived the pool was a little murky and was green. People complained and by the third day it was better. The pool was not as clean as Ocean Blue. Before we went to the Punta Cana Princess; we read all the reviews on Trip Advisor and it's hard to believe that in most cases; the reviews were so Positive! We have traveled to many countries in the Caribbean and in Cancun; Mexico and have never gotten ill from the food. Will we return to Punta Cana -- not sure. Will we return to the Punta Cana Princess - absolutely NOT.On a high note -- we met some very nice people from Indiana: Todd and family and from Toronto: Anne and Richard. Also from Canada: Keisha; Steve; Andrew and his lovely girlfriend.MANATEEBOY (Pete and Lynne)
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/21/2005,Thanks Trip Advisor Sunset over the Buffet
313884,JD17,07/17/2005,R I travelled to the Punta Cana Princess July 4 to 11; 2005. I traveled in a group of 9 people. This is a spectacular resort; in a spectacular destination. We booked our group through Sunquest Vacations; and flew with Skyservice. Flight Transfers: Smooth; a lot of leg room; and quick baggage pickup. Very impressed with Skyservice. Our transfer to the hotel was pretty rocky; and a little nauseating. However; we made it to the hotel safley and with all of our luggage; thats the most important thing.Check-in: We were greeted at the hotel with cold drinks; which was great; because it was 38 degrees. We did have to wait about 40 min. to check in; but we did sit on the back of a full bus on the transfer. So; thats our fault. Resort: Perfect spot for rest and relaxation. The lobby was beautiful; big and had the open concept idea. The grounds were kept immaculate. The resort itself was smaller compared to the neighbouring resorts; but still pretty big! Rooms were all suites. Which had 2 queen size beds; a big bathroom with double sinks; a living room; mini-fridge; and balcony. Rooms were very clean and spacious. The pool; was very nice; it did get a bit dirty after a storm went through. You get exchange privlages at the Tropical Princess and the Caribe Club Princess. Nighlty enteFood Drinks: The food was amazing!! Between the buffets and the A La Cartes; if you cannot find something that you enjoyed; then you know that you are too much of a picky eater. The food was fresh and plentiful; different themes at the buffets everyday! Plus you get to use the restaurants at the Caribe Club Princess; and the Tropical Princess; so LOTS OF SELECTION. Drinks were also very good. Huge selection; from espresso to a huge variety of alcohol. Try the Punta Cana Princess and the Wazzzzup.Entertainment: Hotel was very quiet; with an option of entertainment. This is what we wanted! The animation team was there; and they had a daily outline of activities for everyone in the family. They were not pushy if you did not want to participate. The hotel is very quiet at night; you can go to the Caribe Club Princess (by complimentary shuttle; or 10 min. walk on path) to see their shows; which were excellent!! Very talented for a resort venue.Staff: Most staff were extremeley friendly; with the occassional odd-ball. It is a huge plus if you know basic spanish as only about 50% of the staff could speak fluent english. But very kind for the most part.Tipping: It is not required; but it is accepted. I only tipped our maid; only because she was very nice; friendly; and courteous. They only make an average of $50US per week; so take that into consideration; when you consider tipping. Beach: Big and beautiful!!!!! Clear blue waters; crystal white sand!! Just perfect. Bonus: No need to reserve lawn chairs or palapas; there was always a bunch free! TOPLESS BATHING ALERT!! There was not too many topless from our hotel; it was mainly those staying at other hotels walking along the beach.Day Tours: We did the half-day shopping tour; and the Bavaro Runners. IF you enjoy shopping; definetly go on the the shopping tour. Souvenirs at the resort are very over priced. The Bavaro Runners; was phenomenal!! Experience culture; day to day life; food; beach; agriculture; horse back riding; and much more; all in one day. I highly recommend it!! PS - don't forget to heckle with the store clerks; they try to scam tourists. When they quote you a price; cut it by 60% and work your way up from there.Overall; I highly recommend the Punta Cana Princess; if I had to stay here again; I would not be disappointed.
313884,lorochka,07/14/2005,It was great; but.... Punta Cana Princess resort.We went there in July 4-11;2005. Basically; we liked that resort; espessialy our room and room service. No complains at all. Food was not so bad. We were not hungry. But I had some problem with my stomack; after visiting restourant; but not so serious.Beach-is amasing! The best impressions! Not forgetable.Before going to this resort I read some peoples review and opinion about everything. It was very usefull; especially about stolen stuff on the beach. We tried to be carefull; but anyhow someone stole my hasband's googles at the first day on the beach; while we went for swimming. One more thing about watersport. You should be ready to pay for everything there. We thought that the only scuba is not included; like in most of resorts and didn't expect that we should pay even for catamaran. And one more thing. Resort is not big. There is no theatre; disco; dance there. You should go to next resort. Of course; It is not a big deal; but....We liked being there; but we don't go there again. This is not 5 star resort; like our travel agent told us; that's for sure.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/13/2005,Excellent and Beautiful Resort!!!! We just got back from a 4 night 5 day vacation at the Punta Cana Princess and loved it!!!!!!! Can't wait to get back. When you first get there you are greeted with a cold pina coloda and the resort is beautiful. You must make reservations at the Ala Carte restaurants; the Tex Mex restaurant was delicious ; get either the chicken or the steak or both!!!! The buffet food was alright but you will find something you can eat. The weather was nice!!!!!!89 degrees everyday. The rooms were very clean and comfortable. Make sure you do the Jurastic Sufari tour and if you buy anything always negotiate the price; I got a large canvas painting and mask for $100 and he originally told me it would cost $175. Anyway you will have a blast; you can go to the casino by hotel shuttle and you also have access to 2 of their sister properties; the one you want to spend a lot of your time for entertainment is the Caribe princess. The Punta Cana princess is very kid friendly; we don't have any kids; but it was a very quiet resort which we liked. You won't be sorry; our stay was excellent!!!!!!!!!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/09/2005,not terrible; but not great I just got back from the Punta Cana Princess just a couple of hours ago. I must admit that it was not my favorite vacation although many of the less than satisfactory conerns were not the fault of the hotel. We were scheduled to arrive in the mid afternoon of July 1; but due to problems with the charter airline; we had an 11 hour delay; and we did not get to the resort until about 2:AM. Once we did arrive check in was pleasant. The gentleman at the front desk was very polite; helpful; and efficient. Staff members promptly delivered our luggage to our room. However; the A/C had been turned off in our room; and it was hotter than blue blazes. In fact; even with running the A/C full throttle for the entire week; the room never did get cool. Literally; it was hotter in the room than outside. On a more positive note; after we unpacked; we were delighted to find out that there was an open snack bar. The gentleman working the grill made us a pizza; and it was pretty good; and since we hadn't eaten in many hours; it actually tasted wonderful.We got off to a late start on Saturday; sleeping in a bit to catch up from the late night. As soon as we could; we went to the beach. The beach at the Punta Cana Princess is very nice. The water has a pretty color; and there are plenty of beach chairs. In fact; of all of the all inclusive Carribean trips I have taken; the Punta Cana Princess is the best in terms of easily accessing a shaded beach chair. No matter what time of day I went; I could always find one. Although; the water does have a pretty color; it is not as clear as I had hoped on the beach. If you are standing in knee deep water; you can not see your feet in the water. This is mainly due to the waves; which are not big; but just big enough to stir up sand in the water to limit visibility.The drinks are not very good. We purchased the super VIP package which claims to give you top shelf liquors; but those are only served in the lobby bar; and even there; they don't have Bacardi or Captain Morgan Rum. For the most part; the bartenders were very freindly and so you didn't want to complain. The exception to that was a female bartenders serving female guest. For some reason; she did not want to serve other women. My wife told me that she couldn't get served at the lobby bar; and I found it hard to believe; but I went back up there with her and saw it for myself. A couple of other ladies I spoke with told me that they had similar problems. Also; if you go expecting a good tequila drink; don't.Food: Our first dinner was at the Italian restaurant. I ordered the steak; and my wife had the chicken. My steak wasn't terrible; but it was tough and over cooked. The chicken was terrible. I did speak to some other guest who ordered the shrimp; and they said it was excellent. So; if you go to the Italian place; avoid the chicken and get the shrimp.Our second dinner was at La Cava located at a sister property. I'm not going to say it was outstanding; but it was pretty good.Probably our favorite restaurant was the Rio Grande. We ended up eating there twice. I highly recommend the mixed meat platter.I also enjoyed the Brazillian restaurant located at a sister property. While it is a far cry from some Brazillian restaurants; it was very good.The Mama Mia Restuarant; also located at a sister propery; was very good also.Of course; there were other restuarants that we didn't get the chance to try; but to be honest; I had heard negative things about the Mexican place; the oriental place; and the domincan restuarant as well. The breakfast buffets are good; and the lunch buffets are OK.Service: Freindly; but not overly efficient. During meals; glasses stay empty too long; and in general; once the food is brought out to you; you might not see a waiter/waitress again. When you do see them; they are very amiable though. Same thing for drink service on the beach. Your best bet is just to walk to the bar. If the rare occurence happens that someone does take your drink order on the beach; you might see that drink in a half hour; or you might not see it at all.Weather: Bad; but that's hardly the hotel's fault. If anything; it's my fault for planning a Carribean beach vacation during hurricane season. Lesson learned. Out of the 6 full days we stayed there; it rained 4 of them. I will say that the resort is laid out very nicely. While avoiding the feel of just a hotel; everything is very convenient and easily accessible. It's also a fairly pretty property.Overall; compared to other resorts I've stayed at (and maybe that just says more about the other places); I didn't like it. In all fairness; though; had we have had better weather and had we not have lost nearly a full day of our trip due to an airplane malfunction (neither were the fault of the hotel of course); I might would have been able to overlook some of the hotel's negatives and have a more favorable impression of the Punta Cana Princess. However; I won't be going back.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/07/2005,Absolute Perfection I stayed at Punta Cana Princess from the 12th June up to the 25th June and I only have one word for it - perfection! We went on our honeymoon; and when we arrived in our suite there was a bowl of fruit and a lovely welcome letter; together with a fantastic bottle of rum. The hotel is the smaller one of the three Princess hotels; so I would recommend that for night life you jump on the buggy car and hop over to the other hotels. The suites at this hotel are large; you have the main bedroom with a queen sized bed and on another level you can find the living area; a very comfortable sofa with a nice sized TV; coffee machine and this leads onto the verandah. The food in Punta Cana Princess is wonderful; it affords a buffet restaurant (Buffet Casabe) which have themed nights; i.e italian night; french; dominican; mexican; but apart from the huge selection of international food they offer; they also have two chefs (one normally carves meat i.e lamb pork or beef in large quantities) and the other one makes freshly cooked pasta with the sauce and filling of your choice! I think this was my favourite. They also have the sea food restaurant at the beach called the Mare Nostrum which is fantastic; we always used to go for lunch there as it is open 24 hours. They have an italian restaurant and a mexican; both very very nice. Every single person working there is so so nice; please say Hi from me to Yanira; Delia and Rosary; amongst many others of course. Julio Cesar from the Mare Nostrum is fantastic; as is Santa; she makes the meanest cocktails! Always ask for a frozen cappucino and a Bahama Mama; they are lovely. The grounds of the hotel are fantastic; and the pool is to die for. Ruben is in charge of cleaning the pool; he is really friendly. Tipping is always recommended; $1 perhaps; if you are happy with that employee's service to you they really appreciate it. Remember; tipping does go a long way. You also have a swim up bar in the pool serving the most lovely cocktails. I also recommend the spa; they have loads of beauty treatments on offer; they have competent beauty therapists which make you really relaxed about everything. The decor of the place is absolutely breath taking as is the beach on the grounds of the hotel. Beautiful white sands; crystal blue water....... If you walk towards the left for about 10 minutes; there is a beach market selling everything you might want to buy regarding souvenirs; but beware; on the dominican republic; never pay more than 50% less of what they are asking for. Always haggle; they will rob you blind. I recommend buying the Larimar which is the official semi precious stone of the island and only located there. Its similar to turquoise but lighter; worth taking a few items back home with you. Regarding the restaurants; you can book the restaurants in the other hotels as well; there is a chinese restaurant (do not order the Locomoco rice; you will have a nasty surprise); dominican; mexican and the best one of all the fish restaurant called the Pescador. For the Pescador you have to pay a small fee of 25$ per person; very worthwhile; as you can choose the freshest lobster; and they serve it with a wonderful sauce. I really cannot recommend it enough; so go ahead and book this hotel; its fantastic!
313884,girlygirljenn,07/04/2005,Loved it! Great for Honeymooners! We went for 2 weeks July 2004!!!We absolutly LOVED IT!The rooms were exactly as pictured in the brochure! We received rum a fruit basket in our room upon arrival(honeymooners).The food was average for an all inclusive resort! The pool beach were phenomenal!The hotel is quite but it was fine because you can go next store for some action more restaurants. The nightly entertainment was ok... not really professional.All in all I loved it would go back!I recommend the excursion were you drive mini speed boat to go snorkling. I think it's called Bavaro splash I don't recommend the one where you check out the countryside; see how the make cigars check out sugar cane fields. I thought it was kind of boring.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,06/22/2005,Great but not Perfect My husband and I (both 27) stayed at the Punta Cana Princess June 11-18. We were looking for a small; quiet resort - without the adults-only prices. We have only been to the RIU Tequilla in the past; so we are not well-travelled by any means. After talking to many Europeans; Americans and Canadians; we have realized that some people are too picky and should just stay home. And it was usually the people who paid $500 for the week who complained the most. Yes; the service was a little slow at the bars some of the time; but we were on vacation and not in any hurry.Here were our observations:BEACH - The beach was beautiful. You can't go wrong with the entire Bavaro Beach. However; the PCP seemed a lot less busy than the other resorts. And we had the biggest swimming area in front of our resort. ATTENTION all romantic couples - the beach at night is amazing. We felt completely safe to walk up and down it at night. And we often saw people taking a late night swim.BUTLER SERVICE - This is where we were disappointed. Sunquest advertises the resort as having butler service for drinks on the beach. There was not a server to be found. We complained to our tour rep; and he said that they could not guarentee it because we were there in the off-season. However; a bunch of other nice Canadians made a bigger fuss; and the problem was solved by the end of the week.POOL - Clean and warm with a wonderful swim-up bar. There were lots of chairs and shady spots surrounding the entire pool.BARS - Find the menu at the loby bar and remember the names of drinks you would like to try - if you don't know any Spanish this will make your vacation a lot easier. The service at the loby bar was probably the slowest; but this is where you will find the premium brand drinks (VIP only). But; if they didn't have it at the beach bar or swim-up bar; they would just send someone to deliver it - it just took about 10 minutes to get a drink. We made friends with Nelson at the swim-up bar and he took care of us for the entire week. You didn't even have to ask; he would just fill up your drink.RESTAURANTS - The Buffet Restaurants for breakfast and lunch were okay. We always found something we liked. The omlets at breakfast were awesome - as was the pasta bar at lunch. We went over to the Caribe for lunch a few times because the selection is bigger. However; the service wasn't as good (maybe because it is A LOT busier). Our biggest complaint was that there are NO fans to be founds - very hot in June. We often ordered room service just to escape the heat.The A La Carte Restaurants for dinner were AMAZING. If you are soo picky that can't find something to eat here than you should stay home. The food was great; and the service was fantastic. We ate everything from lobster to tacos to sushi. If we didn't like it; we didn't eat it. All the restaurants (except the one on the beach) are air-conditioned.They served food all night at the beach restaurant - a very small selection; but we always found something to eat after coming back from the Disco.ROOM SERVICE - We had it included in our VIP package. We ordered it about 6 times; and they messed it up 3 times - basically because the guy at the other end couldn't speak english. We ordered it to escape the heat; but we saw people taking food from the buffet to their rooms; so it wasn't necessary.SERVICE - The service at all the restaurants is amazing. We never had an empty glass of water or wine. And they will bring you whatever you want from the bar. The service at the front desk is hit and miss - it all depends who is working. We had the VIP package and didn't receive any special check-in; but that was fine with us. Service at the bars was either really slow or really fast - it all depended on who was working.ENTERTAINMENT - It was pretty quiet at the PCP. The animation staff would try and get people to particiate in morning stretching; volleyball; dance lessons; spanish lessons ..... but they weren't overly annoying if you didn't want to particiate. We didn't see any of the evening entertainment at the PCP; apparently there was something in the loby every night. We went to the show at the Caribe every night. Some nights were really good; and some were just good for a laugh. They would always start their show with the Ice Breaker where they would get audience members to participate. We often avoided this because there were a few annoying employees trying to get you on stage. The Disco was fun. They played merengue music; hip hop and techno. Locals go to the same disco; so be prepared for lots of touching on the dance floor.Overall; we had a very relaxing vacation with lots of good food to eat. We will be returning with our kids next year.Enjoy.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,06/09/2005,Very Good My husband and I visited the PCP from May 22-29. After surviving our hard landing courtesy of Skyservice; we were pleasantly surprised with the PCP. The resort was beautiful and clean. We had a suite on the first floor and were worried about bugs coming into our room but surprisingly there were none. The only time we were bothered by mosquitoes was on one night after it had rained. It only rained one afternoon when we were there and other than that it was extremely hot and sunny. We spent most of our trip sitting on the beach and swimming in the ocean because it was too hot to do anything else. We did squeeze in 3 games of mini-golf at the Caribe Club Princess. We tried to use the facilities at the Bavaro Princess as was specified in the advertising by Sunquest but were not welcome to use any of their facilities other than their Casino. We were disappointed by this so beware it's really STAY AT ONE; PLAY AT TWO. I complained about this and since returning I've noticed that the advertising now specifies that the facilities at both the Caribe Club Princess and Tropical Princess can be used. Good luck getting to the Tropical Princess because it's definitely not a walking distance away. Other than that; the food at the a la cartes were fantastic especially the seafood restaurant where they served lobster without any surcharges. There was no limit on the number of a la carte dinners you could have for the week. The buffet was ok but basically we were a little scared to try most of the food so we stuck to omeletes for breakfast and pasta for lunch. On Saturday night there was a beach party which consisted of a Dominican Buffet on the beach; a Dominican marketplace also on the beach; and dancing and games on the beach as well. It was wonderful! A tip really does go a long way there and all the staff were very friendly and mostly all spoke English. The waiters especially loved saying Very Good and by the end of our trip all the resort guests were saying VeryGood in their best Dominican accents. Our suite had fresh hibiscus flowers in it everyday and also cute towel animals. Overall; we had a great time but probably would not return to the PCP as there are so many other resorts and countries to explore.
313884,joeandangela,06/06/2005,Very quiet sunny days
313884,drumleyhill,05/29/2005,Honest Review Well; we arrived at the hotel at midnight; and we were welcomed by cocktails and very quick service. The room we had was the best room ever; stayed on the top floor overlooking pool room # 5203. Bar replenished everyday; linen on bed changed each day and always fresh towels left; very happy with room and room service. Pool clean and well designed; with a nice swim-up bar. The pool area was quiet with soft spanish music playing in background. The louder music was down at the beach area near bar. Grounds to the resort very well maintained; lush and clean. The sauna room was fantastic; hottest one I have ever been in and it had a great jacuzzi just outside the building. Beach beautiful and we walked the beach day which is unusual for us; miles of white sand and close to the markets that is set-up on the beach. You can buy anything you need from the stalls; cigars; booze; t-shirts; gifts etc.; be careful the locals always ask way too much for their stuff but you can barter big time. My brother traded his old t-shirts and ball caps in for cigars and rum. Night life is basically in the other resorts which a shuttle runs every 15 minutes to which resort you want. We kept in the Princess and did not go to the other resorts but my brother and his friends did; they loved it especially the disco's. The only disappointment we had although we did not expect to get the same quality and selection was the food. The soups and deserts were very good; and the breads were freshed baked. For a small resort and the price we would recommend this resort to our friends etc. Where can you go for $1000; we enjoyed our stay.
313884,suedon61,05/23/2005,We'll be back!! My husband and I and 2 other couples stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from April 14-28. We had an awesome vacation. Our maid was Digna and she was wonderful. We left a tip and a little gift everyday. I can tell you a tip goes a long way. We tip at home for good service so we should do the same elsewhere. We had excellent service everywhere in the hotel. If you can't find anything to eat I can tell you; you don't eat much. There was every kind of food you can think of. Say hello to Isabel and Martin at the Mare Nostrum bar and the Pool bar. And Hello to Adonis in the buffet. FROM CANADA!! These people made our stay at this hotel a wonderful experience. We did just about every excursion they had Bavaro Runners; Bavaro Splash(ask for Indiana Jones); Caribbean Festival; Maniti Park; The Underwater Sea Aquarium(unbelievable); Deep Sea Fishing; and Parasailing. I would reccomend them all. Our Sunquest rep was Luco and he was great. anything we needed he was there for us. (Great Guy). If you plan on taking travellers cheques be aware that you can only get Pesos for them even at the bank there. I would suggest american cash. We had a safe in our room and your money is safe there. No worry's. I would reccomend this hotel for everyone. Feel free to contact me for more info.
313884,TeamTaz,05/17/2005,Paradise in Punta Cana My family and I spent two weeks at the Punta Cana Princess from April 14 to April 28th. Our Room was located in the 5000 building on the second floor which overlooked the pool and had a partial ocean view. When booking this hotel I would request a balcony room as other guests who had ground floor rooms complained of mosquitos in their room at night. Once the staff was informed they sprayed the area affected and everything was fine for them after that. Our maid (Digna) went above and beyond to take care of us. We left her a tip every morning and when my boys (8) found out that she also had a son left her some toys they brought to give away. On the day we left I also gave her all of our uneeded medication we had brought with us. We booked the VIP package and personally feel it was well worth the extra cost. It allowed us priority booking for the al-a-cartes and the massage was awesome. The buffet always had something you could eat. My son and myself are picky eaters and I can tell you we never went hungry. My only complaint regarding the buffet is that the food in the main section could have been a little hotter. We became friends with a server named Adonis and once again he went above and beyond to make our vacation the best; he even met us in the lobby on the afternoon of our departure to say good-bye. We really liked the Tex-Mex and Mexican al-a-cartes. Having two boys aged 8; I was a little disappointed with the kids club as it was more geared for kids under 5; but can one really complain when they have a beautifull pool and awesome beach to boogie board at!! We went on two excursions; the Manati Park and Bavaro Runners and would recommend both. On the Manati Park we paid the extra money to swim with the dolphins which I must say was one of the highlights of our vacation. In closing; we would return to the Punta Cana Princess in a heartbeat.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/03/2005,Excellent Vacation My family spent Mar27 to Apr3 at the Punta Cana Princess...and loved it. After researching many vacation spots; I ended up choosing one that I knew nothing about (mainly because it was a Deal of the Day and got an excellent price).... lucky for us we were very happy. The resort is small (compared to the Caribe); but we liked it because it wasn't as crowded. The rooms were very spacious; with a sunken living room and pull-out bed. We found the whole resort very clean and the staff was very accomodating. Having a 9 and 11 year old; the smaller resort allowed us to feel comfortable letting the kids go on their own around the resort (security was good). Kids Club was definitely not good for their age..... mainly for toddlers; but there was enough for them to do otherwise. We made use of many of the daily activities which were available...beach and pool aerobics; dance lessons; spanish lessons; kayak races and much more. The activities instructors were fun and sociable...and got people involved (but not pushy). We liked being able to visit the Caribe for the shows and restaurants; however it was impossible for us to reserve a restaurant...they were always full (a little disappointing); but we did try the crepe restaurant...excellent. We didn't mind the buffet for breakfast and lunch; but only went once for dinner.... we're not buffet people. We REALLY enjoyed the Tex Mex restaurant... ate fillet mignon twice! The Italian was good too. The beach was amazing... very clean and BLUE!!! This was our first vacation with our kids and now they're hooked!!! I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone looking for a relaxing family vacation!!
313884,bonbini1,04/27/2005,loved it! Four of us spent April 15-18th at the PCP and we all had a wonderful time. It was a near perfect vacation! We all loved the rooms; the pools and the beach. The food and drinks were delicious. We had the VIP package and we all felt we got our moneys worth. The massages were great. It was my 9th visit to the DR and I would rate the PCP as one of my very favorites. I loved the size of the resort and the bonus of having the use of the 2 resorts next door- they really did a great job with the layout. The employees were very friendly as usual and the service we received was top notch. I honestly can't find anything to complain about. The PCP is a great value for your vacation dollar and I wouldn't hesitate to return.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,04/24/2005,Good hotel...bad weather! Beach Area
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,04/22/2005,Great place to stay First off; let me tell you that last year my husband and I stayed at the the Caribe Club Princess which we really liked. We decided we would try the Punta Cana Princess (PCP) this time since it is a much newer property (just over a year old) and you still have full access to the Caribe. We loved the PCP because it was much smaller so you could get to everything you wanted quickly. The food options at the Caribe are better but again; you still have full access to them at PCP. Check-in was quick and our room was great. Very big; clean and a great view. The buffets had a huge selection. The omelettes made to your order were delicious. We loved the smoothie bar at breakfast (banana; watermelon; pineapple; etc.) We also loved the grilled items at lunch and the pasta bar. For dinner we have eaten at almost all of the a la carte restaurants between the two properties and here is our review of them.PCPThe Italian restaurant is very good.The Tex-mex restaurant is okay. I didn't enjoy the beef but that is just because the beef there is different than US beef. If I had ordered something else I might have liked it.The Mediterrean restaurant was also okay. My meal was much better than my husbands. He felt like the seafood on his plate had been frozen and wasn't fresh like you would hope.CCPThe seafood restaurant was our favorite. The lobster is excellent.The Italian restaurant is great. Probably better than the one at PCP.The Brazilian restaurant is also very good. You get to try many different meats so it was pretty neat. I was very stuffed by the time dinner was over.The mexican restaurant was okay. We ate there last year and can't remember much other than we decided to leave it off the list this year.LaCava - steak restaurant is very good. I got lobster there and it was excellent.The crepe place is also very good. The Domincan restaurant was okay. My husband ate goat for some crazy reason and it messed with his stomach.The Chinese restaurant is probably the only one we never tried.The buffets at both places are very good. We would eat late and usually stop by the buffet before dinner to see if there were any items we wanted to try as an appetizer. There usually were. I'm sure some people won't be happy with the food but we enjoyed it. There was such a huge selection that it would be hard not to find something you liked;The property at the PCP is so clean. They are constantly cleaning things. The grounds are pretty but the Caribe's grounds are spectacular. Since the PCP is so new; the trees and landscaping aren't as mature as the Caribes. The entertainment is pretty good and the animation team does a good job at trying to get people involved and have fun.The staff was so friendly. We enjoyed getting to know several staff members and would look for them throughout the day to cut up with. The PCP did have beach service for drinks. They didn't have that at the Caribe last year so that was pretty good to have. We also tipped throughout the week. If we had good service or really liked a worker; we would give them a tip. The beach in Punta Cana is probably the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Definitely wear lots of sunscreen because the sun is strong.When we go back we may stay at the PCP again or may venture off and try someone else but I would definitely recommend the Princess hotels in Punta Cana to everyone.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/27/2005,Disappointed Room was good. we did run out of hot water one night. Plenty of food but not very good. Our friends were given a room in building one and it was NOT acceptable;unclean and damp. They were given another room after putting up a fight.The staff serving food are very good. The beach is great. If you go to the shops outside of the resort property be prepared to be mobed by merchants wanting to sell there goods. We did buy some things but you must bargin.DONT pay what they ask;give them 65-75 percent less and if they say no walk away. Be very careful about what you eat and drink. Bring something to clean your hands with. Two in our party of seven got sick. DONT DRINK THE WATER;NOT EVEN TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH. We will be back to the Dominican Republic ;but not to any princess or 4 star resort. 5-6 star only. We were told by other tourst we met that the 5-6 star resorts are MUCH BETTER.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/23/2005,Well worth it Just came back on March 8th from a 2 week stay at the Punta Cana Princess. We loved the resort. The resort is fairly new; so nothing was old which is nice. You have full access to 2 sister properties next door (Caribe Club Princess and Tropical Princess) but they could not come to ours. We went there for the evening entertainment and tried a few restaurants but we preferred the 3 ala carte restaurants at our resort. There is the Italian; Tex Mex Steakhouse and the Mare Nostrum (fish restaurant). The filet mignon was excellent. We enjoyed the food at all 3 and the service also. Alot of attention was paid to you on being served and our wine glass never went empty. The food at the buffet was okay; but we definetly preferred being served on at the ala carte restaurants. We met people from all across Canada and Europe and everyone we talked to really liked the resort. It is a quieter resort but its nice because people are not ontop of you at the beach or around the pool area. Lawn chairs were always available at the beach and pool side no matter what time of day it was. We noticed walking along the beach; how at many of the resorts people were sunbathing and everyone seemed so cramped together.The beach is beautiful and such soft golden sand. I have never seen a beach that nice and there always was a breeze so you were never sweating while sunbathing.If you are looking for a quieter resort this one is for you.On the way back on the plane we overheard many people complaining about various things at their resorts. I was sure glad that we had no complaints.I would definetly go back there for the food; the cleanliness and the beach. The staff were also very nice and hardworking.P.S. A tip goes a long way there; so don't forget at the restaurants or at the bars. They really appreciate it.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/22/2005,Great time at the Princess Had a great time at the Punta Cana Princess. The food was good and the service was very good! We found that if the people were given a small tip they would do anything to provide great service. The pool area was great; very clean. The beach was very clean and there were always chairs available. Our room was very nice; the maid restocked our fridge everyday.We enjoyed the size of the resort as well; it is smaller with very few line ups anywhere. Had a great holiday!!!! We will return again next year.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/17/2005,If you like food- go somewhere else We stayed at the property in Feb 2005. The hotel itself was fine; the rooms very nice; clean ; the common areas always clean also. However; the food was another story. It ranged from revolting to not bad. The buffets that we tried were absolutely awful. One Chinese buffet (the first night) was so awful we couldn't eat much. The next morning at buffet breakfast it was equally as bad--cut up hotdogs with ketchup was not too exciting. The fruit was not the greatest and the coffee was Nescafe. We had stayed at the Riu up the beach last time and the food was exceptional and the coffee was fabulous. You might ask why we stayed here this time; a neighbour who is a foodie stayed here when it opened and stated the food was fantastic; it was worth a try ; we thought. We approached each meal with wonder- wonder what this will be like. Their Tex-Mex restaurant was fairly good. Their Mare Nostrum (seafood) was acceptable; so we stuck to these. We had heard from others that their Domincan buffet was dreadful as was a couple of the other places at the Tropical next door.The bartenders tended to ignore you quite regularly in favour of those who were Spanish speaking or those; as we discovered; who had tipped them regularly. One bartender tried to sell me marijuana; maybe this is not a bad thing if you want this but being a total non smoker and adverse to drugs on the whole; I was not impressed.The wait staff in the restaurants we attended were extremely nice I must say.The beach and weather ; of course; were wonderful. In spite of our misgivings about the food we had a pleasant enough stay. I would; however; never recommend anyone to stay there.They claimed this was a 5 star; I don't think so.Next time; back to a Riu.
313884,frequentraveller9,03/16/2005,great resort Just returned from a wonderful week at this resort. Everything was great-the beach; the restaurants; the amenities; the staff and all the surrounding facilities. Hopefully it will continue to remain a first class vacation spot. We are planning on returning soon.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/08/2005,Amazing My name is David; I麓m from Spain and I Just returned from a week long stay at the Punta Cana Princesa with my 8 companions of university (7 girls and 1 guy); We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess February 22 to March 2; 2005. The resort is wonderfoul; it麓s a small resort; there is always a chair at the pool or beach; the buffet is never too crowded and not much of a wait at the bar! But if nightlife is important the Areito Disco it麓s in the next door Princess Resort with free transport or only 10 minutes walking over a beautiful manglar; the disco it麓s open to the first hours of the morning and in it there are a good dominican people. The service in the Hotel are the best; smiling all the time; I speak Spanish and it is an advantage but if you don麓t speak Spanish don麓t worry they speak English too (like me hahaha..) The rooms are plenty of space and they were so clean all the time; the king size beds are so commodes鈥?the Beach (Playa Bavaro) are so clean; deep and light blue all the day with her white sand鈥?the animation staff it麓s the very best with her aqua-aerobic in the beach or pool; bachata-merengue-salsa dance lessons; stretching and more. The food buffets were great; they had different themes; with a lot of cakes; ice creams; fruis; natural juices鈥? We were to the restaurants (3 in our resort 9 in the next door) two times in our resort: Italian; Tex mex and Mare Nostrum鈥?the food and the service excellent.P.D.: My e-mail it麓s speedy.one50@gmail.com and ------- if you were during February 22 to March 2; 2005 please write me; we have too many photos and videos and things that to say; and I need to practise me English; specially I remember I girl (she speaks in French and I don鈥檛 know his name鈥aybe 鈥淪TEFFANI鈥?鈥aybe from Canada?鈥?please write me!) Thanks and enjoy your travel to Punta Cana Princess.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/24/2005,very good holiday just got back from the punta cana princess feb 22 after one week of avarage weather this resort has everything you need and more.arrival front desk check in was smooth we had the vip package which is a big plus for the extra money . rooms very large and clean ask for rooms closer to the ocean if possible if not they have a good transportation system to get you around the resort .meals were very good in all the restaurants they all have a different variety of food .make reservations well in advance you can book upto four days in advance at the vip center near main pool .beach was very nice you can walk for mile in each direction very clean had no problen geting lounge chairs .service was very good with no problem with anything the people would try to do anything for you . we had them singing a dancing . tips will help not alot but a couple of bucks here and there go along way . edwardo at the beach restaurant was alot of fun rosita in the restaurant alot of fun .they all would try and help you have a great time.entertainment was done very professional dont miss the lion king if still there . casino just at the end of the drive to hotel 2 minute walk they will shuttle you back to you room at night.suggestions . if vip go to vip center as soon as you find your room to make reservations a restaurants and information on what is available to you .if you want to go deepsea fishing make sure it is calm and you see the boats .we went and the waves were very big the boat was a mess washrooms disgusting not usable . it was not fun at all we came back after 3hrs instead of the full 4hrs.have a great trip if you have any guestions email me at kevin.huskie@mts.net
313884,Gilles,02/23/2005,Pleasantly surprised Grounds
313884,BeachBirthday,02/23/2005,Run don't walk to book the Princess My husband and I were at the Punta Cana Princess from Feb 12 to 19. Really just got back. It was fantastic! The front desk staff Diana; Karen and the rest were helpful; pleasant and fully bilingual (Spanish/English). Any problems with your room go see them. Our shower was blocked and not running properly; it was fixed within the hour of our telling them about it.The food; oh my! My mouth still waters when I think about it. The buffet was nice; lots of choices. The a la carte restaurants; of which you have 6 to choose from; at least the ones we ate at; were great. The Rio Grande is the tex/mex; the filet mignon was done to perfection each time we ate it. The Brazilian restaurant; over at the Caribe Princess; was very nice. The salads were a buffet and then the meat and fish (six different kinds) are served right off the skewers. Very nice flavours. La Cava (extra$$; 25 per person) was worth it. The carpaccio melted on my tongue. My husband's t-bone took up the whole plate. It is a meal that in Montreal would have set us back $150 or more. The house wine is a Spanish wine; very palatable. The bar staff were all wonderful; especially Julio; the head bartender. Remember to ask for the Pina Colada's con Rhum otherwise......no rhum.As to the language issue; try; learn a few phrases before you leave. As long as you try they will try. Smiling and being polite goes a long way.The only difficulty we had was with the tour operator; Sunquest Vacations. Their representative at the hotel was more concerned with selling excursions than helping us solve our VIP booking problem (not the hotel's fault). We will have to think twice about using them again.I would go back in an instant. Next year's vacation will be two weeks; hopefully at the Punta Cana Princess.Enjoy!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/09/2005,I agree Just got back from a week at the punta cana princesss. we enjoyed our week very much. rooms were very nice. food was very good especially at restaurants. the service was excellent. we are going back the 14th of Feb.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/08/2005,Wonderful time I can not believe some of these reviews I have read. My husband and I got married at the Punta Cana Princess on August 17; 2004. We stayed there from August 14-21 with 12 of our members of our family and friends. It was absolutely wonderful! The best vacation I have ever had! The wedding coordinator Gabriel was very helpful. He took care of everything for our wedding...it was so beautiful and completely stress free. Our wedding was right on the beach. We could not have had a better location! We had a few small problems with the service but there is a slight language barrier. It's a foreign country with their own language....be patient with them. We found that if you are friendly and try to speak a little of their language they are very helpful. A few of our people got sick. Once again; you are in another country. Be careful what you eat and drink lots of water. Take some ammodium just in case. The resort itself is absolutely beautiful. Nice; spacious rooms with frequent maid service. The landscaping is gorgeous. You have to give these people credit. It is very hot under that sun and they work VERY hard to make it beautiful inside and out for their guests. Showing genuine appreciation goes a long way with them. The animation crew and bartenders were great! Nelson; Ariel; and Mercedes were a lot of fun and tried their best to make sure we had fun. Some of the food wasn't what we were used to but once again; it is a foreign country! Be careful and you should be ok! The a la carte restaraunts were very good...with excellent service. Overall; we had a great time. We will definately return; hopefully for our one year anniversary! Aside from a few small problems; that occur during most vacations; our trip was wonderful and memorable. It was adventurous at times; yet while on the white sands of their beach it was also so relaxing. It is worth the trip!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,02/03/2005,Unbelievable resort I was there for 10 day from Jan 18 the 28th. I was there with my 3 young daughter and my husband. We are very pleased the food was great. The people were very kind and helpful. The resort is beautiful; clean and it is definetly more than a 5*. I am already planning to go back next year.Highly recommed to all families and couples.
313884,ChaCha6095,02/01/2005,A great dissapointment!!!! My family(husband and two kids aged 13 and 11) went to the PCP from Dec 24 to Jan 8.We are very easy going people and do not get upset about alot but in one word this resort was HORRIBLE!!!We travel each year at the same time so the fact that it was Christmas and busier did not influence our opinion.The food was really bad. The first 3 days we had to fight flies and eat food that the flies were crawling in. After a few days the wind picked up and it settled down. The quality of the food was really poor but we found the a la carte restraunts a bit better.Both my husband and younger daughter were quite sick for a few days.As a previous post mentioned we did not get all of the services we were supposed to be offered and it seemed that you had to work to get anything. Our rooms were a very nice size and were clean on our arrival but the maid service in our room was really bad but we didn't worry too much about that.We called the front desk one evening after one of the pop bottles in our room fell out of the fridge as we opened the door. It hit the tile and glass flew everywhere. My daughter and I were both cut in several spots and there was glass everywhere. We needed someone to bring cleaning tools up to clean up the glass. After the 4th time of being hung up on by front desk my hubby went on a hunt for mops and brooms himself.My daughter left her shoes and shirt by the pool one afternoon(totally our fault) and it took 4 days and about 8 trips to the front desk before they would take me to the lost and found. They kept just saying we'll call your room if anything shows up but I was a bit skeptical because they did not even ask me what they looked like. On the last request I was a little firm and asked to be taken to the lost and found. After waiting at the front desk for almost one hour someone showed up and we walked about 200 feet to the lost and found room!!!! Well; my daughters stuff was right on the table. If it had dissapeared I would have totally understood since it was my daughter's fault for leaving it there but why did we have to try so hard just to see the lost and found. On our second week it took three days of asking to get our VIP massage tickets- they just kept saying that they would bring them up to our room but never did.The service at this resort was very poor overall.We have been to the Mayan Riviera and Hawaii and absolutley had wonderful trips!!! This time around at the PCP we were soooo glad to go home. We spoke to many; many families who shared our view. I am not sure why the big difference in the reviews posted but I would definitley not go to this resort.I will say that the Bavaro Runners tour was an absolute blast and well worth the money.We also parasialed at the resort and it was a great experience. Our friends stayed at the Iberostar Punta Cana in November and they said it was quite good.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/31/2005,Is this the same Punta Cana Princess? Just returned from PCP on Jan 30.We also had the VIP Package.I'm not sure what happened to the previous reviewer but we found the resort to be excellent.(except the weather; but we can't blame anyone for that.Can we?) We had premium liquor(try asking);beach service was fantastic and available every day; turn down every night;massages;beach towels ON ARRIVAL as the brochure states;(not every day);excellent rooms stocked daily..........The resort is very quiet. A short ride over to Caribe;which we had full access to; brings with it the theater; disco and of course more people. If you like a bit of action it's available but nice to stick around and enjoy the relaxation. The food was excellent and included the usual all inclusive assortment. And if you looked at the fresh fruit juice bar you'll find at least 6 different fresh juice jugs made every morning;including orange at least 3 days. The Tex-Mex was an excellent meal and for VIP a gourmet meal was included.We chose La Cava at Caribe and went away stunned by the great service and meal. The presentation rivaled any 5 star in North America.(A member of our party is a chef!)The staff were fantastic. Try a little Spanish (although English is common with staff)and treat them with a bit of respect and they are truly wonderful people. A couple bucks here and there also goes a long way. We heard of no-one being ill but it can happen anywhere. We have been to theDR 5 times to different reorts and the Punta Cana Princess is up with the best. If you prefer small; quiet and friendly resorts; go for it.
313884,Tannedscot,01/30/2005,Outstanding Staff and Service
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/20/2005,Not a 5 star rating! I was at the resort January 1st to 8th. The food was always cold or salty. When you expect fresh orange juice and instead you get TANG...you know something is not right with the place.There was no entertainment for adults...you had to go to the next resort for that. The only entertainment for kids was 'mini disco' at 8:30 pm every night...for 15 minutes....thats it folks!!The resort itself is nice; the rooms are clean; and the staff are helpful; if sometimes they don't understand you.but all in all....I will not go here if I were you.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/18/2005,Not a Five Star 11 of us travelled to the Punta Cana Princess for 14 days over the Christmas and New Years holidays. Not only were 4 of our travellers extremely ill with vomitting @ diaherria; we had to have the doctor visit with needles and pills. They were all extremely ill for 3 days; at first we thought that they had contracted food posioning but later found out that it was a virus that was travelling the island similar to Norwalk. My son is still not feeling well after being home for almost 10 days and will see our family physician again this week; he is still suffering from bad stomach cramps and diaherria. We also had one of our travellers get a serious cut to his leg and he needed stitches; we called the front desk of the resort 4 times and yet could not get any help. We carried him to the doctor's office ourselves where he had his leg stitched; somehow I thought that this would have been an important issue and perhaps help would have been available. If you were travelling on your own this could have been a potentially dangerous situation. Aside from all of this we all had VIP packages; it was impossible to get Premium Brand Liquor; no nightly turn down service; all motorized sports were unavailable to us as the boats were out of service. We did not have daily beach towels in our rooms; there was no disco on the resort for the young adults and there was no nightly entertainment. The food was definetley not that of 5 star quality although the buffet was clean; the selection was very limited. There is no butler service to the beach for drinks and I beleive that the VIP package was just a joke. When booking my sons massages I was told that he had already used them! What a surprize that was; to refrain from arguing I just gave him mine. Aside from this the resort was quiet and the sun was great. We have travelled to other resorts in the Dominican previously and would tell others to shop around!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/17/2005,Great little private resort Just got back from the Punta Cana Princess on January 15. All in all this was a great resort. It is small; you never wait in any line ups; there were tons of beach chairs. The resort is very clean as are your rooms. One word of advise; if you don't like bugs and crawlers ask for the 2nd or 3rd floor. We were on the ground floor and a lot of bugs climbed in; not a big deal.The Beach is beautiful; the water is warm. We were there December 31 to January 14 and there was a lot of seaweed in the water; but we did not care. The pool is great. The animation team was fabulous as was the kids club.We did venture to the Caribe for mini golf. Tried the mexican restaurant at the Caribe; I got food poisoning; never puked so much in my life!! We gave the Caribe one more chance and tried the buffet; the resort is so huge you had to stand in line for food for 20 - 30 minutes (pasta). After that we stuck with the Punta Cana Princess; the buffet was always great and the specialty restaurants were wonderful as well.The only negatives were the first day our room was cleaned and we came back my brand new bottle of beautiful perfume was gone. I reported it but nothing was ever done. Lesson learned lock whatever you can in the safe! Also the wind was bad; I knew it would be windy but not like that; we could not lay on the beach as the sand just blew in your eyes and everywhere. Other than that great trip; I recommend the Punta Cana Princess if you want; little action; quiet; and no line ups.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/13/2005,Punta Cana Princess Punta Cana Princess we went to pc princess for two weeks;oct 10/31 it was one of the best vacations we had;the hotel is beautiful we had the vip plan;the hotel is clean;the staff are so nice; and most speak english they will do all in there power to please you.the pool is large and has a swim up bar.the food was great there are resturants and buffett;we had both.italian night they has real italian cheese;also chicken marcel;whitch you don;t get at buffetts in other resorts.chineese night they had peking duck;ect o so good.the restraunts were great;cant begin to say the diffrent foods you could choose from.breakfast was good and they had fresh creeps every morning with fresh hot fruit. the beach was clean the water beautiful.i could go on and on.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,01/13/2005,small; compact; with all the features It鈥檚 been a year since we have been to the PC Princess; Jan 2004. At that time we looked for reviews to help with our choice. It was a 50/50 split between good and bad. Most of the bad reviews were results of bad weather; language ect. The staff did their best to communicate; and we enjoyed learning from each other. Many of them know a few languages; maybe we should do the same?The bus trip was short (20min); nothing worse then spending the early morning in the airport; the rest of the morning in the air; picking up your luggage; walking into the sunshine and warm weather; then jumping on a bus for another 2 hours; only to get to your resort in the late afternoon. You can buy a nice cold beer at the airport and bring it on the bus; and sometime there may be someone selling by the buses. You can bring them on the bus and start your vacation relaxed.Upon arrival; check in was quick and easy. We were given our keys and off we went. The room was exquisite; king size bed; sunk in living room; balcony and nice size bathroom. We had noticed water on the floor of the bathroom and living room; we called and a short time later all was clean up. The room came with a coffee maker and mini fridge; great for coming off the beach for a late afternoon/before dinner cocktails or special coffee. We were on the beach by 1:30pm!The resort itself is not large; however that a plus for 2 reasons; 1 - quick dependable service everywhere; 2 - no crowds. The resort has 2 or 3 sister resorts; all within a short walk or golf cart bus ride. Eating; drinking and entertainment is included and at that time; we at the princess could go there but there patrons could not come to our resort.The food; not 5* and not a great selection; however what was there was tasty and in abundance. The buffet was clean and the staff was always pleasant and eager to please. They even came to know us by name; where we like to sit and in the morning; coffee the way we liked it.For quality; we rank this up with our visit to sandals in Jamaica. The beach and the sun are 5*+++ and thats what we went for.Like any trip; have an open mind; enjoy the different culture and smile; its catchy.
313884,JGL37,01/06/2005,Very nice place My husband and I (in our 40s) and our 12 year old just got back from a week at the Punta Cana Princess Hotel. They rate themselves a 4 + and I would agree with the 4 but maybe not the + part. We had a wonderful time and would return; if there weren't so many other places we would like to try.The hotel is relatively new and so the folliage will need to grow in somewhat; but that isn't a criticism; just a fact. The rooms are great; with a sunken living room area with a huge day bed and a trundle bed under it. Lots of hot water; double sink in the bathroom; lots of towels; hair blower and shampoo etc. The mini bar has Pepsi; 7Up and beer and was restocked daily. I did have a problem getting some Diet stuff in the room; but not at any of the bars - by the way; it's called Pepsi Light; but given the accent; it sounds more like Pesi Lie! Facilities are very very clean and everyone is very friendly. Front desk staff and Guest Services staff speak very good English and although some had less English than others; between my Spanish and their English; communication was never ever an issue.This is not the place if you are looking for much night life or swinging singles but the Caribe is next door. However; it's perfect if you want some serious R and R. There is only one pool; although it's very big; with swim up bar; volleyball net etc. There are two or three areas there you can just walk in; or the kids can sit and play. The mini club seemed good but we didn't have any need for it; so I can only tell you what I thought. The animation staff is very nice; but they are lacking some experience. I also found that if you weren't on the beach (where the animation staff is); you could easily miss out on activities as they didn't always come through the pool area and if they did; it was rather subdued. There was the usual dance classes; Spanish lessons; volleyball etc.There are two good a la cartes restaurants one TexMex; one Italian. We tried both and liked both. The buffet restaurant is a nice open airy place with lots of room and a nice variety of food - although a word of advice - don't try and sample everything cuz by the end of the week you will be bored. Be selective. If you feel like fish; have fish; but not the fish; and the beef; and some chicken with a side of pasta - Breakfasts: they have the usual hot dishes; but they also have a smoothy bar; chose your mix of fruits and they will make it for you. They also have an omelette station.Lunch/Diners: they have themed nights like Dominican; Chinese etc. They also have a carvery for the carnivores (my husband became very good friend with the staff at that station!). They also have a pasta bar with 4 different types of pasta; 3 types of sauces and a whole bunch of stuff to chose from; anything from smoked salmon (not always) to capers and onions and peppers and ham etc.By the beach they have a smaller place with pretty well runs 24 hours a day. You can almost always get pizza; fries etc; and it has bar as well.Bars: in the lobby (nice place to sit around talking or playing cards); in the restaurants of course; at the place near the beach and one ON the beach as well. We were there over the New Year and on the morning of January 1st; they had drapped the beach bar as a first aid station - it was very funny.our 12 year old was usually the first in the pool around 9am and you never had problems finding beach chairs; either by the pool or on the beach.The staff is extremely friendly; the place is very very clean; the beach is great; the drinks were cold; what else could you ask for.
313884,Deni,12/30/2004,Loved the place...Can't wait to go back We are a family of five ( 3 teenagers) and just returned from a week in paradise. The kids had a great time meeting other kids from all over; as well as bonding with the friendly staff. We were there from December 17 to 24th. It was definately a hard place to leave.On our arrival we were greated by the reservation staff and had an quick check in. Our luggage was immediately taken to our room. We arrived late Friday night so we took sometime to wander down to the beach and have a swim.Our rooms were adjoining and were very clean and bright. In this resort the nice thing is that it is quite small so from anywhere you had a short distance to walk to eat; go to the pool; or to the beach. My husband's brother stayed at a much larger resort down the beach and had at least a 20 minute walk to the beach from their room. The maid kept the rooms very clean and she appreciated the gifts and money we left for her. The mini bar was always stocked and fresh towels daily. The staff was phenomenal everywhere we went. From the lobby staff; to the restaurants; pool bar and animation. We got to know the staff very well and formed great friendships. The kids enjoyed the animation staff and the daily activities offered. There was always something to do. Even though there is the language barrier it helps to practice your spanish and try to use the common phrases and their staff also tries very hard to speak english. The beach a grounds were kept impreccable. Every morning the place looked like it had never been touched the day before. The beach was beautiful. There was never a problem getting a lounge chair either on the beach or by the pool. It didn't seem to matter what time you went. The pool bar was very entertaining and always had people visiting from all around the world. The restaurants: We ate at them all. We enjoyed the Tex Mex and the Italian. The meals were very good. We also ate at each of the buffets and there was always lots to choose from. I must admit that after awhile the food tended to taste the same. Unfortunately each of us got sick at one time or another. I happened to get sick after I ate at the buffet at the sister resort (Caribe). My three kids and I got sick for about a day; however my husband was sick for about three days. We are usure of from what; but he sure didn't feel well and had a terrible flight home. It has left a sour taste in his mouth even though he loved the place. The staff at all the eating establishments were fantastic at the PCP. The Caribe Princess next door is much larger and we didn't experience the same friendliness from that staff; although it too is a beautiful resort.The Bavaro Runner: we chose to go on only one excursion and we were very happy in this selection. We had a blast and ended up with a great group of people. I would highly recommend this excursion.The market: make sure you barter with the people. They will lower their prices. My kids were able to get some great souvenirs. My kids can't wait to go back....We loved it. If you need anymore information please do not hesitate to contact me. scotdeni@yt.sympatico.caPS Make sure to take a lot of american $1.00 bills for tipping. A dollar goes along way for these very hard working people.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,12/26/2004,Everything was perfect at the punta cana princess My girlfriend and myself went to the PC princess Dec 19-23 and had a wonderful vacation. Check in was a breeze; we got there around 5pm and went straight to our room. They transported us by golf cart. The VIP package is worth the extra money. We got a great room on the third floor by the pool. Room was clean and the maids did a great job of cleaning. We always had clean towels. The food was much better than the Catalonia Bavaro Resort that I stayed at last year. The TexMex restaurant was great get the filet. With the VIP package we decided to dine at the seafood restaurant and it was also excellent. I had the lobster and it was really good. The pool and the ocean are amazing. We had a great time lounging by both. The PC princess was really laid back and definitely for couples. the other princess resorts were where a lot of the night life and activities were held which was within walking distance. The staff was great; we don't speak spanish except for the basics and they went out of their way to try to speak to us in english and make small talk. Hector at the beach buffet was really professional and kind. Last year I was ate alive by mosquitoes at the Catalonia; this year I had bugspray with me and I never had to use it. Don't spend too much time worrying about the malaria. Sometimes things just get blown way out of proportion. Not worth going to a doctor and spending hundreds of dollars for medication. Be more frightened of the airplane ride there if you go through US Airways. The massage package is really great. We upgraded to the 55 minute massage and it was well worth it. There is no longer horseback riding. The half day trip called the Marinarium is well worth the $72/person. We swam in the shark/ray enclosure and should have some really great pictures. The staff there is also great and we always had drinks. Capt Cooks is the best place ever to get seafood. Go during lunch and eat outside on the picnic tables. In closing; Punta Cana is a wonderful place. The Punta Cana Princess was VIP all the way and well worth it. Don't drink too much; don't eat too many strange things you're not use to. Brings some $1 bills for tips and bartering. My girlfriend and I agree; we will be back for a honeymoon hopefully sometime soon in the future.
313884,WindsorTraveller,12/16/2004,Good Value; Good Vacation Stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from Dec 5 to Dec 12; 2004. Great weather; great beach. This is certainly a four star resort; given that it is a smaller resort than the Tropical Princess and the Caribe Princess which are both next door. You can eat or participate at all three resorts if you want to.The food was excellent for a Carribean resort; and this is our seventh trip to the Carribean. The Tex-Mex steak house did a fine job on beef or chicken; and the Italian restaurant at the Punta Cana Princess was excellent; far better than the Italian restaurant at the Caribe Princess. The buffet had a different theme every night; and if you didn't like the night's theme then you could take a five minute walk next door to the Caribe Princess and sample their buffet; which was larger because the resort is larger. No premium booze unless you paid extra; but the Spanish wine was better than passable; and who needs a lot of premium brands when you can sample the local rums and liquers for comparison. Nice rooms; average maid service; the front desk could not change a US20 into smaller bills to use for tips; so I didn't tip for the first few days. Finally got them to change US$ into Dominican pesos; and spread a few of them around; but it didn't seem to make much difference; the service was average if you tipped or not.We read about the malaria scare before we left; and found out it was not people at the Princess resorts who had contracted it; so we went with some heavy-duty deet stuff just in case. Never saw a mosquito all the time we were there. We will be going back for sure.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,12/04/2004,misconceived notions We were given definate misconceptions. When we booked our package we were offered horse back riding. when we arrived horse back riding was no longer an option. as compensation for no horse back riding we were offered 24 hour room service and 2 hour internet service. our stay was only four days and the room service was of no use and I for 5 minutes of internet time that i used i was charged 1hour. i think the compensation should have been something a little more useful. some of the restaurants menu choices did not equal the offered choices when we were served.I think that the personel was wonderful but the hotel should be moe accomodating for people with a shorter stay and update their promotions on a regular basis.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,11/24/2004,Awesome!!!!!! Loved every minute; wanted to stay Everything was wonderful; from the minute we got there until the day we left. I don't know what some of you people think when you are writing the reviews. Especially the one about hamburgers and hot dogs in a 5 star resort; they must be picky eaters because there was alot more than that to choose from. We are talking about a third world country after all; you are not going to get the five star rating you would expect where you live. Get it together people; maybe you should stay home and not give other people a bad impression. Anyways; please go; the people and the hotel were just excellent. I will definitely go back...........
313884,CDNtraveler,11/09/2004,A little piece of Heaven Hola! I just returned from a wonderful week at the Punta Cana Princess (Oct 29- Nov 4). I honestly was concerned about being moved from the Tropical Princess to its sister; the PCP; but once there; all concerns flew right out the window. The Resort: Magnificant! The staff work very hard to keep the resort clean and the grounds are very well kept. The overall landscaping is very nice- you really feel like you are in paradise! Although the resort is fairly large; everything is within walking distance- no need to take trams anywhere other than to the sister resorts (Tropical and Caribe). The rooms: We thought the room was very clean and updated (new resort after all). The maids did a great job of tiding up and making sure the fridge was fully stocked with bottled water; beer and pop; as well as giving us fresh towels everyday. There is air conditioning; so you can always have a good sleep. There were fresh flowers daily; which really added to the decor.The food: There were 2 breakfast and lunch buffets; and both served good food; and offered many different options. They tried very hard to be as western as possible; but of course it still has a taste of its own. There are 3 different a la cartes at the PCP and 3 at the Tropical Princess. We never went to any at the Caribe. Of all the a la cartes; we tried the Italian; the Tex mex and the Mexican (at the Tropical). My favorite was the Italian restaurant. I had a shrimp dish that was by far the best thing I ate all week! And comparable to some of the best meals I have ever eaten! Over all; the food is deffinetly edible and you have alot of selection; so Im sure everyone can find somthing they like.The pool and beach: Both outstanding. When you think of a tropical paradise- the crystal blue/green waters and the white sand beaches; this is exactly what you get here! The beach was very clean and had hundreds of louge chairs and grass hut coverings; and it was never a struggle to find the perfect lounging spot. No need to wake up at the crack of dawn to get one! The ocean was very warm and the little waves made swimming in it alot of fun. Too bad the waves were not larger for boogie boarding! The Pool was huge! They have just one pool but the size makes up for it. The pool also hosts a swim up bar with the funniest staff (Nelson Gasoline!). It also has pool volleyball; basketball and water polo nets. Again; many lounge chairs and not once a struggle to find a seat.I would highly recomend this resort as it truly is a piece of heaven on earth. You cant ask for a more picturesque tropical paradise. The staff are very friendly and work very hard to ensure you are well taken care of. Lastly; some words of advice. It is much appreciated by the staff if you make an effort to speak a little spanish. Just the basics is enough; and overall it is very helpful. Be prepared in terms of stomach medications- pepto; immodium; etc. If you plan to do some shopping; american currency is best. You seem to get better deals and it is much easier to barder when you dont have to be doing the coversion. I found that doing the shopping on the beach was far better than at the plaza because it was kinda scary with the pressure of the store owners at the plaza than at the beach. In fact; when my friend was about to pay for an item ; the store owner tried to get his fingers (literally) on some more money right out of her wallet. Not the best experience with the dominicans at the plaza! Be very careful when it comes to cigar purchases. I recommend buying them from the resort directly. I dont smoke myself; but wanted to bring some home for friends and family that do; so I bought some Cubans from a beach vendor; but later found out the cigars I bought were rolled up banana leaves. I noticed after that; that 99% of the vendors; both at the plaza and the beach sold fakes- so BEWARE! Also; when it comes to shopping; dont be afraid to haggle. I was suprised that thing were much more expensive than I anticipated; so its best to shop around and get a good idea of what you can get items for. Try some of the excursions if you can- they are well worth it. We did Bavaro Runners and Trackers as well as Marinarium. All were great in there own way. Best piece of advice: Go with an open mind and remember its your vacation; so dont let the little things ruin your few days in paradise.
313884,bobclark,10/31/2004,Great Time!!!!!!!! Got back yesterday Oct 30.Well; I read all the reviews; and was quite worried about our trip. My advice to you is to read the reviews for amusement purposes only. Judge the resort for yourself; once you get there!It is beautiful!! The beach is great; the sand is soft; the drinks are plentiful; and the staff are great! There are a few who speak ok english; and some who don't speak english at all; but I don't speak any spanish; so who am I to complain. Oh ya the pool is also fantastic; Nelson and Martin are a lot of fun at the pool bar; You will laugh all day long with them. Try and get them to have a few drinks with you; but make sure your discrete about it; so as not get them in trouble. The food was edible; It's not Canadian though. The a la cartes were great. I don't know how people can complain about the service; These people get 3 days off a month; so sure they might have a bad day every once in a while; and if your rude to them on their bad day; then they'll remember you and you won't get great service; and I would be the same if I were them. A 1 dollar tip every few drinks will go a long way. People complain about flies; while eating; lol!!! The buffets are outdoors; what do you expect. Have these complainers never had a barbecue in their back yard? or never gone camping? Give me a break! Bugs in the rooms; again lol! Have you ever had flies; ants; spiders; mosquitoes in your house? some people just live to complain. And all the people who say they got sick; we never got sick; but did have an upset stomach a couple of times. The people who got sick; did they drink tap water? were they in the sun too long; and got sunstroke; but blamed it on the food?; did they drink too much? did they drink to many sweet drinks (bahama mama; pina colada) which are laxitives; because of the coconut? Did they eat too much greasy food? you get the point; people can be sick for various reasons; but they all choose to blame the food.My advice to you; bring lots of sunscreen; drink plenty of bottled water; don't read the reviews and believe them; judge it for yourself; and have fun.contact me if you like.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,10/22/2004,Relaxing honeymoon with pros and cons We just returned from our two week honeymoon at the Punta Cana Princess. I was disappointed as we were supposed to stay at the Bavaro Princess but were moved over due to hurricane damage. The Bavaro looks much bigger with a nicer beach and higher rating but the Punta Cana Princess was still very nice. We were VIPs; which is worth it I must add; so we had our own desks and staff who would help us book dinners etc... The massages that we received were excellent and the spa itself was beautiful and calming; with the best English spoken out of the whole resort. We were in the 5000 building; which is closest to the ocean and had a great view of everything from the top floor (3rd). Maid service was consistent and they have no problems adding 7-up or whatever you want more of. Do tip them though as they don't make much and they are thorough (we were in the room a few times when they cleaned). Lots of closet space and drawers in the room and the air conditioning worked very well. I saw some tiny tiny ants on the bathroom floor once but that was it plus what do you expect? Once you see outside the resort and what they live in; you will be happy with the great accomodations we get! To see the countryside we recommend the Bavaro Runners excursion. It's $75 US and worth it. You get a real taste of the Dominican life and it really humbles you a bit; yet isn't totally depressing. The only other excursion we went on was Manati Park where we swam with the dolphins; which we enjoyed.Beautiful beach and clear warm water was the highlight. Some other resorts had more seaweed but the sand is soft and white-you can't beat it! Take a walk both ways as it's neat to see the other resorts and there is some shopping on the left side of the beach from the resort. We found that the best deals are on excursions and Bavaro Plaza (short taxi ride from resort). The Plaza had lots of stores and a bank which we recommend getting your pesos from instead as the rate was way better than the resort; which was strange. Note: there is also an actual bank; not just a machine (which was not working by the way at our resort) right next door to the left at the LTI resort with; again; better rates.Unfortunately I have to be honest about the biggest disappointment; the food. We were OK for the first 4 or 5 days but heard that lots of people did get sick quite bad. The food didn't taste too bad and they did have lots of selection; even having a theme in the buffets some days but we figure because the resort was full and they weren't totally prepared from the hurricane; this is why the food became a problem. We had to stick to buns and pasta for the last week as we decided to stay away from the meat; which seemed to help. We didn't get cramps; only your typical stomach-ache and diarrhea. It's hard to pin-point but I really don't think this is typical of the resort and wouldn't suggest basing your decision on this info. It's a lot for our bodies to adjust too with the heat; humidity; different food etc... so keep an open mind and don't expect the worse! The a la cartes are great; the service can be good and bad (just like home though) but there's a few different choices:Italian; steakhouse; Chinese; gourmet; Mexican. Try as many as you can (some are in the next resorts over).All-in-all we did have a great time and it really does depend on your attitude. We saw some people who just seemed determined to be unhappy and complainers and it looks bad and doesn't make the workers there feel very good. They do everything they can to help and don't deserve some crabby tourist yelling in their face; especially after they just went through one of the scariest natural disasters!Have fun; enjoy and relax-that's what it is all about. If you want more entertainment I would suggest another resort as this one is meant to be quieter and relaxing.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,10/19/2004,Mixed feelings... NOT like last year Hi there...This is my second posting; my previous one was for the Princess resort; which is next door.Now bear in mind that my review will be as objective as possible considering we've experienced a great week last year and a not-so-great one this year. My review is objective in the sense that i will compare last year's experience with this present year but with the special circumstances that affected this year's trip; they are:Hurricane Jeanne:Jeanne threw a fit around Punta Cana; by talking with the local people outside of the resort and keeping in mind the exchange rate and the prices of various essential commodities; Jeanne did a lot of damage to the infrastructures (roofs and some buildings) since they are not adapted to the hurricane-force winds. Some resorts were closed and their booked clients were relocated to open resorts; causing congestion of the equipment; workforce and hotel infrastructures. Bottom-line: The hurricane did a lot of damage; hotels; resorts and tour operators underestimated the damage; sent their clinets to open resorts as to minimize financial loses but these resorts had staff only for their low-season period. Some staff membres were just transplanted from other (closed) resorts and had no idea of the policies and procedures of their employers resulting in a lot of eroneous information to customers.Sickness:Upon departure for the resort; out tour operator representative informed us that more than half of the clients staying at our resort have been sick during the saty and that this did not occur in any other resort in Punta Cana during that same period.I myslef was sick for 4 days and took my prescription of Cipro on the 3rd day of sickness because of the gut-wrnching cramps. (note ot all the people who say that bringing Antibiotics is superfluous: I'm NEVER sick during travel and I've experienced pain to incredible levels in my life so i'm not one that complains about belly-aches. I would like to see how you endure these cramps during your holidays).On the first day i got sick i noticed (talking with other guests) that a lot of people were sick too and upon further investigation; the sickness was not related to a specific food or drink. The patern of distribution of the symptoms hinted for a larger; common source. I beleive that the hurricane dammaged the water-treatement plant or infrastructure rendering it less than optimal. It is the only way i can explain wide-ranging contamination.Besides; at 160US$ per patient; the doctor and the hotel made a nice sum treating patients...Okay; these were the subjective aspects of my trip.Service:Service was generally great; people were friendly and always in good spirits and sported the world-famous dominican smirk. Always pleasant!Food:Food was NOT as good as last year; when we were staying at the Princess (next door; same resort). Food was often bland and uninspiring.A La Carte Restaurants:That's where we are not really happy with the resort. Last year we ate at the Mexican and Dominican restaurants at the Caribe Club - Princess resort; these two restaurants were simply GREAT! Now we were supposed to Stay at one; play at three meaning we had access to all the infrastructures at the Caribe Club - Princess resort; (including the restaurants) but since Hurricane Jeanne damaged the resort; we were told:a) the restaurants were not open tonight; but will be opned tomorow; cause it's their day off;b) The restaurants were damaged and were undergonig repair work;c) The restaurants were not open for us; staying at the Punta Cana Princess.On the second-to-last day; we tried to book at the Dominican and were told that we could not for reason (b); but my wife and I took a walk after supper and found not only the restaurant to be opened; but people were eating there... We were NOT amused.For the A La Carte Restaurants that WERE open;The Tex-Mex:Very good steakhouse. Excelent presentation; excelent guy working the grill who knows how to cook a steak on a hot plate (not a BBQ...). Service was prompt and very efficient. Staff friendly and funny. The Local Mariachis were there one night and were EXCELENT; they offer to sing Happy or Love song and have a great repertoire including international spanish classics and the three of them have GREAT voices... very soothing...IL Baccio:Okay; i'm a Italian food connaisseur... Short of being Italian in body; I left my heart and soul in Italy during a short; one-week trip there in 1992... Forza Italia!!!The food was suprisingly excelent; i've had a Carpaccio which was; in all honesty; one of the best ones i've had in my life (And I never miss a chance of having it!!!! - By the way; the best one in Montreal is at La Spagettata on Laurier Street). Pizza (second course) was excellent. Procsiutto was exactly like the one we eat in the old country and NOT like the one we have in North America!I was very impresssed; ate untill i couldnt swallow another piece of food...Bravissimo!Beach:As alway; gorgeous; beautifull and fun. Only problem are the other guests who thrwo their garbage on the beach; some people just dont give a crap about others and think they own the world. And more often than not; they spoke german... funny coincidence? I also did a little investigation: after talking to maintenance; security and service staff; they all told me the same thing about the German lack of respect. Of course the staff cannot comment openly about that because they do not want to loose their job which is to my observation; to pick up after them. But if just for the sake of other customers; they could make an effort to pick up after themselves. I regularly picke up junk burried in the sand (Cigarette botches; empty plastic glasses; cigarette packs; lighters; empty sunscreen bottles.... ugh...Rooms:Equal as last year; always very clean and neat. The maid service was better than last year. We were very pleased.Guest service:They were clearly overworked; these poor guys and girls were just flooded with guest complains concerning some underqualified staff or sickness-related complains. They were nonetheless very pleasant and more often than not; helpfull.Language:I've noticed that this year; most of the staff either spoke French or English; which was helpfull because our spanish is very limited but we nonetheless always made the effort of speaking the whole conversation in Spanish. A lot of the Haitian staffers were of great help since they learn French and English in school...Shopping:ALWAYS NEGOCIATE; as a rule of thumb go for a quarter of what they ask for. if they are difficult; tell them that you are not interested and you'll get your price at the next store anyways. They will telll you that the next guy does not have the same things... (ha ha). So dont be shy to say no; to bargain. (we bought 3 bottles of rum; a nice necklace for 20 US$; they asked for 95 US$ for the 3 bottles at the beginning...)Taxi:Get the hotel to call for a taxi; when the guy arrives; negociate the price BEFORE entering the taxi. To get to the shopping mall DO NOT pay more thank 8$ regardless if it'a a car or van. If the guy does not want to lower the price to a reasonable 6 to 8$ tell him to go back; he'll change idea pretty quick.Again ALWAYS NEGOCIATE before entering the taxi.Tourist Police:DO NOT RELY on these people; one guy begged us for money to pay himself a drink while on the job. The guy was sporking a nice .38 handgun that was unloaded and did not seem to have any ammo on him... As precaution; i would leave my wife and daughter get into the shops and I would wait outside and scan around for some trouble (which NEVER occurs; but i'm the prudent-type). I would also check the vendors to see if they'd try to slip something into my wife's or duaghter's pockets in order to cause a situation that could be solved by blackmail. I kept the girl's backpacks on me and restricted the shopping to the street-side stores; I NEVER GO in the Alleys... I might be paranoid but i'm in another country; i'm a gringo; I have money; you do the math...Last words:In all fairness; eventhough we were sick and a bit dissapointed in comparisson to the previous year's experience; we still had a great time! We enjoyed ourselves. ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE: to your tour operator; if they dont give you answers; turn them down. Be specific (Ex: Is the Kid's club open during our stay; if the answer is positive; ask them if they spoke to a hotle staff.) ALWAYS NOTE the time; date and name of person you're talking to and make a short note on the content of the conversation and validation of the information. Intel gathering depends on clear information. If you are not satisfied or misled; you can fire back with muscle.You can write me if you have other questions...
313884,TorontoGal1009,10/17/2004,Not a 5 star Beautiful resort. We stayed in the 5000 building which was at an excellent location....close to the pool and beach; the rooms are clean and spacious. Our favourite restaurant was the seafood restaurant at the PCP......seafood was very fresh. However; we receive indifferent services from their staff. The service from the a la carte restaurant was excellent. Same cannot be said for the bar in the pool. We went to get drinks and we were told they were closed (before 6pm) and therefore would not serve us. However; when we turned around; the bartender continued serving his other guest who were mainly spanish speaking. Also; one of our excursions got cancelled and we were never notified of it. We waited in the lobby before 7am the day of the excursion for nothing. The concierge said that they try calling our room the day before but no one was there. They left us no message or note.... nothing to notify us. Very disappointing. Not what you would expect from a 5 star resort!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,10/09/2004,Holiday from Hell The proverbial holiday from hell.What a disaster;problems are too many to go into;however when you see hot dogs;and hamburgers on the buffet at a 5 star hotel;then you know you have a problem. My wife and I are not picky eaters;and have spent 10 years vacationing in Cuba;so we are able to compare the Islands. and their local standards etc. You could not even get fresh orange juice;just coolaid!!No entertainment in the evening;indifferent attitude of many of the staff;even when tipped (there was the odd exception).This resort has a long way to go to live up to its 5 star rating given by Sunquest. My advice would be..really check this over before you commit; we will never go back.My advice in two words.. Don't Go.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,09/25/2004,Paradise Had a wonderful 2 week vacation at this beautiful resort - April/04 - would love to go back Apr/05 but prices have gone up considerably - if anyone sees a good deal for Apr/05 for 2 weeks - Canadian funds - please email me.Thanks
313884,Jamee,09/19/2004,Lovely!!!! My boyfriend and I just came back from a week stay at punta cana princess. We were there from Sept 6th to 13th. If you are looking for a lively loud; crowded resort then this is not the place for you. Stay at the Caribe Club next door. Punta cana Princess was just what I was looking for! a beautiful quiet resort; I went to relax not to party. The service was phenomenal; the beach was gorgeous; rooms were clean and spacious; no bugs! Food was great at Tex Mex and the seafood restaurant; buffet was okay; but we preferred the a la carte restaurants. No evening entertainment at the resort you just to go next door to Caribe club; we saw Lion King at the theatre there and it was great!!As for the excursions we went on Marinarium;(70US pp) where you swim with nurse sharks and sting rays that was alot of fun! and we went on Bavaro Trackers(55USpp) you ride on a dirt bike along the coast and you get to do some horseback riding very adventurous if you like that but remember to bring sunglasses cause the dust gets in your eyes; be prepared to get very dirty.We stayed away from tap water; but we had drinks with ice cubes; which is what got us in the end. All in all Punta Cana is beautiful and we would go back in a heartbeat!!!
313884,DAJ88,09/15/2004,Relaxing and Beautiful My husband; myself; and a couple of our friends returned from a 7 night stay at the PCP on Spetember 6th. The Resort is Beautiful; we liked that it was smaller then some but still large enough. We had requested a specific room on the 3rd floor in building 4 and it was perfect. The view of the ocean and the pool was great from our room. The specialty restraunts were better than the buffet; we tried all of them. We liked the steak at the Tex Mex and the seafood at the Mediterranean the best. We also ate at the Chinese and the Mexican at the Carib; they were okay but nothing to write home about. Who would expect to go to the Dominican Rep. and eat authentic Chinese and Mexican anyway?The bars were great and we did not receive any watered down drinks. Try the Banana Mama it is great! We spent most of our days around the pool which is lovely. Everyone went out of their way to make our stay a very pleasant one.We went to get some well needed RR and it is the perfect place to get it.Punta Cana is very simular to Playa Del Carmen; the resort layouts are designed alike. The beach at Punta Cana is the best.We would go back!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,09/14/2004,The Truth About the Punta Cana Princess My husband and I spent a week at the Punta Cana Princess (September 4-11; 2004) for our honeymoon. We were a bit apprehensive at first; after hearing many negative reviews about the place. I travel at least once a month with my job; so I have seen the best of the best when it comes to hotels; resorts customer service. I have also previously worked in an upper scale restaurant for 8 years as a server; and know what good customer service entails.CHECK INWe arrived at the hotel at 12:00 noon and were standing in the check in line for less than a minute; when we were brought over two tropical slushy drinks during check in. I dont' know how they knew that we were new people to the hotel; as the bellman had previously taken our luggage from us. We were very pleased that they were so prompt. We opted for the VIP package; so we were then immediately taken to a seperate table where we could sit down and check in without having to wait in the line (which was only 2 or three people anyways)Our room was not going to be ready until 3:00; so my husband and I went and ate lunch; walked around a bit; returned only to find our room was ready at 1:45! (Over an hour earlier than anticipated). It may be a good idea to carry some beachwear in a seperate carry on so you can change in the bathroom and go to the beach right away; if you like!ROOMSWe got to our room to find that the bellman had brought our luggage up for us (we didn't have to lug it around); which was very convenient. Our room was on the top floor; so the ceilings were about 22 ft high (making the room seem HUGE!!!); ask for the top floor if you don't mind hearing the rain fall at night; but want a bigger seeming room; and it was very big already. Sunken living room with the TV and mini bar and a day bed (which folds out from underneath to become an extra bed).Very clean; no ants; flys anything like that.FOODWe ate mostly at the buffet restaurant which had PLENTY to choose from. You picky people I can't believe you can't find anything to eat here. They have made to order pasta omelettes; plenty of chicken; fish; beef; cereals; breads; potatotes; nachos; rice; desserts; soups etc; no what is there not to like?We also ate as part of our VIP package at Le Cava restaurant and had the grilled lobster which was FABULOUS!!!! I don't know why you people say it doesn't taste like the lobster at home; of course it doesn't; it tastes way better! Fresh from the Carribbean Sea.The servers are PHENOMENAL. Never have an empty glass; or lack anything. They gio ABOVE AND BEYOND for you and love what they do; even though they only make about $50 US per week. We enjoyed tipping the waiters $1-$3 US dollars at a time. One night we even gave one of the waiters $20 bill because we enjoy giving to others.ENTERTAINMENTThis would be my only complaint. If you are looking to party; you will be disppointed; because the night life here is next to none. There was some bingo; other crowd games in the lobby one night; but thats it. The next door resort; Caribe Club Princess had the entertaininment which varied every night. They have a huge outdoor theatre; ranging from low scale crowd icebreakers to a really phenomenal production of the Lion King.There is a disco at the Caribe too - lots of locals and plenty of Spanish North American music; where your drinks are free until 2:30 am and you pay no cover; although the locals pay to come in and also to get their drinks.THE BEACHSoft white sand and clear blue waters; plenty of beach chairs and huts; never have to race down in the morning to reserve one.Because they are trying to keep the Punta Cana princess the quiter resort; people from the Caribe Club Princess Tropical Princess can't come over to use the beach; but we could go over to use theirs.THE PEOPLEAmazingly friendly. Do whatever they can to please you. Language was sometimes a barrier as some people spoke very little English; but they will try and teach you some of their language and are not uncomfortable trying to communicate with you; so have the decency to try and talk back to them; even if just in small phrases.It saddened me to see how little the people had. we tipped a salesguy on the beach $3 after he sold us two beaded necklaces for $13 US and he had tears in his eyes. They have so little; so $3 to them is like a days work.Thats it. We had an enjoyable time. I highly recommend this resort to someone who is looking for a quiet place to relax.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,08/26/2004,Wonderful Vacation My wife and I spent a week at the Punta Cana Princess; and we couldn't have enjoyed it more. We had asked for a room with a king size bed; but none were available on the day we arrived. Jose Maria was an excellent help to us at the front desk and gave us a great room overlooking the ocean with a king bed on day 2. The food was excellent; always something different to choose from. We tried the Tex Mex Steakhouse; the Mare Nostrum; and the Mexican Restaurant (at the Caribe Club) and all were very good; especially the mixed grill at the Mare Nostrum. The Beach was beautiful and the Market on the beach was excellent for getting souvenirs. My wife and I bought several paintings; and jewlery for a very good price. When bartering; go down at least 75% of what they first offer. You will usually meet at about 60% less. For an excursion we took the speedboat/snorkel cruise and it was excellent. We were the only english speaking couple on the trip; and thus had our own tour guide for the duration of the snorkelling session. We would certainly not hesitate to go back to the PCP. It truly was an excellent vacation.
313884,Ortiz8384,08/20/2004,An excellent Vacation but .... My family and I just returned from vacation Aug. 9 - Aug. 13 and we all had a fun time. The staff was extremely friendly and had many activities for all the guest to participate in. The beach was beautiful with white sand. We did pairsailing; snorkling; and the banana boat ride. The rooms were very spacious and the mini-fridge was always stocked. We tried two of the specialty restaurants in addition to the buffet and also went next door to the Caribe Club Princess for breakfast. Now; the only bad thing I can say about the whole experience is that we all got sick on the last day of vacation. As much as we prepared for this with all the different medicines we took down there; I believe we ate something at the Tex - Mex Steakhouse that didn't agree with us. Overall; for the price you will be satisfied with the resort. Let me know if you want to see pictures.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,08/19/2004,Didn't want to leave I can't stop talking about the great time I had. The sand is undescribably soft; the resort is so clean; the staff were extremely helpful and the food was a great experience. There is so much to do that my friend and I couldn't fit all the activities in (Marisol was a hugh help!). We had none of the problems listed in some of the other reviews. We did bring our own washclothes after reading previous reviews; but were brought washclothes almost everyday. I would recommend bringing a few snacks; the restaurants were sometimes closed between lunch and dinner and our reservations weren't until 9:00 pm. We had no problem making reservations for restaurants up to two days in advance. I also recommend the extra money for the VIP package. The 20 min massage at the spa was wonderful. I wanted to go back for some of the other services but couldn't fit the time in.I went down with one of my girlfriends; but I'll definately be going back with my husband.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,08/19/2004,food lovers beware Just returned from 1 week at the puntacana princess resort;The resort itself was nice;It was smaller then most resorts; the pool was very large with a swim up bar; the room we had was excellent; the beachfront was very nice other then next door their is a piece of private beach which was a little dirty;(I suggest the caribe princess and punta cana princess put their hired hand to keep it clean).The buffet is very mediocore for a 4 plus to 5 star resort(sunquest rating)The salad selection consists of iceberg lettuce; that tells you the story.The food at the allacarte restaurants wasn't bad;It would be overcooked or under cooked; the waiters do not speak english and do not want to learn; I am italian and they also do not speak italian.La cava and il pescator reataurants were very good but you have to pay extra.Would I recommend the place NO.There are so many nice places in punta cana why chance it.I would recommend; the melia tropical/caribe; the riu resorts especially riu palace or riu bambu; the iberostar bavaro; melia paradisus;I have been to all three of these chains and I have been satisfied with them.Choose wisely; spend the extra money and you won't be disappointed.Punta cana princess you are lucky punta cana is such a popular destination and eventually everything good sells out and then people have no choice but to choose you.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,08/17/2004,Highly recommended hotel and facilities My friend and I stayed at the Princess for 6 nights; we found the hotel to be excellant. We are Carribean travelers and stay at only 4 star or better facilities. We found the service to be excellant; the facilities to be excellant and very clean. The beach was immaculate; the seaweed was swept off the beach daily. The staff worked incredibly hard to ensure all your needs were met. All rooms were at least two room suites with a living and bedroom. The frig in your room was stocked daily. You had the run of three hotel facilities which gave you lots of food choices. The Princess Caribe had the seafood restaurants; the Princess Punta Cana had the steak houses. Don't be shy visit the other hotels buffets and restaurants. The Caribe hotel had a MUCH bigger buffet for breakfast and lunch. We ate there several times for a larger selection. The Caribe hotel also had more children activities and facilities; where the Punta Cana was more adult in environment. Punta Cana Princess was perfect for rest and relaxation. The Caribe had entertainment at night as well. Keep in mind; you walk out the front door of Punta Cana hotel; walk 5 minutes to your left and your at the Caribe hotel (right next door). There is also a shuttle that runs door to door. So don't be afraid to stay at the Princess and shuttle over. The Caribe had LOTS of people; LOTS of noise and more competition for food; bars; and service. So think about what your needs are. Personally; I liked the Princess Punta Cana because is was less noisey and less people; better service and more facilities available (the service people to vistor ratio was better at the Punta Cana Princess). It was also the newer facility.Alcohol was plenty. You could have just about everything you wanted; when you wanted it. Every drink was very strong; at times you had to ask them to make them weaker. Drinks were everywhere. Pina Colata's and Margaritas were premade and ready for pouring on request. The presidente beer was the favorite on the island. The only thing I feel that could have been improved was the selection of wine. They offered a red and white table wine; both were a little bland; selections for wine to purchase was limited. If you have a favorite you might want to bring it with you.I enjoyed the trip; I'd do it again in a heartbeat.This one is worth the trip.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,08/12/2004,Excellent Excellent Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't believe all the bad reviews about the PCP. My family and I went for a 4-night; 5-day vacation last week and all we can say is EXCELLENT! The staff was extremely friendly and did everything they could to make sure we were having an excellent vacation. The hotel was gorgeous! The rooms were very spacious and all had fantastic views. The food was not bad either. We tried out 2 of the specialty restaurants in addition to the buffet. We especially liked the breakfast buffet and the Tex-Mex Steakhouse. We stuck to the bottled water (even for brushing teeth) and avoided chicken and fish (just to be safe. At night; if you want a romantic scene- sit out by the bar next to the beach. We will 100% return again! Great job
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/30/2004,Don't believe the bad reviews I just got back from my honeymoon at the PCP. I must say that we both had an amazing time there.The beach is absolutely stunning and very clean. The resort grounds and rooms are immaculate and well presented. The service is great if you go there with a positive attitude and treat the workers with respect. The food at the a'la carte restaurants is better than average; and resembles the level of service and quality of a fine establishment. The buffet is ok; nothing to brag about; but this is expected of all inclusive resorts. There are several tours that can be taken through the hotel. We did Aqua Safari and Bavaro runners -both were awesome and totally worth the money!!If you are going here on your honeymoon; don't forget to bring your marriage certificate for a free upgrade and some special bonuses!Thanks to Ahmed; Frandy; Mariesol; Ramon; Franklin; Felipe; etc.. for making this a memorable and special time for us!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/29/2004,Overall; a good value We stayed at the Punta Cana Princess for seven nights in the middle of July; and were happy overall. CHECK IN/ ROOMS-- Somewhat slow; but this was not a huge problem. We had requested a room with two double beds; but were given a room with a king. When we entered the room; it was dirty with cigarette butts in the ashtrays and empty beer and soda bottles on the dresser. We returned to the front desk where they found a new room for us within 15 minutes. The room was big and clean and we were very happy with it. The beds are really hard; but we got used to it. We got plenty of U.S. television stations (Showtime; HBO; MTV; TBS; Lifetime; etc.) and felt right at home in our room for the week.STAFF-- We found the staff to be extremely friendly and courteous. Small tips to the bartenders; servers; and maids go a long way to make the experience more enjoyable. These employees work hard and deserve it; and you will get even better service. Most employees at this resort speak enough English to at least understand the needs and requests of their guests. Overall; the level of service at this resort was outstanding. The only times we had any issues with service is when we went to the Caribe Club/ Tropical Princess. The staff there made us very glad that we were staying at the PCP.FOOD/ DRINKS-- The food was decent. The buffet is large enough where you can always find something you are willing to eat; even if it is the same thing you have eaten for the past four days. As far as the a la cartes; Tex- Mex was by far the best. The seafood was decent and the Italian was terrible. The late-night snacks were never seen; although we looked for them twice. We ate at the Domincan restaurant at the Caribe Club one night and had such an awful experience that we chose to stick to the PCP for the rest of the week. As far as the drinks go; they tend to be tasty but very; very weak. All of the alcohol (with the exception of champagne) is watered down. This includes the wine. If you are a big wine drinker; definately consider bringing your own. As far as insulated mugs go; we found that we didn't really need them but enjoyed having them. Also; we found that when we shopped at the vendors on the beach; they really wanted them and were willing to trade things for them. Keep that in mind if you are looking for good deals. BEACH/POOL- The beach is GORGEOUS and there is always enough wind to keep you cool. The pool is also nice and kept very clean. We never got up to reserve a spot and never had a problem finding one. Yes; there are topless women; so if that bothers you; don't go to Punta Cana. One negative note-- the pool closes for the night at 7 p.m.Overall; our experience at the PCP was a good one. The only major drawback I have was the sickness. I got SO sick the second night; but felt OK again in a couple of days. However; my friend and I continued to have stomach problems for over a week after we got home. Bring Immodium; brush your teeth with bottled water; and hope for the best. Punta Cana is beautiful and the most relaxing place I have ever been to; and we would definately return. PUnta Cana Princess was comfortable and worth the money we spent. However; next time I think I will spend the extra money and go to a 5 or 6 star resort.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/28/2004,GREAT Hotel..... The Punta Cana Princess is a beautiful hotel. The grounds look great; considering how new this resort is. The staff was wonderful; always smiling and making sure everything was okay. As for getting sick..I went with a group of 6 people...1 of us felt a little under the weather the last few days..but it is understandable; you are in a different country...where their standards are not the same as North America... As for the water; any experienced travellers should know not to use it and only use bottled water. Which is given out everywhere at this resort. The buffet was good; a little repetitive at times..but still you could always find something to eat. The Tex-Mex/Grill restaurant was great and also the Italian was great also. The rooms were a great size and very clean. Our mini-fridge was stocked everyday and well-stocked at that..just be courteous to the maids and they will be courteous back. As for nightlife..this resort has none...the disco is at the Caribe Club next door and so are all the nightly shows...far walk..but there is a shuttle bus that takes you. The beach is great..a little seaweed. The jetboat/snorkelling excursion is well worth a try...only a half day tour. This was a great resort and I would go back; don't listen to all the negative reviews written by others. PCP is a great hotel.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/26/2004,Wonderful Experience My 24-year old daughter and I just returned from a 4-day trip to the Punta Cana Princess and I will share our experiences for those who are contemplating a visit to this resort. FOOD: We thought the food was fabulous. We had the buffet the first night; which was very good; fresh; and hot with a good variety of choices. We got drinks quickly and with no problem. The desserts were particularly good. We made reservations our first day for the Italian restaurant and the seafood restaurant. Reservations were no problem at all; the staff at the Guest Services table was knowledgable; helpful and friendly. The Italian restaurant had the best salmon I have ever eaten. Ever. It was buttery and melted in your mouth. I was served chicken first which was dry and tasteless. When informed; the waiter immediately replaced it with salmon and was apologetic about the problem. The service was comparable to an excellent restaurant. We left a nice tip; although we noticed others left not tip at all. Seems very rude; even though the meals are paid for; the staff did a very good job. The third night we ate at the seafood restaurant; which is just the poolside grill that they convert in the evening. The food was wonderful again; but we almost died of the heat. For some reason; they had closed some screens and blocked all the ocean breeze. With ice cold drinks; we finally adjusted to the temperature. We had a seafood platter (from which they cheerfully removed the calamari for me) and; again; the desserts were wonderful. At both the restaurants; they brought a dessert cart and you could choose your dessert.HORSEBACK RIDING: This was part of our VIP package - and; incidentally; I do not recommend the $100 VIP Package. It is simply not worth the money. You can get the same options much cheaper. We enjoyed the horseback riding on the beach; but some advice: 1. Have them adjust your stirrups before you leave. They did not do this and we both had sore legs and ankles. 2. Extend the 30 minutes to an hour. It takes 10 minutes to get to the beach and 10 back; so you don't have much time at the beach; which is beautiful. They take pictures before you leave; then offer you a CD with the picture or a bottle of rum with the picture on it. Kinda cheesy but fun for a souvenir. We bought the $15 CD.SPA: OK; if you don't do anything else while you are there; GO TO THE SPA!!! My daughter and I just loved it. I have been to several spas and this was the best experience for the best price I have ever had. For $125; we have a massage; facial; exfoliation of the whole body; mud wrap; hydrotherapy tub - it was fabulous. You arrive at the spa; which is just 2-3 minutes from the front door of the resort through a beautiful garden; with fountains and waterfalls. Your attendant; very professionally dressed in a uniform; takes you down another path through a beautifully landscaped area with waterfalls; etc. to your own little hut which has a tub; shower; massage table; etc. You should be aware that these are very European experiences - in other words; they are very casual about your nudity and massage your upper body with no qualms - not sexual in any way; it's just part of the experience - just go with it! We tipped them $5 and they seemed grateful.THE ROOM: Our room was perfect; always cool (remember to ask for an extra card so you can leave it in the air conditioner) and cleaned often with fresh flowers arranged with towels to create animals; etc. Our fridge was stocked whenever we drank something and when I asked for Diet Pepsi; it was delivered immediately. We had no problems getting towels; etc. We did leave some small gifts for our maid but that wasn't until the second day and we had great service before that. We were in building 5 on the 3rd floor and had a wonderful ocean view - thanks to whoever had a review that recommended that. Tell your travel agent because people tried to get ocean view after they arrived and weren't succesful.SICKNESS: I did get terribly sick; luckily it was after I got home. The only thing I can pinpoint is that I was casual about brushing my teeth with tap water and my daughter used bottled water. I was the only one sick. It was definitely a bacteria and not something in the food because it lasted for five days and I finally had to get an antibiotic. Try just using the bottled water!!SHOPPING: The first night; they had a big barbecue/party on the beach and had vendors set up tables to sell things. We did most of our shopping here. I was amazed at the number of people who thought the beautiful local stone; Larimar; was turquoise. Do your research about a country before you visit!! We bought beautiful necklaces; bracelets and earrings of Larimar as well as amber; which is also from the area. Do not pay more than 1/2 of what they ask. Do not be embarrassed - they expect you to haggle. GENERAL: The beach is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen with sugar white sand and lovely palm trees. We went topless and felt extremely daring; but there were also other women topless. In conclusion; we had a great experience and I would recommend this resort for everyone.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/26/2004,Please Let Me Go Back A True Paradise. We absolutely loved the Punta Cana Princess. The staff was magnificient; the scenery was breathtaking and all in all; we couldn't have asked for a better trip. The food was a little different than us North Carolinean's are used too; but that didn't stop us from having the trip of a lifetime. We had plenty of fun activities to take part in; including a fabulous snorkeling trip and plenty of beach volleyball. The swim up pool bar kept us occupied as well! You can't go wrong with the Punta Cana Princess.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/22/2004,Bad food; inconsistent service; sickness My husband I stayed at the Punta Cana Princess from July 12 - 16. This was our first time in the Dominican Republic; but we have been to other all-inclusives in Jamaica and the Bahamas. Those places seemed like paradaise compared to the PCP.Food: Food was marginal at best. The buffet for breakfast was okay for a day or 2 but then we got very tired of omelettes. The lunch buffet wasn't very good either. There was a lot of unrecognizable food. The hamburgers were almost raw. The pizza was ok.Dinner at the buffet was ok and it was hit or miss at the ala carte restaurants.Service: Luckily; no one was rude as some of the other reviews mentioned; however; we were disgusted to find out that the maid used my husband's hairbrush! I've never heard of anything so gross. We returned from the beach on our second day and there was long black hair in the brush. My husband has light brown hair and I have red hair; so the only possibility was the maid. From that point on; we locked up absoltely everything when we left the room.Sickness: My husband got sick the 2nd night we were at the PCP. He is still sick; and had to go to the doctor yesterday (over 1 week from time getting sick) to get some tests run to see what in the world he has. Luckily; I only go a mild case of sickness; but I still got sick. That is after not using the water for anything. We stuck to bottled water to drink and to brush our teeth.I heard many people leaving Punta Cana; and regardless of which resort they stayed at; many had very similar stories.Make sure you do your research before going there.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/18/2004,Beautiful And No Need For A Laxitive! The resort was absolutely beautiful and spotless. The rooms were large and tastefully decorated. Service was excellent and we had no problem with anything other than two out of the four of us got very ill with intestinal problems. Don't drink the water! Everyone says it is the food and to a degree I agree. They have different bacteria there than what we are used to (most of us don't have the antibodies) so be careful in the foods you select to eat. Keep in mind that they do not have any type of rulings as to the temperature control/cleanliness of their foods. On the other hand; we went to have a good time and not for the food in the first place. Choose wisely. Stick with fresh fruits; stay away from the seafood (the seafood restaurant SUCKED) as it is not what we are used to. We met alot of awesome people; had a terrific time on the beach and would recommend this resort to anyone....just read the reviews and take into consideration that it is all in your ATTITUDE so go with a good one.This was our 2nd trip there in the past year and wound up buying a condo under construction. We love it!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/16/2004,Do your due diligence! We are a family of 4 with a 2 year old and wanted to stay at this resort . I tried to phone them to get some info and no one spoke English. Then I decided to go to the web page since a large portion of thier patrons are English speaking and guess what? No English here either. I finally got wise and decided that the error in judgement was mine and I was being an ugly American so I emailed them on a Sunday. It took them until Friday to respond. I called the sister hotel the Carib Princess and they spoke and communicated well and the only thing I wanted to know was what kind of programs or child care was offered for the 2 year old. It seems that the older reviews were raving and the recent reviews are confirming my opinion. It is 2004 and really cheap to call these places to investigate yourself. We opted to stay at the Sunscape Grand and booked our vacation through Ella at cruiseandtravel.com and really got a great deal and an additional rebate. Email me with any questions.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/15/2004,glad to be home The beaches in the D.R. are beautiful. It is truly paradise. The hotel was nice on the surface. The main floor hallway to our room smelled of sewage as well as the bed linens. Ice is at a premium at the bars and the restaurants. And forget it in your room. There are no ice machines.The breakfast buffet is OK if you stuck to the breads; bacon and freshly made omelets and fruits.The juices were freshly made- delicious but warm. We just aren't used to the D.R. foods( for example-mashed kidney beans and gray colored sliced meat). We never ate at the lunch buffet. just had hamburgs and hotdogs at the beach. The pizza was passable. We ran into the same problem for dinner- the selections and quality just wasn't available.However; if you can get a reservation The steak house was excellant -the italian was terrible. Make sure you make your reservation from 8am to noon the day of and the day before at the other princess restaurants. The drinks were watered down but my husband said the beer was good. Take lots of dollar bills because they won't give you less than a five dollar bill in change. Tipping helps with the service. One day we didn't get washcloths but I had taken some along.Six out of seven in our party got sick and the seventh was sick the day after we arrived home. Take lots of medicine with you Again the beaches were fabulous but all in all I would not recommend this resort.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/13/2004,Skip this place if you want service.. Huge Disapointment!! We just returned from a 7 night stay at this resort and it was without question the worst all inclusive resort I have ever stayed at. I traveled with my husband; two 14 yr old daughters; and 11 yr old son. We were there on the 4th of July and wore our USA t-shirts - BIG mistake as these people must hate Americans. They loved our money but did not want us there. We paid full adult price for the 14 yr olds but they were not allowed to order anything for themselves. The help would just ignore them as if they were not there at all and it wasn't much better for my husband and myself. We ate many meals without anything to drink - we ordered drinks from 3 to 7 different people at some meals but no one ever brought anything. We; as well as most of the other guest we spoke to; were sick most of the trip and well into the first week home. We paid for VIP serivce and this was nothing more than a scam for more money. We were suppose to have express check in and had to wait along with everyone else to get checked in. We had requested ajoining rooms for us and the children and they gave us rooms that were in seperate parts of the building and backed up to a garbage dump for the LTI resort. We were told that VIP guest could order premimum liquor and beer and only found one bar server that would serve us these. He would give us Budwiser beer or make a margarita with Jose Cuervo tequila but all the other servers would tell us they didn't have anything else without ever looking. Almost all the employees in guest services acted like they hated working and it was a strain to wait on anyone. The guest services clerk that makes your dinner reservations told us to make them with her for all week and we did only to find out she didn't know what she was talking about and we actually had no reservations because you can only make them one day at a time. It seemed as if no one there knew what was going on. You could not schedule a time for the free VIP 20 min massage either. The women that worked there told my husband to come back in 2 days no matter when we tried to make a reservation. The 24 hr. grill is non-existing also. Our mini-bar fridge didn't work so it didn't matter what they stocked it with. The maids were seen drinking the beer from the mini-bars anyway. As you can tell I was not at all pleased with the service at this resort and would not recommend it to anyone. Yes; the beach was clean and the room was large; but look elsewhere if you are expecting to eat or drink on your vacation.
313884,wocketinmypocket,07/12/2004,Great place but be careful! The resort is nice. It's a good size; not too small or too big. The rooms are larger than average and have a drop down sitting area with a daybed and trundle underneath. There are a lot of USA stations on the TV. There are no washcloths for some reason. They give you one towel and one hand towel per person. The water temperature and pressure was normal. Our room was always cleaned. Like most people said; the food was OK. There wasn't a large variety...probably because the resort isn't that big. We always found things to eat. If you are expecting American food; you will be very disappointed! By the end of the week; we were tired of the food and ready for a USA meal. We didn't eat at any of the restaurants because you have to make reservations; and we didn't want to be on a time schedule. Plus; we have heard many bad things about the restaurants. The long wait; poor food; etc. The service at the buffet was not consistent. Some days/nights we had great service. Other nights our drinks never arrived or our drink order was never even taken. A few times we went behind the service area and got our own water. But most of the staff is very nice.The beach is absolutely beautiful. There is a lot of seaweed; but they rake it up every morning. There are nice waves and the water is warm. We went on the Sanoa Island excursions. I do not recommend it. They make it sound as though you get to spend the whole day at the island and the natural swimming pool. This is not true. The vast majority of your day is spent driving and boating. The Catamaran was very small; uncomfortable; and very boring. Once you get to the island; you eat lunch and only have about 1.5 hours before you have to leave. Then; they take you to the natural swimming pool and you have 20 minutes. It was not worth the time or $ at all! We would of had a much better time spending the day at the resort. Save your money!!Be very careful about the food! We got very very sick and so did everyone else we met. It was not a good situation. They must have some bacteria problems or something with the food. I know it was not just one night or one certain food; because everyone was sick at different times. I have traveled quite a bit and this is the first time I have had a problem and seen so many others sick also. Be very careful and brings lots and lots of medicine.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/10/2004,Sick; dreadful but a beautiful island My family (6 yr. and 4yr. old) just came back July 7. I also read in detail about this resort before booking and traveling and read raving reviews. I am shocked. There were some good but the bad outweighed the good. The eager to please is just not the case.The first point I would like to make is dont go anytime soon. My family all got sick the 2nd night we were there and stayed sick the whole trip. We met so many people there who experienced the same thing. I am waiting on some test from the doctor because we are still sick. I am scared it is ecoli or a parasite. It ruined our trip. The medical service was not good. The doctor on the property was not very educated and in my opinion was trying to cover up something. I have done quite a bit of traveling and I have never experienced this. Iam still sick. It was a very scarey experience. Some other complaints was the food was awful. Child friendly food? Whatever. The buffet was the same and smelt the same every day. It got very old and lots of flies on the food.Bath towels were extremely hard to get and the cleaning was not very sanitary.The guest service and front desk is not in any way eager to please. They should not even claim they have entertainment. I was so disappointed I will stick to Iberostar Hotels.Sherri
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/08/2004,very disappointed in punta cana princess all suites and spa resort Okay where do I start. My boyfriend and I went on a 5 day trip to DR and we stayed at the all inclusive Punta Cana Princess in the honeymoon suite. We had ants everywhere in our room when we arrived. We told them and they would not move us; they would only spray or fumigate the room. Which they would do while we stayed in the room. We arrived about 4:00 pm and we were very hungry. So our guide told us we had to make reservations for dinner; you cannot just go to where you want to on the resort. Reservations were VERY hard to get. Almost everything was booked up; so we had to take whatever we could get. That night we could not get reservations because they had to be made 2 days in advance!! We had to go to the buffet and it was horrible - ants flies everywhere!!! Housekeeping was non-existant. We had to call everyday to get towels. The one day that they did come - we did not get towels. We were on our vacation and had to call and wait about a hour each time just for towels to take a shower. The 24 hour buffet??? THERE IS NOT ONE!!!!!!!! The only thing you can get after 11:00 pm is pizza. It is not a buffet - you have to go order and sit and wait on it . No 24 hr Buffet........We were told that roomservice was free and available 24 hours a day. IT WAS NOT FREE!!! - it is $20.00 US each time. The best time we had was at the casino. The only food we ate and really enjoyed was the steakhouse. The filet was great!!! The beach was beautiful and we did enjoy that. Butwe will NEVER go there again. It was an absolute waste of money.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/07/2004,Very relaxing We were very pleased with our trip we stayed for 7 nites and all was well...The only problem was with the Chinese restaurant..I wouldn't waste my time on it. The staff was great - weather perfect - accomdations great - Food- not bad Tex Mex best place to eat..Very relaxing had VIP package well worth it!!!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/06/2004,The good; The Bad and The Ugly The good; the Bad; and THE UGLY!May 17th 鈥?May 24th4* Superior All-Inclusive; Sunquest Vacation from TorontoPunta Cana Princess All Suites Resort and SpaPRINCESS HOTELSCanadian (English Speaking) couple. Early 30鈥檚 with some sun travel experience.(St. Lucia; Veradero; Jamaica x2; Cayo Coco x4. All; all-inclusive; 4 or 4+ Stars) V.I.P. Package with flight; transfers and insurance.Superior Room; Ocean view. $1300 Canadian x2We delayed with this posting to make sure that our credit charges were accurate. (They were.) Hotel was about 1/5th occupied and was very quite except for spa construction that started at 10 a.m. outside our room (We didn鈥檛 mind. Should be finished by now.) Winds off the ocean were constant all week and seemed to be that way all the time by the look of the 55-degree angled palm trees (growing that way) Rain every day at some point. Overcast; 4 of 7 days. Sunny; or party cloudy; 3 of 7 days. 30+ degree C. Daily. Little humidity (due to the wind.)The good:路 Beautiful new hotel. Huge marble lobby floor with reception/bar/ special services/internet/tour rep./area. Nice finishes throughout.The hotel is shaped like a oversize horseshoe; where the bend in the horseshoe is the reception area; buffet; restaurants (x2); tourist shops; and doctors (secondary) office. The 鈥渁rms鈥?of the horseshoe are the rooms. Sets of 3 story; 鈥淪panish鈥?style; motel like buildings running down each side of a beautiful garden area; (with concrete sculptures making for some interesting for photo opportunities); large pool with swim up bar and kiddie pool as well as a spa area (under construction). The end of the horseshoe on the left side is the 鈥渟uperior鈥?honeymoon rooms with direct ocean views. The right side of the horseshoe ends with the Kiddie Play area and the 24 hour beach bar and restaurant. 路 Beautiful beaches. Pure white; cleaned (seaweed) daily; little waves; warm winds. A beach activity centre is located on the beach. Abundant shade huts and reclining beach chairs for amount of guests.路 Strong Sun. Tanned pretty well despite whether.路 We had a 3rd floor room; 1 down from the honeymoon end rooms with a pool view; looking down the beach with a partial ocean view. Our superior room was fantastic. Checkered tiles; very large comfy King Size bed (bedside lights and phone); sunken living room with view; 鈥?satellite鈥?TV. (27 U.S. channels?). Day bed and stocked mini-bar (4 water; 2 beer; 2 Pepsi; 2 Sprite). Beach Towels; easy to use safe; iron board supplied. Huge bathroom with 2 sinks; amenities(Towels etc.) stocked daily; shower tub and 2nd phone by the toilet?! A/C and room fan. 2 locks on room door. 路 Large private balcony provided good views down the beach and of the pool. Partial ocean view.路 Maid was friendly and was good at stocking towels and general cleaning of room. (Being generous with small gifts daily may have helped.) 路 Use of the neighbouring resorts; (Tropical Princess and Caribe Club Princess.) both to the right of the hotel. More restaurants; sports; bars; and entertainment. Mini train (golf cart) transportation offered to the other resorts. About 2-3 mins. (+ the wait)路 Guest services spoke English and was very nice and informative.路 Coco Tours (to book tours; golf etc.) rep. also spoke English and very nice. 路 Food was abundant at the buffet and there was a big selection路 Good selection of beer and spirits.路 Tex-Mex and Italian restaurant on site.路 Nice lunch buffet at the pool bar for salads; pizza; chicken and burgers.路 Immediate reception and Bell Hop service (baggage delivery and pick-up.)路 24-hour security guard at all entry鈥檚 to resort. 路 No harassment by staff or locals to buy goods on resort.路 Spa is located just outside the lobby. 陆 hour massage included with V.I.P.路 V.I.P. Package Included Complimentary Rum; Cigars; use of robes and in room beach towels. 2 a-la Carte Dinners plus massage at spa. 路 Generally; a very nice hotel by first impressions. The Bad: 路 Structured; un-personal service by all service staff.路 The walk from the lobby; restaurants; buffet; is quite long to any of the superior rooms; pool; and beach.路 Entertainment/ sports board is the same every day. 路 No entertainment at this resort except a D.J. or small 2 or 3 piece band playing at the lobby as well as the exercise classes on the beach and pool.路 Service staff spoke very little or no English and had little customer service skills other than to serve any remove food and drink. Although we didn鈥檛 ask for much it seemed like a lot of work to get it; especially at the 24 hour beach restaurant when the buffet was not available. (Tipping doesn鈥檛 help.)路 Can only drink and brush teeth with bottled water.路 Oversized; (too thick) uncomfortable bed pillows; we couldn鈥檛 use. 路 Stocked fridge varied from day to day. (2 water; 2 coke; no sprite; 2 beer. OR 4 water; no beer; 4 cokes. ??)路 The resort 鈥渢rain鈥?to other hotels arrived inconsistently or not at all. In fact; we watched a number of times as the train circled outside our hotel and turn back into the two neighbouring hotels.( 陆 hour wait on two occasions.) Many times we just ended up walking (5 mins. within resort complex along an uninteresting resort entry road with some speeding traffic from the joining hotel supply road)路 Entertainment at the other hotels was not that entertaining and very amateurish.路 The Disco is just off the resort and is open to the public. The day we went to the Disco was a cover charge of $5 (with our hotel 鈥渁ll-inclusive鈥?wrist bands) although we we鈥檙e told it was included as guests of the resort. 鈥淟ive D.J.鈥?we we鈥檙e told; but never entered and never visited again. Drinks included?路 The food seemed to be cooked in the same grease and tasted much alike.路 All a-la Carte restaurants are not open daily therefore; require a trip to the other hotels if you want to try something different. Book the day before and leave early! No train arrived for us and other guests. We ended up walking in the rain to or reserved (the day before only) dinner. Food tasted much the same as the buffet; which was open 鈥榯il 10 p.m.. Our choice; after our a-la Carte experiences but still very structured; un-personal service.路 Train route (when it does come) to the other resorts is through a 鈥渞ain forest鈥?which is a nice cover for the 鈥渟ewage treatment鈥?location.路 Spa is located at the entrance to the resort and the hotel supply road. Massage was interrupted several times by arriving bus and supply/construction truck noise.路 Mini-putt in neighbour resort is un-kept. Branches; leaves and grip-less putters.路 Golf Tour is offered at $195.00 U.S for 3 rounds with a cart. When arrived I asked for that offer and was told that I had to call from my room to book and arrange my own transportation at a cost of at least $25 U.S. / return by taxi. Therefore; a total cost of 280.00 with telephone calls. Unsure of the quality of the course I opted for I round at $110U.S.; toured; to the Punta Cana Golf Club. The day of my trip; my ride didn鈥檛 arrive and a taxi was sent for me 45 mins. later. The course was nice and the course representative felt bad enough and gave me a ride back to the hotel telling me of the recent political and financial turmoil within the Dominican. 50 Dominican $鈥檚 to 1 U.S.$ from 17$鈥檚 to 1. in two years. 路 Went back to Punta Cana golf ( asked but; no discount )and was charged additional $25U.S. after 鈥渉aggling鈥?from an asking price of 40$ for my partner to join me as a guest. $25U.S. for her to ride in the cart!路 Other neighbouring (Caribe and Tropical Princess) resorts offered more but seemed like more work than any of it was worth.THE UGLY:路 Shower pressure and hot water was non-existent both in the morning and early evening.路 Our phone bill was charged an additional $1.25U.S for a local call that was not made by either of us. We suspect it was the maid service. An insufficient amount to raise a 鈥渟ewage treatment stink鈥? we paid our bill without a reasonable explanation from reception. 路 In order to take advantage of your final day; there鈥檚 a courtesy room located just beside the reception area. (A nice feature; we thought.)鈥淭he only one鈥檚 with a key are the Bell Hop and the Security at the front鈥?we we鈥檙e told. Check-out was a noon and our bus left at 5:00 p.m. so we had our bags 鈥渟ecurely鈥?stored within the courtesy room and went a enjoyed our last day at the beach. Returning at 4:00 p.m. we had 1 set of our bags removed by the security guard so that we could wash up and change for our trip home. After returning to the lobby from the washroom we lounged within the lobby before our departure. Seeing the security guard enter the courtesy room and not wanting to ask for him to open the door again for the remainder of our bags; I went to retrieve them. Arriving at the entrance to the courtesy room I found; his back to me; the guard putting papers into his back; right-hand pocket. During this motion he saw me standing; watching him. Upon relizing; my witness to this; he quickly removed the documents from his pocket and put them into an open pocket of one of the other guests bags. He was searching through the guest(s) bags!!!! This from their head of 鈥渟ecurity鈥? We can only imagine. What did I do? I quietly asked for my bags (locked compartments) and asked others to check theirs. (No others on our bus reported anything missing although several reported opened compartments) I also notified the Coco Tours rep. on our bus that said; she 鈥渨ould report him鈥?We don鈥檛 blame the security guard for such an action with the financial state of the country. However; I due blame Princess Hotels for underpaying their security; driving them to such actions; or for not hiring outside help willing to act in the best interests of their guests.NOTE: This was the first time; at any resort we have ever visited; that each and every departing guest was waiting in the lobby; 1 hour prior to the bus leaving to the airport.Side Note: We are collectors of novelty spoons. Awaiting our departure at the Punta Cana Airport we found 1 last spoon at the 鈥淒uty Free鈥? clearly priced at $10U.S. This for a $2 spoon. Undeterred; I tried to purchase the spoon for the $10 marked. The cashier; not finding the right 鈥渃ode鈥?in her computer; asked management; who then told me it was incorrectly marked and should be priced at $12. Deterred; we came home without the spoon.Overall; The Punta Cana All-Suites Resort 4*Superior: 3+ StarsPunta Cana All-Suites Hotel service: 2+ Stars.The Superior room: 3+ Star (4+ with hot water and pressure) The Resort(s): 4 StarGood First Impressions; POOR LASTING IMPRESSIONS!NOT RECOMMENDED!(From our experience; we don鈥檛 know how so many good reviews about this hotel are posted on this site.)
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,07/05/2004,definitely not 5-star food! If this is a 5-star; then Macdonalds is a 6 or 7-star. My wife and I both got very sick and were sick for 2 days after we got back. We ate mostly at the buffet. One morning; I put some milk in my coffee and it looked like cottage cheese floating on top. The milk was soured. We ate one night at the DR restaurant at the Caribe. The waiter served me the wrong entree and never brought my drink at all. The grounds and beach are beautiful but the food is terrible. All the buffets are open-air and no air-conditioning. The wine was really like wine flavored kool aid. I left the maid a tip every day but one; since I had to call the desk to get towels. No washcloths! I would not go back and could not honestly recommend it to anyone.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,06/28/2004,What a vacation We just got back from 6 days in Punta Cana. Our best part of the trip-first class upgrade from US Air! There are no washclothes; bring your own. There are not too many people who speak English. They do not tell you anything about the hotel; they give you a Passport. This has wrong times printed in it. Bugs everwhere!! Flies in the buffet; they need to cover their food. The alchol was very watered down. You have to be VIP or you do not get good drinks. The pool closes at 7. No party life at all in Punta Cana. You have to make reservations a night before you eat. Dominican Republic is a beautiful country; but we would not go back. Good luck!!
313884,lass,06/20/2004,Loved it!! Beach Party
313884,carol,06/18/2004,Beautiful resort I had never been to Punta Cana nor to an all inclusive; so I was unsure what to expect. But like everyone else I would say that the resort is beautiful and well taken care of. It is a little smaller than most of the others and I liked that. It was quiet; restful and plenty of food choices. I could always find something I liked. Quality vs quantity would be the advice I would give to the Punta Cana Princess. For the most part the people are kind and helpful who work there. We had dinner at LaCava and it was awesome. The buffet was fair to good... very good a couple of times. We left and went to the Caribe for more options; if it did not appeal. We also enjoyed Ma Ma Mios. I personally don't know that I would return to an all inclusive...I understand the attraction. Maybe it's just not for me. The people who work there are eager to please. We always left a tip each morning and some small gifts. They were truely grateful and it was wonderful to bring joy to their day too. It's a beautiful place and I am grateful to have experienced it's beaches and wonderful sunrise walks. Have a great trip!
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,06/08/2004,This place is fantastic! My boyfriend and I just returned from a stay at this resort (June 4-7) and it was a great; relaxing getaway. I would highly recommend the Punta Cana Princess to anyone looking for the same!The hotel itself is pretty new; and it shows. Our room was spacious and clean. The maid stocked our minibar and left us fresh flowers every day. We had a balcony overlooking the pool area; but it was surprisingly quiet 鈥?with the sliding door shut; you would never know there were people out there!The food was as we expected; but neither of us are picky eaters. We ate at the buffet for breakfast and lunch; the seafood restaurant by the beach (Mere Nostrum) and La Cava for dinner. The service at both was excellent. If you鈥檙e looking for a little more variety; I would try the buffet at the Caribe. We never ate there; but it looked like there were a lot more options.Mostly; we just sat on the beach or by the pool. No matter where you are at this resort; however; it is impeccably clean and well cared for. We did take the snorkeling trip offered by the hotel. It was definitely fun; but unspectacular. We saw lots of little fish; but that鈥檚 about it. Then again; it was only $20 US. I would recommend it if you鈥檙e looking for something cheap and fun to do; but don鈥檛 expect to see anything particularly exotic.Overall; I thought this was a fantastic vacation; especially considering how inexpensive it was. The staff was friendly and accommodating; and the location was absolutely beautiful.
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/27/2004,Beautiful Resort; Beach and Ocean showReview(2120906; 'full');
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/11/2004,Wonderful! showReview(1930038; 'full');
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/06/2004,Dream Vacation - Totally Awesome!! showReview(1878122; 'full');
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,04/18/2004,Had A Great Time! showReview(1791745; 'full');
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,04/13/2004,Had a great time showReview(1783644; 'full');
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,04/13/2004,Paradise on Earth -- We will never forget it showReview(1783006; 'full');
313884,jamster55,04/09/2004,wonderful new property with attentive service showReview(1771439; 'full');
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/29/2004,Amazing; Unforgetable; must stay resort showReview(1751094; 'full');
313884,NizaAlgarve,03/28/2004,Paradise at a bargain rate showReview(1750058; 'full');
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/15/2004,had a great time... showReview(1726520; 'full');
313884,lass,01/08/2009,Wieder sch枚ner Urlaub in Punta Cana showReview(23396157; 'full');
313884,lavoie,01/07/2009,tranquilite assur茅 showReview(23353056; 'full');
313884,Bombster,01/07/2009,Magnifiquement tranquille Notre chambre
313884,Maskou,12/23/2008,Un service impeccable ! showReview(22935380; 'full');
313884,NAFRLEMA,12/20/2008,Superbe h么tel 脿 taille humaine piscine
313884,gestionmb,11/20/2008,Ah la temp茅rature; 莽a peut d茅primer des vacances ! En pleine mer
313884,lass,11/17/2008,Ruhig und erholsam showReview(22953287; 'full');
313884,matin9,11/08/2008,j adore showReview(21659935; 'full');
313884,lass,10/13/2008,Wir weinen immer noch; dass wir weg mussten !!!! showReview(22957622; 'full');
313884,lass,09/24/2008,Ein wunderbarer Urlaub showReview(22957040; 'full');
313884,dfbc1,08/28/2008,Me encanto!! bar piscina.
313884,lass,08/13/2008,Super Hotel showReview(22943685; 'full');
313884,ToulouseHola31,07/28/2008,C'est toujours un 茅merveillement ! d茅gustation
313884,oceanebe,07/24/2008,S茅jour paradisiaque showReview(18199401; 'full');
313884,NereaGranCanaria,07/19/2008,me gusto el hotel showReview(18042982; 'full');
313884,niraCanarias,07/19/2008,me gusto el hotel . camas en la playa
313884,vicenteg,07/12/2008,lo peor showReview(17800893; 'full');
313884,izanlatino,05/15/2008,el paquete nupcial es un timo porque sin aviso te cambian a un hotel inferior showReview(16060618; 'full');
313884,josee185,04/15/2008,Site enchanteur un site enchanteur
313884,ArianeMontr茅al,03/29/2008,H么tel tr猫s correct showReview(14646901; 'full');
313884,dina972,03/26/2008,Magique showReview(14554976; 'full');
313884,gersy,03/24/2008,sejour merveilleux showReview(14483368; 'full');
313884,txata,03/22/2008,fue una experiencia rara showReview(14449273; 'full');
313884,chiquiQuintanar,03/06/2008,que pasada showReview(14095138; 'full');
313884,zio2512,03/01/2008,punta cana princess ottimo hotel showReview(13954737; 'full');
313884,vladi57,02/10/2008,Punta Cana Princess; ohne Einschr盲nkung immer wieder ... showReview(13424646; 'full');
313884,Bernadette08,01/30/2008,Hotel 4* au lieu d'un 4*1/2 PLage `la gauche du Punta Cana Princess
313884,Cotsinelle,01/26/2008,Vacances exceptionnelles !!! Chambre 5102
313884,kennyroc,01/12/2008,Hotel favorisant le repos showReview(12555494; 'full');
313884,JOGGER61,01/06/2008,La tranquillit茅 des lieux et le bon service. sur le site de l'hotel
313884,guyfrance,12/27/2007,h么tel sympathique La r茅ception
313884,Chiquiurban,11/18/2007,Hemos vuelt por 2陋 vez edificio 4
313884,xanita81,11/05/2007,super recomendable punta cana princess showReview(10615798; 'full');
313884,lili59,10/09/2007,excellent h么tel showReview(10059924; 'full');
313884,LLGYFJPL,09/25/2007,Lo mejor de lo insuperable es el **paraiso** showReview(10001258; 'full');
313884,rosaeCadiz,09/11/2007,yo quiero volver ...... showReview(8696676; 'full');
313884,maiuzu,08/27/2007,me lo he pasado genial showReview(8513482; 'full');
313884,BarcelonaAna,08/24/2007,Ahora ya se lo qu es el paraiso showReview(8492514; 'full');
313884,loravilla,08/19/2007,siento muchos por la recepcionista showReview(8454205; 'full');
313884,lachuli79,07/30/2007,volveria a repetir showReview(8256710; 'full');
313884,maryafterdark,07/21/2007,Le Punta Cana Princess: un oasis de tranquilit茅! la piscine
313884,Ventolera,07/17/2007,un diez showReview(8135837; 'full');
313884,VIAJERILLO,07/04/2007,creo que no se corresponde con el concepto de caribe que nos venden showReview(8056030; 'full');
313884,guaya,06/30/2007,Hotel de categor铆a y calidad contrastada showReview(8030698; 'full');
313884,yuka,08/19/2006,Fuente de Bienestar amigas para siempre
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,05/28/2006,Un Hotel bonito pero... showReview(5230272; 'full');
313884,ATripAdvisorMember,03/21/2006,El paraiso! Un sue帽o echo realidad! Nico con los dany麓s
313884,Jorgejomorea,03/02/2006,Te gust贸; yo se que te gust贸 showReview(4568714; 'full');
314854,yoyograsutza,10/21/2008,great location great place...heavenly location close to everywhere important..:))...have fun barce rules
314854,EuroTravellerLDN,10/19/2008,Not bad - very good location The hotel is basic but has a great location right by Placa Catalunya which is it's strongest point I'd say. The rooms are basic but clean and sheets changed each day. Bathroom is alright; clean. The staff were friendly and was good to see that when I returned after checking out but had left my Blackberry in the room it was kept safe for me. Overall; does the trick as a cheap base in a great location.
314854,RPB88,10/11/2008,Central and practical Positive:- Staff were friendly and helpful - Free Wireless Internet available in the rooms- Room was spacious (although not necessarily pretty)- Large spacious bathroom with bathtub- City Centre location with many supermarkets and shops - Close to the Metro (5min)Negative:- Double bed consists of 2 single beds pushed together- Tiny TV with a very bad reception and sound quality in the rooms- The safe didn鈥檛 work in the room (no key)- No restuarant in this hotel; but there are many in the surrounding streets- There was a hole in the wall (up high) between our bathroom and the neighbors bathroom; so you could hear nextdoor (and visa-versa)- Elevators are nice after a long hot day; but don't count on the elevators being operational; as only 1 (of 2) elevator was operational during our stay and it broke down for a day! - Also remember that you will be charged 7% IVA on room price (= internet price) when checking out.
314854,Irishairyfairy,09/03/2008,Stay well clear-absolutely AWFUL!! This was without doubt the worst place i have ever stayed. First problem was the check in procedure. The man on reception was the most inefficient person i have ever seen-it was like a scene out of Fawlty Towers-he is the real life Manuel!! We were basically ignored for half an hour and when he would start checking me in he would then tell me to move out of the way when two couples came to check out.Next problem was the room itself; we had a room on the first floor though i had requested a room on the lower levels. The room was tiny and very depresing. Also it sounded like an earthquake every 5 minutes when the metro underneath passed by; the windows would literally shake-it was unbelieveable. I didnt try move rooms because after the trouble we had checking in i just couldnt face him again.Next problem -in the bathroom leading down from the bath were two steps on a really shiny tiled floor-no grip whatsoever. After having a shower my boyfriend slipped on this floor and fell down the two steps and really hurt his back on the steps. He was in a lot of pain for the rest of the trip and still has bruising as a reminder. I never had breakfast in the hotel-my reason was that i refused to pay them any more money than i already had. There was a little 'snack shop' that was supposed to open from7-7. I only seen it open once for about an hour. We bought a bottle of water from this shop but the girl on the counter couldnt speak english AT ALL and we resorted to doing gestures to tell her we were looking for a drink!!I would never recommend anyone stay here. It has a great location but it really was a miserable excuse for a hotel.
314854,lajoa,08/30/2008,Overbooking Scam I booked 1 night stay via Expedia and received a confirmation via email. Upon arrival and check-in on Saturday 16-Aug the front-desk staff gave me some story about how their plumbing was broken for the weekend. I don't buy their story and I just think they overbooked.I speak fluent Spanish and I gave them a hard time for about 30 minutes full of their apologies and they stuck to the no hot water; plumbing story.They claim they went thru lots of trouble trying to find us another hotel (I'm sure it was trouble as August in Spain is a busy tourist month) and they had it all set up for us to go to Eurostars Mitre hotel and even called a taxi to pick us up. The Eurostars Mitre was about 3-4 train stops from the city center and I was not happy as we paid for city center price. We incurred additional expenses buying train passes because of this. The only reason I picked Gran Ducat is because it is right off Plaza Catalunya. For moving us to Mitre hotel they didn't offer to comp us breakfast or any upgrade and I think the hotel we were sent to was lesser quality although it is hard to compare since I never got to stay at Gran Ducat. During their explaining and them trying to answer all the questions I had about transportation to/from city center I saw other hotel guests walking in and out of the Gran Ducat. Also to further confirm my suspicion I asked the taxi driver about how often this happens and how many guests he has been called for transfer (once again my Spanish came in handy) and he said several hotels had funny business going on.I think they overbooked and because we only booked 1 night they decided to bump us to another hotel versus others who might have been staying there the entire weekend.I will never recommend this hotel to anyone and I am currently awaiting a response from Expedia about this problem.
314854,cornishpostie,07/10/2008,Does what it says on the tin ! This Hotel is in a fabulous location; only a minutes walk to La Rambla. We booked a double room which is far smaller than if you get a twin room. Initial reaction when we walked in was 'ohh this is small' but that said; it was clean; and the en suite shower was first class. The room was fairly noisy with traffic outside but this is only to be expected when you are right in the nerve centre of the city. Basically we wanted a comfortable hotel; close to La Rambla that was clean and mid priced and The Gran Ducat ticket all of these boxes. On a general point for those going to Barcelona; we paid 7 euro for a pint of lager on La Rambla but only 3 euro literally round the corner on the main Catalunya Square in the 'Hard Rock Cafe' which was easily on a par for atmosphere. We recommend you do the Tourist bus scene but go for the red and blue routes ahead of the green one as this was far less interesting than the first two. Oh and watch out for rip off cabbies. A 7 euro cab fare turned into 16 euros as we got an unrequested mini tour of the city.
314854,bbeerbower,05/28/2008,Excellent Location 1/2 block from Placa Catalunya pros: EXCELLENT LOCATION! 陆 block from Placa Catalunya (top of Las Ramblas) within walking distance of major attractions; metro stop: aeroport bus stop; hop on hop off bus; tourist information office; supermarket (Ingles) similar to Wal-Mart English speaking friendly; helpful staff;Clean hotel; comfortable beds; Free computer center; Wi-Fi; breakfast (11 euros) other options within same block. Free roomsafe. complimentary water in lobby a nice plus when you return from exploring Barcelona.cons: Hotel is noisy @ night because people stay up all night are very loud returning to their rooms. there is no carpet throughout hotel thus sound travels. metro runs under the hotel during the day but stops running around 1pm.I would definitely recommend this hotel and would stay here again for it's location helpful; friendly staff.
314854,dominusmatthaeus,03/24/2008,Three (flickering) stars Big comfy bed at least
314854,miromar,02/25/2008,Great Location bathroom
314854,COtrips,01/22/2008,Super Staff; Clean; but Loud This is a true 3-star hotel in Barcelona. It is in a great location; in the city center; next to the Renfe Metro stops. We were able to walk to all the city sites; and when needed; it was quite easy to get on the trains to go south. We were able to check in really early on the day we arrived; and the rest of our stay the staff has been superior to many US Hotels. The hotel is clean and it seems the maids are cleaning from morning to sunset. This is where some of the negatives come in: This hotel is VERY noisy...and it may be because the hotel is built around an atrium so sound travels well. Its not outside noise; but the cleaning staff slamming doors at all hours; and in the morning; the elevators can be heard when it starts getting busy. The building has a rumble to it when the subways pass under. Have noise cancelling headphones? bring em!That being said; the staff at the front desk; is awesome. They switched us to a slightly larger room which we hoped was quieter; but it wasn麓t. Still; a nice budget hotel at around $110USD/nt.
314854,thebigchuckbowski,01/05/2008,Nice Place Nice little place in a great location. La Rambla and the Gothic District are right out the door as are two metro stops on different lines. The place is clean and simple and definitely worth the money.
314854,MissyGalway,12/28/2007,Nice basic hotel I stayed here with my husband and parents for five nights. It was a nice basic hotel but with no restaurant/bar as such. Breakfast is served in a small cafe/shop style room. The rooms are small but clean and functional.Excellent location and friendly staff . It is located on a busy road so noise levels can be high but if you are 3rd floor or above its fine. It makes for a nice budget hotel.
314854,Powerjh,11/26/2007,Great Location; Cheap and Cheerful Really good deal on the website but wasnt expecting much when I got to the hotel for the price we were charged. What we got was a good standard hotel with pleasant staff and amazing location. We couldnt have gotten any more central than we did. Great location; right beside everything. barcelonas got a superb infrastructure so if you are only here for a city break get to this hotel; not the most beautiful but perfect for short stays
314854,katgrace,11/24/2007,Price was GOOD; noise was NOT. We arrived at the hotel early; so we had to stow our bags for a while.... the front desk lady was somewhat helpful but it seemed more like we were bothering her than anything. We asked for a good place to eat breakfast and she looked at us an said that there was a Starbucks on the corner. Sorry but I am not going all of the way to Spain to go to a Starbucks... so we found a good tapas place a few buildings over for breakfast (it was wonderful!!!! I will review that later). We found that the location of the hotel is great. The neighborhood is nice; has great shopping and the metro is right there. When we finally did get our room we found it to be a bit cozy. Some reviewers find it small and cramped; but if you are a traveler then most likely what you want is a bed and a bathroom... so we were fine with the size. However when we finally did go to sleep we found that we could hear the elevator screeching.... and everyone walking up and down the hallways. The fact that there is tile everywhere is very elegant and easy to clean but it is LOUD as heck!!! I truly believe there is no insulation in the walls; I thought someone was in our bathroom while we were sleeping; but it turned out to be the people across the hall running their water. The point of this review is to state that #1 it is LOUD #2 the help is a hit or a miss and #3 it is LOUD. If they worked on the noise issue... I might go back.
314854,Gasman295,11/22/2007,Not at all bad The room we were allocated on arrival was not very good we asked to be moved but the hotel was full ; but we were given another the next day which was much better . the breakfast was good with a very wide choice ; including cereals cold meats and cheeses ; bacon scrambled eggs ; fruit salad ; and cakes .And as much coffee as you wanted.The location couldn't have been better ; just around the corner from Placa Catalonia ; which is where the bus from the airport drops you off .There was a coffee bar in the hotel but we did not use it as we were not in the hotel for to much time. The staff were really helpful and pointed us in the right direction a few times.
314854,JanetDSevenoaks,10/19/2007,Gran Ducat - good value and central Stayed 3 nights in the Ducat in Oct 2007. Very good central location with internal room with no traffic noise. Suspect the walls are quite thin but we were not disturbed too much. Rooms are not spacious and those with a double bed are smaller than the twin bed rooms but they are clean and modern; though basic (like an Ibis or a Travelodge). Good buffet breakfast and friendly; helpful reception staff who speak good English. Only problem we had was on the morning we left; water came through our bathroom ceiling from the room above!
314854,superayrfan,10/18/2007,Perfect location for a city break!! one of the architect
314854,ArielaBA,08/24/2007,Close to everything! Hotel Gran Ducat is one block away from Plaza Catalunya which makes it really close to everything else; you'll be within a walkng distance to Casa Guell; the Rambla; the great neighbourhood of The Born etc...The Hotel has a very small entrance with almost no space for a lobby; the breakfast was ok; and the room we stayied in very modern. The daylight receptionist was very kind; spoke perfect english but confusing spanish; wich wasn't a problem to me but it was to my mother and grandmother who don't speak english and had trouble communicating with her. (I think it's great to have a prefect English but as it is Spain we're visiting; Spanish shouldn't be a problem...)Overall I recommend this place to those seeking for a great location and modern standard rooms!
314854,cockatoo,07/26/2007,Gran Ducat the hotel gran ducat is centrally located; just around the corner from the plac de catulunya which is the central meeting place and where there are great transport links from. the aerobus from the airport stops here as well. the hotel do a great breakfast menu with the most delicious bacon i have tasted abroad in a long time; the scrambled eggs could be better but apart from that you have a great choice from the buffet style breakfast room which starts at 7.30 till 11am so you can have a lie in as well.the bedrooms are clean; lovely fluffy white towels; air conditioned; have both bath and shower; have a a tv and lovely comfy bed. if you want a drink in your room take a travel kettle and mugs as there are none supplied.the staff are very friendly and will supply tourist maps if you ask. the rambles is a short walk around the corner; pass the department store engaise and across the public square which has two beautiful fountains.
314854,nseaman,07/23/2007,What is everyone moaning about? I stayed at this hotel for my first visit to Barcelona.The location is superb. You cant get a better location.The hotel was clean and tidy. Basic but fairly modern.It was so good im going back in AugustBook this hotel if you want a hassle free stay in BarcelonaIt was fine !Ignore the Moaning. This hotel was great value for money
314854,yaytravel,06/24/2007,Great location; perfectly nice; clean hotel We stayed for five nights in June 2007. Hotel was perfect for us as we wanted a bit of everything in barcelona (beach; bars; architecture; art) . Terrific location indeed - handy for everything and near nightlife yet not noisy and felt perfectly safe. Nothing particularly fancy in the room; initially was a bit underwhelmed but the (compact!) bathroom was spotless; bed was fine and maid service good; everything worked; we were glad of the air conditioning; and the night manager (and rest of staff) were very pleasant. Don't expect swanky or a place to spend your evenings; but if you're out and about in barcelona (which you should be!) it'll meet your needs perfectly. Has a free PC you can use for internet etc; it's all generally well thought out. Not the absolute cheapest you can find but inexpensive and we felt it was good value indeed. Suggestion; instead of breakfast at hotel (11 euros; we didn't try it) we found the cafe at the top of the 'Corte Ingles' (superstore over the road) has an amazing view and is awesome place to start the day. Totally recommended if you want a nice simple place to hang your hat for a few days.
314854,magyarlany,06/02/2007,Look let the hotel spoil your holiday AC and ceiling
314854,nescafequeen,05/24/2007,Great location! My husband and I stayed at this hotel for 3 nights 20-23 May 2007. The location is fantastic - literally less than 30 seconds from Plaza Catalu帽a and La Rambla where you can find tons of restaurants and shops.The only down side is that the hotel was a little noisy as the Metro line runs directly underneath it but this really wasn't a problem when you are very tired and can sleep forever! The rooms were a little small but clean and modern; a powerful shower; fresh towels every day and air conditioning which was a godsend in the summer heat!!If you fancy a cheap meal one night; try a restaurant nearby the hotel called 'El Raco'. When you leave the hotel turn left and the restaurant is across the square. Because it's just off the main strip; we found the prices to be reasonable. There's also a small corner shop along there selling snacks; drinks; alcohol etc which is nearer than the supermarket on La Rambla. All in all; a great holiday!
314854,janeds,05/09/2007,Fantastic location - literally 3 minutes from the square one of the life models on the Ramblas
314854,Nella7,05/04/2007,Good Location My two friends I stayed at this hotel in Barcelona; which is a lovely city to explore. The hotel was very central; clean with the usual buffet breakfast. However I booked this through an agency asked for three single beds we actually got 2 beds with an ancient well used put-u-up. Fortunately one friend is small slightly built she agreed to 'manage' as she didn't want to make a fuss. We paid full price for inhferior sleeping arrangements. Just be aware if you need a third bed.
314854,SophieStafford,04/04/2007,Ideally situated We stayed at the Gran Ducat for 3 nights. My daughter shared the room with us (which was a bit small) but as we didn't spend much time there it didn't matter. Room was clean and beds comfortable and bedding was changed twice during our stay. Staff were friendly and able to help with queries re local transport etc. Breakfast (continental) was more than adequate - fresh fruit; meats; cheese; croissants/pastries; yoghourts; toast; eggs; bacon and sausage plus juices and tea coffee. We were under the impression we could get an evening meal but this didn't seem to be the case. There were only two things on the downside 1) that the floors are marble throughout which caused a bit of a problem during the night when 'night people' returned to their rooms - noise travels easily! 2) a lot of the rooms look out onto each other i.e. the windows do not look to the outside. (this wasn't really a problem as we were out most of the day)The hotel is ideally situated for all local transport; tourist information and the aerobus pick up/drop off is just a couple of hundred metres away - and only costs 3/4 euros ;they run about every 5 mins. We crammed as much as possible into the time we were there and even caught a train to Sitges down the coast for a few hours. We had a late flight back but were able to leave the luggage at the hotel until the evening which was very useful. We would use this hotel again if staying Barcelona.
314854,jerrywasthere,01/30/2007,A Gran Job!! view to placa catalunya from room in Gran Ducat
314854,Natology,09/20/2006,Too noisy and small This hotel has a great location and is clean but...The room we stayed in was tiny; not fit for 2 people and it is very noisy. The floors are all tiles which is perfect for cleaning but it means you hear everything from the halls and the rooms next to you.It cost us 鈧?0 a night; and I would not consider it good value. I would describe it as a good 2 star hotel.
314854,Dedders,09/10/2006,girls weekend 25 girls from work went to Barcelona for 2 nights. The location of the hotel was superb; for a short stay it was fantastic to have all the major sites within walking distance. The hotel was spotless and breakfast was more than adequate. I would recommend this hotel to anyone wanting to stay in Barcelona. Other reviews said that rooms were noisy and small. The room I had was on the main street and quite large; however ;some of the inner rooms are quite small. This was not a problem; particularly as most of the time was spent out and about. Also the hotel is very conveniant for the aerobus; only a 2 minute walk from the place de catalunya; a major square with bus and underground transport links.For Tapas I would recommend Cocina Vasca on Placa Nova 3; near the cathedral. The best Tapas we had.
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,06/14/2006,Great location ! The location of this hotel is great. Close to the Ramblas; you cannot be more central located in the city than in this hotel. The hotel itself is nice and new. The only disadvantage are the walls which are a bit thin. But for us; this was not a problem at all.
314854,moad,04/28/2006,Great location Stayed at the hotel for my hen weekend (21-23 April). The hotel has a fantastic location right near the square at the top of Las Ramblas. Also worth noting that the airport bus leaves the sqaure every 12 minutes. The rooms were very clean and tidy. The bathroom was small but for the price its a great room. My room faced the street and some said it was noisy. Personally I didnt think so considering you are staying in central Barcelona!!Breakfast is buffet style - good choice except no english tea out. We had to ask but thats no problem. Staff were lovely and allowed us with hangovers a later check out time. Couldn't ask for more really.Overall a good choice for a cheaper hotel.
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,04/23/2006,Very helpful and friendly staff Very small rooms; breakfast was a bit of a bun fight when the hotel was full - the staff tried really hard to be helpful and were very sympathetic to our poor Spanish. Got there via the aerobus (2nd stop C.de Catyluna) the hotel is just across the road. Brilliant position for the sights; restaurant isn't open at night; but there is no shortage of very good restaurants. Great holiday.
314854,skiva,04/15/2006,Great Hotel! The hotel Gran Ducat was lovely; well priced and located. The room was clean and we even had a nice balcony. We were located on the 5th floor; but that was fine as there was a lift :) The staff were quite friendly and informative too. The other bonus with regards to Gran Ducat; is the free internet access; which proved to be rather handy!I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough; we found it on the internet and were quite pleasantly surprised :)
314854,Fazzaitken,04/02/2006,Not worth the money I came back from this hotel today. Yes the location is fantastic and yes it is clean but I'm afraid that does not make up for the unbelievably small rooms. We spent a very short space of time in our room; as with all our city breaks but the room was truly awful. It had a queen-size bed (which was rock hard) and no external window and had the overall feel of university halls. Had it been cheaper; say 拢50 a night then I would not complain so much but this is definitely not a 3 star hotel and not worth more than a budget price. Overall it was the fact we had no useable window that was the greatest problem; so if you do decide to stay here (despite the reviews as we did) then don't stay in room 512. It is also extremely noisey.On the plus side; it is clean and in a good location but so are other hotels and I would not stay there again.
314854,Kate012,03/30/2006,Great Location Plus Points: *Staff were very helpful and friendly; all spoke very good English *Great location for restuarants and bars*Room had optional heating!*No street noise (did not have a street facing room)*Informative helpful hotel website *Very clean Negatives:*No hot water on first morning (seemed to have sorted itself by the evening)*Hotel was over an underground train track so could hear whenever a train passed (every 20 mins or so approx. 7am to 1am) BUT did not stop me from sleeping ( I'm generally a light sleeper)*Cost of hotel did not include breakfast (but there are some great cafes near by for a more Spanish breakfast experience)Overall:In terms of accomodation you get what you pay for but a really good location
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,01/04/2006,fantastic location but very noisy 29 December - 2 January 2005.Good Hotel. Rooms are small but very clean. Small; well stocked bar and tv area has computer with free internet access. Only 2 minute walk to the top of Las Ramblas. BUT..The noisest hotel I have ever stayed at. No sound proofing whatsoever.
314854,r1ch1e,12/13/2005,great hotel just got back from a 1 night stay; the location of the hotel is fantastic just at the top of Las Ramblas. Hotel itself is spotless as were the rooms. Staff at the hotel are polite. friendly and helpful. For the money you pay it can't be beaten; i would recommend it to anyone.
314854,louisehop,10/02/2005,nice hotel Just returned from staying 5 nights at the hotel Gran Ducat.Our room on the 5th floor at the rear of the hotel was tiny; however; we only really slept there so not a problem.The room was spotless; clean towels everyday and several bedding changes too. We had a balcony but no furniture or view. We ate breakfast at the hotel once; it was nice but there were nicer places to try.The staff were v friendly.
314854,johnbloggs,08/17/2005,Do Avoid!! Really Small rooms Seeing some of the reviews we thought; sounds like a great hotel plus it centrally located... Well the only thing going for this hotel is its location; everything else is really terrible. The rooms are so tiny that you dont have any place to keep your luggage. Dont even get me started on the bathrooms. For the price that one pays for this hotel its no where near a 3 star... The only positive point in the hotel is the free internet access which they have. We stayed only for one night and next day we promptly checked in to the Citadines on Las Ramblas which is much more central; with fantastic facilities and just a bit more expensive.
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,07/25/2005,Excellent Location July '05: Just back from a weekend break with my Mam. Fantastic city; fantastic accomodation; fantastic time. The Hotel Gran Ducat is superbly located to La Rambla and other tourist areas. We got the bus link from the airport to the city and had only a few minutes walk to the hotel. We found it clean; friendly and the breakfast in the morning was lovely. The only downside was that the room was a little small and the windows only single glazed so light sleepers may find it hard to get to sleep. The area in which the hotel itself is located is lovely and when I return to Barcelona for another look I'll definitely stay at this hotel without question.
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,07/14/2005,Great Little Hotel I returned from the Gran Ducat on the 1st July 2005 we stayed for 3 nights.i have never been to a hotel i have not picked myself; but my daughter did for a surprise trip; fistly the hotel is very central; a few metres and you are in the main square; the main department store is opposite (which has the cheapest 2ltr bottle of water i have ever seen even cheaper than the supermaket); The hotel was very clean; smallish room but big enough for the two of us; the breakfast was good buy european standards there was lots of choice; we thought the staff were helpful too. we had a room on the first floor facing the main road; the room was double glazed and the only noise we heard was the rumble of the underground as it went by; it must run under the hotel; i must add that it didnt stop us sleeping; i would go back to this hotel again.
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,07/02/2005,Easy To Find Location and Friendly Staff Spent two nights at the three star Hotel Gran Ducat after staying in a four star hotel just up the coast. The Gran Ducat was probably the better of the two with its friendly; chatty staff and clean well maintained rooms.Having previously stayed in hotels in Barcelona that were incredibly grotty; if admittedly a few pounds cheaper; this made a great choice. The hotel is also well located and easy to find; just at the very top of the Ramblas and off to the right. Its also just across the street from the Pl. de Catalunya train station that runs directly to the Airport. The rooms are not overly large and the view from the window didn't offer much but with a free internet connection; good air-conditioning and a breakfast served until a decent hour; I'd certainly be happy to stay there again. Overall I would say this is a great hotel in a good location for the money.
314854,woot,04/21/2005,Great Location+Affordable Price I was there in February 05 and spent 4 nights there. All i can say is that it has great location and it was very near like 3 min walk to the nearest metro which was Catalunya.The hotel was clean and the staff were super friendly; they didnt have a kettle to boil water so the staff opened up the mini bar for us to get hot water at 2 am in the morning. They also spoke good english as well.There are also some very nice restaurants and tapas bar next to;across the road and at the back of the hotel.It might be a bit noisy because of the traffic below but for the price i paid and the location of it;i'm not complaining.
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,04/11/2005,Super central friendly hotel showReview(3350281; 'full');
314854,Txbella,03/14/2005,Great Location showReview(3272486; 'full');
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,03/14/2005,v central!! showReview(3271807; 'full');
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,03/12/2005,Excellent value for money showReview(3268453; 'full');
314854,ALSinSarasota,01/21/2005,NOISY; great location showReview(3022396; 'full');
314854,DKB,12/06/2004,Great location - Great value for money. showReview(2865720; 'full');
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,10/02/2004,Great Location; Poor Hotel showReview(2615618; 'full');
314854,ATripAdvisorMember,09/18/2004,Extremely convenient showReview(2583427; 'full');
314854,susiedotcom,08/26/2004,Clean and convenient showReview(2495435; 'full');
314854,RomeatEaster,04/18/2004,Excellent location in the heart of Barcelona showReview(1791175; 'full');
314854,銇涖倱銈,12/24/2008,渚垮埄 showReview(22990725; 'full');
314854,lass,12/11/2008,Eventuali pecche rispetto allo... showReview(22769879; 'full');
314854,lass,12/10/2008,La straordinaria qualit脿 di... showReview(22769535; 'full');
314854,lass,10/27/2008,Ottimo Hotel; ma troppo costoso... showReview(21836863; 'full');
314854,lass,10/10/2008,Hotel centralissimo; a pochi... showReview(21161727; 'full');
314854,lass,09/26/2008,La situation est tr猫s bonne... showReview(20491588; 'full');
314854,lass,09/23/2008,La posizione eccellente... showReview(20436197; 'full');
314854,lass,09/16/2008,peu mieux faire showReview(20553527; 'full');
314854,lass,08/15/2008,Il numero di telefono rportato... showReview(19868538; 'full');
314854,lass,08/04/2008,Personalmente;con una semana de... showReview(19492794; 'full');
314854,ulises2000,06/28/2008,No respetaron mi reserva showReview(17313661; 'full');
314854,lass,06/16/2008,Pr谩ctico solamente por la zona. showReview(17445205; 'full');
314854,lass,05/27/2008,Zentrale Lage ist das gro脽e Plus showReview(16596259; 'full');
314854,lass,05/26/2008,Gerne Wieder showReview(16596258; 'full');
314854,lass,04/29/2008,bedingt zu empfehlen showReview(15575461; 'full');
314854,lass,04/22/2008,Lage f眉r den Preis ist OK. Zimmer erschreckend klein. showReview(15575460; 'full');
314854,lass,04/16/2008,Bien situado y habitaciones... showReview(16727031; 'full');
314854,lass,03/31/2008,Exelente hotel por su... showReview(16724564; 'full');
314854,lass,03/25/2008,moyen pour l'accueil showReview(14731066; 'full');
314854,lass,02/11/2008,El personal del Hotel no est谩... showReview(13481413; 'full');
314854,lass,02/07/2008,-f眉r Kurztripp geeignet showReview(13980789; 'full');
314854,lass,01/29/2008,Hotel tres bien situ茅 脿 100 m... showReview(13568945; 'full');
314854,lass,01/18/2008,Beaucoup trop bruyant; peu... showReview(13025571; 'full');
314854,lass,01/13/2008,Zimmer war nicht zu klimatisieren - zu hei脽 showReview(13195945; 'full');
314854,lass,01/09/2008,Sehr empfehlenswert! showReview(13195943; 'full');
314854,lass,01/09/2008,La posizione eccezionale di... showReview(13163217; 'full');
314854,lass,01/03/2008,L'albergo si trova vicinissimo... showReview(12945178; 'full');
314854,lass,12/24/2007,Point le plus positif : la... showReview(12651376; 'full');
314854,lass,12/11/2007,Ottima la posizione;in pieno... showReview(12650954; 'full');
314854,lass,11/20/2007,Non ci tornerei showReview(11309505; 'full');
314854,lass,11/17/2007,Hotel carino; posizione ottima... showReview(11338214; 'full');
314854,Catalunya86,11/14/2007,Ideal f眉r eine St盲dtereise! showReview(10810397; 'full');
314854,lass,11/06/2007,Un emplacement exceptionnel en plein centre 脿 c么t茅 des transports showReview(11309503; 'full');
314854,lass,11/01/2007,Lage optimal; alles zu Fu脽 ereichbar; gerne wieder showReview(11309502; 'full');
314854,lass,09/20/2007,ottima posizione - molto rumoroso showReview(11309504; 'full');
314854,lass,09/09/2007,Posizione veramente... showReview(12716221; 'full');
314854,lass,09/05/2007,Come 3 stelle sarebbe stato... showReview(11338215; 'full');
314854,lass,09/03/2007,Le camere sono molto piccole... showReview(11338217; 'full');
314854,lass,08/24/2007,Barcelona pur! showReview(11458883; 'full');
314854,lass,08/13/2007,Ottima ubicazione;l'hotel si... showReview(11338222; 'full');
314854,lass,08/09/2007,Hotel pulito ottima vicinanza a... showReview(11338221; 'full');
314854,lass,08/08/2007,Il giudizio positivo puo essere... showReview(11338219; 'full');
314854,lass,07/11/2007,Posizione ideale; due stazioni... showReview(11338223; 'full');
314854,GloriaSevilla,07/04/2007,Habitaci贸n diminuta showReview(8055052; 'full');
314854,lass,06/05/2007,La posizione dell'albergo e... showReview(11338224; 'full');
314854,arizonacenter,02/12/2007,Si quieres oir el maravilloso (ejem.. ) metro....al贸jese en el Hotel Gran Ducat showReview(6783485; 'full');
314854,lass,05/10/2006,Camera pulita e accogliente; un... showReview(11338225; 'full');
314854,lass,05/06/2006,Nous avons 茅t茅 tr猫s 茅tonn茅s 脿... showReview(11338226; 'full');
314854,lass,04/21/2006,Cet hotel vaut surtout par son... showReview(11338227; 'full');
314854,lass,11/16/2005,BUONA UBICAZIONE; BUONA... showReview(11338228; 'full');
314854,lass,05/14/2005,Bon h么tel; en travaux lors de... showReview(11338229; 'full');
317155,lilsmi,01/06/2009,absolutely perfect beach vacation culebra beach villas
317155,gissele303,12/03/2008,One of the best places to vacation My fiancee and I went to Culebra Beach Villas for a week during the month of October. We flew from San Juan Puerto Rico to Isla Culebra and minutes after arriving we fell in love with the people and the Island. We met some of the most friendliest people as soon as we arrived to the small airport. It turns out we happened to be on the same flight with someone from management who then proceeded to offer us a ride to the villas saving us time and confusion. When we arrived to the villas we were quickly checked in and invited to a bbq with management and other locals from the island. Soon after that; they made every attempt to make us feel comfortable and have a wonderful experience during our stay. They gave us tips on what to do and see; and even invited us to their houses for drinks. The villa we stayed in had everything we needed to make ourselves at home and was clean. We found utensils; pots; microwave; refrigerator; etc; etc. We were able to cook our own romantic dinners in one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We have traveled to many places but we have never before had the service; friendliness; and detail we had during our stay in Culebra Beach Villas. Also since we arrived during slow season we practically had Flaminco Beach to ourselves! The only thing this place lacks is a closer grocery store since it takes about 10-15 minutes to the closest one. I would recommend taking energy bars or some sort of snack to have around until you can make it to the store especially if you have children. And believe me; if you have children this is the place to stay! I cannot wait to go back and maybe take my niece since the beach is perfect for children as well. If you are looking to relax in a down to earth place with wonderful people this is the place. I would not recommend this place for anyone expecting to stay in expensive resorts with room service.Gissele
317155,Atlantida1000,11/22/2008,Loved every minute! The view from teh terrase
317155,rubencotto,11/02/2008,nice place I was in the villa with my wife and my experience was realy goog ;the room clean; the outdoor clean; the place is realy close of the beach nobody doing noise in the villas; the manager margarita is realy friendly with the guest; we stay by 3 night and 4 days; everything POSITIVE.
317155,Gretchenls,10/21/2008,Beautiful but isolated My husband and I stayed at Culebra Beach Villas because I had wanted to stay right on Flamenco Beach. We actually loved the property- the cabins and landscaping were beautiful and Flamenco Beach is absolutely stunning. Our unit was basic but very clean and nicely decorated and it had a spacious deck where we spent our evenings. As other visitors have stated; the hotel is very isolated and guests should plan to stock up on provisions in town if you have not rented a car or scooter- there are a couple of well stocked grocery stores. There is no restaurant on site; but a beach bar was supposed to be opening in December. We were in Culebra during the rainy season; so the mosquitos/bugs were pretty bad and we definitely needed bug spray. My husband and I were saddened by the amount of stray/feral cats on the property. Some were socialized and in relatively good shape; but others seemed to be feral. They were fearful of us; hungry; skinny and had various wounds; i.e. deep neck wound; eye infection and tail sores. We are unsure if management provides any care for the animals. We heard after the fact from another party that Culebra Beach Villas refuses offers of assistance in order to improve the lives of these animals.We would love to return; but we have serious reservations about the potential neglect of animals on their property.
317155,ido4u,08/17/2008,Best place to enjoy the beautiful beach- Flamenco dog i caught :)
317155,SanJuanBoricua,08/11/2008,Very Expensive with Problems The Culebra Beach Villas Hotel is very expensive for what they offered. It鈥檚 really a camping ground with beds and a/c to sleep. The beds are as hard as a rock and the bedding used is probably 10 years old. Appliances are in good working condition but dirty. Be aware of the monster size flying 鈥渃ucarachas鈥?while you sleep.We experience a REALLY bad odor from cats and chickens/roosters feces everywhere. We had to clean the porch with lavender cleaner in order to be outside. The unfreindly Management could only offer running water from 8am to 8pm. So; if you have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night鈥?too bad. In addition; they do not provide any towels; soap; toilette paper or dish soap for your stay. They DO NOT clean very well; because we found inside the bedroom closet and 鈥渙ld鈥?female underwear and several kids bathing suits under the beds. The Management is only available a few hours during the day; even though they live in one of the villas in the premises. The website clearly noted that in each villa an X number of guests are allowed. But several of the villas around us that only had beds for 2-4; but they had 8 to 9 guests鈥?making the noise and trash more noticeable. We reported certain issues to the Manager; his response 鈥?he is only there to hand out and pick up the villas keys. What it is inside each the villa 鈥済ood鈥?or 鈥渂ad鈥?or 鈥渋nsufficient鈥?is what the owner supplies and nothing else is provided. We do noticed that behind the Managers Office a storage room; with bath soap; rolls of paper towels; toilet paper; dish soap鈥?etc. we visited this room thinking it was the office and were surprise when Management told us that they DO NOT provide any of these items. Management was very upset that we visited the storage room....humm!Good Luck if you are thinking on renting at the Culebra Beach Villas. My advice --- please stay in the downtown 鈥渇erry鈥?area hotels and take the $2.00 taxi to the free Public Flamenco Beach.
317155,LosAngelesCaligirl,06/07/2008,Amazing beach; decent place to stay The main attraction is Flamenco Beach; it is hands down one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. There is very little development on Flameno beach (or Culebra for that matter) so the only places to stay on this beach are Culebra Beach Villas; a similar apartment building next door (can't remember the name) and a campsite. Culebra Beach Villas offers you the ability to be right on the beach and it's amazing. What you have to put up with are just basic accomodations that are more like camping cabins. That being said; we really enjoyed our stay over Memorial Day weekend. The atmosphere is very family friendly; there are community grills and it is fun to hang out and meet your neighbors. We did a lot of cooking in our room as well since it takes at least 15-20 minutes to drive into town. Culebra has very little nightlife and dining options so if you come here; think of it as a rustic; laid-back vacation. If you are seeking luxury; go to another island!
317155,mndy77,04/25/2008,amazing views Stayed with 3 other adults for 4 nights and we had a great time. The 2 bedroom apartment was clean and spacious. A little rundown but better to track in sand that way. The kitchen was fully equiped and the shower was super hot. Some resident cats kept us company and the roosters were a wonderful alarm clock! Flamenco beach is amazing. Very empty and quiet. Local culebra residents are womderfully helpful; most speaking good english. The hammocks are great and the bbq area is spacious for a dinner party with new friends. We never wanted to leave. Love culebra!
317155,crunnermom,03/29/2008,Ultimate relaxation on the most beautiful beach My daughter and I spent four nights at Culebra Beach Villas. We arrived with some reservations having read a few very negative reviews of these villas on this website. Our experience there was very POSITIVE.Our studio unit was number three behind the main building. The room was clean; comfortable and cool. The frig kept our beer cold and the freezer provided ice. The hammock on the porch was a comfy place to nap.It was a two minute walk to the soft silky sand of Flamenco Beach. There you could just hang out soaking up the sunshine. If you wanted you could jump in the turquoise blue water to boogie board or take a short walk down the beach to snorkel.Most days we hiked a mile or so to go snorkeling along a coral reef that had the most incredible sea life. We got there by 9 or 9:30 and had the beach to ourselves for quite sometime.I love to travel and explore whenever I can. I've been so very lucky to have visited incredibly beautiful beaches on the Outer Banks of North Carolina; the panhandle of Florida; Harbour Island in the Bahamas; Essaouira in Morocco and Zanibar off the coast of Tanzania. Flamenco Beach in Culebra is one of the most spectacular.We loved the relaxing atmosphere of the villas. We didn't mind the roosters roaming around and cockledoodledooing 24/7. We enjoyed the party life of some of our neighbors in villas closeby. We liked vacationing with the locals.I wish I could return tomorrow. Ahhh....it was perfect for us!
317155,lvn2travl,02/26/2008,The Beach was A+ but room was B- My husband and our 4 year old daughter stayed in Unit 3A at CBV from 2/20-2/22. The location is fabulous! It was so nice hearing the ocean from your bedroom; that was def worth the price! But the villa itself; for the price; should of been better. Half of our shutters did not open; therefore; we could not get any type of breeze through them. Some of the windows were missing screens so we could not open them at all. I went to open a cabinet in the kitchen and the handle fell off. The villa def needed some improvements but it did not ruin our vacation. We rented a jeep thru carlos jeep for the two days. toured the island. very nice. flamenco beach is out of this world and the location was awesome but i dont know if the actual villa was worth the money!
317155,LittleRaven,02/07/2008,Living in a cave. Flamenco Beach looking NW
317155,JaredCulebraVisit108,01/21/2008,Very near beach; but villa condition leave much to be desired at price My wife and I spent 5 nights at Culebra Beach Villas (CBV) from 1/12/08 to 1/19/08 in unit #16; a studio efficiency for $125/night. Here are my thoughts on CBV and I wish that I had a reco for another place; but all I really saw enough of to review was the villas.The one big pro:1) If you really want to be very near Flamenco beach; there are only 3 options: the campground; Flamingo Beach Villas(right next to CBV) and CBV. So the location is primo for this and there aren't many options. Flamingo beach really is gorgeous; but without much shade during much of the day and crowded :) (I know I'm jaded when I write this --10-20 people on the beach during the week) compared to Zoni or Rosario which we really had to ourselves.However; it's worth mentioning that there are very few amenities at the beach (we were only able to buy water at the office) and so rented a jeep. Since Flamenco is only ~5 minutes from Dewey (the only town and where the ferry docks); and as we visited most of the other beaches listed in the travel guides instead of spending all our time on Flamenco; I wonder if it wouldn't be better to spend ~$85 and stay closer to town; but as I say; I only know about CBV from my stay. And now the several cons:1) Although the studio was clean; the appliances didn't work properly. - Our refrigerator didn't cool and our freezer was (we think) the temperature of a fridge. Despite some tries; management never fixed it.- The electric range gave bad shocks if one wasn't insulated from the floor.Management鈥檚 suggestion was to cook in shoes.- The wax seal on the toilet leaked on the final day after clogging for the 4th or 5th time which was really gross.- This isn't really an appliance issue; but the kitchen area is very small; so the sink is actually a bar sink and very hard to fit pots into.2) Normal sorts of supplies that one expects with an efficiency were lacking. So we received 2 bath towels and one bath mat and 2 pillows and 2 sheets and a blanket; but no wash cloths; no sharp kitchen knives--only butter knives; no utensils for the barbeque; no hand towels for the kitchen; no normal sorts of leftovers like coffee filters; salt and pepper. Also sheets and towels are only changed 1 every 4 days (supposedly) and for us never during our 5 day stay (I had gotten tired of talking ineffectually to management by then).3) Roosters; Chickens; and Cats: the whole compound is full of roosters; chickens and cats. I found that unless I ran the air conditioner (which cut out the sound of the surf or a huge reason to sleep near the beach); I would be awakened by roosters at first light and then continuously until about 9 unless I got up sooner. The porch attached to the studio is very pretty with hammocks and plenty of lounging chairs etc; but they are also covered with chicken droppings and the smell is noticeably barnyard like and makes everything dirty.4) The 'villas' are each independently owned and the manager on-site doesn't seem to have the concern that an 'owner operator' might (of course they have a near lock on accommodations on the beach). Also the office is open very short hours 10am-1 (I think) and then 2-5; so one has to wait around or come back early to find the manager.So overall; I gave it a 2 because the location is very good and the unit is clean. But for people who intend to cook in the unit or who care much about chicken droppings on the porch or roosters crowing at dawn; I cannot recommend CBV. My wife felt that it was the type of rental one might expect to pay 45/night for on the North Carolina coast (without the roosters) if this helps anyone get an impression of CBV.Just a few comments on Culebra:-The island is absolutely stunning and incredible. -I would highly reco renting a vehicle and budgeting accordingly.-Like everywhere in the Caribbean; the coral is mostly dead; but if one can look beyond this; the snorkeling at Rosario is great.-If you can bring food to the island; do.
317155,ladyesq,12/27/2007,Rustic; Romantic and Right on the Beach! hen comes with villa
317155,AnaliaMiami,09/07/2007,Amazing Culebra!! My Family and I stayed at Culebra Beach Villas last summer; and was amazing; the place is so fresh; the room was very clean and the peole are very friendly. We waked up and went directly to Flamenco Beach; that was awesome. That does not have comparisson; you are in the best beach. And during the night; you can see the most wonderfull sky with a million of star; because there is no light contamination. I want to return the next winter.
317155,FancyDay,04/07/2007,Location; location; locagion Our family of 5 stayed in 3-bdrm unit #4-A for 4 nights in March. My expectations were low after reading the reviews. But we had a fantastic stay and would probably return. The location right on Playa Flamenca is unsurpassed - pristine and private. Even on the weekends; it wasn't that crowded (I know that may be different in summer when Puerto Ricans vacation there).Our unit was on the 3rd floor - lots of stairs; but that wasn't a problem for us. The balcony overlooked the beach - the views were fantastic. The unit was spartan; but extremely clean. The beds were OK; linens were basic. The kitchen was stocked with all the basic essentials for cooking; but nothing else was supplied except sponge and soap (e.g.; no paper towels). We used the BBQs downstairs. Tony; the property manager; was friendly and helpful. He gave us his restaurant recommendations and happily fixed a A/C unit in one of our bedrooms. Ice and water are available for sale from the office. A car is a necessity here; in my opinion; for grocery shopping and restaurant meals in town.If you want to be on one of the most spectacular beaches in the Caribbean; you like privacy and peace and you don't mind self-catering; Culebra Beach Villas is for you. If you expect ANY amenities; don't consider it.
317155,IBX,03/18/2007,Sleeping with bedbugs..
317155,ClaudiaSeattle,03/05/2007,Rats in our bedroom The place was below average anyway; but the rats that crawled in beneath the kitchen sink and left poop all over the kitchen counter were too much. And NO; we did not have any food anywhere in the room. The rats kept us up all night and when we talked to the managers in the morning they said they would take care of it and stuffed the hole underneath with some foam. That lasted until 5 a..m. and then the rats broke through again. Disgusting. Management provided NO apology or any kind of refund. Avoid this place.
317155,fruitflyboy,02/19/2007,Must stay! This place has gotten a lot of bad reviews in the past; so we were prepared for a not-so-great experience. But everything was great. The woman who greeted us was friendly and helpful. The room was clean and comfortable. We rented studio villa #7. There are nice hammocks and swings outside each villa. The beach; as everybody notes; is gorgeous. Staying in these villas means that you can sit on the pure white sand at night and watch the moonlight AND take an early morning stroll right up to where there are colorfully painted former US tanks. There is supposedly good snorkeling on the right side of the beach; but be careful; the water can get rough sometimes. There is some nice snorkeling at Carlos Rosario and Tamarindo; a short walk from here.Overall; we highly recommend this experience. It's obviously not a luxury vacation; but if you want to experience the ocean in a relaxed setting; Culebra is great!Oh; remember to take mosquito repellent and use it generously (when you're outside the room. Inside is fine and has A/C).
317155,godessathena,10/30/2006,Memorable !! August 14-16; 2006 My husband and I spent 2 days and 2 nights at Culebra Beach Villa; studio #16. Since each villa is individually owned I can only rate the room that we were in but it was perfect !!! I would only stay at CBV again! The entire place was very nice and clean. Being on the beach is incredible!What no one has posted before is that the public beaches close at dark. I don't know how well they enforce it; but technically they are closed. The sun sets around 5:30 and by 6:30 it is dark! When staying at CBV you have your own private end of the beach and Flamenco beach is prettier than the photos on the websites! I promise!! Our first night there we went walking on the beach under a blanket of stars and danced on the beach. We were up early the next morning playing in the water. We hiked over to Carlos Rosario and snorkled. The path was much harder to locate than we'd planned but we found it. The air conditioner in the room worked almost too well! The best way to plan your visit is to bring your own food if come over on the ferry ;otherwise; go to the store after you arrive; buy what you need and don't leave CBV until it is time to leave the island. The rest of the island left us a bit cold; but the beach was awesome. We would go back and take friends in a heatbeat! They have an outdoor grill on the patio of every villa and an outdoor table and chairs. There is no reason to leave. Just hang out and relax. I highly recommend CBV. Word of warning...take antibiotics with you. The pharmacist is only on the island on Tuesdays and doesn't arrive until 5pm.
317155,girllaw,07/11/2006,Not everything it's cracked up to be! I was born and raised in Pr and have stayed in Vieques and Culebras in private residences; hotels; B B麓s as well as in boats stationed in one of the spectacular bays. They are both increcdible; pristine and unique!But Culebra Beach Villas was definitely not what was advertised. Too bad I didn麓t listen to friends and reviews! My birthday was not so much fun due to my decision to stay in this place...I will try to explain so future visitors can make an informed decision according to their interests. First; the posivie reviews I have read refer mainly to the shacks that are located behind the main building (individual apartments). THOSE are rather nice and clean but they don麓t have a view since the main building blocks it. Neverthless; the main building is; simply; falling apart and the owners don麓t want to invest money in it since the government is apparently trying to eliminate the oceanfront structure because it is damaging the beach (it is literally in the sand). I managed to get in touch with the owner because the nice people form JM Rentals; seeing as we were going to leave early from Culebra; got us in touch with him. To no use; since the second room they gave us was still in the same main building and again had no electricity in part of the room (the bathroom; so no hot water) and the alarm went off at 7am!!!! there were no employees around so nothing was done about it...Although the beach is RIGHT in front and it is amazing!!!! there is no restaurant except for a place they want to call a bar or something; but just looking at it with its flies and the stench made you want to go elsewhere. So; you are at the beach but have to move around to eat if you don麓t have a kitchen or just don麓t want to cook. Taxis don麓t like to drive there since the small road into the hotel is full of potholes...If you want beachfront and some place to eat; go with Tamarindo Estates. Although the beach is not directly in front of the hotel and Flamenco is way better; it is still really close by and the hotel is wonderful for around the same price. Culebra Beach Villas; for the price; is not comparable to other hotels. I would never expect luxury in Culebra since its charm is kinda roughing it; but I do expect clean rooms; electricity; and at least cordial staff when things get tough. Especially for the price (I payed 135 plus 9% tax for a full bed)! So if you idea is to honeymoon; to have nice places to eat around and you don麓t have a car; beware of Culebra Beach Villas! If you want to have a nice beach walking distance and have a car to drive to restaurants; ask specifically for a shack in the back and hope the staff is in a good mood that day!
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,03/20/2006,Just what I was looking for Inside Villa # 13
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,03/11/2006,The place is the pits but the beach out of this world The beach? Outstanding ; magnificient and out of this world. But be prepared to bring your own towels; bed sheets and everything to make your life more comfortable. The best time to go is December through March because it is when we enjoy our best temperatures 70's. Ah; do not forget to bring a broom; mop; rags to clean; Soft Scrub and Clorox to desinfect your kitchen; bathroom; etc. I always bring a plastic cover for the mattress and good padded cotton cover to then add the sheets. Otherwise I would rather put a tent and sleep outside. In other words set up your mind for camping at the gorgeous Flamingo Beach; which is one of the best beaches of Puerto Rico. Since the road is pretty bad rent a 4x4 and bring all your food and water from the big Island (its cheaper.) I love the beach but I always arrive with a cleaning crew and the first thing I do is clean and I mean clean because the place is really filthy. I go with a group of enthusiatic unspoiled beach lovers. Remember prepare in advance. Anything to make you comfortable since the accommodations are the pits and you do not want these inconveniences to spoil the treat. Enjoy your stay.
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,02/20/2006,BEST TIME OF MY LIFE Me and my girlfriend spent a week at the Villas and it was beautiful. We stayed at apt 2A and I could not belive how all I had to do to beat to the beach was walk down a flight of steps. I recomend these villas to anyone who is planning on going to Culebra. Air Comditioned rooms right on the beach... what else can you ask for?
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,02/01/2006,Wounderful time The beach is one of the world's best. Stayed in Villa 18 and it just got an overhaul. Very nice. Will be back in April. Highly recomended.
317155,valeriol,01/30/2006,What a spot More of the beach
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,12/28/2005,More like a shack - Buttttt Went 2004. If you are looking for a nice resort. Then dont look here. The rooms are nasty dirty. But I hate to say I will go again. The location is incredible. I never rode the Taxi I just rented a bike. Went lobster hunting had paella with some locals. I work for an airline and have to say this is one nasty dirty hotel. But looking for a beautiful beach here it is. I guess it is not crowded because nobody wants to stay there.
317155,barbaradixon,11/04/2005,Worse than you can imagine Our friends rented this place for us. They live in San Juan and it was a friend of a friend kind of thing. The villa (what a misnomer) was filthy; dark; hot; shabby; and on and on. We had some groceries with us but I wouldn't even open them. There was no way I would try to fix a meal in that filthy kitchen. Not even a piece of toast. And when I opened the fridge it was so dirty we wouldn't even put our juice in there. Rather throw it away.We couldn't open any windows. They had shutters that were nailed shut. This made the room like a oven; not to mention so dark. They probably thought this would help cover all the flaws. No way!The bedding was paper thin; so we tooks the sheets from two beds and put them together. Even then I was hesitant to lay down.My husband became very sick; and we had to cut our stay from 4 days to 1. They would not give us a refund. Did he get sick from the filth? Who knows.Our friends intervened for us; trying to get a partial refund. Nope. Now I know why they wanted full payment up front. No one would stay if they hadn't already paid.The beach is spectacular; doesn't come any better. But even the wonderful beach can't make up for the squalid conditions of the villa.
317155,wgambe,07/06/2005,loveliest beach i've ever seen terrible conditions in villas I visited Culebra Beach Villas for the 6th time this long 4th of July weekend. I can only say thar each time I visit it I'm more and more dissapointed. These people take advantage of being the only resort available to stay in that is located at this GEORGEOUS beach. The place is NOT one of the cheapest (we paid $600.00 for a villa that fits 6 for the weekend) nor one of the cleanest. We saw roaches; the kitchen supplies were dirty; the place needs painting;the bathroom DEFINITELY needs some work and the employees are not too friendly. Overall they need to invest some money in fixing the place up. I'm a local (live in San Juan) and am very saddened that every time I visit it just looks worse. I love staying there only because of the location (right on Flamenco Beach) which is my favorite beach. I truly believe this is one of the most beutiful in the WORLD. Too bad the closest place to stay in is no good.
317155,lilipadk,02/22/2005,Average rooms; top location! We stayed at the Culebra Beach Villas in early February - I'd say the $125+ per night was a bit steep for the room; which was average; but the location was top notch on Flamenco Beach (be sure and walk over to check out the old tank on the opposite end of the beach). Since we were there for only 2 nights; it may have been smarter and less expensive to stay in town; but if you are a beach person; then this is the place to be. The beach is lovely; with great snorkeling off of Playa Tamarindo only a 30-minute scenic hike away. The Culebra Beach Villas have a wonderful beach side little tiki bar serving great frozen drinks ($6). We were in room #3 and it was fine (bring all your won ammenities; though; like soap; shampoo; and coffee; and lots of bug spray for the mosquitoes that come out at dusk). The water pressure wasn't good; but the cable came in great! BIG THANKS TO THE POSTER BELOW WHO RECOMMENDED TO GET THE NEWER VILLAS IN THE BACK.
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,08/08/2004,Very; very; very bad experience Several days ago we arrived to Culebra island; the auto rental experience was great; at Carlos jeep rental; but when we get a the Culebra Beach Villas the experience was totally different; beginning with a very angry front desk attendant; we wait about 3 hours for our villa key; just to find a very unconfotable room with a big fowl smelling over the entire room; garbage kitchen; and fungi all over the bath. A T.V. that doesn't worked; and roaches all over the place. I do not recc. this place to anybody; is better to stay at the beach with a sleeping bag; an enjoy the beautiful beach and sky; but thats all.
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,07/29/2004,could be a diamond; but is a lump of coal Just visited Flamenco Beach in Culebra this past weekend. The beach is beautiful. Even if you're submerged up to your neck in the water you can still see your toes. Crystal-clear!The villas; however; were another story. They are poorly managed. The manager may or may not be in at your time of checkin. There may or may not be running (fresh) water available in your room. There is no groundskeeper; so you might see trash around if the guests don't pick up after themselves. I couldn't figure out why they keep the trash for the property right at the front entrances (both of them!). So when you get there the first thing you see is trash. The bathroom was disgusting and smelly. Mildew everywhere!I stayed in a studio ($125/night; 1-C) and it smelled very musty (yuk) and was super-humid. My recommendations; if decide to be bold and stay there are: (1) Stay in the newer villas; located at the back of the property - not in the main building. These are made of concrete; and they don't smell. Believe me; I went to see them. (2) Try to stay on the ground floor. The villas have a small cistern whose pump doesn't have enough force to get water to the upper levels. (3) Don't expect your villa to be cleaned daily. They are cleaned every 4 days. (4) If you require a TV; you must ask for a villa that has one; not all of them do. (5) Ask exactly what appliances your villa has. The one I stayed in was supposed to have a microwave but didn't. Beware of the electrical stoves. I got shocked while I was cooking. (6) Thank goodness I took my own cooking utensils and pots with me. The ones in the villa were in poor; poor shape. Plus; without any water to wash them with you won't want to use them! (7) Expect bad service and you won't be disappointed.Culebra and Flamenco Beach are DEFINITE repeats. Culebra Beach Villas I'm not so sure...
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,06/08/2004,Amazing!!!!! I arrived in Culebra from Maunabo on Monday; May31st. We left for NY on June 4th. First; I should let you know that I am not a high maintenance kind of guy. I prefer beautiful surrounding over 5-star accomodations. The villa that we stayed in; villa #5; was extremely spartan in it's amenities; but more than made up for it in it's character- a hammock on the front porch; as well as a 2-seater swing and a grill. The beach is about 150 steps from our villa- PERFECT!!! Each villa is privately owned; and borders one of the most beautiful beaches in the world!! I walked around all day with no shoes on and trunks...my kind of vacation!!! We met some really cool people. I boarded a boat with a friend to Luis-Pena; and Island off the coast of Culebra; and snorkelled. There's a beautiful coral reef surrounding the island; as well as a pretty cool shipwreck. Forget the naysayers; and visit Culebra with an open mind. If you want to be steps away from Flamenco beach- morning; noon and nite as we were; and you do not care too much about flashy amenities; give Culebra beach Villas a chance. I'm definitely a satisfied customer!!
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,06/08/2004,Disappointing Our family has just returned from a lovely vacation in PR. We stayed in Vega Baja with friends; and went with them for three days to Culebra Island. There were 10 in our group -- 3 families. We relied on the advertising of the hotel; which claimed that there were deluxe efficiency apartments and a bar/restaurant on the property. On arrival; there was no one in the office; and our rooms were not ready. We waited for several hours; and finally the staff cleaned the rooms by 5:30-6:00. During our wait; we were told that there was no bar; restaurant or food available at the villas. The rooms were minimally clean; and service was poor. No one cleaned the rooms or made the beds; and if we wanted fresh towels; we had to find a staff person and get them ourselves.The beach is lovely; and the accomodations would have been more tolerable; if the information we received would have been more accurate. For nearly $170 per night; I expect at least a clean room and towels; and a place to get a bite to eat without going into town.
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,06/03/2004,A Hidden Gem I just came back from my second trip to Culebra. My boyfriend I have stayed at Culebra Beach Villas on both trips have been very satisfied with both our stays. Contrary to what previous reviews have said; the staff was present; very friendly helpful; check-in took all of 2 minutes; our villa was clean pleasant. As far as the roosters go - they're not a disturbance - think of them as it part of the experience. Remember; this is a small; quaint; laid back; anything goes beach town - so if you want to get the most out of your visit you have to relax; let go of stuffy expectations; just enjoy yourself in order to really appreciate the expereince. Who cares if there is some sand in your room on the beach or if you have to wait a little for your room!!! Get over it! Experiences at all hotels are relative - some poeple have good ones; some have bad ones. For the mere fact that these villas are the only places to stay on Flamenco Beach all you have to do is wake up walk to to paradise - it's all worth it! Just remember to bring some food drinks with you... some bug repellent!
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,04/13/2004,not recommended I stayed at the Culebra Beach Villas in June 2002. The check in was delayed by hours because the room was still dirty. The service was slow. We payed for a nice beachfront suite room and were very disappointed. The room was very sandy and not tidy; the bed was uncomfortable; the bathroom was undesirable to say the least; but the view of Flamenco beach was truly gorgeous. But one could drive and visit the beach for free without having to sleep next to it. The worst part was the roosters on the property that were so loud; in the very early mornings; they seemed to be in the same room; of course they were not; but good luck sleeping past 5am. Culebra island with flamenco and zoni beaches is beautiful but I recommend to stay elsewhere on the island.
317155,ATripAdvisorMember,11/23/2003,The Best Beach! The best beach that we have been to so far. The cabins are very very rustic. There is no hot water and the TV does not work. But that is ok. Each cabin is owned by a different individual. So; the maintainance and amenities are different. We met a couple Mirta and Hector Garcia and they were wonderful and helpful. They own two apartments there and also live there and run the office. The kids loved the cats and the hens running around the place. Will definitely go back again.
317155,aleli99,07/23/2008,FABULOSO showReview(18157245; 'full');
317155,Lesliam,06/10/2007,la pase super showReview(7830205; 'full');
317396,princepesa,01/08/2009,You Decide PROS-lightning fast check in/check out-reception staff friendly enough-clean rooms (though a little old and worn); average 3-star quality-firm but not too uncomfortable beds with clean linens-amazing location; few steps away from Temple St. Night Market and Nathan Rd.; in the heart of Tsim Sha TsuiCONS-free breakfast is meager + rude staff = give it a pass-room we got had dim lighting; bad A/C and no windows; it felt a little claustrophobic and suffocating and we did not get a good night's sleep-there was a general feeling of creepiness in the hotel and especially in our room; I wouldn't have been surprised to see a ghost floating aroundA room with windows and a working A/C would have made a world of difference. If we were staying there for more than just a night; I probably would have asked to be moved to a better room. I'm sure the Evergreen has better rooms than the one we got. For the price and awesome location; Evergreen is definitely worth a look especially for travelers on a budget.
317396,Maiel,01/07/2009,Great for those on a budget We were a group of 5. Got two rooms through Agoda; a triple sharing and a twin. We all had separate bunks. One room had no window and we were all really cramped. The restroom was decent and clean; complete with the basic toiletries . Breakfast; though complimentary; was awful; you cannot eat it. We only had bread; butter (or was it margarine?) and coffee. You are better off at the 7-11 downstairs. The frontdesk personnel and concierge were friendly and helpful; and was kind enough to give us our much needed directions for travel. The concierge even went out of his way to show us which bus to ride for us to see the festival of lights show.The location of the hotel is very near jordan station. Just across the hotel; you will find an indian resto; and a dessert place. Downstairs is a reasonably priced chinese resto. Around the corner; yat bun dimsum is the best!This hotel comes with no frills. If you intend to go shopping the whole day; and just need a place to sleep and shower; this is for you. Do not expect anything beyond the ordinary. Safe too.
317396,gsd3091,12/25/2008,Excellent Excellent! Since I was a child I had wanted to visit HK and when a birthday with a 0 came around I decided it was time to do so; on my own. The Evergreen was excellent value; in an excellent location for shopping; MTR etc; Temple Street Night Market 1 minute walk away. The free internet access and free laundry were Godsends; as was the 7-11 right next door; and the Delicious Cafe on the other side of the hotel. The staff there were very friendly; helpful and I honestly don't have a bad word to say about the place! The breakfast is monotonous; yes; but really not bad. Special mention to Jackie the bellboy! The lift only goes up to the third floor but its really not too much of a problem; that is the single downside of the place. I can't wait to go back.
317396,awesomeworld,12/12/2008,Location!!! Stayed for a night. Our room is in the 4F. Elevator is only up to 3F; so we walked from 3F (so if you have lots of luggage; ask for a lower rooms). Hotel is okay; nice staff; clean room; clean linen. There's complimentary buffet breakfast; but not good though! Restos are all around; its not a problem. This is not a 5 star; so dont expect too much. WHat's good also in this hotel is quiet. You can have a good sleep after a heavy shopping.Well; room price is cheap but location is great. A minute walk to Temple street (night market); and near to MTR. If you're into walking; lots of shops and shops and shops... tiring though..diverse shopppers were bumper to bumper! Bought my lovely winter coat for half the price back home :-))))
317396,Jellymouse,11/22/2008,Great value I had never been to Hong Kong before and was a little anxious to be landing in a large unfamiliar city alone. I wanted to stay somewhere that was central and safe. I definitely made the right choice with the Evergreen! While definitely NOT FANCY; it was clean; safe; and the staff were all very friendly and helpful. I got the airport transfer and that was good too; as I was worried about finding the hotel because I arrived at night. The Evergreen is VERY well-located for public transport and for seeing a lot of the things Hong Kong is renowned for (eg. markets)I was grateful for the free breakfast. Again; this was hardly what you'd call 'gourmet' food but it definitely did the job and there was plenty of it- as I was trying not to spend too much money; it was a big help. The internet was really fast and there always seemed to be a free terminal whenever I needed to use it.My room was pretty basic. The bed was quite hard and I got a little cold at one point and had to ask for extra blankets - I think maybe the air conditioning was up too high. And I had a lovely view of a brick wall out my window. So; not exactly glamorous!Overall; I would say if you're looking for a place for a romantic getaway or a luxurious relaxing holiday; then the Evergreen is not for you. But if; like me; you just want a clean and convenient place to store yourself while you're asleep so that you can get out there the rest of the time and explore the city; then definitely consider it.
317396,Luv2TravelnSee,11/16/2008,A Great Value Hotel....Fantastic We chance upon this hotel when we were browsing through the net for a good value hotel since we were going to stay for six nights in Hong Kong. And what more...of all the hotels we browsed through; this was the only one which offered a quad room that sleeps comfortably for 4 adults and we were paying only about HK1;200 nett (inclusive of breakfast) per night.What a value considering the prices of hotels in HK. The location was fantastic...smack right in the shopping area of Kowloon (Temple Street; Jade Street; Nathan Road; etc) and if you take a half-hour stroll ; you can reach Tsim Sha Tsui area where the waterfront is and also the Arena of Stars. Food is abundant (and affordable) almost round the clock around the hotel and a 7-11 is just besides it. And two fantastic value services which one could not find in almost all hotels are (1) unlimited free internet usage -24/7-and comes even with a printer (2) free laundry which is very useful when one is staying on for a longer period.The only little set-back was the breakfast. It has the exact same menu every morning. The only positive note for the breakfast is at least the calories are listed for each different type of food so at least; it is good for those who are health concious.By and all; no complaints about Evergreen and we will certainly stay in this hotel again if ever we visit Hong Kong again.cheers.........CK; Malaysia
317396,icatching,10/18/2008,small but adequate the hotel
317396,scy2347,10/08/2008,Affordable no-frills hotel I booked a single ensuite room at this hotel for 5 nights. I got a double room which was cozy and outdated in terms of decor; but clean and functional. There was a full bath; kettle; a/c; cable tv; closet. Most of the people on my floor appeared to be businessmen -- this seems like an ideal hotel for people who don't plan to spend much time hanging around the hotel; who just want a clean place to sleep and a good base for touring around HK. It's definitely not a high-luxury place but it doesn't pretend to be--and for the price; I found it to be extremely good value and unlike other places I've stayed in HK; I had no problems. The hotel reception was very helpful and efficient. I arrived at 1pm and was shown my room immediately (check in is at 2pm) and I was able to leave my luggage there for several hours on the day I checked out. The location is great--just off Nathan Road about 2 minutes' walking distance from the Jordan MTR station. It's a very busy area popular with tourists because of the night markets. Hong Kong is quite small so you could taxis (quite cheap) but the MTR is clean; quick and convenient and the Jordan station is just a few stops from Central. I took the Airport Express train from the airport to Kowloon station; and then a quick taxi ride to the hotel.There are several computers for high-speed internet access (although only one was working when I visited); laundry facilities; and a small breakfast room -- breakfast is fine for a few pieces of toast or congee; but don't expect too much. There is a 7-11 right next door for water; snacks; instant noodles...(You can Google this hotel before booking to get a better price than may be offered by the hotel directly--I paid around $70/night including breakfast; booking just a few days in advance.)
317396,Bangkokien,10/03/2008,Small but great!! Booked the hotel via a local travel agent. We got better rate than booking directly with the hotel. Note that the room rate usually increases on Fridays and Saturdays.Travelled to HK by the ferry from Macau; we arrived at Kowloon Ferry Terminal. Amazingly; it took only 10 minutes from the terminal to the hotel by taxi.The hotel service was very nice and most staff can speak good English. We had read many reviews about the room before; so we didn't expect too much about the room size. Actually; it's quite cozy and simply fit for 2 people!! Also; all necessary equipments are well packed in the room.However; it's true that the bed is a bit small and there is limited space for luggages; but; well; it's just a place to sleep and it's only 6-8 hours in the room!!The hotel breakfast is just fair; but you should try the difference; especially the orange juice!! - - Look for another breakfast?? We recommend a restaurant next to the hotel where you can find a lot of local noodle menus.Well; I still think this is a good place to stay. It would be safer than staying in a guesthouse. Just only 5-minute walk to Jordan MTR; that is a perfect location.
317396,Diwata2,08/29/2008,A Real Economical hotel Mini Bar and luggage compartment
317396,MissDN,08/24/2008,LOVED IT - a little noisy though What can I say; you would not get a better hotel at this price. Ok; it may look a little tacky; the rooms are quite small; it can be quite noisy. But WHO CARES! you are in HK; the hotel is located in a great location; it's safe; the hotel staff are excellent; and it's cheap. Don't come here if you are expecting the Ritz; you can go there and spend 4x the price. The evergreen was perfect for the 6 of us; spread over 3 rooms and 2 floors. We loved it; we had a blast and we will come back. Oh; did I mention the free internet? Thanks Evergreen Hotel!
317396,gcfranco,08/22/2008,My second home away from home As usual; everytime I'm in Hongkong; Evergreen is still it. Not fabulous; tiny; yes; but very satisfactory. Since you are out shopping and sightseeing the whole day; why the need for a 5 star hotel? A boutique hotel like Evergreen will do. The staff are always smiling; friendly and helpful. Breakfast is simple; filling and healthy. The location is so strategic. One block from the famous Temple St. night market and Nathan Road; two MTR stations away from another shopping great; Mongkok. Five minutes away from the Jordan MTR station. One minute away from a small wet market for fresh vegetables and fruits. One block away from Wing On Department store. 10 minutes bus ride to Star Ferry. Given all these information; i don't see any reason why one will not opt to stay at Evergreen. So simple. Reasonable and ever reliable Evergreen.
317396,princessLA,06/05/2008,Looks tacky; but give it a shot I'm right at the door to the room.
317396,Cherryto,06/01/2008,Better than expected View outside the Hotel
317396,happydayholidays,05/03/2008,Absolutely fine I was in Hong Kong for a gift fair so all accommodation at this time is quite expensive. I chose this hotel because I was faliliar with the location and it had quite good reviews and the price was fantastic. I was not disappointed. The location was great; close to MTR; night market and Nathan Rd. The room whilst small was clean and hotel offered free laudry use; internet and breakfast. Pretty hard to complain unless you want all the bell whistles!! Would definately stay there again.
317396,PianoManiac,04/25/2008,A very decent budget hotel! Ground floor restaurant with a strange name - but good food!
317396,bs87,04/20/2008,Fabulous Hotel! My stay with my sister at Evergreen was really pleasant; with helpful and polite staff. The hotel; although small was clean and in a superb location; a short walk from Mong Kok; close to department stores and near the MTR. A 7-11 is next door so that was convenient.Although our room was small; it was enough space since it was only two of us. The free internet access and kettle that was provided were useful too. The only downside was the laundry service; which was only open from 4pm-10pm - the times when we were out so we had to come home early a few times to get our laundry done! The bathroom had a nice selection of toiletries and also plenty of towels available.Before arriving; I had read reviews on how the key was too big but it was a standard size and besides you can leave it at the front desk and collect it when you return.The buffet breakfast was ok I guess; but we only went once during our two week stay since we prefered to go out for breakfast instead since food in Hong Kong is not too expensive.Overall; I had a lovely stay in Hong Kong; tired from all the walking I was glad to return to this comfortable hotel after the long day of shopping with friendly staff to greet us. I am normally quite fussy when it comes to cleanliness; and this hotel satisfied my needs. It was a great location and made my stay in Hong Kong so much more enjoyable.
317396,BthereCthere,04/12/2008,good little hotel We were at the Evergreen for the three nights we were in Hong Kong. The Evergreen is a great little hotel the staff do all in their power to make your stay a good one. The rooms are cleaned and the towels changed daily. I was surprised when I was told my card would be charged at the end of our stay in case we changed our mind about staying there during the three days. There were complimentary toothbrushes;toothpaste; shower caps;comb and disposable razors in the bathroom and the shower was nice and powerful. With location like this; free internet access; budget prices and great helpful staff The Evergreen is well worth a stay; I would go back any time.
317396,cosmogurL,03/29/2008,normal budget hotel Me and my friends stayed there for 3 nights n we luved the location n cleanliness of the hotel. Its just 3 mins walk to the mtr but u have to walk thru streets that looked like some back alleys. The mattress is very hard n air con cold.
317396,abbeyg,03/13/2008,Great location The location for us was great; right near the Temple St night markets and near Nathan Rd in the heart of Kowloon which we loved. We go on holiday to see other cultures and local people not hang in Hotels with other tourists. The beds are very very hard and the pillows too big. The rooms are small and outdated but like everything you get what you pay for and this place was cheap and after all we only used the Hotel basically as a place to sleep. The staff were all very friendly especially the breakfast ladies. If you are only after a cheap place to sleep then this place is good; but if you are after pampering and hanging at the Hotel look elsewhere.
317396,niwrej,02/14/2008,Great Budget Hotel Free breakfast buffet;free internet use;friendly staff;clean rooms and enough space to relax and have a good night sleep! though the matress is a bit hard. A budget wise hotel in the middle of everything in kowloon. A very nice location for first timers!
317396,dragonman64,12/30/2007,It's the little things that count at Evergreen Hotel Let me get some of the minor gripes first before pointing out the merits of this small budget hotel in the heart of Kowloon.1. Yes; the rooms are small and there is no other way of describing it.2. Yes; they only issue you one room key with a ring attached to the palm-size of an evergreen tree.3. Yes; the beds (and pillows) are hard and are not the most comfy to sleep in after a day of shopping and/or sightseeing.4. Yes; the triple and quad (yes; they do have a couple of quad sharing units) rooms are on the 4th floor and the elevator reaches up only to the 3rd.Now; let's go to the small things that make Evergreen Hotel somewhat of a value for money in the midst of expensive accomodations in this city.1. Yes; they do offer free buffet breakfast. While not the most appetizing spread; it should fill you well enough to eat your lunch late.2. Yes; they do offer fast and free internet access. The internet station (with four computer terminals) on the 3rd floor is a real treat for those who want to check their emails and stuff. If you prefer to bring your own laptop; then each room has a LAN cable (inside the drawer of the small table) so you can surf in the comforts of your small unit.3. Yes; the rooms are small; but the toilet and bath surely compete in size - with a bathtub and strong shower to boot. The installed hair dryer; assorted complimentary toiletries and shower gel dispenser are amusing.4. Yes; the front desk personnel are courteous and always willing to help. And yes; they do speak English; however basic.5. Yes; the rooms are clean and tidied up everyday.And a big YES; of course; goes to the location which puts you in the middle of shopping on Nathan Road (just a kitty block away) the Temple Street Night Market; plus loads of cheap dining options in just about every corner. Subway access to the Jordan station is likewise convenient.So; in summary; if you're on a budget; not picky and not 6 feet in height or taller (the beds are vertically-challenging for tall people); then the Evergreen Hotel is an option worth your stay.
317396,mazdabrat,12/30/2007,Great Budget Hotel despite minor problems From the waiting area of the Hotel (while waiting from 2:00pm until 4:40pm)
317396,whitechristmas07,12/21/2007,Great Location; hard beds Booked after reading all the reviews on TripAdvisor; we were allocated the 4 bed family room on the 4th floor. Lift only goes to the 3rd floor; so along with the porter we carried our luggage up the 4th floor. The room was small but adequate however no windows at all. Location is great right around the corner from the night markets and loads of restaurant options; walking distance to everything including Star Ferry if you are willing to walk 20 to 30 minutes. Breakfast was adequate although caters more to the Asian tourist market. Beds were extremely hard and short however the rooms were very clean. Staff very helpful. A vist to Shenzhen; China is a definite must for all shoppers and very easy to get to with a metro station around the corner and very helpful customer service staff at all train stations in Hong Kong - however make sure you change your money in Hong Kong and not at the train station at Shenzhen. Would stay here again.
317396,GagReflex,10/17/2007,Tiny rooms but best price and location! When I first saw our 'superior' room I was a little surprised.. it really was tiny!. But; when you look at the price and location; Who Cares!!. Breakfast was provided; although the breakfast area is kind of small; so finding a table can be an issue in busy periods. Internet access was free to the room and they also provide internet terminals. Free Laundry facilities are also availableThe location of this Hotel is outstanding. The Temple street Night market is only a minute or two's walk away; Mongkok and the ladies market are only a short walk too. For those that can live without a big hotel room; and prefer great facilities and location; stay here!
317396,Sabinemargaret,09/04/2007,Good choice for tight budgets Compared to other HKG hotels this is a bargain! It was clean; comfortable and at a very convenient location. The A 21 Airport Bus gets you there for HKD 33; you have free internet and breakfast at the hotel and you're next to the Temple Street Night Market.The staff is friendly and helpful and early/late check-in/out is possible.If you are on a budget and you want to be smack bang in the middle of HKG ; this is the place to stay.
317396,Pikas,05/13/2007,Very good conditions for price and location! More photos
317396,TonyBurke,05/10/2007,Sensible accommodation If your prime holiday consideration is The Hotel; if you want to be pampered; spoiled and patronised; if splendour and opulence is paramount; don't stay at the Evergreen. Because this hotel will not please you. This hotel does what it says on the tin and no more; it provides decent; basic accommodation at a fair price. Slap in the middle of work-a-day Kowloon; with all its bustle; noise; smells and character; The Evergreen is a gem. Small; clean; comfortable rooms; quiet air con; a good breakfast; lovely staff; right next to the best transport system in the world; all for 拢20 per night? Come on!The next time we visit Hong Kong my wife and I won't hesitate to book in again. Well done Evergreen; may you stay Green forever!Tony and Barbara BurkeYorkshireUK
317396,LondonNat,04/23/2007,Great location; not so great rooms Stayed here for 2 nights and were not overly impressed. Location is brilliant and the rooms are very clean; with friendly staff. However; the beds are ridiculously hard - no give in the mattress at all. Aircon is also very very loud. We turned ours off at night; but should have just left it on; as could hear next door's/blocks aircon. If you are staying here; bring earplugs; you will need them! This place is definitely strictly to crash in after a long day out.
317396,vsazn,03/18/2007,Huge key fob Not as well located as it seemed - it lay midway between Tsim Tsa Tsui and Mong Kok; where not much goes on. You will need to walk to the nearest MTR station (Jordan); and catch a train every time you want to go any where unfortunately; unless you want to check out Temple Street Markets.We stayed in a room in the middle of the fourth floor; where there were no windows; so we had no idea what the weather was like outside. The lifts only went up to the third floor; so we needed to climb an extra flight of stairs each times... imagine carrying your luggage up stairs!The room was spacious for three people though; and was clean. The beds were firm; and we had no issues with the bathroom. Good value compared to other more expensive places such as the Stanford Hillview Hotel.We had free internet access; which was cool; although the machines may have been loaded with spyware; keyloggers; and viruses. The free breakfast was very ordinary; and the breakfast room was so tiny; that we often had to share tables with other guests (each table sat 3-4 people). Use of the laundry room was free.The staff was very polite and quiet and was helpful when possible. Almost all of them had only basic English skills though. Housekeeping was really polite by clearing the way whenever you needed to pass them through the narrow corridors.The worst thing about staying here was the size of the key fob attached to the room key! Shaped to look like an Evergreen tree; it was the size of an open hand. Luckily; one of us always had baggy pockets or a bag with us. We tried removing the key from the key ring; but it was soldered closed.Overall; I would stay here again; simply because of its good value. It's not a 3 or 4 star hotel; but it was cosy and very adequate. I would recommend this hotel for most travellers.
317396,HKMarathon07RRRC,03/08/2007,Great Place to due eyelid training A cute hotel in the heart of Kowloon. One block of temple market and jade street market. The rooms are clean; the staff are helpful and polite. The ladies that put on a great buffet breakfast to kick off the day are the best. Starbuckets is right on Nathen Street. This is a Hotel to stay to experience what Hong Kong is all about. You in the Heart of Kowloon busy streets for great food; shopping and night life. Walking is safe and the MTR is close to explore all of Hong Kong.Like I said; Hotels are for eyelid training in Hong Kong. This is the jewel hotel to stay at.
317396,ted58,01/09/2007,going back for more 6 day stay on a trip around the world and totally enjoyed the stay;free laundry;access to great markets;ok brekky included and great staff including office too book tours.rooms a bit small but good night sleep and close to all attractions.hong kong disney an absolute dream place especially compared to la disney.good rates booked direct;excellent airport shuttle bus
317396,travman999,07/30/2006,There are (much) better hotels! The world's smallest hotel room; with the world's loudest airco and the world's hardest beds. We bailed out after one night. Breakfast was terrible. Spend an extra 30USD and get yourself a 4 star hotel.
317396,labmn2,07/24/2006,3 day stay My wife and I stayed at the Evergreen in May for 3 days. We enjoyed the food and the staff was very friendly and helpful. I understand hard beds are the norm in Hong Kong and also in main land China; it was not difficault for us to adjust. The only thing we did not like was the dirty carpet in the room. The location of the Evergreen was perfect. We would stay there again.
317396,ATripAdvisorMember,07/07/2006,Great low-budget; no frills hotel I stayed here for a span of about 5 days in Sept 2005; and my travel partner and I basically used it as a place to sleep. It's in a great location and very conveniently located near 7/11's (there were 5 of them within a few blocks!). Given the price; location; free internet; laundry (although we didn't really use it much); nice staff; basic necessities; I thought it was very good. If you're not into frills; and looking for a good; low-budget place; I would recommend this location.
317396,ATripAdvisorMember,05/29/2006,First time in Hong kong I stayed with this hotel for 3 nights. We visited Hong kong purely for vacation. We were not expecting much on this hotel considering the price range it belongs. One of my disappointment is their tv which only has 5 channels with only 1 english channels. Their elevator is only up to the 3rd floor and you have to take the stairs to the next floor. Their room is very small and their bed is also hard. Their upside is their breakfast buffet with lots of chinese foods in display. Their free internet is also very helpful especially when checking the weather and the locations and informations for the places you wish to visit. The staff are also very friendly and even though handicapped with the english language; they will try to communicate with their clients. This hotel is recommended for budget conscious and would only use the hotel just a place to sleep.
317396,toomuchdot,05/21/2006,Disappointing Room was very small and dark and couldn't open any windows as they were all nailed shut! In ok neighbourhood and handy for the metro and night market. If you are really on a bucget come here otherwsie try the BP International or better still the Salisbury.
317396,ATripAdvisorMember,05/17/2006,Worth a try TV
317396,ATripAdvisorMember,02/19/2006,Budget Hotel; Good Location Travelled to Hong Kong (Feb 2006) for the first time with my wife and 3 children (11;8 and 4). Booked the Evergeen Hotel based on the the reviews we read on Trip Advisor(In reality was disapointed with the hotel) This was the only hotel we found that would accomodate all 5 of us in one room. Other hotels required us to book two rooms. Found this to be the general case in the far East.Hotel location is ideal. Close to the Temple street night market. Other night markets easily reachable by MRT. Jordan MRT station within walking distance of the hotel. Also several restaurants located nearby both local and burger type restaurants. This is useful if you have children as they would only eat burgers and fries. There was also a good bakery close to the hotel. Loads of 7/11 corner stores useful for snacks and drinks.Was disappointed with the hotel. In general the staff were friendly and helpful most of the time. Breakfast was included; however would not recommend it except for the toast and coffee. They served cold baked beans. When requested to have the beans warmed up. The reply was do not have a microwave you can go next door to the 7/11 and use their microwave The room was small and cramped without a window; was fairly clean however on the second day on entering the room found a fairly large ugly cockroach. Complained to reception. The night bell boy came up removed the cockroach and explained that it must have come through the fire exit. Found that hard to believe as we were on the 4th Floor.Also found cigarette smoke being blown through the air conditioning vents even though we were in a non smoking floor.
317396,ATripAdvisorMember,10/24/2005,well placed budget hotel We were a bit worried after reading reviews but found this to be a well positioned compfortable hotel;rooms were small but clean;well appointed;good staff;beakfast was limited but fine;easy to acsess all that hong kong has to offer;great value for money
317396,ATripAdvisorMember,11/26/2004,Great disppointment The room is small; dirty; bed is hard and poor ventiliation.
317396,kmanfrede,11/16/2004,great budget hotel i just stayed there. it is definitely not a fancy hotel; it's a budget hotel. but it is great value for the money. clean; adequate rooms; FREE INTERNET; free laundry. i did have a problem with the laundry though. after washing my clothes; i put them in the dryer for many hours before i realized that it was completely broken. my clothes still soaking wet. both dryers were totally broken; i mean didnt work at all; and there was no sign. so i had to lug my wet clothes down the street and pay someone to dry them $13 US. i'm sure they will fix this ( i would hope). the other downside is the AWFUL breakfast; but there are plenty of nearby places to eat. the location is good; but not great. about a 7 minute walk to the MTR. the best thing about it for me was the price and the free internet.
317396,NikantAustralia,10/03/2004,Excellent Budget Accommodation in HK I've just come back from a stay at the Evergreen Hotel in Hong Kong and I had a fantastic stay. I've stayed in another Kowloon Mid-range hotel before (the Dorsett Garden around the start of '03) but this was way more superior. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The rooms were great - clean; spacious (for Hong Kong) and comfortable. We got a good deal on their internet site with breakfast included (which was interesting to say the least!).The location is a short walk away from the Jordon MRT station which was handy. The hotel had heaps of cheap restaurants and food around; and the Temple St Night Market was very very close.This place is highly recommended for those on a budget.
317396,mamdoo,11/27/2007,am puls der zeit showReview(11088391; 'full');
317477,frankcurious,01/03/2009,Will definitely stay here again Great hotel. The rooms are large (by Asian standards) and clean. The rooms look better than the official photos. The rooms are well designed with a lot of convenient little details. However; Japan don't seem to believe in disposable slippers. They have reusable sanitized slippers.Staff is polite and helpful. And their English is good; better than the hotel I stayed at in Ikebukuro.Good location. The subway is less than 5 min on foot and has two key lines that will take you to Ginza and Shinjuku. People were friendly; helpful and polite.
317477,typhoon19572004,12/29/2008,Excellent stay Well; this hotel was recommended to me by my business associate in Tokyo. I stayed at this hotel from 14 Dec- 19 Dec. I found that the overall efficiency of operations at the hotel was excellent. The staff were very efficient; extremely courteous and were able to communiate very well in English. The hotel had a terrific choice of restaurants providing a variety of cuisine. Overall ambience at the hotel was very good. All this at a reasonable tariff as compared to the existing rates at Tokyo.V VenugopalMuscat
317477,m8condo,11/17/2008,Great stay - way too short. Enjoyed a wonderful one night stay at the Grand Prince Akasaka; all for under US$165 courtesy of a friend's corporate room rate.This is a centrally located 40 story hotel (15 minute walk to Imperial Gardens; 5 minute walk to closest subway platform) that seems to have been built in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Views from our room were excellent. The room was very clean and bright. Based on the designs; it appears that neither the room nor the lobby have been renovated since the hotel's opening; however everything has been fantastically maintained and things were obviously done right the first time 'round. The in-room lights have a cool 'retro' design. Two important things have been updated: the in-room TV (19 inch flat-screen) and the 'intelligent' toilet seat.We visited the Sky-Lounge on the top floor of the hotel. It was mid-night on a Tuesday night and it was pretty much empty. The views were fantastic. We were served by an attentive and stylish waiter who made one of the better whiskey-sours I've ever tasted.I would recommend this hotel if you can find a room for under US$200; which in the current environment; shouldn't be a problem.
317477,y3ll3k,11/11/2008,Great modern Japanese-styled room Bathroom
317477,Gaudi1234,11/03/2008,Excellent stay! Very nice hotel; had a big twin bed room on 22nd floor with great view of Tokyo!Got a great rate on the internet and don't regret my choice!Right by 2 subway stations and airport bus stops at hotel.Had a 2 hour japanese massage (special price for hotel guests) at Relaxia on fith floor: well worth it!!Would recommend without any hesitation!
317477,kclkkjb1097,10/29/2008,Better places to stay in Roppongi Having lived in this area of Tokyo for a period of time; the Grand Prince immediately came to mind as a potential place to stay on a return trip to the city. It comes across well on Trip Advisor; had great rates and is ranked as a 5* hotel so appeared to be a slam dunk hotel choice. Unfortunately I left feeling let down and extremely disappointed.The room was basic; the interior dated and the facilities were more 2* than 5*. The hotel is a maze to navigate and the staff are very polite but not particularly helpful. There is only so much that incessant bowing and smiling can do when you have problems. Room service didn't exist; neither did in room movies; an ironing board or any other facilities that you would expect from a lesser ranked establishment. Even trying to obtain fresh towels was a mission (and one that we never accomplished). One would have expected a gym or pool or a top class restaurant - but alas these were all noticeably lacking. The large airy lobby would seem impressive to the untrained eye; but pretty much summed up the hotel - a waste of space.Oh and if you happen to leave in a taxi make sure you take a card. Even the local taxi drivers seem to have forgotten it. And if you still forget - just pronounce it grand-oo purince-oo and you've got a vague hope of getting home (although you may just wish to kip at Tokyo eki as the facilities are probably more 5* there)
317477,shandy40,10/25/2008,Excellent value and service I spent four nights here in September and October; each night in a different room (nothing to do with the hotel; just due to my own plans).We picked up a very good price on the internet and were extremely happy with our choice. I spent more money one night as a business hotel in a small town which was just big enough for the two twin beds and a bathroom that literally would have been impossible to fit two people standing in side by side.Being a drop off/pick up point for the Limousine Airport bus is also a good plus. It was only a 2 minute walk to the subway which was extemely handy and gave access to several different lines.As others have mentioned the lobby is a bit sterile but as all I ever do is walk through it; I don't see this as a problem. Each of the rooms were a good size; particularly by Japanese standards. The beds in the twin bedded rooms were standard size and the two nights when I had a double room they were king size beds. All of the rooms had a good view. In one of the four rooms the lounge was slightly stained. No; you wouldn't call the room luxurious; but that were of a good standard.We found the service to be excellent. Despite the fact that we had throughly bamboozled the staff by who was coming and going and the person staying in the room wasn't necessarily the person who booked the room (long story) they coped and did not give us a hard time about it at all. The concierge was also extremely helpful.
317477,syeow,10/16/2008,Good value for money After reading the reviews of this hotel on tripadvisor and we felt it was right choice for us. We wanted was a sizeable room with a comfortable bed at a convenient location and we weren't dissappointed. The decor of the lobby was dated but it doesn't bother us. The room were spacious and comfortably fit 3 of us - 2 adults and a baby. The staff were extremely polite and helpful whevenever we asked for directions or food recommendations. The airport limo bus dropped us off and picked us up at the hotel which was very convenient. Many good restaurants within 10 mins walk of the hotel (across the flyover). For the price we paid through expedia ($110 per night); we couldn't be more pleased.
317477,fc1,10/09/2008,This is a two star. Max. Don't stay at the Grand Prince Akasaka. If you read no more of this review I have hopefully done my duty in protecting you from this hotel.The positives: the location is fine; close to the subways and 10-15mins walk from Roppongi. The staff are polite (this IS Japan...) (but see below re not being helpful at all). The negatives: there was a banner in the lobby proclaiming The Grand Prince's 25 birthday. This was the last time it was decorated. The rooms are clean but UTTERLY functional without any frills. The furniture is 70s Bond Movie formica. The beds are small and ok but not 5* by any stretch of the imagination with cheap white sheets and a wafer of a pillow. There is no room service (surely this is a pre-requisite for a 5* hotel?!) and not even anywhere to get breakfast first thing in the morning - a pain when you have a morning flight.AND...no movies. This wouldn't normally be the crux of my opinion of a hotel but on a rainy Sunday when all we wanted to do was watch a movie we were a bit flummoxed when none would load. So we phoned reception. The (very polite) receptionist informed us that none were loaded (despite the room info stating that they had movie choices). We asked why. The hotel hadn't bought any. Ok; so what did they suggest? The receptionist informed us that they had adult movies. Hmm. Funnily enough my platonic friend and I didn't want to watch porn on a Sunday afternoon so what else could they do for us? Eg could they get us some DVDs? Or offer us a partial refund? To cut a long story short we had 7 phone calls with various members of staff who promised to check what they could do and then simply phoned back to tell us they had no movies (yes; we knew that much). But they couldn't do anything more for us except (and they were very excited about this)...free minibar. Since the minibar was stocked with one small bottle of vinegar/wine and one tiny beer this wasn't so exciting for us.Politeness only gets you so far if it is not mixed with helpfulness.Eventually we got a few yen knocked off our bill when we checked out which was a complete shock to us since they had been adamant we would get nothing.The Grand Prince must have rated itself a 5* because in no realm of any universe could any rating agency have thought that it was worthy of anything more than 1.5/2.
317477,castorpollux01,09/27/2008,excellent value lobby
317477,NYinTransit,09/05/2008,Adequate mid-level hotel in central location Sitting area
317477,SZeev,08/23/2008,Confortable hotel hotel loby
317477,lbcorn,07/18/2008,Great Architecture!!! My family and I which included my wife and two teenagers really enjoyed our stay at the Akasaka Prince.It has been 23 years since I stayed there last and it still remains very modern and up to date. The views from the upper floors are magnificent; and the location is great. Service from the staff was excellant except for the concierge one night who seemed a little aloof when asking about local resturants in the area. The rooms and bathrooms are very comfortable with a great seating area which runs along the windows. The only major complaint I had was that you had to pay $15 a night for internet. It should be included in the room rate for the price and level of this hotel. It also would have been nice to have an athletic facility. Kenzo Tang did a great job of designing this establishment with an edgy contemporary look and a place that has great views from every room. The local area around the hotel was also fun at night exploring the local places to eat. It is a convienent location with the subway next door and the airport limo bus drops you off and picks you up at the front door. I would certainly stay there again when vistiting this interesting and vibrant city.
317477,gburg2000,07/05/2008,A great place in Tokyo I stayed here as part of a cultural exchange program and the Government of Japan paid for the stay (so I cannot speak to its value for the dollar). What I can attest to; however; is the quality of service and amenities the hotel offers. All were second to none; and no detail was overlooked. The staff was courteous and attentive; the rooms were spacious (by Japanese standards) and clean; and the location was unbeatable (two different metro stops are right outside the hotel: Akasaka-Mitsuke and Nagatacho). The small district of Akasaka is just a block from the hotel and is a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the more popular districts; but still has enough restaurants and shopping to satisfy. I highly recommend the Akasaka Prince.
317477,scully607,06/23/2008,Convenient hotel; good value in Tokyo. Even though experience rates as modest overall; this is still a very good bet while in Tokyo. Interior is very dated; there are no exercise facilities; etc.; but this seems to be true in all but the best hotels in Japan. The rooms are quite large; but do not bother paying for the business suite! It's exactly the same as the large guest rooms - only the shampoo is nicer and you get a massage chair (i.e. not worth it).The location is unbeatable. It's only a 20-minute taxi ride from the airport monorail to Haneda and they also provide very reasonably priced shuttle services to both airports. A stone's throw from the Imperial Palace (a great place to run!) and at the center of the metro so you can get anywhere very quickly. Service is wonderful and they even give you 1000 yen (about 10 bucks) to use in their bars and shopping areas per day that you opt out of cleaning. Restaurants are decent and there is a fair through the end of June that makes the prices almost reasonable.
317477,lviewguy,06/01/2008,This is where you want to stay while in Tokyo View of room
317477,FemaleTraveler,05/09/2008,Decor dated; interior cold feeling; but service impeccable This hotel has been around for several decades and the interior shows it. The lobby has a cold; marble feel to it (not a welcoming atmosphere); and the room we got felt painfully dated.However; this was made up for a multitude of times by the impeccable service (perhaps the standards in Japan are just plain high?) and attention. By North American standards; the place is overstaffed with friendly and attentive people. We were a family of four and I had booked a room with two double beds; but we were upgraded to a suite. The space had two bathrooms and a great view. Separate living space with a second TV; etc. Well above what we were expecting for the rate we got (from a website) of about USD200.Also; the location could not be beat as it was close to the subway; many shops that we did not have the time to vist; and only a few stops from Tokyo station. It was close also to the Ninja Restaurant that I had read about on this site. All in all; it made for a great stay for us.
317477,garymiller,05/01/2008,fabulous view; near many shops/restaurants in Akasaka area spacious room; great view; comfy bed if you ask for the Japanese bed( a futon they put on the standard beds); morning paper. Join the free Prince Club International; and save money on the rooms. food is spendy; and just so so. eat at nearby; walkable Akasaka area for all types.
317477,Hostiarius,04/29/2008,Absolutely superb Even by the high standards of luxury hotels in Japan; the Grand Prince Akasaka is outstanding. Many well-trained; friendly and helpful staff; large and comfortable bedrooms; excellent food - and if you shop around you can find very good room rates: I paid 13;000 yen ++; for a single room. The large buffet breakfast is worth it (2;700 yen); not least for the superlative view from the 40th floor; and you can sit and drink coffee for as long as you wish.
317477,TheTravelingHobo,04/08/2008,High quality! View from hotel room
317477,SCupertino,03/26/2008,Nice hotel; decent location The view at night from our room
317477,SnowFallngOnCedars,02/25/2008,Another positive experience at the Grand Prince Akasaka Room 3848
317477,KarineETC,01/19/2008,Very nice hotel Very nice hotel; location is very good... easy access to everything. Staff was helpful but not over nice. Room was very comfortable and had a breathtaking view over Tokyo. I was there on business and had to stay for 5 nights. Everything went smoothly
317477,timdaw,11/24/2007,Excellent hotel and terrific value for money We stayed 2 days first; then away for 2 days; and back for another five. First 2 days we were upgraded to a suite with a fantastic living room and 2 bathrooms. Next 5 days were in a large sized double with great view from 30th floor. All this for about 拢75 a night! Location is good and 2 mins walk from subway entrance. The staff make it seem like a much smaller family run hotel; they are so helpful and polite. Styling is a bit 'retro' but we quite liked the quirkiness; and preferred this to the usual sterile hotel room environment. Finally; we left our passports and money in the safe. After calling them they were incredibly helpful and forwarded our things very promptly by special delivery to our next hotel. This is expensive to do in Japan; and they did it free of charge because we stayed 7 days. I think that sums up the attitude at this excellent hotel. We will be staying again!!
317477,RomanHans,11/11/2007,Very nice hotel and AMAZING bargain. This is a very nice hotel in a very good neighborhood. We paid $140 for some nights; and could have gotten a lower price if we'd paid in advance. I'll say it flat out: that's one of the best hotel bargains I've ever seen.The staff is spectacular -- very helpful and polite. 24-hour internet access in the lobby; but only one computer. It was busy less than half the time. Small irritation. There's a good; dirt-cheap bakery around the corner; and a subway stop for the Ginza line is a three-minute walk.The room was a good size; and since every room in the hotel is above the 20th floor the views are amazing.The decor is definitely dated from the 70s; but it's not like it was dirty or anything. And some rooms have lousy air conditioning. I called the front desk and they got it fixed -- somehow without actually visiting the room. The second room we got; on a later stay; had a better system that worked right away.The Akasaka area is fun even if you're only slightly adventurous; turning borderline red-light late at night. (Every time we walked nearby streets someone would ask if we'd be interested in going to a bar with topless women.) On the plus side; it was always lively; and easy to find snacks and beer to bring back to the hotel.By the way; this hotel is also called the Akasaka Prince on some websites; and some cabdrivers only know that name.
317477,SCS62,11/05/2007,Great room; service We stayed here for 2 nights in Sept 07 and were most impressed by everything this hotel has to offer. The hotel is close to many Japanese Western restaurants and the rail station. The service was brilliant even by Japanese standards - nothing was too much trouble and the Concierge and Porter were most helpful.The highlight was the room. After 5 weeks of European rooms this was palacial in size and facilities. We obtained a good rate through Priceline but beware the service charge and consumption tax that add 10% 5.5% to your on-line quoted room rate.We would certainly stay there again and recommned it to others.PS - if you're new to Tokyo as we were; English language ATMs can initially be quite hard to find but are often in the small 7/11 style supermarkets and Post Offices.
317477,KCBurlingame,10/21/2007,Old Stomping Grounds The Mrs. and The Prince
317477,getareaction,09/25/2007,We got a great deal for this excellent hotel The front of the hotel at night
317477,BeamMeThere,08/16/2007,Great hotel but make sure you have your reservation details! main bedroom
317477,KayD,07/23/2007,Great Location; Large rooms We stayed here for 6 nights in February; and it was our base for sightseeing around Tokyo. The hotel is very impressive; and the main plus is the size of the rooms - very big by Tokyo standards; with a large double aspect window overlooking Mount Fuji; a dining table and seating area; loads of storage space and a large bathroom with bath. The hotel is across the road from the Subway entrance and a short walk from many restaurants; both Japanese and English; such as Mc Donalds; Subway; and a few others. It is a nice area to stay and felt safe to walk around at night. We found this hotel great value for money when booked through Opodo; however the hotel's direct rates were far far more expensive so shop around! The Hotel has several restaurants and bars including a cocktail bar on the top floor; well worth a look just for the view which is stunning. Overall I would recommend this hotel for travellers; although I can't comment on the business facilities.
317477,benbenton,06/06/2007,Got a great deal I got a fabulous deal for an extended stay on one of the internet booking websites. We stayed for 7 nights for about $140 per night. The service at this hotel couldn't be more attentive. The concierge helped with restaurant recommendations and reservations. The view from the room was good; we were on the 34th floor. The restaurants in the hotel were pricey; but there are plenty of other options nearby. There is an excellent bakery just outside the 3rd floor entrance that we used for an inexpensive breakfast in our room.
317477,braziliansoccerstar,05/28/2007,All Around Pretty Good The hotel is very clean; the staff very friendly. Tips are added automatically into your bill; so don't worry about tipping. The location maybe isn't the absolute best in Tokyo; but it's pretty good. It is a short 5 minute walk to the Akasaka metro stop; and the ride to Ginza; Roppongi; etc. is very quick. The area is very clean and safe at night; more so than other parts of town (Sujuku). The hotel is more modern than some of the similarly priced hotels in Tokyo (i.e. New Otani). This is a great choice for business travelers; perhaps not as great for romantic couples who are looking for something a little more quaint or secluded.
317477,Globbie,05/20/2007,Good value for Tokyo! I have been to Tokyo many times and I know that on the whole hotels there are quite expensive; similar to hotels in NYC; London and HK. Luckily; we found a really good deal online for the Akasaka Prince hotel; so we decided to give it a go. I have stayed in many hotels in Shinjuku before; so it was nice to stay in a different and less touristy area for a change. This hotel is huge but surprisingly it doesn't feel like a touristy hotel. We took the 'limousine bus' from the airport because it stopped right in front of the hotel; so it was more convenient than taking the train even though it probably took longer. The service at reception area was efficient and professional but not particularly warm. The room itself was really big and the view was amazing since we paid a bit extra to be on the top floors! The decor is quite strange with white plastic furnishings dominating the room and the bathroom. It has a '70s Stanley Kubrick film set' feel to it; but it does look better in reality than in the photos. The bathroom had all the amenities you would need; as well as the famous electronic toilets that you would only encounter in Japan. We did not eat in the restaurants because there are many good and cheaper local ones nearby. However we did go to the bar and had some cocktails... the view was great but probably less spectacular and not as hip as the Park Hyatt bar. We found the location very convenient; actually the hotel is only a few minutes away from the subway station; so I am not sure why one of the reviewers complaint about the distance between the hotel and the station. On the whole; we were quite satisfied with our stay at this hotel. It is not a 5-star hotel; but for the price and location; it is very good value for money esp. in a city like Tokyo. P.S. Do remember to shop around for deals because you could be paying the 'official rate' and this would cost you a lot more!
317477,skybluekat,05/18/2007,Terrific hotel View at night from 35th floor
317477,monkeyman,05/10/2007,Nothing special business hotel This is a massive hotel; with a very busy reception packed with business people; and so felt the atmosphere was not appropriate for a holiday maker. Rooms are clean and large with a 70s theme (not sure if this was their aim).I reckon location could be better. Even though the hotel is about 8 mins walk from the subway; it does get tiring going to and fro after a days sight seeing. I would not stay here again as I believe there are better locations to stay in Tokyo. Overall I'd say this place was average - nothing exciting or special; nor did it disappoint.And if you get the chance; try the Ninja Restaurant nearby - it is expensive but entertaining!
317477,TheCooksSaltLakeCity,04/19/2007,Great Hotel in Tokyo We stayed at the Akasaka Prince Hotel during the week of April 2. The hotel is in a perfect location for the Tokyo sites and is only steps away from the very cool subway system. The rooms are very nice and the view is spectacular. Try to get a room above the 34th floor for the best view; although they cost a little more. The price of the room was very good as compared with similar hotels in the area. The food is average in quality but high in price as are all Tokyo restaurants. The breakfast buffet is probably the best deal. A small bakery outside of the main building provides enough for a good start in the morning. The Guest Relations associates were outstanding and were essential to learn how to go to the various sites without a scheduled tour. We would defintely stay there again when we revist the delightful country of Japan in a few years.
317477,HCRAlbuquerque,03/02/2007,My husband still tells everyone how wonderful our hotel was Our first visit to Tokyo and the Akasaka Prince couldn't have been more perfect. Our room was terrific. We arrived late in the evening and everything was ready for our stay. Breakfast on the 40th floor for our convention group was superb. I have never enjoyed another hotel as much. We hope to one day visit Japan again and stay at the Akasaka Prince of course!!!!!!!
317477,Mimsicle,02/21/2007,Absolutely Fabulous!!! We had a wonderful time in this hotel. The location is great; a minutes walk from the subway; the reception area is very white and spacious (thats not a bad thing though!) and the staff cannot do enough to help you. There is a bar/restaurants/a cafe all of which I actually didn't visit as there is so much more to see in the city but they looked nice! We paid a little extra to have a room above the 34th floor; it was well worth it as the views were stunning also helped by the fact that we had a perfect view of Mount Fuji! The bed was huge and the room very comfortable with everything that we needed. We booked through worldhotels.com which had cheaper rates than the hotel direct and the other usual travel websites.
317477,scor,02/01/2007,Love this Hotel of Luxury and 5 Star Service I just got in today from a 5 days stay at this hotel I travel the world to over 45 countries and no hotel was a good as this the service; the atmosphere; the people; the location; and most of all the VIEW was just spectacular; I could not get enough of the view I got up at nights at would take a peak at the view it was just breathtaking. The staffs was so helpful even if their english is not great they do whatever they can to help you service is very prompt as well I told my cousin about this hotel and we are already planning a trip to Tokyo as she would like to experience this hotel. Also they upgraded me to a suite as I arrive late from Toronto the room was unbelievable; I fall in love with the massage chair and also the toilet seat with multiple functions; the maids doesnt bother u they come later in the afternoon to clean up. The breakfast in the hotel is very good but anything else is pricey but a few minutes up the road there are many restaurants which includes McDonalds; Tony Romas Rib and Steaks and also lots of Japanese cuisine close by you wont starve. I really love Tokyo the place is amazingly clean; people are super polite; Transportation is first class to none; no cabs though they are pricey. I develop a special love for Tokyo; it is a vast city with beautiful neon coloured buildings and with great architecture. Akasaka Prince Hotel is just a wonderful hotel and dont hesitate to stay here you wont regret it. I am a world traveller and I have it all this is the BEST. I give this hotel a 6 Star.
317477,fishgod1010,12/13/2006,Great Great Great As others have stated here; this hotel is simply great. We were three adults in one room and the individual beds were top notch. When you first enter the hotel; you can tell by the immaculate white lobby with its white marble floor that you are in for a great stay. The staff was incredibly attentive and everyone spoke English. Back to the room; the largeness of it along with the huge windows giving us a spectacular view of the city made our visit to Tokyo all the better. It actually reminded me a bit of the infamous Park Hyatt hotel (at about 1/2 the price!) Nearby; there are plenty of restaurants and convenient stores to satisfy all of your hunger needs. The A/C controls in the room were the best as I have heard it is difficult to sometimes get it cold in other rooms at various hotels in Tokyo. We actually got it down in the 60's one night during our stay and we loved it in contrast to the hot and humid days we were experiencing in October. The surprising bonus this hotel was the shower. The first morning I came out of the bathroom and said to my travel mates - That has to be one of the best showers I've had while traveling in a long time. Suspicious at first; my roommates announced similar statements once they experienced it. The only negative thing I could say about this hotel (and really; it's not the hotel's fault at all) is that the location is swarmed by a lot of gaijin tourists; like us. There are a couple of other large hotels in the area so dining at night in a small quaint Japanese restaurant is often filled with many other obvious tourists. This is not a bad thing at all鈥ust a small observation after staying in other areas of Tokyo prior to this trip. If you join the Prince Hotel Club (which is free!) before booking your room; you can get a whopping discount. If I recall correctly; our final price per night was under $200USD (whereas I think it was listed on its own website and various other travel sites at around $350 USD without being a Club Member). Would I stay here again? Yes!
317477,Chrella,11/07/2006,Very nice hotel This hotel offers great value for money; the rooms are large for Japan standards have great views over Akasaka. The metro stop is only a couple of minutes walk there's a lot of dining opportunities in the hotel a few minutes walk away in Akasaka. I would certainly stay here again.
317477,Mellowmede,10/30/2006,Top class Perfect location . huge room. fab views. This hotel was just perfect . Beautiful kimonos. The staff are lovely. You have to stay here!!!!!!!!!!!!
317477,Goferit,10/03/2006,Roomy; Comfortable We stayed there 4 nights. Lovely big room for Japan the breakfast is superb; both Western Japanese food. Room rate was only 15;015 yen incl all taxes charges but excluding breakfast. It is a very good area for restaurants access to other areas via metro is good also.
317477,eternalX,09/26/2006,Beautiful Hotel in the Middle of Tokyo After staying in the Akasaka Excel Hotel; we moved to the Prince because it was cheaper and are we glad we did! The Prince is a beautiful hotel with big; modern rooms (some with a panaoramic view of Tokyo). The service was also excellent and the price was excellent. We never ate there as there are many local dining options just down the street. Highly recommended.
317477,oldkeg2,08/05/2006,Akasaka Prince; nice and convenient The Akasaka Prince had friendly hotel staff and the rooms were clean; spacious; and modern. This hotel is conveniently located close to the subway and there's plenty of good restaurants within walking distance (even a McDonald's and Starbucks for the homesick American tourist). The breakfast on the 40th floor was decent. From what I could tell; most of the hotel cuisine was Japanese style. The Souvenir shop sold beverages and snacks which was very convenient. Also; if it's raining; the hotel will lend you an umbrella for the duration of your stay. I would stay here again in the future.
317477,prere,06/18/2006,Best Deal in Tokyo - Stay Here!!! This is my favorite tokyo hotel. It is worth 2-3x the price paid; which was $130 or so. The rooms are hip and fun. Location is great; right on a subway line. There's a little bit of a scene; but the real high point is the awesome modern austin powers decore; the great views and the very comfortable roomy rooms.The food in the hotel is pretty average - again the strong points are the rooms and price. There are lots of good places around the subway that is 2-3 minutes away from the hotel. I'd recommend the revolving sushi place a block away from the subway station for a quick delicious cheap meal.Again; I can't recommend this place enough. There's no other hotel I'd stay at in Tokyo.l
317477,CCN,06/05/2006,Highly Recommended The Akasaka Prince offers good sized rooms at reasonable rates. It is located in a lovely part of Tokyo; just opposite the New Otani. Around it are many restaurants and shops. The Diet and ministerial residences are within walking distance; so the area feels very safe and secure. The surrounding roads are wide and tree-lined. Not at all the usual image one has of Tokyo.The subway station is a a 5 minute walk away and connects to many of the tourist destinations in Tokyo.Service is very good and the staff are extremely helpful and polite.Rooms on the high floors have views of the Imperial Palace and Shinjuku. The bathroom is a bit cramped but the bed room is spacious and comfortable.We would definitely recommend it as a good value hotel in a nice location.
317477,MACWOMBLE,05/21/2006,Good location fine views View at night floor 33
317477,Photoguide,05/16/2006,Perfect!! Upgraded to a suite and best service ever! Suite living room
317477,ATripAdvisorMember,04/27/2006,Great Place To Stay My Mom and I visited Tokyo from April 18 - 24; 2006 and stayed at the Akasaka Prince primarily because of the reviews from this site. We were not disappointed. The hotel's location is what makes it such a great place to stay. It's a 2 minute walk away from the Ginza and Marunouchi train lines - which meant that all of Tokyo is easily accessible. The area around the hotel is full of shops; restaurants; bakeries and even mini casino's! The hotel's amenities were great - all of the bath products were by Shishedo; which is kind of a luxury; when you think about what hotels usually offer. We stayed in a twin room and while I expected the room to be larger (at least by Western standards); it seems that the room was fairly large for a Japanese hotel. But; as we only slept there (who would want to stay in even with the great view?!?) it didin't really make much of a difference. The hotel staff spoke good (if careful) English; were courteous (the bowing takes a little getting used to) and extremely helpful - especially when helping you to arrange sight seeing activities. I'd definitely stay here again!
317477,toonceswindtalker,04/26/2006,Really Special My husband and I stayed here for a week recently. Budget-wise I think it was well worth it as it included one of the roomiest hotel rooms in Japan; a great neon-flashing panoramic view; breakfast AND dinner and a wonderful concierge service. The concierge even went to the trouble of getting us baseball tickets for the Yomiuri Giants vs. the Hiroshima Carp. The breakfast in the Blue Gardenia (included in price of room) was very; very good. It's conveniently located near the Akasaka-Mitsue Tokyo Metro Subway stop. Just a really; really good location. When we arrived at a hotel in Kyoto that is supposedly of a higher standard I actually felt let down because it was back to business as usual without the wonderful service and frienliness of the Akasaka Prince.
317477,DT98,04/16/2006,Clean and value for 15;000 Yen It's definately a 3 star hotel. Considering the price for a 37 sqm room with panaromic view; it was good value plus the location. We stayed at room 3428 which is on the corner where you see the subway station and intersection. The roomwas a good size room and equivalent to a normal US hotel room. The location was a plus because it's about 15-20 minutes from all of tokyo. It's located at the Akasaka-Mitsuke station. Walk to the exit D to the end of the tunnel and go up the stairs. Cross the street and then walk across the bridge and the hotel is up on the hill to your right.Some info about Toyko:- Get the Toyko all day pass for 750 yen. This card will give you unlimited rides on all the subway lines except the Toei and JR ones. They are all you need to get all over Tokyo- Akakusa is like a little market place. There is no bargaining there. At least when we tried.- Shibuya is like a crowded Time Square in NYC. It's a crazy place. Lots of young people go there.- The secret to traveling in Japan is the luggage service (Domestic Courier). It's so cheap ($26 USD or so); you should use it to ship luggage from hotel to hotel. We used it to ship 2 large suitcases from the aiport to Prince hotel ahead of time for 2910 yen. We took an over night bag to goto hakone first and when we got back to Tokyo; the luggage was right there.We also used it to ship it to Kyoto next and it still cost 2900 yen. Almost all hotels have this service in their lobby.Travel light on the trains because it's a pain to lug the luggage up and down the station stairs and then on the trian itself. Use that luggage service. It will pay for itself! Just ship it a day ahead to get to the next place the next day.
317477,SnowFallingOnCedars,03/15/2006,We had a wonderful stay Akasaka Prince Hotel lobby
317477,Xaby1,03/14/2006,Great Hotel Great Location We really enjoyed our stay at the Akasaka Prince Hotel. The rooms are spacious and have many amenties. The hotel is constructed such that all rooms are corner rooms (have a nice set of windows and great views). The room was very clean and the beds were reasonably comfortable. The bathroom was nice; complete with a deluxe electronic toilet! The hotel has a nice location in the business district of Akasaka. There are not too many tourist attractions in this area (although there are a decent number of restaurants and shops) but the hotel is within a block or so of the metro station. We actually enjoyed lodging in a less busy section of Tokyo to escape the noise and bustle of the city. The staff was very nice and always will to help.
317477,Morani,02/11/2006,Just a wonderful hotel! I chose the Akasaka Prince on the basis of the Tripadvisor reviews; and again; I was not let down. The room was clean; stylish; and had specatular views. Each room is designed as a corner room to give you a panoraic view across the city and to Fuji on a clear day.There are three restaurants to choose from for you complimentary breakfast; but the Blue Gardenia on the 40th floor has got to be the winner. The Top of Akasaka bar is also great for a nightcap and serves some pretty lethal cocktails.The Prince is right next to akasaka-mitsuke station giving easy access to harajuku; shibuya; shinjuku; ginza etc.Everyone was super friendly; and we will definetly be staying here again.
317477,ATripAdvisorMember,02/10/2006,Compared this hotel with the New Otani We stayed in this hotel right before our skiing holiday and we stayed at the New Otani (just across the road) on the same trip but after we went skiing; so you could say we are well placed to compare the two hotels. We knowingly paid a high price for a triple room at the New Otani because we knew we would want a comfortable room after skiing. This was exactly what we got; a large 40sqm room (unusually large for Tokyo); well fitted out; with nice furnishings and a picture view of the Japanese garden below; the Shinjuku park in front and the office towers beyond. From the lobby right up to the room; the New Otani is definitely one star up on the Akasaka Prince; particularly the beds--which are firmer and have much nicer comforters.My tip is to insist on a room in the New Otani Tower because when we called ahead to ask what is the difference; they told us all the rooms in the Main building were about to be renovated whereas the Tower rooms are still quite new. And if you could swing it; request a room facing the Shinjuku area; which has the best view in this hotel. If you have to pay extra for breakfast; then I urge you to do so. They give you a choice of 3 restaurants but by far the most stunning is the Top of the Tower on the 40th floor where on a sunny day (which is quite often between Nov to Feb); you would not want to leave.While the New Otani maybe more luxurious and comfortable; when it comes to service the Akasaka Prince wins hands down--from its concierge; business centre and reservations; all were too willing to please and efficient. In contrast; we felt the staff at the New Otani were a bit aloof. My final tip is this; all double/twin rooms at the Akasaka Prince is 37sqm whereas in the New Otani Tower; they are 27sqm.Since I think both hotels are similarly priced and location wise they are right opposite each other (both are in one of the best neighbourhoods in Tokyo); if it's comfort and luxury you want; then choose the New Otani. If it's service and room size which concerns you then go for the Akasaka Prince (say if you have a child for intance; the 3 or you would be more comfortable at the Akasaka Prince since their double beds are 200cm or 79 inches wide). At the New Otani; you would need a triple room which would cost quite a bit more. We had emailed the Akasaka Prince concierge a bunch of questions on where to go; what to see and where to eat before arrival and when we checked in; they had printed out maps and clear directions in English for each of the places we enquired about ready for us; that's service !!
317477,ATripAdvisorMember,01/16/2006,Did not like it at all! We stayed at the Akasaka Prince at the beginning of January 2006 for 3 nights. We initally booked for 6 nights but decided to leave earlier because I could not warm to the place. It is an extraordinary place but has definitely seen better times. The staff is very attentive; speaks excellent english and is very helpful and knowledgable. However; I did not like the room and floor we were on. I was pregnant at the time and we asked for a non-smoking room which they kindly provided to us. Unfortunately; the aircon was pumping stinking air out. Not nice! There was a big stain on the sofa in the room and the entire room looked tired and tatty. Our room was extremly hot and we were told that this could not be changed since they would turn all aircon off during the winter. No idea where the smoky air it was pumping out came from. SInce the hotel was really busy they could not give us another room. The smell on the floors of desinfectant was revolting.The breakfast place on the 40th floor has terrific views. However; you have to que to get in. The hotel is far to vast for my personal taste. I still think it is a good location with good transport facilities and if you are less fussy than I am you are definitly ok. But it is not for me.
317477,TheStig,12/30/2005,The Prince- worthy of its name I was lucky enough to have been able to go to Tokyo on a long business this past trip; and we stayed at the Akasaka Prince hotel.It is an amazing place and is one of the best places to be in the city. The hotel sits pretty much right above one of the largest subway stations in Tokyo; so transportation to all reaches is VERY easy. But that is only if you want to leave. With a bevy of excellent restaurants within walking distance; not to mention the Imperial Palace Grounds only a 10 minute walk away; this hotel has the PERFECT setting.Check-in was a breeze with the bellman taking our bags and the people who checked us in were very nice and spoke excellent English. The lobby is quite nice with lots of sitting room for people and a grand piano being played by someone. To describe how it looks; I know you may laugh; but it reminded me exactly of the Fortress of Solitude in the Superman movies. Am I crazy? Maybe; but thats how I saw it.The room they led me to was unlike nothing I had ever seen. Think 'Jetsons' and you kind of have a good idea as to the room. Almost everything is built in; from the sofa; to the vanity to the desk; but the room was a good size for Tokyo and the views were fantastic. The bathroom felt modular; but very cool; and I have NEVER seen such a sophisticated toilet in all my life.I never ate dinner in the hotel and you dont have to with access to all of the restaurants Akasaka has to offer. And; unlike the hotel; dining in Tokyo isnt as expensive as I had thought it was going to be. About $25 a person for an excellent dinner; not too shabby. One thing they included with my room and if you have the chance to take advantage of is complimentary breakfast. It is on the 40th floor and has FANTASTIC views of all of Tokyo; not to mention an excellent spread. They had a Western breakfast as well as a traditional Japanese breakfast that I really enjoyed.There are only a couple of problems that I really noticed with the hotel. First off; I would have thought such a business friendly hotel would have high-speed internet access included; but its an extra $15 a night; which is a little steep. My other quibble has to do with the cleaning staff. You have the option to have your room cleaned or to put the 'Do Not Disturb' sign up; right? However; if you leave the DND sign up for a couple of days; you will start being pestered by the cleaning staff to clean your room and it is really annoying. If I have DND up; I dont want my room cleaned; please dont bother me. I guess my other minor problem has to do with the rooms. They are good size; but it looks as though they were designed for the future that never came. A little too 'Lost in Space' for my taste; but at this point this is splitting hairs.All in all; my stay at the Prince was really quite nice. It is in a perfect location; with pretty much all of Tokyo at your fingertips; but with its spacious rooms; you wont feel cramped catching up on some jet-lag or just relaxing. The Prince is a great offering in Tokyo; and at a relatively reasonable price no less. Granted; amongst Tokyo hotels it is no King; but this hotel is a very polished and distinguished Prince.FYINotes- the last time I went they did not have card access to the rooms; it was still done by key. Very expensive keys. So if you're forgetful about keys or lose them alot; do yourself a favor and give them to the front desk before you leave and it will be waiting for you when you return.
317477,cnchapman,11/16/2005,Great views and location This is a beautiful; modern hotel with large rooms and wonderful views; in the very nice Kioi-cho/Akasaka area. Service; location; and rooms are all great; and it is built to handle earthquakes. The primary drawback is the lack of broadband internet in the rooms (but it is well configured for dial up access).Rooms: as other reviews note; they are a bit space-age; decked out in shiny white with huge windows and great views. It is built so every room is like a 鈥渃orner鈥?room with spectacular views. The best rooms are high floors with views to the south; we had a gorgeous view of Mt. Fuji over Tokyo several mornings. Our king room had two desks; one configured for easy setup of a computer with dial up Internet (go figure - a 5-star hotel without broadband! - but it can be nice to be free of the Internet distraction); and a large and comfortable built-in sofa hugging the wall by the windows.Service: like all great Tokyo hotels; the service is outstanding. The staff will grab your bags as soon as they see you; escort you to the room; and refuse tips (as they should; since service charge is part of the rate). The concierge is exceptionally helpful; with maps in English showing many things available in the area; ranging from cash machines to supermarkets to restaurants to Japanese public baths. One minor annoyance was that ice was only available from room service 鈥?and with a $5 charge!Location: the Prince is in Kioi-cho; on the edge of Akasaka-Mitsuke area. This is a great area with many good restaurants. It is near many government offices; parliament; prime minister鈥檚 residence; etc.; as well as Japan locations of many international companies. Thus; it is upscale; foreigner-friendly; safe; and most importantly very well-connected with transportation. There are 2 subway stops just a block from the hotel; with a total of 5 subway lines! Also; there is a JR light rail station just 10 min. away by foot (and a nice walk along a park and college campus). For some unfathomable reason (perhaps because of the sheer number of hotels); many of my friends and colleagues stay in Shinjuku instead of Akasaka. If you like noise; bad food; dingy nightlife; train stations that are impossible to navigate; and millions of people crowding you; then Shinjuku is for you. I prefer the quieter; higher quality experience in Akasaka.Comparison of New Otani and Akasaka Prince: basically; this is a choice between room size views at the Prince; and convenience and services at the New Otani. The New Otani is a famous; well-regarded landmark hotel across the street from the Prince. I鈥檝e stayed there many times; and the available services are amazing (hundreds of shops; dozens of restaurants; post office for cash; and on and on). The New Otani shops range from convenient to exquisite; and the availability of everything from a convenience store and deli to multiple breakfast buffets is great for weary travelers. The Otani is a favorite of visiting dignitaries; but its rooms are not as spacious nor have the uniformly great views of the Prince. One specific advantage of the New Otani for business travelers is that the rooms have broadband Internet available. Beds are more comfortable at the Prince than the New Otani (where they are too hard for my taste; like many in Asia).Finally; do not eat dinner in this or any other Tokyo hotel unless you鈥檙e exhausted. True; the restaurants are great; but it is a lot more fun to get out and go to restaurants in neighboring Akasaka and Kioicho. To get to the main Akasaka restaurant area; exit from the lobby and walk down to the moat. Cross over the moat toward the Akasaka-mitsuke subway station. When you cross over towards the station; keep going straight on the first street over from the station (not the big street in front of the station; but one street further south). There are dozens and dozens of restaurants of every type; just browse until you see one that strikes your fancy. Two tips. First; a phenomenal restaurant recommendation (in Kioi-cho; not Akasaka) is Elio Locanda; a world-class Italian restaurant. To get there from the hotel; exit through the back (guest house) door; and follow the street up the hill 2 blocks to the first significant intersection. Turn right and go about 3 blocks. Elio has an ornate entrance on your right 鈥?but be warned; it is expensive (~$80 per person) and reservations are essential (but can be made in English). Second; go places on the subway (Metro). The stations are close and it is not hard to figure out if you鈥檙e willing to work through the initial confusion. Once you figure it out; it鈥檚 well worth it and makes any visit to Tokyo much; much more enjoyable. One tip: buy the 1000 yen 鈥渙ne day open ticket鈥? That will let you ride all subway lines; unlimited; for a whole day 鈥?much easier than repeatedly trying to figure out amounts and having to buy tickets.
317477,wooffie,11/09/2005,Great location and great hotel showReview(4100899; 'full');
317477,UselessJRPass,09/23/2005,Great hotel; good value; good position; friendly staff showReview(3933034; 'full');
317477,sythe20,06/06/2005,Best hotel I've ever stayed at showReview(3534546; 'full');
317477,MichaelAcosta,05/07/2005,Excellent value; hotel; and customer service Japanese Temple Gardens
317477,nbseer,05/03/2005,Great deal at a great hotel Akasaka Prince-unique architecture
317477,PootsUK,04/20/2005,Totally recommend the Prince Twin Room 2
317477,Tartanhabit,03/26/2005,Loved this place showReview(3303115; 'full');
317477,ATripAdvisorMember,11/01/2004,Is it worth it? showReview(2800300; 'full');
317477,ATripAdvisorMember,10/22/2004,Awesome Hotel showReview(2778957; 'full');
317477,ATripAdvisorMember,08/30/2004,Nice Location and View showReview(2503022; 'full');
317477,itgirl1978,01/04/2009,Angenehmes und gut gelegenes Hotel showReview(23248950; 'full');
317477,spacehalo,12/20/2008,銉儞銉炽偘銇屽簝銇嬨仯銇熴仹銇欍€?#x201d; showReview(22870679; 'full');
317477,銇俱倞銇銇俱倞銇adiv,10/08/2008,鏅壊銇屻亶銈屻亜锛侊紒 showReview(20716406; 'full');
317477,tarepandaa,09/20/2008,閮ㄥ眿銇屻伈銈嶃兗銇?#x201d; showReview(20213144; 'full');
317477,lapeche,09/18/2008,闈欍亱銇犮亼銇╀究鍒╋紒 showReview(20159986; 'full');
317477,lass,06/08/2008,銇俱仛銇俱仛 showReview(19171716; 'full');
317477,lass,11/23/2007,澶滄櫙銇岀逗楹椼仾銉涖儐銉?#x201d; showReview(19166569; 'full');
317477,DalhiaB,10/24/2006,very nice !! (Tr猫s joli !!) showReview(6004460; 'full');
317477,lceb,10/01/2006,Excellent location la vue !
319066,sjd74,10/10/2008,A Very Good Stay Stayed in this hotel for 5 nights in October 2008.The hotel itself is in an excellent location in Addison. Although we were on the Concierge Level; the rooms were well equipped and the pubic areas were well furnished. The pool was good; although probably needs checking every day for leaves etc.Three downsides - the breakfast room; bar prices and internet access. For a 500+ room hotel to have such a poorly equipped (and sized) restaurant means a disaster on Sunday mornings - so get there early to avoid the queues. I bought a pint and a Baileys one evening in the bar - and it cost $14.50 !!! With so many alternatives for bars in the vicinty; on Beltline Road; those prices are stupid. Finally; the internet access. Despite advertising that wireless access was free in the lobby; what it actually means is they provide 3 terminals in a business centre for anytime usage. If you want to use your own PC; you'll have to pay stupid prices.That said; the staff were very friendly and helpful; the surrounding restaurants are fantastic (especially On The Border); and in response to a previous comment; it is easy to avoid toll roads - we drove round every day without going near a toll booth.
319066,penguin78law,09/28/2008,ok This hotel is a bad location for business travelers- far from downtown - if you want to be near the mall. It is on a toll road so every time you leave the property you must pay the tolls- a very annoying 55 cents/ 40 cents. The room was ok the evelvators where horrible and the parking cost $10.00 an annoying expense for Dallas where most hotel parking is free. There are better marriotts and hotels in Dallas
319066,alaska777,09/01/2008,great mini vacation We stayed at the marriott off the tollway on august 30-sep1-2008. We had a great time. This was a gift from friends for us so this was special. I loved the free shuttle service. I thought the hours were resonable; after all you did not have to burn your own gas; pay for a cab; or lose your parking space and that I'm picky about. so we went to the galleria and into a 3 story macy's well; the mall was 3 storys. had excellent service there and to truluks steak and seafood on beltline road. I've been there before; but I promise if you go; you never want to go to red lobster again. It is worth the money but it is pricey for most people.I felt this hotel was a little overpriced since it did not have microwaves and refrigerators in the room but found out you can ask for one I don't know if you have to pay extra or not. We tipped everyone who waited on us so expect to bring a wad of money thats how good they are and friendly. We had pizza in the room one night and it was good and the free breakfast was great they made fresh omeletts and waffles at your request. We did not use the pool but it looked nice I thought it would have been to cold but the outside is heated. I liked the little gift shop I found a nice thank-you card there.Not many channels to watch on t.v.; but who is here to watch t.v.? The big beds were soft and so were the pillows.our room was a little stale at first; but they fixed that and we had a little misunderstanding with the check-in people about there polices but they sent a bottle of wine and a gift basket up to the room soon after; which was nice of them. There were a few things that could have been better. I think the parking was to expensive. Also don't stay on the window side of the tollway next to the toll booth; it will keep you up all night cars racing all night long; very irritating. And it was to late to move to another room. this was after midnight and lasted until around 5:30 in the morning.The room card also did not work. they were touchy you had to try several times and get it just right or you were not getting into your room.overall It was nice since it was free; but I probably would not stay there again since they have courtyard marriotts all over the place that are just as nice and once you've stayed at the grand hyatt at the airport or Somewhere in Las Vegas you won't want to stay anywhere else.
319066,n6877,04/30/2008,nice place pretty good hotel an good location put some family up when they came to visit they did not spend alot of time at the hotel but it was clean and service was good
319066,Mkhargrove8506,02/26/2008,Awesome Hotel I recently stayed at this hotel for my honeymoon weekend and really enjoyed my stay. The people at the front desk were really helpful and were very gracious. I was congratulated on my marriage by at least three different employees at the hotel and was sent chocolate covered strawberries to my room along with a few gifts and a card from one of the employees. Me and my new wife were drove around to anywhere within five miles of the hotel and absolutely loved Addison circle. The hotel also made us reservations for a local Italian restaurant who treated us to free drinks and dessert. We loved the hot tub in the hotel and the friendly atmosphere. We will definitely be staying at this hotel again.
319066,AZ2323,12/16/2007,Nice hotel We are from Phoenix and spent two nights here because my son han a gymnastics meet. The three people we came in contact with at the front desk were awesome. I asked for an upgrade to the concierge floor and they were happy to do it for me. The hotel is located next to the north toll way and has about 40 restaurants within a mile. They have a very nice workout center next to the indoor/outdoor pool with a large jacuzzi. We paid the extra $20/day for the breakfast buffet for up to two adults and two kids which was worth it.
319066,artfam,11/12/2007,Nice Stay Stayed at the Marriott for a week in September. The hotel is in Addison and is walking distance to some nice restaurants. The only thing is that the streets are a little difficult to navigate in.The hotel staff was nice. Didn't have too many interaction with them.Nothing really jumped out at me with this hotel. The room was nice. The only thing that stood out was the $9.95 internet access. This was per day. That was a bit high.The room was okay. The bathroom could use a little work.
319066,HappytoGo,11/04/2007,Good Rooms but Poor Shuttle Service Spent three nights while attending a conference in the hotel. The room was great and the staff was enjoyable. The conference rooms were great and the breakfast at the restaurant was above average. My only complaint would be that they need to be more lenient on the shuttle service. There were 300+ people in town for a convention and they would only do a drop off/pick up at the Galleria every hour. It wasn鈥檛 that far but if you showed up at 10 past the hour you had to wait the 50 minutes or pay for a taxi. And the shuttle and the driver would just sit there as well.
319066,cooper12,10/09/2007,its ok. stay friday thur sun. This hotel is centrally located to the galleria area. the rooms are ok. we did have problem with hair left in the shower. it was fixed soon after we reported it. Parking is a rip. If you go out at night forget about getting a free spot in front of the hotel. it is an extra ten dollars a day.
319066,JereK,07/30/2007,Great staff and decor; No amenities We stayed at the Marriott Quorom with a large group for a week. The hotel common areas are beautiful and comfortable. The staff was courteous; very knowledgeable and helpful. The outdoor pool area had terraced levels which included lounge chairs ; tables and chairs and shade areas under awnings or trees. The pool was small but nice with both indoor and outdoor with swim through acces to both. The workout room was first rate entirely encase in glass on two sides overlooking the pool area. We ate lunch once in the onsite restaurant and the food service was very good. The problems we experienced were with the amenities. No refrigerators in the rooms. When your in Texas in summer (or anytime) you need refrigerators for cold drinks. Our group had to go out to Walmart to buy coolers to stock our beverages. It is also hard to understand why these expensive; full service hotels do not include amenities found in most hotels that charge $69/night. We had a discounted group rate through a travel agent but this hotel typically goes for $239/night minimum which includes no breakfast; no refrigerator or microwave; plus $9.95/day internet access and they add a $10/day parking fee. Basically; you are nickeled and dimed to death. Add the Dallas Tollway to it and you really are handing out money all day. Don't get me wrong; the room (a corner king) we had was oversized with great bedding/mattress; granite countertops in the bathroom; and stylish decor. (Shower water pressure could have been better.) However; it is hard to justify a return trip to this hotel unless you have to be there for a convention or group event while within four to six blocks; you have many other hotels costing half the price or more that include many more amenities that make your stay more comfortable.
319066,alisa110,06/18/2007,They consider this luxury? My husband was in charge of choosing the hotel this time and for the last time. We stayed here for Christmas to attend the Cowboy football game with my Family on Christmas Day; and do some after Christmas shopping. I was very disappointed. The hotel room had an old stale smell; it wasn't very clean and the food was terrible. I'll never stay here again.
319066,WiseOne,06/14/2007,Awesome place Talk about luxury and convenience; this is the place to stay. I got a weekend rate and had a nice large corner room with a comfy bed. Free shuttle to and from Airport and staff was very friendly.Strongly recommend!!
319066,Marge246,04/26/2007,Saved me when I was stranded On a night when over 200 flights out of Dallas were cancelled and the highways were fender-deep in water; I stayed at this Marriott because it was the closest place to the airport that had room as the hotels filled up. A couple of features set this hotel above its competition as a business hotel. First; the mattress is the best I've slept on - better than a Heavenly Bed; better than a Ritz. And not just because it beat sleeping on the floor of the airport like 3;000 of my fellow travelers!Second; the hotel actually acknowledges that you need to do work and so has a great electronics console as a sort of backsplash to the desk - lots of outlets; phone lines; and other plug-ins for all your gizmos so that you don't have to move appliances or crawl around on the floor. Finally; instead of a $5.00 cheapo clock alarm or one of those new weird pre-programmed radios (I hate those things); this clock radio had an iPod docking station attached to it. The room also had a flat-screen TV and wonderful uni-sex orange-scented amenities. And the nice man at the desk gave me a free toothbrush so I wouldn't have socks on my teeth the next morning when I got up to schlep back to the airport. And a free bottle of water; not one that cost $6.00 like the hotel I stayed in the night before.Also - compact flourescents in the guest rooms! Thanks for saving energy; and for keeping the bathroom light fixtures from melting a gal's makeup (even if it was day-old makeup). I only wish you would have had recycling in the guest room!
319066,julesism,04/17/2007,Great Hotel This hotel was outstanding for my two night stay in Dallas. I was there for RR; to visit a friend; to shop; and enjoy the nice weather. I had requested an early check-in which they were able to accomadate; and it was great to be in my room and taking a nap by 12 noon. The room was very nice; decent sized.; nice chair in the corner; and the bed was marvelous. Duvet comforter and lots of pillows. Pillow top mattresses. Bathroom was very clean with nice granite top vanity. Good water pressure in the shower.The hotel has a nifty shuttle to the galleria mall. The mall is beautiful and I enjoyed shopping there. I also sat by the pool; on the sunny day and that was very nice. Room service was good and the pizza I ordered and the burger were quite good. This is a great hotel for $239 a night; which is what I paid. There also is a gift shop with a Starbucks attached. Good selection of magazines there. Nice large workout room near the pool.
319066,AngieCanada,03/22/2007,Marriot Quorum Very good experience!! My husband and I stayed at Marriot Quorum for two nights (March 17 and 18th) and since I am a marriot rewards member was able to book the ebreaks weekend special for 95 plus tax. This room usually goes for more than $200. The hotel is very clean; the staff are very service oriented and friendly. The pool and jacuzzi were refreshing after a long day of travel.My husband and I took the free shuttle to the Galleria Mall both days. The galleria is worthwhile seeing as they have an ice rink in the middle of the mall. The only complaint was that this is more of an upscale mall so if you are looking for bargains you are not going to find them at the Galleria. We ate at the corner bakery in the mall; the food was great and reasonable priced.My only complaint was that we had to purchase internet for $9.95 per day. We also stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Market Center and got the internet for free. I think these higher end hotels need to start providing the internet for free. I would recommend this Marriot hotel.
319066,wnissen,02/28/2007,Lucky you if your conference is here King bed
319066,dpbillsfan,02/20/2007,Great Stay Stayed at the Marriott Quorum Feb 15th-19th. Very nice hotel. The room we stayed in was very clean and the beds were comfortable. Took the free shuttle over to the Galleria which was nice. All around great hotel and can't wait to go back this summer.
319066,spbennet,01/23/2007,Great Place to Stay The hotel is your typical Marriott and what I mean by that it is a really nice hotel but nothing exciting. When you arrive make sure and valet the first night if you have allot of bags. The parking garage is convenient but the elevator is always broken and you will have to go up stairs if it is broken.The check in staff is always friendly and check you in very promptly; They they have recently done renovations and if you get one of the new rooms they are very nice. If you want a room with some extra space ask for a corner room. If you are traveling on business they have a real nice work area and the TV is very nice. The food at the restaurant is very good especially if you like Steak. The bar is huge but the bartenders could be a little better and more observant. The breakfast buffet is pretty big with a wide selection so if you are looking to start your day off right I recommend it. The hotel is in an area with a bunch of shopping and restaurants so you need to check out the surroundings.
319066,Algood,12/07/2006,Great Stay Nice Hotel. Stayed here after the renovations. The room was not big in size but the beds and pillows were wonderful. The flat panel TV is a nice touch. The staff was very friendly. They have a kiosk where you can print out boarding passes which is a blessing. There are tons of restaurants around this hotel and the variety of it is great. Wish they offered wireless since now even the motels are offering them for free !! Great location Great Staff. Definitely will stay again.
319066,gobucksgo,07/03/2006,Fantastic! Highly Recommended! I just stayed at this Marriott; and it was great! The service was excellent with a friendly staff. The room size was average; but the beds and pillows were very comfortable. I was staying while the hotel was renovating; but there was no disturbances from the floors being renovated. I was staying in a room that wasn't renovated; but the renovated rooms had a modern touch to them with flat panel TVs. The food in the hotel restaurants was great; but just a bit pricey. Their breakfasts were a great start to the day and even the food at the cafe at an odd hour was delicious. We stayed at this hotel for 70.00 per night (we stayed for a wedding reception to be held in a salon/meeting room); so the rate was a bargain. The wedding reception was nicely set-up; the food was great; and it was fun! The only drawback was a $9.95 for wired internet inside the room; but at least it was fast. The hotel was about 20 minutes from DFW when taking toll roads; which is closer than expected. I was staying in a room that wasn't renovated; but the renovated rooms had a modern touch to them with flat panel TVs. Overall a great experience; would highly recommend; and I would stay here again!
319066,ATripAdvisorMember,07/01/2006,Definitely higher than a 3 star showReview(5414543; 'full');
319066,concetta2,05/15/2006,Good business hotel showReview(5077462; 'full');
319066,Nepean01,04/29/2006,Nice Place; very good value showReview(5018745; 'full');
319066,hondast1100,04/23/2006,Not a bad place to stay showReview(4997763; 'full');
319066,ATripAdvisorMember,03/28/2006,This hotel was awesme! showReview(4741883; 'full');
319066,smonte,08/20/2005,My wedding in Dallas! showReview(3792912; 'full');
319066,ATripAdvisorMember,07/17/2005,Fantastic hotel for a conference! showReview(3675145; 'full');
319066,ATripAdvisorMember,07/14/2005,Great Staff Nice Hotel showReview(3667004; 'full');
319066,ATripAdvisorMember,06/06/2005,Great Stay; Wonderful employees; Southern Hospitality showReview(3533976; 'full');
319066,mpd401,01/29/2005,Most enjoyable stay!!! showReview(3097301; 'full');
319712,danioko,01/04/2009,Budget Hotel with High End Quality I have learned quickly never to expect too much too soon from holiday accommodation regardless of how much you have paid; if there are problems during the stay; they have to be dealt with there and then. You can never tell a hotels true potential until you truly experience it for yourself. The Holiday Inn Express in Frankfurt city is GREAT!!After reading many of my fellow reviewer鈥檚 comments I booked with some apprehension; however I was most pleased from the minute I arrived.Having booked a flight in to Frankfurt Hahn (by mistake; through rushing) I took the 1hr 30min journey to the city using the BOHR coach service - priced 12 Euros for a single trip; which drops you at the central railway station in Frankfurt.From the station we took a fairly inexpensive cab to the hotel at just 8 Euros; which was unnecessary as you will discover later.En-route to the hotel I was slightly perturbed by the area in which we were travelling through; as we left the city behind and entered a rather greyish industrial area. However through my later exploration I found this journey was for pure financial benefits of the cab driver; taking us on a detour to earn more cash. Finally arriving at the hotel; I was still aware that there appeared very little else in the area for a tourist to enjoy or discover; still I checked in with anticipation. The exterior of the hotel is pretty much what you would expect from a Holiday Inn Express; a white building; glass frontage with coniferous plantings either side of the entrance. Pleasant at least.The reception and foyer is open plan; as is the bar; seating area and breakfast lounge; complimented by a modern light and airy d茅cor. At the check in desk we were greeted by a polite staff member who courteously completed all essential paperwork before giving us a choice of rooms; which was a nice touch for your basic hotel. A service which is even missing in many 4 and 5 star hotels. Once we received our keys; my friend and I ascended to our room with some wonderment of how it will be. On entering the room we were very surprised with its modern and clean look. The d茅cor is a cream; deep red and 鈥榦ak-esque鈥?in its appearance; which took it that small step further from a basic; budget; motel style accommodation. The duvet is neatly folded and placed neatly at the foot of the bed; while the forward pillow is tied nicely with a decorative sash; making look like a rather boutique touch. The bathroom was also very pleasant with a neat and quirky little touch.The bathroom has one door; yet this one door make two rooms. Should someone want to brush their teeth and someone else wish to use the toilet then this can be achieved whilst retaining each persons dignity and modesty. This is done in the following way: The main bathroom door when closed conceals one large bathroom complete with large basin; large shower and a toilet. When the door is fully open it can be placed in to another catch which now separates the toilet from the bathroom; creating a completely separate (and still fairly spacious) room.Another nice touch the hotel insists upon is the use of branded complimentary bathroom products in the form of Kleenex; Dove and others. My one major draw back of the bedrooms is the TV鈥檚. Although the set offers a variety of channels; it sadly only offers one free English channel; and that is BBC World News; which repeats every hour. This was very disappoint as many hotels offer a variety of English speaking entertainment channels; whether it be music or sport. The hotel must adopt a better selection of channels through out to serve guest better as English after all is the international language of the world. Regardless for German and Spanish guest the hotel is nearer perfect. On the first night of out stay I noticed a small mark on my sheets; buy nothing which required a drama creating to change them or order fresh immediately; regardless; I was so tired anyway it could be resolved tomorrow. As morning broke I awoke slightly later than I usually like to at around; 9:30am. I freshened up and descended downstairs to the breakfast lounge; open between 6:30am and 10:30am. The breakfast is inclusive with your price paid and is of the ambiguous continental variety; something which differs so greatly between hotels they should be named something different each time.On offer was the usual apple or orange juice along with coffee and a large selection of tea; except the most popular Breakfast tea; absent throughout our stay. Edibles offered included the regular bread roll and croissants with a nice selection of preserves and spreads. As well as this you can choose from a variety of cereals; yoghurt or a minimal selection of cold meats. The breakfast was far from my expectations and could have been made a lot more appetising. It would be worth offering the continental as standard but offering a cooked breakfast for a small price. A trial of which would I am sure prove fruitful for the business. In its current state I feel it lets the excellent service and quality of the hotel down.After breakfast I decided to take a trip in to the town. Immediately opposite the hotel is a bus stop; which serves guest well by taking them straight in to the city. As I just missed a bus and it was too cold to stand around I decided to walk. I would advise any fit and healthy guest to do the same. This is now where I find I was wrong about the area the hotel was in. Although the hotel is situated amongst some industrial buildings; they are in fact rather interesting architecturally. The walk to the city centre from the hotel is approximately 20 minutes at a steady pace and along the way you pass a couple of traditional German bars as well as many traditional; standard German housing; which is interesting to compare with those in other European areas. Once in the city there is a huge array of activities to undertake; which will delight people from all denominations of life. If you want shopping; theatre; museums or leisurely walks; Frankfurt has it all! Whilst in the city explore:- 鈥楾he Galaria鈥?department store; which shames many well known English department store. - For theatre; there is a whole host from opera to the worlds largest international English speaking theatre playing host to Andrew Lloyd Webbers Cats - a MUST SEE!!- Art- There are many museums in Frankfurt all offering different artistic tastes to keep all enthusiasts entertained for hours.- Attractions - All visitors to this wonderful city MUST; MUST; MUST visit the fantastic zoo here (see separate review). - Food; although not internationally credited for its food like its Neighbours France or England; Germany in fact has many great dishes to offer including unique presentations of the very simple 鈥楬ot Dog鈥?On returning back to the hotel early evening; we both decided to have a drink at the bar. As expected the prices were slightly inflated yet the choice fairly varied. A nice and refreshing choice is a Grapefruit beer or the local Binding bear with the litre. A very strange point to mention was the tea and coffee facility. If you wanted them any where else other than your room you had to pay approximately 2 euros from the bar. The previously free hot drinks machine was now controlled by a coin clot; which was bizarre. If you are that bothered about a hot drink then you can have them free from your room and topped up free at any time. I am sure non-resident would not be drinking there as the hotel is not really in an area for such 鈥榞uests鈥?If you are hungry you can also order a hugely over priced pizza at around 7 Euros for a standard flavour. However the staff are more than happy to assist you in ordering food in from local take-away outlets. A special credit has to go to Oliver the night staff member who is very friendly and attentive to guests needs. Although conscious about not speaking good or fluent German; Oliver quickly subsided any hesitation in communicating in my native English. If asked he will also advise and great attractions within the city and where to and not to eat whilst in the city. After drinks and pleasant conversations with the staff; we decided to go to bed. Getting in to bed I noticed the same dirty mark on the sheets on a freshly made bed. This unfortunately dampened my very positive attitude of the hotel and staff as I expect clean sheets on a bed every morning. This is a very simple request; which should happen in every guest accommodation. I called down to Oliver on the front desk to explain and he said he would arrange for the house keeper to see it as priority in the morning; which restored some of the lost good spirits. I took the sheet off and again retired to the very comfy beds.The next morning as promised the house keep arrived bright and early to attend to the room and change the sheets as if her first job of the day. A great and refreshing fact to note; is the time in which the maid arrives to attend to the guest rooms. For many years the early start of house keepers and there knocking and banging has infuriated guests who stay more than one night. However our maid seemed to appear around 10am each morning; whether this was due to the location of our room is literally because of her start time; either way a great noting point never the less!!After 4 great nights I left the hotel in good spirits; thanking the exceptionally polite manager for the hospitality and great hotel offerings. The day to day running of the hotel appears smooth and faultless to the guest and where nothing is too much trouble for the staff . Hopefully this will continue to be the case ready for my next visit; hopefully very soon (cost depending).This Holiday Inn Express is a budget hotel with a High End charm; staff and hearty spirit!!Should anyone want further information regarding the hotel before this review is edited and shown nationally then feel free to contact me via trip-advisor.
319712,CapitalCulture,11/17/2008,A Great Accommodation I flew in to Frankfurt; took train (3.60 euro) to Haupbanhof; and city bus to the hotel (1.50 euro). Only 3 or 4 stops from the station. If you're really traveling light; it's not too bad a walk. Taxi comes in under 8 euro.The check-in staff was very friendly. My reservation was in order; and my PC Platinum status was acknowledged. Including a ticket for a complimentary glass of wine. I mentioned the activities that would interest me (art museums); and they gave me a city map with everything highlighted for me.There was a great deal to enjoy on the breakfast buffet; which is set out for a generous amount of time; especially on weekends.My departure was very early -- 6:00 -- so it was nice that the check-out went so well; again a courteous person on staff; and a taxi arrived minutes later to take me to the train station.Please note: the neighborhood has nothing to recommend it. But it's really not the point. I found it convenient for everything I wanted to do. And I had no plan to hang around the hotel. I was there to sleep and to have a nice breakfast. It was quite a bargain; and a pleasant one at that.Only one complaint: the person at the desk on Saturday night did not know what on-line check-in was for my flight the next day. More or less she figured out she couldn't help me and my only option would have been to spend 5 euro for the business center computer. In this day and age; I think every hotel should have easy and complimentary access to on-line check for its guests.
319712,Zara77,10/25/2008,Surprisingly great!!! We stayed at the Express Holiday Inn in Frankfurt over the October half term holiday and found it to be very child friendly; extremely well located considering the city centre is a Red Light district. We were very glad that we had booked this hotel instead anything in the town centre! It really would not have been suitable with children. The hotel was clean;tidy and very efficent. The staff were very much on the ball and the breakfasts were good. The standard was very high for the price you pay. The number 37 bus route is excellent-it takes you to the city centre in about five minutes. The bus is a frequent service and is really close to the hotel. The rooms are well maintained;very clean and the bathrooms very hygienic. The hotel doesn't offer a restaurant service but you are able to go to the bar and order pizza only. Which is not very expensive-a basic one cost 拢6-and it taste quite good. They give menus for local eateries but the town centre is close enough for you to just hop on the bus and pick something up. In the evening the city is not pleasant as it is a open red light area and you will be very glad that your hotel is not in the heart of it.!!! The staff are helpful and I would recommend this hotel to friends and family.
319712,Gormanc,09/22/2008,Do not stay at the Holiday Inn Express This hotel is situated in the middle of nowhere. Claims to be near the airport; and is instead a 20 min drive on the highway.The hotel only has ONE shuttle bus for the entire hotel and there was a lot of chaos among guests about who should get priority to ride on the shuttle bus (there are only 8 seats). You have to take the shuttle bus to get back to the airport to go to the train station to actually get somewhere. If you can afford a taxi; you could call one everyday; but I personally think that is too expensive. The rooms are decent. There is wi-fi in the lobby and one computer for guest use that costs euros per an alotted time.
319712,nycnorth,05/29/2008,Typical HI Express away from any civilization View from the window
319712,luketraveller,05/22/2008,Location? We stayed at this hotel for the weekend and enjoyed it very much. Since we had a car; the location was not of too big importance to us. The hotel has its own parking lot; they charge EUR 12.-- per day. However; there are plenty of public parking spots on the side of the street free of charge; and it seems a reasonably safe area; so we parked there; no problem.But I must say; the area is not attractive at all. No restaurants nearby; to walk to the centre it is quite a way; more convenient is the bus. The hotel has no restaurant! However; you can ask for menues at the reception from restaurants that will deliver the food; that is a nice idea; you can eat the food that they bring at the breakfast restaurant.Breakfast was fine; very nice selection; and; it is free of charge; like at all the express by Holiday Inn. The room was fine too; nothing to complain. The queensize beds are on the small side; though; for 2 adults.The closest highway exit is Frankfurt-Westhafen; it takes you directly into Gutleutstrasse where the hotel is located. However; this exit is only accessible from/to the North! If you come from the South; you drive past the Westhafen; make a u-turn at Frankfurt Westkreuz; and head South again. The hotel is not really near the Messe. I find the name a bit mis-leading.The hotel was definitely worth the price we paid. I would definitely stay there again.
319712,JamJarWilkie,12/03/2006,Could have been worse; Newcastle v Frankfurt Nov 06 Stayed here for 1 night in November 06. Newcastle were playing Frankfurt in UEFA cup. 20 min walk from Ryanair bus drop off point and 25 min walk from central rail station. Its in the middle of a industrial area on a main road. Nearest dodgy bar about 10 min walk. Hotel is standard H.I express; all staff speak excellent english and so did everyone we came into contact with in Frankfurt; hotel is clean; light. Rooms are small but all the football traveller needs; shower; WC and free Frankie Vaughan on the Tv. Hotel bar only open 18.00 - 23.00 hrs. So if a night time kick off dont expect to get a beer when you get back from the match. Bus (number 37) runs every 10 mins through the day to the city centre. take 3 mins. cost about 1.30 euro. but you can get a cheap day ticket. The easiest way to get to the ground is by the tram or tube that runs from outside the main train station. Match tickets are valid for public transport 5 hours before game. If you want to fall out of the Irish bar by the train station into your bed this is no good; but for value and quality its ideal. Would stay again.
319712,scooks,10/26/2006,Great value for money Just had one night at this hotel waiting for a connecting flight the next day.Hotel runs a very efficient shuttle service to and from airport.Staff all very friendly - speak perfect English.Breakfast bar; excellent - ham; cheese; cereal; fruit; yoguart; pastries; tea; coffee; fruit juice etc etc.Very clean room; smallish in size; but adequate. Pre-booked on the net 71 euro including breakfast for two; represented excellent value for money.
319712,lass,06/27/2006,neither memorable nor terrible We stayed here for 6 nights during the height of the World Cup. The rooms are spartan; but very clean; yet a clothes iron in the room would have been helpful. The pillow was a bit small and a bed sheet would have been nice in addition to the sole comforter on the bed. CNN International was the only english language cable channel available. Instead of a standard bar of soap the hotel opted for the odd dispenser of a mystery shampoo/body wash hybrid. Good thing I brought my own soap and shampoo. Internet access is available in the rooms or on a pay terminal in the lobby.What I found very enjoyable about the visit was the staff. All spoke fluent english and were sincere in their efforts to help. The night man; Oliver; especially went out of his way to be of service and had loads of great suggestions on where to find local haunts.The big downside is the location. There's nothing of note in the immediate area; just industrial buildings on the back side of the train station. We used the number 37 bus extensively to get to and from the train station. It's about $1.50 per trip which beats a $8 cab ride. You should note that the shuttle service to the airport is no longer available.For a clean; reasonable place to stay with no regard to location; this spot is fine. For more action in the immediate area; go elsewhere.
319712,ATripAdvisorMember,06/26/2005,Overnight stay in Frankfurt We had an overnight stay at this hotel in May 2005. The hotel is average with comfortable rooms. If you want to be closer to the airport with a decent place to eat; don't stay here! The hotel has a shuttle service to and from the airport that is very convenient.
319712,Sitges2006,09/24/2004,Loved the Holiday Inn Express! Just got back from a one night stay at this great Holiday Inn Express hotel. It is located about 20 mins walk from the main railway station in Frankfurt; although the bus from outside the hotel; number 37; drops you at the station and in the City Centre. The hotel is absolutely spotless and I could not fault it. The staff are very helpful and speak English; and the rooms are a good size with power shower. It was a bargain at 鈧?5 including breakfast. There is a bar on site also for evening drinks and snacks. The breakfast had a good choice of croissants; cheeses; meats; cereals etc. I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in London a few years ago and was not impressed.I would definitely stay here again!
319712,lass,12/21/2007,瀹夈亸娉娿伨銈屻仸蹇仼锛?#x201d; showReview(21747857; 'full');
319712,lass,08/24/2007,銇汇伡婧€瓒炽仹銇椼仧 showReview(21747789; 'full');
319712,lass,07/26/2006,銇娿仚銇欍倎 showReview(21747713; 'full');
319712,lass,07/14/2006,娓呮綌銇儧銉嗐儷 showReview(21747709; 'full');
319712,lass,06/22/2006,姝┿亜銇︼紤锛曞垎浣嶃€?#x201d; showReview(21747705; 'full');
320013,BoysInNY,01/04/2009,Amazing resort; but keep a few things in mind... Deluxe Room Bed
320013,GohJosh,12/24/2008,Conrad Bali scores over and over again! The Conrad Monkey Plush Toy
320013,eddyFrankfurt,11/27/2008,best of bali This is a quiet place for lovers; overworked people; no nightclubbing; just relax and fill up your batteriesThat was exactly what we;needed. The service is outstanding; the staff is more than helpful; everybody greets you with a warm smile. The room is very comfortable; big bathroom with separat shower and big tub; lots of soft towells. Very good bed; one of the best hotelbeds ever. TV with over 40 chanels english; russian; (HBO; CNN BBC ...). The restaurants are very good in quality and service but prices much higher than outside. Its worth paying 40 $ (dont pay more) per night and room for a clubmembership which entitles you for breakfast; clublounge access with afternoon tee and snacks; evening cocktails ans snacks as well as free internet and 15% discounts for laundry; spa; and food. If you like to eat outside; try Nyomans Beergarden; Bumbum Bali or Coco Cafe. All offer free transportation. Me and my wife are looking forward to come back since we had a wonderful holiday.Eddy
320013,ArvinLee,11/22/2008,Nice; but need some improvements Just came back from a 5 day trip to Bali with my friends. the hotel lobby is nice; the staffs are nice; some comments from the trip 1. no sign where to check in. and the staff kinda forgot to inform us.apparently you are supossed to wait at the coffee lounge; looking over the swimming pool and the Indian Ocean. which was an amazing few.2. check in took more than 30 minutes; even tho the hotel wasn't crowded at all.3. Bed and Pillows are very comfy. 4. The Amenities they provided are disappointing. feel like a generic stuffs that you buy by the gallons. i stayed in Conrad Singapore before; and they give amazing products.5. right in front of our room is a bungalow and the indian ocean; which is a very nice. totally loving it.6.Inconsistency. one day you get fruits in your room; another day you dont. one day you get newspaper one day you dont.7. The hotel has this At Your Service service; which should be helpful; but one night i was asking her to check on the closing time of a restaurant; and i waited for 10 minutes for her to get back to me; but she never did. So I called her back; and her answer was I was with another customer and i forgot. 8. On the more positive note; when you are tanning; the pool bar attendants will give you a basket filled with cold mineral water; scented water spray and nice cold hand towels. which was very nice.9. breakfast. good food; but the menu never changes. after day 3; felt kinda bored. and they need to do something about the flies in the dining area.10. the spa treatment at the Hotel's Jiwa Spa is a must. great treatment.
320013,Neilzonwheelz,11/20/2008,Very Comfortable King Duluxe Oceanfront Room
320013,kklynn,11/10/2008,Faabulous hotel in every way!!! We loved the Conrad. The grounds are beautiful; well-kept and the pool is expansive. The rooms are lovely with awesome views and are very spacious. The breakfast is delicious and there is something for everyone. But there is something special about the Conrad. I think it is the people. From check-in to the staff in the restaurants; pool and groundskeepers. Everone seems to care and seems so happy to be there; and to have you staying with them. A staff member in the lobby bar remembered our names after one interaction. That beautiful Balinese smile is every where and so sincere. I would recommend this hotel without hesitation. Great value for such a special place.
320013,NickFromManchester,11/07/2008,Amongst the best The church in the Conrad grounds
320013,SydneyToscar,10/29/2008,Exquisite Bali Conrad A tranquil oasis with exquisite attention to detail in every aspect - rooms; gardens; pool; restaurants; gym; check-in; tour desk; concierge.Staff dressed in smart casual uniforms appropriate for the climate and location- nice to see them not dressed up in ridiculous local costumes as often happens at big hotels in Asia.While other reviewers have indicated that restaurant prices are expensive for Bali; they are reasonable when compared to prices for similar facilities in Australia.Sloping paths (rather than steps) through out the gardens around the pool area make this an ideal choice of resort for people unable to negotiate stairs.
320013,dmacdon1,10/15/2008,Fitting end to a great honeymoon This is simply one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever stayed in. Beautiful room; immaculate and beautifully kept grounds; pools for days; and the Indian Ocean right there. Many amenites at the spa - steam; sauna; jacuzzi; pool - are all complimentary. The restaurants are lovely but all are ridiculously expensive by Bali standards. To work around that; we had the Club membership (breakfast included when booking) which allowed us a lovely; full breakfast each day. It feels pretty isolated - a walled oasis in an otherwise dumpy part of beautiful Bali - so do not make this your only stop in Bali. Get north to Ubud and the northern coast. It's also very western with much more security and western amenities (e.g. enclosed vs. open air bathrooms) than other Bali hotel.But for a few days at the beginning or end of your trip; it's flat out lovely.
320013,mmteb1,10/13/2008,Didn't want to leave! Pool and beach
320013,tint7003,09/23/2008,Friendly staff - enjoyable stay We stayed from 14-20 September and had a very happy time. My most significant complaint was our arrival which was very poorly handled by the reception staff - we had originally made a reservation for 5 nights and subsequently added an additional night on the front in a separate reservation. I emailed the hotel to ask that they link the two reseravtions and they replied to confirm that they had done so and that we could stay in one room throughout the 6 nights covered by the two reservations. Upon arrival at 3pm in the afternoon we were told that we would need to change rooms after the first night and that only a twin was available and not a King as booked (per my Hhonors profile). After much delay they agreed we could stay in the same twin for all six nights but this got us off to a disappointing start and; as I've often found at Conrad Hotels; my Gold Hhonors status didn't seem to count for much at check in; although we were offered a daily complimentary breakfast which was very welcome.Breakfast was fine - good choice of foods; and best of all your order for eggs; bacon etc was taken at your table and prepared freshly before being delivered to your seat so no waiting in line for hours at an omlette station which I dislike enormously. The restaurant staff were charming as they were throughout the resort. Every staff member greeted us as they walked past and always tried to be helpful when we approached them and that will be my overriding memory of our stay.Most days we spent on the beach - we always found beds available which were comfortable. The hotel drinks service on the beach was almost non existent which was disappointing. All the earlier reviews have criticised the beach and it's true that it is far from Bali's best but the pools are so extensive and virtually empty that it presented little problem. The beach runs for miles and it's nice to walk along it; taking a look at the other hotels that neighbour the Conrad. These are mostly all inclusives which probably explains why there are few restaurants around the immediate vicinity of the Conrad but there's a much better choice a short cab ride away.Upon the recommendation of another reviewer we used the private laundry service directly opposite the hotel which was great value and we also took up the offer from the lady's husband of a car ride the following day. We paid 300k rupees for 5 hours and were taken to Ubud which was ok but not all it's cracked up to be.We used the local spa services rather than pay Conrad prices for our massages but we did visit the gym; jacuzzi; sauna and steam which were great.Restaurants in the hotel were quite pricey - we ate at the beachside restaurant a couple of times and enjoyed great coffee and ice cream in the lobby bar. Wireless internet in the lobby was free but slow - quicker if you paid for service in your room.The rooms were comfortable and attractively furnished and the bathrooms were great - only gripe was the toiletries which were unbranded and cheap.All in all a relaxing and pleasant stay.
320013,gognomen,08/10/2008,If your a seasoned travellor - it's just better than OK I will start writing this as saying it's a lovely hotel; it's low rise; the gardens are perfect and the staff are wonderful. The rooms (we had a suite) are excellent and the balconys are great.My gripes are for those with kids; there is nothing for them to do; the hotel has a very basic kids club; no playgroud and is not overly suited for families. The pool we found to be rather cold - that time of year and the parts of the pool that had sand - the sand had green slime in it. The breakfast buffet was slightly less than other hotels; but still covered all the basics and did help one not over eat. The quality of the food was excellent.As it happens with all resorts; the sun lounges and bales are all taken by horrible people that place their bag and then have breakfast leaving nothing for anybody else; the staff also weren't too forthcoming on removing items that had booked a place when the owners didn't even arrive after a number of hours. Forget about getting a place by the pool after 9am.If you book a suite you receive club benefits which is excellent; however to receive the benefits if you have children you are limited to a couple of restaurants in the resort. Fair enough I guess; but after having afternoon tea and drinks at the same place each night it gets a little mundane.Over all; it's a beautiful place; but I think they need to take some lessons from the Marriott in Phuket on how to cater for everybody.
320013,LilyLee777,08/04/2008,A memorable 15th honeymoon Bali has never been a spot in our holiday agenda. Since; that was our first time holidaying in Bali; it'll never be the last. We'll even sell Bali to our friends. To mark our 15th wedding anniversary; we want to celebrate not in a nearby country (Malaysia) but further out of Singapore. After months of sourcing in the internet; we decided to give Bali a try. Maybe; we are hesistated of Bali because of the bombing event that took place several years ago. Putting our fears aside; we decided on 3 nights stay at the beach resort and 2 nights stay at the padi field resort. Our choice of hotels is based solely on the reviews we read in Trip Advisor. To each its own; nothing is perfect. It boils down to how we accept and manage what is offered before us. We arrived in Bali on 20 July 2008 and were welcomed and greeted by the chauffeur from Conrad. He pushed our luggage trolley and led us to the hotel's MPV. Before he moved off; we were offered cold freshly scented face towel and bottled water. Throughout the drive; the driver introduced himself and gave us a briefing on bali and Conrad. Within 20 minutes; we arrived at the resort and we were once again; welcomed by the friendly concierge staff and porter. We were led to the lounge for our welcome drink and we do not have to bother of our luggage and check-in as the reservation staff came to us with whatever we need to fill in. My first impression of the resort is classy; tranquality and at ease and comfort. Next; we were escorted to our room and WOW; what a luxury. We were so blessed to reside in this room for 4 days. Everything in the room was pleasing to our eyes. Indeed; a five star rated hoteland management. Daily breakfast was appetizing and with lots of variety. The main pool was well maintained. The walk along the beach was breath-taking. The food was of reasonable hotel price and the service was efficient and friendly. Though it seems that we were the only Singaporeans there; we were treated equally with guests from Japan or the U S of A. The staff from the hotel's tour desk was helpful and if we have any queries on where we want to go shopping; sight seeing or makan; we could approach any of the concierge; porter and butler and they were most willing to go to the extra mile for us. This is what I call; class hotel. Ladies; Conrad is conveniently located near the shopping zone. Do bring an extra empty shopping luggage with you. We left Singapore with 2 luggage and we came home with 3 luggage. It's definitely worth the price to stay in Conrad.
320013,Clar82,08/01/2008,Beautiful Bali Visited the Conrad and Bali for a conference but enjoyed every minute of it. Staff service was impeccable - very friendly and helpful. (I called for laundry service and forgot to fill up the laundry form; called again when I remembered after a few hours; and they just brought up my laundry; already done!) The rooms are large and beautiful with a lot of floor space - dvd player; hair dryer; tub and shower. Internet is not free though. The structure is not vertical but rather; horizontal. with only 4 floors. So some rooms can be quite a long walk from the lobby or the central building (where the restaurants and breakfast are)Be sure to visit Jimbaran for a nice dinner ON the beach; entertained by some music and balinese dancing; and hear the waves crashing while you dine. or; if you're early watch the sun set. beautiful. Ubud is also a great place for tourists. You might want to check that out.Bali is quite charming and has so much culture. Weather was quite cool during the evenings because of winter wind from Australia.
320013,NedoScreen,07/26/2008,My objective reviews about Conrad We have just returned from Bali and stayed 7 nights in Conrad. My experinces are:- Very clean and no bad smell- Large room and especially large bathroom- Smiling and hospital employees- Free internet at Lobby :)- very large pool and open for 24 hoursWhat is missing or not good:- No beach at all but I think this is a general problem in nusa Dua- Breakfast are poor especialy for non-Asians like meWe booked the hotel at $180 for two adult and one kid thru asian Web Direct and everything worked just good. Price/performance is excellent for my expectations.
320013,PeacefulSunKid,07/25/2008,This place is fantastic pool at the Conrad Bali
320013,Blumma,07/14/2008,Best hotel in Bali We had excellent 6 night stay in Conrad on June2008. I work in the travel industry and I have stayed in several 4-5 star hotels in Bali and I can say hands down this one is the best. Nusa Dua beach is not maybe the best for swimming but if you have such amazing lagoon pools as Conrad does it doesnt matter. Conrad is only 3-4 years old so everything is in very good condition. Service is 5 star. Jiwa Spa is great as well. If you are looking for exclusive holiday in a 5 star resort with reasonable price this is your choice.
320013,gccc116,07/12/2008,Very nice stay! Lobby/ocean view
320013,AAMiles,07/01/2008,Excellent; modern hotel with little to see within walking distance This is a great; modern hotel. The service is friendly and fast. The rooms are impeccable. The grounds are immaculate. The restaurants are good and affordable. The atmosphere is peaceful but not lonely. And the pool amenities (palapas; cushioned chaises) are fantastic.The drawbacks are the beach is not terribly inviting; with a small roped off area for swimming because of the jetskis and motor boats buzzing by constantly. The hotel is located up from the main area of Nusa Dua; and there is not much within easy walking distance of the hotel; especially lower cost food options. There are ample cheap taxis to take you around; and certain restaurants will arrange shuttles/transportation.If you want to stay in Nusa; this is a great option; as long as you don't need to lie directly on the beach; or want to walk all over. You also might consider Jimbaran Bay; or if it's a party scene you want; try Kuta or Seminyak.
320013,kimmiechong3151,06/25/2008,gorgeous resort; relaxing trip View from room of Conrad Bali pools
320013,supahero,06/24/2008,Whoah! Worth every penny! Stayed 10 nights in Conrad in sept 2007. Loved every second. Been to some other hotels in Bali and they just do not get even close to what Conrad is. Recommend to everyone.. Just amazing hotel
320013,Mark8888,06/17/2008,Very enjoyable but Well designed complex; great pool and lovely rooms. Staff helpful and friendly although concierge clueless (use a guidebook as more accurate). Only real negative is little in the area to walk to - Seminyak/Legian offers a lot more if you fancy a wander. Overall a lovely holiday (spent 8 days there) but you could be anywhere.
320013,rendezvous01,06/16/2008,Great attention to details Stayed here for our honeymoon. Got upgraded to the pool access room. It has the best bed and pillows of all the hotels we stayed with (intercon; elysian; hard rock). Very very comfy with the luxurious 1000 thread count cover. And also the best room; great attention to detail; although the TV is getting outdated. The spa is also very nice.The beach is very average; nothing compared to the beach of jimbaran. The surrounding area is very quiet; with nothing much going on. Try Bumbu Desa down the road; it serve authentic balinese food. Another must try is the new Tratorria at Jimbaran. They serve amazing italian food; with great atmosphere at a budget price!
320013,NeumannTaiwan,06/07/2008,Hated the filthy beach This resort hotel is above anything ( even the very recommendable Grand Hyatt resort ) in terms of service; abundance and friendliness of the staff; very generous room layout and size; the pools; the restaurants; the SPA facilities.It is; however; horrible when you come for ocean swimming. the beach is filthy; unkempt ; and the area warded off for swimming is very small; and it can only be used one or two hours at high tide; as the water is receding quickly afterwards and to an extent that is nearly out of sight. At high tide; there is a lot of noise and bad smell disturbance because the center for water sports ( water motor scooters; Paragliding etc. is near; and these speedboats pass through the swimming area.I am a member of SKAL International; so I got special attention to my complaints; and the French deputy General Manager; a Monsieur Leferbe said politely; but firmly: We know about this deficiency very well and have not done anything about it when this resort was built; but we took care of good hotel pools; so we expect that guests are satisfied with them and just take the beach as it is !To me; this was not a sufficient answer. The practical impossiblity to enjoy an ocean beach should not be tolerated and this excuse is unacceptable.Dieter Neumannmember of SKAL INTERNATIONALTourism Organization;Taipei; Taiwan
320013,juliarblank,05/04/2008,Excellent hotel; best $200 spent on a hotel Beach
320013,castaway2006,05/02/2008,Qulaity hotel Don't listen to the naysayers; this hotel is top quality. I'm not sure what prevents it from being a 5* to be honest; as I have stayed in hotels that claim to be 4* and come nowhere near this hotel.It might be expensive for Bali; but I had the nicest stay here and consider it one of the best hotels I have stayed in. We had a lagoon room; where you can step straight off your balcony in to the humongous pool. These are definitely worth the extra 拢5-10 per night.The grounds were immaculate; very well designed with nice natural materials... slate; granite; limestone; waterfalls etc. The lighting around the complex at night was lovely. The food was delicious; but the drinks were a little expensive - not a major criticism but 拢2 for a glass of coke is a little dear in Asia.The beach is not the best on the island; but it is fine - yellow sand.The staff are delightful; extremely polite and helpful at all times. We noticed the difference when we stayed in Thailand the following week. The standards at this hotel are high.The rooms are very nice; with a huge glass wall dividing the bathroom from the bedroom (with a blind to conceal). Lovely big bath; separate shower and big sink area.Whenever we had a problem the staff were more than happy to help. Finding out whether we needed visas before entering Cambodia; finding us a nice restaurant to eat at in another town; getting cabs to and from wherever we wanted to. Excellent. Not sure why it has received bad or negative reviews from others; it simply could not have improved on anything for me. Unless it was free!
320013,travelersKW,04/29/2008,Great Hotel We just completed a six (6) day stay at this great hotel. There is nothing but great service; staff; facilities and food here. The beach is not great. As a matter of fact during low tide we saw many sea urchins that were enough to keep us out of the water. But the hotel has terrific pools that more than make up for the not so great beach. The cabanas on the beach are wonderful and relaxing. I can only highly recommend this property in every respect. There is a spa on site that is priced as you would expect in any resort. But if you are a little adventurous there are places directly across the street that offer 60 minutes massages and reflexology for 60;000 rupias.. (about $6.00 US).
320013,rossmanNewYork,04/22/2008,unimpressed My wife booked this hotel. We were very Let down; by the overall stay. As a previous quest had written; there wasn't anything really special about our stay here. For the price; (almost twice as much at the Hyatt; Sanur); it was a total let down. The local service staff were great; but the westerners that worked here seemed rude in their manners. Every inquiry/request that we had; would always be sent to the local staff member. It was as if they couldn't be bothered dealing with the masses. I totally wasn't impressed with this hotel. My wife liked the local shopping areas.
320013,elaineDevon,04/20/2008,Truly outstanding The best hotel ever!Attentive and happy staff. Incredibly clean and lots of special little touches - particularly liked the woven boxes which were brought to your sunbeds with cold towels; water; glasses (real) and water; refreshing spray.Excellent
320013,LiQAmerican,04/20/2008,Wasn't impressed This had been my 9th time vacationing in Bali with my wife in the past 3 years. It was our first time staying at the Conrad however. Overall; there really wasn't much difference at the Conrad; than the other 4/5 star hotels in the Nusa Dua area. Also; when I complained to a western staff manager; (Not Balinese); about the strong smell of mildew in our room; her response was This Is Bali. Nothing was changed. I've stayed at the Intercontinental; Grand Hyatt and the Nikkos on several previous trips; without the attitude from their western management staff. Yes; the beach is nice;; pool;; restaurants;; all very nice at the hotel. But nothing really impressive. The room we were in was sub-standard. The buffet breakfast was lacking. It was just a common hotel in Bali; With Attitude. Won't be back at the Conrad.
320013,stonecroft,04/05/2008,5 Star Beach Resort View from lobby
320013,traveltim,03/30/2008,Fantastic hotel and facilities By the beach
320013,LoveToTravel7,03/18/2008,Great Resort I've been to bali many times before i stayed at conrad. Both of my stays in Conrad are with my extensive family members. This resort is very friendly to family with young children. It has magnificent huge pool; nice 'bale bale' means gazebo overlooking to the ocean. They have some programs to occupy the kids. The room are reasonably clean and spacious. I love the stuff monkey as a souvenir given for free. The breakfast has extensive choice. The spa has nice room and ambience; however the massage itself just average. The downside of the hotel; the private beach is not as nice as some other hotels. Its more rocky and lots of algae lying around. It is dangerous for the kids to run around unsupervised.The staffs are attentive and polite.
320013,Ben2008,03/08/2008,Enjoy this place with my family beach
320013,chp37,03/08/2008,Super Comfortable with great service We felt very comfortable at the Conrad. The pool complex is fantastic. The room and bathroom was very large with a nice balcony. We had access to the club room and it had a great breakfast selection and nice snack and cocktail time; with delicious tropical cocktails. I don't know about the high season; but we had little trouble getting the comfy beach bales to relax on under a thatched roof; since the sun is unrelenting. Every local you meet is smiling from someone you pass on the street to the hotel workers. You will need some swim shoes for the beach; since it has a lot of shells; which are hard on feet and a quick drop off. This is the kind of place that makes it very hard to leave; since you relax as soon as you walk in the door. They had a sand bottom pools; but they were very shallow; so better for little kids and not as cool as the regular part of the pool. We saw a Balinese wedding at their Bali water garden; which was interesting and a regular wedding at their wedding chapel. The concierge staff was very helpful. Everyone was very kind and helpful and would often greet me by name.
320013,Chirgs,02/27/2008,Great Hotel We stayed 3 nights at the Conrad and thoughly enjoyed our stay. The deluxe rooms were spacious; clean and had everything you required. The grounds are extensive; there are 2 main pools; a large 33metre pool and an impressive lagoon pool! There are numerous restaurants and a poolside bar; with yummy cocktails!This resort is quite large (over 300 rooms); so at peak time might get a bit crowded; but was nice and quiet in Feb. The resort is approx 30 mins from Kuta if you are after shopping and nightlife. Overall a great resort for your stay in Bali!
320013,gert0802,02/23/2008,Conrad was Beautiful! Another pool
320013,PerFNorway,02/21/2008,Return guest Stayed there a year ago; going back. Great experience
320013,TheTraveller65,02/01/2008,Nice for Nusa Dua My wife and I stayed 5 days. Great hotel amazing view; beautiful grounds and fantasic pools. Staff is relaxed and friendly. Not as attentive as other hotels in Bali. The one thing my wife and I disliked about this hotel is the food beverage prices are outrageously expensive and over priced compared to other 5 star hotels and the top restaurants on the island! Prices were comparably to comparably to London or NY. We travelled 30 minutes every night to Jimbaran or Semiyak to eat! The taxi and our dinner was still much cheaper than eating in the hotel. However the Spice Restaurant in the hotel was truely great. We had a lovely girl serving us and the food was great but very expensive. The hotel also charges you for the interent in the business centre which I think for a 5 star hotel is unbelieveable. What makes it worse is that you must purchase a pre-paid card for the internet but the internet is so slowwwwwwww that you waste half of your paid time waiting for the computer. Slow connection. Beaware during high tide the jet skiis and the speed boats pulling tourist in all kinds of rubber things go back and forth in front of the hotel making noise. They only stop during low tide. Beach is gold sand!
320013,Meheen,01/25/2008,Very good hotel I stayed in the Conrad for 5 nights over New Years 2007/8 and had a very good experience. Good points include - a lovely lobby overlooking the pool and beach; good sized; well decorated and clean rooms with loads of storage space; great service; excellent spa; wonderful huge pool area; generally great setting. Bad points included - small and average beach side; food average (poolside and room service); 10 minute walk to room; far from all the nice restaurants and bars.
320013,oz1,01/13/2008,Great but smelly toilets in rooms! We stayed at the Conrad and could not fault it OTHER than the toilets smelled of urine! We had an adjoining room as we have kids and both the toilets were very smelly. The cleaners came to clean it several times but to no avail. Some friends joined us on our trip and they had exactly the same problem. What we concurred was that it was the design of their toilets with lots of crevices and areas for urine to get trapped and make the toilet smell as the cleaners were definitely trying to clean them well. My husband and I dreaded going to the toilet as it smelled like a public toilet! If the management wants to change anything; this should be it. I am pretty sure they are aware of the design fault in their toilets as they sent cleaners up to us to clean the toilets without question; as though they knew exactly what we were talking about but there was nothing that seemed to change it!It seemed so in contrast to every other aspect of the hotel which was; without a doubt; 5 star.
320013,ElizabethDurban,01/05/2008,A most divine experience... Our initial hotel in Bali was such a shocker that my husband decided to give us a Christmas treat by booking us into the Conrad; Bali for four days (unfortunately; they were fully booked thereafter). Check-in was magnificent and stress-free and was done while seated in the lounge sipping drinks. The room was beautiful with a gorgeous balconey and bathroom area. The pool; the food and the spa were to-die-for. Everything was luxurious and it was with immense regret that we eventually checked out. Oh; and one last thing; the staff were wonderful and did everything to ensure that a truly wonderful time was had by all. We have become true Conrad converts and have just booked our next holiday at another Conrad destination.
320013,CRonSanFrancisco,12/26/2007,Spectacular resort; great service; fantastic deal The Conrad is a truly wonderful resort and every facet of it is impecably well done; from the service (there seem to be at least 3 staff members per guest; and many of them remember your name); to the rooms (down comforters; gorgeous dark wood furniture; marble floors); to the grounds (elegant; beautifully landscaped; incredibly warm/romantic lighting); to all the wonderful classes and amenities they offer on the property. It's incredibly peaceful there; and their Spice restaurant served us the best meal we had during our whole two week trip in Bali. If you like massage; get a $5 massage (administered by 2-3 people) by the beach vendors under a gazebo; and then try out the Conrad's ultra posh spa and get the flower petal bath soak after your massage - both the beach massage by locals and the spa experience are great to experience. The staff are so genuinely friendly and kind - spend some time talking with them during dinner/drinks or while taking a class and you'll see how infectious their happiness is. I got an insane price on our room through Bali Hot Deals; otherwise known as RD Tours - they can also do all your transport while you're there. Very friendly; really smart; and they speak great English. I can't recommend them highly enough.
320013,gtahir,12/23/2007,It's alright for its price and location I've stayed at the Conrad for 4 times now. The service is in line with other resorts in Bali. Cleanliness; comfort are also in line with other resorts in Bali. The one thing that makes me keep coming back to this hotel is the very good bargain; the age of the hotel and the location of the hotel. Located in the Benoa; where there are plenty of water sports activities you can do; and it is in close proximity with Nusa Dua; Kuta and Seminyak. I really did not like the breakfast. The menu was limited and the quality wasn't that amazing.
320013,barve,12/12/2007,Great resort experience I had the option of staying at Conrad amongst other hotels with my Cathay Holidays package and I had looked up earlier reviews on tripadvisor. com before making my choice. Conrad was rated no. 1 amongst hotels in Bali and I wasn't disappointed one single bit. The resort is located in Tanjung Benoa; just a little ahead of Nusa Dua in Bali and it takes around 25-30 mins to get there from the airport in Denpasar. The staff are really really nice - very friendly; courteous and always smiling. Our room; which was located on Level 1 and had a view of the garden; was quite spacious; as was the bathroom with a big tub and a separate shower area. The room opened out into the garden - but the only issue was that it couldn't be locked from the outside. So to get to the pool; we had to use the main door. Not too much of a bother; but it would have been nice to step into the garden and into the pool!The pool is where Conrad really scores above other resorts for me. The main pool is HUGE - so you can actually indulge in real swimming. Plus they have a lagoon that runs around the front of the hotel - so you can actually swim around the resort. Another great feature of the resort is the beach bales which are designated for massages - but you can even lie down and read a book or something if they are not occupied. Around the pool; the resort gives complimentary water and a very relaxing water spray; which in the Bali heat is much needed! I've never seen this at any other resort I've stayed at.The resort has beach access; and the beach although nice; is not very big. But good to lounge around on and indulge in water sports. Apart from the breakfast; I didn't really eat any meals at the resort. The breakfast was great - wide choice of both western and asian breakfasts and the setting at the Suku restaurant is also wonderful. I did try out the Jiwa spa; which is highly rated apparently. The spa area is beautiful - very well done up and very peaceful. I thought the prices for the massage were a bit high; so I went in for a body scrub and bath. The scrub was a balinese speciality called mandi lulur and was very relaxing. The bath; supposedly a chocolate milk bath; was a bit of a disappointment. Although the resort is a little far from attractions like Ubud (1 hour drive) or Kuta (20 mins drive); its quite easy to get a cab. There is one fabulous restaurant located just 5 mins away called Bumbu Bali; which is often the reason a lot of people visit this area of Bali. All in all; I was very satisfied with my stay here and will definitely recommend it highly.
320013,Laminkins,11/26/2007,Excellent value for money Earlier this year; before heading to the Aman near the Moyo Islands; my husband and I stayed at the Conrad in Bali for a couple of days as a stopover.To my pleasant surprise; the place was great. There was a minor problem during check-in; when they lost our reservations for the spa - but that was quickly remedied. We booked a Garden View room because we were there only for a couple of days and it was super cheap. Around USD 100 ish a night; which is freakishly cheap considering the other hotels are on average 300 per night.As a result; I had very low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. The room was spacious; and although it only had a view of the swimming pool; it was pleasant enough. Food was very good at the hotel; especially the breakfast that we had. I highly recommend this hotel purely because its a complete bargain. For the food; room and service; you cant do much better in Bali.
320013,Localtaste,11/25/2007,Amazing!! My dinner at SUKU..loves it!
320013,sen813,11/22/2007,Horrendous Service We were on a four-night trip in Bali and we stayed for 2 nights at Conrad Bali. Only thing that we can say from our stay is that the service from Conrad is way below par to any 5 star resort or hotel in Bali. We have booked the hotel 3 months before our arrival and the hotel has asked for our flight details 1 month in advance in the pretense that they want to ensure that our rooms will be ready when we arrived. We arrived at 2.00 p.m (our check-in time) however we only managed to get into all our rooms at 5.00 p.m. When we requested for a late check-out due to the late check-in time; hotel staffs were not helpful; and didn't even bother to response or follow-up. Only when we have raised the issue to the resident manager; then they try accommodate that request albeit reluctantly. We ordered noodles from the children's menu for the kids and waited for more than one and half hour before it is delivered. And that is after constant calling to room service to check on the status; the reply that we got every time we called room service was that the food is on the way. (We wondered where do they actually get the food from that it requires more than an hour to be delivered). When the food finally arrived; to our horror; the noodle soup is mixed with chili. When we complained that they have put chili into a kid's food; the reply that we got was that there was none. But upon tasting the food; it was definitely too spicy for the kids. We asked the staff to actually taste the food before they finally acknowledged that the noodle contained chili. So we have to order again. BTW; the hotel didn't even took the initiative to refund the noodle soup. Upon checking out; we were shocked to find that there were extra charges (Service Tips was the description) on our bill. The staffs said that we have eaten in the Suku coffee shop and that we have requested the tips to be billed to our room. (Make one wonders; how could it be possible that we paid the food in cash and the tips to be billed to the room). Anyway; we asked the hotel to produce the signed receipt; since they insisted that there was such a bill consisting of tips only. After searching for half an hour; they couldn't find it and reluctantly removed it from our bills. The impressions that we got from our stay in Conrad was that to pay the kind of money for the horrendous service that comes with it was definitely not worth it. The services that the hotel provides still has got a long way to catch up with the great; nice and clean rooms that the hotel provides.
320013,TravelGal415,11/04/2007,Perfect Vacation My husband and I recently returned from spending a relaxing week at the Conrad. The hotel location was so-so (somewhat removed from the restaurants/nightlife/hot spots in Bali). However; my husband and I liked being away from the hustle-and-bustle of Jimbaran Bay and Kuta. The resort has everything you could want- a luxurious spa (that is very cheap by American standards); 4 restaurants that serve a variety of food (we liked 8 degrees best); an enormous pool with very comfortable pool chairs and excellent pool service; large well-appointed rooms and very friendly/accomodating staff.The only disappointing thing about the hotel was the club lounge. It was on the bottom floor with no views and was not very welcoming. Also; if you are looking to be in the mix of the beach scene and nightlife; I wouldn't recommend staying at the Conrad as it is about 20-30 minutes away from the busy towns.The candid travelers photos posted on this site perfectly depict the resort.
320013,lindsay56,11/03/2007,Fantastic stay I brought a tradesman friend to this hotel as a bonus for a exceptional job he did for me on a project.We had booked garden view rooms and as we stayed 11 nites we were upgraded to ocean view rooms.The rooms were great although I had a nonsmoking room and on a couple of 2.30 am mornings I was awoken to a very strong cigarette smell in my room probably from the room below.Occasionally one would hear the balcony furniture above you being dragged across the floor.The breakfast buffet at the main Restaurant is exceptional; omlettes;a roast meat every morning; the asian rice porridge with condiments;plenty of pastries;capachinos;mochachinos and as many as you want.The swimming pools are 24 hour there is plenty of shade;plenty of towels cold water ;face towels;Giant chess;table tennis by the pool and at nite there is a flautist and some modern Balinese dancing which you can watch whilst floating around in the pool. The beach front restaurant called 8 degrees south is great for lunch and dinner;very good seafood and pizzas not as cheap as the street but to a much higher standard.I have a American friend that has lived in Bali for 17 years and speaks fluent Bahasa;she claims that the spirits sold in the streetside bars and cafes are fake;which when you consider it every thing else is why not? Be warned about the money changers in the street outside the conrad they will give you a good rate but they will try and Rip you off .my travel companion changed $300 and when we returned to the hotel he rechecked it and it was Rp 200;000 down.He got very angry went back and told them he was going to get the police they backed down and handed it over.The hotel may have a worse rate but the old investment adage is consider not what you can make but what you can lose.The Gym is also 24 hour and has enough machines to keep you in good shape till you get home ; there is a large boxing/yoga/stretching room attached.The hotel has two yoga sessions at 7am and 8.30am that they charge about Rp50;000 for and are conducted out in the garden.I had a massage at the Spa for rp 800;000 [80 mins] that was very good;she was actually kneeling on the table digging her elbows in.However about 1.5 kilometres down the road [towards Benoa Harbour] is a very good quality spa called the Thallaso spa which is attached to the Grand Mirage Hotel and they have a very large aquamedic pool with very high powered water jets that they put you thru under supervision;and they do good massages;seaweed wraps;salt scrubs;facials etc and it is cheaper.I go to bali a lot and I go to the Thalasso spa a lot.If you are a big consumer of soft drinks and or local beer you can ask the staff to empty your minibar and walk down the road to the minimart and buy all the drinks you want and take them back and fill up your fridge;however the fridge does seem to struggle to keep things really cold.As you have probably picked up from other reviewers there is a lot of jet ski ;power boat traffic on the beach side of the hotel and the petrol fumes can be noticeable on a bad day but the good points of this hotel far outweigh any little agravating points I have mentioned.There are a lot of Japanese tourists at this hotel about 60% but they are very easy to be around.There is a ATM machine at the Westin Hotel which you can walk to via the beach front footpath 1.5km or a taxi can take you there for about rp30;000.[Cheaper back].You will notice in your desk draw a jogging map that tells you the distances and names of the main hotels in the Nusa/Benoa area.My Favourite restaurant in Kuta is called poppies It is in Poppies Lane1 and you need to be dropped off in Legian street not at the beach front.Ask the conceirge for a map it is a high walled garden restaurant and I recommend the butterfish or the Mahi Mahi.Be careful travelling Nusa Dua to kuta /Legian between 3 and 5 pm it can take 1.5 hours in peak hour .Well overall I highly recommend the Conrad and I have stayed at four seasons;Jimbaran/Sayan;Interconti;Sheraton Laguna ;Grand Mirage; Grand Hyatt;Padma; Nusa Dua beach Hotel and quiet a few cheaper places but I am sure most will be pleased with the Conrad
320013,atraveller93,10/29/2007,Wonderful hotel My boyfriend and I booked the Conrad; after seeing other reviews on TripAdvisor; as a last-minute getaway for my birthday. We were; admittedly; slightly irritated by check-in procedures (the member of staff tried to sell us a suite at double the price of the room we had booked; followed by a sales pitch for their club facilities; before finally admitting that our room wasn't ready; even though we had arrived after their advertised check in time); but that was quickly forgotten.Our room was great - not a very nice view; but we had no intention of sitting in the room looking out the window; so it didn't matter. The bed was exceptionally comfortable; and the pillows were fantastic - so good that I wanted to buy some of them. There was also a decent sized balcony; which was nicely shaded. The hotel gym is very well equipped - plenty of machines; and the trainers are willing to help you but don't get in your way. They do; however; bring you lovely; scented; cold towels regularly throughout your workout! Bliss.The main pool is lovely - a perfect temperature; and of an even depth; which suited me perfectly as I don't like to be out of my depth in water. Again; you get a cold towel at the poolside in the morning; along with a complimetary water spray. There are plenty of activities every day; such as yoga; aqua aerobics; stretching classes and so on; but these are conducted away from the main pool; so you're not disturbed if you don't want to participate.The staff are terrific - the doormen are particularly nice; and are genuinely welcoming. The hotel also gave us a really nice surprise by delivering a birthday cake and rose to our room on the day of my birthday; which was a lovely touch; and a good indication of the attention to detail that is shown throughout the hotel.The food in the hotel was nice; and not expensive by UK hotel prices; but as someone else has pointed out; there are far cheaper (and probably more authentic) places further along the road. We did notice a comment by another guest saying that the road was not very good to walk along; but there is also a jogging track along the beach which you can use; and then cut through one of the side roads (or sneak through another resort!) - we did do this a couple of times at night; which may not have been wise; but there's certainly no problem doing this during the day.I'd definitely consider staying here again if we ever returned to Bali
320013,lenomade,10/17/2007,Everything's perfect but the beach Photo of Bathroom at Conrad - there is a separate shower to the left also
320013,PuraVida32,10/13/2007,A-M-A-Z-I-N-G My wife and I stayed at the Conrad for nine days while enjoying our honeymoon. The staff was so attentive; and as many other reviewers have noted; the grounds were amazing. Our oceanview room was very spacious; and exceptionally clean. The pool was set at an ideal temperature; and the umbrellas and beach chairs; which were always available; made for an extremely relaxing experience. The security provided made us feel very safe; and the hotel staff was very knowledgeable about places to visit. The food was outstanding; and reasonably priced compared to western standards. However; you can find great food throughout Bali for MUCH lower prices. Our favorite area to dine in was Seminyak; many good restaurants there; as well as good shopping; and massages. If you want a great tour guide; who speaks English very well; ask for Taxi # 109; Buda Dana; to be contacted.The only gripe that we had during our stay was that our oceanview room was not represented accurately. We didn't really have a view of the ocean; and should have been upgraded to an oceanfront room; free of extra charge; after inquiring about the misrepresentation. With that said; the Conrad was amazing; which provided for a very memorable honeymoon!
320013,blimm,10/11/2007,More than a 5 star! Friendly Balinese smiles !!!
320013,Jane89,10/08/2007,Out of this world! Infinity pool
320013,EternalTraveller,10/05/2007,Loved the Conrad! I may be biased because we were upgraded to a suite when we arrived; but I really fell in love with this hotel. The suite was enormous and had a spectacular view of the ocean; and a private plunge pool on one of the 3 terraces. The hotel grounds were beautiful and the staff were friendly and talkative; without being intrusive. There were so many small touches that made this place special - the cool spray they provide at the sun loungers; the fact that the pool is open 24 hours; which meant we could go for a late night dip after dinner under the stars. There was a turtle conservation programme; and the hotel staff left notes in every room inviting guests to see the baby turtles off before they were released back to sea.The ocean is right in front of the grounds; and so you can fall asleep to the sound of the waves. There is a public pathway that runs up and down the beach; which enables you to stroll along from one end to the other; and also to see the other hotels in the area. I thought this gave the area a really nice atmosphere; much better than staying in a secluded gated resort. (At the same time I found the security at the hotel and in Bali to be very impressive compared to other places we've been - or even to London!)The crowd was a mix of romantic couples and some families; but very subdued. I won't necessarily recommend it for young singletons who are looking for a party; or anyone looking for more of a bohemian vibe. But in terms of a mainstream hotels; this is probably the best I have ever stayed in anywhere in the world.My only - very minor - complaints were that I found the bed a bit too soft; and the grounds are quite big; so if you have to get to the other end of the hotel it is a long walk; also the watersports were loud in the mornings - very small issues considering how beautiful the Conrad is.
320013,AberdeenMS,09/24/2007,Excellent resort Stayed for ten days and could not fault hotel - stunning location with excellent facilities and very high quality rooms. Level of service was exceptional; staff in their droves ready; willing and v polite at all times. Amazing spa. Only slight downside was cost of food and drink relative to local alternatives (although not exorbitant by any means for such a standard of hotel) and ocean view room not worth paying extra for as no ocean view (we were moved to an ocean front room; which was much better). Overall; an excellent stay
320013,HaggersSyd,09/20/2007,Could this be the biggest hotel in the world... No denying that this resort is amazing both in size and service. Our first day there; we got lost trying to find our room as the Conrad is vast! Whilst you don't get a intimate service/feel found in smaller hotels; you really can't fault this place (well apart from their carbon footprint) but it is super clean; relaxing and has amazing service. The pools are great (just not very deep); the food is on the expensive side but to be honest you just don't really care; when you stay here. The Conrad intends to make a mark and believe me it does all that!
320013,bumbu,09/08/2007,Leader of its range We usually dont write these reviews; but since our holidays have been ever more reliant on tripadvisor we have felt the need to contribute! The Conrad is a superb hotel - facilities are excellent; rooms are spacious and the staff is great. The food is particularly good - even for western standards ( perhaps a bit pricey for Bali)Please note that this hotel is NOT in Nusa Dua - but in Benoa. The difference is very little ( 1km) but this hotel is not within the protected gated area of Nusa Dua resorts ( this may be a positive or negative thing depending on your tastes)I will not say that this hotel is the ultimate experience for Bali offers some resorts such as the Bulgari; 4 Seasons; Ritz Carlton etc which are in a different league. However; for this price range and the location; the Conrad is abosultely outstanding in every way. The attention to detail is second to none and I would highly reccomend it for this price range. Also I am a bit of a food nut; so you must try these restaurants if you enjoy eating:Ku De Ta La LucciolaBumbu BaliHave a great trip
320013,JMPARDAL,08/25/2007,Excellent Hotel and the best service Stayed 5 days at Conrad Bali because a company event. People at the hotel are extremely kind and friendly; always with a smile in their faces. Rooms are big; very nice decorated and plenty of local details. Hotel area is big; gardens are in perfect condition; pools are connected and go through different areas so you can even swim from one hotel side to the other. Food is excellent; specially buffet breakfast offering both local and occidental options. SPA deserves a special comment; it is advertised as one of the best in Bali but I can not imagine something better can exist. The relaxing atmosphere inside the spa cautivates you from the moment you just get into the Spa's front desk. I just got massages which were out of this world but there are also many other treatments that I will try next time I have the fortune to come back. The only hotel problem is the beach which is not good for swiming. In fact only people taking rides in bananas; parachutes; etc. were on the beach.
320013,expattraveler06,08/21/2007,Highly recommend this hotel! This hotel exceeded our expectations and after staying in hotels in Thailand and Malaysia this is the one we would visit a second time without thought! From the moment we arrived we did not have one complaint! We were greeted at the airport with fresh towles and cold bottles of water then on to the hotel for a fresh complimentary drink. The staff was attentive and extremely friendly! The day before we arrived in Bali I realized that I never arranged an airport pick up. When calling I had trouble getting our phone system to work so I decided to send an email. The manager received the email and replied after he quickly had our transportation all worked out. He then sought us out one evening just to introduce himself and make sure we were satisfied. The room and bathroom was quite spacious and clean with a great view. Beach area was clean and had great beds to relax in with complimentary water. If you are not an ocean fan one of the pools has a sandy beach area as well. Wireless Internet in the lobby is free to all guests. The location is great as it is very close to an area with western resturants and stores (Bali Collection....has a great italian resturant and a starbucks) and the hotel offers a free shuttle (a short ride) to this area throughout the day. We will definitely be back!
320013,lupomm,08/18/2007,Deserves every one of its 5 stars. We stayed two weeks at the Conrad Bali this summer and although our expectations were high (as other reviewers have stated; it is not cheap by Bali standards); we came away 100 per cent satisfied. The hotel is beautifully designed in contemporary Asian style with lots of interior gardens. Our room; a deluxe oceanview; was spacious (not huge) and very tastefully decorated. The balcony was large. The pool area is large and absolutely beautiful.You can spend days there just reading and relaxing. The beach in front of the hotel is not worth mentioning; however. If a beautiful beach and swimming in the sea is important to you; this is not your hotel. There is a decent fitness room with modern equipment and great service (cold wet scented towels brought to you during your exercise; etc.). The hotel also has a very nice spa; with its own pool; steam room; jacuzzi; etc. Treatments there obviously cost extra and - again - prices are rather steep by local standards. Food is excellent. There are a three restaurants (one; Spice; with ambitious and refined fusion cuisine); all which are excellent. The breakfast is absolutely five star. What really impressed us the most though was the consistent high standard of service. The staff were always attentive; helpful; and respectful. In the entire two weeks we stayed there there was not a single time when we were unhappy with the quality of service or any other aspect of the quality of the hotel. That is rare and denotes real Five Star standard. A couple of words on Nusa Dua itself. There isn't much going on there and you will want to go elsewhere frequently for dinner; entertainment; etc. This was never a problem for us. Taxi rides are cheap and pleasant. In all; if you are willing to pay for quality; I'd recommend this hotel without hesitation.
320013,JakeRM1,08/05/2007,The Conrad is one of the best hotels... period! My wife and I just completed a five night stay at the Bali Conrad Resort. From the minute you check in; the hotel provides a wonderful experience.I have so many great things to say about the hotel so I will get the two cons out of the way (and I really had to scrape to come up with them)1. The sound dampening in the room isn't that great. You can hear the room above you put the toilet seat down or get in the shower.2. The rooms were equipped with analog clocks that present two problems. One; if you wake up when it's dark you can not see what time it is. Two; the tick tock from these little things got so annoying I eventually took the battery out.So now the pros:1. The grounds are beautiful and immaculate. I woke up early one morning and when I looked out the window I saw the staff literally sweeping the grass.2. The rooms are large and comfortable. The bed is great and the bathroom with the huge bathtub was wonderful. When we checked in there was a basket full of roses and orchids on our bed for us to take a bath in.3. The pool and beach are great. When you lie out; the staff bring you in a little basket cold towels; a water spritzer and two bottle of cold water. The pool is the perfect temperature for a dip after a day of sun bathing. 4. All of the hotel resteraunts are very good. Although they are overpriced for Bali standards (30;000 RP for a soda which is over $3) they are less than what you would expect at a similar resteraunt in the states.5. By far the best pro this hotel has to offer is the staff. They were the most attentive and friendly staff I have ever met at any hotel anywhere in the world! They always have a huge smile on their faces and will bend over backward to make your trip everything you expected.If you are planning on staying in Nusa Dua; this is the hotel to stay at. If you're ever unsure what you are getting; take a walk down the beach and look at the other properties. It will make you feel a lot better about your selection.One note on the area. Nusa Dua is not near much as far as cultural Bali goes. If you really want to get out and explore the real Bali; you're better off staying in Ubud. If you do make Nusa Dua your home base; make sure you get dinner one night at Bumbu Bali.Also; I would strongly suggest joining the hotels club. As a HHonors Diamon member; we were given free access to it. However; even if you have to pay for it (USD 25 a day maybe?) it is well worth it. You get free breakfast every morning; afternoon tea and early evening drinks/canapes. You also get 15% off all of the resteraunts as well as the business center and laundry. As soemone who has travelled primarily in the USA; I was skeptical the club would be any more than cookies and soda. However it is far more than that and well worth it!
320013,online2k,08/03/2007,Very Romantic One of the beautiful beach hotels in the world....... I strongly recommend lagoon access room # 1114 :)The staff was very professional...Thanks Conrad for this property.
320013,LaBaleine,07/24/2007,Conrad was perfect! There is no way I could say enough positive things about the Conrad Bali! It is not pretending to be a 5 star property as so many do. It is truly the most relaxing; comfortable; friendly resort we have ever experienced. We highly recommend it.
320013,DePrenda,07/22/2007,My 3 Year Old Loved the Gradual Entry Pool! My son loved the gradual entry sandy beach pool. It was quite nice and I have since learned is quite rare in Bali hotels. The pool with sandy bottom and sandy beach was so perfect for my 3 year old; that I would have to go to back to this hotel when I return to Bali. They had these wonderful garden level rooms which open up to a grassy green lawn that takes you under palm trees to the pool nearby. The pool is understanement; it went on and on forever. It was one huge interconnected pool. They had these great beach BALEs right next to the pool kind of between the pool and ocean beach. I could sit there and take in the breeze off the ocean while not feeling hot at all in the shade. The hotel of course had impeccable service as do most Bali hotels. We upgraded to a super spa suite on the top floor with a mini plunge pool on the balconey! Actually there were three balconeys and it had two huge rooms. Quite extravagant; but cheap cheap cheap by international standards. I think they charged me the price of two rooms and Bali hotels are a great bargain. Great location for the hotel nearby the Gallery Collections mall where there was even surprisingly a Starbucks! Anyway; my only gripe was the retaurants at the hotel. They weren't bad; just not that great for the money. B reakfast was fine though; and I reccomend to take the Club Room offer at checkin. It alone pays for the breakfast. By the way; my son slept comfortably on the sofa nook and my 5 month old slept in the huge walkin closet in a crib provided by the hotel. So I really didn't need to upgrade to the suite for the last two nights.
320013,sfdrkeith,07/14/2007,Best Hotel in the World My wife and I went to the Conrad for the first week of our honeymoon in Bali. When you come in; they sit you down with a drink; overlooking the ocean; while you check in. It's sooo relaxing and beautiful. We pretty much spent the whole week on the little thatched room beds by the beach; reading; sipping tropical drinks; and eating fresh fruit brought around by hotel staff. There are great restaurants in the hotel and although there's no much else to do in the area; you can take a cab over to the other side of the penninsula for all the attractions. I just had a friend and his partner come back from their honeymoon there and they said it is still amazingly good. Enjoy.
320013,stephanmonica,07/13/2007,Good room; below avergare service Stayed there for a friends wedding. The room is spacious; clean; and very nice. Even though i didnt get to plunge in to the pool; it looks very inviting. The hotel is very large; so watch where you're going or you might loose yourself. However; service is very slow.. we have to wait for 30 minutes to check ourselves out from the room.
320013,ManxQueenies,07/07/2007,Excellent Conrad - watch the extras! Delightful gardens
320013,pollydoodle,07/01/2007,fantastic We stayed in a garden room for 6 nights in June. Big room; quiet; large comfortable bed and a lovely fully tiled big bathroom. 5 star.We joined the conrad club as an extra while there which cost $30 US plus taxes. For this you got breakfast; all day juices/smoothies and coffe/tea and biscuits and between 3.30-5.30 afternoon tea which consisted of sandwiches cakes etc and from 3.30-5.30 was cocktail hr with any drinks you liked not just cocktails and lots of canapes. Well worth the money and no children allowed. Good children program for 3-12 yr olds away from the main pool and nannies available for younger children which you employ on a daily basis. Well worth doing.Resturants in hotel good but expensive. Can recommend the tasting plate in Spice and the pizzas in eight degrees south. Very nice staff. Great service. We will return.
320013,TonyKIreland,06/18/2007,Beautifull!!!! Front
320013,Bankhead,06/16/2007,Fantastic at The Conrad Just returned from another excellent holiday in Bali. This time we chose to book a 2 centre between Nusa Dua and Sanur as we had been in Sanur before.The Conrad was truly a 5 star hotel and excellent in every way imaginable. The staff were friendly and helpful. The room we had was a Club room as being a Hilton Honors member; and these rooms were great and could be purchased by non-members at a small premium. The upgrade is worthwhile as it will give you access to the Club Lounge for free cooked breakfast; soft drinks; coffee etc all day; afternoon pastries and then cocktails for 2 hours from 17.30hrs to 19.30hrs and the cocktails are fabulous and served with canapes etc.Free internet access is available in the lounge. The hotel grounds are fantastic and all based on a water them with water falls; lagoon pools etc. Pools are great and plenty of free sunbeds; water and cooling spray provided poolside along with towels and free of charge. Hotel is pricy for food and drink; for example a beer can be bought outside in a bar/restaurant for 15000 rupiah incl tax and 45000 in the hotel plus tax. There is approx 17000 to the UK pound.Food and drink in the hotel are similar to hotel prices in the UK. Nothing much to do outside the hotel other than a few bars. For real shopping and nightlife you need to go into Kuta which is about 20 mins by taxi and costs about 拢3-拢4 as taxis are very reasonable. Most of the resorts and hotels are very quiet and the locals put this down to the previous troubles; but as always the people are so friendly and need the tourists on the island. In short an excellent hotel and a bit pricy but you get what you pay for; as the other hotel we stayed at in Sanur was the Inna Grand Bali Beach and although good and much cheaper it does not compare to the Conrad; although the Grand Bali is supposedly a 5 star but more likely to be a 3 star. Don't let this detract you from the Grand Bali because it is excellent value or $65 incl taxes for a tower room and they are very nice with a balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean. This price includes breakfast and the website is www.innagrandbalibeach.comStopped off in Singapore for shopping as the huge sale season in Singapore is May-July and well worth it. Singapore Airlines are excellent and the best long haul carrier I have used after many years of travelling. Cabin crew attentive and genuine; with a smile on their faces for the full 13 hour flight from London to Singapore and then again for the 2 hour flight to Bali. Singapore Airlines are excellent. I booked the holiday independently and only cost 拢510 for the flight; 拢32 per night at the Grand Bali for 2 people; and 拢65 a night for 2 people at the Conrad.Oh one last bit was a rip off in Singapore when I bought a mobile phone and was supplied an out of date model. Went back to the shop 30 mins later and they wouldn't change the phone unless I gave them another $125. It was intimidating as the shop suddenly filled up with 'managers'. I had no choice other than to pay up or be left with a rubbish phone. Got home and the phone was found to be second hand and had a picture taken of the owner on it; plus accessories missing. If in Singapore avoid Singapore Connect Trading; 304 Orchard Road and 220 Orchard Road as they are not the nicest people to deal with if you have a problem. Stick to the reputable stores which is what I should have done.
320013,worldcitygirl,05/25/2007,Loved the Conrad Nusa Dua! I highly recommend the Conrad Hotel Nusa Dua. I am a married female executive who travels to Asia frequently for business and I decided to do a short detour to Bali after I concluded my business in Singapore. This was my second trip to Bali and I decided to stay at the Conrad after reading the reviews. For first time visitors to Bali; I don't recommend Nusa Dua (my pick is Ubud to experience the lushness of the true Bali) ; which feels like a big resort community however; if you are looking to stay at a top of the line resort; this is your place. Other reviews are correct; the hotel is just gorgeous (amazing black marble and teak lobby) and the service is outstanding. The grounds are immaculate with water fountains; lush trees and flowers galore. I agree with others that it is worth it to upgrade to be a Club member to enjoy free internet (in the lobby and in the Club -- oddly I didn't have internet access in my room but I took it as a sign from God that I was meant to detox from my computer for a few days) as well as the breakfast; tea time and cocktails. The rooms are well-appointed with beautiful glassed in shower and a (separate) sunken tub. Nice towels and toiletries; which like most women I am picky about. The Jiwa Spa is wonderful. I had a both a full body and a foot massage. Not the best massage I ever received but very nice and as a Club Member you get a15% discount. The best part of Jiwa Spa? The black ininity pool with a view of the ocean! It's quiet and a welcome retreat from the many noisy children at the resort pools.All the restaurants were excellent though pricey -- $12.00 for Nasi Goreng ( a typical Indonesian dish you can get for less than $2.00 in local restaurants)? Forget it. Still if you want a treat then by all means dig in. Balinese are known for their hospitality and the Conrad is no different. The staff were beyond wonderful and I felt very well taken care of. A quick side story-- when I arrived; I did not realize that it was the eve of Balinese new year -- a time when the whole island shuts down and Balinese do not work; use electricity or even speak --the night before the Day of Silence (the day that brings the world back into balance)-- our hotel staff arranged for the guests to attend the Ogeh Ogeh festival which is an island wide festival where gigantic paper mache demons are paraded through the street by young boys chanting; followed by a procession of gamelan musicians. There were literally thousands of Balinese in the streets and our wonderful hotel staff guided us through the festival explaining its significance. It was an honor and a treat to experience one of the most important days to the Balinese. All in all I had a wonderful experience at Conrad Nusa Dua and highly recommend .
320013,TravelSouthAfrica,05/16/2007,Stunning A stunning place to stay; well apointed rooms; amazing spa; spectacular pools and a great place to relax.
320013,allaPerthWA,05/11/2007,Fantastic Resort The Conrad Bali is a lovely resort spread over large beautifully manicured gardens and surrounded by a meandering lagoon pool and one large central pool.Our expectations from brochures were surpassed when saw this resort. It is even better than any photos can show.We were upgraded to an ocean view room which overlooked the lagoon pool and the room itself was large; modern and subtlely decor'ed. Marble look floor tiles; marble look bathroom with separate toilet and shower. The service at all times was excellent and the numerous staff at all facilities and restaurants were very friendly and responsive.The location at Tanjung Benoa/Nusa Dua is quiet and relaxing and we did not find the water sports; namely jet skis as referred to in a previous review; too noisy. Bottles of water were supplied free of charge as often as you wanted or needed them.Breakfast was included and provided a fabulous selection.The road outside was not the greatest to walk along and eating out was limited; however there are many restaurants at the Bali Collection shopping centre ten minutes away by vehicle and most if not all the restaurants provide a free pick-up and drop off to your hotel. We ate there most nights and the food was terrific.We have travelled to many countries and five star resorts and this would rate as one of the best.If you're looking for indulgence away from the hustle with friendly and efficient service and beautiful surroundings this is the place.I am a regular user of trip advisor and find it excellent in assessing the many hotel and resort destinations.
320013,RemyDeTokyo,04/30/2007,Absolutely Fantastic! Abolutely Fantastic;We stayed at the Conrad for about a week after a trip around asia; and this was the best hotel we stayed at;Not only the staff is incredibely helpful and smilling but the hotel by itself is really; really confortable given the rather bargain price.We stayed at the Lagoon suite; which is fantastic with the cool direct pool access from bed! (with always hot water!);The room service was impeccable (sheets and room cleaned 2 to 3 times a day!);The only inconvenient (if any) would be the airconditionning; knowing we stayed nearly in the pool; just opening the doors on tthe pool made the entire room really wet (windows and mirrors unusable);But still; restaurants and bars really are nice and food is really okay and rather cheap for a European standard (but rather expensive for a balinese standard)!We definitively recommend it and would love to go back one day!
320013,kelicali,04/29/2007,Loved the Conrad! I have seen sone complaining about some little details of the Conred Hilton and I decided to add some of my own feelings. The hotel is fabulous! The attention to detail is wonderful. We were staying at the Villa Lumbung and quickly decided to look for a better place to stay. We ended up spending alot of time on the hotel property; because it was so wonderful! Try a graden lagoon room! There is nothing like a 2am swim in complete privacy. We loved our stay there and would return any time. The price was good; The food was good ; and the service was warm and helpful.
320013,brauni,04/25/2007,Wonderful place to relax In the pool area with sand
320013,Fuzzychops,04/14/2007,Executive Lounge icing on the cake! In the freeform pool - its huge...
320013,SunnySolen,04/13/2007,Very ordinary bale
320013,NosyWombat,04/12/2007,Bali without any hassle... I was in Bali a few weeks back for a quick weekend away. It was my first trip to Bali; so I wanted to stay somewhere nice. I chose the Conrad hotel. It was super nice! It has a massive lagoon style pool; as well as a regular rectangular pool. Unlike some hotels; the pool was open 24 hours a day. Just the thing for an evening dip!The hotel is in Nusa Dua; which is the nice bit of Bali. It's away from Kuta; which is the busiest part of the island and where most of the bars are. Nusa Dua is very chilled and far from the maddening crowd.Being completely lazy; I ordered room service a few times when I was there. It was yum. Very tasty. My room had a balcony; so it was fun sitting out there for the meal.The hotel is right on the beach; so if you get bored of the pool; you can go swimming in the sea. Not that you'd want to though. The beach is well maintained and clean; but the sea was a bit on the murky side. I found it best to sit in a chair on the nice beach; then go into the pool for a swim. One part of the pool has a sand floor; which is a nice touch.The whole resort is built in a traditional Balinese style. It's very well done and the resort feels very relaxed. There are hawkers wandering the beach offering you water sports etc.; but they're not persistent; so you didn't feel hassled.Overall; it was a great place to stay. The staff were really helpful and the surroundings were great.
320013,VancouverVoyager,04/11/2007,Friendly; clean; rejuvenating An excellent multi-star resort! Plenty of wading pools for the sun soakers! Be wary of the vendors offering jet ski and boating services. The sercurity at the hotel is good; but many appear to mediate between the beach vendors and the hotel guests.Join the Conrad Club for great value - includes breakfast; afternoon tea and cocktail hour(s); plus discounts at the restaurants; shops and; most important; Jiwa Spa.Worth a return visit; friendly to kids with activity for everyone who visits Bali
320013,SFTraveler10,03/25/2007,Great beach location The Conrad Bali was great. We had an ocean-front room on the club wing and it was ideal. In the club the breakfasts are cooked-to-order and evening cocktails are served by the club room staff (other than the self-service wines). The property is meticulously maintained. Within about 10 minutes of an afternoon windstorm the staff was out on the grounds picking up all the palm fronds and other debris that was blown around. Occupancy seemed low which added to the charm; you felt like you had the whole resort to yourself! I would definitely recommend this hotel if you are looking for a prime beach location with very friendly staff.
320013,Junkster,03/01/2007,Fantastic! Without a doubt one of the best places we've stayed. The service was excellent; food great and we enjoyed our relaxing stay there. The staff were very efficient - it seemed each time we left the room and returned our room was made up again yet we never saw or heard any cleaning staff around!Make sure you get breakfast included...very appetising and catered to everyone. We never ate lunch as we were to full from brekkie.We found the lovely infinity pool in the day spa a great secret hideaway. No kids there; very private and only a few people there at a time. Great views over the chapel and ocean.All the staff were very friendly and extremely helpful; nothing was too much trouble.Some great little restaurants down the road form the hotel if you want a change from the hotel food (much cheaper too). Highly recommend Bambu Bali.
320013,Downroad,02/08/2007,Paradise on earth Best break by far!Stayed six nights at the Conrad in an ocean front room. True there are jet skis and water sports in the beach and the beach has coarse sand. But that means you are right there at the water sports centre. The beach is beautiful but the pool is spectacular. Don;t forget to have a look at night.Airport transfer is USD$16 so you'll find a taxi or a driver (I have a number of a good one) much better value.First room had construction going on so they promptly moved us to a quieter section.Requested 8 bottles of complimentary water and that kept the two of us hydrated. Nearby restaurants are good; We found the Kecak better than the Bumbu. Both will pick you up from the hotel and the new owner of the kecak personally drove us back to the conrad as his driver was out picking someone else up.Check it out at [--]. The Rigatoni at SUKU at the conrad was to die for and a tip; room service is only 10000 IDR more than dining at the SUKU per dish and they provide free water.It's the little things that make it a great stay; the staff are attentive and friendly. The Azure will send you complimentary water; cold towels and a facial mist when you are hanging around on the beach day beds.There's a free bus to the Bali collection and to the galleria; A supermarket at the Bali collection is where you can stock up on supplies.Could not be faulted and we'll be looking forward to going backPhotos soon!
320013,heewee,01/05/2007,Superb Conrad We could not fault this lovely resort. Everything was perfect. Service was excellent in all areas and the concierge service helpful and efficient. The interiors were simple yet stunning; an interior designers dream.The room was spacious and very clean; loads of storage space and a lovely bathroom and balcony. The two pools were lovely and the pool service excellent. Thoroughly recommend this wonderful resort. If we re visit Bali we wouldnot consider any other hotel
320013,triplov,12/21/2006,Nice Resort; but not prefect Just came back from Conrad Bali 17 until 20 DEC 2006. Basically; consider new resort in Bali (about 2 1/2 years old). I got not much to complaint about this hotel; but breakfast in this hotel must DEFINETELY TO IMPROVE. I got the package with breakfast (at SUKU). Due to the SUKU restaurant in open air condition. So; you may find that flies are flying everywhere. In term of hygien; I will give them Terrible 0 mark. Besides; the staff in SUKU are friendly enough; but they don't really meet your expectation. I requested for two orange juices; came only after few times reminder. Besides; breakfast defietely not 5* quality. They must learn from other porperty like Ritz etc. I really got a lot of complaint about breakfast. I called room services for dinner twice. NASI GORENG is tasty; but expensive. Cost about Rupiah95;000++. But in famuos Bali restaurant BUMBU BALI; just about half price. And one restaurant opposite the Conrad hotel just charge Rupiah 27000. Overall; for 5 stars hotel. In room dinning price is acceptable and tasty enough.I got the Deluxe Oceanfront Room; I think the price was worth for it and you got nice view from the room itself. (BUT TOO CLOSE THE BEACH; IF YOU NOT CLOSE YOUR WINDOW; YOU MAY ANNOY BY THE JET SKI FROM THE ROOM). Oh yeah; bottle water is free of charges. I got more than 10 bottles of water everyday. They only give 4 bottle during room service; but you could call and request more (But their bottle is very small; only 380ml) Day before I depatured; I walk accross the jodging path. I compare Conrad their neighbour hotel; base on distance- Tropic; Melia Benao; Club Med(500M); Nusa Dua 1.5km; Westin 1.7km; Laguna Nusa Dua 1.9km. I think Conrad is the best. Laguna Nusa Dua also very nice (I may try it on next stay). But the room in Laguna Nusa Dua is smaller; just about 36m2. Conrad about 45m2.Anyhow; I will still consider to stay this hotel in the future. I advice that you could call Airport Hotel Transport before arrive. Price is reasonable USD16.00 per way. And for daily rental; USD12.00 per hour. I rent one car 4 hours charged me USD48. I went to UBUD.If you want to know more; you could email to me leongaik@hotmail.com
320013,Purdy28Paul,12/13/2006,Oh my God - it was amazing June 05 stayed in this AMAZING hotel!We were in a delux seaview room - which was simply phenomenal. Huge bed; a little Balinese Monkey on the pillow to say hello and for you to take home! The bathroom separate HUGE deep bath and walk in shower.The hotel was dark wood full of local art and water everywhere.The spa was amazing and as guests we were given discount on the already competitively priced treatments!There was a huge main pool which seemed to engulf the grounds of the hotel and also a spa pool which was always so quite and really a top secret place to chill from the other guests! It was also an infinity pool!The main restaurant was simply devine - overlooking the sea and pool areas - and it had a lovely breeze wafting in to cool us down! The prices were expensive though!The hotel resort is on the beach so you can lie and chill out by the sea.We also had use of the executive lounge which will cater to all drinks and food desires - the afternoon cocktails and cakes were devine!I havent mentioned the staff - like all Balinese people - attentive; unassuming beautiful helpful folk!If you have the choice you really cant go wrong with this hotel!
320013,PietB,12/12/2006,the best hotel we 've ever had We travelled a lot already; my wife and I. I sure can tell you this is far the best hotel we ever had. Not only the hotel is very beautiful; it is extremely clean; it has a wonderful service; rooms are beautiful; what can I say more. I'm not going to write the story of my life here; I can only recommend this hotel. The 3 restaurants are defintely to be recommended. They serve quality!Nice breakfast.We have looked at other hotels in the neighbourhood; for sure I can tell you; no other hotel could be compared with the Conrad.The beach was nice as well; true to say that because of seaweed and low water at regular times; I have to make a negative recommendation.This is the only negative point in my whole story. But the pool compensates for that.I forgot one other thing; the Duvel (Belgian beer) served is not representable for the real Duvel. Try it in Belgium; please.Don't hesitate to book this hotel.We were in this hotel for 15 days; not enough unfortunately.
320013,cupcakedelite,11/06/2006,Paradise found ... bedroom
320013,HeavenIsZambia,10/27/2006,This Hotel Stinks! Do you enjoy listening to jet skis all day? Do you like it when you order two martinis and recive two tumblers of some cold; unidentifiable liquid? Do you like the hotel beach to be packed with team building exercises while you try to relax and read? Do you like small; overpriced rooms? How about a full-length window in the bathroom? If so; the Conrad is for you!Otherwise - try ANY other hotel in Bali and you will get more for your money. We had reservations for five nights and left after one. There are simply too many better hotels (even in Nusa Dua) to recommend this place.
320013,happiestcamper,10/26/2006,Beautiful hotel We just returned from a long weekend at the Conrad Bali and it is one of the most beautiful hotels we have ever stayed in. From the moment we walked through the lobby we were impressed with the helpful and professional employees. Check in is painless and efficient and is done away from the desk where you can sit down and enjoy a welcome drink while you go through the paperwork. The rooms are large and spotless. We had a garden view room; which for many hotels means overlooking some shameful piece of scrub land. However; for the Conrad; it literally means overlooking beautiful and well manicured grass and gardens. The beds are comfortable but the pillows are enormous - beware of broken neck syndrome in the morning. However; a thoughtful touch for this problem is that room service has a pillow menu to match everyone's needs. You can just call up and order one that you prefer!The pools are huge and you never feel swamped by other swimmers. And for the little swimmers; one of the pools has two large sandy beach areas at either end (both in and out of the water) which is perfect for sitting on or learning to swim without slipping on the bottom of the pool.Breakfast was included in the price of our room. It was average and seemed to lack creativity. It probably wasn't something we would have purchased if it wasn't already included. On the upside; staff were very helpful and happy to meet needs as requested. For us it was providing things for the baby -bowls; spoons; juice; yoghurt; and high chairs; or just simple entertainment for him. Food in general at the Conrad was pretty consistent and tasty. There were a few moments of language barriers and confusion around ordering but it mostly worked out all right in the end. Unfortunately a few times food arrived cold. But again; the employees are fantastic and have obviously been well trained. Drinks are expensive; although drinking water is provided for free on the beach and in the room. If you have a particular fancy for soft drinks; buy your own across the main street.There is a fabulous walkway along the beach that takes you down the strip for miles past several other popular Nusa Dua Hotels. And what stands out is that the Conrad is one of the few hotels that appears spacious; uncrowded and well-presented. Hotels further down the beach (Westin; Laguna for example) are very crowded and on top of each other. There was a feeling of claustrophobia just walking past them.There were a few downsides to the trip. Unfortunately some very misbehaved children were in our wing and running up and down the hallway screaming late at night - almost until midnight - for most of the evenings. Although not the fault of the hotel; surely a 5 star resort could have policies or procedures that respond to this type of problem. Additionally; although the food was tasty; it was a bit repetitive and not as varied as it could have been.There is a wind that blows up in the evening over the beach. Bring something warm to wear and you will be fine!All in all; a fabulous well-presented hotel. We will definitely return.
320013,MrNigel,09/27/2006,unbelievable This is our 3rd time to Bali; but the first at the Conrad.We went for our daughters wedding; which took place in the Hotel grounds; followed by the reception.It was absolutely perfect.I cannt fault anything; except the food prices in the Hotel.The total holiday package was marvellous.
320013,abayoumy,09/23/2006,Wonderful Stay This was our second time to Bali but the first stay at the Conrad. The hotel and its grounds were beautiful. The staff were pleasant;accomodating and friendly. The room was spacious; bright; clean and tastefully decorated.There are 3 restaurants within the hotel but we only ate at one...Soku. The breakfast buffet was excellent. It was the best out of all the hotels we stayed at in Bali. The other restaurants menus looked very good but the prices seemed a little on the high side for Bali. They were more in line with U.S. prices. Bali has many very good restaurants outside of the hotels. The pools were large but with no deep end. The one down side of the hotel; in my opinion; was the location. If you wanted to leave the hotel and go to the street to walk to restaurants or to the few shops that were there; there were no sidewalks so you had to walk in the street. The streets are one lane in each direction;there are lotsof motor bikes and cars and given the way they drive in Bali it is not that safe.Overall our stay was excellent. We would highly recommend the hotel and would definetely stay there again.
320013,AlainAntwerp,09/15/2006,A wonderful stay at Conrad Bali We stayed for 9 nights at the Conrad Bali as parts of our 3 week holiday in Bali. We noticed the Conrad during our last visit to Bali and were so impressed with the hotel that we decided to book it. From check-in to check-out we had the best time ever; we really felt home. Rooms were nicely appointed; modern and very functional; nice balcony with nice views; checked in the room at 11am; which is exceptional. Pools are huge; location is beachfront; staff is extremely friendly; restaurants Suku and Spice are excellent; breakfast is fabulous; lobby and bar are amazing with wonderful views over pool and sea. Every night there is a DJ coming to the hotel to play some modern asian style music; just wonderful! Maybe the hotel should lower its prices for drinks; 4 USD for a fruit juice is too much. We had a terrific stay and we will be back!
320013,MrsVintage,08/23/2006,Great hotel I love the pool so much; which I can stay there for whole day. It has a private beach as well; and I remember when I was enjoying in the pool; one of the staffs came and gave us some fruits like water melon. These really good!Hotel is clean and view is good; will go there again next time.
320013,susanad,08/18/2006,Customer Service needs reviewing On arival after a long flight I have to say that as I walked in to reception area looking out t bar and lound - I thought wow - it looks great I was only here for 2 days and was looking forward to de stressing and relaxation.I had booked a Club room (via expedia)and asked for it to be in a quiet area as I am alight sleeper.I had arrived at 6.30pm and was looking forward to getting straight to my room to shower and go for dinner.Unfortunately they took over an hour to find my booking and that was only after they asked me to check my email from there concierge desk andtwice I was asked by guests to help them and had to expalin I was hoping to be a guest and did not actually work there!After they had found the booking I was then told it would be abother 45 minutes whislt a supervisor checked over my room; I did comment you are joking arent you...............anyway there were not - I eventaully got to my room about 8pm to be told that the cockatail hour in the club lounge finshes at 7.30pm - very convenient!The room itself was good until next morning I realised that there was a fountain outside my room -not what I would call a quiet area.Room service was slow and they called me three times to tell me each bottle of wine I had ordered was not in stock!I went to the club lounge the next day for breakfast and could not here myself think for the noise of the Australian guests they obviuuosly thought it quite ok to shout and scream at each other and also to stand over my table and do similar.In the evening I went for the cocktail hour quite late about 15mins before then end of it ; took a small table outside to get away from the noisy guests an was quitely relaxing with a drink and my book when I was asked if I would mind sharing my table with another couple who wanted to sit at my table so they could smoke; I was not happy about it but they seated them there anyway!I have to say the hotel is lovely; cant say the same for other guests at the time or the service.
320013,pamandgary,07/17/2006,Impressive but too many downsides to make us go back! This hotel is impressive. It stands out as modern; stylish and contemporary with exceptional service standards. The rooms are modern; comfortable; spacious and well laid out. The buffet breakfast is a feast. The staff are extremely helpful and there appears to be 100's of them! On the down side there are strong winds that blow across the complex which make the beachfront quite unpleasant at times and these winds certainly negatively impact on beachfront fine dining. The staff told us that these winds were normal for this part of the island. Although some of the resorts on this side of Nusa Dua had watersports facilities such as hobiecats and windsurfing equipment; only those with experience would have been able to have used them. The Conrad certainly does not have its own watersports factilities but seem to have lots of jetskiers going by from the local watersports hut run seperately. This is quite noisy! The atmoshpere created in the hotel is very much catered to the Japanese tourist. Even the music in the bar we felt had a Japanese flavour to it. This made us feel far and away from the lovely Balinese experiences we had in Ubud and North Bali. Although it is a stunning place with great service we would not go back.
320013,JumpitPerth,07/03/2006,Conrad Bliss An excellent property with great facilities and well above average rooms. We stayed the week leading up to Easter and were treated like royalty with access to Club facilities - Club lounge provides refreshments throughout the day; papers; internet access; and a nightly happy hour where a wide range of drinks are available at no extra charge. Note that children under 12 are not allowed in lounge and we travelled with our 3yo daughter so had to go take turns when we wanted to use the Club. Rooms are very large and amongst the best appointed in Bali with huge bathrooms although the DVD player provided doesn't play the DVDs available from local markets so you need to take your own or hire one locally. Our package included breakfast at the main restaurant - buffet style with a large range and good quality. Other restaurants including 8 degrees (on the beachfront) and Spice (upmarket) are both well presented and worth trying. Only thing i would say is that the children's menu is basically the same wherever you go; not very flexible with a strong western bias and a little disappointing. There are some good nearby restaurants - on the main access road and at nearby hotels; that provide better value for money if the Conrad prices worry you and you're happy to venture out. Overall fantastic resort; fantastic pools; fantastic staff; and while expensive by Bali standards still very affordable by Australian standards. Make sure you get up early one moring and get yourself (you can't reserve) a beach bale overlooking the bay and Nusa Penida for the day. Go now while it's still quiet!
320013,jol67,06/22/2006,what a fantastic hotel We have just returned from 10 nights at the Bali and really can't say enough good things about it. The rooms are enormous (and I guess we had the standard room); very very clean and no signs of wear and tear. The hotel was only 50% occupied whilst we were there but even if it were full it would never seem crowded. The swimmimng pools are enomous; there are plenty of sunbeds and the pool staff are fabulous. The beach is very quiet and you really don't get pestered much just say no once and you don't seem to get bothered. The grounds and around the hotel are fabulous and kept beautifully clean. The small boutique shops are lovely obviously more expensive than outside but definatly not ovr priced. The gym is fantastic; the staff provide you with cold flannels infused with peppermint oil if you begin to get a bit overheated!!! The staff are very courteous and polite and very willling to help with anything.The only thing I would say is that the food in the hotel is quite expensive but you only have to wander down the road to the right and all of the little local resatuarnts serve very acceptable food and are very grateful for your custom!One of the best hotels I have ever stayed in.
320013,karlarnold,06/11/2006,Exceptional Resort View from lobby
320013,JDean2008,06/05/2006,Fantastic hotel We wife I just spent 2 weeks at the Conrad for a brilliant honeymoon.This is the best 5 star hotel I have ever stayed in Bar None ! From the time we arrived in the Cathredal like reception area; where one can sip delicious cocktails while overlooking the main pool/beach and listening to chilled out sounds of live Balian music; to the ginormous sized room we were given; we loved every minute. Yes; the pillows are the size of trucks as are the beds themselves and the bath.We loved the thatched small pavilion like 'Bales' by the beach; where you could just stretch out all day ; ocassionally nipping out for a quick dip in the meandering pool. We almost always ate at the beach side 'Degrees South' restaurant; a decent breeze in the evening keeping you from roasting. Food throughout the hotel was excellent though not cheap !We hardly ever ventured onto Conrads own beach although it is immaculately kept in contrast to others nearby.There are very few negatives about this glorious place; except to reiterate that the staffcan be over-attentive (I almost got 'told off' once for pouring my own wine!) ; but this may be due to the fact that the hotel was only 1/3 full (we are told due to the terrorist bombings).My only other (small) complaint woiuld be the amount of watersports going on in the bay; preventing the setting from being completely perfect.Otherwise I would advise anyone considering this place to go; to go now before the Aussies start coming back and it fills up again.Also; much preferred the Kecal Bali to the Bumbu Bali for eats.
320013,ATripAdvisorMember,04/19/2006,Really Wonderful! Many highpoints:-Stunning landscaped pool (enormous)-Outstanding rooms; with pillows the size of trucks!-Gym and spa truly exemplary-concierge particularly helpful-reasonably priced; exquisite boutique shops-wide choice of bars/restaurants (breakfast buffet is a must. Also; dinner at SPICE)However; the best restaurant of all is just down the road from the hotel...BUMBU BALI - don't miss it!!Low Point:-Staff sometimes overly attentive (put your fork down and the plate's taken away by one of the many staff hovering close by; that sort of thing).
320013,Rotgif,03/04/2006,Hotel Conrad; Nusa Dua; Bali - Great! This remarkable and new hotel saved our holiday to Bali. After leaving the disgusting Ramada Hotel just further down the Tanjung; we checked into the Conrad. Our poolside room was awesome; the service outstanding and the stay most pleasant. The 8 degrees South Restaurant gave us a wonderful birthday experience with the most divine chocolate cake ever baked! Breakfasts were sumptuous and filling. Only complaint was the (very expensive) restaurant near the spa; which was truly disappointing and the food inedible lumps of fat (at least my shank was!)The evening swims; literally around the hotel; were wonderful and refreshing and the access to the beach was free and easy. There is a safe and pleasant walkway on the beachfront which stretches for miles in each direction; winding past the Club Med and Hilton resorts (and many others).A great place to stay with many fond memories!
320013,ATripAdvisorMember,01/30/2006,did not meet our expectations Hotels on Bali are subject to particularly fast wear and tear. This may be due to the tropical climate; the intensive rain and; of course; also the construction methods.Therefore; if you rather avoid worn hotels; when in Bali; you should be careful to choose a relatively new hotel or one which has; at least; been fully refurbished (incl. the rooms) in recent years.This and the close proximity to the golf course in Nusa Dua formed the basis for our decision to book the Conrad Hotel which opened two years ago and has a long beach strip in the Northern part of Nusa Dua. It is well known that the Conrad Group resembles the 鈥濴uxury Department鈥?of the Hilton Hotels and therefore it is only natural to have high expectations. From the pictures on the internet it can be concluded that the resort is designed in a trendy; modern-Asiatic style. The 313 rooms and 15 suites were not brilliantly but; nevertheless; sufficiently described and; after some correspondence with the Room Division Manager; our decision was clear. We chose a Spa Deluxe Suite. It is probably called 鈥濻pa鈥?because it is situated in the same wing as the spa and 鈥濪eluxe鈥? it can be presumed; stands for size; furnishings and facilities. In contrast to the Spa Lagoon Suites; which are situated on the ground floor but; therefore; have direct access to the pool; the Spa Deluxe Suite is situated on the 4th floor on the corner of the building and has quite a large balcony and a (at least theoretically) wonderful additional sun-bathing patio.At first glance; the suite looks quite nice. As already mentioned; the furnishings are modern-Asiatic (even though Western-modern is predominant and decorated with some Asiatic hints). Large seating area; round dining table for 8 persons; a kitchen well suited for a detached house; monster fridge; guest bathroom with shower etc.; etc. 鈥?br/>But; as so often; it鈥檚 the little things that always cause the problems. When taking a closer look; one notices that the bedroom is unproportionally small if compared to the size of the whole suite with 150 square meters. Here; the architect was too negligent or too lazy to think of a better suited solution. The bedroom is; thus; merely a standard bedroom attached to which is the living area of a suite. Similarly disappointing is the bathroom: Far too small for a suite; only 1 hand basin; no space to hang up the towels; the bathrobes are placed in such a way that they either get caught in the WC or the shower doors. The mirror lighting is installed in such a way that; if one is the second person in the bathroom and does not stand directly in front of the hand basin; there is no choice but to always look right into the light. The wardrobe is even worse: No dedicated space within the suite; merely the mini wardrobe of a bedroom with hardly any storage space. Feasible for a weekend with swimming trunk and T-shirt out of the travel trolley; but for European travellers who are staying for one week or longer it is completely unsuitable. What was going on in their heads? Why would someone want to stay in a suite? Maybe because you would like to take advantage of the space and there is enough of that. But unfortunately in such a way that it cannot be utilized.A further detail of the architectural shortcomings: There is simply no mirror in the guest bathroom.There is a large flatscreen television attached to the sitting room wall; without doubt a plus. But it is also installed in such a way that it is not possible to comfortably watch television from the seating area. Obviously; during the placing thought was only spent on looks and not on functionality.A Bose system with DVD and CD player supplements the audio-visual range. What could one conclude from the presence of a DVD player? Correct: That there is a CD library where you can rent films. No way; there is a player but no films. Statement from the Hotel management: You will have to buy them someplace else 鈥?This may benefit the sales of pirated copies on the island but not the wellbeing of the guest. Talking about the hotel management: We personally notified the hotel manager of all the minor defects discovered by us. He appeared to be aware of some of them; others (such as the missing mirror) prompted pure astonishment. The Room Division Manager; who was sent to us by him the next day; basically mentioned that they had already heard about this from other guests but they did not get a chance yet to do anything about it as the suites are booked out so often. They would; however; use our comments as an opportunity to speak to the interior designers. Nice for 2007; but not much good to us.The hotel may be well managed; this is evident from the well looked after garden areas and the general friendliness of staff (which; however; is customary in any way); but it lacks in attention to detail. Example: On arrival; there was; placed on the huge dining table; a tiny plate with 3 apples and a welcome card from the manager. In view of the prices for fruit and flowers on the island this is completely incomprehensible and not really a sign of charm. With the nightly turn-down too there are several possibilities to create something like an atmosphere: a small chocolate on the bedside locker; the CD playing local folk tunes; joss sticks; etc. (漏 largely with the Banyan Tree Hotel Chain). Subsequently the fruit was also not replaced. A further detail of the suite: The armchairs at the dining table are much too low or the table top is too high. In particular; if one considers the average size of Asians. A further detail which; again; shows that the interior designers considered looks more than functionality.Nevertheless; these are still only the minor details. The big shock was yet to come. Right next to the building in which our suite was situated; as we were told then; a new wing with another 50 suites and a Spa extension was under construction. 鈥濽nder construction鈥?sounds like construction site and this is exactly what we had right outside our patio door. What was quite tolerable during the first few days turned into a nightmare when the foundation works collapsed after a rainy day. Reading or working on the patio became impossible; we were literally imprisoned within the suite. Resting or sleeping was also impossible. The concrete mixer truck was even louder than the power boats and jetskis that departed from the hotel at breakneck speed; which; by the way; constituted an early morning wake-up guarantee.So; what did we receive in terms of compensation or apology from hotel management: Not much! We were merely offered (to be fair; on the previous day) to move into a Pool Lagoon suite two days later (but only after completion of the foundation works; as the respective guest had a late check out) which; however; we did not want because we are no great friends of groundfloor rooms (without a view; but therefore with more insects).Ouch; this is not how you treat (suite) guests 鈥?br/>The suite price included access to the hotel Club; the usual 鈥渉otel within the hotel鈥?principle. That this had not been planned right from the start became apparent relatively quickly. The groundfloor entrance; that is to say; looks rather like the goods entrance or a cellar dungeon and hardly like a club entr茅e. The Club itself is not that bad and has an outside part too. As we were told; it was supposed to become the third floor of the (on two floors above situated) spa but; for one reason or another; this did not happen.Friendly service; furnishings and fittings in a fashion; drink selection okay; selection of foods; that鈥檚 to say small afternoon snacks; also okay; breakfast; however; poor. The selection choice of same is relatively small and limited alright. Overall; therefore; average.The fitness centre is adjoining. It also doesn鈥檛 blow you away; but is sufficient; at least there are two steppers.The Bales; i.e. the small huts in the garden area on the beach; where you can relax and leave your cares behind you; are nice.Overall; the Conrad Bali is average to good average but far from a dream holiday. There are better options on the island that offer better 鈥渧alue for money鈥?Deluxe Lagoon Suite approx. 500$ ++.
320013,KLSue,01/02/2006,Large; new and wonderfully designed hotel A relatively new hotel located on the outskirts of Nusa Dua. Wonderfully designed - lots of Balinese style pavillions; water gardens; fountains; courtyards etc but with a modern touch. Rooms are large and modern (with a some Balinese touches) with airy bathrooms with huge baths. Massive swimming lagoons with plenty of sunbeds and areas to get some privacy ie not long lines of beds crammed in together. Gym is huge with lots of new equipment and yoga studio. Food is excellent (alghough perhaps a little too creative for children!) and service can't be beaten. If you want to be in Nusa Dua area then this hotel is highly recomended as many of its neighbour hotels such as Sheraton; Grand Hyatt look very tired and old in comparison. The only slight negative is that; although the beach in front of the hotel is well maintained and clean; the areas either side of it and a little tatty and uncared for.
320013,MichaelSteven,12/29/2005,A Beautiful; Luxurious Hotel with Great Staff We spent three nights at the Conrad in November; 2005 and had a wonderful time! It IS a very large resort but the staff makes you feel very special indeed. Granted; the resort was quite empty since our stay was soon after the terrorist attack in Kuta. But; we felt absolutely safe and secure at the Conrad. The central pool is enormous and the lagoon pools surrounding it are a great visual touch. Everything about this resort is top-notch. I do believe that our room was the most beautiful and modern room we have ever stayed in! The bathroom was huge with a large soaking tub and separate shower enclosed in green frosted glass walls. The artwork in the room was very well chosen and the patio was a great place to have a drink before dinner. DO see the Balinese dance show if you are there on the nights when it is performed during dinner. It was a delight!As much as I love this hotel it is highly recommended to go to Ubud or some other smaller towns to really get a taste of the real Bali. The Balinese people are the most friendly we have ever encountered anywhere. Go; go; go to Bali and experience paradise! The Conrad is a great place to start.
320013,ATripAdvisorMember,12/06/2005,Wonderful Place More photos
320013,lance92270,10/28/2005,Amazing! Beach
320013,MimmiHK,10/18/2005,Highly Recommend the Conrad Bali Hotel We stayed with our toddler at the Conrad Hotel Bali for a second time in September 2005 and were very happy with our choice of hotel. We had stayed there just over one year ago but had then been disappointed. The hotel was then newly opened and clearly had to improve its customer service and in general the staff's way of handling matters. We gave it a second chance and were indeed very pleased. The rooms were of course as large; clean and nice as during the first stay. This time the SPA had opened and it was really of top notch quality. It also offered good value. It was very busy so a piece of advice is to book treatments well in advance. It is highly recommended to book before you arrive. The pool is lovely and in our view nicer and bigger than at almost all other hotels in Bali. The service quality was consistently very high. One of our best memories will be the superb dinner we enjoyed at the Spice restaurant; which had also been rated best restaurant in Bali by various local magazines. It was terrific in all aspects; ambiance; service; food quality; selection; innovative; presentation; taste etc. Their restaurant by the ocean also served lovely and creative food. We strongly recommend the Conrad Bali to travelers who prefer large hotels to small boutique hotels and expect consistent delivery of 5-star hotel class and service. It can be added that we also felt that everything at the hotel was of very good value (better than at other similar type of hotels).
320013,queenbee19,10/03/2005,A heavenly resort for exceptional value It saddens me as I write this; as the terrorist bombings occurred this past weekend. I was in Bali the week before and stayed at the Conrad for 3 days/2 nights. The Conrad was nothing short of stunning - I truly hope that tourists still will consider visiting Bali; particularly the Conrad hotel.I reserved my room by calling the Hilton Hotels directly (Hilton owns Conrad). I used a corporate discount and got a king-sized bed; ocean view; club lounge room for $200/night. However; I checked on-line to see what the prices were going for the same room. It honestly wasn't that much more - I believe I saw the same room for $250-300. These prices are very competitive when you compare against other huge resorts in areas like Nusa Dua; Seminyak and Jimbaran Bay. You definitely get your money's worth at the Conrad; particularly the rooms that have access to the club lounge (I will go into specifics about this in a bit).The Conrad is located on Tanjung Benoa right by Nusa Dua. It is a short drive from the airport; around 20 minutes or so. As you drive towards the Conrad; you will see the big gates that lead to Nusa Dua - you don't pass through these gates to get to the Conrad; you drive to the left of them and the Conrad is a few minutes from the Nusa Dua gates.When you step out of the cab; the lobby is sleek; refreshing; airy and has huge high ceilings. The decor is very modern but clean; with hints of Balinesian flair. You can see the ocean immediately upon entering the lobby - the view is breathtaking. You are also greeted with an iced tea drink and a cooling towel. Our rooms weren't ready; so we had a quick lunch at East; the hotel lobby eatery/bar. You will find that prices here are definitely more expensive than the rest of the island. The prices are similar to what we'd find in New York - which we were expecting. Do expect to pay quite a bit more for your meals/drinks at the Conrad. Another tip - if you book a club lounge room; you get 15% off at all the restaurants on the premise.We were shown to our room; which was on the 4th floor to the backside of the hotel. Along the way; there were many splendid water fountains. The hotel definitely put a lot of time and effort into every detail when designing the place. You will notice that throughout the resort - from the manicured lawns; the beach bales; the main pool; the walkways and even down to the cigarette ashtrays by the elevators. There's also a fitness center; tennis courts; spa and business center at your disposal.We faced the ocean; but we had a direct view of the spa. It wasn't the best view; but sufficient. There are 3 buildings - 2 of the buildings surround the main pool. These are the buildings that have rooms on the first level that lead directly into the lagoon pool; which is a nice touch. The third building off to the side is where all the club lounge rooms are; which was where we were located. It was very quiet and relaxing.The room was plush; deluxe; and luxurious. You need to put your key card into a holder by the door in order to turn on all the lights; and they all turn off when you take the key out. There's a walk-in closet with ample shelf and closet space; in addition to a wall with a huge full-length mirror. There's also 2 robes and 2 pairs of slippers to use. The floors are a cool; creamy marble. Such a nice relief on your feet when you step into your room. The bed I believe might be a tadbit smaller than a true king size; but no complaints; still very big and comfortable. The hotel is still fairly new (2 years old); you can tell b/c the room still has a fresh smell to it. There's a pillow menu. There's a seating bed by the window; a large table (with drawers; coffee maker; alarm clock and free bottled water) next to each side of the bed; and an additional table (with shelves) for another lamp. There's also a desk; a huge armoire with the TV; DVD player; minibar and safety deposit box. The channels are all satellite TV channels. It's suffice to say that there's plenty of storage space.The bathroom is heavenly. The door is a sliding door with a huge full length mirror on it. The counter top is black marble with plenty of space around it for toiletries and more shelf space underneath with all the amenities you need (shampoo; conditioner; bath gel; cotton swabs; brush; toothbrush; hair dryer; shaving kit; and even free bottled water to use for rinsing while brushing your teeth; and much more). The bathtub is a nice; clean white ceramic tub; with bath salts if needed. There's a separate area for the toilet with its own glass door. There's also a separate shower with its own glass door as well. The fun part about the shower is that there's also a full length window; which you can keep the blinds open to be able to see outside as you shower. It's very unique!Now; the club lounge is an enclosed lounge available for use to those that stay in the club lounge rooms (no children - must be 12+ years old). It's absolutely divine. Breakfast is included every morning at the lounge; where you can order all sorts of eggs; fresh fruit; pastries; meat and cheese; cereal; porridge; even sushi. There's also daily afternoon tea; which you can get snacks; desserts; pastries; with all sorts of drinks. Lastly; there's also daily evening cocktails with hors d'oeuvres; which changed daily - ranging from sushi; pigs in a blanket; meat; cheese; crackers; etc. There's also 2 computers with broadband connection you can use for free; newspapers; lounging areas by the TV; and you can drop in anytime for drinks and snacks. This is all included in the price of your room.The restaurants were great; I was impressed that this hotel's fare was actually delicious. We didn't have a chance to eat at Spice; supposedly the best restaurant in the resort; but we did eat at Suku; Eight Degrees South; and East. There was entertainment when we ate at Suku - dancing and a live band.Otherwise; for the days we stayed here; we didn't leave the grounds at all (we had previously been in Ubud and Seminyak). We lounged by the pool and they will give you free fresh fruit in the afternoon; a box with 2 waters; water spray; cooling towels. There are a few hawkers that try to push you to do watersports; but they will not bother you on the grounds of the Conrad; only when you step onto the beach. They are also very friendly and not too pushy.Overall; I was very pleased with my stay for the price I received. In the future; I don't believe that my honeymoon will even be able to top this vacation for the price that I got. I highly recommend this place; and have been recommending it to all my friends.
320013,Luxuryman,08/28/2005,Luxurious; glamorous and fabulous! More photos
320013,ATripAdvisorMember,08/12/2005,Hotel is in the beginning of a long learning process! There is only one first impression! Ours was wasted. We made room reservations for three rooms half a year in advance with special requests. One week before checking in I checked the rooms and made some extra requests such like a room for a physically challenged father. And another for twin beds in a corner room. None of the requests were honoured and it took the Conrad staff more than 2 hours to give us the room keys! They proved to be wrong and after this a very clumsy manner of giving us other rooms that also proved to be wrong pushed us to anger! We stayed for more than two weeks in the hotel and complained about several things. How could it be possible that in the very much overpriced restaurant 'Eight degrees South' mussles are served that are sick (30% closed shells). After a complaint; no reaction of the staff at all! Housekeeping spontaneously removed a blanket from the baby cod. After this they claimed that all baby blankets are taken by other guests! After complete anger; they came down to the room to bring us a baby blanket within 10 minutes!!! We talked two times to assistant managers of the hotel for nothing (that's another 1 1/2 hours of valuable vacation time). At the end (after two weeks!!!) we received a fruit basket and a letter of apologies from another assistant manager.Watch out for the taxis! The Conrad tends to call Kowinu Taxis for you instead of Bluebird. We experienced twice that the tamper-seal of the meter of a Kowinu taxi was broken and removed! The second time we refused the taxi and the first time the fare was about 50% higher than it should have been.The hotel is very nice; but also very noisy. You can hear the sliding of chairs; beds; slamming of the heavy bathroom doors in other rooms! Unbelievable for a newly built hotel like this!The apologies of the hotel are there. They say that they are learning. And hope that we will experience a better Conrad Hotel if we come back the next time. Not for us...... For this money you can get better value in Bali!Posted by Minang@dds.nl
320013,kaplancohens,07/31/2005,Excellent for Small Children The Conrad is right up there with a Four Seasons Hotel. Rooms were spotless ( I am a cleanliness freak). The service was excellent...everyone was very friendly to us and our three children (ages 5;2;1). The pools were beautiful and provided hours of entertainment for our kids -- they especially loved the pools with the sand beaches. At low tide the Ocean beach was filled with all sorts of starfish; octopuses; crabs; and shells -- bring your water shoes!The food was very good -- not excellent. Mychildren loved the breakfast buffet. There was a DVD player in the room; disney channel and Nick. Children shampoos and bath toys were also provided by the hotel. The baby Crib they provided can easily fit a two year old. The grounds had lots of paths for the kids to run on -- the only draw back was that some areas are not stroller friendly -- be prepared to carry your stroller.I would also recommend if you want to explore outside the hotel-- do your research before you get to the hotel. The concierge service was the only weak spot of the hotel. All in all this hotel was an excellent value. I would definately go there again.
320013,PracticalTraveller,07/30/2005,Want to escape to a beaut luxuriously beautiful resort? This is it. Pros: Masterfully designed modern hotel; large rooms; fantastic pool(s); very friendly staff; beach access with bales; fewer hawkers than most locations; large cushioned bales; quality food (good breakfast buffet); a few street shops and restaurants within walking distance (say; if you want to buy cheaper beverages and/or cigarettes or eat out without taking a taxi); romantic; relatively quiet; secure secluded (if you are concerned about that sort of thing); great for kids or couples of any ageCons:Not cheap (by veteran Bali traveler standards); beach not as nice as older Nusa Dua locations; far from most of Bali's nightlife and shopping; may be hard to get access to pool chair seating; cushioned bales and towels; not for party people; secure secluded [if you hate that kind of thing]My wife and I just returned from 5 days in Bali (July 24-28); dividing our time between two hotels; The Conrad (July 24-26) the Grand Hyatt (July 26-28). This was my first time there; and her second time. I'll stick to discussing the Conrad in this review; though. When we arrived at the Conrad I was struck by the beautiful; modern design of the hotel. The sound of water can be heard everywhere as fountains and waterfalls fill nearly every small courtyard. While being checked in we were given refreshing glasses of some sort of fruit cocktail (non-alcoholic) which was a pleasant gesture. Once reaching our room we were very pleased with the room's size; layout and lighting; as well as our balcony view onto one of the large magnificent garden courtyards. In the room was a king size bed (might have been a somewhat larger queen); large TV with satellite channels; as well as a DVD player (we didn't use it though). One of the nice things about the room is that you will find it difficult to forget your key. Why? In order to turn the lights on in the room you must place your room key into a panel by the door. Once you take it out the lights will eventually dim off. This also appears to serve as a nice way to save energy; especially with the known energy problems the Indonesian government has been having. Some of the rooms in our area go right out into the courtyard; but we enjoyed our corner 2nd floor room; which was very quiet.The first time we attempted to get poolside seats we were unable to; nor even a towel as they were out of them (this was around 11am). Interestingly; we saw quite a few people with more than one towel per person; and we had to wait a few hours before we could land a towel. Instead; we managed to get two seats on the beach under a bale; which was quite pleasant. (When we went to the beach the next day; a bit earlier; there were actually towels already folded on the chairs and we were given free cold water as well as cool; dampened towels by one of the staff). The beach was nice; but the sand was not that soft; nor did the water look that great. There was quite a bit of seaweed; it was a bit darker than other beaches I saw on the island; and no one really seemed to be going into the ocean. If you鈥檙e someone who loves to go into the ocean; this may be a turn off. The only vendors on the beach I saw were ones asking if you wanted to rent a jet ski; go parasailing; or ride the back of a raft pulled by a motorboat that literally takes off into the air; on occasion. We thoroughly enjoyed the pools; and also think they would be great for kids. While there is no water slide; there are some artificial beaches (with real sand) on the lagoon pools; which stretch around the beachfront perimeter of the hotel. We saw several small children playing with sand pails and shovels which I imagine their parents liked because there were fewer dangers in their mind compared to playing on an ocean beach. I鈥檒l briefly try to mention some other things of note as well. Traversing the hotel is also not too difficult since it is not overly spread out or tall. The food we ate there was actually quite nice. I had a grilled tuna sandwich and my wife the pizza at the beachfront restaurant and we both found them to be quite good (I'm comparing this to NYC restaurants). We were never able to sit on one of the cushioned bales that surround the lagoon pool on the beachfront; so like getting pool chairs and towels make sure you claim a spot early (I suspect no later than 10 am) by leaving property such as a towel and a book there (which is what it appears many others did). One thing that was nice was that there were actually a few street shops and restaurants right outside of the hotel; within walking distance (although crossing the street in Bali is certainly not for the lighthearted); so if you want to get some cigarettes (clove or tobacco) and a few large bottles of Bitang beer to your room for cheap; it's there. For those tourists concerned about security I found it; like many of the larger hotels and restaurant/lounges that we visited; to be a strong presence. Before any vehicle can get near the hotel they have to wait at a checkpoint (quite some distance from the lobby) as 2-3 men check the car inside; and underneath (with mirrors 鈥?that have lights at night).Overall; The Conrad is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to experience luxury; relaxation; and comfort at a beach resort on their vacation/holiday. Highly recommended.
320013,carr6775,07/18/2005,Best hotel I've ever stayed in! My wife and I stayed at the Conrad Bali from 1-10 July 2005. From the moment we arrived; we were hugely impressed with the standard of the hotel and the friendliness of the staff. Everything worked and was of the highest quality; from the excellent room to the best ever pool I've seen.When I lost my camera; the hotel manager arranged for the head of security to accompany me to the police station; a requirement of my travel insurance but not something I fancied taking on myself. Less than an hour later; I had a police report which should allow the claim to proceed.Contrary to other reviews on this site; we found the food at the Conrad to be really very good. OK so you can get it cheaper elsewhere and there are more authentic Balinese restaurants available (the Bumbu Bali is five minutes away by car and they collect and return you!); but for a luxury hotel in impeccable surroundings; the cost and quality of the food offering is in my experience hard to beat.I look forward to my next trip to the Conrad Bali - I'd recommend it highly to anyone!
320013,Ratio3533,06/28/2005,Paradise in Bali We just returned from our first long weekend in Bali. The Conrad made it a holiday to remember... apart from the fact that it is classy beyond belief (great colour scheme; fabulous architecture; ample swimming pools to give that resort feel; extra friendly staff); it was the small things that were really well attended to - which would make or break a holiday; ie. you have a choice of 8 different pillows when sleeping (depending on allergies etc); when at the pool; the staff bring you water bottles and cold napkins; all the amenities that you can imagine are available with one phone call and at no charge. It is just a well thought out and perfect resort - best hotel I have ever stayed in (and I have stayed at the best all over the world) so far. Granted the prices are a bit on the steep side; and the water sports leave much to be desired since the beach is really a non-beach (restaurants and water sports are a short cab ride away); it is truly deserving of all the praise it is bound to receive for the coming years. I would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to anyone who needs to truly escape. Will be back within a short while.
320013,ATripAdvisorMember,06/22/2005,Uneven showReview(3599365; 'full');
320013,DoctorX,05/24/2005,Fabulous pool; stylish rooms View from bathtub to bedroom
320013,Snowy04,04/28/2005,Not high recommended showReview(3421130; 'full');
320013,JakartaAdvisor,03/17/2005,Superb Hotel showReview(3280510; 'full');
320013,qaxl,02/04/2005,Stylish Heaven South Wing by night
320013,Pennoir,01/04/2005,Best Hotel Experience in the World! View of Beach from Hotel
320013,ATripAdvisorMember,09/24/2004,Absolutely Fabulous! showReview(2597702; 'full');
320013,ATripAdvisorMember,09/05/2004,Fabulous! Those pillows are really comfortable!
320013,AvidVisitor,07/29/2004,Superb new hotel showReview(2332822; 'full');
320013,BernardMac,07/27/2004,Exuding in Style showReview(2324355; 'full');
320013,澶ч瓟鐜澶ч瓟鐜adiv,12/28/2008,婧€瓒?#x201d; showReview(23051671; 'full');
320013,shiro112,12/24/2008,銉椼兗銉亴澶с亶銇忋仸姘楁寔銇°倛銇?#x201d; showReview(22990733; 'full');
320013,lass,11/19/2008,鏈€楂樸仹銇椼仧銆?#x201d; showReview(22855703; 'full');
320013,lass,11/13/2008,鐧掋仐搴︽簚鐐广伄銉涖儐銉仹銇?#x201d; showReview(22855524; 'full');
320013,AKI銉兂銉夈兂,10/28/2008,銈炽兂銉┿儍銉夈儧銉嗐儷銆€锛╋籍銆€銉愩儶宄躲伄鑹亜銇ㄣ亾銈?#x201d; showReview(21350031; 'full');
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320038,ABLDWL,11/21/2008,Very nice; clean hotel....I loved it! We were in town for a hospital procedure so we decided to stay here because we have always liked Hampton Inn's and it offered a free shuttle to the hospital; airport; attractions; and free breakfast. We have visited Boston six different occasions for hospital stays and have stayed at most of the hotels near the Longwood Hospital district. This was by far the BEST hotel in the Longwood Hospital district for the money. The room was very clean and spacious (we had a junior suite). The breakfast was great and saved us a bunch of money. The free cookies; hot chocolate and coffee are a nice touch to end your day. They even have a little area where you can buy soup; frozen dinners; snacks; etc. The hotel is not that close to many restaurants (there is a Dunkin Donuts; McDonalds; and a pizza place within walking distance); however; just ask the front desk for delivery menus (there are many restaurants that will deliver). We ordered some Chinese food and it was brought to our door within 15 minutes....WOW! We used the shutte serivce many times and it saved us a load of money by not having pay for a cab. Gregory and True-See are the best drivers; they will go out of their way to help you and take you were you would like to go; they were very kind. However; the other drivers are only so-so. We would highly recommend this hotel and we will stay again!Just a personal side note; if you like seafood you need to go to the Atlantic Fish Company on Boylston St; it was delcious!
320038,DaveHExPat,11/07/2008,Nice apartment suites; so-so location Bathroom
320038,stevienixfanmike,10/25/2008,Great Location For Those Going To Fenway Park Whenever I have tickets to see the Boston Red Sox play; I typically stay at this property. It is located just six blocks from the Orange Line; which makes it very convenient getting to and from Fenway Park. As usual; I was happy that the front desk agent recognized me and greeted me with a Welcome Back! She allowed me to check-in a couple hours early. I work the overnight shift and wanted to get some sleep before the Red Sox game. I am not a smoker; but had to book a smoking room as it was the only room type available. The front desk agent offered to send up an ionizer if the room had an unpleasant smokey odor. When I entered the room; I was pleased that I could not smell any smoke. I did not need the ionizer. The room attendant really cleaned the room well and made it fresh-smelling. As always; I was very pleased with the hotel and the people who work there. The location is ideal for people attending a baseball game or concert at Fenway Park. I highly recommend this property.
320038,SuitcasesPacked,10/24/2008,Like the hotel - didn't love the area The hotel was fine. Was meeting family there that had already picked that hotel. The staff were nice they have a shuttle/van that will drop you off at different places in the city. You can walk to the T (local transit) but it is about a 20 minute walk - 1/2 of which is in a bit of rough looking area - which didn't feel very safe and was the part right around the hotel.The free shuttle guy was really nice. The one thing to keep in mind about their service is if you can fit your plans into their schedule route along with if they will have room for you - it got busy Saturday night the van was full to capacity.If you are driving - figuring out how to get into the parking was a bit tricky - call get directions - don't rely on a GPS.If the hotel manager is reading this - I would suggest the hotel have a shuttle every 15 minutes to the local T stop - that would help out. And also have a shuttle to the ball games on game nights.
320038,ddmccutch,10/22/2008,Nice hotel in a bad part of town I guess when you look to spend less than $200 in Boston; you should expect to make some sacrifices in your accommodations. However; this hotel is very new; and is the anchor of a small shopping center near the Roxbury/Newmarket (Industrial) section of Boston. It is close to downtown; but it is still a 2 mile drive; as well as being close to the Longwood Medical area. Parking is in an adjacent garage; and costs $25 a night. I had a rental vehicle that someone attempted to break into my first night there (left paint damage/dents). The hotel is directly behind (south side) Boston Medical (city hospital); so expect sirens every several minutes all night/morning long. I was later advised by several people not to walk around the area at night; though I did with little trouble; you certainly would be best to walk in groups; and I wouldn't take children with you.The staff was adequately courteous; but the security guard inside the lobby was a little disarming. The rooms are typical of a new Hampton; clean and serving my basic needs. The breakfast is also typical Hampton; with a very large dining room area; so you shouldn't have to fight for a seat as you might at other Hampton properties.Ultimately; if you want to order food in; and are looking for a new hotel that is inexpensive; and sightseeing is not in your plans; this hotel may fit the bill. I would suggest a taxi vs. having a vehicle at this site.
320038,ScotlandHolidaymaker,10/19/2008,great hotel with friendly staff Great hotel - very clean with nice big comfy beds. On arrival given juice and biscuits. Complimentary breakfast included which offers excellent choice. Very nice staff.Nice restaurant within hotel Joe Maria's offering anything from sandwiches to steaks etc. The only negative point is it is a bit far out of Boston.
320038,BorisYeltsin,08/25/2008,Good value; clean; relatively new; good food; but remote location. I stayed with my wife and two teenagers for 4 nights. We had a room with 2 double beds on the ninth floor across from the pool.The hotel is relatively new; located on the south west side of the city. Somewhat remote; but the hotel does provide local and airport courtesy buses; running every 1-2 hours. This more than offset the remote location. Note that the nearest subway station(Mass. Ave.) was six blocks or a 15mins. walk away. The breakfast area was always busy; and some days we had difficulty finding a table for four. However the food was excellent; particularly the fruit cocktail bowl.The bedroom was large enough for us and clean. It faced onto the back of the hotel. Note that the front faces onto to some major roads.The pool was small but open from 7am or so until 11pm; with an adjoining fitness room.
320038,My2boys2,08/17/2008,Great for the price This was a good hotel for the money. We were in town to go to the Childrens Hospital and it was perfect for that. They have shuttles for the hospitals; airport; and 3 other locations in the main part of the city. It was clean and well kept. The shuttle drivers were really nice and had a lot of information for any questions you have about the area. The area where the hotel is was not the best but they had a security guard inside the hotel. We made the mistake of walking to the hotel from further down Massachusets Ave. I would NOT recommend that. I would have taken a cab if we knew the area. I would suggest this hotel if you are going to the hospitals but as far as staying there and touring the city I would have chose another hotel closer to downtown. As the previous reviews stated there is a helicopter landing pad next to the hotel but where our room was we did not hear that. The worst part for us was the curtains on the windows in the room do not close so for us when the sun came up we were up too. When I booked it; it said everything was 2-3 miles away and I thought that would not be a problem. It is far from everything you want to do. If you take the shuttles there is a lot of waiting and the cabs are at least $10 each way. But the hotel is a reasonable price. You have a great breakfast in the morning with sausage; fruit; french toast sticks; eggs; muffins; bagels; and cereals. My advice is just to weigh the choices. We had a good experience at this hotel and we wanted a good price and a clean hotel to sleep at night and I think we got that.
320038,oneofthree,08/04/2008,great hotel; not so great area The hotel itself is beautiful; modern; new and clean. There is a nice pool with great view on the 9th floor that looked very clean. They offer a great starter breakfast which is very convienent to travelers planning busy days. The hotel offers shuttle service to popular destinations throughout the city from 8am-11pm. The front desk was very pleasant and helpful with dinner reservations; transportation issues and anything else we needed. This is a great hotel for the money!!The down side....(there is almost always one) is the location....this hotel is near university hospital so you are likely to hear ambulances and mediflight helicopters throughout the night. I am an intensive care nurse so found it entertaining to look out the window at all hours of the night so as not to miss something but realize this may not appeal to everyone and thought it should be mentioned. The area surrounding the hotel is a little sketchy...I have been to third world countries and have been exposed to things; but was glad our walk to dinner was during daylight hours and I was with my husband. Cab fare is very reasonable and I would encourage those not familiar with the city to not waste time with the T and connecting buses but to have the desk call a cab....very easy and affordable.Over all; I would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to those looking for affordable; pleasant accomodations with the above mentioned precautions...enjoy!
320038,JakeToronto,07/17/2008,Worst location ever Does this say it all;the only place to eat is a sub place. You have to make your order through bullet proof glass.
320038,Tripping999,07/10/2008,Hotel area not great The hotel is not in a desirable area. Being across from a hospital; there were ambulance sirens frequently. Also; there were homeless people walking up to cars with cups in hand; asking for change. The only food places immediately across from the hotel were a Dunkin Donuts and Quizno's. The hotel room was clean but there was no on-site restaurant and the food available from the concession area in the lobby was very limited and they did not sell alcohol. There was a complimentary airport shuttle.
320038,HappyParrot1,06/19/2008,It works I was in Boston for one night on business and picked this Hampton Inn and Suites based on price and location (it was quite cheap compared to others!). The hotel is nothing special; but is clean. Basic little snack area to get a late frozen dinner or random snack. They were quick at the front desk with check-in and had me on my way. My only complaint is that they don't have taxi's at the ready. I'm used to walking out of a hotel in the morning and getting a cab to the office. Instead; I had to walk back in after wandering around and not finding a taxi or a doorman and ask them to call me a cab. The wait wasn't long; but I would say it is geared more to the family guest than the business guest. Overall; not bad for the money and I'd stay again if need be.
320038,jkim3880,06/02/2008,Worst customer service I made a reservation at this Hampton 11 months prior to my arrival because I knew that Boston would be booked during graduation season. Despite this planning ahead to ensure I would have a room; Hampton overbooked their hotel during my stay and bumped me from Crosstown to Peabody. They only notified me of this 1 day prior to my arrival. They said that they had made a mistake with my reservation and that these mistakes do happen and they are not held accountable for rearrangements to the customer's satisfaction.
320038,LOVESTOTRAVEL048,04/28/2008,Hotel was Great We stayed at the Hampton Inn Crosstown in April for 5 nights; We had 2 rooms. One in our family ran the Boston Marathon and the hotel set up a shuttle to take the runners to meet the bus and fixed a bag breakfast for them. We used the downtown and airport shuttles and were very pleased. The hotel staff was very friendly and outgoing and the room was very comfortable and clean. We would definately stay here again.
320038,MelInBillerica,03/24/2008,Hotel was ok but loved the nearby Chinese Restaurant I had some friends stay in this hotel when they came up to Boston to visit me. I picked the hotel because of the price and the downtown location. The actual hotel was ok; with decent service. The best part was this new Chinese restaurant that's just a couple of blocks away. We walked over for Dim Sum on Saturday morning and it was delicious!! The restaurant is called Pacific Restaurant and is located at 23 Bradston Street. If you stay at this hotel; make sure to try this place!
320038,farmview,03/23/2008,Tries Hard; Falls Short This was one of several hotels listed for a conference that I attended in March 2008. Given that it was at least $100 less than most of the conference hotels and the conference was offering a shuttle to the Convention Center; I stayed at the Hampton Inn.I drove to the hotel and ended up driving right by it the first time. Crossroads is right -- it is sitting right in the middle of busy Massachusetts Ave and Albany Street -- and I drove right by when I got to the intersection because the writing is very; very tiny near the Albany Street door. Had I been traveling streets away; I would have seen the glow of Hampton Inn from the top of the hotel... but that was not the case.After figuring out that I must have missed it; I managed to get myself to the intersection and find the entrance (which is opposite the Albany Street entrance). The parking garage is located across from the hotel on a small side street. It is a commuter lot; but you can park for $25 a night via the hotel.The hotel is located near BU Medical Center; which is not the type of area that you can get out and walk around safely at night (plus there really isn't anything around). So you are a bit isolated. I kept my car parked but took the conference shuttle; hotel shuttle; or cab. The hotel itself is designed as a boutique hotel. I'm not sure what it was before; but there are little touches that indicate they they are trying to be a bit chic (i.e. black and white photographs with catchy sayings). Check-in went fine; but I realized afterwards that my request for a quiet room was not granted since I was given a 3rd floor room facing the street. I didn't realize this until later at night and by the time I asked to be relocated the next day; all the rooms were full. I was disappointed in my room initially; but I can say that they really; really do try to make it a nice hotel. The bed was great; the workspace and free wi-fi were great; the microwave; fridge; and little kitchenette space were great. Aside from the street noise; I ended up liking my room by the third day. Breakfast was not very good relative to hot items or breads; but I was glad for the coffee; fresh fruit; and yogurt options. As mentioned above; the hotel offers a complimentary shuttle which goes to the waterfront; the Prudential Center; and Boston Common. The driver who works the 2-10 shift was great. He really enjoys his job and looks out for his customers. He's a real honest; hardworking guy... and he'll go out of his way (between scheduled times) to pick up guests. I can honestly say that I will probably not stay at this Hampton Inn again; but it would be more due to the location than the hotel itself.
320038,HaarlemTheNeterlands,03/15/2008,Terrible experience We have stayed at the Hamptons Inn Suites and had a terrible experience. The staff was extremely unfriendly; the room wasn't cleaned for a couple of days and the breakfast was just horrific. We are used to travel quite a lot internationally and are really not too picky or particular about places to stay. It really ruined our stay in Boston. We had informed the manager of our complaints. There wasn't any respons until the day that we checked out. It seemed to be that the staff is rather discriminating.
320038,OnionOrion,03/03/2008,Better than Expected A southerner; I went to Boston in January to investigate possible medical treatment at Dana-Farber. From the price; I expected I'd be staying at a big-city hotel with muffins or donuts and coffee for breakfast and few amenities. Instead; I found an attractively modern; comfortable hotel; with courteous and prompt no-cost shuttle service to and from the hospital and airport; and a full; hot breakfast available; at no cost; in the morning. A couple of local restaurants delivered reasonably priced dinners that didn't taste like fast food. Staff were pleasant and helpful. A pool and exercise equipment were available (alas; I left my bathing suit at home); as were rental movies and wifi connection. My only regret was not having time to get to the Fine Arts Museum.
320038,deanna5776,11/26/2007,trip to the ballpark bathroom
320038,Renebfl,10/10/2007,Good stay Too bad this hotel is so far away. Shuttle makes it do-able. I would stay here again. Of course staying in town would be better; but price was about $140/night cheaper. Good shuttle personel from airport to all the other places to visit or eat;Pickup every hour. Few times we were too late for the shuttle. It was a $13 cab ride from Quincy Market to hotel. Great bedding.;
320038,BLynnS,09/23/2007,Grear Value We stayed at this hotel for 6 nights in September 2007 in a king suite. While not large; the room was pleasant and clean with a refrigerator and microwave. The wireless worked well the entire visit. The included breakfast was OK to good; depending on the choices and saved us money and time. The shuttle was great; we used it both for airport transportation and to access the downtown area. The shuttle even took us to the JFK Museaum one morning (also great). The front desk staff were very accomodating. The pool on the 9th floor was very nice. Given the price of Boston's hotels; this one is a good value. My two complaints are 1. the location is away from any attractions/shopping/restaurants (need to use the shuttle or cab) and 2. no safe in the rooms. I would definitely stay here again if needing budget aoomodations in Boston.
320038,Annabelle1116,09/15/2007,Very nice hotel Hampton Inn Crosstown is a very nice hotel. I would have given it a 5 rating except for the fact of its location. It is in a bad area of town and unless you have transportation accessibility; it's not a safe area. As for the hotel; it is a very clean; well-maintained facility with friendly and helpful staff. The buffet breakfast was a plus and the manager of the hotel mingled with the guests during breakfast; which I thought was good public relations. There is a Boston tour that comes to the hotel and picks you up. That was a real convenience. The hotel also provides a free shuttle to and from the airport. We did wait for the shuttle almost an hour; but that's to be expected in Boston. Another guest staying at the hotel told me that the shuttle never came; maybe because they didn't realize that it could be a long wait; so they took a cab to the hotel and the hotel was gracious enough to pay the cab fare. There is also a hotel shuttle that takes you to a few local destinations. I didn't take advantage of the service; but one person I spoke to said the service was very helpful. The hotel recommends that you do not depend on the shuttle for your total transportation. We were in town for a convention so it had it's own shuttle to and from the convention. My overall experience at this hotel was very pleasant and I would recommend it.
320038,emperorsclothes,08/21/2007,Fantastic Hotel and Staff We just came back from a stay at the Hampton Inn in Boston (Mass Ave) and I did something I had never done before. I sent a thank you card to the staff telling them how great they had made our stay. We came in on the red-eye flight and the shuttle was there as soon as we got our baggage. Ramon at the front desk let us check in early so we could catch a nap. Anthony and Bobby the shuttle drivers were fantantic and kept us laughing everywhere they took us. Everyone on the staff has a great attitude. The beds and the pillows were better than home. The girl at the desk (Elvira?) was so nice about keeping our bags for us. I would recommend this hotel to anyone! Trust me after the dump we stayed in in Manhattan (Hotel Pennsylvania for twice the price) I would stay at the Hampton Inn in a heartbeat! I have stayed in hotels all over the world and never had such nice service.
320038,SandbridgeBeachBum,08/18/2007,Nice facility Over the years my family has had good luck staying at Hampton Inn鈥檚. Hampton Inn and Suits at Crosstown Center was no exception. The staff was extremely helpful; from our shuttle driver at Logan Airport; to the front desk staff who allowed us to check in early and who; upon our checkout; held our bags so we could enjoy a final day of sightseeing. The room we had was a very comfortable studio with a nice kitchenette; spacious bathroom; and living room/bedroom. The bed was very comfortable and the entire room was clean. The only complaint regarding the room would be the curtains. They would not close and did not have any kind of light blocking. As a result; at night the lights of the city would come in and during the morning; the sun would wake us up. Besides that; the room was wonderful. As far as amenities go; the pool was kind of small and cloudy and seemed as though it needed some cleaning. However; the complimentary breakfast was very nice and well stocked. Another plus was the free internet access (wifi) and the computers and copiers available for complementary use just off of the main lobby. Located to the side of the lobby is Ground Round; a family style dinner/sports bar with American food. The staff at the Ground Round was friendly; however they were very slow with placing orders. The food was adequate. Located off of the hotel grounds; just across the street; is a Dunkin Doughnuts and a Quiznos Subs (both were very good options for fast food with friendly staff). As far as location goes; the hotel is located just on the outskirts of town but only about 10 to 20 minutes away from most attractions. To make up for this; the hotel offers free shuttle service to many sites and has the ability to arrange a cab within minutes. The views are not spectacular either. There is a major construction site located right next to the hotel which was noisy in the morning and throughout the day. In addition the hotel is right near Boston Medical Center and you do hear a lot of ambulances; even at night. Finally; if you walk a few blocks away from the hotel; you end up in a kind of seedy area which I would not recommend visiting.Overall; I would recommend the Hampton Inn and Suites at Crosstown Center. If you are on a budget and don鈥檛 mind being somewhat away from the attractions; than this is the place for you! We really enjoyed it.
320038,Womblebeak,07/28/2007,Nice but noisy Location is the problem here. Didn't feel safe to walk outside but the front desk got cabs with ease. Very noisy outside; double glazing would help. Room excellent; staff excellent; facilities excellent; restaurant/bar excellent; reasonably priced; shuttle to airport excellent. If it were somewhere else it would get a 5!
320038,RiniPDX,04/29/2007,Could be better I stay at Hampton Inns very frequently. This one was clean comfortable. However; the area makes it unattractive (not much in walking distance and not really an area you'd want to walk around in) and there were no laundry facilities (which are generally quite common at Hamptons). The noise from the hospital and the highway are a bit noticeable; but not terrible- I slept fine. The price is decent; but as far as a hotel in the Boston area; you can definitely do better if you want to be in the center of the city and there are lots of excellent low cost options a bit further out. I won't stay here again.
320038,CollegeGirly,04/27/2007,Perfect This hotel was great. It was very nice; with comfy bed and clean rooms. Even though the hotel is on the outside of the city center; it was only a few blocks away from the subway station and the bus stop was right out the front door of the hotel. The shuttle drivers were nice for the most part; but if you don't tip them; don't expect them to come back for you. Other than that the hotel was great for the price!
320038,csharp99,03/06/2007,Good but a little noisy I booked this for a business visit since the rate was good and the location seemed ok. After I informed my contact where I booked they were quite alarmed since the neighborhood apparently is not too friendly; but I must say I haven't really had any trouble.The rooms are good and clean; although the walls are a bit thin. Sounds carry over easily from other rooms; especially through the ventilation system.Another major contributor to the noise is the proximity of the hospital which is just around the corner; with ambulances going by very regularly. Nothing too bad though.The complimentary wireless internet access is definitely a plus. Speed is decent and it's very reliable. Staff is very friendly and helpful. I haven't tried the shuttle services; so I can't comment on it. The location is not too good if you want to have quick access to a good restaurant; bar or theatre. There is a Ground Round bar adjacent to the hotel which is pretty decent but will gett a little boring if you need to spend more than two nights in a row there. So getting a taxi into the city center seems to be the only option.The breakfast is reasonable although a little one-sided (sugar) and all in all I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the hotel. So if you're looking for a decent hotel for a reasonable price; and you don't take too much notice of the ambulances rushing past every now and then; this might be one to consider.
320038,nctarheel06,01/17/2007,Wonderful; clean facility and great value! My husband; 11 month old son; and I stayed at the Hampton Inn Crosstown last weekend and I was very pleasantly surprised by the room and the amenities. The lobby was very clean and modern and so was the room. My one complaint is that when I called the hotel from the airport to try and get onto the hotel airport shuttle; I waited outside in 35 degree weather for 1 1/2 hours and it never came. I called 2 times and the hotel operator said the driver was aware of my arrival. They never asked for my name or contact info; which I thought was strange. By the time 1 1/2 hours rolled by; I called back annoyed and the operator told me to take a cab and the hotel would reimburse me for the fare. I was in a bad mood but have to say that when I arrived at the front desk and gave the woman the receipt fo $33.50; she immediately gave me an apology and cash refund on the spot. This put me in a much better mood. The free breakfast buffet was wonderful! I was surprised to see things like scrambled eggs; french toast sticks; fresh fruit medley; and sausage links in silver platters. That's the best free breakfast I've had at a hotel for $110 a night! We used the shuttle to go from the hotel to the hospital area and back; as well as for the return to the airport and had no additional problems. Drivers were very nice. There's a Quiznos and Dunkin Donuts as soon as you step outside of the hotel. The hotel itself has a restaurant but the food and setting wasn't something we were really interested in. I ended up getting takeout menus from the front desk and called in for Chinese food because it was so cold outside. Aside from the one shuttle incident; I have no complaints about the stay whatsoever. We weren't there for vacation and didn't venture outside the hotel for a walk; so I can't comment on the safety of the neighborhood; but the hotel itself is great. The shuttle saved us a ton of money on cab fare so I am very appreciative of that amenity. We have another medical appointment scheduled for next January and I will definitely make a reservation for this hotel again!
320038,MimiScotland,01/01/2007,Very nice Great friendly service; very clean; shuttle service to city centre every half hour was very useful. Wonderful facilities. Surprisingly cheap.
320038,geoffchurch1975,10/23/2006,couldn't ask for more from a hotel A fantastic stay. Yes the hotel is located in a some what seedy area; just don't go for a walk at night. The hotel is brand new. It was the least expensive when I booked; but offered more then I could imagine. They have a shuttle to and from the airport and also a schedule shuttle that gets you downtown for no cost. I saved a bunch of money with these reliable shuttles. They also offer a great breakfast. everything you could want to get the day started. The area might be loud; but I found the new hotel took that into consideration when being built and used windows that kept the noise to a minimum. Next door is a quizno's. I recomment it.
320038,nycgrl1,10/16/2006,Didn't even walk in Drove up to the hotel to find a group of seedy men hanging out in the driveway. The area was terrible and seedy (not even mentioning the hospital noise). I am from a big city used to city type places; trust me; this was BAD. I don't think it matters about the new rooms when you are scared to get out of your car....Boston is a great city with so many nice hotels. no reason to put one there for 200 dollars per night. Stay somewhere else for the same price; we did.
320038,PickyGuy,09/12/2006,Nice hotel; but ... The hotel itself is very nice. Neighborhood is seedy. Ambulance sirens are very common and Bostonians do love to use their car horns! Not convenient to the subway system (the T). Plan on taking a cab almost everywhere you go. Cabs are plentiful. Hotel has wireless internet and it's fast in the lobby but not too fast elsewhere. Rooms are clean; staff is very good. The beds are much better than most hotels.
320038,euells,07/16/2006,Great place to stay - great shuttle services Our stay here was fantastic - from the time we got off the plane. One quick call to the hotel and by the time we had our bags in hand; the shuttle was waiting for us. When we checked in - they upgraded us to a suite because of my Hilton Honors status. The shuttle service was fantastic - it runs to all of the major Boston attractions; so no matter where you are you can grab it back to the hotel. We were only here one night (leaving for a cruise to Bermuda) but we were able to complete the Freedom Trail; eat lunch at Cheers; have a great dinner at McCormick and Schmicks Seafood; and return back to the hotel for a good nights rest. The breakfast in the morning is the typical american traveller's breafast; but better than many other Hampton Inns I have stayed with. The front desk is courteous and very helpful. I would stay here again in a heartbeat!
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,06/30/2006,Simple; pristine; comfy My teenage daughter and I stayed here for two nights while in Boston. The hotel was booked; yet didn't feel at all crowded. Since it's relatively new; things were clean and well-kept. The staff was helpful and friendly. There is a small fitness room and indoor pool which my daughter reallly enjoyed. Any requests we had were attended to promptly. We used both public transportation (about 4 blocks away--easily walked) and the hotel shuttle. The shuttle was on time and convenient. The breakfast was great; too. It really saved us some money. We were well-pleased with this hotel.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,05/21/2006,hampton inn was great this hotel was very nice and clean. the staff was very freindly and helpful. the location was not the best if you are not a walker; but boston is an easy town to navigate through. i have stayed at the hampton inn cambridge previously and this location was much better in terms of cleanliness; friendliness; and service. i would definitely stay there again!
320038,BusTrvlr,04/30/2006,Excellent hotel but research what you want before booking I travel to Boston for business almost every month and stay at this hotel because it is convenient to my customers. The area is not the best so I would not wander around in the middle of the night (use common sense) and Boston hospital is right across the street; I am a sound slepper so the noise does not bother me. It has a shuttle to downtown Boston (Faneuil Hall Marketplace; Museums and Restuarants - try Houston's with a reservation) and taxis are also available. I believe on my last trip I also saw a sign for Enterprise car rental at the parking garage which may be cheaper than getting a rental car at the airport. There are hotels that are closer and more expensive in downtown Boston. The breakfast has a variety of hot and cold and can sometimes be crowded but the Dunkin Donuts across the street by the parking garage is now open. It will also be convenieint when the Ground Round opens and adds to the Quiznos. There are also a bunch of great little sandwich shops (some deliver) in South Boston and a couple of bigger restuarants within a couple of miles. (Stadium Bar Grill). If you did not mind spending a little more $; get the suite with a lot more room; a microwave and fridge for snacks; a pull out couch and a work desk. The hotel also has a small workout room and a pool; remember you're not going to Bally's. Great hotel if it fits your needs.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,04/27/2006,Clean and reasonably priced; but not a convenient location We stayed in this hotel April 19-22; 2006. While it's definitely clean; comfortable and reasonably priced I was disappointed with the location. Although they claim a T station is 6 blocks away it's a 20 minute walk to get there. I know we could have hopped on the bus across the street but we didn't take the time to research the stops and schedules. Didn't want to wait around for their local attraction shuttle; either. So; we probably made up in cab fare what we saved on the room compared to other hotels. Continental breakfast was below average and mobbed every morning. We only ate there once. Also; one of our bed frames was broken and we had to ask twice to get it fixed. The cleaning staff did not refill coffee and creamer and we had to call about that; too. Bottom line: you get what you pay for. Don't expect more than a clean room at a cheap price.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,04/26/2006,Misunderstood location I live in this neighborhood (am a young single woman); and chose the Hampton Inn for my visiting sister and kids the week after it opened. It was perfect; and the staff couldn't be better. I can understand why visitors might feel uncomfortable here--it is an emerging neighborhood that still has some very rough edges. On the South End side of Massachusetts Avenue; you have multi-million dollar brownstones; the city's hottest restaurants (celeb chef Ken Oringer's Toro for one; others on the critics' top list....Seiyo for sushi; Stella; Pho Republique; Caffe Umbra; Union.) On the Roxbury side of the street; you have an extremely urban area with some blight and some crime. Stick to the South End side and you'll be fine; keep your antenna up and be careful just as you would in any city. This hotel is probably one of the best deals in the city; and the first to be owned and operated by an African American in Boston. It's really a project to be proud of that was a good step forward in developing this neighborhood...in five years' time it will be unrecognizable (particularly when Boston University finishes its plans for its medical school campus expansions.)So give this property a chance--it is great!
320038,busytrainer,04/13/2006,Convenient and Comfortable in Typical Hampton Inn Style I stayed in this hotel in March while holding a training session at Boston Medical Center. The location was certainly convenient for me (the hospital is across the street) and the free airport shuttle was invaluable as I was able to skip the rental car. While it is convenient to the medical center it is quite removed from the action of downtown Boston and I was advised by managers at the hospital that I probably shouldn't walk around at night as the neighborhood across the street starts to get a bit questionable. The Ground Round restaurant hadn't yet opened when I stayed but that will definitely help. The dining choices in the area included Quiznos; Dunkin' Donuts; McDonalds; or Burger King.As for the hotel; it takes the modern angle of the (comfortingly) predictable Hampton Inn style with funky furniture and decor in purples and dark greens. My room was large; comfortable; and clean. The breakfast had a good selection of both hot and cold items and was well stocked. The front desk staff were friendly and particularly helpful in recommending lots of different places for my trainees and I to eat. It's a solid hotel choice and a great value if you don't mind the taxi ride to the heart of the city.
320038,chucklicht,02/08/2006,Good Value We always have enjoyed Hampton Inns and this selection didn't disappoint us. At the end of a two-week vacation in the Northeast; we decided to spend a few days revisiting Boston. The prices we found for downtown hotels were very expensive and the Hampton Inn was quite reasonable and not too far from town. We parked in the pay lot and left the car there for our entire visit.We were placed in a disabled room (we're not!) which was much more spacious than an ordinary one. The bathroom was large with space for a wheelchair in the shower.The room was clean and new and had all the Hampton Inn usual features; including the clock radio which requires some practice to be familiar with.We used the hotel's shuttle service every day to go to sites and usually used it to return in the evening to clean-up and go back downtown for dinner. There aren't many places to eat in the near vicinity. We usually had to take a taxi (less than $10.00) to come home after dinner.The breakfasts were good Hampton Inn quality (peanut butter and bagels)and very generous. Service overall was good.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,01/07/2006,re: local dining/neighborhood As a 10 year neighbor; just adding to the previous reviews in case it's helpful. The location is indeed bleak; it was the only vacant parcel left in the area when they built it 2 years ago! It's at the intersection of major highways; but just a few blocks' walk to the South End commercial area. It's next door to the hospital; medical school; and city emergency shelter intake; so if you're not used to urban areas; may seem sketchy. But; just walk north 2 blocks on Mass Ave; and turn right on Washington St.- there are at least 5 restaurants within a block or two; from cheap to fashionably deluxe (bakery/cafe; diner; Chinese; Thai; Tapas; Sushi; wine bar; Venezuelan...) And the so-called Silver Line bus goes straight down Washington St. to Downtown Crossing; the heart of the city. The South End's famous Restaurant Row is on Tremont St; 2 blocks past Washington. All the chi-chi new art galleries are down Harrison Ave; 6 or 8 blocks past the hospitals. You can also take the Mass Ave #1 bus straight down Mass Ave into the Back Bay/Newbury St. district; or across the Charles River to Harvard Square in Cambridge; a bit slow at rush hour but quick otherwise. So; it's convenient to the BU/Boston Medical Center; but really not far from the rest of the city; and very close to the rest of the South End (the largest residential Victorian neighborhood in the US) Enjoy the architecture! Take a cab home late at night; as you would in any city.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,12/20/2005,hotel and management a joke While attempting to check in; I was given the hand and shooshed by the employee (Carman). I was about to ask for a manager when I realized SHE (Carman) was it! This was after waiting an hour and 1/2 in the lobby. I finally used their lobby payphone to reserve a hotel elsewhere through Hotels. While waiting I did check out the pool. It is more of a large garden tub. Maybe slightly bigger but is VERY tiny. I would not want to be in there with more than 6-10 people. Maximum.Crappy location; crappy service; crappy pool.I attempted to contact Hampton through email. I was told they attempted to contact Carman; the manager; there Boston Hampton but she had not gotten back with them. I was told they would be sending me a free night stay which after 2 months I had not received. I contacted them AGAIN. I was told AGAIN that I would be receiving a free night stay. This was in August that we were in Boston. It is now nearly January and I STILL have not received the free night voucher!I have always stayed at and recommended Hamptons. I cannot say either way if I will stay in one again but I will say that I will never stay at the one in Boston. There are PLENTY of other hotels with airport shuttle; larger pools; nicer rooms; kind employees and restaurants near by without the sounds of ambulances!Do NOT stay here. There are plenty of other; better alternatives.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,12/11/2005,Great Hotel I stayed in early December at the Hampton Inn and was quite impressed. The hotel is essentially brand new and has a lot of amenities that go along with the room price. What impressed me is the decor in the lobby and rooms. The lobby is clean and the staff is very helpful and friendly. The rooms are fairly spacious and are also clean; modern and quite comfortable. If you are visiting Boston this is absolutely the best bargain you are going to get. Now for the downsides:1) The location of the hotel (Roxbury; MA) can be seedy at night; be careful.There is also few restaurants; bars and clubs in the immediate area. You need to go up mass ave about 10 blocks before hitting those. 2) The hotel is placed across the street from a hospital; if sirens bother you; you may want to choose another hotel. Sirens and loud noises are part of the urban life though :); its tough to escape.3) The free shuttle from the airport to the hotel can be tricky to catch and is first come first serve; call ahead and see the schedule so you dont get stuck in the cold. 4) The hotel has no kitchen; so you have to fend for yourself.5) About a 20 min walk to the closest T- station (Mass ave; orange line)Hotels closer into the commons and back bay will cost you double and you get less conveniences.Take it from someone who lived in Boston for a year; if you are going cheap this is a good deal.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,12/07/2005,Too many ambulances all day and all night long!!! We stayed at this fairly new Hampton Inn Suites from November 9-13; 2005. The hotel is very nice and the staff works very hard to accomodate guests at all times. Most comments listed on here by users before the above dates are pretty accurate for the most part. Based on the location and price of $125.00 per night in Boston plus tax; plus parking of $17.00 per night; this is a fairly decent deal for those on a financial budget. If you want to spend much more and do more; stay in or near Downtown Boston. Otherwise; this is not the place for you. The location of this hotel is undergoing much urban renewal. There is a brand new Quizno's Subs restaurant located next door to the hotel. There is also a brand new Ground Round restaurant being built attached to the backside of the hotel facing a main thoroughfare. The Food and Beverage Manager of the hotel advised us that it will be a nice sports bar with a full dining menu. Allegedly; there are plans to expand the hotel on the property adjacent to the hotel. The parking garage is very large and very modern. It is a bit difficult (time consuming)driving in and out of the hotel and that includes the usually constant taxi cab driver who is outside waiting to take you wherever you want to go. Be advised that it will cost anywhere from $7 to $15 to go one-way anywhere in the immediate Downtown Boston area. But; it beats paying exhorbitant parking fees at other hotel or local parking lots. Be prepared to pay anywhere from $20 to $40 daily to park just about anywhere in the Downtown Boston area. So; one of your quickest and best financial transportation options is to just take a taxi. While in the taxi; ask the taxi driver about local sightseeing areas; shopping and especially restaurants. They know just about anything about everything.My biggest complaint and concern about this location is the EXCESSIVE NOISE coming from the ambulances all day and especially all night long. And I do mean ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT long. The engineers/architects for this location should have seen to it that the windows were double-paned and soundproof due to the fact that this hotel is located right across the street from a Level 1 Emergency Room Trauma Center Hospital. The ambulance drivers are not responsible at all in sounding their alarms excessively from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. when there was no need to do so based on very light traffic in the area.Initially; when this hotel opened (like most in Boston) the price per night was reasonable. Since then though; the price has risen significantly.
320038,TravelReviewer20,12/05/2005,Pluses and Minuses Pluses: + Great rate for central Boston ($112 midweek) + Free shuttle to/from airport and to/from key tourist locations + Extremely friendly and pleasant staff (one of the best across the board that I have experienced) + Relatively new (~2 years old)Minuses: - Neighborhood is not too good - Nowhere nearby to eat (and would not recommend walking in or out of this hotel) - There were several people in the lobby at different times who were definitely NOT guests of the hotel; this was most disconcerting at breakfast time - a security guard was in line filling up thermos; etc. with breakfast buffet items to go... - Security guard(s) stationed in the lobby area along with the non-guest presence made me feel somewhat uncomfortable - Airport shuttle; while free; does only operate on the hour; so if your flight gets in at x:20 (like mine did); you may end up waiting for about an hour-and-a-half for the shuttle (like I did). That being said; the courtesy driver was extremely friendly and helpful. - For a hotel only ~2 years old; I was a bit surprised by the condition and cleanliness. The first room I checked into had burn marks all over the carpet; however the new room they moved me to was fine. - Noise level could be high at times due to the proximity to the medical center - every now and then there would be a siren; but the noise level overall was not bad enough to affect sleeping.Overall; I probably would not stay here again - although price and staff factors were so good; it was worth thinking about again; but I think I would probably pay more and be in an area where it was easier to get out and walk around.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,11/21/2005,definately a good deal We just stayed in this hotel last weekend. Coming from New York City; noise was not the problem. I slept well in the comfortable bed. Shower was nice too. Overall; hotel is new; clean; and comfortable. It is little far from T stop (Mass Ave); but there are local shuttle taking us to Prudential Center; Quincy Market etc. Also; free hot breakfast is definitely a plus. We enjoyed hot breakfast in the morning; and swimming pool at night.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,11/08/2005,You get what you pay for Like most of the other review statements in this space; I agree the location of this hotel is close-in but not the kind of neighborhood you want to be in. There are no restaurants in the area. The breakfast room on Saturday morning was mobbed and out of food. On Sunday we took a cab to the Prudential Center for breakfast! The neighborhood around the hotel is dicey. Do not walk anywhere in the area. The cab drivers also warned me about it. The noise level there is also MUCH higher than usual for hotels. The room was fine except for the noise. The service staff was competent and friendly and even refused a tip for storing my bags. The airport shuttle is a definite plus. I stayed there because it was the closest; cheapest Hilton product. However I can't honestly recommend it and I will probably not stay there again.
320038,pp38000,09/22/2005,Dodgy Location; Poor Service; Not Worth the Money One more thing my room was double booked and had guests comin into room after checkin in!Won't be going back again even though its clean and new! For what i was paying i ought to have a good service.
320038,DDOman,09/14/2005,Noisy on odd-numbered rooms Like most people travlling to Boston; I tried to save a couple of bucks (1/2 price compared to Back Bay Hotels) and opted for the Hampton-Crosstown. Location does suck but they have a free shuttle to/from airport and to other points in Boston. There are no real reastaurants in area but a cab ride to Prudential area is about 7$. My biggest beef was that for a newly constructed hotel the soundproofing is horrible. I stayed on the odd-numbered room side which was so noisy from street traffic that I could not sleep. This combined with the room next door partying at 3 AM forced me to move to an even number sided room at 5 AM. Service at the hotel is good. I think I will find other ways to save a buck next time; perhaps the Hampton in Cambridge.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,09/03/2005,Great option - you should try it! My husband and I had a great week-long stay on our first trip to Boston. Our plane was late but we phoned the hotel when we landed and we walked out the door with our bags and no more than 5 minutes later we were on the hotel shuttle. Check-in was smooth. The hotel was sold out due to a baseball game so it was crowded; but the staff handled everything well.To address some of the comments by other guests; we had no complaints about the breakfast area. It was clean and well-stocked. Some guests with children need to learn manners - it is never OK to for children to throw food on the floor and then pick it off the floor to eat it - but even given that; the hotel staff quickly tried to clean the mess and maintain order. Also; the to-go breakfast bags were great for the two excursions we took to Cape Cod and the Maine Sea Coast.We were there the week before Labor Day and there were two local shuttles in service. We used the shuttle every morning then walked Boston and took the sight-seeing trolley and subway during the day; finally returning on the shuttle every evening. Frankly; if you're not prepared to get out there and walk and take the subway; maybe you're not ready for Boston. You can't appreciate the city from a hotel shuttle. Boston is called America's Walking City because to experience it; you need to get out there. Don't criticize the hotel shuttle. It was an excellent service. The drivers were prompt and courteous and it is a great bonus to get your day started and finished. The rest is up to you as it should be. No one except the taxi drivers are there waiting to haul your behind from sight to sight. The housekeeping was great and we had no maintenance issues. The hotel was by the Boston Medical Center but we had no problems with sirens or activity keeping us up at night. I'm normally a light sleeper in hotels and if my sleep had been interrupted; I'd be so cranky right now that this review would reflect that.It would have been nice to have more restaurants nearby but the hotel was accomodating with take-out and delivery menus. But over the next few months the area will be much improved. There is a Ground Round being built on site and right next door a Quizno's and Dunkin' Doughnuts are going in. By the end of this year the area is going to be totally different. We enjoyed our first trip to Boston and look forward to returning. The Hampton Inn Crosstown Center was a great value and we would definitely stay there again. If you have any questions you can e-mail my husband and I at codiesparents@wmconnect.com
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,07/21/2005,SCARED OF INITIAL REVIEWS; BUT VERY HAPPY WITH MY STAY! Yes; I read some of the earlier reviews after we booked our resevation; but; thankfully; I did not try to cancel! I had read the horror stories about the shuttle and was expecting to be totally frustrated. Anyway; our party of 3 arrived at Logan at the bottom of the hour and I telephoned to let them know we were on the ground. Approximately 15 minutes later; the shuttle bus arrived; loaded our luggage; and took up to the motel through the Friday afternoon rush hour. After we got there; the bus left immediately for the normal airport run at the top of the hour. We checked in right behind a VERY large group. We did get a little frustrated trying to get a luggage cart; and finally opted to carry our luggage to the room. The wife was a little frustrated; but the frustration rapidly disappeared. Again; I had read that the staff was rude; but I found that to be quite the opposite. The desk staff was very helpful and courteous; answering any questions. Yes; we missed a shuttle bus; but we were politely told that we could grab the #1 bus to get to Copley Place/Prudential Building/Hynes Convention Center. A lot of people have been very negative about the neighborhood; but I felt completely safe with the area. There is a LOT of building going on in the Cross Town Center; and once it is opened; this will be quite an area. Granted; there are very few places to eat in this area; but with the expansion going on; there will be a nice assortment...SOON. There will be a Dunkin' Donuts and Quizino's; plus a couple of other names that I can not remember. But; the night that we took the bus; we went to Legal's Seafood (very good; but I was told that there are better; which is hard to imagine). The shuttle bus was enroute when we were ABOUT finished with dinner (about being the keyword). The shuttle driver waited almost 15 minutes for our party to come out from the restaurant; and was very gracious when we came out. VERY surprising after what I had read! The shuttle bus was filled the next morning from the same group that we checked in behind; and the desk clerk asked if we could wait a half hour until it returned; we couldn't; so we hopped a cab to Hynes; only about $6.00; not a bad deal. We split the rest of the time riding cabs and the shuttle to and from the convention center. On the last night we were talking with the shuttle driver about how little we had actually seen of Boston during our stay; and he proceeded to take us on a tour of the city; and was quite the tour guide! Kudos to the driver...I wish I had gotten his name!The breakfast bar was always well stocked; and the food was hot. I never had to worry about coffee...it was always there. An earlier review mentions rude people pushing and shoving. Well; just remember; that is not indicatiove of the hotel; just a reminder that our manners have dropped that far down. However; I found none of that...our lines moved very smoothly and orderly. Hotel amenities include FREE in-room wireless service; a business center with high-speed service and printer. By comparison; many other member of our nationwide organization stayed at the Marriott Copley. Yes; there was a business center there; but for in-room access; there was a $9.95 fee. The Marriott shuttle service was NOT free; nor was it as accomodating as the Hampton Inn service. Parking at the Hampton is $17/day...parking at the Marriott is $20-22/day. Even though I did not have a car here; the other members of our organization sounded pretty pleased at the deal that we had...$55/day LESS than what they were paying at the Marriott and we had a King suite! Overall; I was very pleased with our stay here and would have no problems reserving another room here. The area is growing and the staff here was very courteous.
320038,UCC,07/17/2005,Good Value; Lousy Neighborhood We recently returned from 4 nights at the Hampton Inn-Crosstown. There is no question that you get great value at this hotel compared to the much higher rates at most other moderate hotels in Boston. The usual complementary hot breakfast that Hampton Inn offers was great; the suite was roomy for our family of five; and the pool offered welcome relief from the heat and humidity. The hotel's shuttle is a great idea in theory but while we were there they only had one mini-bus running and it only held 13 people. We noticed many guests complaining that they had to wait a long time and many gave up and took the bus or called cabs. We took it downtown one morning after having to wait an hour and then we took a cab back to the hotel at night rather than fight the crowds.By far our biggest concern was the neighborhood of the hotel. Numerous panhandlers surrounded the front of the hotel and in one direction was a very run-down part of the city. We did not feel safe at all and there was no restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. We; along with many other guests; had to take a cab just to get to a restaurant. There is also a hospital right next to the hotel so you hear sirens and a hospital helicopter off and on all night. Finally; our linen was not clean upon check-in and our toilet malfunctioned a few times.My family will not stay in this hotel again and I do not recommend it to others for now. Perhaps in the future the neighborhood will be built up to be more tourist-friendly.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,07/14/2005,Nice Hotel; Great Price and Great Service We decided to stay here because the hotel was new and the price was much lower than typical Boston hotels. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed our experience at this hotel very much. We would stay here again and recommend it.With being a new hotel; the rooms and the hotel itself are very clean and very well appointed. All the staff we encountered were very nice and helpful; including all of the shuttle drivers.In addition to a complimentary airport shuttle; which was very easy to use; the hotel offers a complimentary local shuttle throughout the day. It is true that on some occasions it was very full; but for the most part we had no trouble getting on. It was also very convenient--it stops at several major areas throughout downtown and also runs throughout a good part of the day. Finally; if you need to stop somewhere else than the normal stops; they will usually work something out to take you if it's convenient--just ask. We needed to go to South Station and it wasn't a problem.The hotel wasn't located in the greatest neighborhood; but it wasn't that bad either. I've stayed in many major cities and it's a typical inner-city neighborhood. I've also stayed at many other much more expensive; exclusive downtown hotels; with the same type of neighborhood right next door. Bottom line is; we walked up and down Mass. Ave. by the hotel several times during our trip during the day and never felt unsafe. At night we caught the shuttle back. It's a big city and so you've always got to be on your guard and careful wherever you are. The idea that you're safer downtown isn't necessarily true. Also; Boston's public transport is great and the hotel is within easy access of the bus system to connect you to the rest of it. I would recommend you do a little research on the T system so you're somewhat familiar when you arrive; and the staff is also very helpful at giving transportation info.To sum up; a great hotel at a great rate for downtown Boston. It's very clean; the service is great and it's easy to access the sites downtown. You may have to plan a little for your transportation options to downtown; but with the lower rate; you'll have more money to spend when you get there. On the other hand; if you don't like the idea of possibly having to use public transportation and you have lots of anxiety about inner-city areas; then this may not be the place for you. Of course; this will be hard to get away from in Boston.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,07/05/2005,HORRIBLE LOCATION - PAY EXTRA $$ FOR DOWNTOWN!! Yes this hotel is new. So; you get clean nice rooms. The indoor pool was nice and the computers on the first floor with free internet access were very helpful; except; they didn't limit people using it and you could wait for 30 minutes to over an hour for usage. I had to ask the desk clerk twice to tell the person to wrap it up..I had to book my seats for my flight the next morning and was waiting for well over an hour.The room: clean and comfortable; but what did you expect from a brand new hotel.The shuttle: okay for the trip from to the airport; but to get around town; forget it. You could never fit on; ever!! They should up the vans to accomodate everyone there...The breakfast: if you don't run down like a stampede of elephants; your out of luck. It's mobbed around the food displays; people pushing; shoving; horrible!! The staff: They were okay...A couple of snotty little college looking kids; but overall okay.The location: The hotel was far from downtown. The neighborhood is dingy and ugly. I am from Philly; so believe me; I am used to plenty of rough neighborhoods. This one was horrible!! It reminded me of Broad Tasker; in Philly; a used to be nice area; run down and now frequented by crack heads and losers. As stated in another review; the Methodone clinic had plenty of dirty little characters hanging out and about!!! The bus; outside the hospital; must have been a ghost bus from the past; because the whole 3 days in August we were there; we couldn't find one; except to be flying by us. So the walk to the T was long and hot. As your walking; you are prime target for all the derilicts that hang along that stretch of street in that area filled with dingy dirty bars. Very disgusting. If you caught a cab; to go downtown; it costed about $28 dollars...not cheap; an absolute ripoff!Very very disappointing!!! My fiance and I are going back to Boston this summer at the end of August and we will definitly not be staying at this hotel. We will be downtown!!!
320038,Pyffy,06/08/2005,Fantastic hotel...Fantastic City I have just returned from spending 7 nights at this fabulous hotel. Being English and on holiday I didn't know what to expect of a city hotel but I was impressed and highly delighted by our choice. The staff were always friendly and extremely helpful and knowledgeable. The hotel room was large; well appointed and very clean and maid serviced daily. We were on the 8th floor directly below the pool and exercise room and had a great view of the southern edge of the city. The lobby provided a relaxing place to sit while enjoying a coffee. There is a computer suite with 2 internet PC's and printers for checking e-mail and researching the days activities. There is also a pay phone and ATM machine for those last minute cash withdrawals. The breakfast was very good with a great choice of pastries; fresh fruit; yoghurt and cooked sausage and eggs even up to 10.00am when they stopped serving; with coffee / tea available all day. The location although not in the centre of Boston was only a few minutes away from downtown by silver line bus (the stop 2 blocks away) or the number 1 bus; giving access to the T stations and a direct route to Harvard (the stop being just across the street outside the hospital). The location of the hotel is on the edge of a residential area and industrial estate at a major intersection. Some people may be threatened by this type of neighborhood but we walked every where and never at any time felt under threat.Although there is no restaurant on site there is a McDonalds and a bar/diner across the street and 5 minutes walk away down Mass Ave is the quaintest diner you ever would like to eat in Victoria's was the best ever.We only used the hotel shuttle once and that was to return to the airport. It runs on the hour and takes about 10-15 minutes to make its way over to the drop. At 4.00pm we were the only passengers .The driver was prompt; extremely helpful and very courteous and his demeanor epitomized everyone we encountered at this hotel. All in all you get what you pay for and more....go on give it a try...you won't be disappointed !!!!
320038,Pieceomymind,06/04/2005,Under-rated Hotel - Good Value and Great Customer Service I was in Boston last week and stayed at the Hampton Inn. Shuttle picked me up very shortly after I arrived at Logan Airport. Although I was way too early for check-in; the pleasant front desk clerk stored my bags for me until my return later in the afternoon - giving me a receipt for everything.Shuttle dropped me at Hynes Convention Center and I was also able to get back to the Hampton via the shuttle as well. As other reviewers have pointed out; the location is 'off the beaten path;' near the Boston Medical Center. I didn't have a chance to walk much around the 'hood because the weather was horrible; so I can't comment much on the area.For dinner; there didn't appear to be too many immediate area choices outside of a McDonald's or a local pizza joint; but the front desk clerk asked the shuttle driver to run me over to Victoria's Diner and I had a tasty scallops dinner there.Rooms were clean and modern. Free breakfast was ample; with many choices. I had read on the Internet about a place called Charley's Sandwich on Columbus Avenue; which is also in South Boston (not too far from Hampton Inn) and ate there later in the week. They recently won highly coveted James Beard award. Great for breakfast and lunch.There's a small pool area on 9th floor and also a fine exercise room with a tv up there.The Hampton Crosstown is well worth the price and I think it's a fine alternative to some of the overpriced hotels closer to or in downtown.
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,05/21/2005,Nice Hotel and Staff; shady part of town showReview(3490987; 'full');
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,05/16/2005,Challenging the Norm showReview(3476565; 'full');
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,05/11/2005,Nice Hotel; Not So Nice Location showReview(3459802; 'full');
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,04/21/2005,Stay The Hell Away showReview(3396965; 'full');
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,02/22/2005,Great Room; Dingy Area! showReview(3215391; 'full');
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,12/14/2004,Worst Hotel in Boston showReview(2879272; 'full');
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,10/13/2004,The new Hampton Inn. showReview(2700947; 'full');
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,09/16/2004,Great value; good proximity to town; rough neighborhood showReview(2578222; 'full');
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,09/02/2004,Great Stay ~ though a little remotely away. showReview(2508371; 'full');
320038,ATripAdvisorMember,08/17/2004,Nice hotel in a not so nice neighborhood showReview(2454136; 'full');
320038,lass,08/17/2008,Hotel de style r茅cent showReview(19645607; 'full');
320038,lass,08/30/2006,bien plac茅 dans boston showReview(11340161; 'full');
320079,Bruce222,04/22/2008,Enjoyed staying at the St. Christopher Great Location. Easily walk to any spot in the French Quarter. Staff was courteous; friendly and very efficient. Nice rooms; good service. I highly recommend for anyone wanting to experience the French Quarter. My wife I have a son who has moved nearby. We will be returning to visit again. We will definitely stay again at the St. Christopher Hotel in NOLA.
320079,2i,04/14/2008,Not what we paid for As two participants of a conference in New Orleans; we decided to lower our costs and share a room. We paid for 6 nights of a 2 queen beds non-smoking room at St. Chistopher; taking advantage a discount coupon at hotels.com. At check-in; the hotel clerk Britney declared that the hotel was full and that she could only offer a smoking room with one king bed. Confronting my unhappiness; she further declared that at the hotel they did not care much about the customers booking their rooms at hotels.com or Expedia. My further communication with her was done through hotels.com. Unfortunately; the only thing they have offered was a cancellation of the reservation with no penalty on my part! Thereafter they suggested that I should call them next morning because their system was going down. With little that we could do right away; we took the room and eventually negotiated through hotels.com getting a 2-bed room after 2 nights in the hotel. St Christopher staff did not offer any other remedy to our problem such as a roll-away bed. Throughout our stay; Britney exuded bad mood towards us and; as far as I could tell; towards other customers as well. The second room had 2 beds; but no window.From other less grave issues; the free wireless internet turned out to be wired which can be a problem when 2 people need to work. The breakfast was generally OK but every second morning they ran out of something; such as coffee or spoons; with staff being hard to find or responding after you actually finished your breakfast.The hotel has a very convenient location; next to Canal St. The hotel building is historic; with some of the walls exposed to show the old brickwork. In our first room; the exposed wall had a sizable crack with a gauge put onto it to show whether the crack was growing in size. Fortunately it did not grow since the gauge was put on.
320079,lisaloder,04/08/2008,Not the Best I booked this hotel close to the French Quarter and River for its proximity to our conference site and the fact that we usually stay at and like Best Westerns. Plus; we had 2 nights points to redeem. Even with the free 2 nights; it wasn't too great. To begin with the street was noisy and street noise awoke me at 450 am the first morning even though we were on the 8th floor. Then; we asked for extra pillows 3 times to be told that there weren't any extra pillows! Only 2 pillows per queen size bed and 2 provided had small blood stains. I'm allergic to feathers dust; both of which were plentiful in the only 2 pillows provided for the 2 of us. When I went to blow my noise; I used the only 2-3 tissues stuffed in the top of an empty tissue box in the bathroom. I was happy I had a pillow in the car from our long drive there; so used that the 2nd night.When we needed front desk service; they were generally dealing with an irate customer; on the phone; or in back no where to be seen or called--no bell or sign.Generally; the answer to any of our requests or inquiries was NO; not the yes one normally expects at a hotel with decent service.A variation on the NO them -When I though I'd lost my purse by leaving it in the hotel lobby; I asked the front desk clerk if I left it in the lobby and she said I don't know. No offer of assistance in finding my purse! When my fiance asked about my purse separate from me; the same clerk told him she didn't know anything.For food; we weren't told of the free breakfast upon check-in or given any printed notice of or signs for it anywhere. We found out about the free; mediocre continental breakfast upon leaving the hotel early one morning.Computing--there was no business center/computers to be found. When one business traveler asked if a package had arrived at the front desk for him; he got the same I don't know response we got after inquiring about my lost purse. Thank goodness it was in our room hidden under the bedspread.Taxis--we had to go across the street to the Sheraton to catch one. There was no one at our front desk to call one and the 3 taxi cab services we phoned had busy lines or no answer.Overcharging--we were charged a fee of about $124 for our one night's paid stay when we signed a contract for $89. We asked about this and the clerk said that we should've known $89 was not the correct rate when we made our reservation online. We were so eager to leave; we paid just for the privilege of fleeing without further adieu or argument.Even with the 2 nights free; this BW wasn't worth it.We were glad to leave!
320079,Crumz32,04/07/2008,Great Value; Great Location; Great Times in NOLA... Where else can you get a Brand Name hotel just feet from the French Quarter for 89.00 a night? I'm a 27 y.o. laid back male from NYC who was down there for a bachelor party. We didn't need luxury; nor did we want anywhere that was falling down or gross. All ten people in our group agreed that this hotel was amazing for what we needed. It's location is probably the best part; right across the street from the FQ and just 2 blocks from Harrah's casino. Rooms; although small; were super clean. Bathroom was spotless and check-in was a breeze. Delania at the front desk is one of the sweetest people we encountered down there. In the morning there is a little breakfast area where you can get snacks; coffee; tea; juices; etc. It's the same area where the bar is; although I must say the bar was never open. It's all good as there is a bar or 2 or 16 right down the street! If I had an unlimited budget and I wanted more amenities; I may stay elsewhere but for what we needed; this place was phenomenal. In fact; if I went back with my wife I would probably stay at this hotel. The value and location simply can not be beaten! Any questions; please ask krumblez3244@yahoo.com
320079,Celtress,03/11/2008,A skylight over the bed? We stayed at the St Christopher in New Orleans for about 6 nights back in 2005 after getting a good deal from Hotwire.The hotel has a great location; just a couple blocks off of Canal street so it is easy walking distance to the French Quarter and all the attractions; without having the noise from Bourbon street party goers to keep you awake.The service was fair; a bit below average in friendliness and caring but that may have changed over the past 3 years. The room we had was on the second floor and apparently the building had undergone some remodeling at some point because I don't think the room would have intentionally been designed the way it was. As we entered the room it was like a hallway with the bathroom off to the right and the bedroom straight ahead. In the bedroom were two square pillars at the foot of the bed which seemed very out of place and rather in the way. The biggest problem I had with the room was the first morning when the sun came up it shone directly into the huge skylight in the ceiling directly over the bed! This thing was massive in size and had no shades or covering to block the light. We had to go buy eye masks to wear while sleeping because they were unable to change our room. The room had no other windows; so perhaps they kept the skylight there so you would not feel like you were in a tomb; but they should at least have had some sort of covering on it to prevent a rude awakening every morning. Unless there on business I doubt many visitors to New Orleans rise with the sun each morning....unless you're in that room where you have no choice.Most of the building is a high rise; we just happened to be in a section across the front that was only two stories high. Directly under our room was the bar where they had live entertainment which was easily heard in our room. So; not only could you not go to bed early because of the music; you could not sleep in because of the skylight. And did I mention the loud air conditioning in that room?Sleep was sorely lacking during that trip.No doubt the rest of the hotel has better; friendlier accommodations; we just happened to get stuck with (what I assume is) the worst room in the hotel.The bathroom was nice with tile floor and newer fixtures; but no counter space or shelves to put your things. Pretty; but a poor design for a hotel.This experience has caused me to stop letting Hotwire pick my hotel; I'll pay a higher price to know I won't get stuck in a room like that again. Looking back now we can laugh about the experience of staying there; but at the time it wasn't the least bit amusing. If you plan to stay at the Best Western St Christopher; make sure in advance that you don't get the room with the skylight over the bed.
320079,jpcheer25,02/24/2008,Best Western St. Christopher Rocks! Common area
320079,OuttaHere1953,02/23/2008,Better than rated. We stayed at this hotel for two nights. It is a converted warehouse (or something like that); and there are exposed brick walls on at least one wall in the room. Nice look. Clean rooms. Bathrooms are all new and clean. Pedestal sink and nice; clean tubs/showers. Just a bit of 'good' quirkiness. It's about a hundred feet off Canal; which is a main street; but it seemed quiet enough. Just across Canal is the French Quarter and Bourbon Street no more than a five minute walk (or less). The casino is just a short walk down Canal. You can park your car in front of the hotel and unload; then drive straight down to the first traffic light (about two or three short blocks) and there is an open lot where you can park for $15-$20 per day. when you're ready to leave; just pull the car around the block and park in front of the hotel and load up. They have an okay continental breakfast. The usual. The nice thing is that the coffee machine was on 24 hours; so if you want coffee late at night; it's available in the lobby. The lobby isn't fancy and the front of the hotel isn't going to take your breath away; either; but the room was nice with new bathrooms. Probably the only negative (and it's not huge) was that the carpet in the room could have used a cleaning. I'd recommend this hotel based on my experience. Also; the only other slight negative was that when we first got to the hotel; there was nobody at the front desk and it took about five minutes for anyone to come out of the back room to the front. But; the guy was nice and the girl in the morning was nice; too. So; all in all; not a bad choice.
320079,chungt79,02/15/2008,Decent hotel. Just dont expect customer service. Overall; the hotel is in fairly good condition and defintiely a good value for its price. It also has great location with French Quarter and Herrah's within 2 minutes of walking distance. If you have car; expect to pay $31/day for parking. I do have complaints though. I've been to many hotels over the years but I have never complained about the customer service until I stayed at this hotel. I wont go into details but dont expect any customer service. The check in was horrible as well as the checkout. The people in this hotel are either rude or just incompetent. Be sure to check your bill! Also; I didnt leave any tip one day and I found stack of towels on my bed. I dunno. Maybe the maid was really busy that day. the sheets arent changed each day; as I found hair on my bed. There was also used tissue stuffed the the tissue box as well as something disgusting on the headboard. Anyways; the hotel has good points and bad points and I think the good points outweigh the bad ones overall. But I persoanlly would not pick this hotel as my first choice for sure though.
320079,germaniris,01/27/2008,Very good choice - unless you come by car Nice and clean hotel; friendly staff (well; most of them at least); breakfast OK (cereals; bagels; bread; fruits; yogurt; coffee; juice; eggs; wafers). Amongst the various Best Western hotels I have visited around the world this is one of the better ones. No wireless in the room; but network cable in the room worked fine. Safe was available in room. I guess hotel has been renovated in recent years.The hotel is nicely located in walking distance between the Harrah's casino; river front/river mall; Saks Fifth Avenue small mall attached to it; and - most importantly - the French Quarter. Well - nothing is perfect; though. It is NOT the right place if you come by car! No parking in front of the door (only 2-3 space where you can stop for a moment to disembark your luggage) and absolutely no parking possible around the hotel; also no public parking lot around (there is one for 10$ per day expiring at 7am; no in-out-option - therefore worthless for overnight parking). Your only option is using the hotel's agreement with Valet Parking company; which is dangerously unreliable. I staid 6 nights in the hotel; so I gathered some statistical significance: Whenever I called for my car; I had to wait 20-30 minutes before I got it. But much worse than that; at one instance my car had been burrowed without my knowledge or consent by someone while at the Valet Parking and driven around for about 80-100 miles. I noticed this only because I found trash in the car and that the gas was nearly empty. Took me 2 1/2 hours to file a complain with Valet Parking and talk to the police. Missed my morning business. Settlement with Valet Parking is still pending. Furthermore; hotel charges 25$/night for Valet Parking; even though I understood when I inquired about it before; that it should be 20$. Conclusion: Nice hotel with good value for money. Recommended for comfortable budget travel for people who don't come with their own or rental car. Stay away from the hotel if you come by car. However; I have no idea if the other hotels in the area are any better with respect to parking. Inquire with any hotel you consider whether they use Valet Parking (apparently a nation wide company); if yes; stay away; or their own hotel-owned parking lot.Without the parking issue I would rate it above average maybe even excellent with respect to value for money.
320079,Meggilee,01/17/2008,A Great Hotel My husband and I have stayed in this hotel four or five times. We have always found everything to be clean and the rooms very adequate. It is very convenient to everything. My husband won't stay anywhere else when we go to NOLA!!
320079,michaeljones46,01/14/2008,Good Affordable Hotel close to attractions This is a small hotel but adequate for all business travelers as well as tourists. Just a half block off of Canal Street; it is only a block away from the Casino; two blocks from the river and the Auquarium/IMAX. Across Canal is the French Quarter so those venues are close at hand. Rooms are in very good shape; look very new and bathrooms are well appointed. Only complaint was the water noise when the neighbor was showering; but get that in many hotels. Free Internet access is in all rooms; but you do need to bring an ethernet cable. Wireless is available in the lobby and breakfast area where there is plenty of room. I would certainly chose to stay here again over other hotels I have used in New Orleans due to the well kept hotel and especially the great prices. Location is great for families or business people as it is just a block to several convention hotels.
320079,magkt4iu,01/12/2008,Fine Stay in Best Western Hotel I read mixed reviews before booking this hotel; so I was a little nervous. But it was completely fine! Everything was clean and the hotel staff were very friendly. The valet took a while; but we expected that going into it. The breakfast was your standard continental breakfast; okay but nothing special. I wish I hadn't booked through Orbitz though. It would have been $20/night less if I booked directly through the hotel. But I would stay here again.
320079,arby70,10/13/2007,Comfortable and Super Location! The bathroom was nice
320079,LRast,10/09/2007,Stay somewhere else Very rude hotel staff; rooms were okay but maid service was horrible. They made the bed but didn't leave towels or coffee or soap. I had to call the front desk twice and finally went down there myself. Beds and pillows old and lumpy; do not stay in this hotel if you have allergies! Parking was $28 per day; valet only; and it took them 50 minutes to get our car. No bellmen so you have to find a cart and unload and load your car while being double-parked on the street.
320079,TariTari,09/11/2007,Good Location; Good Rate; Okay Room I spent a lot of time researching rooms in NO. We had only one night to stay and I wanted to optimize our time there. BW St Christopher is located within walking distance to the FQ; Jackson Square and Riverwalk. Check in went smoothly; they allowed us to check in early; around 2pm. We left our rental car in the care of valet parking (for $28; which is the norm in NO. I knew about the charge ahead of time; so I wasn't shocked. The room rate was low enough to make the parking charge acceptable). Our room was an upper floor corner room with exposed brick and a unique shape. It had plenty of space for the 4 of us. The beds were double/fulls; not queens; but they were comfortable.The only drawback to the room was the carpet. It was horribly stained; like a huge sloe gin fizz exploded in several areas of the room. Large red stains were in several places around the room. My 7 year old was a bit freaked out because he thought the large red stain between his side of the bed and the wall was blood (I'm sure it wasn't because it was bright red.) I understand that it was most likely impossible to remove whatever red substance caused the stains; but it made me leary of walking barefoot; and a bit more apt to notice other small things that were less then up-to-par; for example; there were ashes in the toilet (non smoking room) when we arrived; etc. However; overall; the room was otherwise clean and acceptable.The hotel also has what they call a Full American breakfast. It was the standard hotel breakfast fare of pastries and coffee; with the addition of waffles (but no syrup that we could find); packets of oatmeal and grits that you could microwave; hard boiled eggs and a cheese cube tray. Again; for the price; it was very acceptable. The valet returned our car to us in the morning in about 20 minutes after we asked (they say it takes 15). So; overall; I would recommend this hotel because of the good rate (in the mid 60s). If the rate was higher; I'd probably look for a little nicer place to stay; but at the rate we had; the place was an acceptable value.
320079,CDBInc123,05/09/2007,You people are crazy if you hated it! THe best western st christopher was a great value; far superior to most best westerns around the country; and i know its always where my company puts me up. The rooms are average size; and some have nice jacuzzis in them; downside is if you get a jacuzzi you get a mirror instead of a window. IF you get a window you get no jacuzzi; so pick your preference!The people who slam this place need to take a good hard look at themselves and their expectations of hotels. This place kicks butt compared to most hotels in new orleans that arent over 150 dollars. My room was very clean; and the toiletries were nice. The staff wasnt the friendliest; but come on who is at 2am with drunk people waling in??? THe location is EXCELENT!Most importantly the bed was comfortable. The lighting was ok and the amount of mirrors were great. Ice machines ar eonly on every OTHER floor though; so no running to the machine in a robe if your on an even floor. haha! I liked the 100 year old brick also. I will definatly stay here again.PS: IT IS NEXT DOOR TO HARRAHS SO PARK AT THE HARRAS GARAGE; AND PLAY FOR 30 MINUTES AND ITS FREE PARKING...JUST SOME HELPFUL ADVICE.
320079,forkfan22,04/17/2007,Clean; quiet hotel I live in New Orleans and when my family visited during the first week of April; they stayed at this hotel. It fit within their budget and location requirements. The FQ is across the street; Riverwalk is just a few blocks away. It was clean; quiet; and the staff was helpful. The parking situation isn't ideal (your car goes over to the Sheraton garage). The rooms had above average sized bathrooms and the rooms were cleaned every day.I would definitely recommend this hotel to people. It may not have all the New Orleans charm as other hotels; but it's a great deal.
320079,Kjjd4,03/28/2007,It depends on how picky you are... If location is your biggest criteria; then this hotel is hard to beat. It is right off Canal Street with everytthing close by. We chose it because it was within walking distance to the Julia Street Cruise Terminal (12-15 minutes walk/8 easy blocks) if you don't have too much luggage. The French Quarter is across the street.Bourbon Street is three blocks away Harrah's casino is three blocks away.Jackson Square is four blocks away.The Convention center is 9 blocks away.Riverwalk Mall is 4 blocks away.Price was the second draw - about 100 a night - a great price for that area. Now; for the hotel itself. The Lobby/Reception desk is quite upscale - you feel like you are in a nice hotel. Beyond it is a breakfast area (free continental style breakfast) - also well kept and clean. The usual fare is offered in the morning: Bagels; toast; juice; muffins; cereal; coffee; etc.Even the hallways and elevators looked clean and classy. Then we got to our room... Not bad; but not quite 3 stars. The carpets were stained and had gum stuck to them - something you would think the hotel staff would have addressed. Now; granted; it was less than a month after Marti Gras - who knows what kind of partying took place in this room (and the party was still going on when we visited Bourbon Street that evening....not the most attractive part of New Orleans); but come on; take a knife and an ice cube and get the gum out of the carpet! That was the worst of it. The double beds were clean and fine; as were the washrooms. Tub cold use some caulking; but for the most part it was a two and one half star room.I'd stay there again. For the price; it was a great way to make sure our plane flight didn't make us miss our cruise.
320079,CoolMomma,03/01/2007,Not the nicest Best Western This is not a New hotel by any means of the word. It is old and dirty. I will admit I have a high expectation from hotels and was completely disappointed to the point I tried to find another one during this stay. My room was tiny. There is no shelf space in the bathroom. I had to set up the ironing board in the bathroom in order to get ready each day. The curtains were soiled. The bedspread was soiled. The carpet was soiled. It was just dirty and smelled. It was so bad I ran to the local Wal-Greens to get a plug in to endure it. It is minimally staffed and they are not very helpful. It does have wifi but only in the lobby which was misleading. It does have a decent complimentary breakfast and eating area. No onsite restaurant but Rosey's is just a few steps away. It is also just 30 steps from Canal street and a block from the Sheraton. Unless you just need a place to change clothes and not actually rest; I would not stay here. If you just plan to play all night; it would be fine. However; I won't be going back!!
320079,Lemora,01/22/2007,Great! This is a great find - close to everything - and affordable! The room and hotel appear to be newly remodeled. Everything was clean; breakfast was fine; staff was friendly helpful. Parking is expensive but no more so than at any other hotel in the downtown/quarter area. I'll definitely stay again!
320079,tahari99,09/28/2006,Best Western Saint Christopher is great for French Quarter stay... Great location. I walking distance to Bourbon ST. Clean spacious rooms. Attendants were on point. Parking was expensive. Free breakfast but never made it.
320079,jntqnn,09/01/2006,Stellar Hotel! We recently had the pleasure of staying at the St. Christopher Hotel. What an awesome and surprising experience. The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. Our room was very charming and right in place with the New Orleans feel- pedestal sink; huge windows; exposed brick finish; etc. The location of this hotel is within walking distance of everything. It was nice to stay at a hotel where the comfort is superb and the staff really makes you feel special.-J. Quinn---
320079,Hendrix7680,08/24/2006,I Highly Recommend the St. Christopher! After the hurricane; I was a little apprehensive of picking a hotel in New Orleans that would not be surrounded by construction or would itself be under construction. I took a chance on the St. Christopher because it was within the location of our event. I could not be more pleased and appreciative of the staff; the location; the condition and style of the hotel; and of my over all experience. We needed help finding the hotel and the staff was so gracious in making sure we found the hotel. The staff was extremely helpful; nice; and professional. However; the only problem is the parking; you don't have to have valet but I would recommend it because it saves you leaving your car on the street. I would recommend this hotel to anyone planning a nice weekend getaway to New Orleans. We loved this place so much that we are returning to the same hotel; even though it is out of the way of our venue.
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,06/01/2006,Love the St Chris and Staff What a warm and welcoming staff and hotel. If this town just had a hurricane you would not know it by the staffing levels; service and condition of this wonderful hotel. Location is everything and this hotel has it. Next to the casino and aquarium and right dwon the street from Bourbon and the French Quarter. A must stay hotel.
320079,NMBill,05/23/2006,Very satisfied We too stayed at the St. Christopher for JazzFest this year. I wouldn't want one of the rooms without a window. You'd better try to confirm your lodging arrangements for that. Unlike a couple of let down visitors; our stay was a nice as can be. We too arrived early; with car and went in to request luggage storage. We found all staff to be pleasant and efficient. Surprise - they had a room ready at 10 AM - oh so comforting. Twenty eight bucks a day for the car is a city thing. The room was very satisfactory with a very comfortable bed and classy bathroom. We found the staff polite and helpful in all cases. Considering the post-Katrina status; we felt the room rate was very decent for New Orleans during the high-demand JazzFest period. We had no qualms about the breakfast being as advertised. You can eat plenty to offset the need for buying yet another city meal. Certainly would stay here again. We feel they were doing a yeoman job considering the enormity of city problems during this period. We have stayed are various other places in N.O. over the years; some with definite limitations as conversions of 150 year old structures. A very nice experience so convenient yet removed from the hub-bub. Nice place (not utterly high end) and a respectable value.
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,05/22/2006,Worst Hotel Experience We stayed at a great rated hotel called 鈥淭he Best Western Saint Christopher鈥?This had to be a great hotel named after the patron Saint of traveling. . . . . . . WRONG!!!First; we had two double beds in the room. The one that Jessica picked was OK; but the left over bed for us had a broken frame that rocked a little. This is not good for two people to sleep in. So we switchedThen Jessica pulled the bed spread back and got in the bed. She jumped out. The foot of the bed was wet. We pulled back the blanket and there was a 2 foot by 3 foot area of yellowish looking liquid that had saturated the blanket; top sheet; bottom sheet; and mattress. We called the front desk. They said they鈥檇 be right up. In the mean time more stuff happened.While waiting for the front desk; Barb turned down the roaring air conditioning fan running at high speed to a lower speed and it started CLANKING!!! like someone shoved a broom handle into a rotating fan blades.The front desk manager showed up with a change of sheets and blanket. We asked to be moved to another room. She refused; saying that they were all booked up. I didn鈥檛 believe her. Then we asked for a cot and she said that they were all out of cots. Again I didn鈥檛 believe her. Then she said she would take care of us in the morning (another lie) and left. . . . . . . . she left the sheets and blanket in the middle of the floor.So we stripped the bed; flipped the mattress so the wet side was down; made up the bed; turn the air conditioning fan up to HIGH and turned on the TV to drown out the roar.The next morning; I asked for our money back. The same girl from the night before said that she couldn鈥檛 do it as I had already pre paid thru Expdia.com (I thought I was going thru Hotel(-); but I guess Hotel.com is a front end for Expedia(-). She gave me a business card of the guest service manager to call on Monday. I just got off the phone with the Best Western Saint Christopher office phone and they told me that Cheryl Banks; the Guest Services Manager; doesn鈥檛 work for them anymore. No wonder. I wouldn鈥檛 want to work for a business that treats their guest this badly. I鈥檓 waiting for a return call from the General Manager; but from the sound of his voice on his answering machine he sounded like some 19 year old kid.So the lessons learn is:鈥on鈥檛 stay at Best Western鈥on鈥檛 book with Expdia(-)or Hotel(-)
320079,DCPMA,05/14/2006,Worst Western! We booked this hotel; including air; from Boston; for $575 for five nights during Jazz Fest; so it was quite a good deal. We have been to NOLA many times and paid more. This was by far the worst hotel in which we have stayed. Not sure if we got what we paid for or not. Arrived Thurs at 1:30pm. First impression was; a nice facility; and we already knew it was a great location. The desk person was surly; and informed us that check-in wasn't until 3pm (off to a flying start; but this is stated by the hotel listing). Another woman showed us where to leave our bags - in an unlocked room with other luggage. I freshened up a bit; added a hat; etc; and so was in there a good fifteen minutes unattended. Hmmm. Made sure my jewelry was in my carry-on satchel; and off we went. We were somewhat relieved that we knew exactly where to go to kill some time.We returned and kicked off our shoes. The room was really; really small; but nicely appointed. The saga continues. Noticed wet tacky spot (bare feet; mind you) in front of the armoire; and what appeared to be a dry yellow spot next to it 鈥?dog? Well; it's a pet hotel; and although this wasn't too appealing; we are pet owners; and let it go. What's a bit of dog protein? The wet spot took a couple of days to dry out; though.And the rest:Complementary breakfast was a bit Spartan. There is no room/food service at all; and is so noted in by the hotel.Friday's maid left no replacement coffee pack; but at least we knew someone had been there. Saw two maids; Sat Sun. Sat's took the bath towels with a promise to return with new; and never came back. Sun's was very accommodating. Never saw one Monday. Fortunately; my roommate had the foresight to ask for more tp; coffee; etc; previously; or we would have run out.On Sat; my roommate somehow managed to reprogram the safe. Nothing we tried would open it; so she called the desk. After twenty minutes with no help; she went in search of. She found a maintenance man (lovely person; but spoke no English) who was clueless as to how to get into the safe; but he did head out to get a manager; who got it open. We wonder if we'd still be sitting there if someone hadn't gone looking.TV remote only worked consistently if you took the battery slide off the back. Cable channels were extremely limited; with lots of sports and news channels. Also; when you changed channels; the channel info and time stamps were wrong! So don't use that to check the time and station!Handle (screw-in type) fell off the cold water stem. We screwed it back in.Large water leak/stain on the hall carpet; covered with towels at one point. The Sunday maid had us checking out that day instead of Tuesday. When I checked out; there were two additional nights on the bill. I showed Ms. Surly (who was in a better mood that day) my confirmation; and she did take the charges off. And the best yet: I got flea bitten!!! On day three; it started. Just a few here and there; but enough itchy-burny to drive me nuts. My guess is; from the bed; although my travel partner didn't get bitten. I didn't figure it out until day four; and by that time; oh well; we are outta here tomorrow. I came home; dabbed tiger balm on the spots; blasted my luggage and all contents with non-toxic flea spray; and closed everything up. We did wonder about service levels in other hotels; post-Katrina; and we also kind of tolerated all this because we had such a cheap rate. That being said; I would still rename it; The Worst Western. We have decided that when next we go (and we will; New Orleanians really need us to come visit; and thanked us profusely for doing so; and this trip was basically seamless and lots of fun; nonetheless) 鈥?we will spend a bit more. Maybe the Chateua Sonesta again; that ruined us!
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,08/01/2005,Great for college students on a budget!! My boyfriend and I were very satisfied with the hotel for the price we paid. The parking is a little steep; but the overall price was unbeatable. The hotel was very clean and modern. I was a little worried about being on Magazine street; but it was in a very safe and convienient location between the french quarter and the casino. i can't say enough about how clean and new the hotel was compared to some of the ones we have stayed in new orleans. I would definately recommend this to anyone staying in New Orleans on a budget!!!
320079,bridget1221,06/15/2005,a great place to crash A friend and I stayed at this hotel for 5 days in late May; 2005. We were not too sure about the area it being our first trip to NOLA. When we arrived the first day; the people were very nice and got us to our room quick. The hotel is small but clean and everything looked really new and nice. We had booked a room with 1 king bed but got one with 2 instead. The view was of a side street below but we didn't mind. The room was clean especially the bathroom which is always a must in my opinion! Overall; we had a great stay. it wasn't too far to walk to everything. Bourbon was a solid 10 minutes but not too bad if you had too much to drink. We found plenty to do nearby as well (Canal Place; RiverWalk). The breakfast is standard complimentary you'll find anywhere. The only problem we had was that our remote was broken and it didn't bother us enough to tell anyone so it didn't matter much. Although some say don't head to Hueys 24/7 diner next door. We had a late breakfast there and the food was decent but a lil overpriced. It was good to know it was right there if we needed it and they also do the room service @ the hotel; we never tried it though.
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,06/12/2005,Loved this hotel! This is a great hotel in a great location. The room was very spacious and modern with all the amenities and the staff (especially Wade and Kanisha) at the front desk could not do enough for us. The housekeeping staff was very efficient and friendly. Every morning; we had an expanded continental breakfast and there was coffee; tea; and fresh fruit (apples and bananas) all the time. It's only 1 block from the Harrah's Casino and the waterfront with all the Riverwalk shops and 2 blocks from the main French Quarter. Best of all is the price - $59.00 per night! You cannot do better at any price! A great hotel in a great city!
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,06/12/2005,Just So So I've stayed in a few places in NO and this was my least favorite. There are better places out there with better deals if you look for them. Location isn't bad and rooms are decent. That's about it. Staff if not courteous at all. Valet Parking takes forever. Breakfast in the morning isn't worth going to. The selection is very poor and they don't keep it stocked well (one morning they had food but no plates). With the selection out there; choose something else.
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,05/05/2005,Nice Digs! My spouse and I stayed at the BWSC and found it to be very nice. Clean; safe; courteous; etc. Met or exceeded expectations to the degree that I've changed to this location from a previously booked hotel for an upcoming business trip. Staff was top notch.Room size was cozy and the breakfast buffett could be beefed up a bit; but those are nits. Hey; I'm going back!
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,03/24/2005,great value We stayed at the St. Christopher 3/20-23/05 and found it to be a great deal at 59.00 plus tax. The parking was additional (28); but it was still okay. Our car was brought to us (they use a parking garage around the corner) within 20 minutes. Very nice room and the staff was excellent. Breakfast was included and was more than sufficient. My only wish would have been to have a frig. and microwave in the room; but the breakfast room did have one (microwave) you could use; and hot water and coffee were always available. Its located one block off Canal and so close to everything. We would definately go again. For our price it can't be beat.
320079,MPofWS,03/23/2005,Nice; clean; comfortable stay and close to everything Never having visited New Orleans we weren't exactly sure where this hotel was in relation to everything we wanted to do and worried it might not be in the safest location. We only paid $69 a night. It was right on the corner of Canal and Magazine; which is directly across from the French Quarter. The trolley cars stop right in front of the hotel on Canal. We never ventured the opposite way into the Central Business District so I can't say what is in that direction. The lobby; corridors and rooms looked brand new. The room was cozy with exposed bricks and large wooden beams. We had a king size bed. The furnishings were beautiful in the room and throughout the hotel. Nice bathrooms with stone tiled floors. Not much shelf space in the bathroom so try and bring something to hang on the back of the door to hold bathroom items. Housekeeping did a good job. The carpet in our room looked like it had a wine stain; a remnant of a Mardi Gras party no doubt. Continental breakfast is included and is standard fare with muffins and bagels. The coffee was very weak every day and I had to go to the diner next door to get a cup of coffee in the morning. Staff was friendly and helpful. We arrived at 11 a.m. and while we could not check in until 3 p.m. they held our luggage and gave us a claim ticket so we could pick it up later. I had read on this website that someone had a room without a window and afraid the same thing would happen to us. I confirmed when we arrived that morning that our room would have a window.
320079,Stroudz,03/11/2005,Great place to stay! Everyone at the St. Christopher was very nice and our room was always spotless. The only complaint is that room service starts at 8 am! We had a great room on the 8th floor that overlooked the water and we could see Sak's Fifth Ave. and all of the ships going by. It was very peaceful. We were there from 2/23/05 - 2/27/05. The people at the front desk were wonderful and always helpful even on the weekend when it was PACKED with people trying to make reservations. I would definately stay here again since it has the best location of most of the hotels. It is just a quick walk up Canal and you're at the French quarter and Bourbon St. It was very quiet yet so close to everything! Definately try the 24 hour restaurant right next door.
320079,TeenFoodiesMom,03/09/2005,Great location; mediocre hotel We got a great TravelZoo deal---$59 a night. It was definitely worth that; but had we paid a higher price; we would have been disappointed. As others have noted; housekeeping was not up to snuff. We had no towels on arrival and one blood-stained sheet. The window sills had bandaid debris and toothpicks. The coffee area was not cleaned or restocked once during our three day stay; and our bath mat and washcloths were removed and not replaced. The front desk staff were not particularly helpful; especially when we were leaving and needed a cab; they sent our cab off with somebody else and then insisted the driver would be back in time to take us to the airport. (He wasn't.) On the other hand; the rooms are reasonably spacious and attractive; and the location is fantastic.
320079,CarolAnnn,03/05/2005,Great location; good value Stayed at the hotel 2/27-3/4/05- Great location- close to EVERYTHING- One block to Harrah's Casino (stop in- it is VAST). Two blocks to the waterfront- Right off Canal Street- An easy walk into the Quarter. Check the usual websites for good pricing- An adequate breakfast is offered daily- Cold cereals; instant oatmeal; juice; muffins; bagels; waffles; etc. Saves some money for the gourmet places N.O. is famous for- We had a king bed- room was on the 10th floor with a view towards the river. Very nice- Clean- the room pictured on the hotel website is dead on to what we had. Staff was friendly- though we didn't have much interaction with them since everything was taken care of without asking. Definitely recommended if you can get good pricing- Not glitzy; but VERY adequate.. P.S. Skip Huey's directly across the street and; in our opinion; skip Mother's around the corner..
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,03/02/2005,Rooms without windows?!? showReview(3240551; 'full');
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,02/21/2005,I loved it!! showReview(3213924; 'full');
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,01/21/2005,Beware...not what it seems showReview(3022137; 'full');
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,12/04/2004,Very Enjoyable Stay showReview(2863330; 'full');
320079,txtravelbug,09/27/2004,Loved the St Christopher showReview(2603519; 'full');
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,09/17/2004,Top Notch showReview(2581000; 'full');
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,08/27/2004,Great place to stay.. showReview(2497066; 'full');
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,07/06/2004,Second home at St. Christopher showReview(2270794; 'full');
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,07/02/2004,Housekeeping Problems showReview(2264163; 'full');
320079,ATripAdvisorMember,05/26/2004,liked this hotel a lot. showReview(2117928; 'full');
320079,lass,08/28/2008,Tr猫s bon h么tel ;tr猫s bien situ茅 showReview(19634806; 'full');
320079,lass,08/03/2008,g眉nstiges Hotel in super Lage showReview(19634805; 'full');
320079,lass,04/01/2008,W眉rde das Hotel noch einmal buchen showReview(15566083; 'full');
320080,TXTravelPublisher,08/12/2008,Great location and Great Value At first glance; an odd property since you really never see the hotel and enter through the garage with hotel occupying top floors of old office building.I visit New Orleans often and prefer staying near but not in the French Quarter and there are plenty of hotel options that fit this description but for the location and price you will be hard pressed to find a better option than the Hilton Garden Inn.Very pleasant and helpful staff; and extremely well managed property that offers all the amenities of typical Hilton Garden Inn brand including free wireless internet; and breakfast. Parking here is very expensive at $30 a night with seems excessive to me but generally on par with other city garages. Rooms are very clean; and modern but small work out room share the top floor of property adjacent to small rooftop outdoor pool.Location is great only blocks from French Quarter; Poydras; and Canal.
320080,taprennoc,06/30/2008,Great Location and Nice Overall Hotel This was my second stay at this Hilton Garden Inn in the French Quarter. I booked it primarily because of the price (around 90.00) and since I had stayed there once before and I am a Hilton Diamond Member I knew what to expect. The hotel is kind of secluded; so be careful or you will pass right by it on the narrow one way street it is located on. Valet parking only is kind of expensive; although not as much as the Doubletree just a couple of blocks down. Lobby is on the 11th floor; and the rooms are from 12 on up. It strikes me odd that you can do a daily park there as a tourist for 6 to 10 dollars a day; but as a guest it was 28.00; plus tax. But with the low rate I didnt see a reason to complain. Hotel check in was fast and friendly. Room was clean; nice; and quiet with a slight view of the water.Breakfast was good; and as a diamond member it was complimentary. I don't know if I would have paid 10.00 for it. Valet was quick to bring the car down and assisted with luggage. Harrahs Casino is only about a 4 block walk and Canal Street if only about 2 blocks away. I would definitely stay here again if I could get the same low rate; even with the parking feee.
320080,NUCatinTN,06/10/2008,Nice Hotel - Not Quite in French Quarter My family stayed at this hotel when we came to New Orleans for a graduation (got a group rate of $99). The hotel is clean and comfortable. The staff was polite. However; if you try to check in early and they say they will call you when your room is ready; don't believe them. PLEASE NOTE: This hotel is NOT in the French Quarter - it is about 3 or 4 blocks west of Canal Street. It is an advantage because it quiet. It is a disadvantage because there is nothing around. If you want something quick for breakfast; something from Starbucks or an ATM; you'll need to go for a walk unless you want to eat at the in-hotel restaurant; which will charge you an arm and a leg for a bagel and a Coke. Also note that parking is about $25/day - about standard for NOLA.I would stay again but would bring walking shoes.
320080,ABFine,06/05/2008,Good Location / Quiet My wife and I stayed here on May 18th 19th. We pulled into the parking garage and were greeted by the valet who was Ok but not overly cheerful. The man who came for our luggage was very nice and offered us directions and dinner ideas. Check in is on the 11th floor which is weird but I think the first 10 floors are parking. The front desk staff were very welcoming and were more than happy to book a tour for us the following day.Our room was on the 16th floor. It was your standard Hilton Garden room; clean and comfortable.If you turned left as you left the hotel and took a left at the first corner and walked two blocks and crossed Canal St.; you were on Bourbon St. It was a bit of a culture shock at first; my first impression was loud; dirty and seedy. We stopped in a club and listened to some jazz; had a drink and relaxed. We then left Bourbon St. and and walked a few blocks and a strange thing happen; we loved it. We will return to explore more of the city in the future.As for the Hilton Garden; we would not hesitate to return.
320080,flyonblue,05/26/2008,A Strange Neighborhood The Hilton Garden Inn is located on a side street of Canal Street. Though this is very close to the French Quarter itself; the somewhat sketchy walk through these side streets made me wary of staying there alone. Beside its location; the hotel and its staff were wonderful. There was a tendency for loud yelling at 3am in the morning as college-age students returned from their shenanigans on Burbon Street. I would recommend this hotel if you have someone to stay and walk with and if you can get a special deal that includes free parking (it is a 26 dollar fee otherwise).
320080,mtbk,05/23/2008,Nice This is a nice; clean place to stay if you don't want to pay the high price of the French Quarter.We stayed for 6 nights so the fridge and microwave came in handy. The staff could have had better knowledge of the streetcars and a little better at directions but we had maps and were able to get around fine.We ate at the restaurant twice because everything around the hotel closes by 2 pm and we didn't feel like going back into the French Quarter. We both liked our meals but we also had enough sense not to expect a top notch meal. We ordered sandwiches and salads. We had a different waitress both times and thought they were great. My only complaint is the room wasn't cool enough. They did send someone and it got a little cooler. They called a few hours later to make sure we were happy and to see if we needed anything else. I felt it still was a little warm for me to sleep but since I'm from New England and used to cold nights I figured it was more my problem than theirs.
320080,seayou99,04/15/2008,Great Hotel; good location An excellent hotel although the location is a little misleading. The property is actually in the central business district about 1-2 blocks from canal street which is the western edge of the French quarter. I felt safe in this area and it was a bit of a hike to the converntion center; my place of business at the time. The hotel lobby is located on the 12th floor which is a bit odd but it works. The rooms were clean and the buffet breakfast with omlet station is just fine. I would stay there again.
320080,tapebackup,03/17/2008,A not so bad hotel in new orleans I just was in this hotel for a week. Overall; I would say it's an averagely nice place to stay in New Orleans.On the positive side; the rooms are quite big; well equipped and clean. The beds are nice and comfortable. The room had a small fridge as well as a microwave oven (although I used none of them). Also; the hotel is quite conveniently located; very close but not inside the (noisy) French quarter. The staff at the reception was professional and efficient.However; everything was not perfect. First; the internet connection was *amazingly* slow. Both wired and wireless connectivity was available; and both were slow. Moreover; the wireless signal was very weak in most of the room. Food taken at the hotel's restaurant was really average and the restaurant staff was really painfully slow. In summary; this hotel is not extraordinary; but if all you need is a simple place to stay then it's probably a good choice.
320080,RideTheWind,03/13/2008,Mediocre at best I stayed here for two nights for a big concert event in town. Although I had requested a non smoking room; I arrived about 9:30 pm and was informed that no more non-smoking rooms were available. I consequently explained that my booking confirmation said I had reserved one. Not taking much interest in what I had to say however; the girl at the desk remained straight faced; not even offering an apology for not being able to accomodate my request. When I continued to inquire about it; she got an attitude and said that they had been booked for 2 days and You can't touch these rates. Ridiculous! Besides the fact that it wasn't true; what do your rates vs. other hotels have to do with your service? We agreed to do business under certain conditions at a certain price; period.Well; realizing I was fighting a losing battle; I took the smoking room. The room was ok; but the view was awful. Seriously; it was a bright sunny day outside the next day; but the window was always grey because it faced the center of the hotel - which was nothing but other rooms with bad views and no sun because this square hole ran all the way through the hotel to the ground.The room stunk as well. A nasty; overdone airfreshener type smell that hung over the room made me feel nauseous; fortunately however; I was not in the hotel much during my stay.On the positive; the room was clean; the maids were pleasant; and some of the other front desk employees were more helpful. But the bed felt like sandpaper...GIven the variety of hotels in New Orleans; I don't think I would stay here again.
320080,DanielLon,03/02/2008,Good; but don't eat here! OK; now this was my first time in New Orleans so I took a bit of a flyer on the hotel. Location was good; quiet and just off the main Canal St and close to Bourbon St (without the noise) - I don't think in hindsight I would stay anywhere too close to Bourbon...Hotel was clean and easy to find and I would stay there again; price was reasonable at $159 a night however there were a few niggles. Firstly; there is a compulsory $2.50 charge per day for having a safe in your room. C'mon people; be honest - just add it to the total room charge upfront. This is just cheeky.Also; we had problem with never getting shampoo as the cleaning staff couldn't read the labels in English and got the mouthwash confused with shampoo. I know this because we asked them!Finally; whatever you do; do not eat at the 'Great American Grill' their in house restaurant. The food is very very poor; overpriced and the service dreadful. The waiter and waitress had to call over the manager to open our wine because they had never used a corkscrew before!!!! The steak was so over cooked I felt like re-soleing my shoe. No; no; whatever you do go out and eat. Food and service aside I'd stay here again.
320080,misitemd,02/27/2008,Excellent Stay We stayed at this hotel for a weekend in New Orleans. The location is great - a few blocks from Canal and Bourban Streets. We had a corner suite with a king bed. We had lots of windows with great views. The room was very clean! Parking was $26 per day. We would certainly stay at this hotel again in the future.
320080,MayYeah,01/08/2008,Great Deal for New Orleans My wife and I stayed overnight at the HGI CBD/French Quarter on December 30; 2007 and was pleasantly surprised with our accomodations given our rate of $84 plus $26 for parking. The size of our standard king room was exceptionally large by New Orleans standards and comparable to what you find in new construction HGI's around the country. The hotel is a conversion and not very welcoming from the street level entrance which is a parking garage. However; once you reach the lobby via the elevator to the 9th floor; you know you are in an HGI with the exception of a much larger common area than most. I can attest to the earlier reviews that the location is both quiet and convenient. In fact; Harrahs is only four blocks and the French Quarter maybe three. The pool area on the roof provides a nice view of the city and the smallesh fitness center overlooking the terrace is a nice touch. There is very litte wear on this hotel at least on the surface. What a deal for $84 and in New Orleans during peak nights a deal for at least twice that. Oh; did I mention they threw in free breakfast for my wife and I given my Gold Hilton HHonors status?The only problem we experienced was a fussy thermostat that resulted in us waking to a warmer than desired room. After fooling with it a while; things cooled off. Not a big deal to this frequent traveler who has experienced his share of problem temperature controls in hotels costing 3 to 4 times as much.
320080,KGKDH,01/02/2008,Good Hotel This hotel is great for a weekend stay. We had a large; clean room. It is not a luxury hotel but this was fine for us because we were not spending a lot of time in the hotel. There is a great view of the city from the pool at the top of the hotel.I would recommend this for business travelers as well.
320080,David090,12/28/2007,Great Getaway There were lots of good deals in New Orleans but this hotel for $79 a night was the one I chose. My son and I stayed here and had a nice sized room with double queen beds. The hotel is within easy walking distance of most attractions. Free wifi; cookies in the lobby; quiet; it was really nice. The only complaint I had was the pillows.. They were really thin and cheap.
320080,Smart40,11/26/2007,Very Good The Hilton Garden Inn on Gravier was a life saver for me and my family. During the Bayou Classic I had to find a place to stay after arriving a another very disappointing hotel; I called the Hilton and they were able to accomodate us. Check in was quick and very courteous. I felt very secure with my children because you have to have key card entrance to the floors. The rooms were immaculate. I could say so much more; but to sum it all up I was very pleased and would stay here again.
320080,PatriciaF,10/22/2007,Another Great Stay at Hilton Garden Inn This was our second stay at this hotel. The first time was Mardi Gras 2005. The location is conveniently located to the French Quarter--two blocks from Canal St and 1/2 block from Carondelet which becomes Bourbon across Canal.Rooms are a good size. Very clean. Very quiet. Beautiful view of New Orleans from the roof patio/pool area.Only downside is that the restaurants across the street from the hotel are not open during the weekend as this area is the business district. There is a restaurant in the hotel open for breakfast and lunch. We used it for breakfast the last visit and it was fine. Service was a little slow.For those thinking of coming to Mardi Gras 2008; remember that Canal St is usually closed due to the parades. If you are staying in the quarter; your cab will have to drop you off at Canal St and you will have to drag your luggage across the street to the many hotels. While it might be fun staying in the quarter if you are on 24 hour party mode; its much quieter at the HIlton Garden Inn.
320080,travelinillinois,08/14/2007,Great stay at the Garden Inn I recently stayed here over the weekend with my teenage son and adult niece. Good location - only a few blocks walk to the heart of Bourbon street. We got a great rate when we booked on the website. The rooms are large - there was plenty of space for the 3 of us. Beds are very comfortable. The entire hotel - lobby; hallways and rooms were all clean - looked almost new. It was so quiet it was hard to tell if there were other guests on our floor. Housekeeping was great - you couldn't tell they were on the floor until you saw their cart. We went out on Saturday a.m. and when we returned; in addition to cleaning our room houskeeping had neatly lined our shoes along the wall; placed our toothbrushes in a glass and organized our toiletries on the bathroom counter. We did eat breakfast at the grill there - buffet is $10.95 - and they make omelets; pancakes; french toast; etc. to order. The staff there is very friendly and attentive. Also this is one of very few hotels there that offer free high speed internet in the room. I would recommend this hotel for a great stay that is close enough but not in the Quarter.
320080,Hortkie,05/10/2007,Nice Stay during Jazzfest Hotel is a nice quiet almost hidden gem. Stayed here for 2nd weekend of jazzfest. Easy walk to Harrahs; stinky bourbon st.; plenty of cabs drive by; friendly staff; nice free breakfast (diamond hhonors benny) ; room always made up nice when I returned; small pool but had it all for rmyself - just right. Small little bar for a quick drink and good bartender. I'd stay here again.
320080,CoffeeMan07,04/24/2007,Back in New Orleans I visit New Orleans often and when I do I usually stay at a Hilton property being that I'm a HHonors Member. This was my first visit to this particular property. Check -In was fine. Breakfast was outstanding. Lunch was just as good. I especially enjoyed the Ribeye Steak. There were some problems with my room. Fridge was unstable. Room not very Clean. No safe in room. No remote for TV. Parking at this Hotel is just plain horrible. Valet takes forever and Self Parking is almost impossible with any vehicle larger than a ford taurus.
320080,intlrealist,04/13/2007,Great Hotel! We choose the Hilton Garden Inn as our pre-cruise hotel. Everything about the hotel was to our liking. Check-in was a breeze; the rooms were clean and spacious. Internet was free. And; of course; the hotel was a short walk from the French Quarter and the Riverfront. My only disappointment with the hotel was the fact that the fitness facility was small and many of the machines were broken and the outdoor heated pool was filled with dirt and debris. Other than that the hotel was great and we will definitely be staying here again!
320080,DAP05,04/09/2007,Very Pleased! We recently stayed at this hotel located only 2 blocks from Canal St. and the French Quarter. We were very pleased with the accomodations. Housekeeping; front desk; valet; and other hotel staff were very friendly and always offered assistance. The hotel breakfast was good as well; which included eggs to order; waffles; pastries; biscuits; grits; sausage; bacon; yogurt and other yummy items. The rooms included microwaves and refrigerators which definitely came in handy with children. There was FREE wireless internet and the lobby on the 11th floor was very comfortable and inviting. The hotel is located in an office building in the CBD of New Orleans. We were able to walk to the French Quarter in 5 min. The hotel is also walking distance to other attractions such as the Aquarium; Harrah's Casino; and the free ferry to go over to Algiers to the Blaine Kern Museum. And the price for only $80 per nite from the hotel's website. Add another $11 and you can get the Life's Getaway package which included breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children.We will definitely stay again at this hotel when we visit New Orleans. Great for families and kids.
320080,christopherh,03/08/2007,nice place to stay A great place to stay. Rooms very clean and were well equipped.The breakfast was done very well and the dining room was clean and everyone was very friendly. The bartender was helpful with information and places to dine. We would definitely stay again.
320080,FunTrvlCpl,02/20/2007,Great location and hotel Stayed here during Mardi Gras; enjoyed being only a couple of blocks away from the quarter. Close to the action and parades; but without the crazyness.Good breakfast; soft beds and a nice size room.
320080,SilverSpringer,02/15/2007,Great Location and Value near the French Quarter I am a fan of Hilton Garden Inns; the moderately priced but nicely appointed member of the Hilton family. I have stayed a number of times at this particular hotel as my husband stays here for his business trips and I often join him. From the outside; this hotel does not immediately attract you as the lobby is located on the 11th floor of the building; above a parking garage. But once you get into the hotel; it is very welcoming. The staff are some of the friendliest and most accomodating I have come across. Hilton Garden Inn rooms are nicely appointed and have a microwave; refrigerator and a coffee maker. The rooms are good size and the hotel has a rooftop outdoor heated pool with great views and a nice but small gym. The lobby has a very welcoming and comfortable lounge area as well as a business center with complimentary computer; printer and supplies. Wireless internet is available free in the lobby and free; wired internet is available in rooms. As Hilton diamonds; we received a free breakfast buffet--purchased separately this nice all you can eat buffet with made to order eggs and all the fixings including juice and coffee is $10.95. But what really makes this a standout is the great location at a reasonable price. You can often get a room at a AAA or AARP price or $99-$139 depending on time of year (major events excepted). Last weekend we were there for the pre-Mardi Gras parades that start three weeks before the actual day. We were only two blocks from the parade route and three blocks from Canal St and the beginning of the French Quarter. New Orleans is a great city for walking and there is lots to do. Be sure to visit the Louisiana tourist information center on St Ann Street in the French Quarter and also take advantage of the free 90 min French Quarter walking tour that starts at the Jean Lafitte National Park Service center on Decatur (tickets given at 9 am to first 25 people). I love the ambiance; people; music and food of NOLA and I look forward to many more trips and stays at the Hilton Garden Inn.
320080,TravelingLady2004,01/29/2007,Comfortable Stay I visited the Hilton Garden located on Gravier Street. The location is good especially if you want to walk to Harrah's.It is maybe four blocks down from the hotel. Once there you can also visit the Canal Place shopping center. This is a upscale center with a lots of name brand designers. The convention center is not far from this point. In the opposite direction you can walk to the French Quarters. Gravier is a narrow street but cars can get through.My room was plesant; Hilton had not gotten to this hotel to upgrade the bedding; which is what I enjoyed at previous Hilton hotels stays. The staff said they were working on it. Breakfast and lunch are served at the hotel. There are places you can walk for dinner; especially on weekends.The lobby is located on the 11th floor. This hotel is in the CBD/French Quarters so there is a fee for parking your car. I did not have a car but noticed there was a valet parking cars.Now to the staff; my pet peeve. They front desk was very helpful. There was not a request they did not answer with great customer care skills. I would stay here again.
320080,MemphisWinelover,01/26/2007,Wonderful hotel We stayed here for New years this year. We booked the room only a month before the trip. We were able to get a pretty good rate at $129 a night. None of us were complaining at the price and such last minute notice for New Year's weekend.It is on a side street that the cab driver didn't know for sure where it was but once he found it we were good. It was pouring down rain when we got to NOLA but fortunately there was a covered area to pull up into so we didn't have to get any wetter than we were.The check-in is on the 11th floor but it really didn't take long to get to the floor. Check-in was quick and efficient. The staff was very helpful.We had some difficulty using the key in the elevator but I think that was more user error than any fault of the hotel. The room was very clean and very spacious. There were 4 of us staying in the room and had plenty of space. There was a microwave and refrigerator in the room. The view wasn't that great but we weren't there for the view.It was pretty quiet too. The staff was really good about giving us a late check out since our train didn't leave until close to 2p. It was within three blocks of Bourbon street. Everything was pretty much within walking distance. In fact; we ended up walking back to the train station on that Monday. However; I would not walk back to hotel by yourself if you are a woman. I'm a pretty confident woman but my friend and I were a little nervous coming back from Emeril's on some of the side streets and we had a guy with us. Too many dark doorways from where businesses haven't come back. Stick to main streets and groups and you will be fine.Overall; I would stay at this hotel again and again.
320080,tocanada2,01/22/2007,Great hotel View of the river from Room 1526
320080,4girlsandaGuy,01/18/2007,Quiet; yet close to it ALL My wife and I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn on Gravier St. for the the Saints playoff game against the Eagles on Saturday 1/13/07. Being from the area (Marrero; La.) and not wanting to drive home after the game; we decided to find a room in a SAFE area close to the Dome AND near the French Quarter (You know...in case we won; we did). We found it here. Roughly 4-5 blocks from the Dome and 4 blocks to the heart of the Quarter. It was ideal. Valet parked our car WITH the ability to go in or out as we pleased for $20 (not bad; especialy on a game day). Lobby is on the 11th floor. Checked in quickly and went up to the room. Average room. Clean; king-size bed; dorm sized reffer; microwave; view of the growing crowd at the Super Dome blah blah blah. Staff VERY friendly. Above average buffet-style breakfast in the AM. Every breakfast food imaginable available. Eggs oatmeal grits waffles muffins cereal and so on. $11 good deal. If you're looking for something in a decent neighborhood;quiet enough to get some sleep when you're ready to; and yet close to the action... this is it. Will stay here again when the need arises.
320080,dougw246,01/05/2007,Excellent Hotel; Great Location We were in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. The Hilton Garden is located 2 short blocks for the end of Bourbon St. It is also only 10 minute walk from the Superdome. It is close enough to put you in the middle of the excitement quickly; but far enough away for a quiet room. We never had any concern walking to the hotel no matter what time of night. The rooms are spacious and clean. The staff was friendly and helpful. It is a very good hotel for the money.
320080,ccapps,12/13/2006,Mardi Gras w/out the cost Bourbon street and the Skyline
320080,greeley12,10/10/2006,Refused to refund deposit I made a four-night reservation on October 10 for a stay from Oct. 12-16. I was told I had until Wedenesday Oct. 11 to cancel. I tried to cancel on Oct. 10 and was told I would not be given a refund.
320080,HJFHJS,10/06/2006,Very Quiet Spent one night in early October in this hotel. No on site dinner restaurant but they do offer breakfast and lunch. Rooms are large and the quietest I have ever slept in. Located only two blocks from the Canal street end of Bourdon Street; it has great access to the French Quarter; without being on top of all the noise.
320080,bactman,09/13/2006,Good place to stay for business Stayed at the hotel several times following Hurricane Katrina; and was probably one of the best properties downtown. The rooms were more than adequate in size and the beds comfortable. The staff was pleasant to work with; and more than accomodating to any needs or questions.Notes:-Lobby is on an upper floor (11th; I believe). Made waiting for elevators; especially at night somewhat of an adventure.-The hotel is about 4-5 blocks away from Canal Street and the mess that is Bourbon Street. If you are looking for a quiet night away from revelers; this is a pretty good option. The only problem is that all of the bars and resteraunts are in the Quarter. -The breakfast is food. Nothing special or different over a 1 month period. -No mold was observed in the guest rooms; but a small spot was see on a hallway ceiling. The staff knew about it but could not find the source of water. Nice to see a staff that knows about mold (for once).Overall: I would definetly stay there again for business; but maybe not for adventure.
320080,heavybuddy,08/21/2006,Excellent choice Let's get the hotel review out of the way first. This Hilton is located on the top floors of a mixed use building in the CBD but only a 5 min walk from Bourbon St. It's one of several old office buildings that have been reborn as hotels for (mainly) business and convention travellers. Our room was well done with nice decor; extremely comfortable beds; a small fridge; and extra sound-proofing. Heard nothing from fellow guests or from outside the whole time. Service was friendly and efficient. They dinged me $20 for parking but the room rate was so low it was still a great deal. The rooftop pool was small but offered a great view of the city; at least what's left of it. Which brings me to my comments on the city of New Orleans itself. A visit here in 2006 is a very sad experience; probably alot like a visit to Berlin immediately after WWII. Yes the French Quarter is up and running; you can get a Hurricane at Pat Obriens and an outstanding poboy at Mothers; but much of the city is basically a disaster area. And the saddest part is--nobody seems to care. Here and there you'll see some clean-up and rebuilding going on but not much. On Bourbon Street; where on previous trips it seemed that the food and the music were the primary focus; now the strip clubs dominate; and the party atmosphere is gone. God bless those that have stayed on and are dedicated to restoring the city to its former glory.
320080,Travelinto25Cities,07/25/2006,Very good place to stay This hotel is a very nice place to stay. The rooms and common areas are well kept and clean. The hotel occupies floors 11-18 of what appears to be a mixed use building. The pool (oversized bathtub) is on the roof along with the gym. The roof area is an open area that provides a nice view of the city. I believe that the free wireless access is available on the roof so you can surf outside and watch the city. The hotel has an eating area and what appears to be a bar. Both have limited hours and the breakfast was fair but I opted to go across the street to Steve's for breakfast on day 2. It is a little walk to the Quarter or to the Riverwalk area. Overall; a fine place to stay and they are in much better condition than most of the hotels in the city. I will definately stay there again. There also is a nice little pantry area adjacent to the front desk for a few little munchies and drinks when the crave hits. Wireless access was fine but slow so switched to the wall outlet which was fine until the whole connection went down. It came back up and the speed was much improved.
320080,tubabu,07/05/2006,Proper and correct; but The hotel was proper and correct. My room was spacious; clean; quiet; and comfortable; although not as close to the French Quarter as the name implies. Three blocks away is still three blocks. But the hotel could have done better. When I was there (June; 2006) many other hotels were offering to their customers; who were attending the first large convention to return to NOLA; such emoluments as: free breakfastss; free dinners; free WiFi service; free glasses of wine; free non-alcoholic service at the bar; etc. They were meant to impress; and they did. Compared to other hotels; including the Hilton Garden Inn on St. Peters; which offered a colleague complimentary breakfasts for the duration of his 6-day stay and free non-alcoholic beverages at the bar; and an Embassy Suites; which offered another colleague a free 1/2 bottle of wine in the evening; this hotel was downright abstemious. All that we got were free USA Todays plus toll house cookies and lemonade at the end of the day. To be sure; when I asked the manager about some of these differences in service; he agreed to comp me breakfast for 4 days. I thought that offer should have been made to all clients at the time they checked in.At the same time; food service at the hotel (during this first post-Katrina convention) was decidedly inferior. The hotel has a small kitchen; which serves only breakfasts and lunches. With the exception of omlets; much of the food appears to have been prepared elsewhere and delivered to the hotel and is only mediocre. Unfortunately that includes the morning coffee. Curiously; it was worse -- less tasty -- than such places as Dunkin Donuts or even my favorite diner. Croissant; typically mediocre everywhere outside of France; had the correct shape; but tasted like Porter House rolls. And my Egg Beater omlet with onions; mushrooms; peppers; and ham never got beyond the look of scrambled eggs with all those things mixed in. At least it tasted OK; and by the 4th day they'd followed through on my request to cut back on butter. I had but one lunch; and it was adequate: a pre-made tuna wrap.The hotel boasts of having an outdoor pool. It does; it's on the 18th floor overlooking much of the city. At about 9' x 15' it's about the same size as some large closets I've seen and therefore not really much good for anything other than some kind of baptismal dip. The fitness center with the standard treadmills and stationary bicycles was adequate.Staff was helpful and considerate; which travelers expect often to their disappointment. I was not disappointed. In keeping with the city-wide campaign to make everyone want to come back; staff was friendly and efficient; proper and correct.In sum; the hotel made my stay comfortable. Nothing remarkable or memorable; just proper and correct.
320080,buoybelle,06/16/2006,What is considered the "French Quarter"? The hotel is lovely. However; it is QUITE a few blocks from the French Quarter which could be a problem late at night after visiting Bourbon Street. Overall; I prefer hotels on the other side of Canal Street; closer to the Quarter.
320080,ATripAdvisorMember,06/14/2006,Great Service Based on previous reviews I chose the Hilton Garden Inn French Quarter to block rooms for family/friends for my wedding which was at the end of May. I looked at the rooms prior to my decision and found them to be better than average and were very spacious. The group sales rep; Esther; went out of her way to work with me and was very understanding as I changed the amount of rooms needed several times. I was also able to get a great deal considering it was Memorial day weekend and I am pretty sure this hotel offers great prices even without the group rate.Most of the guests were able to make their reservations without any trouble and I wasnt made aware of any problems with anyone's room or check in/out service. In fact; my friends/family went on about how nice all of the staff were and had a wonderful time. The location of this hotel is very unassuming and can be a little difficult to find; however; it is a very convenient location to both the casino side and french quarter. I did not officially stay at the hotel; but as the person who blocked off approx. 20 rooms for 2 nights; I did not hear anything but positive remarks and wanted to show appreciation to the hotel and group sales staff for easing part of my wedding planning stress.
320080,Topdown1999,05/18/2006,Good value and quiet rooms We visit New Orleans each May. This was our first stay at the Hilton Garden Inn and it won't be the last. The staff was very friendly. The room was large by New Orleans standards and was in great shape. It was cleaned completely each day. The room had a mini fridge; microwave; coffee maker; iron; ironing board; and free high speed internet access. Though the hotel was fully booked; we did not hear a sound in our room and there was never a delay for an elevator. A small; but nice pool is located on the roof. The French Quarter is only a block and a half away. If this hotel were in the Quarter; you'd pay twice as much; so a short walk did not bother us. A room key is required to take the elevator to any floor except the lobby. We never felt unsafe. There was no evidence of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
320080,ATripAdvisorMember,03/03/2006,Post Katrina With extreme trepidation we attended our first Mardi Gras. The Hilton Garden was an excellant choice for our stay. The rooms are spacious and comfortable; everything works! Close to the parade routes on St. Charles; only a few blocks from the French Quarter; and a 10 minute walk to the Casino. The in house breakfast is a hearty buffet of eggs; meat; home fries; and of course grits. They make a terrific omlet too! The rates were very reasonable; we paid $100+ less than comparable hotels. Book early! This may sound like a commercial; but we were very pleased. Drawbacks? There is NO curb appeal; the front door spills out onto narrow Gravier street; there are some empty store fronts across the street due to the hurricane. There is a convieniece store 50ft from the door open 24 hrs. and has GREAT fried chicken cold beer. VERY satisfied.
320080,ATripAdvisorMember,12/28/2005,Wonderful place This place was absolutely wonderful. The rate was much less than other neighoring establishments and I got a great room too! The Internet connection was lightning quick; the beds were so soft; and the bathroom made it feel like home. Also; it is within easy walking distance to the French Quarter. I stayed here two weeks before Katrina hit; so I hope it's still in the great condition it was before the hurricane.
320080,ATripAdvisorMember,10/27/2005,Wonderful Room/Wonderful Service I stayed two nights at this location (8/6 - 8/7) before leaving on a cruise. This was right before Hurricane Katrina. I don't know when the hotel will be open again-they aren't taking reservations right now. But when it opens again I would recommend it highly. Our stay there was a delight. Our room was beautiful with excellent amenities. The front desk staff were professional; helpful and very friendly. When our air conditioner malfunctioned the hotel engineer tried to fix it and when he couldn't we were immediately moved to a mini-suite. When we checked out the parking valet gave us his cell phone number in case we got lost on the way to the cruise dock. The view from the pool deck on the roof couldn't be beat. I hope that everyone connected with the hotel is safe and that this Hilton will be back in business soon.
320080,lccalifornia,08/11/2005,Great Hotel!!! I had searched the Internet; reviewing comments from Trip Advisor on different hotels in the New Orleans area for our recent trip from July 29; 2005 to August 3; 2005.I had actually booked another hotel; however; they was putting us in a smoking room for one night of our stay. This made me very uneasy because I am allergic to smoke!And; I ran upon the Hilton Garden Inn and read all the positive comments and booked it instead.This is a great hotel!! It is very clean and the reception area is very welcoming. We arrived on Firiday night. When the elevator opened on the 11th floor; it was so refreshing!The receptionist and front desk persons were very pleasant and they had a tray of cookies to welcome you.The rooms are large. I was a little worried because we had a king size bed (that was all they had when we made our reservations); but it was very very big and I did not brother my husband by tossing.The bathroom was very clean.You can easily walk to the French Quarter and places to eat.We rented a car( we had appointments) and decided to use the parking at the hotel $20 per day for convenience.The driving in New Orleans is very easy. The signs on the freeway are in large letters. For example; if the directions to get off on 239 B; the signs are well labeled. We did not have any problems getting to our various appointments.The staff at the Hilton Garden Inn very friendly; helpful and willing to give you assistance.I will stay at this hotel the next time I am in New Orleans!
320080,ATripAdvisorMember,08/06/2005,Loved this hotel We stayed at this hotel for a conference that was being held at the convention center. I was so impressed with the cleanliness and kindness of the hotel staff. It was very close to Burbon Street; within walking. If you wanted to go to other places in New Orleans; the friendly staff always called me a cab. It was also very quiet. When I was in the room; I couldn't hear anything going on in the hallway. I had a very nice stay for a very good price. I would stay here again.
320080,DUpton,07/21/2005,Great place to stay! Bourbon Street from Hotel Roof
320080,shadow2x,06/20/2005,Excellent Comfort; Excellent Location; Great Value More photos
320080,travelingmomma,06/14/2005,Great hotel for the money Just opened in Sept. 04. Great overall; including the restaurant (open for breakfast and lunch). A block and a half from Bourbon (around the corner from the Hampton) - safe; even at night for 2 women. However; as in any city; keep your eyes open; and stay alert.Beautiful; spacious room (no view); loved the rooftop pool (though small) with a great city view. They have a small bar in the lobby (which is on the 11th floor - parking garage is underneath) and a fitness center. There are also some nice; reasonable places to eat within a block (if you're in a hurry and tired of the overpriced places in the Quarter).Be aware that parking is $20 a day (and there are multiple taxes on EVERYTHING). Also be aware: there is a penalty fee if you leave earlier than what you had reserved. We got in one night earlier (and actually paid $20 less for that night) and had to leave a night earlier than we planned (and found out later that they had billed us for a penalty fee - the price of the room - for our early departure). When I called to complain; the Weekend Mgr. said that it described the early departure fee on the registration form I had signed (which of course no one had pointed out either when we checked in or out). I would say the biggest problem we had was with the Registration desk and some of the mix-ups that occurred; including not getting our room cleaned the first day; and not showing that we had checked out. Just check everything carefully (checking in and out); so you won't have any surprises.
320080,frequenttraveler342,05/07/2005,Underpriced and a Great Great place to stay in NO I was in town for a convention and all the official convention hotels were filled up. I found a rate of $79/night for this hotel and decided to try it; knowing very well that $79 is likely to purchase nothing more than mediocrity.I was pleasantly surprised. The service is outstanding (and their staff are very very courteous and knowledgable - beyond what you would expect for a hotel of this price). Customer service is very responsive. For example; when I checked into my room; the air conditioning was not working. I called down and they said engineering will be right up. Not expecting them to come for at least a half hour (or more; like most major hotels); I was getting ready to take a shower. They knocked on my door within 5 minutes of my getting of the phone with the front desk. The front desk staff gave me a new room and provided a bellman within 3 minutes to move my stuff to another room.Now; I would certainly expect this from a corporate or luxury hotel (and they often don't even deliver). I was very surprised to get this type of service from a Hilton Garden Inn at such a low price.The rooftop pool is about the size of a 2 king beds side to side. Still; the rooftop pool and deck ofter a fabulous view of the city and river.The hotel is 2 blocks from Bourbon Street; yet in a safe and remarkably quiet area that is free of straggling drunkards at 2 am.The rooms were nice and adequately furnished - free 10baseT T1 internet connection (with free copying; printing and faxing from the business center). Beds come as one king or two fulls. Rooms are large. There is a separate disk. The room was tidy and the room service was more meticulous than what I've experienced at places like the Four Seasons and Ritz.The limitation of the hotel is that it lacks opulence or charm. While the rooms are tidy and nice; the quality of the fixtures and trim is adeuate. For example; there is grouted tile on the floor of the bathroom and no marble. The window fixtures are a very ugly industrial steel. The hotel is in a corporate building; with the hotel lobby is on the 11th floor (although it does have a bad; lounge; and restaurant.). That's why it is a Hilton Gardenn Inn.So; if you're looking for an inexpensive place to stay for a few days; then I would recommend this. It is definitely underpriced for the value and I would say that it's a great deal for your money and you are certainly not taking any risks by budgeting down to this hotel. Choose this over a boutique hotel. Spend the money that you save by staying here on the good life in New Orleans.
320080,islandexplorer,05/03/2005,Great value and location Just a couple block from Bourbon Street and all the French Quarter activities; this hotel is a great value. Staff is very friendly and helpful. Room was more than adequate - large; clean; and with all the amenities you would need. Would definitely recommend it.
320080,ingleberg,04/12/2005,Exceeded my expectations Standard King Room
320080,SUKI04,04/07/2005,You Will Love Staying at the Hilton Garden Inn showReview(3342895; 'full');
320080,TravelGrrlNY,04/02/2005,Awesome! showReview(3322731; 'full');
320080,JoanneF,03/29/2005,Great Place - Highly Recommended !! showReview(3309069; 'full');
320080,kenpovegas,03/15/2005,Excellent stay!!! showReview(3274418; 'full');
320080,UsaTravelinman,03/13/2005,Great Hotel/Great Location showReview(3270751; 'full');
320080,ATripAdvisorMember,02/15/2005,A perfect place to stay showReview(3186756; 'full');
320080,ATripAdvisorMember,02/13/2005,My new place to stay in N.O. showReview(3183393; 'full');
320080,PatfrmCA,02/03/2005,Great Location for Mardi Gras showReview(3117164; 'full');
320080,ohiodude,11/30/2004,Good location; good value showReview(2855809; 'full');
320080,mogul,11/19/2004,Convenient to convention center showReview(2835906; 'full');
320488,BrianNapier,01/03/2009,Noisy and Pretentious We stayed here for two nights during a tour of Italy/France. I have to say that this was the least favourite of all of the hotels we stayed in. Firstly; our room was across the road from the main train station and I was woken several times at all hours by the numerous trains leaving/arriving; despite having a set of earplugs! The walls were wafer thin and we could clearly hear our neighbours conversations; or them using the bathroom. We laughed at the hotel brochure; which boasted 'Soundproofed Rooms'.
320488,Kluntjes2008,12/12/2008,Know your timetable? This hotel is closed to the main station of Florence. A main road passes the main entrance of the hotel.The hotel was modernized only some years ago. Stylish appearance. Main problem was the noise due to the station (you can see trains arrive). Also noise from neighbor rooms was terrible. The room was extremely hot due to a deregulation of the heater which was active day and night.Avoid coffee maschine at breakfast; ask for cappuchino at the bar.Friendly people.
320488,LeAnnMcDouglas,11/28/2008,Summer Holiday Florence itself is in my opinion not an impressive city. There is a lot to do; but it's not one of those places you find unbelievable.The hotel is nice; kind of far from the center or the airport. It is built in a minimalist stly mostly balck and white. Th e numebr of staff is very low; but they are helpful.The rooms are clean; include all the facilities you would expect froma 3 star hotel.The only thing that I really disliked was the food. The breakfast is terrble.
320488,Leenie58,10/14/2008,Not a Masterpiece Myself and two friends stayed at this hotel for two nights. The rooms and bathroom are spotless as well as the rest of hotel! However; the noise of the trains and the announcements from the train station would make it difficult for any light sleeper. I booked two rooms in advanced and although they were on the same floor they were not too near each other when I asked the staff if we could rectify this they said there were no rooms. But in general the staff were very accommodating; The breakfast was fine and the breakfast room fully of light and the breakfast bar gave a view of the outside fountain which was very relaxing to look at. The hotel is extremely close to train station and all sites are walkable. I would not book again but only because of the noise of the train station.
320488,Peterobina,10/13/2008,Great value hotel This hotel is a short walk from the station with quiet rooms which are modern and spacious. the buffet breakfast is certainly above average and the reception is friendly and helpful. You will not be disappointed in your stay at this hotel.
320488,kevinl1,10/12/2008,a good hotel for Florence The hotel is near the main railway station so there is some train noise. It is very modern and has air conditioning throughout!! The week we were there in mid June it reached 38C !!!Usual continental breakfast and dinner was only OK. but 8 minutes walk away are some good restaurants.The bedroom was clean and tidy with safe and fridge. It is a 10 minute walk to the city centre. A good place to stay.
320488,cacmiami,10/10/2008,Nothing to excited about. Room
320488,Intelins,10/10/2008,Great Hotel! surprisingly good! Friendly! Great Cityhotel! This is surely a very modern; sober and great city hotel. The prices are totally ok; and the rooms are spacious and have amazing bathrooms!Although in the vicinity of the railwaystation the Hotel is really quiet and beautiful.The hotel just has a special little something that makes your stay so pleasant!The staff is very attentive and friendly. All in all a perfect stay I was there shortly before Christmas 2006. It was a great trip!If I go to Florence again i will definately go again to the Da Vinci!
320488,peggyggg,10/09/2008,surprisingly good Surprisingly goodBecause we were traveling by train; I wanted a hotel within walking distance. This was a concern because these are often the oldest and least desirable hotelsThis room was clean; cleverly designed to maximize space; and very quiet with the windows closed (a must since you either face a busy street or the train tracks)The Internet service was free in the lobby with my ipod. the breakfast very good and generous in a happy location. The staff was particularly helpful a contrast to the stuffy old concierge guys at the high end hotels.Its location was further from the central part of town than I expected but it was only a 10 minute walk to the main square or 15 minutes to the dumo.
320488,roxu18,08/09/2008,Great hotel; but not so great location The hotel is very modern; with an air of trendiness; the furniture is new and very nice; the bathroom is large; well equiped and the entire place is clean and shiny. On the other hand; some things are a little kitchy; like the linoleum on the hallway and in the room (first I thought it's parquet); the breakfast is really poor; the parking a little too expensive (15 euros a day) and the glass door from the bathroom annoying.The hotel is near the train station; but the trains were far less bothering than the people in the next room. Unfortunately you can hear everything through the walls. It takes about 15 minutes to the center.
320488,ileus,05/12/2008,Nice hotel! Very very nice Hotel!My husband and I stayed at the hotel in summer/06; it was very clean; new blankets and furnitures; good breakfast in the morning with iogurt; fruits; sort of breads; good shower and towers; near the train station SMN and the bus station to San Gimignano/Siena.I will stay there again! Sueli
320488,anxioustrip,02/29/2008,LOVE LOVE LOVED IT! The hotel was AMAZING. It was very simple and clean; from the lobby to the rooms. MY family and I booked two rooms that were both on the top floors each with doors to the front balcony which was AMAZING! We had a great view and I could go to the other room just by using the big balcony instead of leaving the room and knocking on their door....i could just knock on their balcony door. The rooms smelled clean and fresh. Mine smelled like lavender perfume which was really nice. The bathrooms as well was modern and very very clean. All the tourist spots were walking distance; as well as the bus and train station. The TV was small; but almost all the TV's in hotels in Europe were tiny and the bed wasnt the softest but the breakfast was REALLY GOOD. This place is wonderful and definitely a good price for what you will be getting!
320488,annieChichester,02/19/2008,Great hotel close to train/bus station; easy to access other areas of Tuscany Went with group of 40 students (age range from 19-60) very clean; modern hotel. Staff were exceedingly helpful and welcoming. Room for 3 adults was spacious and comfortable; needed to keep windows closed as our room was on the main road so could be very noisy. Location was about 15 mins walk to main attractions in Florence however if you plan to travel elsewhere; as we did; going to Lucca by bus (1hr 15mins) and Sienna (1hr) then being close to the train and bus station is convenient. Would definately recommend this hotel if you don't mind a bit of a walk.
320488,GeNets,02/15/2008,Highly Recommended The nicest three star hotel in Italy so far. Got a fantastic rate since it was off season. The rooms are very modern and clean. Breakfast is good. Some people might consider the walk from the SMN train station too far.
320488,GMFlorida,01/27/2008,Good Hotel in the Leonardo da Vinci Room
320488,irishrose3,01/24/2008,Good value near SMN Paid 鈧?09 to stay for one night (2ad 2ch) in this hotel. It is close enough to the station for travel and sightseeing but far enough that the riff raff dont come near it. When we first saw the outside; the venetian blinds were in bad repair and the windows were dirty; but behind some trees where the entrance was; there was spotless glass and a very well kept reception area. The hotel was very clean and the staff were helpful. The room was plenty big for us and the bathroom was fine also. There was a good selection for breakfast but the restaurant food was poor. There was little or no noise from trains/street. All in all; very good value for Florence and would stay here again.
320488,JordiRomeu,11/19/2007,Modern and comfortable toilet 2
320488,PlayLife,10/06/2007,Fine hotel in Florence We enjoyed our second stay in 3 weeks at this hotel. It is modern but the rooms are small...don't take too much luggage. The rooms were pretty clean and functional. Bathrooms are very small especially the shower but functional. The location is about 3 blocks away from the train station in the oposite way from the Duomo. This means a little extra walking if you go back and forth during the day. It has plenty of easy access parking. The restaurant for breakfast was just ok. Coffee and juice from a machine...such a shame when you are in Italy. Would be much better to serve fresh.
320488,acswmc,10/05/2007,loved our stay My husband and I spent 3 nights here. We enjoyed our stay. Its only a short walk from the Train Station and everything else is walkable from the hotel. The breakfast was not that great. The staff was great and helpful and the rooms were clean and perfect for us.
320488,Frances52,10/05/2007,The Leonardo Da Vinci hotel was really nice. Leonardo Da Vinci hotel was very nice. We had room 123 which was huge and the bathroom was huge too. Enormous bed but quite hard. I think this is quite common in Italy. We were very near the tracks of the SMN railiway station; but the noise was minimal as the windows were closed; against mosquitoes!!!We were disappointed that there wasn't any outdoor space to sit and chat to other quests or just to read a book. Jessica and Eloise were lovely on the front desk; so was the young man and and the other lady who's name I didn't take. She booked us for the Uffizi and the Accademia. Also don't forget to book a tour on an accidental tourist trip. We went on one for half a day and we tasted; olive oil and 5 wines; it was fantastic. Also don't miss the Bellagio Musem and see wonderf ul Donatello sculptures and sculptures by MA.. Personally I wouldn't bother with the Uffizi. Total chaos and nothing in English unlike the Accademia and Bellagio. If anyone finds the room at the Uffizi where the Caravaggio paintings were please let me know. They were supposed to be in room 23 but that room didn't exist. The breakfast at the hotel was fine apart from the fruit cocktail; no fresh fruit. The rolls and were fine though. Croissants not like French ones; a bit on the hard side and the machines for tea (hot water) and coffee were disgusting; the fruit juices seemed like squash to me. We booked through [---] and it would be cheaper to book direct. I wouldn't return to this hotel as it was a bit of a hike from the centre. I hope I haven't bored you. Florence is wonderful. We didn't have dinner at the hotel; why would you with so many fabulous restaurants and trattorias about.
320488,AmyCS,09/26/2007,Nicely decorated but a tiny room and noisey We stayed here over a weekend; and was dissapointed with the room size. I found out after the first night that our room (314) was the smallest on the floor - I would recommend that you check the fire escape plan on arrival to see how yours compares.It is nicely decorated though; very minimalstic with a lovely (although tight) bathroom; which was also very clean.Another bad point is the noise from the station to the back - both mornings I was woken up around 6 by the trains and you can constantly hear the murmer of announcements. I would expect the front rooms to be fairly loud too as it is located on a very busy road. It is still busy at midnight; I don't know where everyone is going!!I would consider staying here again as it is good value in Florence; however I would make sure I got a bigger room and took ear plugs!
320488,JaviCAP,09/17/2007,We'll be back when returning to Firenze We booked a superior double room with baby cot. The price was reasonable; about 145鈧?with the cot included. I like the location. If you arrive to Florence by train is a five minutes walk. The downtown and main places are a 15 minutes walk.Well; the room was REALLY huge; about 35 squared metres; very minimalistic decoration and really cozy and clean.Breakfast was average continental; nothing to write home about; but more than enough to start the day.The point that makes this hotel great is the staff. Really welcoming; ready to make your bookings; give recomendations; show directions; etc ; always with a smile in the face.More than reasonably priced bar; and nice and good natured brazilian waitress; who was something like a big sister for our kid.When coming back to Firenze; next time on low season (it was overcrowded) we'll make a booking on this hotel without hesitation. Great for rooms; great for location and great for staff. What more you could ask for?
320488,Juliet2006,09/16/2007,Excellent Hotel and a great location Just returned from 4 nights in Florence with my boyfriend; what a wonderful City will definetely be coming back. Hotel was excellent; we were very impressed as we had a large room very modern spacious with a big bathroom and queen size bed.Staff on reception were very friendly and helpful which made our stay enjoyable.Only thing I would say if you do book this hotel is to ask for a room at the back of the hotel as we had a room at the front and it was very noisy with the traffic going past especially in the mornings.The Hotel was about a 10 / 15 min walk to the centre of Florence and a 10 min walk to the station so the location was ideal. Would also recomend a day trip to Siena which is 1 1/2 hours by train but well worth it. Pisa is an hour away.Overall a great little hotel.
320488,happyworldtraveller,09/01/2007,Great stay - loved the showers! My husband and I stayed at this hotel in mid-June 2007. We thought the hotel was very clean and modern. The rooms are quite spacious (although there is not a lot of room to open up your luggage;;;;the beds are quite big and comfortable!). The rooms are airconditioned and this is definitely handy to have during the summer months. This year was especially hot for Italy so it really came in good use. I enjoyed the showers and the bathrooms! It's unusual to comment on this but i thought they were quite modern and i loved the huge shower heads!! It gave me ideas of how i would like to decorate and furnish my house! The staff are friendly and although there is no wireless internet access in the rooms; you can sit on the comfy lounges in the lobby area and use the internet connection there. It's free and easy to connect to. Overall we had a great stay and would recommend the hotel to others. It's not too far away from the action if you can bear walking about 15 minutes to the center of Florence.
320488,aliciab,07/09/2007,great hotel and other suggestions in florence! My husband I stayed 4 nights here last August 2006. I rated this hotel as excellent because it completely exceeded my expectaions of Eurpean hotels. We got the room for around $90 dollars on wegolo.com. This was the first time I ever used wegolo and was apprehensive; but it was very safe. Our room was very big with a nice sized shower located outside of the bathroom. Soap and shampoo was provided ( I can't remember if they replenished it daily ). King or queen sized bed. Breakfast was included and was fine: espresso from a machine; ceral; milk; juice from a machine; rolls and crossants; butter jelly cheese; nutella; crackers etc. The location is about 3-4 blocks behind the train station. I must suggest taking a day trip to siena. IT IS GREAT!! And pick up some wine; cheese and fruit for the hour train ride at a little market between this hotel and the station. YOU MUST go on a Caf Tour ([---]) while you are there. The hotel will arrage it for you. Budget $ for the chianti wine excursion with dinner- FOR SURE! the all day florence tour with lunch was wonderful too (includes admission to uffizi; academia; santa maria novella church and much more.
320488,lynnTexas,06/25/2007,Just got back from the Leonardo da Vinci My husband and I just stayed here last week. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice the hotel was. Our room was nice though small compared to U.S. hotel rooms. The bathroom was nice and was supplied with a hair dryer as well as some toiletries. We had NO problem with noise. The breakfast was pretty much as we expected - I only wish there was more fresh fruit instead of a canned fruit cocktail. The bar had some nice cocktail snacks and a VERY nice and friendlly bartender from South America. The front desk staff was extremely helpful (sent up extra pillows on request). The walk to the main tourist area wasn't too bad BUT there were some scary streets( in reference to amount of traffic) to cross. A coouple of mornings we started off the day with a taxi to the Pitti Palace or the Uffizi and then walked the rest of the day and saved the mad dash fighting rush hour traffic and that seemed to help.
320488,KCarol,05/19/2007,Nice hotel... Beatiful Florence I spent 3 nights at Leonardo Da Vinci Hotel and it was a nice place. The room was ok; clean and spacious. The staff was friendly and helpful. Near the hotel there is a busy road and this is a problem for me.Anyway we will return at Leonardo Da Vinci Hotel.
320488,susu126,03/30/2007,A clean hotel in Florence The hotel is good; very clean and the facilities are quite new. It's close to the central station; but still need to take around 10 to 15 minutes by walk; if you know the right direction from the begining. The room is quite small; I was wondering where should I put my luggage at the first day as I took a big one with me; but i finally made it. I won't complaint for it as it's in Italy. This hotel is excellent by comparing the money I spent and the services I got. The staff in the restaurant and the receptionlists are all very kind. The only thing I was a bit disappointed is that the elevator didn't walk at the day i left the hotel; therefore; I need to took the luggage from the 2nd floor by my own. Anyway; this is a very good stay in Florence.
320488,AncaSimona,02/21/2007,... i really loved the art-deco style and generally the atmosphere in the hotel....the way it is decorated creates the idea of space..the staff (allthough there were few of them) were very nice and gave their best to make all the guests feel happy and pleased...what i can not understand is what is happening with the food in that hotel?...when u go to the restaurant there is nobody there and u can not order anythng and at breakfast they have just milk and coffee; croissants and jam and u have to get up early to find some left.I apreciate though that it is in the center of the city ;that they a have a decent parking and that it is very quiet there.
320488,Kay639,02/16/2007,Leonardo Da Vinci - good value This modern and clean hotel was fine for a short stay. Slightly out of town with about a 20min walk to the main attractions; across some busy roads. Rooms were small but adequate with compact ensuites. Ours also had a balcony. Noise did not appear to be an issue. Staff were friendly. A good breakfast included in the price.My only concern was the linen was stored/piled up in the same cupboard as the electrics. Is this not a fire hazard?Would probably use again as it was good value.
320488,robin43,11/29/2006,great value; but not the best area The hotel LD Vinci; as I call it; made us feel very welcome. The room was not huge; but minimalst; clean; and stylish; with a good bathroom. Breakfast was great and included in the price. The fishtank in the ceiling of that restirante was a nice touch.Noise was not a problem for me; but the rooms are not quiet. The hotel has a busy road on one side; and a train track on the other. However; as I said; this is not a problem for everyone. Its quite tolerable. The main drawback is location - it is situated 7 or 8 minutes from the train station; which sits on the outskirts of the historic city. The walk to the edge of city is shortish; but rather unpleasant; and can involve a long dark underpass if your heading east. The doumo is maybe a 15 to twenty minute walk; south east. I would recommend this hotel for the tight-pursed; if you don't mind the walk.
320488,bk67,09/08/2006,great value in florence i stayed 2 nights at the leonardo da vinci in august 2006. it is a very modern hotel and although my room was very small; it was clean and despite the proximity to the train station; very quiet and even had a balcony. yes indeed; the wifi does not work at the hotel; however; i found internet connections extremely difficult to come by all over italy. my room was definitely in need of a paint job but they are in the process of doing some renovations. i would definitely recommend this hotel (and indeed have done so already). it is bookable through venere.com which incidentally; seems to have the best rates on hotels throughout europe.
320488,localkitten,09/05/2006,Great staff; basic hotel I stayed here for 2 nights and was impressed - I managed to get a fantastic deal (approx 50 euros a night) and for the price I was really pleased. The staff were helpful; friendly and funny; yep the bed was a bit hard; and the breakfast basic but compared to other hotels I've stayed at in Italy it was above average. The best thing was because it is away from the main tourist drag (one of the perils of Florence in summer) it was quiet; despite being alongside the railway track there was little external noise to be heard (not any that kept me awake and I am a really light sleeper). Ok; the area isn't the best (fairly soulless; and looks slightly intimidating) but as a lone female I had no worries at all and the walk into the centre takes less than 10 minutes. Overall if you can get a good deal (and it's worth shopping around) then I would highly recommend this hotel. Plus there are free sweeties in a bowl on the check-in desk...mmmmhhhmmm!
320488,KevinLaura,08/09/2006,Brilliant Despite the recent critics; we really liked this hotel. Upon arrival the staff were ultra efficient and gave a 5* service. They were helpful; gave great advice where to go; and were amusing to say the least! Although the staff were 5*; the hotel wasnt quite that way; although it tried its best to be. The hotel is about to under go a massive face-lift (as we were told); so I can forgive them for the little 'creases around the edges' in the rooms. The showers have been criticised; but we found them very spacious and comfortable; especially considering some of the other hotels we have stayed in in Italy! Although the breakfast was minimal; it was typical for most hotels in Italy; and the Fish tank roof was an entertaining touch. Although there were high tables at breakfast to eat at; there were also smaller booths to sit in. All in all I thought this hotel was extremely good value compared to many others; and the 5 minute walk to the Santa Maria Novella Station made it easily accessible to the main sites and museums. My ownly complaint would be the car park charges that I didnt know about or were told about when I checked in.
320488,beng2ang,08/06/2006,Don't get cheated if u need internet access Dear Readers;Kindly take note if u need internet access during your travel/holidays. The hotel mentioned there is a WI/FI access but it not working and in the room there is a cable connection and it is not working. FYI; the hotel does not provide internet cable. You need to buy. Therefore; they would like you to pay for their internet service for Euro 2.00 for 15min at hotel lobby. Thanks u hope u enjoy your stay with this hotel.
320488,OzDuff,07/08/2006,Almost a masterpiece Main Room
320488,ATripAdvisorMember,07/02/2006,A Fall Waiting To Happen This is an ultra-modernist sculpture; to the point of brutalism; consisting of a set of rooms that a group of well-meaning and hard working staff are trying to convince the rest of us that this is a hotel. The single room I had was very small; consisting of a bed with just enough space to walk around the bed. The TV was small. The bathroom was a reasonable size but straight from a Bauhaus nightmare. I kept thinking of a character on Saturday Night Live created by Mike Meyers; called Deiter. He was the host of an ultra-modern talk show and always ended the show with: And now is the time on Sprokets when we dance. Deiter would love this hotel until he fell in the shower. The shower surface was a dark slate. It was impossible to see where the wall ends and the floor begins. The bathrooms were obviously remodeled to include some basic safety features; such as a string to pull after you fall. It's going to be hard to pull the string after falling on the floor unconscious or paralyzed. There were no guard rails in the shower. The steps down to the breakfast room were also an accident waiting to happen: more black slate steps with no hand rails. This building would not meet the construction code standards in the US. On the positive side; the room was clean; the shower was hot and the air conditioning worked well. The breakfast was adequate. I don't understand why it is so difficult to make plain American coffee. Somehow I do it every day with simple equipment and no culinary training. The bar stools in the breakfast room are another testament to bad design. In contrast to other reviews; I found the staff to be friendly and available. The hotel location is not the best. It is on the outskirts of the hotels that cluster near the main attractions. However; it is within walking distance of the train station; museums and restaurants. I would not stay in this hotel again. The shower was just too dangerous and the hotel design is dark and unattractive. Modern architects should stay here just to experience the noxious environments they create.
320488,Cantchose,06/19/2006,Average Good sized rooms; clean bathrooms all in a modernist design. 5min walk to the train station. The worst aspect was the breakfast; very average even for Italy. All in all not a bad choice in Florence where accom can be quite high.
320488,ATripAdvisorMember,05/09/2006,Not nearly as bad as trip advisor reviews suggested showReview(5045465; 'full');
320488,risaroo,04/25/2006,Adequate; but not ideal showReview(5007422; 'full');
320488,jchepak,10/19/2005,Hotel Morgue showReview(4036814; 'full');
320488,ATripAdvisorMember,06/10/2005,needs training; improvements and more light... showReview(3543073; 'full');
320488,ATripAdvisorMember,01/18/2005,Modern but soulless in Florence showReview(3015569; 'full');
320488,ATripAdvisorMember,05/19/2004,Ultra modern but..... showReview(2079488; 'full');
320488,lass,12/10/2008,El hotel era aceptable pero... showReview(22769717; 'full');
320488,lass,11/06/2008,El hotel magn铆fico.el mejor... showReview(21888183; 'full');
320488,lass,10/01/2008,No nos gust贸 la atenci贸n porque... showReview(20974871; 'full');
320488,lass,09/19/2008,Excelente! Un hotel estilo... showReview(20923265; 'full');
320488,lass,09/19/2008,Nous avions effectivement... showReview(20654960; 'full');
320488,westulysse,09/15/2008,Un effort suppl茅mentaire de leur part aurait rendu le s茅jour parfait Produits de toilette 脿 disposition
320488,lass,08/23/2008,Hotel tr猫s moderne; proche de... showReview(19452685; 'full');
320488,lass,07/29/2008,LO PEOR LA CERCANIA DE LA... showReview(18447968; 'full');
320488,devilangel,07/01/2008,Very Zen showReview(17402868; 'full');
320488,lass,04/13/2008,Our room was not quiet because... showReview(16729587; 'full');
320488,lass,03/17/2008,Nos quedamos en Florencia por... showReview(16727837; 'full');
320488,lass,02/20/2008,Pulito; letti comodi e... showReview(14029497; 'full');
320488,ElenaOtero,02/13/2008,Buen hotel showReview(13516731; 'full');
320488,lass,02/09/2008,El Hotel exteriormente no e... showReview(13974168; 'full');
320488,lass,02/07/2008,Ottima posizione per vicinanza... showReview(13420526; 'full');
320488,DaniMilano,02/05/2008,Particolare Hotel a Firenza showReview(13295498; 'full');
320488,lass,01/05/2008,Abbiamo soggiornato due notti... showReview(12752601; 'full');
320488,lass,01/02/2008,Ottima showReview(12908768; 'full');
320488,lass,01/01/2008,L'accoglienza 猫 stata ottima... showReview(12752599; 'full');
320488,lass,12/18/2007,Excelente relaci贸n calidad... showReview(12650550; 'full');
320488,lass,12/10/2007,Gutes Stadthotel; entspricht... showReview(12651032; 'full');
320488,lass,10/15/2007,El Hotel est谩 situado muy cerca... showReview(11409404; 'full');
320488,lass,09/24/2007,Oui Le d茅faut : Proximit茅 de la... showReview(11409408; 'full');
320488,lass,09/18/2007,El hotel est谩 completamente... showReview(11409407; 'full');
320488,lass,09/18/2007,El hotel esta bien; la... showReview(11409405; 'full');
320488,lass,09/15/2007,Excellent hotel ; tres proche... showReview(11409406; 'full');
320488,lass,09/04/2007,Yo viaje con mi madre; la... showReview(11409412; 'full');
320488,lass,09/04/2007,Yo viaje con mi madre; la... showReview(11409411; 'full');
320488,lass,09/04/2007,La unica pega es que est谩 un... showReview(11409410; 'full');
320488,lass,09/03/2007,Es un hotel que est谩 bastante... showReview(12649103; 'full');
320488,lass,09/03/2007,El hotel esta decorado con muy... showReview(11409409; 'full');
320488,lass,09/02/2007,El hotel es de estilo moderno y... showReview(12648902; 'full');
320488,lass,08/26/2007,Tres satisfaite de ce s茅jour a... showReview(11409414; 'full');
320488,lass,08/23/2007,Avons s茅journ茅 3 jours 脿... showReview(11409418; 'full');
320488,lass,08/20/2007,Hotel un p貌 fuorimano; la... showReview(11409413; 'full');
320488,lass,08/19/2007,C'茅tait la premi猫re fois que... showReview(11409417; 'full');
320488,lass,08/14/2007,Camere molto spaziose... showReview(11409416; 'full');
320488,lass,08/03/2007,Wir hatten einen tollen... showReview(11409419; 'full');
320488,lass,07/15/2007,Queda un poco lejos del centro... showReview(11409420; 'full');
320488,lass,05/23/2007,Cercano a la estaci贸n de... showReview(11409421; 'full');
320488,lass,04/24/2007,L'estetica dell'hotel 猫 molto... showReview(11409422; 'full');
320488,Elenitta,04/05/2007,Me encant贸 Leonardo Da Vinci showReview(7282829; 'full');
320488,lass,04/03/2007,La struttura era accogliente... showReview(11409423; 'full');
320488,lass,04/02/2007,L'hotel 猫 veramente carino e lo... showReview(11409402; 'full');
320488,lass,03/21/2007,Ottimo rapporto qualit脿... showReview(11409398; 'full');
320488,lass,03/20/2007,Io 猫 la mia ragazza Vitalba... showReview(11409425; 'full');
320488,lass,03/20/2007,Si vuelvo a Florencia repito... showReview(11409399; 'full');
320488,lass,03/19/2007,Il parcheggio interno 猫 un p貌... showReview(11409424; 'full');
320488,lass,03/07/2007,Albergo con personale... showReview(11409427; 'full');
320488,lass,03/05/2007,L'albergo 猫 vicino ala stazione... showReview(11409426; 'full');
320488,lass,02/26/2007,VIAJAMOS A FINES DE OCTUBRE DEL... showReview(11409428; 'full');
320488,lass,02/26/2007,Sobre todo; para lo que es... showReview(11409397; 'full');
320488,lass,02/12/2007,Un ottimo hotel!!!!!!!!!!ne... showReview(11409429; 'full');
320488,lass,01/31/2007,Tra quelli da me provati in... showReview(11409430; 'full');
320488,lass,01/26/2007,Sono stata a Firenze... showReview(11409431; 'full');
320488,lass,01/22/2007,E' distante 5 minuti a piedi... showReview(12649281; 'full');
320488,lass,01/15/2007,Per chi si vuole fermare a... showReview(11409432; 'full');
320488,lass,01/08/2007,Ho soggiornato per la prima... showReview(11409434; 'full');
320488,lass,01/08/2007,Ottimo hotel; situato vicino... showReview(11409401; 'full');
320488,lass,01/08/2007,Belle prestation d'ensemble... showReview(11409400; 'full');
320488,lass,01/06/2007,El hotel no es centrico; pero... showReview(11409433; 'full');
320488,lass,01/02/2007,Un hotel sicuramente superiore... showReview(11409403; 'full');
320488,lass,12/29/2006,Hotel bellissimo; confort... showReview(11409436; 'full');
320488,lass,12/22/2006,Habitaciones modernas y... showReview(11409435; 'full');
320488,lass,12/18/2006,Habitaciones limpias y... showReview(11409437; 'full');
320488,lass,11/12/2006,Ho lavorato a Firenze... showReview(11409438; 'full');
320488,lass,11/09/2006,Excellentes prestations... showReview(11409439; 'full');
320488,lass,11/03/2006,Nos parecio un hotel de buena... showReview(11409440; 'full');
320488,lass,10/29/2006,Desde luego no es el hotel... showReview(11409441; 'full');
320488,lass,10/22/2006,Abbiamo soggiornato in questa... showReview(11409442; 'full');
320488,lass,10/02/2006,Ottimo albergo; camere... showReview(11409447; 'full');
320488,lass,09/19/2006,Excellent s茅jour au L茅onard de... showReview(11409445; 'full');
320488,lass,09/05/2006,Ottimo albergo. comodissimo da... showReview(11409453; 'full');
320488,lass,09/01/2006,La experiencia en este hotel ha... showReview(11409452; 'full');
320488,lass,08/31/2006,D'apr茅s les precedents... showReview(11409451; 'full');
320488,lass,08/30/2006,Un hotel con un dise帽o muy... showReview(11409450; 'full');
320488,lass,08/30/2006,Nos gust贸 el hotel. Limpio... showReview(11409449; 'full');
320488,lass,08/30/2006,Somos una pareja de espa帽oles... showReview(11409444; 'full');
320488,lass,08/23/2006,Leonardo da vinci es un hotel... showReview(11409456; 'full');
320488,lass,07/25/2006,El hotel se encuentra en el... showReview(11409448; 'full');
320488,lass,07/08/2006,Bien qu'un petit probl猫me de... showReview(11409455; 'full');
320488,lass,07/04/2006,La struttura 猫 collocata... showReview(11409454; 'full');
320488,lass,06/22/2006,Le N掳 de t茅l茅phone au bas de la... showReview(11409461; 'full');
320488,lass,06/18/2006,Preis / Leistung stimmen... showReview(11409460; 'full');
320488,lass,06/18/2006,Buon hotel a piedi si raggiunge... showReview(11409459; 'full');
320488,lass,06/16/2006,Nous n'avons pass茅 qu'une nuit... showReview(11409458; 'full');
320488,lass,06/09/2006,Un'hotel che punta tutto sul... showReview(11409457; 'full');
320488,lass,05/06/2006,Bel hotel de style... showReview(11409462; 'full');
320488,lass,04/29/2006,Das Hotel war; ist eine... showReview(11409463; 'full');
320488,lass,03/06/2006,Essenziale nell'arredamento ma... showReview(11409464; 'full');
320488,lass,12/30/2005,Hotel molto bello ma poco... showReview(11409465; 'full');
320581,Nancy03,01/05/2009,Another success using TripAdvisor! As a visitor to Tokyo after many many years; I went solely on recommendations for this trip. A friend told me about this newly renovated hotel and I naturally looked it up on tripadvisor as I had great success last year finding a place in Venice through them.It was more than I expected! I was aware of the small sized rooms from the other reviews - to be expected; but I did not worry as I booked the biggest one. It was great! So to those who complain about the small rooms; just spend a bit more and book the bigger ones! They do exist!Staff were great; location was perfect and the hotel was very cozy. I will definitely stay there again! Thanks TripAdvisor!
320581,muffine,01/01/2009,Nice hotel The hotel is in a great location; about 3-5 minutes away from the South/Southern Terrace Exit of the Shinjuku JR Station; and the Oedo line(which you want to take to go to the Tsukiji market) is right next door. The limousine bus (both from narita and haneda) stops at this hotel as well. The hotel is very modern and clean. There is free wired internet in the guest room; and a lounge in the second floor where you can get free hot drinks. There are also two computers which are connected to the internet in the lounge. We had a room with two twin beds; and whilst it's larger than a semi-double or a double room; there's just barely enough room to put and open our suitcases. In general; we are quite satisfied with the hotel. The only complaint is the staff. They were not very friendly; and they were quite reluctant when asked to bring two more pillows to our room. Their english is quite good compared to most japanese; but they would often assumed your questions. For instance; when they heard the word limousine bus they immediately assumed that our question was about the schedule; when in fact; we were asking about reserving tickets. At the end it took us a long time just to relay our question coz often time; they didn't let us finish.Apart from this; we enjoyed the hotel and would definitely consider staying in this hotel again.
320581,yummynat,12/22/2008,Good location; but average hotel for the price The hotel is definitely in good location and the rooms are OK. We did have a problem with the reservation and we given a room with one bed instead of two and the staff wasn't very nice in addressing the problem. The hotel charged us additional $85/nt for the exactly same room with 2 beds. For the price and hotel standard; we'd expect better quality customer service and higher quality accomodations.
320581,JosephChoy,12/21/2008,Wonderful hotel Economy Room
320581,KangarooRoute,12/17/2008,Better than modern I stayed at this hotel for five days with family; and thought that although the rooms were quite small they were very nicely furnished and modern; as well as exceptionally clean. The proximity to shinjuku station was incredible; yet the rooms were very quiet at night; whilst I thought that the guest-only lounge with computers and hot drinks was a very nice touch. Although it did not have a swimming pool I would chose it over all of the other 3 star hotels in central Tokyo; and most of the 4 star ones.
320581,lonelypiano,12/11/2008,Decent Hotel The hotel sign
320581,permartin,12/03/2008,Super Hotel Sometimes you get surprised in a very positive way. This hotel has a great location. Nice rooms and very helpfull staff. I could imagine you could pay the double rate at a hotel nearby and still dont get the standard of sunroute plaza.
320581,JayAntonio,12/02/2008,Good hotel and location A nice hotel (quite a recent build) and well located (close to the shinjuku station).The rooms are well furnished and clean and the front desk is very helpful.Just one point: the rooms are quite small; I booked a double which would have been too cramped for two...Enjoy you stay in tokyo!
320581,Ilovemelbourne,11/28/2008,Quality Hotel My husband and I stayed at this fantastic hotel for four nights in early November 2008. We arrived at Narita airport and caught the limousine bus; which dropped us off directly at the hotel (3000 yen each).Check-in was quick and easy; staff were very friendly and helpful.I found the second day i needed to borrow a travel adaptor and the staff were more than accommodating.We had the breakfast buffet once in the hotel (7am-10am) for 1500 yen each; had a great selection of western and japanese breakfast items. The location can't be beat - with Shinjuku station only a 5 min walk away connecting you to all train lines and many fantastic restaurants only minutes away. We stayed on the 8th floor which had it's own vending machine with beer at very reasonable prices. We took full advantage of the guest facilities on the second floor which offered free coffee; tea and hot chocolate all day as well as the internet computers.Staff also have great maps to help you around the area and supply a great map to the Government Building observation deck (all free of charge!).Rooms were small but had everything needed for the time spent in them. Check-out was easy and our luggage was stored for us until we were ready to collect them.Overall this was a really great experience; this hotel is quality.Recommend this hotel to everyone and anyone. Would definitely stay there again; hands down.
320581,travlr67,11/26/2008,Great hotel; Great location I'm glad I booked this hotel during our stay in Tokyo. It's about a 5-10 min walk to the Shinjuku train station which gives you access to all the major subway/JR/private lines in Tokyo. The rooms and bathrooms are very clean; although a bit small but everything else makes it perfect. The staff is helpful and there is an onsite luggage delivery service; which is handy if you are looking to travel to other places in Japan. The hotel is also near many restaurants so you won't have any trouble finding stuff to eat. Highly recommended!
320581,CS55963,11/25/2008,This is a great hotel for a visit to Tokyo I stayed at this hotel during a two week visit to Japan; the hotel is obviously fairly new and looks really nice. The bedrooms and bathroom are spotless. Each room has free broadband access as standard which is useful. The rooms were bigger than I expected and certainly comfortable.The location of this hotel was perfect; it is like 100m from the Main Shinjuku station which means getting in addition the reception desk was staffed by about 6 people; so never a queue.
320581,dcp772000,11/20/2008,Very good choice Pro:- modern buliding and facilities- 100 meter from Shinjuku station- spotless clean- good English spoken at the receptionContra:- none (as usual the rooms are Japanese size; but this is not a problem for me)
320581,1globetrotterSweden,11/18/2008,Absolute superb hotel!!! Great hotel close to the Shinjuku station. Just 4-5 min from the largest railwaystation in the world. The service at the recpetion is excellent; there are four elevators and a lot of others service. The hotel is very very clean and quiet. I stayed at the 12th floor and had a great view of Tokyo from my room. The toilet and room has everything you need to stay there. The rooms has large HD flatscreens. Nothing but the best at Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Hotel. Stay there is you are in Tokyo!!
320581,tdottony,11/16/2008,Highly Recommended Ideal location located only a few walking blocks from main transit station. The commute from Narita was seamless given its location. In the hub of the action for the busy area of Shinjuku but situated far enough that made its location very quiet. I suggest that you use this area as the base as its central to city and only a couple of stops from other city sections (Shibuya; Ginza ect ...). The hotel itself was modern and very clean. Its only a couple of years old. The staff and service was exceptional. The business centre had internet access at no cost. Free internet access in the rooms too. Airport bus shuttle service was offered to and from the hotel at a reasonable cost. This hotel is excellent value for its costs; $160 US average for a 7 day stay for a double bed room. For savings book at expedia or hotels.com. Try scoring an equivalent in New York or Paris! I feel in love with the city and will be back soon.
320581,jj7643a,11/15/2008,Perfect Base Hotel hallway to main room area
320581,Pastryslave,11/15/2008,Very good choice for Tokyo Stayed there for two separate periods in November 2008. First stay was a great twin room on the 6th floor; huge (for Japan; mind you) room and beds - both beds were nearly queen size; so we just shared one bed and used the other to jump around in. The next stay; we got a standard double on the 13th floor - tiny room; bigger bed. Slightly claustrophobic bathroom; but we managed. We booked the big room through our European hotels.com portal; and the tiny room through the japanese portal. Which might explain the difference. They cost about the same. Cheap for Tokyo. And well worth the money. The restaurant isn't great; but there really is no excuse for dining at the hotel in Shinjuku anyway. Even if you're jetlaged and can't be bothered - there's McDonald's; KFC and Wendy's down the road if you're a really desparate noodle-hater.The location is just fantastic. It's right around the corner from Shinjuku station; we took the Narita express straight to the stration and five minutes after exiting the train we were checking in. There's a subway station even closer; and Yoyogi station on the JR Yamanote line is just down the road - a better choice than crazy (but lovable) Shinjuku. Oh - And there's an AM/PM across the road; and a Family Mart close to Yoyogi station; for any convenience-store-needs.We will definitely return - but next time; we'll settle for the big twin room; and avoid the double.
320581,kbp619,11/14/2008,Exceeded expectations; fantastic location!! Hotel entry
320581,jwoodhouse,11/14/2008,Perfect Hotel for Tourists Well appointed economy room
320581,radioflyer0101,11/13/2008,Nice business hotel; very good location The best part of our stay was realizing how great it was to be close to Shinjuku staton. For a tourist visit to Tokyo; I think this was about as convenient as it gets; except possibly being right by Tokyo Station; which would probably be much more expensive.The room was typical business hotel; but the lobby was fancy. Service was very good; which is usual in Japan. Get a great rate on Priceline; and your set for Tokyo.
320581,traveleryy,11/13/2008,The best hotel i've ever stayed after reading all the other reviews for this hotel;i decided to book this hotel for my japan trip. It is easily accessible from the airport; just take the airport lumisine bus; it stop right infront of the main door... The hotel is clean; infact; extremely clean. The stuff were friendlly and helpful. A must have for shoppers; as train station is just besid the hotel; major shopping centres like tAKASHIMAYA and ISETAN or; major electronic shop YODOBASHI and there is one more; but i forgot; these shops are all just in a few mins walk~~i will definitely stay in this hotel again or my future trip to tokyo... Superb Hotel...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
320581,Laini,11/09/2008,Excelent brand new hotel WOW!We staye at this hotel during their first aniversary and it was amazing. Just 5 minutes from Shinjuku station which would take you anywhere. The hotel was on a very calm streen in Shinjuku so no noise was heard during the night. Across the street from the hotel there is an AM/PM shop where you can buy all kinds of food for the hotel or to take with you when you go out and explore the city. Location=greatService=greatRooms=great
320581,GlobetrotterRoy,11/08/2008,Excellent location! I had to stay in Tokyo over the night to catch another flight (less than 24 hours); so instead of staying near Narita airport I decided to try a hotel down town. I am quite happy with the hotel itself; and in particular with its location; but it takes some time to get there. The good: excellent location. Free and fast internet access!!! It is almost in front of Shinjuku station (follow the Southern Terrace signs) and several shopping centers; restaurants; etc.. The attention by the staff was excellent and polite. Yes; rooms are small; but it is normal for Hotels in Tokyo (that is; unless you are ready to pay big for more space). The hotel is about 1:30 hr away from Narita Airport if you manage to catch the N'Ex (Narita Express) that goes directly to Shinjuku. But the service to that station is not too frequent; so it could take you a bit more time to get there (i.e. check the time tables BEFORE buying the train ticket). The so-so: TV is in Japanese only but the free Internet compensates if you are bringing a laptop with you. The bad: nothing to complain about.The bottom line: very good to stay in Tokyo for a few days. If you don't have much time; better stay near the airport.
320581,London2world,11/06/2008,very nice hotel with great location I was visiting Tokyo for both business and vacation; and having never been to Japan before I thought it would be best to stay somewhere that was relatively easy to get to. Sunroute is a standard business hotel chain in Japan; and the Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku is one that was recently renovated so everything feels very new. The single person rooms are a bit small (as is typical in Japan); but everything was clean and very nicely done. The staff was very helpful; though I did not need to ask them for much; and the in-room internet connection was very good.The main advantage of the hotel is its location. It's about a 3-5 minute walk from the main train station in Shinjuku; which puts just about all of Tokyo within a 30 minute train ride. The hotel is on the western side of Shinjuku; just south of the skyscraper district; so it's also very close to a number of stores and restaurants. It's also quite easy to get there from both airports by train; though you can also take a bus directly to Shinjuku station.The regular prices are a bit high; but you can get substantial discounts on web pages like Expedia.Overall; I would definitely stay there again and would easily recommend it to anyone traveling to Tokyo.
320581,ParkSlopeTraveler,11/04/2008,All the good reviews are true This is a great hotel--modern; stylish; clean; great location; and can find great rates online. The only negative is that it doesn't have a gym.
320581,sirix42,11/04/2008,Very centrally located We stayed at the hotel for 3 nights and were very pleased with our choice. The hotel was less than a 5-minute walk from the Shinjuku Station and close to everything (shops; restaurants; etc). Although the rooms were a bit tiny as are all Tokyo hotel rooms I was told; they were very clean. The lobby was nicely designed with modern decor; very stylish and chic. Overall; we had a wonderful time staying at the Sunroute Plaza.
320581,cinnamon808,11/02/2008,Convenient This was our first trip to Japan and this hotel was our first accommodation. We took the airport limousine bus (3000 yen pp) which drops you off directly at the hotel; which made it very convenient with luggage. The first bus leaves for this hotel at 2:15pm so if you arrive much earlier you can always take the train. The hotel is within a short walking distance to the Shinjuku train station; department stores; eateries and more. One can easily take the trains to major areas and they come by frequently. We actually purchased the SUICA cards (2000yen inc. 500 yen refundable deposit per card) for our train use in Tokyo and the surrounding districts. The SUICA was very handy for scanning at gates instead of always buying a ticket and funds can always be reloaded in increments at the ticket vending machines. These cards were also useful during our stay in Kyoto as we could use the JR local lines there as well. We did have the buffet breakfast at the hotel since it was included with our room and it was a very decent spread of both Western and Japanese dishes. The buffet costs about $15 per person but if this is too much there are cafes and other places to eat nearby (inc. McDonalds KFC). There is a nice guest lounge on the 2nd floor with TV and internet. We were lucky enough to stay in a standard twin non smoking room which averaged about 248 square feet- quite roomy by Japanese standards. There are other much smaller single and double rooms which looked to have little to no extra space from what we could tell. Our room had a desk with a nice flat screen TV;(Japanese stations only) a small closet with some hangers; iron press; two drawer dresser; sitting chair; refrigerator; teapot; tea; sleepwear with comfy slippers and a view of some office buildings. The bathroom had quite a few amenities from the toilet with bidet; hairdryer; razor; toothbrushes and toothpaste; cotton swabs (black ones!); comb and brush; shampoo; conditioner and body soap. If you do want a little extra comfort and don't mind paying a little more for a twin room than I would recommend it. The staff was always courteous and spoke and understood English well enough that we had no problems. They were even kind enough to fill out some forms for us in Japanese so we could forward our luggage to Kyoto; which arrived the very next day as planned-wow! Overall the hotel has a fantastic location near all the action and lights but far enough away to relax and settle after a busy day of sightseeing. We would not hesitate to stay here again!
320581,jeninbrighton,11/02/2008,Great hotel and incredible value! This place is a gem - it's smack dab in the center of one of the best areas of Tokyo to stay. It's so close to Shinjuku station; and right next door to one of the subways. It's not a luxury hotel; but not a budget hotel - somewhere in between. For 拢70/night though; it really couldn't be beat in Tokyo for the quality and location. They give you shiseido shampoo and conditioner in the room; and toothbrushes (all Japanese hotels give you toothbrushes - don't bother packing them!)The main lobby is nice looking; and staff speak English (despite me trying to speak Japanese to them). There is free internet in a guest lounge; and a nice bar. We didn't try breakfast in the restaurant as it's not included; and there is a nice little cafe down the street called Miyajama(?) which does a cheap breakfast. We stayed twice; at the beginning of our holiday we opted for the standard size room (the bigger one) because we were there for 4 days. On the second stay; we were only there for 1 night; so we took the economy room - which was only a little smaller. Stay here!
320581,SmileighGirl,11/02/2008,Excellent Location; Excellent Value Lounge Area
320581,misterbitterpants,11/02/2008,Great Home Base for Exploring Tokyo We stayed at this hotel for almost two weeks recently and found it to be a fantastic location for getting out and about to explore Tokyo. Its only a few minutes walk from the busiest train station in Tokyo so you can get to pretty much anywhere. The Shinjuku neighbourhood is also pretty great with tons of shops and restaurants.The hotel itself is nice and clean with helpful staff. The rooms are tiny but we were prepared for that. Everything was in good shape and were contemporary. Not quite boutique but better than the generic stuff you usually find.If I had to make one complaint its that the free internet is not wifi. And the two free computers to use in the lounge are constantly busy.
320581,amywong71,10/28/2008,Excellent choice My husband and I stayed there for 4 consecutives. The hotel is very well-located in Shinjuku. Walking distance to all the major department stores. Subway entrance is just next to the hotel. JR line station is not more than 10 mins walk. Can be reached by airport shuttle door-to-door (less frequent). Or; take another more frequent scheduled airport shuttle or train to Shinjuku Station then another 10 mins walk. If you want to visit Disneyland; the Disneyland shuttle station is only 10 mins away. Room is small (but that is what one should expect in Tokyo). Yet; it is clean and with all essential amenities. Internet is free. Water is hot and strong enough. Air-con functions well. We will definitely stay there again when we visit Tokyo.
320581,mr420,10/24/2008,Great stay in Tokyo. Will come back and stay again. Stayed in the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku for seven nights for my first time in Tokyo. This hotel was a big reason for my trip being so great. All of the hotel staff were very helpful; polite; and professional and spoke good english. Had no problems with check in/out. They gave me an umbrella to use when raining. The lounge on the second floor was very nice. It has a large TV; big sofas; free computers; free water; hot chocolate; tea and coffee; and many nice books and magazines. I didn't try any of the hotel restaraunts or bars (but they looked very good). Rooms were a little small; but had a super comfortable feel and very clean. Nice TV; kettle; tea; fridge; slippers. A big; very comfortable bed. The bathroom was the biggest surprise. It had the best shower of any hotel I have ever stayed in. A large fog free mirror in front of the sink. Toilet with bidet. Nice soap; shampoo; conditioner. Plus razors; q-tips; comb and brush; and toothbrush and toothpaste all in a basket on the counter. The location is great; as noted in other reviews (especially for tokyo first timers). Shinjuku station is a short walk away. The Oeda and Shinjuku lines have a staion pretty much outside the hotel front doors. I used these two convieniant lines much of the time. I don't know how I got such a great deal on the hotel. This is probably the best deal you can get in Tokyo. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone staying in Tokyo. I enjoyed Tokyo so much I want to go as soon as possible. I 100% agree with an earlier review and say Just stay here
320581,hawaiiboundToronto,10/22/2008,New; clean hotel This hotel was wonderful. Although the rooms are small - typical of Japan; the location certainly made up for it. Location really close to the Shinjuku train station - easy access for everywhere! The lounge was a great touch - equipped with 2 computers free for guest use and large TV. There were free hot beverages available in the lounge too - nice!!!! I would stay here for sure next time!
320581,chiliapple,10/19/2008,Excellent Value; Superb Location I booked this hotel based solely on the reviews on TripAdvisor. I must say I'm glad I did! The hotel is new; so everything is squeaky clean and there are no funky stains or smells to be found :-)The room was narrow. With 2 cabin-size trolley luggage pieces and one medium one on the floor; there was not much to walk on around the bed. The bed was a king-size and comfortable. The room was also very quet. There wasn't an interesting view outside the window; but this didn't matter to us.There was cable TV with no english channels; but it was entertaining to check out TV commercials; cooking shows;l documentaries; even in Japanese.There was a small fridge in the room; an electric kettle with bags of Japanese green tea; and cups so you can fix yourself some any time of day. Further; there was a vending machine room across our front door that had a good selection of drinks (alcoholic;non-alcoholic) --- also reasonably priced compared to the vending machines and convenience stores across the street and elsewhere in the city.The bathroom was clean and well-stocked with the necessary amenities (yes; ladies; shampoo and conditioner are separate!). There was a fresh smelling yukata (cotton bath robe) for each of the occupants laid on the bed every night.The location cannot be beat! There was a Toei subway station just outside the hotel. Purchase a reloadable Suica/Pasmo card so you can use any station with no hassle. Further away is the main JR Shinjuku station about three long staircases away. We used the Narita Express inbound; and the Airport Bus Limousine outbound because it will be difficult to lug all our heavy luggage up the stairs to the station; through the station gates; and down to the trains again. The Airport Limo bus has a stop at the Plaza Shinjuku so it's super convenient. Shopping and eats are just a 5-10 minute walk away.The hotel staff does not speak much English; so it is challenging; but they are helpful and will attempt to assist you with anything you need. A+++ for effort!We paid less than USD500 for a 4-night stay; booked thru Expedia (breakfast not included). Fantastic value! Will definitely stay at this hotel again when in Tokyo.
320581,AmelieVancouver,10/18/2008,Great Experience at Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku! Just got home to Canada after a 6 night stay at this hotel. The entire hotel has been very nicely renovated and is in a terrific part of Shinjuku. Shinjuku Station is not exactly next door to the hotel; but is only a block away at a large intersection (which is where we conveniently caught the limo bus back to Narita). However; there is an entrance to the same station right next door to the hotel; so depending on which line you want to take; it is really convenient. Our room (1129) was smaller by North American standards but was extremely comfortable with a queen size bed; desk area; chair; tv; etc. No electrical adapters are required for North American appliances. The room provides:Heat/Air ConditioningAlarm clockPhoneIroning/Steam boardFlashlightHangersLAN wire for in-room internetElectric kettle; green tea; cups; etc.Laundry bagsGoofy nightshirts and slippersToilet with all the bells and whistles (bidet; etc)Hair dryerShampoo; conditioner; liquid shower soap - all in large bottlesShiseido foaming face washBath sponges; toothbrushes; toothpaste; razors; hairbrushes; Q-tipsShorter but deep tub with showerAn awesome bathroom mirror that de-fogs no matter how steamy your showerEach floor has a room with an ice machine and vending machines selling drinks; beer; nuts; etc. International newspapers are provided on each floor by the elevator.The restaurant on the main floor has a great buffet breakfast from 6:00 am to 10:00 am at 1500 yen a person which is much less than most other hotels I've been to. We didn't eat there other than at breakfast; but note that a small draft beer at its bar is 500 yen. A Coke is 600 yen...(which we couldn't figure out).We also checked out the bar on the 2nd floor which opens at 5:00 pm. Wine is expensive; but draft beer is in the same neighborhood as the restaurant downstairs. The bar itself is intimate and really nice. It was a good place to rest our feet after a long day of walking if we just wanted a nightcap instead of painting the town red.Area-wise; the hotel is in a great location; and the North American 'emergency' amenities are all on the same block (am/pm; McDonalds; Starbucks; etc).Lastly; the staff at the hotel were all extremely helpful and friendly; from the desk staff to those cleaning our room each day. We highly recommend this hotel to anyone! :D
320581,TreatTracker,10/18/2008,Incredible Value for the Money Fantastic location; impeccably clean; relatively big bathrooms given the room size; friendly and helpful service; and even a set of matching sleep shirts. Real attention to detail. And free wireless! Can't beat it for the price.
320581,carolinethea,10/18/2008,Good value for money in a fantastic location We stayed in the Sunroute Plaza for a three day stop over in Tokyo.The hotel was easy to find and offers excellent value for money. Rooms are a decent size; small compared to the US but average compared to other Asian or European hotels. That said; this hotel made better use of the space than many others we have stayed at in the past - clever places to put your suitcase; steam proof mirrors throughout the room and other small touches like this make a small room feel larger.But who comes to Tokyo to stay in their room? The hotel's best feature is; without a doubt; its location. It is moments away from Shinjuku station (both the JR and the underground lines) making it an ideal base for exploring the rest of Tokyo. It's also a short stroll to the neon district around Studio Alta with its many bars; shops and restaurants. The area also boasts one of Tokyo's finest tempura restaurants which is definitely worth a visit.In summary; if you want opulent luxury or plan on spending hours in your room; maybe look elsewhere. If you want a smart; clean; modern base from which to explore Tokyo; I genuinely don't think you could find anywhere better.
320581,OKYJACE,10/17/2008,Look no further; just stay here This hotel is great if you don't plan to spend much time in the hotel because the room is small; but the location is unbeatable. I wouldn't recommend trying to be sneaky and squeeze 3 people into a standard room. Paid about $120 per night booking off Expedia which isn't cheap; but not expensive either. I do a lot of travelling in Asia and the IMHO; the quality is above average for what you pay for. There's a lift to the subway Oedo line (takes you to many of the tourist sights) next to the entrance of the hotel which is a big bonus. If you're taking the Narita Express (free with Japan Railpass); then there are some trains that stop at Shinjuku JR which is also 5 minutes from the hotel. You really can't go wrong staying at this hotel.
320581,natAust,10/17/2008,Great location After researching directions on the internet before our arrival; we found this hotel very easy to get to from the train station. Just a 5-10min walk. It was extremely central to the shopping/dining district; just 5mins from the main intersection where the station was. (A note; the area was mostly full of businessmen at night; so we found it hard to find a restaurant at times that wasn't full; and it was rare to find an English menu too). The hotel reception area was lovely; as was the guest lounge (with seats/plasma/internet) and the bar on level 2. The hotel was secure with key swipe access required for the guest lounge and elevator. The rooms were very small but comfortable; with house keeping making over the room each day (providing fresh sleepwear and towels). There was a small cupboard; mini fridge and plasma; toiletries/hairdryer etc were also supplied. The paid movies were expensive though at 1000yen a go and not a great selection of films to choose from either.Overall it was comfortable and in a perfect location.
320581,marcusfocus,10/11/2008,Great Location Stayed for 5 nights and was a great place to base ourselves for sightseeing in and around Tokyo. It is right next to the main station in Tokyo and is located very close to all the shops; restaurants and bars of Shinjuku.The rooms were quite small but the hotel was very good value. It was also extremely clean. I used the laundry service too which was good although not cheap. They have a small parking garage but the attendance would always reserve our space if we wanted to use the car.I would highly recommend this hotel.
320581,Me001,10/05/2008,Great Location Double Non-Smoking Room
320581,maatiisan,10/01/2008,My first "home" in Tokyo This hotel will be the only hotel you stay in when you visit Tokyo. The location is it's best feature. It is across the street from Shinjuku Station; in the heart of the city of Shinjuku. Walking distance from anything and everything you will want or need. Shopping; dining; touring; are all within a few blocks of the hotel. If you need essentials; there is a 24 hour convenience store just across the street; and a 24 hour McDonalds a few shops down. Major shopping malls and sites are scattered all around the hotel. The Government Building with 2 free observation towers are a few blocks away. And the infamous Kabuki-cho district is just a 10 minute walk away. But aside from all of that; the hotel is top notch. The service is excellent! Very good English speaking front desk. Restaurant and room service staff will go out of their way to help you. And the hotel's looks alone are beautiful. The lobby; the layout; and just the overall building is perfect. My favorite was the laundry service. I needed it during my 2 week stay. And yes; the whole 2 weeks was spent in the same hotel. This hotel will not disappoint. I joined their membership program because I know I will stay with them whenever I go back to Tokyo.
320581,ChilipadiYan,09/12/2008,Superb location The corridor leading to the rooms
320581,subee8,09/08/2008,Perfect place This hotel was perfect for our stay in Tokyo. The rooms are small but provide all amenities. It's extremely clean and up to date in every way. The lobby is lovely. There is free internet in the guest lounge for all guests. The location is nice because it's 5 minutes from the train station but not located in the neon area of Shinjuku; so it's quiet. The Veloce coffeeshop across the street was great for good coffee and muffin at reasonable prices.
320581,kinezos,09/08/2008,Fantastic Value for Tokyo First time to Tokyo and after a lot of searching and being somewhat bewildered by the choice and size of the city was recommended this hotel.After a flight into Narita and the long ride into town; the hotel did not disappoint. Great service; very friendly reception staff with excellent English; nice lobby; clean/spotless rooms and a good location in Shinjuku.
320581,travel0,08/31/2008,Totally impressed!! After an epic 12 hr flight and the hour and a half by bus to get to Tokyo from Narita airport I was not only impressed but also relieved to find out that our hotel was exactly what it was like as per the previous reviews of the hotel and as per the hotels website. The hotel is located in the heart of Shinjuku which is one of Tokyo's busiest districts. The Airport Limosine makes its last stop at the hotel itself and right to the front door. The cost of the Airport Limosine is 3000 yen PP and tickets can be bought at the conter just before extiing the arrivals exit. The entrance of the hotel and the lobby are nothing less than modern looking and inviting. The hotel staff were very pleasant and spoke enough english for all my inquiries. Safety was a priority as you do need your key card to access the elevator and there is a security guard on site 24 hrs per day. Once you reach your floor you will find your room to be smaller than the north american average but everything is very neatly designed and immaculate. Please note that in the economy double room there were no dressers so we had to live out of our suitcases. The bathroom was a full bathroom and the shower pressure was fabulous...especially after that long flight. No need to bring most toiletries here as lots is provided for you: toothbrush/toothpaste; brush; q-tips;bath sponge. The shampoo; conditioner; body wash; and hand/face soap were provided in large pump bottles and were replaced almost everyday. A fresh pair of pyjamas and slippers were provided on our made-up bed every night and the bedding was stripped daily. A trouser press and a mini fridge also provided. The fridge however was really tiny and big enough for a few soft drinks. Safety deposit boxes are available to guests at the front desk without charge. Vending machines on every floor including ice machines. Free daily paper too. T.V. is mostly Japanese and Chinese but there is CNNJapan and you might get an American movie and all you have to do is change the language on your remote control.All guests have access to the lounge which is situated on the second floor. There you will have a big screen television; free internet access (two computers) and complimentary tea; coffee; hot chocolate and spring water to fill up you water bottles before a long day of sight seeing. The hotel restaurant serves mostly Italian fare for lunch and dinner but does serve a buffet breakfast for approx. 1400 Yen PP and comprises of Japanese and western style food. Should try at least once but a good stand by for us was the McDonalds right next door for an egg mcmuffin to go before our early morning tours. There's a bar on the second floor and is great for after a day of sightseeing. Grab a drink and have a snack. I had a beer and a pizza and it hit the spot. I had my 13 year old with me so i'm assuming that they let kids into the bar as well. If you want to book tours from the hotel the staff will give you a bunch of brochures and it will be up to you to call the companies to book the tours yourself but what we did is we went to the Century South Tower Hotel right acroos the street and the staff booked all the tours for us and handed us vouchers and the tour buses picked us up from there. Please note that the lobby for that hotel is on the 20th floor. We took the all day tours to Mt. Fuji and NIkko. Really worth it and great opportunity for picture taking. The location of the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku was amazing. The hotel is slightly tucked away in a sort of business district away from the craziness of the Shinjuku streets but is a two minute walk to all of the action. The South entrance to the metro is literally right next door to the hotel entrance. Shinjuku station is the busiest station in the world with 3.5 million people passing through there each day. If you have small children and are passing through this station during rush hour please watch them like a hawk!! The metro station attendants are really nice and helpful. Communication may be a bit difficult if you don't speak Japanese but we found that hand gestures were effective. The metro system is a bit confusing at first with its 13 metro lines and a train system. If you look lost enough eventually someone will approach you and try to help you out. The people in Japan were extremely nice even with the language barrier.Tons of places to eat; shop and explore in Shinjuku. There are three convenience stores alone just beside the hotel where you can get snacks and drinks. Just keep walking and you'll always find something new. At night the streets are all lit up with the neon signs. Vegas has nothing on this place at night!!There are many shopping malls in this area that include high end luxury stores.If you're planning to go to Disneyland Tokyo it couldn't be easier. There are shuttle busses from the New South Entrance of Shinjuku station where it will take approx. 1 hr to arrive at Disney. Price is 800 Yen PP one way and will drop you right at Disney's front entrance. The first shuttle is at 6:40 a.m. and Disney opens its doors at 8:00 a.m. and once you've had enough of that then you can take a shuttle back. There is one at 4:30; 6:45 p.m. and so on. The hotel will print you out a schedule.The Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku offers the best value for the money. The hotel offers exactly what you need and more and I will definately use this hotel if I every return to Tokyo and will not hesitate to recommend this hotel to family and friends. Enjoy!
320581,phdSwindon,08/20/2008,Excellent value for Money First of all just a little more detail about finding the hotel. Exit Shinjuku station by the southern terrace exit and bear to the left. When you reach Krispy Kreme turn right down the stairs; or escalator; and head towards the bridge which crosses the road below. From the bridge you can see the hotel just to the right. Cross the bridge and you are within 30 yards of the hotel.Getting anywhere in Tokyo is very easy from the hotel; with the Oedo subway line station literally next door from the hotel and Shinjuku's other stations a few minutes walk away. We would recommend getting a Pasmo card which gives you access to all train routes in Tokyo. It stops the bother of having to buy a ticket at the beginning of every journey you take. The train system is very efficient and very reasonably priced.The hotel room was small as expected; but it was a really good to get back to an air conditioned spotlessly clean sanctuary after a busy day seeing the sites of the city.The breakfast in the hotel was reasonably priced and offered a good selection of Western and Japanese food. We ate breakfast a number of times but there are masses of options for eating within a few minutes walk of the hotel.The hotel lounge offers free drinks and internet access; which was available either immediately or after a short wait.
320581,abfp7905,08/19/2008,Wonderful and Convenient Hotel! View from my hotel room.
320581,Elyysa,08/15/2008,Will definitely come back here I had a little trouble looking for this hotel location but with the help from information counter in Takashimaya mall; I found it. It's very important that once you reach Shinjuku Station; use the right exit or you will end up going in circle. Use New Southern Terrace exit. Once out of the exit go to the left and walk straight; you'll see starbuck. Keep walking until you see crispy creme on the left and u will go to the right (you will go through some stairs). Keep going down the stairs and you will see the hotel right in front of you.The check in time is 2 pm; since I arrived early I left my luggage at the check in counter and went for a walk. You can always ask for information from the hotel staff; they do speak english; they will provide you with map if needed. Room:The room is small but very tidy. The only down side was we got a room facing man's toilet. Not a very pleasant view. The hotel provide basic amenities like kettle; tv (flat screen); toiletries; they even provide clean slippers and sleeping robe (I don't know what it's called) everyday. Internet is free but bring your own laptop.Staff:I have to give credit to the staff because when my sister got really sick; they tried looking for doctor to come to our room personally (they searched from at least 10 hospitals) but no doctors were available that night. The next day they got us a cab and sent us straight to international catholic hospital (because this hospital has people who speak english). There is a big hospital next to this hotel but it is not opened to public on weekend!Access:From Shinjuku station; you can go almost everywhere. My destinations was Disneyland; Ghibli Museum; Nikko; Mt Fuji; Harajuku; Shibuya; Ginza; Akihabara etc. The main key is to find the right line. You can also find a lot of restaurants; convenient stores; pharmacy and malls around the hotel. For Muslim; if you wanted to find halal restaurant; this is a bit tricky. There are halal restaurants nearby but you will have to do a lot of walking at the backstreet (because that is how I found them).Going to the airport; contact the hotel staff to buy limosine bus ticket and to check the bus schedule. The bus will pick you up at the very front of this hotel.I love the location of this hotel. You can never go wrong with this hotel. I recommend this for first timer in Tokyo (like me). I wish to come back here if I had the chance.
320581,sgpaperclip,08/10/2008,Loved Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku It was a great stay. The hotel was conveniently located near Shinjuku station (we had a bit of problem finding it at first) but once out of the station; it was actually very easy to find the place. We were given a corner room and when we entered the room; the floor was covered with tatami (wow!). The room came complete with surround sound system and also a big LCD TV. The room was relatively large given that it is Japan we are talking about (where most hotel rooms are small). It was also meticulously clean; same for the bathroom. What impressed me was that the room came equipped with all the basic toiletries e.g. shower foam; facial form; shaving cream; shampoo and conditioner in big bottles and not mini packs like most hotels do =)))) - smells nice too. Our room did not come with breakfast; thus no comments. Overall I would recommend to stay at Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku and would go back and stay again if I visit Tokyo next time.
320581,lazymi,08/06/2008,A definite Gem the path from the door to the bed's a tad too narrow; but good enough.
320581,WCC128,08/02/2008,Everything as described in the Review This is our first time visiting Toyko. I read the tripadvisor review and made the decision on this hotel. Overall; we like this hotel's location; clean room; courtesy staffs and best value (~$100 a night thru Expedia after 30% discount). This is a business hotel in Tokyo and they do not have much on facilities like gym; pools; garden etc. The room is average size (standard double)but enough for two people. The tripadvisor reviews provided excellent insight on the hotel location; direction and conditions before we got there. There are plenty of restaurants near the Shinjuku stations; which is the busiest in Toyko. The convenient stores (like 7/11) and few noodle shops nearby operate 7x24.
320581,onedogcity07,08/01/2008,Will stay here again The airport limo bus dropped us of in front of the hotel after an hour drive from Narita. The main lobby is very modern. Of the many people available for check-in; I noticed only 2 people who could speak fluent English. We had 2 rooms which were very clean and modern. Both rooms had ethernet cable for our laptops. There was a nice sized flat screen TV and a wide assortment of Japanese channels. There was a long desk along the window. This was also where the hot water pot; free tea; tea mugs; and mini refrigerator was located. My husband prefers coffee every morning so he bought a small jar of instant coffee at the 7-11 down the street.My husband I had the room with the double bed which was a little on the small side. It did not have a closet or dresser. There was a clothes rod hung by the door with a few hangers which I used. My husband lived out of his suitcase. We had brought two 21 suitcases; anything larger would have made the room difficult to navigate around. My children (17; 20) had a room with 2 twin beds. Their room was a little larger and even had a small closet. I asked that their room be close to ours; this was accomplished w/o any problems.This hotel is in a great location just 5 min. from the south exit of Shinjuku station. There are a lot of restaurants and shopping malls like Takashimaya Times Square; Odakyu; and Keio. These places also have large food markets if you just want to have a meal or dessert in your room. (They'll provide you w/ eating utensils if you ask.) We spent our first night walking the vibrant restaurant alleys a couple of blocks from the hotel. We paid $115 for the single and $140 for the double. We would definitely stay here again. The location; price and cleanliness of the room can't be beat .
320581,HiHoHiHoRDU,07/29/2008,Best value in Shinjuku I last stayed at the Sunroute about 10 years ago. It wasn't an especially good experience which is why I hadn't been back; but boy was I making a mistake. They've completely remodeled it and its far better than the hotel I stayed at. The room was typical size for Tokyo (very small); but the bed was quite comfortable (especially compared to the typical hard beds I'm used to in Japan); the furnishings in very good condition; the bathroom was spotless and in like new condition and the room had a 26 LCD TV with some HD channels. Free internet in the room (I used wired; but they might have wireless also). I didn't eat at any of the restaurants in the hotel. I paid only about $115 per night; which is great for Shinjuku. Only the Washington Hotel is cheaper and its no where near as nice. The location is also very good. Its less than a 5 min. walk from the JR Shinjuku station (about the same distance to the Tokyo subway Yoyogi station) to the hotel; but the hotel is very quiet. I would call this a 3 star hotel; but a very nice one. Check-in was very fast and check out was only seconds since I'd pre-paid through Travelocity. My only complaint is that the air conditioner controls are 100% Japanese so it was hard to figure anything out besides the temperature. You'd think that wouldn't be a problem; but there appears to be different settings for auto and always on and others because sometimes it just stayed on forever even though the room was cold.In comparison to other hotels I've stayed at in Shinjuku this is the best value by far. The Washington hotel rooms are smaller; older; and not as comfortable. The Prince Hotel rooms used to be more worn; but I hear they recently remodeled so maybe its OK but the location isn't as good. They charged for internet access the last time I stayed there and the price is slightly higher than the Sunroute. The Keio Plaza is very nice (bigger rooms; more English TV stations); but the price is about 2x the Sunroute.
320581,geminitraveller,07/21/2008,Highly Recommended Bed of Economy Double Room with sleepwears
320581,hellojacy,07/20/2008,Exactly what I expected We stayed at the sunroute from jun 28th thru july 4th and thanks to all the helpful reviews from tripadvisor; we got exactly what we expected. We took the limousine bus; which was nice to see all the sites on the way to the hotel...It took about an hour and a half with a little traffic; but it was pretty convenient.Yes the rooms are tiny; but very clean and manageable. Only complaint is that our room was very humid; since the lights and ac only works when the card is in the key slot; but once the ac was on it was okay. Oh and don't lose your keycard b/c they charged us $5 for the one we lost. Loved the toilets! and they provide everything you need in the bathroom. They also give you one very soft and one very hard pillow.We tried the breakfast buffet the first day and it wasn't worth the money (about $15) and the food wasn't that tasty...I've had much better in other hotels and for $15 you have a lot of other options. Also; Starbucks; Krispy Kreme; McDonalds; AMPM (great sandwiches for real cheap); and lots of coffee shops are nearby.The computer lounge is great; but there will always be people waiting to use the computers. Use the southern terrace exit from the shinjuku subway station and its a 5 min walk to the hotel. If you use the south gate exit; there is a great ramen cart right in front of the exit (opens around 8pm) You really can't beat the location...its close enough to everything; but its still nice and quiet.Staff's english was quite good and they were pretty helpful. Overall; we had a lovely time and experience with the sunroute plaza shinjuku and a memorable time in Tokyo! Your too tired at the end of the nite anyway that all you need is a comfy bed.
320581,MOHSMD,07/20/2008,Great Hotel: wonderful service; excellent location The hotel is strategically located across the stairs from the Southern Terrace of the Shinjuku station. If you take the Narita Express from the airport; take the Southern Terrace Exit which leads you to the escalator a few meters from the Hotel. Excellent base for exploring Tokyo and going to other cities like Kyoto. Well-kept room. Room size is bigger than some hotels in Europe. Provides free internet to guests. Helpful staff. Will definitely stay here again.
320581,lasardo,07/11/2008,Perfect location This hotel was ideal for a first-time visit to Tokyo. The airport limo took us straight from Narita to the hotel; and was on time and fast both coming to the city and leaving. The hotel itself is in a great location: In the busy; lively Shinjuku but located on a relatively quiet sidestreet with a convenience store; restaurants and cafes nearby. The decor is very modern and sleek; and I would recommend the breakfast; especially if you're going to be needing a lot of energy for the rest of the day. The rooms are small; it's true; but it was enough space for two with not-too-much luggage. Nice TV in the room; as well; HDTV and lots of channels in many languages. Showers also had good pressure; and maids were consistent and efficient. Bonus: free newspapers in both English and Japanese; with helpful staff to boot.
320581,Nerzie,07/11/2008,Good Bargain; Great Locale I agree with the other reviews; small but comfortable rooms; pleasant staff; awesome location. I was just going to add some tips: the breakfast at the hotel is quite pricey. There is a nice affordable coffee shop across the street where you can get coffee or tea and pastries and sandwiches (cafe veloce). We ate there every morning and enjoyed our time among the folk - people watching. Also; you can bill the hotel restaurant meals to your room if you ask. The reason this was convenient was that we ran out of cash and the hotel won't cash traveller's checks for you but the citibank in the tower next door (19th floor) with do this for you.
320581,SeattleCrazyhair,07/09/2008,Great location and price This hotel is in a really convenient location near the Shinjuku subway and JR stations. It is also located near lots of shopping and nightlife.The rooms are small; but pretty typical for Tokyo. The rooms are clean nicely decorated and there are english movies on the pay per view (but they are not cheap). We had a smoking room (that was all that was left); but I didn't notice the odor in the room at all (but in the hallway; you could smell it).There is internet access in the guest lounge (second floor) which also has free coffee cocoa. There is a breakfast buffet; it is pretty expensive and probably not worth it (unless you are a huge breakfast eater); since there are plenty of other options close-by (including the ubiquitous Starbucks). The airport bus picks up directly from the hotel; which is nice; but it doesn't leave that frequently. The front desk staff were extremely helpful and friendly.
320581,tommy1d,07/02/2008,A nice surprise This hotel was a very nice surprise. It often comes up as one of the cheapest options for a stay in Tokyo on sites such as Expedia or Orbitz; and for the price; it is a good deal.The rooms are on the smaller side; there is no closet in the rooms; just a few hangers; but they are still nicely done and the beds are the best I've tried so far in Tokyo for that price.The location is quite convenient; a 5 mn walk from Shijuku station. If you don't mind the size of the room; this is a great option if you can get it at a bargain price.
320581,kingzen,06/28/2008,Pleasant experience at Sunroute Plaza Great location and a very reasonable price. Hotel has a very funky; modern design and the room was very clean and comfortable. However; as with almost all Tokyo hotels; the room was incredibly small.The only think that was a little disappointing was their late check-out policy. We asked for a couple of hours allowance; and we were told we would have to join the Sunroute Group's loyalty program (which requires payment of a membership fee). This was useless to us because we only visit Japan occasionally. It would have been better to see some flexibility for foreign visitors.Overall I would definitely stay here again.
320581,BeckR,06/26/2008,Great Hotel! My husband and I stayed at the Sunroute only a couple of weeks ago. It was a great hotel; and I loved staying there. The lobby and hallways are attractive and elegant. They have a guest lounge with TV; 2 computers with free internet use; and a free tea/coffee machine.The room was small; but that was expected in Tokyo. I booked an economy double via Expedia at a great deal (A$114 per night); which turned out to be what the Sunroute call a semi-double. This is a double bed (140cm wide) with about 2 metres around the edge of the bed; which had one side against the wall. This turned out to be fine; we just made sure to put our suitcases under the desk when we got ready in the morning. The room also had a fairly big TV with Japanese channels; plus one channel each in Chinese; Korean and English (CNN). But one of the Japanese channels often had English-language movies on at night; if you're interested. As for us; we didn't spend much time in the room.The bathroom was of a reasonable size; and really clean; with a shower-in-bath dealie; and those fabulous Japanese toilets with the warm seat etc. One thing I loved is that they provide you with just about everything you could need while travelling - toothbrushes; toothpaste; hairbrush; razor - plus; they have big pump-containers of shampoo; conditioer; bodywash and Shiseido face cleanser. You don't really have to bring a thing!The staff were very helpful and friendly. They allowed us to check in when we arrived a little earlier than the regular check-in time of 2pm. Many of them spoke English (but it helped that I knew how to ask in Japanese if they did); and 2 helped us by making reservations in Japanese to restaurants. And they allow you to leave your luggage if your flight leaves later in the day after you check out.The location of the hotel is great - the Shinjuku subway station is literally next door; and the JR Shinjuku station is only a 5 minute walk; where you can get the Narita Express to the airport; or any number of train lines if you have a JR Pass.I would highly recommend this hotel to travellers heading to Tokyo.
320581,cwcyenk,06/23/2008,A satisfactory hotel I must admit that my review here may be a bit bias because I stayed at Ramada Osaka before coming to Tokyo and stayed in Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku for 2 nights and Ramada Osaka is absolutely fabulous.Overall; this hotel is not as good as Ramada Osaka (RO). The rooms are smaller; but also more pricy. The staff here are very friendly; but maybe not as friendly as in RO. There's no porter around to carry our heavy luggages to our room. In RO; they offer sweets to my kid while I did the check-in. But not in this hotel. Sometimes these little things makes a lot of difference.Location-wise; this hotel is an excellent choice for shoppers. Isetan and Takashimaya are just a short walk away. Also; it is a short walk from Shinjuku JR station. The entrance to the subway station is just outside the hotel. So it is also very convenient.There's plenty of restaurants around and a AM PM convenient store is just across the road.During my stay there; I have also experience the earthquake on the 14th June. I was on the 13th floor and I can feel the building swaying back and forth.Like I said; this hotel is actually not bad but because I was hugely impressed by Ramada Osaka; I may have expected too much from it.
320581,BlondishRen,06/18/2008,Great hotel in great location for decent price My husband and I stayed here for 4 nights in early June 2008. For our first trip to Tokyo; the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku was fantastic. I booked online using lastminute.com; and got a decent rate. As we were arriving quite late from Melbourne; I contacted the hotel direct to make sure there would be someone on reception (struggled to find an email address on their website so ended up having to fax a note through). They got back to us via email the same day and confirmed everything would be fine; including our request for a non-smoking room on the top floor. We arrived in Tokyo a bit daunted by everything; our flight was an hour late; we were tired and miserable and my telephone call to the hotel from a payphone on the station platform at Narita to let them know we were running late went wrong when the person who answered couldn't speak English and I ran out of coins on hold. We arrived at Shinjuku station and found our way easily using the directions from a previous review (was so quick and easy and I wouldn't suggest you bother with a taxi unless you have more than one suitcase; it's pouring with rain or struggle with stairs). By the time we reached the hotel it was nearly 11pm; but reception was still open and check in was a breeze - we never had a problem and all the staff we spoke to were fluent in English.Room itself was very small but super clean; bed was comfortable and a decent size (we booked a standard double which had a queen size bed). It was very quiet; being both on a quiet street and on the 14th floor which I was very impressed with for central Tokyo. The slippers and night shirts were a nice touch; although I suspect like us; everyone that stays there dresses up in them and takes pictures as they are not particularly attractive. My husband immediately fell in love with the amazing toilet in the bathroom with functions we'd never seen before; and we used the lovely toiletries provided in the room; been looking everywhere to buy the sort of sponges they provide in the room since we got back as they were excellent. The room had a small desk and a fridge in the corner and a kettle; but only green tea rather than the usual western tea/coffee facilities. We stocked up from the am/pm convenience store directly across from the hotel. The TV had only 1 English channel (CNN) although apparently you can buy movie channels; we never bothered.Guest lounge was good with 2 computers with free internet access and a free automated coffee machine. We never made it to the 2nd floor bar when it was open; but did try out the restaurant and bar downstairs for dinner and found both to offer very good Italian fare. Both had English menus and English speaking staff which was something we didn't find in many places around Tokyo.In the area directly around the hotel; there is a Starbucks on the walk from the station; a McDonalds a few doors down from the hotel if you get fed up of sushi; and a lot of bars and the Shinjuku neon district about a 10 minute walk from the hotel which I can highly recommend as a fun night out. There is also an ATM cash machine in the building next door to the hotel which takes foreign debit and credit cards; it was the only one we found in Tokyo in English and was very convenient once we discovered it. Before we booked this hotel; I was trying to decide whether it was worth paying twice as much for the Hotel Southern Century Tower across the road (it's literally across the road); and I'm glad to say we saved the money. Both have a great location next to Shinjuku JR station and the metro stations in Shinjuku; both are on a quiet street and both have restaurants and bars - I would stay here again in an instant as I think it is one of the best value hotel rooms in Tokyo. We travelled to the hotel on the Narita Express; and travelled back to the airport on the Limousine Bus directly from our hotel; and I have to say I think the bus was easier and more convenient. Price wise the train was slightly more expensive and was not much faster; although did go more frequently. If you get in at a reasonable hour at Narita; then I would suggest the bus is probably the easiest choice except during rush hour when the Express train might be quicker.
320581,bernard30,06/15/2008,Superb value View from room
320581,chop04,06/15/2008,sunroute plaza shinjuku-stay there stayed here for 6 days and its right what everyone says about it;great location;clean modern hotel;staff very helpfull;use southern terrace to get there;i know everyone says use south exit but this saves you crossing road.ampm over the road;mcdonalds up the road.
320581,rachkiwi,06/04/2008,Great Location; Nice Hotel We stayed here at the beginning of our 2 week trip in May. Getting to the hotel from Narita was easy; the Narita Express stopped at Shinjuku which is a 5min walk from the hotel (take the Sthern Terrace Exit; head left and then first left. Hotel is on your right 2mins down the road)The lobby is smart and the staff speak EnglishThe room was tiny but we were expecting this. We booked an economy double. The only complaint was that the pillows were really uncomfortable. Like rocks.The bathroom was a decent size and clean (compared with business hotels we stayed in later in the trip)The location is the main attraction. 5mins walk to Shinjuku and the madness of the neon lights; bars; restaurants and malls. Shinjuku is one of the main train hubs. Direct lines to Roppongi; Harujuku; the Fish Markets; Narita Airport etcWe walked down to Harujuku through the park one day which was a pleasant stroll.Would recommend this as a place to base yourself in Tokyo
320581,GONZALEZLima,05/31/2008,100% Recomended We followed the Trip Advisor as usual and we find a great hotel in Tokyo; affordable rates; great toiletts; adequate room and excellent location very close to Shijuku Station. You can find around many restaurants; JR subway stations and major stores as Takashimaya Yodobashi.You can access to this hotel from Narita Airport using The Friendly Limosine Bus for 3;000 Yen that is very convenient.Front Desk staff is vey friendly and Hotel is very new.
320581,Bugs75,05/28/2008,Outstanding Value Hotel lobby
320581,yeahyeahmelmel,05/27/2008,Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku is Supreme This hotel was an absolute gem in the heart of Tokyo. It's location simply can't be beat. Five minutes away from JR Shinjuku and countless Tokyo metro lines; it provides great accesibility to all other parts of the city. 10 minutes away is the neon-lined streets of Tokyo that you see in movies. The staff spoke English and was very friendly and accomodating. I would expect to pay much more for this hotel than what we did. I would recommend this hotel to anybody looking for a gorgeous hotel with a prime location in Shinjuku.
320581,greggs78,05/24/2008,Great place to stay in Shinjuku Got a great deal on hotels.com for 3 nights in May. This hotel is one of the stops for the Narita airport limo bus service which makes it very convenient when arriving into Tokyo. The location at Shinjuku is excellent as its near the massive train station that will take you anywhere in the city. The hotel is new which was one of the reasons I chose to stay here. Room is tiny and crammed especially when sitting at the desk working on my laptop; with free internet access! However the room size didn't matter to me as I was busy exploring Tokyo most of the day. Theres plenty of eateries and shopping in the area so you'll never be bored or go hungry. I highly recommend this hotel when visiting Tokyo and will definitely go back again.
320581,Kerouac72,05/19/2008,Rockin' Location I've just returned from a weeks stay at the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku and I couldn't fault it. As the other reviews have stated; yes the rooms are small but you have to put it into perspective. Most rooms in Tokyo (unless you want to pay mega dollars at the Park Hyatt) are not much more than shoeboxes! The Sunroute is centrally located; is within 5 minutes walk of Shinjuku station and has a good selection of Western and Japanese food options in the area.If you're after all the bells n' whistles...a huge room service menu; day spa; multiple channel TV; gym; concierge...then this isn't for you. On the other hand if you're after a clean; contemporary and well priced hotel with friendly English speaking staff then this is the go. Make sure you check out the guest lounge area on the second floor. A great free coffee/tea machine and internet access along with comfortable lounges. The bar on the second floor is also cool.The other advantage of the Sunroute Plaza (and this may also apply to other hotels) is that the Limousine Bus to Narita Aiport stops right out the front. It costs about Y3000 and was for me; the easiest way out to the airport. A two minute walk across the road (behind the Hotel Century) there are new Starbucks and Krispy Kreme. Personally I'm not a fan but others reading this may want to know. There's also a McDonalds on the way to Shinjuku station. My advice is to avoid these and try some of the street fare nearby...the noodles and the yakitori are excellent. Or you could grab some Japanese rice crackers and some cold Asahi from the AM/PM across the road and watch hilarious Japanese game show TV. I had a great experience at this hotel and will stay here again next time I'm in Tokyo. Have a great time.
320581,happy52Ireland,05/19/2008,Exceptional Location - 5 minute walk from the south or south terrace exit of shinjuku station. Approx. 20 min walk to Yoyogi Park. Decent restaurants in close proximity. 20 minute walk to studio alta.Does not get much better than that in Tokyo.Hotel - A wonderful modern hotel with facilities to cater for all basic needs. The hotel is well furnished and while the rooms are small - its still very comfortable. The staff were very helpful and had perfect english. Its more than an average business hotel - its quite stylish.Price - Semi-Double room 鈧?0 a night. Found that price to be very resonable considering the location and standardOverall - I initially had planned 4 nights in this hotel - I ended up staying 9. Upon my 2nd checkin I was given a loyalty card which entitled me to have and extra 2 hours prior to required check out.Very pleasing stay
320581,GraciePug,05/19/2008,Fab hotel close to all the action We loved this hotel. It's perfect for exploring Tokyo and is a short walk from Shinjuku station that connects you to everywhere else. It's also close to Shibuya and Harajuku for fashion; people watching and great shops.Only thing I would say is that we booked through Expedia and they call the rooms 'Economy doubles'. When we arrived we realised the hotel calls them 'Semi-doubles' and that says everything. They really are small! But if you're going to Tokyo you'd be rather sad to want to spend loads of time in your hotel room! The staff are fantastic and the airport bus stops outside (Book at reception the day before for the return trip for 3;000 yen).There's free internet access on the second floor lounge which is handy if you don't want to drag a laptop to the other side of the world.My boyfriend proposed on this trip and we certainly felt we were staying in a memorable hotel! We'd def go back.
320581,TNHKG,05/05/2008,Excellent Stay I stayed in this hotel on May 1-4. It's a very new hotel and locates at an excellent location. You can't miss it if you want to stay in Shinjuku with resonable room rate. 5mins walk from Shinjuku station (south gate) and 10mins walk to the main shopping district. Even though the hotel including hotel room is small; it has everything you need..... toiletries; super high-definition LCD TV; free internet; free business centre (guest lounge); good service; excellent staff; shuttle limo bus to airport. A highly recommended stay!!
320581,funnymui,05/05/2008,Funny Mui Bathroom
320581,konadays,04/30/2008,Great Hotel; Great Location My husband and I stayed at the hotel for 2 nights at the end of April. Except for the small size I couldn鈥檛 have wanted for anything better in this price range. The room was very neat; clean; and the d茅cor was extremely pleasant. There are slippers; razor; toothbrushes; hairbrushes; bath sponges; soap; shampoo; hair conditioner; and something that was either a light robe or a nightshirt (I鈥檓 not sure) for your use. The room had an internet connection and for those who don鈥檛 travel with a computer there were two computers with complementary internet access available in the second floor guest lounge (which also had free coffee and tea). There were no closets in our double room but there were 4 or 5 hangers with a place to hang things on the wall by the door. Having no closet space to put our luggage in put a bit of a strain in the available walking around spaces. For two nights it was no big deal. The staff was courteous and helpful.We arrived at the Shinjuku station after a 2.5 hour bullet train ride into Tokyo from Kobe. Upon exiting the train I immediately understood why other reviews emphasized how easy it is to get lost. I followed the directions in another review and had no problems getting out and finding the hotel. So; if you arrive via the Shinjuku station look for the South exit (or Southern Terrace) sign(s). When you get to the sidewalk cross the street and turn right. Walk to the first street and cross. Then turn left and the hotel is about a block and 陆 down the street. If you are leaving Tokyo via Narita airport you can catch an airport bus for about US$ 30 per person (one way) that will pick you up at the hotel and take you to your terminal at the airport. You can catch that same bus at the Shinjuku station with a wider variety of pick up times but you have to drag your luggage with you. You can also catch a JR train at the station but I think the cost to the airport is higher. The trade off is how much rush hour traffic you want to sit trough in the bus. We used the bus from the hotel and got to the airport in plenty of time.If you don鈥檛 want to spend big $$ for dinner try shopping at the food court in the nearby Takashimaya Times Square or under the Lumine1 (in the Shinjuku station). We bought dim sum; sushi; dessert; and a soft drink (for 2) for about $US 20. There are plenty of places to buy prepared foods but not to sit down and eat them so we just brought it back to our hotel room and feasted.
320581,Femaletravelor,04/25/2008,Great Location Stayed for one night; a bit pricey for traveler; but quite luxurious for a Japanese hotel. Great location; within walking distance from JR Shinjuku station; and major shopping mall such as Takashimaya Town Square.I wouldn't suggest it for those who're staying for transit only (I would suggest business hotels instead).Breakfast is good; great variation from continental to Japanese style.
320581,Juan45,04/20/2008,A very good choice I booked this hotel based on the reviews and was very pleased. I hadn't been to Tokyo before and went to visit my son who is working there. We shared a room for two nights and I was pleasantly surprised at the size of it; having read a lot of comments about the smallness of the rooms - maybe we got an upgrade.We chose the train option from Narita; which seemed to take forever. I subsequently realised that my impecunious son had bought us the slow train tickets rather than the express; although the price difference was negligible. Although the hotel is in walking distance; if you have any significant baggage it's worth taking a taxi - only 700 odd yen - and although we selected the right exit (there are very many) it's far from obvious which direction to walk in.Shinjuku station is supposed to be the biggest or busiest in the world; and I can well believe it; especially at rush hour. The reception staff made us very welcome - some of them have limited English; but we got by well enough. The whole place is spotlessly clean and efficient and the breakfast was good.There's no natural centre to Tokyo; so to say it's a good location rather depends on where you are going; but it suited us well enough. The metro is so efficient it doesn't matter much anyway.I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this hotel.
320581,willrmc,04/19/2008,Excellent Value and Service Just got back from staying here and everything was perfect. Hotel was much nicer than what I was expecting. Hotel was very clean and modern with easy access to Shinjuku station and the rest of Tokyo. Rooms had free wired high speed internet and hdtv. Rooms were on the smaller side; but very good value for the money. Staff were extremely polite and spoke perfect English.
320581,porterj,04/16/2008,Great value and location Hotel was very nice; especially for a single traveler. Very close to Shinjuku train station. Room was good sized. Bar/restaurant on first floor decent and inexpensive. The bar on the second floor was more expensive. Easy to get lost coming out of train station. Go out the south exit. Take a right. Take left at the first street (there is a McDonalds at the corner). Hotel is down about a half a block on the right.
320581,Dayspring,04/16/2008,Great Location; Quiet; and Comfortable I read many of the reviews of this hotel and they are spot on. We were even more impressed with the overall quality of this hotel when we arrived. The only surprise was that our Double Standard room was very small indeed. I suppose this is expected in Japan; but it was still hard for us Westerners to get used to. Nevertheless; we enjoyed the amenities in the room including the refrigerator; toilet; excellent shower; and complementary toiletries. You have Tokyo's most beautiful parks within easy walking distance. Shinjuku Chuo Park near the goverment buildings is beautiful; the blossoms in Shinjuku Gyoen were spectacular; and if you like to jog; I reccommend making a right turn out of the hotel and heading south toward Yoyogi park. Absolutely beautiful.We ate breakfast every morning at the hotel where the price was very reasonable; and they had both a traditional Japanese breakfast; and western breakfast complete with eggs; cereal; potatoes; bacon; and fruit and granola.We also had one dinner at the restaurant; and it was quite good.There is also a really nice lounge room with comfortable couches; wide screen tv; two computers with printer; and a free coffee/tea/hot chocolate machine that made decent coffee.Not much of a view from our room; but we didn't really care since what little time we spent there we slept. Great rate for such a fine hotel right the heart of Tokyo. I would highly recommend this hotel.Follow the directions in another review about how to find the hotel. Out the south exit; across the sidewalk; turn right; go to light and look left; and you can see the hotel.Enjoy your stay!
320581,Louise101,04/12/2008,A great base for exploring Tokyo We stayed here during a 2 night stop over in Japan. We took public transport from the airport to Shinjuku station. Shinjuku station can be quite confusing as there are many exits; however a friendly local saw we were looking a bit lot and directed us to the hotel which was only a 5 minute walk. The staff at the hotel were very friendly and spoke good English. We didn't make use of many of the facilities at the hotel but there looked a nice restaurant. Our room was fairly small but comfortable. There was free internet access in the room if you bring a laptop which was very useful for us. You can walk easily to shops and restaurants from the hotel. Shinjuku station has many train lines so you can easily explore other areas of Tokyo.The airport limousine bus can pick you up from the hotel which we found was cheaper than the fastest train we took from the airport upon arrival. Overall we enjoyed our stay and would definitely visit again.
320581,BoysInNY,04/10/2008,Great Location in Shinjuku Other Side of Room
320581,aperea,04/09/2008,Unbelievable hotel! HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Bathroom
320581,Makena07,04/07/2008,Best Value - Great Stay We arrived by train from Narita to Toyko; transfered to Tokyo metro; and got off at the Shinjuku Station (yes; this is the busiest station where they have pushers to get people onto trains during rush hour). Once we got our bearings and figured out how to walk the three blocks to the hotel (the train station is HUGE); we were really impressed with the cleanliness and fittings of our room. While small (like European hotels) compared to American standards; the room had a really comfortable queen bed; with great pilows - all the bathroom amenities; yukata robes; slippers and hot water for green tea; right in our room. The room was quiet; and immaculate. We really liked the $15 buffet breakfast downstairs- it gave us a chance to have cereal AND japanese breakfast. The check-in was attentive and fast; though no luggage porters were fussing over us; as in other hotels (although we had light luggage). The location was perfect - close to the department shores; the yakitori restaurants under/at Shinjuku station; Shinjuku nightlife and the Golden Gai.
320581,jkps,04/07/2008,Fantastic hotel in a perfect location We stayed at this hotel for three nights and had an amazing experience. The staff were incredibly helpful for any problem; there was a business center with two computers and the restaurant on the first floor had a large buffet breakfast. The hotel was only a few minutes from Shinjuku station so you could easily access the whole city; and there was plenty of places to eat or grab a quick bite at the local convenience stores. Of course; this was a hotel in Japan so the room was expectedly small and smelled of smoke; but that holds true for nearly every hotel; bar or restaurant in Japan.Highly recommend this place and would stay here again.
320581,treeandkoala,04/05/2008,Definitely would stay again.. We stayed at the Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku Plaza for a total of 8 nights in March 2008. The hotel has an excellent location. First of all; it is a designated stop for the Airport Limousine from Narita Airport; especially important and convenient if you are not a light traveller! Also; its location from the Shinjuku station makes it an ideal base for excursions throughout Tokyo. The rooms themselves are extremely clean; though a tad small and the bathrooms are decently-sized by Tokyo standards. It also comes equipped with a fog-free mirror; heated toliet seats; bidet and many free Shiseido amenities (shampoo; conditioner; face wash; body wash etc.) The large plasma TV was quite a surprise; given the relatively compact room. 1000 Yen buys you 24-hours worth of movies if you don't like the free channels. Free internet; printer and hot drinks are available at the guest lounge located on the 2nd floor. We found this especially useful when checking weather forecasts and the location of certain attractions during our stay. Service was impeccable; with counter staff able to speak adequate English to address our needs. On the whole; this hotel would definitely be our choice for accomodation when we next visit Tokyo.
320581,Jen0812,04/03/2008,Toyko-tastic This is a modern; very fresh hotel in a good location. Its very close to Shinjuku Station (trains and subway) and a walkable distance from East Shinjuku for going out at night. You can get the Narita Express train to Shinjuku Station and basically walk to the hotel from there; although Shinjuku Station is a little hard to negotiate.The hotel itself is lovely - our room was clean and fresh with quite trendy decor. The room was a little small though but I don't think that's unusual in Tokyo. As someone else has said you get a nightgown that is changed daily and little slippers which I quite liked.We ate in the Italian restaurant once and had a very nice Japanese/Italian meal. There is also a lounge that has free internet access. In the immediate vicinity there is an AM/PM; a city bank ATM; a Starbucks and a McDonalds as well as numerous Japanese eateries.
320581,notherportlander,04/03/2008,modern and in a good lcoation Booked this hotel through expedia which offered a multi night discount so that it went down to a great deal at 139 a night. Its very close to shinjuku station; right next to a couple metro lines; and also convient to the next JR stop down the line if you want to avoid shinjuku craziness.the hotel was very beautiful. the rooms were small; but well organized; clean; and nicely styled. our semi-double bed (booked as double on expedia) was extremely firm (this after sleeping on the floor japanese style for a week) and the pillow was the hardest we had in our Japan travels. sheets were nice though and it had a feather comforter which was cozy. i liked how they had all the products in the bathroom (big things of conditioner etc; and hairbrush; toothbrush; razor; hair dryer). the room also had a tea making facilities and of course the flatscreen.the 2nd floor lounge had two computers for free use; and a coffee machine. a starbucks as well as several other coffee places were very close by; as well as a bunch of cheap eats near the station. the location was really the best part because it was so fast to get to all the parts of tokyo we were interested in; and with few transfers. i would stay here again.note-- they only would give us one keycard to the room even though it was booked as double. the key is needed to even take the elevator. i did weasel one out eventually but it was very irritating.
320581,Charles049,04/02/2008,Good Hotel; clean; modern very central - 5 mins to Shinjuku station Hotel is execellent; clean; modern; very nice guest lounge with free internet; very close to shops; restaurants; 5 mins to Shinjuku Station. Staff very helpful; speaks reasonably good english.Hotel rated 2.5 stars is really for the amenties it does not offer ie swiming pool; bell/porter service; tour desk; but overall is a 3.5 star hotel; very modern furnings and decor. Double room is small (similar to european size hotels); barely fit 2 medium size luggage. No problems; out most of the day. Nice italian restaurant; good italian sytle coffee.Good value for moneyNo hesitation in staying there again
320581,scblues,04/01/2008,Great hotel! Great location! 32
320581,MapleG,03/26/2008,Great Hotel; would gladly stay here again View from my room
320581,BlahblahWow,03/25/2008,Great for price We stayed here for nine days on our recent trip to Tokyo. After living in Japan and staying with relatives; this was my first hotel stay in Tokyo without a recommendation. I was a bit hesitant but the price was just too good to pass up.An advantage first of all was that the airport limosine stops right at the Sunroute; which is so convenient after a long trip. The front desk was helpful and all fluent in English. There are no bellboys; which is not a problem. The room was comfortable and very clean. A small empty frig and other amenties were a welcom surprise. The only flaw in the room was the pillow; rock hard. It is a matter of preference tho.The location was perfect. Shinjiku is a big place; but the Sunroute is so perfectly situated; a walk to the train station; a walk to Shinjiku Park; and to many other spots. Small cafes and ramen shops are close by if you choose not to eat at the hotel. The breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant is very tasty although a bit pricey; but it is Japan afterall.I would highly recommend this hotel. It is great place to use as a base even if you are traveling to other cities. We left for 4 days and came back to a clean and picture perfect room. Great security in the hotel; staff is friendly and very helpful. I would stay there again and again.
320581,Rihck,03/24/2008,Room too small LOCATION: really good as it's about 300 meters away from Takashimaya and the heart of EAst Shinjuku - shopping area. Not much around in the very vicinity of the hotel but if you walk further towards the east or west; there's a lot of places to eat.ACCOMMODATION: The rooms are nice and clean but TOO SMALL (for what they call the semi double). Our room was facing the men's toilet of the next building - what a view! If not for the view and the squashy room it would be ok even if the only english TV station is CNN.AMMENITIES: Free internet was good.
320581,AlbertBallin,03/20/2008,Not above average; but good three star comfort at a reasonable price We stayed at this hotel for one night. The hotel has a very nice and modern Japanese interior design with lots of wood and stone. We booked a double room. Upon checkin; we were given a so-called semi-double room which was very small and had a 140cm bed. Since we are not semi-people we went back to the receptionist who offered us an upgrade to a double room at 2400 YEN. That room was basically the same room than the semi-double; with the only exception that the bed was 160cm (Queen); which still was rather small. We would have accepted that one as a normal double room as booked; but not as an upgrade after having paid a surcharge. We therefore went back down a third time and finally ended up in a twin-bed room with two 120cm beds and a nice view from the 12th floor (Room 1212). The interior of the room appeared to be brand new; with flatscreen TV and good quality matresses and pillows. The room was very quiet and we did not hear anything from the street or neighboring rooms. On the second floor they had a lounge with free internet terminal and coffee/tea; accessible with the room key. The location is not bad as it is very close to Shinjuku station which gives easy access to/from the airport. We had a hard time finding the hotel; since we took the wrong exit at the station. I would recommend that you take a Japanese printout of the hotel name and adress with you. We didn't and as a result people on the street couldn't help us much to find the place; although we were only a few blocks away.We can recommend this place because of its location and price; but would not stay there anymore ourselves; due to their business practices. A hotel should either sell single or double or twin rooms; but not invent so called semi-double rooms; only to charge people extra upon check-in to receive what they originally booked - a room with a decent sized bed for two people.
320581,mdonline,03/19/2008,The best location and wonderful service Hotel entrance
320581,losangeles21,03/17/2008,Excellent location This hotel is in an excellent location. Cental for everything; if using the metro. The only way to travel in Tokyo. A metro entrance is right next to the hotel. Also had fast food restaurants like mcdonalds and kfc in walking distance. Lots of local restaurants too. Shopping area literally 5 minutes walk away.Hotel was very clean and staff very helpful and friendly. Bathroom had shampoo; conditioner; body and face wash in pump dispenser. Reception area looked very cool and posh on arrival. There was a lounge room with 2 computers with free internet access and printer.We had a double standard room and it was very small and hardly and closet space.But we went to Tokyo to see the sights not to stay in hotel room all day.Felt very safe in the area and generally in Tokyo.
320581,cb261,03/07/2008,great location; comfortable room; upscale surroundings Karaoke club (foreground left) and train station (background)
320581,travelz2008,02/22/2008,Great Hotel in Tokyo Initially I was very apprehensive about this place after finding out it was inly a 2 1/2 star hotel; but I am very pleased to say my fears were unfounded.The service at the hotel was exemplary (as was shown by the effort the hotel staff went to to return some items that I had left in the hotel; back to the UK) and it was in a great location (close to restaurants/ shops and also the main railway station; Shinjuku).The room I stayed in; on the 5th floor; was small but very clean and it had a comfortable double bed coupled with a relatively spacious bathroom. The hotel also had complementary internet access which was very useful.
320581,Piggyb00,02/17/2008,Clean and comfy We stayed at the Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku Hotel for 3 nights during our recent trip to Tokyo. It's a few minute's walk from the South Entrance of the Shinjuku station provided you walk in the right direction. Get out of the station at the south entrance. Cross the road right in front of the station. (Walking straight will bring you to Starbucks and Krispy Kreme).Turn right and walk till you reach the t-junction in front of Lumine 1 and turn left. After another about 50m you will see the hotel. The hotel has an excellent location. It's a few minutes from Krispy Creme; Starbucks; ramen places; Yoshinoya and even a Macdonald's for those looking for something familiar.Shopping-wise; Shinjuku station is just surrounded with shopping places from Takashimaya to Odakyu.It's easy to get around Tokyo as well. If you plan to take the Oedo line (which will get you straight to places like the Tsukiji fish market); the station entrance is right next to the hotel. In any case; Shinjuku station where most of the major lines converge is just 5 minutes from the hotel.Don't let the slightly dowdy exterior of the hotel fool you. The lobby is new and modern in decor. The rooms are rather tiny but clean and comfortable. Be prepared for a squashy toilet but stocked with comprehensive amenities including a nice foldable comb-brush; bathing sponge and Shishiedo facewash.The hotel staff may not speak fluent English. But everyone seems eager to help and extremely efficient. If you asked for recommendations on yummy eats; they're more then ready to help.The down side is that the room doesn't come with complimentary breakfast. But the convenient location makes up for it.Overall; the stay was enjoyable. And the best thing we loved about the hotel was it's great location.
320581,hikaru22,02/15/2008,Excellent Location; Excellent Staff; Excellent Rooms...I'll always go back When I went to Tokyo in late November of 2007; I happened to go on the week of the Japanese Labor Day; so there was actually a problem finding available rooms anywhere because of all the Japanese living outside of Tokyo coming into Tokyo for the holiday weekend. Because of this; I stayed at The B Sangenjaya for two days and the remainder of my trip was spent in the Sunroute. I'm not a biased reviewer at all; but there is nothing wrong with the Sunroute whatsoever. Everything is pretty much great. I'm the type of person that doesn't really complain about anything in particular; but there was honestly nothing to complain about at the Sunroute. The hotel has a really great atmosphere from the lobby; to the rooms themselves. The rooms are more spacious than you would think being in the location in which it is. There's a nice tv with more than enough channels; an excellent bathroom; and all around cleanliness throughout the entire hotel. More importantly; it is about 4 minutes walk from Shinjuku station. A lot of people say that certain hotels are close to this station; but this one honestly is. I'm not sure why the prices for the Sunroute are so reasonable based on the style and elegance of the hotel and the location; but I'll definitely take advantage of it everytime I go back to Tokyo. I'll be going to Tokyo again in late February and I have already reserved at the Sunroute. To tell the truth; the only reason I would stay anywhere else in the Tokyo area is to just experiment with other places. The Sunroute has an edge in my mind now; so I feel sorry for the other hotels in the area ^_^ I highly recommend this hotel !!
320581,amancga,02/02/2008,Will always come back to Sunroute Shinjuku lobby
320581,qian08,02/01/2008,Great location Table and TV
320581,GoingOS,01/27/2008,Very nice!! The location is fantastic; when it says it is 2-5 mins walk to the train station; it really is! The hotel has a beautiful lobby; the rooms are very small as expected in Japan. They are clean and comfortable. The staff are more than willing to help; and will give you a list of attractions and how to get there etc. Some of the staff speak english more fluently than others but they will do what they can to help. I reccomend the Segafredo just down the road for both coffee and the egg and bacon roll for breakfast. Coffee in japan can be dreadful if you dont go to the right place...McDonalds is also about15 meters of the hotel if you aren't partial to traditional japanese food. We had a great time; and staying in Shinjuku was a great base to get to a lot of areas.
320581,DriftwoodNYC,01/17/2008,Got lucky! We booked this hotel on Travelocity; which at the time had a Good Buy sale for an economy double room for $92 a night. It was definitely a steal! The hotel is very new and had a boutique hotel feel; with dark woods and minimalist design and furniture. The staff was top notch and spoke English very well. We didn't try the two restaurants inside the hotel but it seemed like they were well-visited (and pricey).Its location just meters away from Shinjuku's South Entrance made it easy to get around (there's also an elevator right behind the hotel's street-level sign that goes down to the subway). Another big plus is that the Airport Limousine Bus stops right in the hotel driveway which made getting to Narita much easier. We had a room on the 6th floor and noise wasn't an issue. The bathroom was larger than expected. There is also a small business center with two computers and free Internet access; as well as a small coffee/tea bar. Overall; a great value!
320581,AndrewMichael,01/16/2008,Outstanding hotel for 1st time entrance
320581,Burns27,01/16/2008,Good choice in Tokyo First the disclaimer - hotel rooms in Tokyo are extremely small and Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku is no exception with there barely being enough floor space for one suitcase.That said the room was extremely clean and functional with a place for everything and little touches like free tooth brushes; comb; shampoo and lotion as well as hair dryer and coffee maker. There were also night shirts for sleeping and a HD TV (although they only had 1 English station - CNN). But most importantly the bed was comfortable and soft (which is unlike most beds I found in Asia which are very hard). In addition in the second floor lounge they had a free coffee/tea machine and free Internet (with a printer!). The location was excellent - right near the busy Shinjuku station with cheap (for Japan) restaurants and shopping.So as long as you are no expecting North America sized rooms; you should be very happy with this hotel. I would definitely recommend it.
320581,UrbanGuySF,01/07/2008,Shinjuku; I Love You-ku Absolutely well-located near Shinjuku Station and for shopping adventures. In addition to a Starbucks nearby; there is a Tully's near the Yoyogi Station further down the street. Staff was courteous; very friendly and helpful. Their spoken English may be broken; but it was much better than my Japanese. Our room was small by American standards; but you should be out exploring the exciting City anyway. Try the warm toilet spray or bidet for a treat. The second floor lounge is a hip and cozy place to retreat for a cocktail or two.
320581,mc582,01/06/2008,Excellent hotel; but... Twin room
320581,pvtryan25,11/23/2007,Four star hotel with five star service and ambience First impressions: Stayed there during the second week of Nov. Brand new hotel; with a modern and minimalist lobby and furniture that looks more like a 5-star hotel. Service was impeccable - and like what a few other reviewers have said - check-in was smooth; hassle-free and fast. Good value for money considering its location in Shinjuku.Room: We got the Economy Room; which has space for one queen bed; a desk with a large LCD TV and walking space around the bed for one person. Have to be creative if you need to lay open two big-sized suitcases. Very small rooms can take a bit of getting used to - but as long as you spend most of your time outside sightseeing; you won't feel much of it. Bathroom is tiny too; but self-sufficient. Bed is very comfortable if not a bit soft. Our room looks into the neighbouring office block's toilet stack; but thankfully we closed out curtains most of the time. Not a single English channel was available; but why should one travel all the way to Japan to watch CNN? Check out the hilarously quirky Japanese variety shows in the mornings and evenings.Location: is hard to beat; considering that Shinjuku is an interchange station for at least with 5-6 lines that lead you to places like Ginza; Harajuku; Tokyo station; Odaiba; Asakasa; Shibuya and Ikebukuro. The trick is finding the right exit from Shinjuku station. When returning to hotel; always look for the South Exit for the JR line and you won't go wrong. Surroundings: Is near major shopping malls such as Takashimaya Times Square; Lumine; Mylord; a major bookshop; Starbucks; and numerous restaurants. MacDonalds is also down the street. If you want to try authentic Japanese cuisine; try walking across the road bridge to Shinjuku East for the noodle shops. There is also a shop called Yoshinoya down the street that sells delicious beefs-stewed rice and miso soup.Highly recommended for both first-timers and repeat visitors to Japan.
320581,szun,11/09/2007,Love this hotel; highly recommended! We stayed there for 3 nites in mid october. Our twin-bed room is spacious; clean and well-equipped. Location is excellent - 3 mins walk from the Shinjuku station. One of the best hotels that we stayed during our tour in Japan; comparing to other hotels which we paid more.
320581,aburgin,10/09/2007,New; Clean Modern Hotel Hotel Was NEW. Stayed here like 3 weeks after opening. Check in was Simple Payment Upfront. Rooms Were small but all rooms in Japan are small. Had a Twin room on 12 floor. Big LCD tv in room Only 1 English Channel on TV CNN and because of the Time difference to the US of +16 there are hardly anything on it. There was a Guest Lounge on the 2nd Floor with 2 Computers for internet + Water and Tea and Coffee Machines. Easy to get to from Shinjuku Station South Exit. Turn Right out the station walk to the end of the road Turn Right Again and there it is. We found it without a map just from looking at the map on the Hotel website.
320581,Vinada,09/29/2007,Clean rooms; very easy access. I will stay there again. showReview(10017201; 'full');
320581,highloyo,09/17/2007,Opening Day showReview(8739608; 'full');
320581,bebop54,12/22/2008,Che gioia aver soggiornato al Sunroute! Museo Bonsai Tokyo
320581,dannytruelove,12/11/2008,Veery nice and cheap! atrio hotel
320581,asimov,12/11/2008,Posizione strategica showReview(22628567; 'full');
320581,lass,12/03/2008,Este hotel tiene todo; est谩... showReview(22626565; 'full');
320581,lass,11/10/2008,Tr猫s bon hotel; bien situ茅... showReview(22156777; 'full');
320581,Anodina04,11/01/2008,Ubicaci贸n; comodidades y precio perfectos showReview(21451324; 'full');
320581,lass,10/28/2008,L'albergo 猫 molto carino; con... showReview(21391831; 'full');
320581,銈娿亞銇堛亜,10/11/2008,鏂板椐呫伀銈傝繎銇忋儶銉笺偤銉娿儢銉仹銇椼仧 showReview(20793375; 'full');
320581,martola2002,10/01/2008,Me encanto este hotel!! showReview(20532812; 'full');
320581,DarktonioMonaco,09/09/2008,Excellent hotel pour d茅couvrir Tokyo showReview(19934148; 'full');
320581,lass,09/09/2008,bon h么tel tr猫s bien plac茅 mais chambres tr猫s petites showReview(20549370; 'full');
320581,lass,08/30/2008,Buon rapporto qualit脿 prezzo - ottima posizione. showReview(19631781; 'full');
320581,lass,08/28/2008,Consiglio assolutamente questo hotel showReview(19631780; 'full');
320581,fye,08/28/2008,Central; pratique et confortable showReview(19458750; 'full');
320581,lass,08/28/2008,Ottima scelta per un soggiorno a Tokyo showReview(19631779; 'full');
320581,lass,08/27/2008,Tolles Hotel in zentraler Lage! showReview(19631778; 'full');
320581,lass,08/25/2008,Ottimo showReview(19631776; 'full');
320581,lass,08/25/2008,Molto Buono showReview(19631775; 'full');
320581,lass,08/20/2008,Tr猫s bon rapport qualit茅 prix showReview(19631772; 'full');
320581,lass,08/16/2008,Hotel molto bello in un posto perfetto per visitare Tokyo showReview(19631771; 'full');
320581,lass,08/09/2008,Hotel parfait showReview(19631774; 'full');
320581,lass,07/29/2008,Albergo centralissimo in Shinjuku showReview(18530366; 'full');
320581,lass,07/29/2008,gerne wieder showReview(18530365; 'full');
320581,lass,07/23/2008,J'y retourne sans h茅siter showReview(18530364; 'full');
320581,lass,07/01/2008,Magnifico showReview(18530363; 'full');
320581,lass,06/20/2008,Eccellente showReview(17437407; 'full');
320581,bttwil,06/18/2008,Gute Lage; Sauber; tolles Stadthotel showReview(17013057; 'full');
320581,lass,06/09/2008,Tr猫s bon choix showReview(17437405; 'full');
320581,lass,06/05/2008,Tr猫s bel h么tel showReview(17437403; 'full');
320581,lass,05/19/2008,Superlage showReview(16596132; 'full');
320581,lass,03/26/2008,J'y retournerai sans h茅siter lors de mon prochain s茅jour showReview(14729342; 'full');
320581,lass,03/15/2008,Agr茅able surprise showReview(14729341; 'full');
320581,lass,03/14/2008,klein aber fein showReview(14729340; 'full');
320581,lass,03/02/2008,un emplacement et un confort parfait showReview(14729339; 'full');
320581,lass,02/05/2008,tr猫s bon rapport qualit茅 prix showReview(13976062; 'full');
320581,lass,02/02/2008,central; moderne; confortable showReview(13976061; 'full');
321151,suzyjacuzzi,01/05/2009,Perfect Weekend Getaway We live North of Boston and decided to book a 2 night stay at Jury's to enjoy the city and nightlife. The hotel is in a perfect location and within walking distance to tons of shopping and great restaurants. Our Deluxe King was a beautiful corner room with a huge bathroom and tons of natural light. Valet parking; reception and housekeeping were all top notch. The bar in the hotel is a lively spot for both hotel guests and outside customers (!). I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Boston. The only small complaint is that the workout facility is very small and does not meet the standards of other hotel properties in this category.
321151,flyingcod,12/26/2008,Perfect hotel to stay at whilst in Boston Room
321151,juleslady,12/15/2008,Great no more no less! boston
321151,janatzee,12/15/2008,Lovely Hotel We have just returned from a four night stay at Jurys Hotel.Very little to complain about most of the Staff were very friendly and helpful and went out of thier way to accomodate all guests.The concierage was excellent the door men everybody we encountered except the receptionist on check in we had two rooms booked as we were travelling with our elderly mother i had emailed the hotel and requested that the two rooms be allocated on the same floor.However she informed me this was only a request and we could not be accomated on any floor in the hotel for which i find hard to believe no two rooms on any floor at 15.30pm in the afternoon. Anyway after this inital hicough we enjoyed our stay at Jurys.Location was good close to all shops and Prudential centre a walk from Fauneil Hall but it is an enjoyable walk.The doorman arragnged a Taxi back to the airport for us which cost us $50 which was good value for five people and all our luggage.On our last night we asked for a nice restaurant to be recomended and they recomended Grill 23 across from the Hotel while our meal was nice this food was overpriced for a party of four with one glass of wine no dessert tea/coffee we paid $275 other just as nice restaurants even the hotel was nicer than this.The rooms were good and spacious we booked two rooms for 5 people so three shared one which was still ok.The beds were very comfortable; room service was good and efficent we ate in the restaurant on our first night just when we arrived this was a lovely meal and reasonably priced service excellent
321151,msindependent,12/09/2008,Great Hotel... Loved it!!! Myself and my mom stayed at Jurys in Boston for 5 nights. It is worth spending a bit more as the rooms are lovely and the staff are very helpful. The concierge was extremely helpful with organising trips and booking restaurants. I will definitely go back to Boston; as its a fab city and Jurys will always be my first choice for accommodation.
321151,lindieh,12/02/2008,Simply the Best Recently spend a week at Jury's when we belatedly celebrated by husband's 60th with a trip to Boston to see Tina Turner in concert at TD Banknorth Stadium.As other reviewers have said; the hotel is first rate. All the staff are very friendly. We were upgraded on arrival to a superior room. The room itself was large; the bed was very comfortable and the bathroom was great with a huge walk in shower. We had asked for a quiet room and we were given one at the end of a corridor.We ate at Cuffs bar one evening - where we found the food was reasonably priced. That bar can get very noisy on some evenings but there is another quieter bar on the floor above which is open some evenings. We ate breakfast in the restaurant most mornings. The service was good but the buffet did not have as good a choice as other hotels I've stayed in. There is a business centre where guests can access emails etc.You are conveniently placed for both the shopping (Prudential Center and Newbury Street within easy walking distance) and the T; with Arlington station close by. There are many restaurants nearby. I'd particularly recommend Grill 23 opposite for a great evening meal.
321151,Nebraska12,12/01/2008,Loved the Jury! Best hotel I have ever stayed at. Highly recommend!
321151,DENIS57,11/27/2008,Boston Shopping We have just come back from a 5 day trip in Boston.The hotel was recommended and highly rated by the Agent and first opinion and impression was very good-the staff meet and greet was superb.However it must have been the Nosiest and busiest Bar in Boston and you would have no chance getting a seat in the evenings plus the fact the noise was a Joke--never heard so many people chatting and shouting in one place.We did get a drink up stairs and there lies another problem-the Price 4 drinks=28 Dollars about 拢20 for 2 beers and 2 glasses of wine..and then there was a coffee and chocolate $9 in hotel in paper cups and up the road same order $3.50.We ate once in the bar but we sent it back the Burgers and toasted sandwiches they served were soggy and the side salad was soaked-the evening manager did not charge us for it--big deal....a free drink would have been a good will gesture.Also do not hire a car for a day through the Hotel--we hired one thru a agent they recommended cost $196 for a day.......rip offThe rooms were big--but could do with coffee facilities in them.The staff were very Helpful.Finally the trip ended with a power failure which the team handled well.Overall the trip was OK but could have done it all in 3 days.As for the Hotel it was ok but can not understand all the rave reviews.
321151,alzo,11/24/2008,nice stay stayed or one night found hotel very high standard upgrade to mini suite (i think) hotel in great location easy to find ;i found the loby very small and cluttered;the price i found to be on the high side and not value for money that would be the only fault i found staff great a nice stay but overpriced
321151,FosterDublin,11/23/2008,Great Hotel Hotel side entrance
321151,Bicyclemadefortwo,11/14/2008,Beautiful hotel but ... This is a beautiful hotel but when something goes wrong I would question the ability of management to deal with problems dispite the absolute courtesy displayed. We recently stayed for 5 nights having booked directly with the hotel as we were asured they could provide the connecting rooms desired as we were travelling as a family. On arrival we could not be given the connecting rooms as they had been 'given away the previous night as the hotel was fully booked'. We agreed to the offer of upgraded non-connecting rooms; with the option of moving to the connecting rooms the next day; but on checking the rooms only one was an upgrade and the other reeked of smoke. Moving to another two rooms caused a delay of another half hour (having already spent a considerable lenght of time at the reception desk) as one had to be cleaned in a hurry. How well this was cleaned became evident the next morning. When using the shower a previously used bar of soap with hair embedded was found! Requesting the rooms to be throughly cleaned we opted to stay put as it was just too inconvenient to move - enough time on the first evening of our holiday had been wasted. All our complaints were dealt with in the most courteous manner but we were still left with a bad taste in the mouth. It is a beautiful hotel but ....
321151,dublinsdelight,11/11/2008,excellent we stayed in 2 rooms on the 8th floor in jurys. excellent service throughout. staff very friednly and very helpful. Rooms were spacious and beds were comfortable. The hotel location is excellent; within 10-15 minutes walking distance from downtown crossing for shopping; short walk to newbury street and prudential centre. All major attractions are close.Would definitely recommend this hotel; free use of gym and internet. We didnt have breakfast included and ate in the hotel once which we thought was overpriced for what it was but that is the only negative that i could find
321151,KitWidnes,11/10/2008,Fabulous!!!! We have just returned from a fabulous 4 nights at the Jurys. It is ideally placed for visiting all of the sites. The staff were brilliant; the rooms were so clean and the bed was so comfy. No complaints whatsoever. We would definitely stay here again. The first morning we had the American Irish breakfast in the Stanhope Grill and it was lovely. We also ate in the Cuffs Bar; we recommend the Angus Blackened Beefburger and the Fish Chips. The cocktails were very good. The bar can get very busy and has a great atmsophere.It''s not the cheapest or the dearest place but you just have to shop around.We also recommend Legal Seafoods; Joe's American Diner and for a less expensive breakfast try the food court in the Prudential Centre.
321151,madkal,11/05/2008,Excellent hotel Just spent a week at this wonderful hotel had a lovely stay beds are the most comfortable beds i've slept in in any hotel; hotel staff extremley helpful and polite. Ideally located. Food in resturant is lovely but a bit pricey but plenty of places to eat nearby so not a issue. Would highly recommed this hotel.
321151,angie1972,10/30/2008,Loved this hotel We stayed at the Jury's Boston in October this year. We were a party of 4 adults and all absolutely loved this hotel. From the minute we arrived the hotel staff were friendly and helpful. We checked in around 6pm evening time and there was a great feel to the hotel. We went to our room to change and found the room to be beautifully decorated and very clean.Firstly we went down to the hotel bar which is called Cuffs. There was a mix of hotel guests and city workers enjoying a drink after work. There was a warm and friendly atmosphere which instantly made you feel comfortable and relaxed. There was also a patio area leading from the bar which was lovely.We ate in the restaurant for breakfast each morning and although this was not included in the room rate found it to be excellent value for money. There was a choice of buffet breakfast which included eggs; hash brown; bacon; sausage; cereals; danish and fruit juice or you could eat A la Carte breakfast which also looked lovely.We also ate in Cuffs bar during our stay and again the food was excellent.I would definately recommend this hotel to anyone who was looking for a hotel in Boston. We all hope to visit beautiful Boston again one day and would definately stay in this hotel again.
321151,pjjonesy,10/29/2008,nice hotel but don't eat there! I agree with another review that the hotel is noisy from the locals in the bar. We never got a seat in the bar as it was full of locals. The room on the internet says it caters for four. There were four of us and the room was quite comfortable but was only ever catered for two; with towels for two; choc for two etc. On the first night we ate in the restaurant. There was 8 of us together and they didn't seem to be able to cope with the group. We waited over an hour for our food. Some asked for well done steaks; which came out medium. When we spoke to the manager Nuala she said what did we expect as the steaks were thick. What kind of a way to deal with people complaining. On the next night after a hard days shopping we decided to try the bar and to go in in two groups to try and speed things up. The food was the worst food I'd ever come acroos. the chips were more than burnt. All 8 of us sent our food back. I asked for mayo and got a little jar that was already used. In fairness to the hotel we spoke with the food manager Shane; who was embarrassed when he seen the food. He offered us drinks and more food to make up. We wouldn't accept so he gave all 8 of us free breakfast the next morning to prove that the hotel could serve good food.Next morning the breakfast was good; with a good variety of foods. Its a nice hotel and the staff at the front deck and porters are very helpful with bags and where to go. They were very imformative.
321151,sars4619,10/27/2008,Excellent hotel Bathroom
321151,Helinski,10/26/2008,A great experience!!! We stayed here for 2 nights on our trip to the US. Loved Boston and Jurys! The room was lovely; beautifully decorated and cute soups/shampoo etc. This hotel is also very centrally located and the service is great! Would recommend to anyone - definitely would stay here again!
321151,redlisab,10/22/2008,Jurys is a credit to the brand My mum and I stayed in Jurys the 1st week of september; and the next time we go to Boston we will stay there again. The hotel is beautiful; the rooms are superb and the staff couldnt be nicer. I really wouldnt take any notice of the reviewer from philly because it soulnd like sour grapes. Everything was rated below average; because of an incident which they admitted happened!!!Anyways moving on; we fould the staff exceptional. Do order room service; we were hit by hte rains of the hurricane on the sat and ordered the steak and the pizza. In the room in 30mins and so beautifully presented. $40 total incl room service charge; tax etc.Do go to the oulet centre. This can be booked with boston common coaches; or through the concierge. $35; you are collected and dropped off at your hotel. My advice is to walk to the very top and work your way back; make sure and check out Ruby tuesdays for lunch there; The salad bar is amazing.Try legal seafoods if you like fish!I compliment the jurys brand and remeber sour grapes taste bitter; so if you travelling from Ireland; look up prices on Expedia.ie We got a weeks stay in a deluxe room for 1000 eur.Stay there; you will not be disappointed.SlanNiamh O'Brien
321151,irene1206,10/19/2008,BRILLIANT!!!! We spent 4 nights here and had a brilliant experience- we being myself;husband and 17 year old son. From the moment we entered we felt we were important. The staff were very friendly and had time to chat when we asked anything. The room was welcoming and we all loved the huge walk in shower. The beds were very comfortable and the pillows big and fluffy. The whole hotel was very clean. It is in a perfect position for exploring the city-which we all really enjoyed. We would recommend this hotel and hopefully will be coming back in the future.
321151,luggageinhand,10/17/2008,Verdict is in... Jury's is the Best Just got back from a four-night stay at Jury's. Everything written about this hotel is spot on. The employees are incredible and the rooms spacious and spotless. Wouldn't consider staying anywhere else in Boston.
321151,philly11,10/13/2008,Worst Hotel Stay Ever I stayed at Jurys Boston Hotel in September. While Boston was lovely; Jurys was terrible at best; especially considering the room rate. The last straw was that I was charged $500 three days after I checked out for room damage. While I acknowledge that the carpet may have sustained some minor stains; $500 is ridiculous. And there was no notice or anything. On top of that the assistant front office manager was so smug when confronted. I will never stay there (or any Jurys) again and I鈥檓 advising everyone I know to avoid Jurys as well. Boston is so lovely; especially in the Fall; don鈥檛 ruin it; stay somewhere (anywhere) else.
321151,claired11,10/11/2008,This hotel makes your stay in Boston!!! The huge bed!!!
321151,Ali2503,10/10/2008,Will go again!! My partner and I stayed at Jury's for 3 nights and would definately recommend it to others. It was in a good location; really easy to walk everywhere; 2 minutes to Newbury street (nice shopping and restaurants. Also Grill 23 is opposite the hotel (not cheap in dollars but compared to home not bad for such good food and service) definately worth a visit if your having a romantic evening and want to stay close to the hotel. Overall i would say believe the pictures on the website. We had a standard king size bed and it was lovely. Nice size room with a super comfy bed; really nice quality pillows and linens. Bathroom was big; as was the shower stall so we did not miss having a bath. Also powerful hairdryer provided so won't bother packing one. This hotel isn't cheap but i felt it was worth the money. I watched this hotel for a while on Hotels.com before i booked and got emails when deals came up. In the end we saved about 15% by doing this. I think this hotel is perfect for young couples who will enjoy the novelty of sparkly lifts and a staircase that changes colour. We also arrived at the hotel 3 hours before check in and were taken straight to our rooms. Next time i go to Boston i'll go back to Jury's.
321151,papahills,10/07/2008,Average hotel; at best. We arrived Thursday evening for a three night stay after a trip to Las Vegas and were greeted by more noise in the lobby than anything Las Vegas had to offer ! The bar on the ground floor resembles an after match booze up and appeared to be patronised solely by non-resident young Bostonians. Friday and Saturday evenings were exactly the same and therefore there is nowhere in the hotel for residents to sit and have a quiet relaxing drink.We had an executive corner best view room on floor eight which was tiny even by US standards. The view on all sides was straight into occupied office buildings and the bathroom ( shower room ! ) had a clear view window which meant the blind had to be down whilst the bathroom was in use. The bathroom was large but poorly designed without a bath although more than adequate space existed.We breakfasted once at the hotel and the food and service was adequate but nothing special. Although the printed bill for breakfast said service was not included an additional rubber stamp in red highlighting this fact was stamped on top of the bill - how thoroughly naff !We paid $565 per night to stay here which seems absolute top dollar and the booking was made on the hotel's website.Whilst the location is good for walking around the shopping district; the hotel staff were friendly and helpful; the bed and bedding were extremely comfortable; my wife and I find very little else to recommend the hotel and quite a few things as highlighted above to put you off; and especially the bar noise which was quite absurd !The real mystery to me; having used Trip Advisor extensively in the past; is how this hotel can possibly be the current number one recommended hotel in Boston on Trip Advisor.....Philip Hills
321151,Geecee7,10/06/2008,Lovely hotel We had a lovely holiday at Jurys. We stayed for 3 nights in a lovely double room. We ate in the hotel dining room twice. We had 2 lovely steaks - highly recommended. We also had breakfast on our last morning - again also very nice. The staff are really attentive and can't do enough for you. The rooms are lovely; big comfy beds; and lovely bathrooms. Our room was at the back of the hotel and was nice and quiet.
321151,MinisterOfCulture,10/02/2008,A most pleasant stay; with very friendly and accommodating staff Room 832; Jurys Hotel - the bedroom
321151,tovaent,10/01/2008,Nice stay though a bit pricey After reading the Tripadvisor reviews we decided to spluge and stay at the Jury's during a recent trip to Boston. The hotel is lovely; with nice amenities and the staff couldn't have been more helpful and/or friendly. For us the hotel was perfectly located and it was easy for us to navigate to/from. Our package included breakfast which was delicious and generous. The room was small and did not have a nice view but was well appointed and clean. Try the Jury's for a splurge or a special event... but prepare yourself for a pricey stay.
321151,cannytraveller2008,09/26/2008,Good Hotel Spent 8 night's in Boston with my 19 year old daughter. I selected Jury's on the basis of other trip adviser reports and the fact that I got a good rate of 拢840 from Opodo back in January for 8 nights.The hotel was perfectly adequate but lacked the special something that other guests seemed to find. The restaurant was pricey; the bar (Cuff's) noisy. I missed the fact that there were no coffee making facilities in the room although I accept that American hotels just don't seem to do this. We made use of the fridge and hotel safe but toiletries were not replenished each day which was annoying. The free bottles of water and chocolates on our pillow were a nice touch but my quilt had a cigarette burn hole which should have been noticed when room was prepared and the bathroom light only worked when the main room light was on which made life difficult during the night.Concierge was helpful when approached and willing to keep our bags on the last day as our flight home was in the evening.
321151,RichForbes,09/26/2008,Loved the place! Jurys Hotel - Boston After a long and tiring journey to Boston we arrived at Jurys to be told that due to the weather they had to relocate us at another hotel. At the time we were disappointed however the hotel were helpful organising and paying the taxis to and from the Colonade hotel. The Colonade was a lovely hotel and when we went back to the Jurys the following night they had upgraded us and provided us with fruit and chocolates and a letter from the manager to offer their apologies and to offer us an upgrade if we stayed at Jurys again. Jurys is a beautiful hotel in a great location. The bar has a fantastic outdoor area which would be great place to spend time in the summer. One point i would flag up is the hotel room telephone. I rang family in England and a 15 min conversation cost me $60 so beware!! Would highly recommend Jurys - and the Colonade if you have the money!
321151,LondonIrishgirl,09/26/2008,Would definitely recommend The staff were incredibly helpful and we found our overall experience at Jurys better than expected. The hotel bar; Cuffs; was buzzing - I've never seen a hotel bar so popular! Great cocktails and the food in the restaurant next door was great too. We had a corner bedroom and it was well equiped if a bit on the small side. The hotel was in a great location for seeing the sights of Boston and we would definitely stay there again.
321151,DevanSam,09/25/2008,Great Hotel in a great location! We stayed at Jurys for a week in early September; and loved it. The location was fantastic; just a few minutes walk to lovely Newbury street; Copley Mall and Boston Commons.The hotel itself was very beautiful. We checked in late; but the staff at Cuffs bar downstairs were fantastic and ensured we got a good meal even though it was their kitchen closing time.Beds were very comfortable; and the room was very spacious. Great shower in the bathroom with plenty of hot water at good pressure. Only thing we found odd was that the room by default didn't have a kettle to make hot water for tea/coffee - nevertheless; the hotel said they would have lent us one but they had none to spare at the time we were there.I would definitely pick this hotel again if I ever went back to Boston.
321151,TravellerfromUK,09/24/2008,Not as good as expected My husband and I recently spent three nights at Jury's. The hotel was nice enough but nowhere near the standard we were expecting after reading all the reviews on Trip Advisor.Our room (on the third floor) was very cramped; with dated furniture and the carpet had obviously not been cleaned properly for a very long time as it was covered in stains. The most surprising thing was that there was no coffee maker provided in the room. It was possible to get coffee downstairs but only at very odd times and certainly not during the main part of the day. The bathroom was a reasonable size with lovely thick towels and robes but we only had a walk-in shower and no bath. It would have been lovely to have been able to soak our aching feet at the end of each day!!!The bar in the lobby was really noisy and always so full that even if we had wanted to get a drink or a snack; it would have been impossible. Jury's was definately not our idea of a boutique Hotel.
321151,merseydave,09/16/2008,top hotel We stayed in Jurys for a week- 3rd floor corner room- alot of room; great spacious bathroom- desk but no sofa; just 2 chairs; one recliningWasnt really noisy at night- the bar is buzzing at the weekend.Helpful pleasent staff; valet guys chatty. Easy in room check out; turndown service; complimentary water and coffee machine in your room. Wi Fi sometimes struggles to cope with the numbers logged on but its freeI would only point out that it sometimes takes 15 - 20 mins for the guys to get your car- ring down from your room in advance and they will get the car ready for you. And it costs $39 per night to park- plus you feel obliged to tip. THere is a public garage down the roadBut it was top rated on Trip adviser- certainly seemed deserved to me
321151,n1cf2,09/16/2008,Met expectations After selecting this hotel based on Trip Advisor reviews; I researched best available rates online. I then called the hotel directly and they quoted a much higher rate; which I questioned based on my research. After I provided the specific websites and rates I was referencing; the hotel graciously honored the lower rate. We arrived on Friday and checked out Sunday. The property is a typical boutique hotel in the business district and is in an excellent location for visitors to Boston. The entrance is a bit awkward. There is a small foyer at the street with a flight of stairs up to the lobby; reception desk and elevators. A flight of stairs down from the same entrance foyer; there is an impressively active; quite noisy bar open to both the entrance and the lobby. Due to this; I requested a quiet location. We were given a corner king-bedded room on the third floor with a back street view. We did not hear any noise from the hotel's bar and it was otherwise quiet except for some late night noise from the street below us (a crowd of men yelling and cheering -maybe a bar on the back street?) and early morning noise from garbage and delivery trucks). I would recommend a higher floor. Our room was attractive; clean and welcoming. It was not overwhelmingly spacious; but did allow for a desk on one side of the room; an armchair and lamp table on the other; and a wall unit with a television compartment; shelving and drawers opposite the foot of the bed. An in-room safe; ironing board/iron and umbrellas were provided. The bed was very comfortable and made up with high quality pressed linens. The bathroom was clean and modern with a walk-in shower (no tub; but this may vary room to room); L'Occitane toiletries; fluffy towels and bathrobes; and a full-sized hairdryer (rather than the travel size usually encountered in hotels). The housekeeping was very good and provided nightly turndown service. There was one odd thing about the hotel d茅cor; which was otherwise attractive and tasteful - the lining on the back wall of the elevators is a gaudy; iridescent material that looks more in keeping with a cheap nightclub.
321151,rokeedy,09/15/2008,Love Jurys Hotel! #1 in Boston! I can't say enough about how great this hotel is! We have stayed here twice when we have visited Boston and I wish I could afford to stay here every time! Gorgeous rooms; elegant hotel and gracious staff! I was very impressed with their crib bedding for my infant....nice and cozy with bumper included! They provided a teddy bear; blanket and bath set! If you stay in Boston; this is a wonderful place! Walking distance to Boston Common and Newbury Street; short T ride to Fenway! Will definitely return!
321151,WANTOTGOTHERE,09/13/2008,Great Hotel; great staff. What can I add to the other reviews ?Great hotel; great service; brilliant staff; excellent rooms; great bar; great food.............does it all.Other hotel owners should go and have a look at Jury's because they have got it just right. From your first moment in the hotel until the moment you check out the staff make you feel special. Great introduction to Boston. If I had to put my finger on one aspect that was better than all the rest then I would have to nominate the Stanhope. Great food; fantastic service; best waiter (Greg I think!). If there was one little downer that would be the parking fees .but then again this is the middle of a big city and parking costs......Would go again and stay at Jury's anyday.
321151,MollyBuckinghamshire,09/13/2008,Noisy at Night My husband and I had a 2 nigh stay at Jurys which is a high standard hotel. However; the basement bar seems to be a meeting place for young locals. We had an aperatiffe there before going out for dinner and we were amazed that groups of young people were drinking from bottles and stubbing out their cigarettes on the beautiful stone floor. When we returned later for a nightcap in the lounge; we could'nt hear our ears with the rock music from the night club downstairs. Youngsters were streaming in showing their age confirmation passes. I expressed our dissatisfaction to the receptionists; who promptly replied ' its been voted the Best Bar in Boston'. Because of this; I personally would not recommend this hotel to friends over 35 years.
321151,vzamparelli,09/09/2008,Excellent Hotel; fantastic staff I recently stayed at the hotel and found it to be a wonderful experience. It is obvious that a lot of care and attention was given to all details. The decor is modern and sophisticated. The staff is friendly; congenial and attentive. The rooms are elegant with an excellent bathroom. Glass shower separate from the tub. The room was immaculate. Two anecdotes that help describe the type of service the hotel offers:When I went to check out the Manager noticed that the front desk was busy. He asked me if I was being helped and then proceed to complete the transaction. After I left the hotel I noticed I had misplaced my Iphone's charger. I called the front desk to explain what happened. They told me they would check to see if they could find it and call me back . After an hour had passed they called to let me know they had found it and that they would keep it in a safe for me. That is service.This is very well run hotel.
321151,piperbarson,09/08/2008,GREAT STAY!! WOW! My husband and I came here about 5 months after our honeymoon. You couldn't really call us newlyweds but not really old dear couple either. We called this our first real trip together. We didn't really consider our honeymoon one because we only flew in hour. Anyways; we booked this hotel 2 days before we left. Money was not an option so we looked for the best. And we found it! I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was but it definetely surprised me. I have done a lot of traveling before I was married but I had never stumbled upon a hotel like this one. The service was great. Everyone was friendly and kind. Anything we needed was brought fast. The cleanliness factor was top of the notch. Everything was clean and orderly but very well decorated. Our room was beautiful and the view was magnificent. I want to come back here one day on our 5th anniversary so this will definetely be the hotel I book.
321151,LorraineSK,09/06/2008,Absolutely Superb I visited Boston with my cousin and stayed at the Jurys Hotel from the 29th August 2008 through to the 3rd September 2008.We were celebrating my cousin's 50th birthday and everybody there made it very special for her.The service at the hotel was excellent and the staff were really helpful and friendly. One example being the concierge researching how we could get to Martha's Vineyard; providing us with bus timetables and Ferry schedules; including prices. This was not one of the normal 'over the counter' excursions but still they did everything they could to help (and we had a great day on the Vineyard as a result).The bar at the hotel - Cuffs - was fabulous. The prices were good and the measures even better!! We didn't try the food in the restaurant; but the bar food was delicious. It is obviously a popular place as there were locals in the bar every night; although it was never too crowded. We were made to feel welcome by the locals too; which was an added extra.The rooms were large and clean. Having stayed in a number of 5 star hotels - I can say the bathroom is the largest one I have seen - and the towels were changed twice daily!The location of the hotel in Boston is excellent; with everything being in walking distance if you are fairly mobile. We had considered going to the Liberty Hotel; but having seen both; we definitely chose the right one.Special thanks to Chris in the bar and to the lady outside the restaurant. We never actually got her name; but her and Chris made us feel more like friends than guests.
321151,Kendo3,09/05/2008,Book it Dano! just returned from Boston; Stayed at Jurys and the Langham; and would recommend Jury's every time. No gripes about anything at Jurys; the room was good; Excellent breakfasts with very attentive staff. Free internet access; (Langham charged $10). Jurys give you a couple of bottles of water in the mini bar everyday free!! (Langham charged $8 for a bottle of water from the mini bar) also like the more relaxed feel about Jury's;
321151,joolsWestMidlands,09/05/2008,Great Hotel This was our 2nd visit to Boston; Jurys is a great hotel; staff are friendly; Cuffs bar is a great place for a drink. The food is good; breakfasts really good. The room was lovely - great bed.Would recommend Jurys as a great place to stay
321151,DandJCharlotteNC,09/04/2008,Loved Jurys Boston This a lovely; elegant boutique hotel with impeccable service. We were treated like royalty by the excellent staff. For example; 4 staffers recognized us by name and followed up the next day after we made an inquiry at the Conceriege. Wonderfully appointed rooms in this historic building that recently has been completely renovated.
321151,CDJ13,09/01/2008,Great Hotel My wife and myself stayed 3 nights at Jurys at the end of July. The stay was a memorable experience. From the moment when we checked in after a very long flight; we were met a a smiling face who gave us hot face cloths to freshen up. The room was great; good decor; not clinical; and the best bed we have ever slept in. The staff throughout the hotel were friendly and very helpful (special note of thanks to the doormen who were a mine of information). The location was within easy walking distance for everywhere you would want to go. Boston as a city supprised us; and we still talk about how friendly; clean and safe it felt. We highly recommend Boston and Jurys to stay in while you are there.
321151,dayjob,08/26/2008,Welcome to the Airshaft Got a great rate by booking through one of the onlines. After arrival it didnt seem like such a great deal. The room had NO light. I'm not THAT picky about views but the airshaft-facing window made the room dim at noon on a bright August day. Even with lights on it was tough reading a magazine. There was no tub; something we hadn't been made aware of... just a standup shower. Hallways were often full of cleaning supplies just lying around. At one point a cot had been abandoned; wedged in the corridor. This entailed pretty much crawling over it to get to the elevator.Staff was pleasant but didn't seem particularly connected. On arrival the doorman just stared at us until I said hi and asked what the process for valet parking was... no hello; nothing. In our days there with a lot of entries and exits; 3 or 4 doorguys were always hanging around... not a single hello or acknowledgment from any of them. The concierge gave us vague directions to a major museum wrapping with the helpful advice to just ask someone where it was when we got off the train. Room service was crazy expensive (and I'm used to NYC boutique hotel prices) and REALLY bad.Public spaces were nicely designed and pretty on the good side. The building is an old police department building. Again pretty but not pretty enough to justify the price and lackadaisical service
321151,Fitzy2,08/26/2008,Perfect This hotel was perfect - it was in a great location; really central; the rooms were a good size with a very comfortable bed and a big bathroom; and most importantly it was very clean. The staff were lovely; the ambience in the hotel was relaxed and friendly; and there was a lovely bar downstairs that had great food. I cannot fault this hotel and it would be the top of my list for future stays in Boston.
321151,FleurRose,08/22/2008,Great Hotel Spent a week staying at this hotel with husband and 2 teenagers; 19 17; had a great stay. The rooms we had were a good size;beds were very comfortable and the showers great; also had the best hairdryer I have ever had in a hotel. Found all the staff friendly; polite and helpful; the door staff were helpful in recommending places to eat. Hotel was in a good area; not to far from shopping malls; Newbury street and Boston Common. Food was good had dinner there on first night and breakfast each day; my sons could not believe the size and amount of pancakes served for breakfast; I enjoyed the fruit available and the unusual juice combinations that were sometimes served. We all enjoyed staying here and would definitely stay here again.
321151,Craigtown,08/20/2008,Jury's Boston - Even better then the real thing Jury's Boston - Top Notch
321151,Benmelb,08/17/2008,A Quality Hotel Jury's provides a very comfortable stay with everything you need to make you feel at home. I generally like to stay in boutique hotels so I straight away noticed that there was nothing distinctive about the hotel's design or furnishings. However; the bed is comfortable; the TV is large and the shower was great. In fact; this hotel had a very nice; and large; bathroom for the price. The room itself was a little small. We ordered room service once and it was a very tasty angus burger delivered after midnight and in generous portions. Bonuses: Free internet and printer. 2 terminals downstairs that you can use at your leisure. Free water bottles; 2 per day. The mini-bar fridge is empty. What a fantastic innovation! We loved this and could fill it with our own soft drinks and extra water and even put some snacks in there the night of our departure to eat the next day. Very convenient! The only complaint I can make is that the room is a little drab in terms of decorating and the TV didn't have much of a selection of channels. The only cable channels were sports news; no entertainment channels. Also from what I read I expected the neighborhood to be more energetic. It was really a business district and completely died after dark. All in all I would definitely recommend the Jurys Boston and also recommend the tiny Italian takeaway place on the corner down the road called Viga (304 Stuart St). Yum! It's only open 11-3 on weekdays for lunch - lines out the door!
321151,Corb2000,08/14/2008,Excellenty located high end hotel Spent 3 nights here in a king room. Very tastefully designed and furnished hotel throughout with some beautiful sculptures in the public areas and nice design touches; thus avoiding a bland corporate look. Much higher quality hotel than the Jury's brand manages to achieve in Great Britain.Noticeable change in guests between weekday and weekend as the business areas kicked into life on Monday with all of the meeting rooms being in use and the bar later being taken over for a private evening reception. Not a problem in space terms as there is a large lounge next to reception but just made it difficult to get a post dinner drink on our last night.Very professional and attentive staff across all levels. We only visited the basement restaurant twice for breakfast as this had an unnecessarily elaborate menu and was expensive. The hotel is in an excellent location for the Back Bay area of Boston with Newbury Street and Boston Common plus plenty of restaurants all within easy walking distance. Once you have your bearings Boston is an easy city to walk around.We would recommend Legal Seafoods on Park Plaza for lobster / seafood; Smith Wollensky on Columbus Avenue for steak and Stix on Stanhope Street just for interesting food!We thought driving in Boston was fine; although the signage can be very last minute for turns into the recently built Interstate highway tunnels so you need to be alert.
321151,catlovertina,08/09/2008,Excellent hotel! I stayed in Jurys Boston a few months ago and I was very impressed! The staff were so helpful and warm. The room was very good and clean . I would certainly stay here again.
321151,ChrisS40,08/09/2008,Nice hotel in Great location Good place; and some nice touches in the room. Toiletries/turndown service/clean and neat. A vibrant bar; and smart hotel generally. The best thing is the location; near the shops and Boston Common. Concierge slightly pushy; but always helpful - parking though is expensive; in my view at $39 per night. Generally though a good stay and happy with the place
321151,mvks,08/07/2008,trip advisor was right with this one! Wow what a fabulous hotel! Close to shopping and train. Train easy to get around on. DO NOT DRIVE IN CITY. So confusing. You have no idea. I have driven in the busiest/biggest of cities....boston is very hard to get around by car. Hotel was extremely clean; comfortable and the hotel staff ....amazing! Hotel food was great but as with any hotel...pricey. Would stay there again in a heartbeat!
321151,ScotiaJen,08/05/2008,Comfy Beds and great cocktails Lots of nice touches at Jurys Boston from the heated towel rack to L'Occitaine products. Handy location to T and Newbury Street. Enjoyed drinks at Cuffs and an excellent breakfast at the restaurant. Will stay here again.
321151,spinderella420,08/04/2008,a hotel in the heart of it all The Jury's Hotel was exactly as advertised. Great location; beautifully appointed rooms...l'Occitane products were a nice touch...fluffy robes and turndown service. We didn't have a view; just a brick office building; but that would be my only beef. The bar was hopping downstairs...and there was a good vibe in the lobby. Walking distance to Boylston and Newbury. It was a nice place to come back to after a long day of touring around.
321151,gibraltarr,08/01/2008,good hotel The best thing about Jury's was it's location. It is near to 2 different T stations; near to Newbury street with all it's restaurants and walking distance to the Public Gardens and the start of the Freedom Trail. Staff were all friendly and did what they should. We had a street view which was nice. I found the bed uncomfortable which was disappointing. Biggestgripe was that one lift was broken for 4 of the 6 days we were there - so the delays in the morning were really unacceptable. I agree with a previous reviewer; I am not sure why it is top in popularity ; but it is a good hotel. We could have done with a pool.
321151,TourVideocom,08/01/2008,Our favorite Hotel in Boston Jurys is our favorite hotel in Boston. We stay their at least once a year. We are always amazed that one or more of the hotel's staff remembers our name. They may be a 3 star property; but their service is easily 4 star as are their wonderful accommodations. We love the Stanhope Grille (also 4 star) and Cuffs an Irish Bar is the most happening place in Boston's young executive level after hours.
321151,westonct1998,07/29/2008,alright but certainly NOT #1 in Boston Service was good; but elevator was not working and a deluxe room had a view of an alley. Alright overall; but perhaps a 3.5 out of 5 at best; certainly NOT #1 in Boston.
321151,PalmDebbie,07/29/2008,Lived up to reviews Jurys location is fabulous. You can walk almost everywhere and easily hop the T or a bus. The room was average and when we arrived we found a pair of sun glasses left under the desk and a dirty washcloth under the drapes. It did make us wonder how well the room was cleaned but everyday the room was made up very well. Neat to have an empty refridg and the bottle of water.No good places for breakfast nearby. The hotel restaurant is expensive but good. Try Smith and Wolensky just around the corner in an old castle with great steaks; etc.The desk people were efficient but cool however any call made was quickly responded to and every effort seemed to made by the staff to respond to requests. We had a broken desk chair that was exchanged within 15 minutes after a call.Overall a good experience in Boston.
321151,VictoriaE,07/29/2008,Unpretentious comfort and luxury Chosen for a night stay in Boston; I was impressed with the service; the style of the hotel and the comfort of the rooms. The little touches such as complimentary water; decent sized towels and quality toiletries make it a great place to stay. The quirky history and stunning renovation make it a unique place to stay. The location was good; a 5 minute walk from Newbury and Boylston St attractions. I have high expectations for hotels- as a former flight attendant I have stayed in so many I lost count but this was a great choice for a Boston.
321151,tbrain,07/29/2008,An amazing hotel! An amazing hotel! Location was amazing; food in both the bar and restaurant was of a good quality and reasonably priced. Free water in the rooms was appreciated givven that we arrived in the middle of a heatwave! Concierge was also excellent.Will definitely stay Jurys again!
321151,Happybunny71,07/29/2008,Great Hotel An impeccable; luxurious hotel with friendly staff and a perfect location for shopping; city touring or business.Very spacious room; king bed with amazing sheets; beautiful classy decor everywhere without formality.Amazing shower in the bathroom!
321151,willyboy,07/27/2008,Jury's is Great This is our family's first trip to Boston and first time staying at a Jury's and it's a fabulous hotel. The employees are all friendly and helpful; the rooms are relatively small but luxurious and the hotel offers lots of nice amenties; like free wireless internet; fitness center; bath robes; towel warmer; complimentary water; etc. Jury's is located within two blocks of the Arlington T station which makes it easy to get around town without a car. It's 3 blocks from Newbury Street; which has an abundance of great restaurants and shops. It's also easy to get to Fenway Park on the T if you're going to a Red Sox game or to walk to Boston Common and the Freedom Trail if you're interested. Our family really enjoyed staying here and would definitely stay again and would recommend to anyone visiting Boston.
321151,joesoho,07/25/2008,Good location but lacking charm The hotel is a convenient distance from the rail station and not far from the centre of town - so a good location for business travellers who don't want to deal with car hire but need access to the areas around Boston. It was a good stay. Quite expensive but that may have been because I booked last minute. One reservation I had was with the charm of the hotel. The hotel bar is used mostly by those not staying at the hotel - which is not too surprising because the hotel did not seem to be very accommodating for its guests to eat and drink; except in their own hotel room. I would consider staying here again but more as a bed for the night than as a place to enjoy Boston in the evening.
321151,PapaJamieRockefeller,07/22/2008,Great Stay With Pilgrimage to Fenway Park At the end of a baseball trip up the East Coast; this was my final hotel in my final city. This place was spectacular! The only -- ONLY -- significant drawback for a single person traveling with friends is that there is no traditional entrance. Normally those things are tacky; but when catching a cab; they're quite benficial. Otherwise; for a 2 twin-bed room (bed sizes were btwn twins and fulls); layout was great; location great; comfort superb. I would easily stay here again!
321151,3boyz2keep,07/18/2008,Fabulous Experience! We tried Jury's from recommendations here on Trip Advisor and once again we weren't disappointed by everyone's suggestions! We fell in love with this hotel; the service was beyond what we've experienced with other stays (even 5 star). Everyone on staff; front desk; bell hops; valet drivers and general manager were extremely welcoming. They even helped us dismantle our travel box from the top of our vehicle in traffic (and then kept the box for us in storage in the hotel) --was really a special sight my husband doesn't want to re-live! Note to other box top travelers---travel boxes on top of SUV's or Mini-vans don't clear parking garages in Boston; none of them; notta.....Hotel was clean and inviting; fabulous eclectic style. Awesome location; no vehicle needed. Close to freedom trail and lots of restaurants within easy walking distance. Bathroom; very nice; heated towel warmers; robe; etc... Toiletries lovely! The bars in the hotel were packed. The hotel is in what seems to be the financial district We were there on a Fri. and Sat. night---professional crowd.Highly recommend! I searched out the best deal on Travelocity and then called the hotel directly; they honored the same rate. Hope you enjoy Jury's and Boston as much as we did!
321151,Boohem,07/18/2008,This hotel is fab I booked this hotel after reading the reviews on this website; and it did not disappoint. The location; rooms and staff were fantastic. The rooms were clean and spacious. The hotel restaurant served excellent food; we ate there twice. I have recommended this hotel to 2 people after staying there and they have now booked to stay there also. I can鈥檛 wait to return. I also recommend seeing The Blue Man group whilst you are in Boston. Watch the videos on You Tube. The theatre is only a 10 minute walk away.
321151,cyberlynx7,07/16/2008,Disappointing We visit Boston every summer and stay at a different hotel each time in order to sample as many as possible and to find a favorite. Based on countless positive reviews we selected Jurys this visit. Although the location was very good and the room satisfactory I was quite disappointed with the stark and generic ambiance. The lobby is cramped; unimpressive and awkwardly located a flight up from the street. This made a poor first impression of which we were reminded each time we arrived at or departed from the hotel. Although my husband waited at the curb for me to check in; no doorman or valet greeted him to ask if he could be of service. The front desk staff was cordial but distant. Nothing about the check-in experience; or the hotel for that matter; felt welcoming. With all the hotel choices available to Boston visitors I'd think twice before selecting Jurys.
321151,Kiltedwarrior,07/16/2008,Judge and Jury's no longer out!!! Stayed in this hotel in early June but have been a bit negligent in writing a review. I; as always; paid close attention to Tripadvisor reviews. Not let down in any way- a great hotel. Very modern; clean; well kitted out rooms - which I feel were spacious. The hotel is located well and only a couple of blocks from the Common and Newberry Street.What really made the hotel (as with all hotels) is the staff. They were helpful; professional and treated you as a friend - particular praise to Joanne in reception and Emily in the bar! The bar is a really jumping place which may be the only negative in the eyes of some travellers looking for a quiet place to relax in the evening. Suited me just fine - going back next week.
321151,Canadianbiker,07/16/2008,Staff make this an excellent hotel We found the staff to be great. We arrived by car in a frazzle due to Boston traffic and street patterns; We were greeted calmly by staff who immediately learned our names and were very helpful. This process carried on through our stay. We would highly recommend the hotel.
321151,YoYu,07/15/2008,Great business hotel Stayed with my wife for 5 nights during a business trip to Boston. The hotel location is great; close to the T and at the heart of Back Bay.The hotel atmosphere is great and the stuff makes you feel that you return home after a long day. You come to the room and the bed is ready for you; there are 2 bottles of water (free) and a small chocolate.If you need to work you can do it easily from the hotel; free internet access (wireless at the lobby and wired at room); business center with printer; copying machine and facsimile - all free.Two things I didn't like:1) The hotel room is quite small with small desk and 1 sofa.2) Ordered Pizza from room service and was shocked to see it was tiny (it is our usual dish for late night room dining and in every hotel we were it was quite big pizza; here it was very small.Bottom line: great hotel to stay with special atmosphere.
321151,JayeT,07/14/2008,Jury's Everything We Wanted and More My husband; 19 yr. old son and I just returned from a five night stay at Jury's. We ended up on the 2nd floor; facing Berkeley. First; very roomy; especially the bathroom. The beds were very comfortable; amenities; towel warmer rack; toiletries; large umbrella; turn down service; call within minutes to check to see if everything was fine with the room; etc. made this stay perfect. The bar (just below our room) is very active every evening and there is the sound of people having one great time usually until around midnight; but it really wasn't a bother. Perfectly located. We ate breakfast one morning in the restaurant and it was very good. Highly recommend this property.
321151,Frenchie,07/14/2008,Jury's is all about the service! We were able to check in early afternoon and were given a room on the side of the Pub courtyard. Check in was managed thoroughly and quickly. Upon arrival to the room; the front desk called up to make sure all was OK. The room was nicely decorated; with 2 bathrobes; l'occitane bath products; 2 complimentary chilled water bottles; Conde Nast travel mag; free wireless as well as free use of the business centre and printer (handy for on-line check-in). Heated towel rack was a nice touch although not needed in the summer. Blow dryer was located in the closet (outside the bathroom). Beds were very comfortable. Turndown service included 2 chocolates left as a treat. Only downside: carpet in our room was a little 'worse for wear' with some noticeable stains and the pub is popular so we could hear them into the early morning. Staff were very accommodating in allowing us a late check out (mid afternoon) as our departing flight left late. Hotel is in great location; within walking distance to shopping; public transportation etc. We even walked home after the RedSox game! Hotel itself is nicely decorated although small lobby - understandable given that it is a converted former police station. The staff at Jury's were very friendly; knowledgeable and welcoming. Would definitely stay again; mainly for the service!
321151,kr31,07/07/2008,exactly what we were looking for Arriving in Boston around 11PM after a 28 hour flight from Australia; my partner and I were looking for somewhere quiet and comfortable to recover from our journey. Jury's was perfect. Check-in was blindingly fast (and they even gave us refreshing hot towels at reception). The room was just large enough; and really comfortable. A perfectly acceptable room service meal was delivered to our room within minutes of ordering and we had a great night's sleep. And walking distance to the Public Garden next morning - couldn't have asked for more.
321151,lynnegold,07/07/2008,Great City Hotel - Location; Energy; Extra Touches I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel over the weekend. This is one of the few times when I had nothing to do with the selection of the hotel (my boyfriend did the leg work) and I was pleased with nearly everything! The hotel room was in impeccable shape and we loved the free bottles of Poland Spring we received each time the room was cleaned; the chocolates at night; and the dual headed shower. The towels were bath-sized and fluffy; the bed was super comfortable and filled with soft pillows and blankets; and the hairdryer came with extra attachments (not necessary; just a nice touch). My only complaint was that the bathroom had a frosted door; which isn't wonderful for privacy. There is a very active bar downstairs (locals love it for happy hour) but you wouldn't know it upstairs. The location puts you in walking distance to Back Bay (where hotel is located); Newbury; the parks; etc. Highly recommend for a fun city stay!
321151,Mistymask,07/05/2008,Best hotel ever!!! Just back from a fantastic 7 night stay at Jurys Boston.One of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in where we were treated like royalty from the moment of arrival Got a fantasic deal with Expedia as we got 30% off because we stayed more than 5 nights.Our room was a double superior on the 6th floor.Gorgeous bathrobes;L'Occitane products and turndown service each night.We had breakfast in their restaurant each morning where a buffet was available for $18.I had an omelette each morning as well as fresh fruit and cereal which could be ordered from the server.Delicious!!I was really impressed with the complimentary use of the internet in their business centre;We stayed for 3 nights in a Hotel in Cambridge before checking into Jurys where it cost $5 for each 15 minutes use.The staff at the front desk were always so friendly and helpful especially Joanne who was so kind to our little boy.She sent him up milk and treats one evening.Such a lovely gesture.I can highly recommend Jurys for a fantastic stay.Enjoy the pampering!!We'll be back!
321151,Christine427,06/21/2008,Like this hotel but. We first stayed at this hotel two years ago; when we have a very comfortable room with a large bathroom; so we were really looking forward to our return visit. However; the first room we were given was tiny with an overpowering smell of mould; so we asked for another room. This didn't smell but was even smaller than the first room with a tiny bathroom; which should have been checked before being allocated to us because the bed hadn't finished being made up and there was only one bathrobe in the bathroom. These things were rectified after we mentioned it but as we had paid 拢135. a night we felt let down and disappointed especially as it was such a small room. Also it would be nice to have some way of making a hot drink in the room Even so we would return to this hotel again because of the friendly and helpful staff; the central position in Boston and the relaxed atmosphere there. We especially liked the Il Barrista coffee shop which was excellent value.
321151,GeordiesNewcastle,06/20/2008,Great Place to Stay From checking in to checking out I cannot fault Jury's Boston. All of the staff were professional; very friendly and basically couldn't do enough to help. Our room on the 8th floor; was clean; quiet and very comfortable. We were never without clean fresh towels and the toiletries provided were absolutley gorgeous. At turndown more fresh towels and a chocolate for each guest. The hotel is only a short walk from Boston Common; Theatreland and from an indoor shopping mall and out door shops. If you like a great steak I would recommend going to Grill 23 just across the road from Jurys where I had the best steak ever.
321151,BrianNVA,06/15/2008,Not Quite There Yet (5 Star) We had a corner premier room (320) for a three night weekend stay in Boston. Got a substantial discount from Orbitz; at least over what was posted on the hotel website. Jury's was a good value for the discounted rate; but I would have expected better for the rack rate. The corner room was nice; but did not have a flat screen TV or ergonomic chair as advertised on Orbitz. Service was always provided with a friendly smile; but there were some kinks here and there. Follow through by the staff was not always there for requests. Despite the reservation having been made for two; the room didn't seem fully prepared for two...for example; there was only one bathrobe; one bar of soap; and insufficient towels (at least for us). Turn down service in the evening provided fresh ice and chocolates. My partner didn't care for the frosted glass on the bathroom door; as light from my late night forays kept her awake. We liked the barista in the lobby for morning coffee and muffins... very good. Unfortunately; they were closed Monday morning; so I had to deal with Dunkin' Donuts' lines. Free local (Boston Globe) and NY papers were available each morning in the lobby...a nice touch.As with most fancy hotels; there was no coffee maker in the room; and no vending machines in the halls. This hotel is in a great location...just blocks from the Arlington and Back Bay T stations; as well as the Theatre District and the Public Gardens.Jury's is trying hard to be a five star hotel; but isn't there yet.P.S. Don't miss a delicious dinner at Giacomo's on Columbus Ave. This site (unlike the one in the North End) does take reservations; but both are cash only. Best halibut I've ever had.
321151,tenrab,06/06/2008,Lovely well located Hotel We stayed at the Jury's for just one night at the end of a two week fly drive around New England; but we are so glad we did; this is a brilliant hotel; with the perfect blend of modern decor and old fashioned hospitality. From the moment we checked in we were impressed with the clean; modern look of the hotel and the friendiness of the staff. The room was also great; quite large with two queen size beds and a fab bathroom with almost a wet room for a shower. Having spent three nights at the Omni Parker at the start of our stay; there is no comparison Jury's wins hands down(Omni was fine; just a bit weary and dated with very small rooms)We were also impressed that food/drinks in any of the hotel's bars/restaurants were not of the extortionate price you expect of hotels generally; rather they were on par with any of the bars we visited during our stay. This is also a great hotel location wise; with many bars/restaurants being located only a few minutes walk away and about a 25 minute walk from Faneuil Hall and the more historic part of the city.All in all a great base from which to explore a lovely city.
321151,mogsysuffolkEngland,06/06/2008,Not good for 3 ina room The hotel itself was very clean and friendly staff helped to make our stay enjoyable. I had booked a room for 3 people not near the evlevator; we arrived to find our room next to the elevator and only 2 beds. This was rectified by allocating another room for us but it was not big enough to have the cot bed out until the other 2 people had finished in the bathroom each night. This was very inconvenient. The restaurant did not cater for vegetarians during our stay there either.
321151,Globe247,06/04/2008,Deserves the #1 spot Stayed here for two nights through a last minute change of plans and we got a great rate with hotwire.The check-in staff were very professional and friendly and we got a great (even if a little small) room which was nicely furnished and with a very comfy bed.The hotel gym was well equipped and bar downstairs has a good scene without disturbing the hotel too which is a bonus. We only ate breakfast in the restaurant which was also good but they stop the buffet service too early for people who are on a relaxing holiday which gives the impression they are gearing more to guests on business.Furthermore the location is great which meant that we could walk everywhere and in the evening it is just a short cab ride to some fantastic restaurants.The only warning is the complete rip off that valet parking is. For circa $40 a day they will park your car or for $10 a day you can park it yourself in the public and safe car park located right in front of the hotel!All in all we would definitely stay here again and recommend to others.
321151,alemap77,06/03/2008,Loved Jurys Boston 14-17 May 2008 bathroom view
321151,sheba55,06/03/2008,truly a winner i stayed here for 3 nights from april 10th to 13th 2008. i had initially booked a twin room for 2 adults on hotelsclick;com and the rate was 513euro for the three nights. a week before we were due to arrive; a friend decided to travel with us. i contacted the hotel directly to enquire about the possibility of a rollaway bed for the 3rd person. i was told that i had received a complimentary upgrade and that the room could accomodate 4 adults. when we arived; after a swift check in; we were shown to our beautiful room 922. beautifully decorated; spacious with lovely l'occitane products in the bathroom. in the resturant at dinner that night; we received complimentary appetisers from the chef. my cola was refilled free of charge. breakfast was a treat each morning. the staff service was impeccable and was more 5star standard than the hotels 4 star rating. i can not say enough nice things about this hotel
321151,24FLEURS,05/20/2008,deserve its first place we stayed 4 nighs; deluxe roon in corner; great room with space. really a great hotel; great location in boston
321151,rosebudrmm,05/13/2008,Right up there with the Best of 'em! I have stayed at the Jury's before; and have loved it every time. I had recently stayed in a four star hotel that was so severely lacking; I could not help but compare the Jury's! Everyone is so friendly and helpful. The rooms are lovely; the beds comfortable. For a 3-star hotel (I believe) this hotel has thought of everything and outshines many 4-star hotels. Instead of having to purchase bottles of water for $4; they put complimentary bottles in your fridge; which they restock! There are full-sized ionic tourmaline hair dryers with narrow attachments AND diffusers! They carry L'Occitane; which is always lovely; in the bath. Returning from a long day to Irish music playing and chocolates on my bed makes turndown so wonderful. The Cuffs bar is so lively; the restaurant delicious. Late checkout goes until 2pm!!! The hotel is also in a fabulous location close to all that Back Bay and the South End have to offer. All for a reasonable price. I promise; you will NOT be disappointed!!
321151,Angeldee,05/09/2008,Wonderful service We have just returned from a 2 centre stay W New York then Jurys Boston. Jurys Boston is by far the best hotel for service and value for money I have ever stayed in. ( I do at least 2 hotel hols a year for the last 5 years) The attention to detail is excellen.The staff are friendly and exremely helpful. The room service was out of this world on value for money speed of service and variety. I have never written a hotel review before ; but I am so impressed with Jurys and I did not know they have other hotels in the UK so i am now off to check them out. Happy Holidays.
321151,jetlagged7,05/07/2008,Big Mistake I booked this hotel because of all the great reviews on this site. BAD IDEA. We checked in in the late afternoon and learned they gave our confirmed room with two double beds away (with confirmed guarantee for late arrival which we weren't late for at all) and offered us what they said was an upgrade...a corner room with one king size bed for two adults and two children. After waiting for over one hour for their engineer to figure out how they will fit in two roll-aways (which was against the fire code) they decided to move out the desk; chairs etc to fit the beds in. The roll aways were just threads away from the springs popping out; needless to say the kids were up all night and so then were my husband and I.The manager on duty offered half off for the night; after I said we weren't paying for the night. Not exactly the gold standard in customer service...the room should have been offered at no charge right off the bat since they broke their confirmation with us; had us wait for over an hour to try and resolve and then delivered two horrific roll-aways. We checked out in the morning and moved to another hotel. When they learned we were checking out two nights early they offered us the junior suite. By that time we were so aggravated and had made other arrangements and were ready to go. We moved over to the Hyatt Regency...professional staff and very clean hotel.
321151,thehebrewhoya,04/30/2008,Pricey but nearly flawless Pluses: good location; professional and friendly staff; well-appointed and well-sized rooms (why do people think they're small?); tasty food from room service; free water bottles in the minibar and no tempting junk food (unless you request it to be stocked).Minuses: overpriced valet parking (use a garage instead); overpriced a la carte menu (order the pre-set breakfasts via the door tag instead); not all rooms have bathtubs (but the shower was nice); crowded bar downstairs (no problems with noise; and the bar may be your scene; but it wasn't for me).I didn't have as good a view of the city at Jury's; but I thought our room was great and convenient. The room was smaller than the other Boston hotel I stayed at; but it was very comfortable and the corridors were nicer. Lots of staff at the desk and doors; though checking in or out can get congested at times. The elevators had this awful shiny wallpaper in them; but the stairs by the bar had a nice waterfall... I will be booking Jury's again for my next trip to Boston.
321151,ukgirl48,04/24/2008,great hotel Our first time to Boston. Got the hotel through recommindations on TripAdvisor. Best staff ever had at a hotel - were all very friendly and polite. Hotel was in a fab location. Would certainly recommend this; and when we return will definately stay there again.
321151,janiel,04/24/2008,Great Hotel This is a really great Hotel. It is very centrally located.( No need for a car). The Staff are really great; very helpful and Friendly. The Hotel itself it Beautiful; clean and tastefully decorated. The bedroom we stayed in was very spacious with a great shower. The bar was really busy with a great atmosphere. We had the Bar food which was great quality; great value and huge portions. We ate in the Restaurant last year and that was also very good. I would highly recommend this Hotel and will definitely stay there again.
321151,Tonyeng,04/19/2008,Comfortable bed The hotel is luxurious and very comfortable - the most comfortable hotel bed we have slept in for ages! The bar is lively and staff attentive. Don't fall for the valet parking though. We did ($39) and its over twice the price of the car park next door and we could have parked on the street overnight for free. The reception did refund the overcharge compared to the car park when we complained in fairness to them.
321151,tinytay1or1981,04/17/2008,Perfect! Could not fault the Jurys though didn't utilise all its features. The double bedroom was small but perfectly formed. There was also a mini fridge in the room which was replenished daily with two bottles of still water yet enough room to house own refreshments. The bathroom only has a shower; not an issue for me; but I appreciate the need for some travellers to have a bath. Luxury toiletries (including ear buds and cotton wool) which were; again; replaced after use.I used the fitness room at 6am; 7am; 8am and 6pm and; although small (6 cardio machines; rack of free weights and modular weights) I didn't have a problem with having to Q for equipment. It also has three tv screens; magazines; a water machine and towels. As other reviews have mentioned; location's ideal; staff are pleasant and helpfull and internet access was a bonus. I would recommend this hotel to anyone and would gladly stay here again if I ever return to Boston.
321151,orchard03,04/13/2008,Great time at the Jurys Just got back from a 6 night stay in Boston at Jurys hotel in early April; staying in a deluxe double room with my husband and 9 year old daughter.The hotel is very good. Room was plenty big enough with free internet access which we found extremely useful - for booking restaurant tables; checking opening times for attractions and checking in to our return flight online. We had a laptop but there are computers available downstairs if needed.Location is very good. We walked to the waterfront (Aquarium Childrens Museum) on the first day which is just a little bit too far; especially with a child; but we quickly found the T very easy to use and only just around the corner from the hotel. It also meant we explored Newbury Street Trinity Church which we may not have done if further away from Back Bay.We had breakfast in the hotel on 3 mornings but other days just went to Au Bon Pain next door to Arlington T Station which was fine when we didn't need a big meal. If having breakfast in house; the buffet is best value - you can order waffles with the buffet they were great!Staff at the hotel were all very friendly and there are various dining options all very close by as well as the bar or restaurant at the hotel itself.Heartily recommended!
321151,AnnaAnnapolis,04/12/2008,No Coffeemaker While the location was very convenient; there was no coffeemaker in the room. We asked for one; and initially were told one would be brought up; but half an hour later; the story changed. They had all been taken out of the rooms and none was available. This turned out to be quite inconvenient for me; an early riser. My husband and I also enjoy a cup of tea in the afternoon; but that was not available either. We had to walk 4-5 city blocks on a blustery spring day to find a cup of tea at an Au BonPain. This is a standard amenity in other hotels. We won't stay there again because this simple convenince is not available.There was also a lot of thumping bass noise from the basement bar until quite late at night.
321151,Albs86,04/06/2008,Amazing time at the Jurys Boston Hotel I stayed at the Jurys Boston Hotel for a week at the end of March with my boyfriend and had an absolutely incredible time. It was my boyfriends first time in Boston whereas I was returning after 11 years from having lived their previously. We had an incredible week and were very sad to leave. The Jurys Hotel was by far one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed at; and I've stayed at a fair few. The hotel staff were very friendly and very accommodating through-out the whole trip. The room was lovely; some have said the rooms were quite small but I thought it was a great size. Everything about it was wonderful. We had breakfast in the hotel a couple of times; we didnt have the buffet as we didnt think we could possibly eat enough food to justify spending $18. But what we did have was great. It's in an absolute perfect location for everything; a two minute walk from the 'T' station; some great restaurants in the area; one especially great meal was at the Bonfire Steakhouse; a bit on the pricey side but so so worth it. We had a great night there. The complimentary internet in the Jurys business centre was very useful as it was the only means of communication with some friends I had in the area. We had drinks in the bar Cuffs a couple of times too; it had a great atmosphere and we weren't disturbed by it at night at all. I don't have a negative thing to say about our stay at the Jurys; and when we go back to Boston we will definately be staying with them again.
321151,DorkySwede,04/02/2008,Comfy room; great service; reasonable price I stayed at Jury's Boston on a biz trip for a conference - three nights. Booked through Orbitz at average cost of $267 per night.Check-in was smooth and very pleasant; with hot towel at the reception desk. Lobby isn't incredibly fancy; but decent. Halls on room floors are very nice; brightly lit; etc. Room was spacious; with very comfortable bed and complimentary mineral waters (2 per day). Complimentary internet was both wired and wireless in the room (I prefer wired).Service was very pleasant on occasions when I sought help.I had breakfast via room service - nothing special; and I can't judge the restaurant based on it.I plan to go back for a pleasure stay some time.
321151,slcSF,03/28/2008,Wonderful Hotel; Great Location I stayed at the Jurys with my 17 yo daughter for 4 nights in Feb/08 and loved the hotel. The room was extremely comfortable; if a little small; but the bathroom quite spacious. The beds; luxurious sheets and towels; heated towel rack; and L'Occitane toiletries made us feel pampered. The best thing about the Jurys for us was the location! Three blocks from Newbury Street; within easy walking distance to Copley Place; Back Bay; the Public Garden; and Downtown Crossing made the Jurys the ideal hotel for us. Public transportation could not have been easier: less than 2 blocks from Arlington Station on the Green Line; within 4 blocks of South Station on the Orange Line which is also the Back Bay stop for Amtrack. A Hertz rental car facility was only a couple blocks away near the Park Plaza Hotel. In short; a wonderful base from which to explore the Boston area. While the location is fairly quiet in the evening; the Jurys' hotel bar is quite popular and filled with revelry every night. We asked for a quiet room and never heard a peep from the crowds in the bar. It wasn't until our last day that I discovered the spacious and comfortable sitting area in the hotel lobby. It's separate from; and off to the left of; the check-in area.
321151,Franticflo,03/24/2008,Jury's Boston Hotel Stayed this week-end at Jury's and had a lovely time. They're very welcoming from the time we pulled up in our car to the time we left. While there really aren't many restaurants immediately around Jury's; there are a bunch of great looking restaurants within a 10-15 minute walk (especially on Tremont Street). The hotel rooms are small; but pretty; and well-designed. In the interest of being green the thermostat is kept at 69 degrees; which is fine; but that temperature is cold when you're getting out of the shower (no baths). They should have a heat lamp in that bathroom so you don't freeze! Other than that; the only negative I have is the $39 plus taxes charge for parking your car. Worked out to almost 25% of the room cost. However; we would recommend Jury's for a nice Boston hotel.
321151,honorGalwayIreland,03/23/2008,Jury's - Trip Advisors Were Spot On We stayed in Jury's for five nights recently and it was excellent. All the staff we met were very helpful and polite. The room was beautiful; very clean and the free bottles of water were a lovely touch. There is free Internet access in the business centre which was handy. The location is very central - there are plenty of good restaurants with in easy walking distance and the shops on Newbury and Boylston are close by. We caught the T at Airlington Station just two blocks away. I knew that Jury's was No. 1 for hotels in Boston on Trip Advisor but it was even better than I expected.
321151,TahirDublin,03/21/2008,Jurys Boston is Fab Just stayed at Jurys Boston for five days over Paddys weekend. I work in the hotel business and can be very critical of other hotels but I must say I could not find fault with Jurys. The rooms were spotless; the staff were really friendly and helpful and the food...well not gourmet but american! I think I overloaded on fries. Just watch if you are having breakfast and do not want to eat much order off the a la carte menu as the buffet menu is great but costs $18.00 per person.
321151,AuntieNoodles,03/14/2008,Best Hotel we have stayed in!!! Jury鈥檚 is an amazing hotel; Building is stunning; and D茅cor is very tasteful and well done. (My husband is in the building trade and was impressed with the high standard of finish and detail.); Great locationRoom was lovely; king bed was huge and lay out was great; plenty of hanging space in wardrobe. Room had a fridge with bottled water which was replaced every day; but you had the option of putting your own drinks in.Bathroom again was spacious; with walk in shower; bath sheet towels and great toiletries you really only need to take toothbrush and paste.Rooms were cleaned very day to a high standard and turn down service every evening.We only had breakfast at the hotel which was fantastic; we had the buffet which was great value for money.Cuff bar was excellent; staff very friendly as in the rest of the hotel; bar was great for lunch and evening drink; it seems to be popular with the locals as well as the guests.Would highly recommend this hotel.Boston it self was great; a lot calmer than New York City; which is where we normally go this time of year; be sure to pack warm cloths in March it was very cold but bright blue skies; rain one day in the 6 we were there.Nothing seems to open until 10am; so no need to rush around; Freedom trail was good; long walk if your not used to it; so wear comfterbale shoes.Quincy market is great; Cheers bar good for an afternoon beer and snack; the Aquarium is worth a visit; Shopping on Newbury Street were good and only a few mins from Hotel; as is the Copley and prudential centres. Found 2 good restaurants with in walking distance from hotel; Cotton Wood (Tex mex) and Legal (Sea food) very reasonable; starters/main plus beers and wine for two was less than $100 with tip.Recommend Boston; but 6 nights was more the enough to see what is to be seen.
321151,Globetrotter037,03/09/2008,Fantastic Staff Fantastic place; terrific staff; warm welcome and very clean. Food very good. Will definately be back!
321151,Notoverlyfussy,03/07/2008,Great Location; Great Hotel This is an excellent hotel; well located in a fantastic city. On arrival; the staff are friendly and courteous. The room was reasonably sized and clean. The bed was very comfortable and there was a 32 inch TV. One nice touch was that 2 complimentary bottles of water were in the fridge and replaced every day.The maid service was excellent and the room was thoroughly cleaned each day with a turn down service each evening. as mentioned previously; Cuffs bar is nice and very popular locally. The hotel organise a bus to the outlet shops in Wrentham every day for $38 per person and it takes about an hour to get there. On the bus you will get a coupon book and if the aim of your visit is shopping this is very useful.The hotel is well located in Boston and Boston Common is within 5 minutes walk of the hotel. For shopping Newbury street is 10 minutes away. The closest T station is arlington and even more shopping can be found in Quincy Market (3 stops on the green line to Government Buildings)One restaurant worth mentioning is Stephanies on Newbury St. Really good fine dining and when we went on a Monday night it was full but luckily had made a reservation through the hotel.Overall; a great city was made better by a lovely central hotel with staff whoi were very pleasant and genuine
321151,MJMGlasgow,02/27/2008,Best bar in town This hotel is very central for shopping; sightseeing etc and from the moment we arrived; we were very well looked after by staff.Cuff's bar has a great atmosphere; and seems to be the place to be after a hard day's work at the office!! I would say though that the food in the bar was disappointing.A great place to have breakfast is the YWCA just round the corner from the hotel - don't be put off by the paper plates and plastic cutlery. The food was excellent and the place was spotless. Breakfasts were superb!!!!
321151,DanaSF,02/23/2008,Excellent choice in Boston I did a tremendous amount of research before our 3 night trip to Boston to find just the right hotel: not too expensive (under $200/night); but nice enough to feel like we were in a special place. Jurys did noit dissappoint. The staff is friendly and attentive; the decor is upscale and modern in the lobby and the rooms; and the room was quiet and very well appointed (gorgeous bathroom with all stone tile/counter tops and nice robes; nice linens; furniture; etc). They give 2 bottles of water free everyday; wired AND wireless internet is free; and room service was good and extremely prompt (10 mins on average for breakfast to arrive everyday). The location is also ideal. I highly recommend this place! TIP: the room has a stereo with a CD player. The have a limited selection of CDs to lend at the front desk; so bring your own.
321151,cfalker,02/23/2008,A different kind of hotel I stayed at the Jurys Hotel in Boston based on the reviews I saw on TripAdvisor. The staff was very attentive. The room was on the small side but nice. There was no bath but a decent sized shower stall with two shower heads. There was a safe in the room. The door automatically deadbolts. I had a little problem getting the card key to work. The turn down service came with two drinks. The temperature in the room was 72 degrees when I arrived and I had to switch the thermostat to a/c which meant I woke up cold. The Stuart street entrance was one level down from the lobby and I would not say that the hotel is very handicap accessible. There is a glass staircase with a waterfall up to the lobby. The exercise room was small and people could look in the windows at you. You have to walk passed the bar on the ground floor to get to the exercise room which is either a plus or a minus depending on your point of view. The back wall of the elevator has a psychedelic mirror.
321151,BraveTraveler,02/21/2008,Great Sevice and Location We stayed at the Jurys from Saturday-Wednesday. The service was excellent. The location is ideal for getting anywhere in Boston. It is a $24 (including tip) cab ride from the airport. I was traveling with my daughter and the first night they gave us a King size bed rather than two queens. There was not another room available until Sunday but they moved us as soon as a room became available. No inconvenience to us at all. The rooms are spacious and the beds are extremely comfortable. The housekeeping staff did a great job daily and turned down the beds at night. The blankets are wrapped between two sheets for those who enjoy this. Personally; I can't stand it if the hotels do not do this so notice it right away. The rooms have empty refrigerators which was great too. We were on the 4th and 9th floors during out stay. The pub in the hotel; Cuffs; was very busy on Saturday night but we did not hear any noise in our rooms as mentioned in other reviews. Our departing flight was not until 7:00 pm so the hotel held our luggage so we could get in another day of sightseeing. We had dinner at Cuffs one night which was very good and relaxing with the fireplace. We had breakfast one morning in the restaurant in the hotel too. Just a light breakfast which was ideal. Full breakfasts were available. Starbucks is two blocks away for those who need that kick. About a 5 minute walk. The subway stop is right beside Starbucks.The Consierge service was great. Take advantage of this service as they were all very helpful.The doormen were very friendly. (other than the one who couldn't pull himself away from playing solitaire on the computer) I would highly recommend this hotel!
321151,GalleyBayBride,02/21/2008,Wonderful hotel My Husband and I stayed here for 4 nights over Valentines day; our room was on the third floor; didn't have a fantastic view but wasn't awful. The room itself was lovely; spacious and clean. The bathroom was also a fair size and spotless. We did hear some construction noise from the left of the hotel in the mornings and also deliveries to the hotel as we were above the loading bay. The staff we encountered were friendly and happy to help. We ate in the Stanhope Grille for breakfast and for valentines day; the food was very nice; and the price was very reasonable for what you got. Cuff's seems to be the place to be; the bar was always packed and sometimes a little to noisy we went and sat upstairs in the hotel bar. The location of this hotel is excellant; everything is within walking distance. On the whole we had a fantastic time in Boston and we certainly come back here again.
321151,Baltimoron,02/18/2008,How a hotel should be We decided to book our President's Day weekend getaway at Jurys after seeing the reviews on Tripadvisor. It is a terrific place to stay-warm; friendly; and good value; given that it's a centrally located hotel (near Newbury street) in downtown Boston. The hotel is tastefully decorated-the lobby is warm and inviting and there are ample public spaces in which to read and work. The rooms are smallish-we booked a larger room; which still measured only about 300 square feet but are very nice. What I like in particular is that Jurys does not bill you for little extras; that I think should be included as part of a hotel stay. For instance; in the room; there is free wired and wireless internet (as well as in the common areas; there are public computers and wireless access available). There were two waters in the fridge for free as well as two free milk-based drinks to help you sleep at night. There was a nice complimentary gym and friendly service from the front desk and concierge. For singles; there is a swinging bar on the ground floor which was packed on the weekend evenings. The food in the hotel is solid-the breakfast buffet is expensive at $18/person but that's fairly standard for most hotels of this quality. When I come back to Boston again; there's no doubt that I'll stay here again.
321151,kenyonmartin2003,02/18/2008,Great one night stay at jurys Excellent hotel. We stayed one night -- Sat. night -- on holiday weekend. We got a decent price -- im sure there were better out there but the hotel is very nice. Great front desk service; etc. The room we had was very small -- but nicely decorated and not a problem. The location was great. Ten minute walk to theatre. Lots of very popular clubs/bars close buy -- for the under 30 crowd it looked like. Jurys itself had a very crowded bar and restaurant but also a quieter lounge upstairs.Nothing negative to say at all.This will be my hotel in boston.
321151,anniedrogheda,02/07/2008,loved the ambience 3 girlfriends in Boston for shopping eating drinking jurys hotel was brillant service a little slow in the bar but food etc excellent staff so helpful would reccomend this hotel at any time and everyone in and around Boston so helpful well done
321151,everywheretraveller,02/04/2008,fantastic 5oth birthday getaway My husband planned this trip as a surprise 50th birthday gift.... what a fantastic place to stay..... the staff was awesome the room was beautiuful pure luxury the bed was the most comfortable sleep we have ever had...... the view was excellent from our corner suite... room service was absolutely perfect!!!.. we would stay there any time and we reccomend this to anyone looking for a great experience in a fantastic location!!...
321151,travelman15,01/28/2008,Great Hotel Hotel Lobby
321151,FlyboyPA151,01/28/2008,Great Stay at the Jurys Based on the reviews; the Jurys seemed like a reliable bet for great stay in Boston. While our stay was similarly satisfying like other reviewers experiences; I felt that it was a little overpriced for what you got - although it IS downtown Boston. The room was clean; very nicely appointed and had an extremely large bathroom with heated towel racks - a nice touch if you ask me. The bedroom area of our Deluxe King room was pretty small; however; but adequate. One disappointing feature of the hotel is the exorbitantly priced Valet. $40 per day; and all they do is drive it to the nearest private parking garage with whom they have a deal with. You would do yourself a favor by utilizing one of the THREE parking garages within a block of the hotel: (http://maps.google.com/maps?near=350+Stuart+St;+Boston;+MA+02116geocode=q=parkingf=lhl=ensll=42.350052;-71.071318sspn=0.001947;0.005021layer=cie=UTF8ll=42.35171;-71.071308spn=0.007786;0.020084z=16om=0cbll=42.350935;-71.070727)The hotel has an Irish Bar - Cuffs - and they serve up an amazing lobster bisque! The bartender even served up my Guinness properly - with a shamrock design in the frothy head. We had a mind to skip our dinner reservations at Grill 23 across the street and just stay here! Of course; we're glad we didn't; as the meal was tremendous at Grill 23 as well!
321151,relaxaway,01/28/2008,Great Stay This was my second time staying at the Jury's Hotel. The Hotel is in a great location and walking distance to wonderful shopping. T stops are also very close to Hotel which makes it easy to get over to the North End; or Cambridge. I was a little disappointed in my stay this time as the first time the service was fantastik; and this time the staff was not as eager to please. I had a few issues with housekeeping; but in the end they were resolved. The bar in the hotel; Cuff's is a terrific place to hang out. It is very busy with hotel guests and people who work in the area. Being a single person this is a great place to meet people and make new friends. The bar staff are very friendly and fun. Looking forward to staying again at the Jury's Boston Hotel.
321151,AMurray,01/25/2008,Lovely hotel My husband and I stayed in Jury's Boston in December 2007 after reading the excellent reviews on the TripAdvisor web site. We were not disappointed. The location of the hotel is great. Copley/Back Bay is a great area with loads of shops; restaurants and very easy access to the T (one block away!). The service in the hotel was very good and the rooms were lovely. We ate breakfast in the Stanhope Grill and even though it was a little pricey; the food was good and the service excellent. One added bonus is the Cuff's bar in the hotel which is a very popular after work drinking spot so if you don't feel like going out in the cold you need look no further!Grill 23 across the road is a great steakhouse. We ate there the first night we arrived and although there were no tables available downstairs we got 2 seats at the bar and got an even more personal service. A great one to try. I would thoroughly recommend Jury's Boston for a lovely place to stay either for business purposes or with a family.
321151,SamPip,01/23/2008,Perfectly Placed in Boston My husband and I spent our first 5 nights at Jurys as part of our 2.5 week Honeymoon in the US. I had made the booking having read previous reviews on this site; and I wasn't disappointed. The hotel was perfectly placed for getting around town; public transport is only steps away; but in general we walked to most of the places we wanted to go. We had a lovely room - clean and comfortable - with a good sized bathroom. The hotel itself is also well presented; clean and nicely decorated. The staff were friendly and helpful.There are loads of nice restaurents within walking distance; as well as the Stanhope Grille in the hotel (it was a little pricey but we got what we paid for - the food was fab). I would definitely recommend this hotel to fellow travellers and wouldn't hesitate to stay again myself if I were to return to Boston.
321151,woodchucker,01/21/2008,great stay at Jurys in Boston! We stayed for one night for a little weekend getaway in Boston. We chose Jurys based on the TripAdvisor reviews and weren't disappointed! What a lovely hotel; and the people who worked there were super nice and accomodating. We got a fantastic deal through one of the discount hotel websites; and when we called to ask if we could check in an hour early or so; they upgraded our room to a deluxe. The room was very nice; spotlessly clean and attractive; the bathroom was good-sized with very nice amenities; there was free internet access and a flat-screen T.V. The beds were super comfortable. There was a fair amount of traffic noise from outside our window (we had a room facing Berkeley Street) but I consider this just part of staying at a hotel in a city. The public areas are very attractive and kind of quirky; with lighting overhead; on the stairs; and on a waterfall wall next to the stairs that change colors from green to blue to purple to red; etc.There are very unusual gas fireplaces covered with sparkly stones (I know it sounds odd; but it looks great!) The trash containers near the elevators had a bowl of potpourri on one side ! We ate dinner at Cuffs; the bar on the lower level; and had a great meal of sandwiches and fries; with two awesome desserts which I would highly recommend (a trio of ice creams in cups made of thin cookies and a blackberry creme brulee). Prices were very reasonable.We had breakfast in the Stanhope restaurant; and it was very good; too (pricey; though-- if you don't order either the full or the continental buffet; where the beverages are included; watch out for the prices on the juices and coffee!).All in all; it was a great stay and I'd love to stay there again!
321151,ianok,01/19/2008,Great location and great hotel We only had one night in Boston after finishing a cruise and before we headed to the Florida sun. We chose this hotel for its location and the good reviews it had received. We were not disappointed. The hotel looked beautiful with all its Christmas decorations. The bedroom was very comfortable with fantastic beds and good bathroom. And even better high speed internet access was free. Staff throughout were extremely; especially in the business centre when we wanted to print documents out and scan other documents in 鈥?which was all done at no charge. (Watch out for the telephone charges though! )We ate at an excellent nearby fish restaurant called Skipjacks (Clarendon Street) just a few minutes walk from the hotel and had a memorable meal. There were plenty of other restaurants nearby if you want to venture out of the hotel.Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our short stay in the city and this hotel in particular. Certainly if we were back in Boston again would want to stay at Jury鈥檚.
321151,APicc,01/17/2008,Favorite Boston Hotel If I could stay anywhere in Boston; it would be at Jury's. Our first experience staying there was about 2 1/2 years ago; for just one night. Ever since then; whenever we have an occassion to stay in downtown Boston; we stay at Jury's. Immaculately clean; spacious marble bathrooms; and excellent location. Just across the street from Grill 23 if you are looking for a good meal too!
321151,alfie92,01/11/2008,New Year In Boston Just returned from the Jurys Boston Hotel where we stayed for 4 nights over the New Year. Excellent location in the Back Bay area with a 5 minute walk to the Prudential Centre shopping mall and access to the ' T ' only 1 block away. The hotel is within easy reach of all the shops;cafes and restaurants on Newbury Street as well as the delightful Boston Common. The hotel is very welcoming and the bedroom was nice; large and clean. The furnishing's were nice and new and the bathroom was a good size with L'occatiane products and an impressive shower. The hotel bar; 'Cuffs'; is handy for a drink after you've hit the shops and the food served there is very nice. We also ate in the hotels Stanhope Grill Restaurant on News Year Eve which was superb. We had breakfast there every morning and you could either order off the menu or have the full buffet breakfast that included bacon; sausage and scrambled eggs or the continental breakfast which included fresh fruit; yoghurt; pastries.We really enjoyed our stay at the hotel and time in Boston and will definitely return to both.
321151,krgl,12/31/2007,I would love to return I stayed for six nights just before christmas with my wife and 3 year old daughter and a couple of friends.We all had a great time the Hotel and Boston is great.The staff are all great and I could not fault the hotel (WELL NO SWIMMING POOL) the food; room service etc are all great. it was no problem getting food for my daughter and I cannot wait to go back to boston and stay again at Jurys.The location is great.I loved it.Thank you Jurys Boston for a great stay.
321151,NEtraveler07,12/28/2007,Character and location galore We had a wonderful stay. The hotel is lovely and has many details that I apprectiate. Interesting appointments and attention to small luxurious decorative details. It is small; but it is a city hotel with an old world feel. The bed was sumptuously comfortable. There are also small stylish details; such as note paper with quotes in the room; great bar and restaurant options onsite. Check in was seamless and all the staff including doormen were very helpful and pleasant.I was however diappointed that upon leaving I left behind an expensive and unique jacket that was unable to be found within hours of my departure. As we were leaving the room; the chambermaid asked us if we were checking out...unfortunate.
321151,Ben1400,12/27/2007,Close to Perfect We'd heard so many good things about this hotel but it still exceeded our expectations. I got a great deal through Hotwire; but would definitely pay full price to stay again. The service was perfect; the room was super clean; the bed was comfortable and the shower was great.
321151,juleskee,12/13/2007,Super Hotel! Stayed here for 4 nights from 6th Dec was more than pleasantly surprised pleased!This hotel is in a superb location with only minutes walk to the Copley Prudential Malls; Boylston Newbury St.It is also less than 2 mins walk from the closest T Station on Arlington.Our room was spacious with the most comfortable hotel beds I have ever slept in!The hotel bar 'Cuffs' was hopping practically every night.....with a line outside on Saturday night waiting for entry!!!!The food in the restaurant was pretty good the breakfast buffet for $18 was more than substantial!The front desk staff were very pleasant helpful the concierge couldn't do enough for us.....more than helpful!All in all; I would highly recommend this hotel would definitely stay here again!
321151,Buckshee,12/12/2007,Excellent stay @ Jury'sin Back Bay Choose Jury's Boston primarily because of it's reviews here on Tripadvisor and have to give a big thumbs up up to all the previous reviewers. Couldn't fault the place on any front at all.This is one of Jurys's hotels as opposed to a Jurys Inn and the differece in class is immediately obvious. Rooms were large and well decorated and the bathroom and shower were especially well appointed. Staff extremely pleasant and helpful particularly the concierge and the front door guy. Food was top class as was Cuff's bar which was extremely lively every single evening we were there. Top class athmosphere and refreshments on offer into the wee small hours. The hotel is well located in the Back Bay area and within strolling distance of downtown and some of the city centre malls. Plenty of well recommended restuarants on the doorstep so you certainly won't go hungry.Free wi-fi all over the hotel if you have your own laptop and free regular internet connection on two Pc's adjacent to reception which was most heplful on our 6 day stay for making various bookings.Best thing I could say about Jury's Boston is that if I ever make it back to Boston I won't be wasting even a single minute looking at another hotel; I'll just be searching for the best possible rate for Jurys and booking it.
321151,ElaineJ7,12/07/2007,Good choice My daughter and I stayed at this hotel mid October and it was a really good choice. It is in a good location; just 3 - 5 minutes to the main shopping street. The hotel is very good; with lovely bedrooms and friendly service from front-desk to the dining room which is run by two women chefs. We will stay at this hotel again.On the surface; it appeared to be a really quiet area and hotel; but from approx. 4.30 p.m. the hotel bar just came alive with people meeting after work and others starting their evening. The surrounding restaurants were also very busy with lots of atmosphere.We only stayed two nights in Boston before going to New York which we had visited before. Two nights in Boston is not enough; it is a great city with lots of everything; but so much more refined than NY. We will good back to Boston again without a doubt.
321151,psycomum68,12/04/2007,Gem Cant add anymore than everyone else has said...Hotel is an absolute gem.Position excellent.Immaculately clean.Food good.But overall whats makes this hotel so good is the staff . From the cleaners to the concierge; from the minute you arrive they cant do enough for you.If you are looking for a hotel in Boston look no further.I am a Travel Agent and very rarely can find no fault with a hotel; but this one has made it through with no faults.
321151,BowensSwanseaUK,11/27/2007,Fantastic Hotel; Great Location. This hotel was fab; friendly welcoming staff; great rooms and a great location especially for the Back Bay train station. Special mention has to be given to the Concierge; a lovely lady who couldn't do enough to help. And Cuffs; the downstairs bar had a great atmosphere and lovely hot chocolate!
321151,londonfamily3,11/26/2007,Great location and rooms Had one night here at the beginning of a trip around New England - perfect location for all that Boston offers. The staff were extremely helpful; welcoming and friendly. Rooms really good and clean. Wouldn't stay anywhere else in Boston for value and location. Fine for young children too.
321151,ozymandias69,11/21/2007,Mainly Excellent Stayed at this Hotel from 12th to 20th November inclusive. From arrival to departure all the staff were very friendly and extremely helpful; always willing to go the extra mile to make sure everything was OK. Special mention must be made of the concierge(s) to whom nothing was too much trouble. Whilst we had one of the smaller rooms this was comfortable and clean. Given that we were only using it for sleeping; it was entirely adequate for our purposes. The Hotel is modern; the decor is excellent and the public rooms good. It is ideally situated; close to Newbury Street and the Prudential Centre and Copley Place Even Downtown Crossing; Fanueil and Quincey market are all within a 15 - 20 minute walk. Given that we were there a week the charge of $27 for a Coffee Maker was reasonable.OK - what about the negatives. Our room was at the rear of the Hotel and was quite noisy; we were awakened every morning between 0530 and 0600 by garbage collection and deliveries. The much vaunted Cuffs Bar is OK if you beloing to the younger set and can tolerate 100+ Decibels; given the layout this noise also percolates into Il Barista upstairs. It also 'drove us' to eat out of the Hotel every night.Whilst we were there the staff in Il Barista stopped serving at 2200 hrs (no way did we want to venture into Cuffs) which in a Hotel of this quality is deplorable.The Reading Room is very under utilised - an oasis of calm which could be better used - tip - buy your drinks and take them there!For a Hotel of this quality to run out of supplies for the Coffee Maker; Corn Flakes and Bran Flakes is really not on.However all the negatives above should be taken in the context of - yes we would definitely return - a little more attention to the 'extra' bits would make this a really excellent hotel - Recommended.
321151,SMcW,11/18/2007,Great location; fantastic rooms Stayed early November 2007. Great location; fantastic rooms and the staff were brilliant.Would definitely recommend as a great place to stay if visiting Boston.
321151,WSyankee,11/12/2007,Value Lacking The Jurys Hotel in Boston is a nice facility but the value received for the room rate is questionable. When you pay a top rate; you expect a top end experience all the way around and I didn't experience that at Jurys. It's what is missing that makes Jurys fall short.The good things:1) The rooms are very nice and well appointed. The tiled bathrooms are large and feature a tub plus a stand up shower with multi nossle sprays. I had no problems with water pressure. The radio system was turned on when I first arrived in the room which gave me the impression that this place is special. Nice touch.2) The main lobby has a lot of places to sit and gather with friends or business clients or just for a peaceful read of the morning paper.3) The staff was very eager to please and make the stay more enjoyable. I know a night manager came to a buddy's room at 1 am to make up a fold away couch.4) The bar and restaurant were nice and again everyone was eager to please.The missing:1) The main lobby coffee bar was not open and not operating in the am (or at all as far as I could tell) and the hotel was booked for the evening.2) There were no vending machines anywhere to get a soda.3) The workout room is a joke for this class a hotel. A few machines but no steam; sauna; or nothing.You get what you pay for and in this case; I felt like I was staying in a super elegant Comfort Inn and I didn't even get a free breakfast.
321151,rnicu39,11/09/2007,Not Nice Enough For the money Jury's was in a great location. Room service was good and the staff was nice. I only had a couple of problems. The water pressure was terrible in the shower and I didn't feel like I even had enough water to say I had showered. Second the temperature in the rooms is controlled by the hotel so no matter how I dialed the thermostat it was always at a set temperature the one they set! The coffee absoulutely sucked and they charged me five bucks for it. The rooms are small but the bed was comfortable and the room was clean.
321151,eddieore,11/07/2007,Best Hotel ever We are just back from 4 nights in Boston stayed in Jurys Hotel. We really enjoyed everything about the hotel-friendly staff; rooms; the showers!!; the bath robes; location; helpfulness of everyone; cleanliness; Cuffs Bar.We have travelled quite a bit and this hotel had everything; more; than we could ever want on a city break.Brilliant Jurys-well done
321151,Garak,11/03/2007,good place but expensive for what it is I have stayed at the hotel four or five time since 2005 and actually quite like it. Especially the bar inside the hotel is a happening place and great for pre-dinner drinks. During the recent stay I found the hotel staff as friendly as usual but for some reason I felt it was time to try something else next time when I am in Boston. Reflecting on this I think that the Jurys simply isn鈥檛 anything special and I guess I liked it more a couple of years ago when I stayed there first. Now it feels just like any other big hotel with relatively small rooms and high prices. It鈥檚 a shame since nothing is really wrong with the place but on the other hand I don鈥檛 feel compelled to stay there anymore.
321151,JackMcConnell,11/02/2007,Beginning to fray This hotel is beginning to show signs of needing an overhaul in terms of its room quality. We stayed just one night there; wanting to be in a good location in central Boston. Couldn't fault location; but the room was small; the bathroom large; but the shower was barely more than a trickle. The hotel needs to upgrade its televisions; ours was not flat screen and the front flap was falling off. One of the bedside lampshades was stained and in general the upholstery in the room looked tired. I'd say this hotel needs to look lively if it is to retain its position as a ranking hotel.We moved to Jury's from the Westin Waterfront--on all counts apart from location Jurys fell short of the Westin. Overpriced and resting on its laurels--which very much need to be refreshed...
321151,Jojill,10/31/2007,Jury's was good Stayed here with my teenage son from 20th October for 5 days during some unexpectedly warm weather. Really enjoyed our stay. Comfortable rooms; friendly staff; good location. Had 3 breakfasts which added to our costs but very enjoyable. Good restaurant called Laurel just next door in Berkley St. Would stay again.
321151,MalcolmOrlando,10/30/2007,Quality and Service at Jurys Stayed in a 5th floor corner room strretside. Was surprised to have minimal noise despite rabid BoSox fans enjoying the World Series. The staff- from front door to check-in and especialy concierge- were GREAT. Even the maid staff seemed happy! Couldn't recommend this hotel more.
321151,FelixStowe10,10/30/2007,Friendly and well run hotel We stayed for 4 nights towards the end of October 07 and enjoyed our stay at Jury's.We found the staff very attentive - they recommended good places forbreakfast and were generally very helpful throughout our stay.The room we had on the 9th floor was larger than usual and well decorated. The facilities were of much higher standard that we have experienced at other hotels.The location was good for us although it might not suit everyone. It was conveniently located near the Back Bay railway station so we could easily get the train to New York. It did not appear too difficult to get to the hotel from the airport using the metro although we were so tired after the flight we opted for a taxi in theend. It is a little way from the central area of Boston but it is an easy and pleasant walk through the common and there is the metro nearby orbus if necessary.Our only slight problem was the noise from the building work behind the hotel which started at 8am. We were usually on our way out at this time so not a problem to us. I didn't notice any internal noise as a previous reviewer reported.All in all a good place to stay and we would definitely return again.
321151,JandA1,10/28/2007,The perfect spot. Bedroom Photo 1
321151,jz123456,10/25/2007,Unbelievably loud I recently spent a weekend at this hotel and it was so poorly sound proofed that lying in bed you could hear every word uttered in the hallway; and in the bathroom you could follow the conversation of the people in the room next door. It was as if they made no effort to insulate the rooms from noise. For what they charge for a small room in this new hotel it is ridiculous they haven't done better.
321151,gcoop17,10/23/2007,Not much more to add Stayed here in september and really have little to add to the reviews already posted. Everything really good. Professional reception staff; excellent and friendly door men; very helpful barman who kept me right on American bar ettiquette when asked. No complaints about the room - spacious; clean and comfortable. For a modern non boutique hotel you could not really ask for much more.Well done Jurys.
321151,boston68guy,10/17/2007,Jury's is simply fantastic My husband and I actually got married at Jury's Boston Hotel; and it couldn't have been a more perfect experience! I found this hotel during Boston's restaurant week; and enjoyed dining at the Stanhope Grill (which is incredibly good.) After seeing how kind and accomplished the staff was; and how consistent they were at being so great; we booked the restaurant and 10 rooms for our big day. It couldn't have been a better experience; both the wedding and the hotel stay. All of our parents and family who stayed in the hotel had a fantastic time with great service and comfortable rooms. The larger two-double-bed rooms had a gorgeous bathroom; and our single-king was nice too. The room was spotless; and all the staff was super kind. If you want easy; friendly; elegant service that is better than the supposed-best hotels; than Jury's is the place. There's no finer property in town when you consider the whole package; and the location is superb. Considering I paid way over $10K for my wedding to be held here; I think every cent was well worth it!
321151,Lewes,10/17/2007,A superb hotel We have just spent 3 wonderful nights in this excellent hotel. Its location is very convenient for most of the city's attractions. The reception staff/porters were extremely welcoming; and our room was delightful; very quiet; and had an excellent large shower. Although we did not sample the breakfasts; we did enjoy an excellent meal in their restaurant. Faultless!
321151,kenmason11,10/16/2007,Great Hotel! Stayed for 3 nights and had a great time. Very nice hotel; great staff. Very close walking distance to many things. Will stay there again.
321151,BBLA,10/13/2007,Love Jurys Jury's was a great surprise. I accompanied my husband while in Boston on a business trip and I was extremely surprised at the level of service Jurys exhibited. Working for a 5 star property myself; I am usually disappointed in this department when traveling; but the staff at Jurys proved most helpful and always went out of their way. They allowed us to order from the restaurant menu instead of the room service menu from our room; they delivered my husband's lost luggage directly to us without us having to remind or call repeatedly to advise. The Irish theme and in room book detailing Irish-American histroy was interesting. Loved the restaurant; loved the decor; loved our room; loved Jurys.
321151,jdtOregon,10/08/2007,Nearly perfect hotel! We took an east coast vacation for the first time; and were a little nervous about where to stay. We looked at trip advisor to give some recommendations. Jury's Boston Hotel was rated #1 on the list; so I thought we would give it a try. It definitely deserves the rating. It is a small; intimate hotel; and the staff is very friendly and helpful. The room was really nice; but the bed was amazing! It was the most comfortable bed we have had in a hotel (I actually liked it better than my own!) The hotel is very conveniently located for people without a car. We were able to walk one block and get on the trolley for a great tour of the city. Lots of great restaurants nearby; great shopping. We had a great time; and would recommend anyone stay there that wants to be around friendly; helpful people!
321151,Mark17,10/07/2007,Great hotel My wife and I stayed 4 nights at the Jury's; everything was great. The service was exceptional (especially Heather the concierge; who advised us on the best places to go to). We had room 738 a corner room over looking the street; the room was very large for a city centre hotel. The room was very clean and the bed was one of the most comfortable that we have ever slept in.I would recommend this hotel to everyone wanting to visit Boston.If you get a chance go to Grill 23 across the road from the hotel; best steaks you will ever have.
321151,pbh73,10/06/2007,Great place Wonderful conversion of the old Police HQ in a convenient location a short walk from Copley Place and many of Boston's attractions and shopping.Very comfortable rooms with traditional decor. Great service and friendly staff makes this an ideal base for your Boston stay; whether on vacation or business.Highly recommended.
321151,davysims,10/03/2007,One of the Best At the price I was expecting someting well above average and was not dissappointed. The only possible let down was the restaurant on the Sunday evening; which was very poor. However; that was well made up by the genuinely friendly staff (yes there are a lot of very pleasent people in Boston - but some seems to be playing the part).We had seven nights. The room was made up almost as soon as we left it; so when we came back for an afternoon rest it was perfect. The bar Cuffs is excellent.recemmended
321151,mikeYorkUK,09/29/2007,Geat Location / Good Atmosphere/ Friendly Staff The location of this hotel is just about right being halfway between Back Bay and the North End. The hotel room was large and comfortable ; although our shower didn't work efficiently and I was unable to get it repaired in the 3 nights we stayed there. Having said that I would stay there again. The bar down stairs can get very noisey but there is an outside area to enjoy a drink should the weather permit. Breakfast although not include in our deal was o.k. and I would opt to use that rather than search for some where cheaper.
321151,pnmdotcom,09/28/2007,Good Cop Shop Nicely converted police HQ. Room not huge but Ok; would have preffered king size bed. Room very clean; good toiletries and huge bath towels. Slightly spooky TV that tuned onto the hotel entertainment menu when somebody in another room was trying to purchase adult entertainment! However; the front desk dealt with this very efficiently when contacted. Indeed all the staff we encountered were excellent. Good lively bar in the basement; really good atmosphere for a hotel bar and not expensive. If arriving by air use the subway; $2; and get off at Arlington and use the Berkeley Street exit which is just two blocks away. If arriving from the south by train get off at Back Bay station and turn right outside then first right onto Stuart Street. The hotel is on the right just five minutes walk. Enjoyed the stay; nicely located five minutes from the Common in a good area; slightly expensive but would consider staying again.
321151,ospreyUKeurope,09/26/2007,high specification; comfort and quality high specification on rooms; quality ; with attention to detail . service friendly ; location central.we were very pleased and no wonder it was No 1 ; with Tripadvisor. from 2 world wide travellers.
321151,rumblesLeicesterUK,09/23/2007,Good but surely not the best in Boston! This is a very good hotel without being brilliant. The rooms were nice but small. It is conveniantly located within walking distance of lots of great sites. it is astonishingly busy at night with an irish theme pub attached to the hotel. We were high up and it didnt disturb although floors below may have problems.Price wise it was expensive although no real complaints. A comfortable hotel although surely not the best in the city.
321151,pfpurcell,09/19/2007,Excellent but Pricey I spent 3 nights with my family from Aug 13th. on a stopover en route back to London. I have a 9yo and a 15yo. The only gripe was that; while excellent; it was very pricey. The service was superb; although the room was not huge; (it is the converted Police HQ).If you can get it for a good price then I strongly recommend it; but at $275 a night it was not good value for money.Patrick
321151,Gregh86,09/15/2007,Can't Beat Jurys Stayed at the Jury's hotel from the 6th to the 11th with my wife and 2 sons one is 17 and one 20. We had a quad room which I must say was perfect; the sheets were turned down every night with a chocolate left on the pillow the ice bucket filled and complimentry water in the fridge. The staff were excellent being polite and very helpful. The hotel location is perfect for shops and eating from fast food to expensive. If I had to find fault it would be the price of the breakfast in the hotel but this is the same in every hotel I've stayed in so when we go back to Boston its the Jurys for us.
321151,FranM,09/08/2007,Loved Jury's Boston! We've just returned from a 6 night stay in Boston. We booked this hotel on Expedia based on the reviews from Tripadvisor; and they did not disappoint. Thanks to the reviews we were prepared for no coffee maker in the room (fine; we don't drink coffee anyway); and no tub in the bathroom (I asked; they have tubs in the higher category rooms and suites; it wasn't a big deal; the shower was fabulous; with 2 shower heads!). The turn down service at night was a nice touch and after the 2nd night we were getting 2 chocolates; not just one (there were 2 of us in the room). We found the check in staff a delight; very helpful with directions; storing bags etc. The concierge was great as well. The bonus of this hotel is location. Very close to shopping and sights. The restaurant is beyond good. We had a pizza that made me think I'd died and gone to heaven! Service was attentive but not hovering. Excellent. Yes; there was some construction; but we had an inside courtyard room; so it didn't bother us. The front desk told us if you find an Internet rate; they will honour it. Good to know for next time. And if we return to Boston; which we certainly hope to do; it will be Jury's all the way!
321151,taglio1,09/04/2007,Very nice; friendly hotel. My daughter and I stayed here in August 2007.We arrived from CA at 7:30 am and by the time we reached the hotel it was still several hours to check-in. We did the paperwork and left our bags with the concierge and asked for an early check-in if possible. My daughter and I went to kill time having breakfast and shopping; but the concierge called and we were in our room getting ready to get a nap by 10:45am!!! The room was a king and on the small side but the bathroom was very spacious and nice. The carpet in the room could use cleaning. We stayed 6 nights and enjoyed the cool well decorated hotel. They turned down the bed every night and the bed was comfortable with crisp linens. Location was wonderful and very close to the T (metro)Newberry Street; lots of shopping; historical sites and restaurants.Daniel; our conciegre was awesome and helped us get situated and ordered tickets etc. VERY friendly and helpful staff.On check out our flight was scheduled to depart at 7:45 pm so the hotel gave us a late check out.
321151,suemanchester,09/04/2007,Another excellent visit This was our second time in Boston and second time at Jurys. Check-in staff and porters were as friendly; polite and helpful as we'd remembered them and the room (deluxe doubles; 9th floor) was spot on. I like this hotel because there is very little (if any) noise from adjoining rooms. However; here was a fair amount of noise from the street on this visit (commencing around 8am and continuing until tea time) because of a big building project going on just along Stuart St. If you are staying in the next few weeks I'd advise that you ask for a room that does not face onto Stuart Street.Some free tourist stuff for you: Fort Independance (South Boston);open at weekends only and easy to reach by T and bus #9. Historic fort with great tours; pleasant beach and views of harbour.USS Constitution is also free to visit and easy to get to. If you have a week saver T ticket it is also valid for the boat trip from Long Wharf to Charlestown Navy Yard at no cost. A great way to arrive. This is easily combined with a climb up the Bunker Hill Monument.My husband highly recommends the Samuel Adams Brewery Tour (few dollars donation requested). Trip round the brewery and a generous sampling session with souvenir glass (word of warning - children are admitted on the tour but not allowed in the bar where the sampling goes on). T to Stony Brook and a couple of minutes walk at most.
321151,dre51,09/02/2007,Absolutely Fantastic Place.....book this now! This is one great hotel! It's located in an historic building which used to be the Police Headquarters for Boston; yet the rooms are ultra hip; modern; and very spacious. We booked this as the last night of a seven day trip to New England and wished we would have stayed here instead of the Fairmont Copley Plaza; where we had spent three days at the start of our vacation.The bathroom was the biggest one I've seen in years; marble; glass; and even a heated towel rack. It had a separate; glass doored shower with two shower heads; a separate tub and a gorgeous vanity. The bed was comfy and the place was quiet.We did have a drink in the bar (there are two) - one is crazy noisy - it's called Cuffs and filled with twenty and thirty-somethings. The other is a lobby bar; nice and quiet and sedate - more our style. In the morning they'll make you a latte or espresso too.Book this place...it's worth it. It was hundreds of dollars less PER night than what we spent at the Fairmont.
321151,Maier,08/30/2007,Great City Hotel We spent 5 nights in August in Boston; staying at the Jurys. We had booked the hotel through a travel agent. Upon arrival we were notified that we had been upgraded into a larger room. The room was very comfy and big enough to be in with three as we were travelling with our teen daughter. Overall we enjoyed staying at the Jurys; however; it was not flawless. The lobby area was less than inviting; the bar was nothing you would go to a second time. Housekeeping was not as we had expected. What makes it a great experience though is the location in Back Bay. We would certainly consider coming back.
321151,mollyBarcelona,08/30/2007,Good hotel I would have given five points to this hotel hadn't been for its staff.It is a good hotel indeed. Rooms are giant and clean; beds are confortable; bathrooms are big and they provide wonderful bathrobes. The only but is the staff at the reception desk. Rude and unhelpful. Sorry to say so; they can't care less about their hosts.It's a pity that in a hotel with this level and price; employees don't make an effort. After all; it should be part of their job too.
321151,VivaG,08/28/2007,Simply Lovely Grill 23 across the street - EXCELLENT
321151,Muzzdobetter,08/28/2007,Excellent hotel Can only reinforce what others have said. We arrived late after 3 flights from the UK; and were met at the taxi; bags taken; check in very quick; and upstairs in no time. Staff were helpful at all times-we asked the doorman where we could find a diner type place for breakfast-he directed us to Billys; 2 blocks past the Subway Station; which was simple but cheap and effective.I'd also recommend the Cottonwood Cafe one block along Berkley Street for good atmosphere and excellent reasonably priced food.
321151,mong1114,08/28/2007,Nice hotel My husband and I just got back from a weekend trip to Boston; and we stayed at the Jury's hotel. It was a very nice hotel; and we didn't have any problems; but I must say that I am surprised that it is ranked the #1 hotel in Boston. that is not a complaint about the hotel; rather I would think that surely there are nicer hotels out there.The hotel is very nicely decorated; very contemporary and centrally located. It was clean and the service was very good. The concierge; Heather; was particularly helpful in recommending and booking dinner reservations. We ate breakfast in the dining room each morning and the food was very good. They have a nice breakfast buffet that I think was around $18 per person; comparable to any large hotel. The bar attracts a lively crowd; especially after work; and there is a nice outdoor terrace for when the weather is nice. Be sure to visit the bar area to see the police memorabilia (the hotel is a renovated police HQ); very interesting!Where the hotel lacks is in basic amenities...there is no coffee maker; no complimentary newspaper; no pool; no gift shop. It wasn't a huge deal to us; but one of the reasons I was surprised the hotel is in the #1 spot. The rooms are on the small side; and though we received turndown service each night; we found it amusing that they left a single chocolate each night; despite the fact that there were clearly 2 people staying in the room.We also thought that the bed was uncomfortable. When we first arrived; we loved it...you sink right in. Same with the pillows. However; sleeping on it is a different story...our backs were killing us because the mattresses are so soft. So; if you prefer a firmer mattress; this is NOT the hotel for you! Just a matter of preference.Here is another tip...the hotel charges $39 a day for parking; which I think is pretty standard among Boston Hotels. However; we did notice towards the end of our stay that there is a parking garage approximately a block past the hotel on Stuart Street that charges $12 for all day parking. It might be something worth looking into!Having said all that; we would consider staying at the Jury's on future visits. I think it would come down to price...if we could stay at the Marriott or Lenox at a better price; we'd probably try one of them.
321151,kevinfromtheuk,08/27/2007,great place to stay in boston we just got back form two weeks in the US; and stayed at the Jurys at the start and end of the vacation. It is not the cheapest hotel but everything about the place was excellent.The location was great; with walking distance to the shopping at Newbury; the Common; and the Theatre district.The service was excellent with lots of staff on hand to take care of everything from luggage to check in to room service. The rooms are luxurious; with all needed facilities ; and there is a great bar downstairs with a cool atmosphere. So; overall it was an excellenet base for our days in Boston.
321151,daveCalifornia,08/23/2007,Fantastic hotel! We booked this hotel simply based on the reviews we read here and I have to tell you they are right on all counts!!! This is a GREAT hotel... My family of four stayed here Aug12th thru the 15th and had a wonderful time. The staff is great and the hotel is just gorgeous...centrally located and very near a subway stop(arlington off the green line...three stops from Fenway) The beds are the most comfortable I have ever slept on at any hotel chain and the pillows...well there seemed to be a never ending supply of them laying around! The hotel is a decent walk (15 minutes or so) from the freedom trail and what I would call central Boston but for the price we paid(199.00 per night) it was a steal!
321151,linkakk,08/23/2007,wonderful Great hotel for a boston getaway. Stylish; serene; impeccable details. My only complaint was having to leave in the morning. Be careful if you would like a tub and shower. Our corner king had only a shower; which was no problem for the night but for longer stays I would have liked a tub in the bathroom. Given the excellent attention to detail; I have no doubt that if I mentioned this to the front desk; we would have been moved without a hesitation to a room with a tub.
321151,Mad537,08/21/2007,Intersting Irish hotel in an old Police station Within walking distance to super restaurants; shopping and Boston Commons. This converted Boston police station is a top notch hotel. The lounge on the ground floor is Cuffs; with pictures of old Boston policemen. Very friendly and accommodating staff. The room was relaxing and peaceful.
321151,kmoran927,08/19/2007,Jury's was fantastic! Jury's was a great little surprise - wonderful location; walking distance to many Boston sites and areas. The staff were friendly and helpful. We will definitely stay again when in the area.
321151,Jonathan2,08/18/2007,Great Hotel in a Great Location! One of the many seating areas off the lobby
321151,Traveller73London,08/18/2007,Extremely good We spent five nights at the Jury's Boston. Arriving straight from the airport on a Saturday evening I was a little alarmed by the noise coming from the ground floor bar. However; once we had checked in and arrived in our room there was no noise at all despite being only three floors above the bar. The room was generous and very well appointed and beds were comfortable. Complimentary water was provided and replenished daily - and despite the summer humidity outside we were able to turn the AC off and enjoy a comfortable night's sleep. The only problem we experienced was a smell of cigarette smoke for the first three nights of our stay despite being on a non smoking floor. This was presumably coming from a neighbouring room but when I asked reception about this they sent someone up to spray the corridor with ioniser within ten minutes. Location is great; a short work from Copley Square and Prudential centre shops (all the NYC stores!) and Filene's Basement. Also recommend Smith Wollensky steak house a short walk in the opposite direction (another NYC import!!).In summary; great hotel; excellent location and superb service. (Only criticism is no tea and coffee making in room!)
321151,SanFranciscoSfgal,08/16/2007,Solid 4-star experience The Jurys was a solid 4-star hotel experience. The service was unfailingly professional and friendly; from the bell staff to the concierge to the front desk. Our room; a deluxe with two double beds; was standard-size and was decorated nicely in a contemporary; neutral palette. The extra touches in the room that we appreciated were: free bottled water in the mini-fridge; a full-sized hairdryer that wasn't attached to the wall; Aveda toiletries; comfy double-sheeted beds with good-quality linens; a CD player; a fairly large television; a cool retro bedside clock; turndown service with chocolates; and 24 hour room service (with decent food; no less!) The only negative I can think of about the room is that there were no cotton balls or q-tips provided in the bathroom. It wouldn't have been a big deal had I not forgotten mine. I'm sure I could have called housekeeping and they would have brought some.Finally; the decor of the lobby was a little bit off. The hotel has a mostly traditional-to-contemporary feel; so I am not sure why the designer thought it would be a good idea to throw in some neon lights under the stairs and weird disco panels on the walls of the wood-paneled elevators. Dunno; maybe they were trying to make it look more trendy. I thought it looked out of place.Overall; though; a good place to stay and a good location for shopping in Copley and along Newbury Street.
321151,Stuart84,08/16/2007,Friendly Hotel We stayed at the Jurys Boston for four nights and chose it after reading the Trip Advisor reviews. We were not disappointed; the hotel has atmosphere; the staff are friendly; the bar and restaurant are well used and popular. The location was ideal for us; not too close to the centre but within easy walking distance of shops; bars; restaurants. Definitely a great base from which to explore Boston.
321151,tlhjar,08/14/2007,Style; Luxury and Amazing restaurant Stayed there 2 days while there for work and booked based on TripAdvisor Reviews. They were right! Beautiful; comfortable rooms; elegant lobby. Free internet off to the left of the lobby; in their business center (they have the computers; you don't have to have your own) and a large; very nice sitting room. Concierge and front desk were great. Restaurant on the high priced side (what hotel isn't) but exceptional and memorable. Crab Flatbread; strawberry rhubarb shortcake; gnocchi; salads; steak; all magnificent and original. Would absolutely be my first choice if I ever go to Boston again.
321151,warrenokane,08/14/2007,Great Hotel - Love the bathrobes A great hotel with fantastic bathrobes!
321151,sacanon,08/08/2007,One of the Best Hotels we've stayed We travel enough to know a great hotel and this is it! The staff was A+. The atmosphere was A+. The rooms had such charm. This hotel was a former police headquarters and when they did renovations; they did so properly. The rooms were a bit small though. However; they take care of every detail in making you feel that you are their number one priority. We'll be back for sure!
321151,RichDe,08/07/2007,Loved it ! One of the nicest hotels we've stayed at. It was a bit expensive; but very nice for a one night weekend stay. Great location; near restaurants; theaters; and subway stops. Super comfortable beds and pillows. Extremely quiet - often a pet peeve of ours at other hotels. A very nice restaurant for breakfast - I recommend the scrambled eggs. The only complaint I have; and I must dig deep; is the cost to park. After paying premium rates for the room; $39 / day seemed tough. With that said; surrounding public garages are $30-35 / day; so maybe it's not a big deal.
321151,jpk35,08/01/2007,Perfect for our Anniversary Loved it! Loved the decor; location; bar; bed.....everything. We stayed for our 3rd anniversary and it was so lovely. We hated to leave.
321151,MaDunne,07/31/2007,Fantastic Fantastic hotel. Staff are ultra friendly and helpful. Great bar with great food that is reasonably priced. Twin room was huge and comfortable. The shower could have held four people easily! Complimentary internet in the business center. Highly recommend!
321151,Aoifs,07/27/2007,Loved this hotel! This was my first trip to the US and Jurys was a great introduction! The staff were all so nice and helpful; we got a phone call five minutes after checking in to make sure everything was ok. They really couldnt do enough for us. When I got blisters on my feet from too much walking and the concierge immediately arranged plasters for me. The room was perfect; the bed was really comfy and the robes were such a nice touch! The TV had loads of channels and it was great to have the stereo. Our stay didnt include breakfast; but we got it one morning and I would say it was great value; lots of selection and you wouldnt be hungry for the day after it!!Cuffs bar downstairs is nice and has a good cocktail list! I will definitely stay here again; no question and I will not hesitate to advise friends and family to do the same. It may be a little bit expensive but it is definitely worth spending the little bit extra.
321151,MrMrsWilko,07/19/2007,Great hotel - modern; but large classical rooms Stayed here for 6 nights - a couple of days sight-seeing and 4 days on a business trip.Great hotel. In the converted police headquarters - so old building but very comfortable and modern inside. The staff were really helpful - had advice and help from the main desk and the concierge. Only 1 concierge on duty; so might have to wait to see him/her; that said spends a lot of time helping with queries and you really feel looked after. Lots of sofas and chairs off reception to wait in.Bedroom was very comfortable. Excellent bed and pillows; spacious desk (with free internet and plug-in cable(!) and free wi-fi). Bathroom had separate shower cubicle (although talking to colleagues at my business meeting; this was not true in all rooms; so might want to ask for room with separate shower; if that is important to you).Public areas very good - relaxed bar with outdoor seating area and breakfast (both restaurant and room service) were good.Liked it a lot!
321151,VA07,07/13/2007,Jurys - Nice Hotel My husband and I traveled to Boston (July 2007) and stayed in Jurys hotel. We liked it very much. The staff was friendly and helpful. The room was nicely decorated and clean. The bed was very comfortable. We would definitely stay here again if we come to Boston.
321151,Lanerrossi,07/11/2007,A home from home in Back Bay. USS Constitution
321151,workandplay8,07/09/2007,Solid hotel with awesome showers Fun tacky lobby; pretty good staff; excellent room; particularly the walk-in tile showers. I'm so tired of $200+ a night hotels with standard 32 shower tubs and those silly curved curtain rods. Nasty Days Inn in rural PA use them - can't the better hotels find a classier solution? Jury's by far had the nicest (but not the biggest) bathrooms I've seen in Boston. Excellent fixtures; but best of all; the only walk-in tile shower in town so far. Otherwise; renovations; details; surfaces; everything was in excellent shape. Mattresses were very good; pillows excellent; clock radio was actually high quality. Room was very clean. Worth the stay.
321151,Jewel95,07/06/2007,Horrible Service While the room was very nice and very clean; the lack of service ruined the stay. The doorman was busy chatting with a valet and never acknowledged us. We carried in our own luggage. Later that night he actually stood in our way when we returned from dinner. Most hotel provide coffee makers in your room. Not Jury's. You can have one sent up for $27.00; or pay $5.00 in the lobby. This is insane. Where's the hospitality. The service here is sub standard. I would not stay here again
321151,ShelOt,07/03/2007,GREAT SPOT! I have stayed at Jury's Boston 3 times now as part of a semi-annual girls night. The hotel is in a perfect location for such an evening! It is right in the heart of the back bay and within walking distance to several fun spots although the downstairs bar is always lively and alot of fun! The staff is very helpful and the beds are very comfortable! You can certainly get better deals on rooms in Boston but Jury's is definitely worth spending a little more!!
321151,Luvsgoodfood,07/01/2007,Romantic; wonderful hotel The room was luxurious and romantic - double sheeted blankets; ample pillows; turn-down service with chocolates; ice container filled with ice in the evening. Loved the service. The folks behind the desk as well as the concierge were very helpful - where to catch the T; where to have dinner that night (happy to call for reservations); breakfast places other than their own wonderful restaurant; etc. Perfect location. Local restaurants that were a find for us included: Giacomo's (Italian - reasonably priced and rated well by Rachel Ray in a recent visit); and Charlie's sandwich shoppe for Blueberry pancakes (yum).
321151,carlv247,06/25/2007,Where did the irish go? Beautiful property in a very good neighborhood. Decor; ambiance; it'sall there and my wife and I would probably be back - but first we're going to check out another hotel on our next trip to Boston. This wasour first with an overnight stay; and I was looking forward to the Irish hospitality and the attentive staff that other reviewers were raving about. I know Irish hotels from the New York City; and they have (mostly) irish staff. However; if I were irish myself; I would probably opt to spend the summer in Ireland too; which is where we both thought the Jurys hotel staff had ventured off for. We met literally just 3 irish during our short stay; and the attention otherreviewers got during breakfast; dinner and the rest; well; it just wasn't quite there.The room was very nice and clean but needed some maintenance (tear inthe bed linens; scratches on furniture; not entirely scrubbed down shower stall).Jean; the valet; was the one and only bright spot during our stay. Hewas upbeat and really enjoying his work: welcoming guests. All in all; we left with mixed feelings; so next time we'll check out some other hotel unless the Jurys has a good deal going because otherwise this is a good place to spend the night and have few drinks at the bar.
321151,WordTravelerBrazil,06/25/2007,A must Very nice environment and honest services. Its a great cost/benefit deal.
321151,GEL1979,06/24/2007,Wedding night stay My husband and I stayed at Jury's on our wedding night; before we took off for our honeymoon the next afternoon. We weren't there long enough to visit the bar or restaurant; but the hotel was wonderful. When I made the reservation; I explained that it was for our wedding night; and when we checked into the room (late at night); we found a bottle of champagne and some chocolate truffles in the room waiting for us. We had a very nicely appointed room; and we were glad to be able to sleep on a VERY comfy king bed! The bathroom was big and really nice; as was the shower. Also; thought that the heated towel racks were great. The only bad part of our stay was that they were doing some construction on the street right below our room which woke us up and it was way too loud for us to fall back to sleep. Nothing to do with the hotel though. It's in a great location in Boston and we were within walking distance of many stores which allowed us to get a few more quick things for our honeymoon before heading to the airport. I'd definitely stay there again based on our short stay there!
321151,Beachlover742,06/21/2007,Saturday night stay We went to Jurys for a bachelorette party. The hotel was beautiful. The staff very nice. The room service food was gross. We had chicken tenders and french fries at 2 in the morning and they were totally disgusting. The location is great though; walking distance to everything. Very nice time.The rooms were smaller than average; the bathrooms were beautiful but only a shower no bath.
321151,florida999,06/14/2007,Top Notch This hotel is a gem and I could not fault it in any way. Staff are fantastic; rooms are extremely well appointed and spotless. Location is ideal with metro 200yds away and shops/restuarants a short walk. If you are staying in Boston you must use this hotel !!
321151,Torita,06/12/2007,Will stay here again I was very impressed with the Jurys; especially considering the price. It was less expensive than the Boston Marriott Copley Place; where I stayed when I visited Boston last year; and I preferred both the large room and the general location just a few blocks from Newbury Street. As a frequent visitor to Boston; I think this will be the hotel I stay at from now on!
321151,MrUh,06/05/2007,Jurys Boston - First Class Stay for mid range price We had to stay one night in Boston to conduct some personal business; but wanted to make the trip somewhat social and fun. The Jurys Boston Hotel certainly made the accomodation part of our stay hassle free. The hotel is the former Boston Police Headquarters; and has been tastefully remodeled (except for the funky mirrors in the elevators!). Our room with two double beds was first class; not too small as some reviews have said. Three adults stayed comforably; though we admittedly packed light. Free internet service was both wired and wireless; and easy to connect to. The beds were comfortable; and the bedding was changed as requested prior to our arrival (due to a down feather allergy). The hotel allowed us to check in early (which they do not guarantee but will try to accomodate). The bathroom was large; with nice modern decor. It featured a large; walk-in shower with dual shower heads. One of my few minor nit-picks was that water leaked out at the base of the door and soaked the bath mat (not a deal breaker). The room included a lockable safe; mini-bar; iron; hair dryer; robe and umbrella for your use. The hotel has a nice restaurant (The Stanhope) and bar (Cuffs). We had a drink at the bar and watched sports on the big screen TVs. We had breakfast at the Stanhope the next morning. It was of the usual big hotel price ($7-18); but I have to say I did not regret the price-convenience trade off because it was EXCELLENT.The location was VERY easy to find by car; right off the Mass. Pike Prudential Center exit. It is close to Copley Square; Newberry Street and Boston Common.My wife recently stayed at the Four Seasons in Boston; and although she liked it; said it had nothing over the Jurys (which was ~$200 less per night). We love going to Boston; and do not get there enough. Next time we DO go; it is almost certain we will stay at the Jurys Boston hotel.
321151,tvlohio,06/03/2007,Nice small; comfortable hotel A very comfortable; clean hotel with a bit of character - upscale without being claustrophobic. Very well maintained; clean; and quiet. Extremely helpful staff at all levels.Rooms are nice-sized; and bathrooms are very large. Beds are great.Restaurant is quite good; working a limited; but interesting menu.Close to the Public Garden and shopping.
321151,fkaway,05/28/2007,Pleasant stay at central location This hotel with a busy Irish bar is centrally located in the Back Bay area; just minutes away by foot to Copley Square; where you鈥檒l find lots of sights (Prudential Center = tallest building in Boston); shopping opportunities and restaurants. Even the bus stop for the city bus tour (Hop on; hop off) is within 5 minutes walk reachable; adjacent to the Hard Rock Caf茅.Our spacious room used for 2 nights on the 2nd floor had twin bed; due to fire regulations the hotel doesn鈥檛 allow an additional rollaway bed for the 3rd adult; just used extra-sheets/linen. Room had inroom safe; free WIFI; Iron board; and a spacious bathroom. Service was good and helpful; easy-going atmosphere in the hotel. The breakfast buffet with sightkitchen costs $16.-p.p. and was just ok; nothing fancy or spectacular. The fitness room had a running band; crosstrainer; weight machines and dumbbells. We absolutely enjoyed our stay at this hotel in this beautiful city.
321151,NhTravelmama,05/07/2007,Average Size Room; Above Average Service I stayed at Jury's for business on May 1; 2007. While traffic getting there was badly snarled by the Red Sox game; the hotel was more than worth the trouble. As we checked in; the staff was very accomodating and went the extra mile to make sure all of our needs would be met. My room was smaller than a lot of hotels I have stayed at before; but very well appointed. The bed was very comfortable; and all the pillows one could ever need were provided. The stereo was playing some soft music when I came in; which at first spooked me (did I just walk in on someone?!); but once I realized I was alone in my room I appreciated the comforting touch. The bathroom was very decadent; with a separate tub from shower; marble flooring; and more shampoos and soaps than one could possibly use in a night! The heated towel rack was a wonderful touch that I'm going to think about adding to my home. The full body shower head was great after a long car ride. The room would have been cramped for more than 2 people; but alone it was perfection. I would love to go back again. Every member of the staff said; Hello and anytime we needed help; any staff member we spoke with was eager to help in any way they could. They were all friendly; and not the average snooty types that you often run into in finer hotels. Thanks to all at Jury's for a relaxing stay.
321151,Tackle,05/06/2007,The Jury has Reached a Verdict!!! I was in town for a conference and the convention hotels were booked. I made a reservation at Jurys on Travelocity; the price was steep: it averaged $340 per night before taxes. For that price I expect something special....Location: Excellent; within an easy walk of the Charles River; Back Bay; Copley Square; Newbury Street; and Hynes Convention Centre.Check-in: Fast; friendly; and accurate. Top notch in fact.Room: Small but nicely appointed. No view. Large modern bathroom with heated towel racks (nice touch) and high quality soaps and shampoo (but nothing exceptional). Beds were very comfortable. TV and stereo were excellent. FREE INTERNET SERVICE IN THE ROOM: YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only downside with the room: slightly stained carpeting.Concierge: knowledgeable and friendly.Business Centre: Excellent and responsive.Hotel Bar: hopping and busy.Check-out: Efficient; friendly and accurate.Overall impression: an excellent business hotel; well run; and friendly; but not a five star experience.
321151,Bluemantraveller,05/03/2007,Fantastic hotel! We stayed at the Jurys in Boston for 4 nights in April 2007 and found everything about the hotel to be fantastic. The location is really good - close by a T station; near to loads of bars and restaurants and within a 15 min walk of Quincy Market and the central Boston area. The rooms are well laid out and the service was excellent. I would recommend the hotel and are already looking forward to returning. The people of Boston were so friendly and it is one of the nicest cities we have visited and excellent for shopping and eating out. One slight disappointment was when we were leaving the hotel the door man recommended we take the hotel transfer service to the Airport for $25 which we took for convenience. When we arrived at the Airport the driver charged us $35 ($40 including tip) which was a bit pricey for a 10 min drive and not what we had been quoted prior to setting off. This did not spoil our stay though - we just know to take the taxi next time.
321151,fastenerlady,04/29/2007,Great Hotel for your stay in Boston Just returned home after a 10 day trip to the USA and to say this was the best of the 3 hotels we stayed in would be an understatement. Rooms were very clean and well furnished; beds and pillows were brilliant; felt like you were lying on clouds!Bathroom was very spacious and it had a good shower. Bar down on basement level was very busy and lively but once you went into your room you never heard a thing. Would recommend this hotel to anyone going to visit Boston.
321151,cngw,04/26/2007,Boutique Hotel near to everything! Booked the Jurys Boston Hotel online for three nights and got a last minute 15% off - so that was a good start. When I arrived; the room was not available. The staff was MOST apologetic and had another room arranged for me at a hotel a couple blocks away. Of course; the paid for the first night - and gave me an upgrade on my next stay.The service at the Jurys Boston is excellent - the staff know what they are suppose to do and do it in a friendly; professional manner. The hotel was; I believe; a former police station and has a very solid feel to it and is tastefully - and not overly - decorated. The rooms are generously spacious with all amenities in working order; including the complimentary Internet service. The lack of an in-room coffee maker with a selection of teas; coffee and other hot drinks; however; was bit of a disappointment as this was expected in a hotel of this caliber. The location is excellent - near to Newbury Street; walking distance to the Commons and Downtown and stone's throw away from the Prudential Centre. Overall; a very good experience and definitely recommended for those who prefer the smaller hotels
321151,PeterandLuli,04/23/2007,Love Boston comphy bed
321151,Philomena,04/17/2007,Excellent service at Jurys; Boston We stayed at Jury's Boston at the beginning of this month for 3 nights. Everything about our stay was excellent - especially the room and the attention given to us by the staff - all of whom were very friendly and helpful. When my husband and I were checking in; other members of staff were showing my teenagers the map of the area etc. We booked Jury's because it came up as the No1 choice on tripadvisor. It absolutely deserves this ranking.The room was large; beautifully decorated with a superb bathroom. We ate in the bar downstairs which was very good. The hotel staff were extremely helpful in organising a trip to the outlet shopping mall (highly recommended - the coach driver provides extra discount vouchers which make up for some of the cost of the trip itself - really good value).If you're planning a trip to Boston; you can't go wrong with Jury's..
321151,PenguinFan,04/17/2007,LOVED the Jurys Wonderful hotel. Great staff; good location; nice ambience; nice extra touches. No constant extra fees; e.g.; for sending faxes.
321151,ladybirduk,04/09/2007,Fantastic Hotel and staff We arrived in Boston after 5 nights in a crap hotel in NYC and a 4 hour journey on the Greyhound; to a foot of snow on a bitterly cold day; To be welcomed at the Door by warm friendly welcome ; a tosty warm fire and friendly staff the hotle was perfect and we wished we had bough along our swim wear and took advantage of the faciliites. The room was tasteful; clean and fresh ; lovely shower room with Aveda products; lovely fluffy dressing gown. Perfect; the room was so nice one afternoon we booked a film out and watched it in the room!Good location central; friendly staff ; a definate must if you are staying in Boston. Price was excellent too! Will look to stay in Jury - Doyles chain again.
321151,nic1047,03/31/2007,Eloquent Once the top cop shop (HQ) and recently converted to a very eloquent hotel with very very friendly staff. Has a charm which most of the big chain establishments lack. Good location on the edge of Charming Back Bay just a 3 minute walk to Newbury Street; Copley Square and Arlington T stop and 10 minutes to Downtown. Hotel restaurants and bar in the basement are excellent and worth a visit even for non residents although there are dozens of great places to eat within a few minutes walk. Not for the budget traveller.
321151,GoneTil9,03/30/2007,Very nice Jury's is a nice hotel. The lobby is beautiful. It's in a fantastic location too. The bed was ok; a little firm for my liking but the comforter and pillows were nice. The room was actually very small and there wasn't a lot of room on the sides of the bed. I liked how the room had a CD player. Bathroom was nice. Good; but not great; water pressure in the shower. I didn't have to pay for the stay; but it seems like the prices are good compared to other hotels in the area so I'd probably stay again. However if I could I would opt for the Marriott or Westin because I know Marriott beds are more comfy; and I've heard the Westin beds are comfy too.
321151,halsy2311,03/29/2007,Fantastic stay!! I have just returned from an 8 day stay with my mum. We booked the hotel purely on the strength of reviews read on here and weren't disappointed.The rooms are very well appointed; we had a large two double bedded room with shower. As stated by many previously; the beds are to die for!!Its the little touches that make this hotel stand out. The complimentary bottles of water each day and newspaper. The ice and turn down service and the exceptionally friendly staff.The Stanhope Grill food is worth the higher than norm prices as it is was one of the best meals we had during our stay. Equally the bar food is reasonably priced and very tasty.There is nothing we could fault about the hotel and highly recommend it.
321151,Hotelier558905,03/26/2007,Excellent Hotel I would highly recommend this hotel to people travelling to Boston. They run a fine property and provide outstanding service.
321151,iangharrison,03/25/2007,Excellent Very good experiance. The staff were friendly and helpful with my tourist questions. The rooms were very comfortable and the bar down stairs was very nice for a drink in the evening. Would certainly recommend this hotel.
321151,madpaddyo,03/22/2007,St. Patricks Day magic We were unable to travel to Ireland for St Patricks Day week; and decided that 5 days in Boston would be the next best thing. And where else to stay but in an Irish owned hotel ! The Jurys Hotel was splendid in design; trendy yet warm and cozy. The staff was polished and personable. The rooms decor was stunning; the feather bedding and crisp linens devine! We also must mention that we had the BEST full Irish breakfast ever; and this is no casual comment since my husband is a Dubliner. Thank you so very much for the grand time. We have resolved to spend next St. Patricks Day with you ; along with some friends and family to share in your wonderful hospitality. Your delighted guests; Michael and Carolyn Foley. P.S. Thanks for the magical snow storm on 3/16.
321151,LillyAtlanta,03/08/2007,Fabulous hotel with great service On our way back from skiing in Maine; checked in on a FREEZING cold night with plans to walk to a restaurant in Copley Square. Instead we checked out the bar area of the Jurys; which seemed to be the place to hang out. Nicely dressed crowd of interesting people. Ended up ordering dinner off of the bar menu. The lobster bisque was some of the best I've ever had. Reasonably priced menu and great atmosphere. The decor at the hotel is very modern; nicely appointed and boutique-like and the rooms; although not oversized; are comfortable. Great mattress and the shower was heavenly. Wish we could have stayed longer.
321151,DVS,02/27/2007,Great Hotel After reading the reviews on Trip Advisor; we booked our reservation with this hotel. The staff could not have been any more helpful and friendly. The room was wonderful. It had a comfy bed; tons of great pillows;blackout curtains; stereo; two complimentary waters and big bathroom. The room was very clean. We loved our stay at this hotel.The only negative was our room was close to the elevator so it was not very quiet and the doors slam shut so loudly that it woke me up several times. I would advise getting a room at the end of the hallway on the side away from the street if a quiet room is important. Other than that; it was a wonderful stay.
321151,AJS2006,02/21/2007,Excellent hotel Stayed here for 2nts after a skiing trip in Vermont. Excellent service; modern interior with a lively bar area (the bar food is excellent by the way!!)Rooms are very large and modern.Only thing this hotel lacks is a swimming pool or jacuzzi.About a 15min walk into the centre of Boston.Excellent choice if travelling to Boston!!!
321151,TheJoness,02/20/2007,Average Having read many of the good reviews for this hotel - I felt compelled to write about my experience. I left the hotel disappointed. The positves were - nice comfotable bed; tastefully decorated and well designed rooms and the location is fairly good.The disappointments - poorly sound proofed rooms; doors with 1 inch gaps at the bottom and top of the room doors; at times you feel like you are in the corridor with the passing guests and room doors that shut with such force that they would wake the dead. Never really understood why hotels insist in placing stereos in guest rooms when their rooms are poorly sound insulated. Only two lifts and the queues can get rather long. The bar though popular is under staffed and the resturant is over priced and the food lacklustre.I appreciate that many people have had a good experience at this hotel; however my experience was not that great. I travel extensively with my job and expect better from a hotel that has set high standards in many of its other hotels.I am back in Boston in two weeks time and I will be trying another hotel.
321151,dedfar,02/14/2007,Great Hotel I am from Boston and now live in CA where my wife is from. We visit Boston a lot and try to stay in different places. We've stayed in just about every area of the city at least once by now. I ranked this hotel excellent in the context of the price. The location is great. It is very clean; modern looking and had a bunch of nice touches thrown in that other hotels either don't have or want to charge you for (free internet; large-screen tv; dvd. etc.). The bar in the lobby is a lot of fun and all of the stafff was great.You shouldn't expect a four seasons experience; but you won't pay that either. I read someone complained about the room being small. Ours was not. Sometimes I find if you book through expedia or hotels.com you do end up with smaller rooms. I booked with the hotel's website and found a good deal. While Ill keep trying hotels for the experience; once I start to repeat; this will be the first on my list.
321151,jkmri,02/13/2007,Wonderful!!! My husband and I just got back from a one night stay at the Jurys Boston Hotel. I've been a Trip Advisor member for years now and have never felt compelled to write a review until now. This hotel was the best in Boston that we've ever stayed at. The staff was great and the rooms were nicely appointed and very clean. We loved the heated towel rack!! I could go on about all the amenities and the little things that made the hotel so great; but you just have to believe all the rave reviews because they're true. Kudos Jurys and keep doing what you're doing!! We'll definitely be back.
321151,gizana,02/06/2007,Perfect in every way... We made reservations at Jurys solely based on trip advisor's reviews; and it did not dissapoint. Why would anyone stay anywhere else in Boston? We are used to staying at the usual 4 or 5 star; especially Four Seasons; and I would put Jurys right up there. Frankly; I don't see the point of why you would pay an additional $200+ per night to stay at the Four Seasons; because all the amenities are the same as well as the service is above and beyond excellent. A couple of weeks before we arrived I spoke to Richard; the guest services manager about some restaurants and other things we wanted to do; and I guess I had mentioned that it was my wedding anniversary. To our surprise; upon our arrival; we had a beautiful display of champagne; chocolates and fruit awaiting us in our room. I don't even remember that I told him that; but he remembered! So; yes - we would definitely stay there again if ever in Boston; and you should too!!
321151,nottinghamgirls,02/06/2007,I didnt want to go home Large; quiet and comfortable rooms. Nice and comfy beds with nice and soft bedding also loads of pillows.Very clean and smart.Fluffy and Large towels on a nice heated rail; lovely Aveda toiletries (we very very well stocked). Powerful Shower and nice large bath.Fridge in room with complementary bottled waterHotel staff all extremely friendly and helpful.Fabulous turndown service with nice classical music.Lively and friendly bar.Everything finished to a nice standard not just in the rooms but also reception and corridors.Close to everything; most things are in walking distance ; it is also close to a T subway stop. I didn鈥檛 want to go home
321151,SitgesGal,01/15/2007,Great location for a wonderful visit We stayed at Jurys in late September and really enjoyed the hotel! Our room was nicely furnished and very clean -- and the bed was super-comfy. The bar downstairs was a great place to hang out early in the evening; but was crowded later on by the young hipsters. Great location puts you a short walk to Newbury St. and other great sights. Highly recommend.
321151,privatewire,01/15/2007,Great Hotel This is a great Hotel in Boston; the rooms are large and comfortable (the bed especially) and are well soundproofed.Cuffs bar which is downstairs is a lively; atmospheric place to enjoy an evening and is obviously popular with locals.What also impressed me was the quality of the staff at Jurys; who were all extremely friendly and helpful; (especially Jean or John the doorman) at big hotels this is not always the case; but here; the staff seem to be well trained and happy to be at work.We found the location of the hotel to be ideal for our needs because it was near to bars; restaurants etc and also very handy for the T if you wanted to venture further afield.We love Boston as a city; and when we return we would not stay anywhere else than Jurys.
321151,ll127,01/10/2007,Great stay - couldn't be happier! Made reservations based on the reviews on TripAdvisor - right on target. Great location; value; service.
321151,kazdaz,01/10/2007,We loved it! We booked the Jury鈥檚 Hotel for our first trip to Boston on the recommendations of other Trip Advisor travelers we were not disappointed. Hotel was lovely. Very clean smart (as you'd expect with a new hotel I guess). All the staff were very helpful friendly (especially the concierge at finding a pub that was showing the premiership games over the new year period!) Our room was spacious and well decorated with enough storage space for clothes; cases etc. The only negative we found was the lack of lights. There were several lamps and up-lighters; but in the main bedroom area; no ceiling light; great for effect; but a little impractical at times.The onsite bar; Cuffs; was a great place to unwind. It serves good food and gets quite lively near and on the weekend Location wise we found we could walk everywhere. Minutes to Copely Sq Prudential Centre and only around 15 -20 min walk to Quincey Market.We will definitely be going back!
321151,LiberalLaney,01/08/2007,Great Location; Good Service My husband and I stayed in at the Jurys Boston Hotel over a weekend in mid-December. Overall; the hotel was nice. We enjoyed the plush furnishings and nice attitude of the staff. The location was great for site-seeing; shopping and was near a lot of wonderful restaurants. However there were a few caveats which keep this hotel from remaining a 5 star.~ We had to choose between a bathtube and a shower; we could not have both. ~The restaurant was expensive (30$ for breakfast) and the bar was so packed everynight we didn't have the opportunity to try it out.~The doormen were always talking and never opened the door for us; and we had half our luggage unloaded from the taxi before they stepped up to help us. This isn't a big deal; but it is their job.Overall; the hotel was nice and I would definitely go there again when we return to Boston in April.
321151,brimcgahey,01/07/2007,Jury's Inn great place to stay Great Location close to key shopping area and short walk to Boston Common. Rooms are nice and staff were very attentive. Can't fault anything
321151,shinyhappy,01/04/2007,Great Hotel; Great Location Just back from a week long stay at Jurys Boston Hotel. Hotel was in a wonderful location; within walking distance of major sites; and for those further afield ;taxis were cheap and underground even cheaper!The rooms were comfortable with 2 queen size beds...not ideal for sharing tho! CD player and TV were a bonus as everything was closed on Xmas eve and Xmas Day. Hotel Bar was open tho which helped. My only negative about the hotel was the over priced luke warm food served at the bar!! The morning buffet breakfast was 16 dollars p.p. (but well worth the extra money.) There was also a great diner around the corner from the hotel where breakfast was a more reasonable 6 dollars p.p.The hotel staff were extremely helpful and obliging (one waitress was very unfriendly; but she was only there on Xmas eve so didn't upset me too much). Nuala was a wonderful wealth of information..thank you!I would definately stay here again. Loved being close to Hard Rock Cafe and great shops on Boylston Street
321151,kaykat4533,01/03/2007,Enjoyed Jurys! I really enjoyed my stay at the Jurys hotel. The location is good; it's not too close to any one thing; but keep in mind that Boston is really quite spread out. It was easy to walk to the malls; restaurants; etc. I was very happy with the cleanliness of the room. Staff members were not overly nice when entering the hotel; but I think that's because there is a bar on the first floor which gets many non-hotel guests. Once the doormen recognized us; they were friendly. The hotel is decorated modern and pretty. There were guests of all ages staying there. We ordered desert from room service one night; i got a Blue Cheesecake (which to me was blueberries). Once I took a bite I realized it was actually blue cheese cake. Big difference! The staff removed the cake from the bill.
321151,Tenerifein2days,01/03/2007,Great Hotel; Great staff; All round Big Hitter Stayed at Jury鈥檚 Boston from 25th December to 1st January 2007. After arriving at 8.00pm we were met by the staff in a very friendly manner 鈥?they couldn鈥檛 do too much to help. Room was on the 9th floor and very comfortable. Both room and bathroom were of a good size and equipped with all required amenities other than tea/coffee making facilities which we did really miss; especially with jet-lag on the first few days. The location of the hotel is very good as it is two blocks from Copley Square; and a few more blocks to the Prudential Centre. Newbury Street is also 3 blocks away where the designer boutiques such as Cartier; Valentino and Jimmy Choo located. We used the nearby T station to get around; but when we returned to the airport; we simply asked the concierge to organize a taxi for us. Cuffs Irish bar on the ground floor was very reasonably priced 鈥?similar prices to outside of the hotel and comparable to UK prices. The staff again were very friendly and helpful. Food was served very quickly and was standard pub fayre 鈥?if you are looking for anything other than traditional American fries etc then this is probably not the best place to eat; although they do recommend some really good restaurants close by 鈥?the concierge can make reservations for you. One in particular was Davio鈥檚 Italian restaurant 鈥?just one block away and a really good break from fries and burgers 鈥?we can highly recommend the tagliatelle Bolognese. We can also recommend the hotel for morning coffee in Il Barista on the first floor 鈥?much better than Starbucks (two blocks away). Other good restaurants in the area are 鈥楶appa-Razzi鈥?鈥?again an Italian restaurant with very good Bruschetta as an appetizer 鈥?one is enough for two people 鈥?don鈥檛 try the calzone though unless you have a poor sense of smell. Kashmir Indian restaurant on Newbury Street was also really good although service could be better. They tried to take away our starter plates before we had even finished 鈥?this was different from the usual standard in America were we usually end up with our main courses before we have even finished the starters.Hired a car for a few days 鈥?car rental itself is reasonably priced but beware of Valet parking charges as it cost $40 each night and there was no option of self parking 鈥?other car parks around were similarly priced.
321151,TripAddictIreland,01/01/2007,Nice Hotel in Good Location We stayed here for 5 nights in October as part of our honeymoon from Ireland. We really liked this hotel. The only issue we had was that they never even mentioned that we were on honeymoon. We did not get upgraded our receive anything which from other friends who have been on honeymoon we were kind of epecting as the norm! But it was a lovely hotel. Great bar food; breakfast; concierge; room; shower. No complaints. Its in a great location. My husband and I had a fantastic week exploring our old haunts from our student days in Boston (even if a lot of them had gone!). Great hotel in a great spot! Enjoy!
321151,DeeDublin,12/31/2006,loved it I stayed in jurys from the 1st of November until the 5th 2006 I thought the hotel was excellent. The staff was friendly and helpful. The room was quiet big and very clean. The beds very comfortable always got a good nights sleep in them. The hotel was very close to all the shopping areas and restaurants and the staff were very helpful and guiding you to all shopping areas. It was excellent that the hotel organised a bus to bring us to and from the shopping outlet in Wrentham.Staying in jurys Boston made my trip to Boston very enjoyable
321151,Fontaine,12/29/2006,Back to Back Stays I stayed in this hotel for two nights commencing December 26; 2006. I checked out on the 28th; but business required that I stay another night - so I checked in for a second stay on December 28.I found the hotel generally lovely. The room; while small; was very pleasant; with top shelf finishes - elegant window treatment; interesting lamps; very nice bathroom (large walk-in shower only) with two nice bathrobes and a very good hair blower. I found the bed comfortable. I was not told that there were complimentary waters in the refrigerator - would have been nice to know. I thought the Irish bar did not feel very Irish; but other than that; it was a nice stay and when I checked out I remarked to the front desk staff that I was looking forward to another stay. Little did I know that I would be there back that night. Here's where the review gets mixed. The room was actually dirty - a bottle of hand creme overlooked on the floor under the sink; papers overlooked on the floor under the desk. There was only one robe; a this robe can be bought notice hung from an empty hook. The bed linen had a hole in it (see review below) and there were hairs in the bathroom. The walls are thin and I heard a child crying nearby. On the positive side I ordered room service at 10pm; asked if I could get breakfast; and was sent the most perfect light dinner of two eggs and french fries (with two sodas - $30). Breakfast the next morning in the restaurant was very good - although in an otherwise totally empty restaurant we were initially given a tiny table for two. I have stayed in many Boston hotels and I can see why this is well-regarded. It looks new but I understand it is a couple of years old.
321151,BicknNic,12/29/2006,Excellent hotel We stayed at the Jurys hotel for 3 nights in December and thoroughly enjoyed the break. The hotel was clean and well maintained and all staff were courteous and friendly. A call to our room by the front-desk staff 5 minutes after our arrival to check everything was ok was a nice thought. The location is excellent - close to shops; restaurants and tourist attractions.The room was well laid out and a reasonable size. We didn't experience any noise-related problems. Complimentary water was provided in the fridge; and mini-bar snacks could be requested - in fact you can pre-arrange for your favourites to be present in your room upon arrival.Cuffs is a pleasant; typical hotel bar with decent service and surroundings. The breakfast buffet in the restaurant is worth the extra money and offers a good selection.Wireless internet access is available throughout the hotel for free; and the business facilities including printing are also free (handy for printing out airline boarding passes!)Whilst the front-desk staff could not accommodate our request for late check-out; they efficiently organised the storage of our luggage allowing us to make the most of our last day.It should be noted that using the T subway from the airport is pretty easy - especially as the Arlington station exit has been moved from Boylston/Arlington to Boylston/Berkeley during renovations - a stones throw from the Jurys.
321151,LeeSQL,12/28/2006,Disappointing After reading the many good reviews here; I was disappointed in my stay at this new hotel. Location is convenient for walking to restaurants and shops.The staff seemed to be running to a script; with little real warmth; barely a hint of a smile. The first impression; when I entered the place; was the smell of chlorine. There is a waterfall underneath a stairway; which for some reason; smelled like a swimming pool. I heard others remarking too.The room was an OK size but was crammed with furniture; so you had to creep around avoiding hitting doors or chairs. I'd have taken a smaller bed for more space; and I am not a large person! CD player was a nice touch; giant tv not needed. Air was very; very dry and we both had sore throats by the morning. Bed sheets had holes. There was a fridge; empty but for 2 bottles of water; but no tea/coffee-making machine. These are mostly small gripes but for a fairly new hotel...
321151,auntieellie,12/15/2006,Lovely hotel We booked this hotel based on the excellent reviews it received on Trip Adviser and we were not disappointed. We found the rooms to be comfortable and very clean. The staff were always very helpful. The only negative thing we would say with regard to the room was that we found that it was nosiy - we seemt to be able to hear the traffic quite abit and you certainly would not be able to sleep with your window open; but this would not stop us from staying there again. This is certainly a beautiful city and one that we were comfortable walking around at anytime night or day. We would now like to return in the fall to see the beauty of it then and to go whale watching. If you decide to visit don't forget your walking shoes because that it is certainly the best way to enjoy the city.
321151,martinduff,12/07/2006,fantastic I booked a four night stay based on the reviews from tripadvisor and was not dissapointed i have have to say this really is the No. 1 in bostonThe staff from start to finish were excellent superb service very polite and helpfull; look out for greg in the restaurant top man. The hotel is ideally located right in the centre of everything and ideal for a short stay.The food through the hotel was very good Breakfast buffet; Lunch in Cuffs the irish bar attached to the hotel and also dinner with greg in the restaurant all excellent Keep up the good work we will be back soon
321151,dlanenyc,12/06/2006,NO IRISH HOSPITALITY AT JURYS! this hotel is very stylish beautifully refurbished and well located. unfortunately management is pompous and arrogant and did not address the needs of a disabled guest or freezing room and non working thermostat as well as maid disturbing room at undesirably early hour the morning of departure when we clearly had not vacated. did receive half-hearted apology via email although management alleged neither of two guests reported problems to reception although acknowledged reception gave contact details for management. no further follow up. nothing! credit card company had to deal with matter and after 2 months' investigations in which management sent letter to credit card provider requesting guest contact hotel directly to resolve management response was that it was too late to do anything - already paid. sorry. bad public relations disabled or not! very disappointed considering pristine reputation of jurys' in ireland and uk. no 'irish' hospitality at this hotel!
321151,dlovely,12/05/2006,Loved it! I stayed at Jurys on business for one night in July and loved it so much I booked it again for a week the next month! Things I loved:Walk in showerComfortable and big bedAveda productsTurn down service w/ classical music playing when you get home.Bar downstairsThe whole hotel always smells great!It was very clean and friendly; great location and I will definitely go back if I get the chance to travel there again.
321151,scottiek,12/03/2006,Fabulous Jurys Hotel Stayed 6 nights at the Jurys in October 2006.From the minute we arrived all staff could not have been more helpful and courteousWe were upgraded to a deluxe room- wowWell situated for restaurants; entertainment and sightseeing.Would definitely recommend this hotel and would stay agin if we return to Boston.Can't wait to visit some of their other hotels in UK
321151,Sugarbarn,11/28/2006,Outstanding I had a fabulous stay at Jury's. Very welcoming and comfortable. Fantastic location. I loved Cuffs; it is a great restaurant.
321151,drobey,11/27/2006,Jurys' a jewel in Boston's crown I selected Jury's in Boston due to the reviews it had received on Trip Advisor we were not disappointed. I went for a shopping weekend with my 2 elder kids. We shared a room with 2 double beds there was ample room. the rooms are delightful the beds just what you need after a day's shopping! The Aveda products in the bathroom are a real luxury.We ate a few times in the Cuffs bar - the food is delicious the atmosphere great. The only problem is that it is very popular on Fri Sat evenings it is heaving. The location of this hotel is excellent. 5 mins walk to Boston Common; 10 mins to Downtown Crossing (Macy's) about 10 mins to the Prudential Centre. Nearest tube is about 2 mins away. If you are looking for a great quality hotel in a brilliant location you really won't go wrong with Jury's in Boston. A delightful hotel in the wonderful city of Boston.
321151,Hawaii03,11/26/2006,Great Hotel This is really a great hotel. I was here for several nights and was thoroughly pleased with everything. The hotel staff was accommodating; friendly and efficient - from the front desk; to housekeeping; room service; to the bellman. The rooms and bathrooms are clean and comfortable and even with a family staying in the room next to mine - with two small children - I did not hear a thing! The only minor complaint is that the room doors slam shut if you're not careful - however; this has more to do with the other guests being conscientious. I would highly recommend this hotel!
321151,jneil,11/24/2006,Great Getaway Weekend My husband and I stayed at Jury's from 11/18 to 11/20 to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We only live about fifteen miles away from the hotel but wanted a getaway experience. I booked the hotel based on these reviews and I was not disappointed. We traveled by the T (public transportation) and only had to walk one block from the Back Bay station. Upon check-in; we found the front desk staff to be very friendly; Actually; everyone who works at this hotel is very friendly. When we got to our room we were pleasantly suprised by chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne. Soon after; the front desk called us to make sure we were happy with our room; and we were!!! The room was an adequate size with a big; comfortable king sized bed! We loved the bed and the large bathroom with Aveda products; very impressed! The shower had great water pressure and we liked the added heated towel rack. We went to the bar area for a late lunch/snack and were very happy with the ambience and service; We both ordered delicous mushroom soup and split an order of lightly fried calamari while watching college football on their two flat screen televisions. After going out for dinner; we returned to a very crowded bar scene but we lucked out and were able to get two seats at the bar. Some people have criticized the crowd but we found it to be very electic. The next day we wanted to stay in bed and enjoy the Patriots so we ordered room service which was very good (same food as bar and same price) The room had a good sized flat screen tv and a mini cd stereo system. We also liked the mini-fridge b/c we could put some of our leftovers in it! That night we were meeting friends to go see a show at the Coloniel Theatre and we could easily walk there. Actually; you could easily walk to a lot of places from the hotel. We were both very happy with our choice to stay at Jury's. The next time we want to play tourist in our own city; we would not hesitate to return to Jury's and we would make sure we eat at their restaurant (we will actually be back next time we are in that area) If you are a tourist; not only is the hotel beautiful and clean; AND the staff very friendly; it has a GREAT location. Highly recommended!!!!!
321151,scgreen,11/24/2006,it deserves its great reputation My wife; her sister; husband and I stayed at Jurys for four nights from 15th November 2006We booked the hotel solely because it was the top rated hotel in Boston on this site. We booked using a website called travelax which compares the prices on lots of different sites. It saved us 拢140 over Jurys own site which promises its prices cannot be bettered.I have stayed in hotels all over the world and can honestly say that this was as good as any I have stayed in. The hotel has all the amenities you could want (except maybe a pool). The rooms maybe not the biggest but you would have to be very fussy to complain about the size. The beds were extremely comfortable and all rooms had a good hairdryer and an iron and ironing board. They also had a free safety deposit box. But what set this hotel apart from the others I have stayed at was the staff; we checked in with Kimberley she was polite and certainly made no difference because of the way I had booked my room. She was genuinely friendly and made a point of saying hello when ever she met my wife or me. But the person who really made our stay was Richard the Concierge he was knowledgeable; friendly and patient. He made all of our restaurant reservations and even phoned around various shoe shops to try and find the Heelys for my daughters. We went to the Cheers Bar and they DIDN鈥橳 know my name but when we got back to Jurys the waitress in the bar said how was your day Mr Green that said it all to me. . To sum up this is a great hotel made even better by the staff.
321151,LSMc,11/23/2006,Perfect in every way We chose this hotel on the strength of reviews in Trip Advisor and can only add to those by saying that it lived up to its reputation. It is perfectly located; beautifully maintained and delivers excellent service with an unerring pleasantness and warmth. We have been recommending it unreservedly to anyone I know who is considering visitig Boston.
321151,mcards,10/30/2006,Ideal location We chose the Jury's Boston because of the reviews on Tripadvisor and were delighted they were right! There were several comments on Tripadvisor about the bed; well we certainly agree. The bed and pillows were so very comfortable that since I have been home I am dissatisfied with my own bed. The room was not huge but it had loads of closet space and the shower room was a good size. The tiled floor of the bathroom was very slippy if you were not careful; but the large fluffy towels and bathrobe made it feel very opulant. I would advise any traveler who likes a morning cuppa to take a travel kettle with them as I had to ask for one as they do not included a kettle or coffee maker as standard in the rooms. However they did find me a coffee maker for our stay; but that doesn't make the best hot water for tea (I know I am a typical Brit). The staff were very helpful and we enjoyed watching the locals in Cuffs bar downstairs. We were able to get to everywhere we needed within Boston from there. We had been to the Streisand concert at the TD Bankworth stadium and felt very safe returning to the hotel late.
321151,pfconn,10/24/2006,Fab hotel Hotel was amazing. Staff fab. Beautifully decorated rooms. Centrally located. Would love to stay there again...great experience
321151,Lovely72,10/23/2006,Lovely hotel in great location My Mum and I stayed at Jury鈥檚 Boston from 14 鈥?18 October to celebrate her 60th birthday. Overall the hotel was lovely; the staff were polite and friendly and the food was excellent.The room was kept to a very high standard and had all the extra touches eg Aveda toiletries; iron; powerful hairdryer; safe; complimentary water and turn down service (with chocolates!). The only disappointment with the room was that it did not have tea/coffee facilities although we understand this is often the case in America.Breakfast in the hotel restaurant was excellent although we would suggest that you go for either the Continental or Buffet breakfast as this includes both tea/coffee and juice. It can work out quite pricy if you order individual items. Cuffs Bar downstairs was always very popular and lively and the service was always good even though it was often very busy.Location of the hotel is perfect for sightseeing; shopping and all amenities. Very close to Boston Common; Theatre District; Duck Tours; Newbury Street (for shopping) and Prudential Centre.Would definitely recommend this hotel.
321151,chocolatefriend,10/23/2006,Just loved it ! We stayed October 12- 17 and had a king corner room no. 338 and it was wonderful and worth the $$$. Great sized room; great shower with all the attachments and Aveda products. Heated towel rail great especially for drying smalls ! Lovely robes and big towels too. Bath very shallow though. Great location can walk everywhere ! Boston has more sirens than NYC though ! Great big comfortable bed and a huge bonus is free access to the internet in the business centre ! Lovely big lounge to sit in; great breakfast in restaurant and Au bon pain my favourite too ! Will be coming back ! Spacey; friendly and fun ! A classy place to stay.
321151,dingbatt,10/19/2006,Nice hotel....very good stay My husband and I were first time Boston travelers. Read reviews on this site and decided to stay at Jury's for three nights. Glad we did. Hotel is in a nice location....close to shopping on Newbury (2 blocks) and 3 blocks away from subway T stops. Easy walk to Prudential tower area. Hotel was very clean and very well maintained. Rooms a bit small however this was expected. Bathroom was updated and spectacular with Kohler fixtures; huge shower and Aveda products. Turn down service each evening. Nightcapped each night at the Irish pub located downstairs....very nice crowd. Only thing I would have additionally enjoyed in room would be complimentary coffee service.....even though both Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks were a block away! Would recommend hotel and would definately stay again.
321151,Shropshireladd,10/14/2006,Jury's Boston Beautiful hotel; lovely rooms; but for 拢150.00 per night they should be! Only complaint was the food. Bar food expensive and not very good. For breakfast recommend Au Bon Pain. 2 minutes walk from the the hotel and excellent and extensive and cheap menu;
321151,Imcomingback,10/09/2006,Good Hotel I found this hotel here on TA and booked it based on it's reviews.It's a very pleasant hotel in a very good location for seeing Boston.I wasn't sure what to expect as far as room size. Many reviews here mentioned the rooms being small. I thought the room was a fairly good size. It was nicely decorated and the bathroom was very nice.I'm not sure how this hotel got to be number 1 here on TA though. While it was nice enough I can't imagine that it is the nicest in the city. It wasn't inexpensive so I don't think of it as being a great bargain. It was a fine hotel that delivered. I would stay here again.
321151,bookmarks,09/29/2006,Great Hotel We were doing a 5 city holiday in the USA and Canada; Boston and Jurys was the first chose. I booked this hotel through expedia; which was excellent; it gave me all the infomation I required to made a good decision to book this hotel. This room was with 2 queen beds and of very good standard; although the view was not good (this did not bother either of us as the exploration of Boston was the proirity) the room was very clean and tidy and housekeeping was excellent. The beds were very confortable and the bathroom was of good standard. The staff were kind and friendly and the Cuffs bar downstairs at the hotel was good. The hotel was in an excellent location to explore Boston (which to me is a good walking city) and if I did return back to Boston I would stay at this hotel again. very good keep up the good work.
321151,Challenger3802,09/25/2006,Small rooms I stayed here for a long weekend; just as the city had a snow blizzard. The room was one of the smallest rooms I'd ever stayed in and the view from the room was over the offices of the building it backed onto; for the price I was charged I felt cheated. The cleaning was to a high standard and towels changed daily. The reception and other staff were polite and the room service was good.The food in the restaurant was first class and the waitresses equally so; but too expensive for anything other than breakfast which isn't even included in the room price.I'd stay in boston again but not here; this hotel is set up mainly for business travellers and the prices reflect that.
321151,PembrokeTraveler,09/24/2006,Superb Hotel in a Superb Location We stayed at this hotel for four nights and could not have been happier. The lobby is tastefully appointed and fun with a waterfall that begins on a wall and flows under the main stairs.Our room was clean and well appointed. It could be described as small; but with the very high ceilings and clever use of space; we never felt cramped. It is obvious that a lot of money was spent in renovating this building and the room was very comfortable.The location of the hotel can't be beat; we walked everywhere; including Faneuil Hall with no sore feet. Public transportation also is close by. I recommend you stay at a hotel in town and walk or use public transportation as much as possible; parking is quite expensive.We will definitely stay at this hotel again.
321151,Umba,09/22/2006,Loved it! We stayed here for 5 nights we couldn't fault the place. The location was excellent; check in was easy; staff were attentive the attention to detail was second to none. I would recommend Jurys in Boston 100% would use the hotel again if I were to return to Boston in the future.
321151,carnett,09/12/2006,A Great Boston Hotel! My friend and I stayed three nights in July. We booked through the hotel's website. It was not cheap; but it was FANTASTIC! Check-in was extremely efficient and friendly. Our room had 2 queen beds; a seperate shower and bathtub......beautiful and clean. The restaurant's breakfast was above-standard buffet fare. The basement lounge was hot and happening. The gym was small; but adequate. The concierge desk was helpful. The location is extremey convenient. The $289.00 rate was comparable during the busy summer season. Skip the mega brands and check into Jury's!
321151,Bonpierce,09/12/2006,Count me as a regular! From the moment we pulled up in a cab our experience was top notch. Even though thier computers went down our check in was a breeze. At check in they said they were out of non smoking rooms but were able to find one for me.The room was sparkling clean. Beds turned down with music playing on the cd player and ice in the bucket. The Aveda bath products were a nice touch. The rooms are beautiful and comfortable.The room was very quiet. I was sure we were the only ones checked in except for an occasional Red Sox fan in the elevator.The bar Cuff's is quite a happening place with lines forming outside at night. This is my only negative. The night we checked in we went for a cold one and a late snack. The service was very good. The next night we met friends there and our waitress was non existent; at least at our table. She spent her whole time catering to a table full of young guys. I had to ask another waitress to order some appetizers; and I also went to the bar to get our beers. It was crowded but she serviced the guys table which was right next to ours three times.The next night we went to the lounge on the second floor. It's very comfortable with sofas and tables and quiet enough to catch up with old friends. The woman working the bar was outstanding. She appeared at our table every time a friend joined our group. Each had a cocktail within minutes of entering. She should give a customer service lesson to the waitress downstairs.Everyone of the staff (except as noted) was exceptional. Don't hesitate to book here.
321151,Howser1,09/11/2006,Wonderful The reviews on this website led us to choose this hotel. From the glassy entrance with wall waterfall to the comfortable beds we didnt want to leave. The staff were most friendly; the hotel is really stylish and it centrally located for everything. The breakfast was delicious with a wide variety of items. It was spotlessly clean. CDs players are in the rooms and free bottles of water are provided every night. We didnt have a bath but the shower room is something I plan on modelling my own shower on. Fabulous!! If visiting Boston I will definately go here again.
321151,2Ton,09/06/2006,Fantastic Hotel I have stayed in a Jury鈥檚 hotel in the UK and it was basic and functional so I wasn鈥檛 expecting to much when I turned up at Jury鈥檚 Boston Hotel. Checking in was a breeze; the check in staff were friendly and very helpful. The room was immaculate and very well appointed. A huge bed; big TV and even a mini music centre with a CD player and radio. The maid would come round in the evening and offer a turndown service; fill your ice bucket and leave you chocolate! When you leave your room in the morning a copy of the Boston Globe is waiting outside your door. The room had a fridge which had two complementary bottles of water left in it each day.There was a concierge desk in the hotel which was very helpful and had plenty of information on things to do in Boston although the Grayline office is only a 5 minute walk away. Copley Square is only a block away and Boston common is just over 5 minutes walking away.The hotel is located in the old police headquarters and the bar that is attached to it is an Irish / police themed bar called Cuffs. We drank in there most nights before going out into Boston. It鈥檚 a little expensive (about $11 for two beers) but it has a great atmosphere.This hotel was excellent value for money; I would definitely stay here again and would recommend it to anyone.
321151,baseballgirl,09/05/2006,Great hotel! Just returned from a five night stay at Jury's and we have to agree with the rave reviews. Hotel is in a great location; about three blocks from the T and four blocks from the Public Garden/Boston Common. The staff is very nice and accomodating. We had a few problems with our room; noisy A/C unit and door that wouldn't lock (!); but both were fixed promptly. Two waters were put into our empty (which was very nice) fridge every day; a GREAT amenity. Cuffs; the downstairs bar was very fun. We had a drink outside on the patio one night and upstairs on the other nights when Cuffs was full. They warned us at check in that there could be lines to get into the bar and there was! Although it was not a problem to get into the hotel at all. The only reason we didn't give the hotel five stars was the size of the room. I believe we had a standard room and the bed area was cramped. The desk and chair were right next to the bed and there was almost no room between the two. On the other hand; the bathroom was huge. Also; if you stay on a weekend; you need to tell them that you want a paper or they won't deliver it. We were not told this and did not get a paper on Saturday and we almost missed the Red Sox game. The time was changed from 7:05 to 1:05 the night before and if we had the paper we would have known.All in all; this was a great hotel and we will stay here again and would suggest Jurys to other travelers.
321151,MayoGal,09/05/2006,Jurys Boston Hotel - A Delight We just returned from a two-night stay at Jurys Boston. We booked a standard room; which was cute and cosy. The location was great; enabling us to walk to the Museum of Fine Arts and a Red Sox game (the purpose of our visit); as well as many other interesting sites. The entire staff was welcoming and friendly. We plan to return in the winter for more museums and good food. We will certainly stay at Jurys again.
321151,Muntz73,09/05/2006,Great hotel with history Stayed on 8/31 for one night in a corner king room. Great location; great room; great bathroom; unbelieveable bed. Loved the Aveda products. The hotel is the old Boston Police Headquarters building. They did a beautiful job with this property! Definitely my new hotel in Boston.
321151,CaliforniaFM,08/27/2006,Maybe we can stay longer next time? On vacation for 3 weeks I tried to spend 200.00 a night on lodging; Because of a Microsoft conference in Boston when we were visiting; hotel room rates were higher than nornal. We booked Jurys for 2 nights at 350.00 a night. Luckily we were then able to get a room at the Hyatt in the Financial District for under 200.00 (another trip advisor review).I booked a non smoking room but because our flight from California arrived late and we checked in after midnight; all non-smoking rooms were taken and we were given a smoking room. You could smell the smoke in the hallway the minute the elevator doors opened. We were moved first thing in the morning to a non smoking room which then made our stay at Jurys more pleasurable.This hotel is first class all the way--from location; courteous staff; and luxurious rooms. Even though our first night was not ideal; I still rated Jurys excellent. If we return to Boston; we hope to stay at Jurys longer; especially if we can get a more reasonable rate!
321151,dbro,08/15/2006,The Best in Bean Town Just simply one of the best hotels I have ever stayed. Just did not want to get out of bed in the morning .....I wanted to bring the mattress and pillows home with me. The staff were very friendly and accommodating. I will be back.
321151,Moops,08/08/2006,Comfortably Modern in a Great Location We stayed here over a weekend for 3 nights from Aug 4th to 7th in a Superior King room booked through an online site about a month in advance. Before tax; each night averaged Cdn $200; a great price given what the hotel has to offer.The location is fantastic. Situated in the Back Bay; it's about a 5min walk to several subway stations (Back Bay; Copley; Arlington) on both the Green and Yellow lines -- giving you a choice of starting points depending on where your destination is. The hotel is about 3 short blocks to Copley Square where the beautiful Trinity Church and Public Library are found. It's also just a 5-10min walk to a number of other destinations -- including the Prudential Centre; Newbury St. (great for shopping and late night dining); and the Public Garden. Anywhere you can't walk is an easy 10-15min subway ride away.The room was very clean; relatively spacious; and warmly modern. It featured a wide entry area; with a large double-door closet and oversized full-length mirror. The comfortable king bed was flanked on one side by a bedstand; and on the other by a large desk. This work area would be great for business travellers (with a rolling office chair; and free high speed access). One corner of the room had a side table and chair for reading. The TV was housed in a large wooden wall unit with lots of drawer space; a CD stereo (CDs can be loaned from the concierge); and a small fridge; great for storing drinks and snacks -- and which they stock with 2 complimentary bottles of water each day.The large marble-tiled bathroom featured a granite-topped wood vanity with lots of counter space; plus an additional glass shelf under the mirror for overflow. The tub was fairly small; but clean. Toiletries were Aveda; the towel-rack held oversized bath towels and was heated (didn't seem to do much for the towels; but a nice touch!).Other amenities included: Large in-room safe; ironing board and steam iron; bathrobes; umbrella for rainy days; two clock radios on either side of the bed; and a full-sized hair dryer. For turndown service; staff fill your ice bucket; leave chocolate on the pillow; and turn the stereo on to classical music.The room was very quiet; never once did I hear any hallway noise. The downstairs sitting areas were very comfortable and in the mornings you can grab breakfast treats and coffee at the Barista Cafe. As others have noted; the lobby bar is very busy; but wasn't a problem where we were staying (9th floor).We easily checked our bags for a few hours on the last day; before setting out for Back Bay station to take the subway to the airport (40 mins door to door -- at $1.25 an economical option if you're looking to save on cabs!).Overall; this was a great hotel in a convenient location. I would not hesitate to stay here again if looking for lodging in the price range that I paid.
321151,h2odude,08/06/2006,Beautiful Hotel We stayed at Jurys from Aug 1-4 and would highly recommend it. The hotel was very clean while the rooms were modern and quiet. The staff was helpful and the kids loved the chocolate every night when they came to turn the beds down. The location is about a 10 minute walk to Boston Common/Public Garden and it is also close to two T stops. The hotel bar can get quite busy as many locals come there in the evening but it was never a problem as it is located downstairs so you can easily avoid it if you choose.
321151,dengnell,07/18/2006,Fabulous Experience Boston Jury's takes you back to service that's not often seen these days. From the welcome of the doorman; the quick luggage service from my cab to my room and the wonderful air of personal attention; you can't go wrong with this hotel. Had a superior king; never wanted to get out of bed and the shower with additional jets is to die for.Wish I had more time to stay; but plan on returning as soon as possible.
321151,lass,07/13/2006,Great hotel; highly recommended Stayed at Jury's Boston for a few nights in July. Really loved it.. staff are extremely friendly and location is perfect for shopping exploring Boston. Had a Superior King Room and it was so comfortable and lovely decor. The lobby bar are also impressive; I was expecting more old-fashioned Irish style but it is really modern and great atmosphere too. Would highly recommend for visit to Boston!
321151,kevtee,07/11/2006,Great Hotel; But Hotel Bar ain't quiet ! We recently visited the Jury's Boston Hotel on Honeymoon and here are my thoughts on the service and experience that I received.In terms of being a honeymoon couple; I did not feel that Jury's went out of their way to make the trip more special. A Congratulations would have been nice ! However; that may have been down to the person on the desk that particular day.The hotel itself is very nice and clean; very modern and the rooms were also very nice as well.In terms of the location of the hotel- very good.The only downside that I can think of is with regards the bar in the hotel. Cuffs Bar is a nightspot for young revellers in Boston. Not a problem if you are young and up for a good time. But if you are wanting personal service from the hotel bar whilst in Jury's; this is not the place for you. There are queues at the weekend to get in the place and the service for getting drinks and food was very poor one night we were in. young couple out for a good time and doesn't mind noise then Jury's is for you - maybe i am just getting old !In weighing everything up; 4 out of 5 would be a fair rating.
321151,lynachka,07/10/2006,Amazing Experience My boyfriend and I stayed at Jury's for a long weekend and we were absolutely amazed when we walked in to the hotel. Everyone was so nice and accomodating. Concierge; the bellyboy and valet were all equally pleasant. The rooms are gorgeous. We stayed in a standard queen size room; which included turn down service; heated towel rack and complimentary water every day. Room service was impeccable. Everything was clean. The location is perfect. We walked through all of boston. I would recommend this hotel to anyone going to boston; families; singles. Its a beautiful hotel with very luxury accomodations. You wont be dissapointed.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,07/10/2006,Great rooms and service I was a bit hesitant about Jury's as it used to be an old police station or something; but I really was pleasantly surprised. From first entry; service and friendliness was notable. The rooms were wonderful; really comfortable - luxurious - the bathrooms were particularly impressive with their double nozzled shower heads. The extras like body lotion and shampoo was of a great brand and nearly 8 months later I am still using the same bottle very sparingly. Excellent location to shopping malls and fantastic restaurants. Also really appreciated the Irish employees (i think?) which gave the hotel a special touch. Highly recommended!
321151,DrHong,07/09/2006,Wonderful! Sassy; modern; friendly; and comfortable hotel. We didn't have a view at all; but the bed; pillows; robes; Aveda products; etc made up for that. The staff was wonderful and the Cuffs Bar was terrific (minus one waitress and bartender).
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,06/30/2006,Fantastic! There is nothing negative to say about this hotel! Great staff; fab location (in the nicer back bay area of the city with boston common; prudential centre and Newbry street shops all close by as well as easy transport links to the rest of the city via the T from Back Bay station); big rooms with a handy fridge and comfy dressing gowns! The daily complimentary bottles of water were a great touch...especially in the 90 degree heat of the summer!!Quite simply one of the best hotels I麓ve ever stayed in and I would highly recommend it to anyone travelling to Boston!
321151,Targa25,06/30/2006,Couldn't fault it. Never been to Boston before so selection of Jury's was a bit of a gamble. Needn't have worried - staff super; food great; room excellent. The best hotel on our 4 week trip across the US. Also very convenient for Amtrak's Back Bay Station - couple of minute's walk away.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,06/21/2006,Really good location We visited Boston on a busy week and found this hotel on the TripAdvisor site - the hotel was really good - rooms good; clean and bathrooms fairly spacious - my only reservation was that there was no bath to relax in after we came in from our long walks. The downstairs bar was busy and there was a good atmosphere in the hotel in general. I would certainly recommend it to my friends.
321151,Jreindorp,05/30/2006,Jury's is a sure thing I recently stayed at the Jury's Inn in Boston and enjoyed every minute of it. Friends had raved about it as the 'latest thing' and while I wouldn't go that far; it was certainly a solid choice. The rooms are nicely appointed with comfy beds; spacious bathrooms (sep. shower and bath) and a practical work desk. Highspeed internet is free and Cuff's Bar downstairs is cozy. What really makes the hotel is the people. The staff are very pleasant and go out of their way to help you (I was unsure of the disabled room I was given when I checked in and within minutes was moved to an adjacent room) but the other guests are also interesting. Jury's is a UK chain so there are a lot of British and Irish guests staying here. All very entertaining.So while this isn't exactly cutting edge in terms of concept or execution; it really delivers a very warm and friendly Boston experience.
321151,Nancy875123,05/30/2006,Fabulous Hotel Our standard room
321151,imemine,05/18/2006,Superior Value For a Major City This is a new hotel; which is something I tend to look for because of the furnishings. It truly is a fine place. Big marble bathroom and a nice interior decorations. The toilet area was a little cramped but the place is on a quiet street and it was about $190 per night. Hard to get much better for this type of Hotel on the east coast. Nice staff overall. The breakfast buffet was good but a bit pricey. It is about three blocks from the T. Not bad but that part of the city is like a wind tunnel and COLD in the winter. If they can keep it in good shape I would return in the future.
321151,SerenaS,05/12/2006,A wonderful place I stayed at Jury's in December of 2005. I had not been to Boston for many years and did a lot research before choosing this spot. It was easy to get to (off the Mass Pike) and I happily let them valet park my car; I did not want to worry about it while in Boston.The room was lovely; very comfortable bed; nice linens and a beautiful bathroom with all the trimmings. I ate dinner in the restaurant that night; fantastic! Later on when my friend arrived from CO via Logan; we got him something to eat at the bar; also great. The bar was quite full for a weeknight; nice scene (a little yuppie but friendly).Breakfast there was fantastic; our waitress was super friendly. We checked out but left our bags behind while we wandered the city for hours. The staff was excellent; the room beautiful -- the whole experience was outstanding.
321151,Jubbsy,05/02/2006,Very pleasant stay Arrived at Jury's to find that our reservation had not been received from Virgin Holidays even though we had an accommodation voucher to present to them with all the details. Manager came out to deal with it and advised that they sometimes go astray if they are received by fax. Not really a good excuse!! Were then given a smoking room (having requested non-smoking); as it was the only one available. After changing to a non-smoking room for the following night the stay improved. The hotel is very well presented and service was generally good. Rooms were a little on the small side and decor in browns and greens did not help. However; room quality was high; bed was very comfortable and shower was good. Location was good for all main attractions. Very close to Newbury Street Shops; the parks and Back Bay Station. Would stay there again but would confirm booking in person in future.
321151,Saints220,04/21/2006,Good Hotel; but.... My husband and our 2 teenagers had booked to stay for 5 nights in Jurys; due to a change in our travel arrangements we arrived 1 day early and asked that if there was a room available; could we extend our stay. The receptionist was extremely nice and said she would have to speak to her manager who stayed behing closed doors; on her return we were told there was 1 room in the hotel available that we could have at a charge of $350. Double what we were paying for the following 5 nights!Room was quite small but comfortable; and we did get a telephone call to ask if everything was to our expectations - coffee machine would have been nice for $350 - so one promptly arrived.Excellent location; staff very friendly and helpfull; and very popular bar.On the down side; my daughter had a nose bleed during our penultimate nights stay and got some blood on the sheets and pillows. These sheets were not changed for our last nights stay; the room was quite dusty and not all the toiletries were replenished on a daily basis.
321151,SportsTraveler,04/19/2006,Going above and beyond is customary here! The insanity surrounding the Boston Marathon could put even the best hotel through it's paces. However the staff at Jury's did not even flinch; coming through in spectacular fashion on our second stay here in as many years. We inadvertantly left the Do Not Disturb sign on our door the day of the race. At 6PM we sheepishly asked if we could have our room made up at this late hour. They never hesitated to satisfy our request. After returning from dinner the room was perfect. The beds are as comfortable as you will find anywhere and the oversized bathrooms are a welcome sight. The bell staff; concierge; and front desk are all very attentive. Only negative was a waitress in the lounge who was more interested in watching Extreme Home Makeover than serving us our dessert; which took 30 minutes and the lounge was virtually empty.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,04/17/2006,Excellent Experience At Jurys! My wife and I are back from a wonderful weekend at Jurys. I can happily confirm the positive commentary previously posted and add some of our own.Location is ideal. The hotel is in Boston鈥檚 Back Bay area; one block from the John Hancock building; a couple of blocks from Newbury Boylston; a short walk (20 mins approx) to Faneuil Hall. Getting to the hotel is easy by car. It has about the easiest access to/from I-90 that you could ask; and they have valet parking (about $36 with unlimited in/out).Service is excellent and friendly. Jean at the front door was helpful and very enthusiastic about the city. The same goes for Keith at the concierge desk; who pointed us to several excellent restaurants in the North End Cambridge. Turn-down and room service were prompt; professional and friendly.The room was most notable for its bathroom. We had a 鈥淒eluxe King鈥?room. The room itself wasn鈥檛 particularly large; but the bathroom was quite big (nice separate shower bath tub). The bed was too comfortable; causing us to sleep through our morning agendas. We did not have much of a view at all (some rooms likely have beautiful views given the location).The bar/restaurant were hopping while we were there; great if you want to join but the noise was somehow contained so that we were only as aware of it as we wanted to be. We saw several couples with young children and thought the hotel was just fine for families. We had breakfast in the room one morning; it was as good as any other room service breakfast we鈥檝e had. The gym was a small room with limited equipment. The wireless signal was strong and worked perfectly all weekend. The hotel gets the intangibles right (complementary bottles of water; surprise Easter eggs on Easter Sunday; a call to the room to be sure everything was ok; etc). Overall; we felt the hotel stood between a Fairmont and a Four Seasons in terms of overall service; features and attention to detail.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,04/16/2006,Far better than New York My wife and I stayed in Boston for two nights after a week in New York. The Jurys Copley Square was far superior to New York's Waldorff Astoria for 30% less! The conveniene was critical to enjoying all Boston had to offer. What's more; the rooms were new; clean and full of amenities. Parking was pricy at $36/night but the staff's eagerness to assist us offset any concerns. Highly recommended.
321151,BeanCJ,04/12/2006,Very nice hotel My girlfriends and I stayed at Jurys for 3 nights and we were not disappointed. The service was friendly; efficient and respectful at all times. Our room was spacious; the washroom was large (we enjoyed the heated towel rack and Aveda products)and the beds were very comfortable although we would have been happier with two queens rather than two doubles. As first time visitors to Boston we found the location excellent - we were able to walk almost everywhere and felt very safe going to and from the hotel after dark. I would definitely return to Jurys!
321151,jehu,04/10/2006,Great place Was there for a conference April 2-6th and was very impressed with this place. Had a king. Nice sized room; LOTS of pillows. Wonderful turn down service; with music on the in-room CD/radio player set to classical station and chocolates on your pillow; fantastically large towels on heated towel holders; wonderful robes; complimentary umbrella in the closet (which sure came in handy; unfortunately); comfortably appointed modern lobby and two free internet stations (though the rooms are equipped for internet access I didn't have a laptop). In-room refrigerator. Within easy walking distance of BackBay station; Boston Common; 20 minute walk to Quincy Market.A nice location; nice staff; I highly recommend Jury's!
321151,falkirk,04/07/2006,jurys spent a short {4days} in boston; staying at jurys boston. family of four could;nt have asked for more; room excellent; service 1st class; food good; guiness poured as it should be. city was delightful; will be back; and will stay at jurys
321151,aggie07,04/03/2006,Friendly Staff A group of us stayed at Jury's this past weekend. Excellent location. Staff was very friendly and service was far above expectations. We had two rooms which were across from each other but we could close a private door to close them off to the rest of the hall. Bar very busy; a huge line outside waiting to get in; we're not sure why? Only complaint is that we got spoken to when we first arrived as we were all in one room talking at 730pm??? Will definately stay again.
321151,James6259,03/26/2006,Class I stayed here for 3 nights with my wife. I would rate it as one of the best Hotels I have ever stayed in. The Bar Cuffs served the best Pint of Guinness I have ever tried in North America. Breakfast was tremendous. What made our stay so memorable was the staff; courteous and efficient especially the Manager who was around the bar entrance at the Lobby each night (think he is from Donegal). Tip: Bar gets quite busy - it is definately one of Boston's IN places.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,03/24/2006,Loved Jurys We went for St. Patrick's Day and loved it - great hotel; great food; Irish Heritage is wonderful and the bar is wonderful! The rooms are nice and modern and elegant. All of the employees were overly helpful and the service was great! Will definitely go again.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,03/24/2006,St. Patty's Day This was by far one of the best hotels. Close walking distance to all major sites- Boston Common; Freedom Trail; Legal Seafood.The rooms are a bit small; but well appointed. Rooms were very clean with tasteful decor. Staff is fantastic. The Stanhope Grill restaurant downstairs was great. Breakfast was delicious. Eggs Benedict with Irish Bacon! The Cuffs bar was great and serves food until 2am. Must try the Buffalo Shrimp!This was our first trip to Boston and we will definitely be back- and we will stay at The Jury's.Our stay was so impressive; I am also writing a letter to Jury's Corporate; Dan; the Hotel Manager; is a keeper!
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,03/17/2006,Warm Repception Absent I booked my stay in Jury's Boston based on the excellent review posted on trip advisor. It was clean; modern and in great location for shopping and sightseeing; however the staff were extremely rude at times. As the weather was extremely cold and my companion and I were out and about all day on foot we dressed for comfort rather than style. We soon discovered that level of service from staff was dictated by what we were wearing; as we were often ignored and disrepected by some of the staff. It seems we did not fit the image the hotel was hoping to project. On one occassion while I was wating in the lobby for my friend I was rudely questioned by female staff member as to why I was sitting in lobby. These experiences made it an uncomfortable stay at times and we got the distinct feeling that we were not wanted in the hotel. We will not be making a return visit to Jury's as we were made to feel like uninvited party guests.
321151,burnig,03/16/2006,Lovely hotel in great location I had booked Jury's as it was the best rated hotel out of a list given to me from Airmiles (needed to use a few miles up). In between booking and travelling Jury's went to number 1 on Tripadvisor...so I was looking forward(even more)to my first trip to Boston. I was not disappointed.The rooms are well furnished; (mine was not large but perfectly adequate for our 3 day stay. I worked out if you turn left from the lift (elevator) then chances are you will have one of the larger rooms; I did see one when the maid was cleaning; if you want one try asking for a twin; instead of a double); and are decorated in relaxing colours. The bathroom had a shower and bath and was well stocked with Aveda products. The staff are extremley polite; friendly and helpful; a warm welcome awaits all guests. As for the facilities; there is a small gym; 2 lounges next to the lobby; a basement bar and restaurant. the bar can be noisy; but that is just because the sound echo's a little; you don't hear it when you are away from the entrance stairs nor does it seem that noisy when you are in it. It is well worth having a beer or two after a long days shopping or pre dinner. Dinner; the one downfall is the restuarant; don't use it even for breakfast. My wife and I did have one meal; we were too tired to start looking for somewhare else; so decided to give it a try. My food was tasteless (monk fish was watery and had no flavour at all; my vegetable starter I knew it was based on tomatoes and mushrooms because that as the shape and colour of the food; but where was the taste? nowhere; probably left in the kitchen.) Breakfast even though we were down early (around 7:30) the buffet breakfast was stale and overcooked. There are many many places to eat go somewhere else. We did not stay at Jury's because of the restaurant so it did not detract from our overall experience. I would highly recommend Jury's; the location is perfect for Boston Common; Beacon Hill; Copley Square and Downtown; all are no more than a 10 min walk. When I go back to Boston; my first choice will be Jury's there is a lovely warm relaxed feel to the place.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,02/27/2006,Top notch and classy Stay at the Jurys Boston. It's great.My girlfriend and I stayed there this past weekend when visiting Boston for a romantic getaway of shopping; sightseeing; etc. We were thrilled. She stays at some of the best of the best hotels; the Ritz e.g.; all over the country with her big shot job and she thought that the Jurys Boston was the nicest hotel she's stayed at so far.While planning the getaway; I got to know Jurys Boston's friendly and courteous staff while I made arrangements for our big weekend. They were always the most helpful; friendly and knowledgeable. We stayed in an Executive Corner King on the 6th Floor--Room 638 to be exact. We were met at the door by the valet who promptly help us unload and took care of the car. The Valet and garage fee was an extra $36; which is competitive for Boston parking. We went through the impressive lobby and had our room keys in less than five minutes. We entered our room and I immediately noticed that it was filled with welcoming light from three large windows. Also; I noticed that the vase of long stem roses I had arranged with the concierge the night before was waiting on the table and filling the room with fragrance. The stereo tape/CD player was also set to softly playing classical music.The bathroom was finished completely in natural stone and marble with a walk-in shower and a large spacious bath. There were fluffy white towels and pristine white robes waiting for us. There is also a large closet off the bath with a safe. There was a king size bed that was absolutely clean and perfect; and the room just set the perfect mood for the trip. The true test of a hotel is the bed. So many top hotels have terrible beds that are old and moldy. Not Jurys. I was so impressed with this bed that I wrote down the name of the mattress manufacturer; size and style and I plan to order one of my own. My girlfriend; the world traveller; was equally impressed. She says she usually wakes up from a hotel stay with a backache. The bed was so nice that; unfortunately; we missed a few hours of sightseeing because we just stayed in the bed wrapped up in the hotel bathrobes (I also wrote down the manufacturer's name of the robes). Fortunately; we didn't miss much sightseeing in the end because outside it was freezing outside anyway. You wouldn't know it because this is no drafty old money hotel like others I've been in Boston. It was so warm and cozy in the room that I just assumed that the blue sky meant a gorgeous warm day outside. The insulated windows weren't cold; so how would I have known? Well; at other hotels; I would have known because of cold windowsills; drafts and condensation on the windows. The concierge was also helpful in getting us around. We got breakfast at a place the concierge recommended and it was excellent as well. I've been to many hotels where the concierge really didn't know much about the area at all. A good concierge can make a huge difference in the success of your trip and Jurys's concierge was certainly friendly and reliable.I only wish we'd had time to stay for two or more nights. We didn't even get to eat at the restaurant on the premises or spend much time at Cuff's Irish Pub downstairs. On Saturday night; it was packed! It's clearly a popular place; and well decorated. The waterfall staircase and open fireplaces are elegant. In contrast; the hotel lobby was cozy and inviting. If you need to do work; this is a good lobby. It's not one of those giant echo-filled lobbies where one can get easily distracted. The lobby at the Jurys Boston is again well-lighted; and well furnished with sound-absorbant materials. There were many people this Sunday just sitting on the big comfy sofas reading the complementary Boston Globes. Had I had the time; I certainly would have joined them.In short; we loved the Jurys Boston. Even though I'm curious about staying at other hotels when we come back to Boston; I'll be hard pressed to risk a stay somewhere else that might not measure up.Jurys was the cleanest; friendliest; classiest and highest quality hotel experience I've ever had and I couldn't recommend it more. Lastly; I only picked it because it was rated #1 on this site. I don't know anyone who's stayed there so I went completely based on what people on this site had to say. Nice going TripAdvisor!
321151,NJTraveler79,02/22/2006,Nice; but could be better... I recently stayed here on business and while the stay was pleasant enough; if I were returning to Boston for pleasure (and on my own dime); I would shop around before returning here. The good: location; appearance; bathroom amenities; comfortable bed.The bad: Housekeeping. Upon first entering the room; the pillows were in a stack in the middle of the bed without cases; as if the housekeeper had simply left in the middle of setting up the room. When I informed the front desk; they promised to send someone up promptly; which they did not. It was only when a woman came for turndown service and noticed the pillows that anything was done. Also; some of the towels had black smudge marks on them.In summary; although the hotel has several nice features; there is no excuse for poor housekeeping especially when hotels that charge half the price manage it just fine.
321151,bigbucksnowhammies,01/28/2006,great time at Jury's I really enjoyed myself at Jury's. Very good service. Great location. The standard room was not huge; but nice.
321151,cdblues,01/26/2006,Great Hotel! Could not pick a better Hotel!It has character; rooms are beautiful; ask for a high floor. They have one floor for smokers I think it was the 2nd and when the elevator opened it reeked of smoke! Even if you are a smoker the rooms on this floor are not as nice. My husband is a smoker and I made him go outside everytime he wanted to smoke. He didn't mind he got to know the doorman real well. The hotel was in the middle of everything.Do the trolley tour and buy it on-line it was cheaper and you learn alot about the city.A must is the Aquarium. It was GREAT!
321151,John34,01/23/2006,The best Standard Room - furniture and fittings definitely not standard
321151,matthewcronin,11/29/2005,Second stay; just as good Stayed at Jurys for the second time on the weekend follwing Thanksgiving. Upon arrival we were welcomed back (acknowledged for having stayed there once before) and given the same room we had during our last stay.The room is of decent size; was perfectly clean and the bed is very comfortable.Given the consistancy I've experienced and the relatively good value; considering the amenities and location; Jurys is my first choice when staying in Boston.
321151,ScouserSue,11/28/2005,Great; Try it ! not pompous ! We stayed in Le Meridien before and it was pompous; not doubt about it . but Jury's is a great location managed by real people. The location; two blocks from the Copley Place Mall is great for shopping; same distance to Boston Common and 10 mins walk to Faneuil Hall and Quincy's Marketplace.Rooms are USA large; as expected. Showers not baths - no problem for us at less than $100 per night. Breakfast at $15.00 for the buffet is a little overpriced; but hey ; who eats Hotel breakfasts in Boston when there is Paramount on Charles Street !! which is famous for breakfast.The Concierge had a rental car delivered to the foyer for us with less than 24 hours notice; the cleaner loves cleaning the lounge of this hotel as it is her pride and joy How often do you hear this. the Bar has a line up on weekends because the atmosphere is so good. Yet; it is one of the quietest hotels in a city we have ever stayed in. One comment; the minibar is not stocked; but they have 24/7 Room Service - so no need I agree. The beds are amazing; the toiletries are Aveda. So ignore the last UK rating. Dont be ripped off by the more expensive options; stay at Jury's . They do what they say on the label; and don't make a big issue or try to be what they ain't !
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,11/24/2005,Not impressed If you want to go to a game at Fenway; this hotel is OK. Prices will sky rocket during games. I would never choose this hotel again when traveling to Boston. Service was poor!
321151,SophiaNY,11/21/2005,Third stay - losing some ground Third stay here; and hotel is beginning to show some wear. The first room we were taken to; the carpet was quite stained; and the room was very small for a Delux rate. The second room had some housekeeping problems (soil under the bathroom sink).Forget about using the bar on the weekend unless you are 25-35 years old and don't mind standing; shouting and not getting anywhere near the bar. Suggestion - they should open the coffee bar at night for drinks; or use the large living room as a relaxing cocktail lounge. The service in the restaurant at night is wonderful; and the breakfast service is still very slow and sometimes breakfast never comes.I believe that next family visit; I amy try another hotel.
321151,ShelbyOH,11/16/2005,The Jury's In and the Verdict Is Great! After a recent stay at Jurys Boston; I can safely say that it was excellent! The only two drawbacks I found were 1. No hooks in the bathroom near to the shower (the shower was huge with ample hot water and good water pressure); 2. The afforementioned glitter panels in the elevators (a bit rough to deal with after a few pints in the pub).Parking was a bit of a shock - It really was $36.00 per day - we spent nearly as much for dinner!But; by and large the room was very comfortable and nicely decorated with soothing taupes and greens; and humongous bed pillows.The full Irish Breakfast was (according to my spouse) as good as one had in Ireland!
321151,Misbeehayve,11/15/2005,Simply fantastic We had an excellent stay here and were secretly glad that the hurricane kept us indoors! the staff were great - really professional but with some irish charm. rooms were like a dream and the hotel bar was always buzzing. stay here and you won't regret it!
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,11/02/2005,Great hotel Great hotel in many ways. The staff are all terrific. Room service is excellent. Rooms are beautiful and clean. But please ask for a quiet room if possible-mine was on the second floor (212) just above a loading dock that got noisy at 4 am. An inner room would be much better.
321151,123cat,11/02/2005,Excellent stay We had a brilliant holiday in Boston; what a fantastic place! Jurys was the perfect location from which to explore all the sights. The hotel rooms were clean and comfortable; the staff all very friendly and helpful. The lounge areas and Cuffs bar are very welcoming with a relaxed atmosphere and the whole hotel is immaculatelypresented. I would definitely recommend this hotel and will stay here again when we return to Boston.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,10/31/2005,Great place to stay in Boston Stayed here with friends for 3 nights and had a blast. The rate was a little steep; but if you book early enough you can get good deals. The location is excellent; and the bar and club in the restaurant are nice perks. We couldn't have asked for a nicer or cleaner room; including the bathroom. The service was always helpful. If you're in Boston for the first time; I'd highly recommend this hotel as it provides the full tourist experience. I'd also recommend it for couples or those of us under 40 years of age. Don't pay too much; but don't hesitate to book if the price is competitive with everything else in the area.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,10/27/2005,Worst Hotel Experience ever This hotel is the most poorly run business I have ever encountered. I booked the trip online - prepaid. A week after leaving they charged my checking acount $653.45 for the cost of the room. Not only did they make this ridiculous mistake but they were completely incompetent at correcting it. Thanks to this establishment I could not pay my bills and was bouncing checks. I have contacted them 6 times and even though they admit it is thier mistake; I have yet to see a penny. I would rather stay in a motel 6 than go through this experience.
321151,kragan,10/24/2005,dirty bathroom The Jurys of Boston has a great location and the beds are very comfortable. The bathroom is very pretty with a nice big shower; however; our bathroom was not clean. The floor had not been mopped and I don't think the shower had been cleaned. When I called about the dirty bathroom they did send someone immediately to clean it and were apologetic. The breakfast downstairs in their restaurant is very good. Overall we had a nice stay.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,10/20/2005,Does everything well Having just spent five nights at Jurys it's difficult to find fault.The hotel's position is great and it's an easy stroll to many of Boston's attractions. If you need to go a bit further afield; two T stations are on your doorstep.My room was a standard twin but was a good size with all the amenities you'd need; including a big walk-in shower. Bed was very comfortable and the room was very quiet. There were no problems with cleanliness; as other reviewers have mentioned.At first sight I wasn't that impressed with the bar; bearing in mind it's one of Boston's 'in' places right now. But once it starts filling up it's a lively place to mix with the locals and enjoy good drinks; service and food. The hotel's restaurant is decent enough but trying to be a bit more upscale than it is. Better to spend that kind of money in the many other really good restaurants on your doorstep.My final word's reserved for the staff; who were great throughout. Really friendly and Keith the concierge is particularly helpful.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,10/15/2005,Best Location Possible Wonderful;helpful;courteous staff just a few of the many good things I could say about my stay at Jurys.Great location ;for all attractions in the city.Staff very good in giving unbiased information on the many queries which I posed at them.Tip regarding their bar Cuffs ;can be very busy at the weekend so get there early;if you can get a seat meals are excellent.Will be back in the future as our time at Jurys was all and more I could have asked for.
321151,aileuron,10/14/2005,Comfortable; Cozy; Lovely Service Just returned from a two night- mid week get away to Boston. First time staying at Jury's and I chose it based on Trip Advisor reviews. Although a bit pricey - Service was wonderful; they couldn't have done more! We are newspaper addicts and they not only leave the Boston Globe at your door but were happy to send along the New York Times as well. Room was small but quite cozy; bed was heavenly; bathroom lovely. Appreciated the windows that opened and the towel warmers and bathrobes. Although the bar is amazingly loud when you come through the front doors the rooms were quiet as could be! Didn't eat at the restaurant; but then there are so many wonderful restaurants in the area.I would go again; great location!
321151,ABonnie,10/14/2005,pleasant weekend at Jurys We enjoyed our stay at the Jurys last weekend. The rooms are small; but very nice. The bed is super-comfy. We were traveling with our one year old daughter; something I would not really recommend since the rooms are so small and the common areas less than kid-friendly. While the decor of the hotel is very nice; in my opinion the random details that I assume are meant to be hip look out of place and just weird. For example; the glittery stuff on the back wall of the elevator -- what's up with that? Also; the stairs from the bar to the front desk area that change color every few minutes are just ugly. I guess these are a continuation of the happening bar downstairs that adjoin them. We very much enjoyed the food we had from the hotel -- a delicious room service breakfast and a lunch in the bar was tasty; too. I did find it odd that the bar was the only place for lunch; though. Being the trendy place that it is; it wasn't really a cozy place for lunch on a wet Saturday; particularly with a kid in tow. Also; I searched high and low for a cup of tea on Sat. afternoon (it is an Irish hotel after all!) and was told the bar; again; was the only option. The staff was very friendly. We received a great breakfast recommendation -- Charlie's; a Mom and Pop greasy spoon diner with very good food in the South End; about a 10 minute walk away. Highly recommended!
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,10/11/2005,Irish hospitality ! Great location; wonderful service; comfortable rooms; large bathrooms ... I could go on. Irish hospitality in a trendsetting hotel with a happening scene at the bar (Cuffs). If you appreciate good design and friendly service(not always found together in hip hotels) Jurys is for you. My only criticism - the gym could be larger; although it was functional. We'll be back.
321151,evergreen123,10/10/2005,Just okay Very nice hotel; but a little stuffy. We stayed at Jury's the second weekend that we were in Boston at the end of September. We were expecting a nice Irish hotel and it was nice; but probably not worth the money. The first weekend we stayed at the Millennium Hotel near Faneuil Hall and we ended up moving from Jury's to the Millennium our last night in Boston.
321151,GoDeacs,10/10/2005,100% Terrific My wife and I stayed here Oct 1;2; 3 and were very pleased. We arrived early and our room wasn't ready so we went downstairs to the pub; Cuff's; and had lunch while watching the Sox game on the 2 plasma screens behind the bar. After lunch our room was ready and the staff put our bags in the room while we went barhopping and sight-seeing. The room was great and very quiet. Nice linens and tasteful furniture. Not a great view; but I wasn't expecting one. Well done bathroom with Kohler fixtures and a Toto commode. Good showerhead with good pressure. The maid service was impeccable. Free newspaper at your door every morning.The concierge set us up with a great Sunday brunch at Abe Louie's near Copley Plaza. We ordered room service on Monday night at around midnight and the service and food were both just fine. Location-wise; this place is great. It's less than a five minute walk to either the Orange or Green Line. Five minutes walking to the Public Garden or Copley Square. I walked the whole Freedom Trail from the hotel. There's no need for a cab virtually anywhere in Back Bay; Beacon Hill; Financial District; or Chinatown (unless you're just pressed for time; lazy; or the weather's bad). Inside the decor is fairly modern with a luminescent staircase in the lobby that changes colors. I have a friend who has a bunch of Fairmont points who I met up with over at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. My wife stays there for work on occasion as well as Jury's is not on her corporate list. The Fairmont is like the place your rich parents or grandparents would stay. It's really probably on average about $50 a night more; I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything except for a very nice building architecturally. I'd love to go back to Jury's again soon.
321151,TimeTraveler123,10/09/2005,Close the Bar! Just stayed for the second time. The Jury is in a great location; close to Back Bay; Commonwealth Ave and shopping. The standard room is very nice; but small. Would feel very cramped with two people if staying more than a couple of days. There isn't room for a good reading chair. Bathrooms are nice with a walk-in shower - a real plus. Hotel restaurant was very good with excellent service. Main lobby bar is very comfortable and elegant. Concierge and desk people were excellent.The big problem with Jury is that the downstairs bar is clearly a favorite of the 25-35 year old investment banker/hedge fund crowd out to flash money; sip martinis and impress their followers. Very; very loud and the sound extends into the restaurant and upstairs main lobby bar. Late on a Friday night there was a line to get in out on the sidewalk. Not what you want at your hotel. Hopefully they'll move on when something hotter opens!
321151,edinburgh,10/06/2005,Disappointed! I stayed at this hotel for 5 nights based purely on reviews on this website. Whilst the location was excelellent and the staff were very friendly I found the standard of cleanliness in the rooms below par. For a hotel which has only been open little over a year I was disapointed to note the carpet and bedcover were badly stained amd the armoir extremely dusty. It was so bad in fact we requested a room change. The staff at the front desk could not have been more apologetic and did move us to another room with a better view however although this was an improvement it still fell way below the standards I would expect from a 4 star hotel. The rooms are extremely attractive as are the public areas however stained carpets etc. are exremely offputting and I don't know if I would consider Jurys again if I was to return to Boston.I noted another guest wrote a review on this website in a similar vein so obviously we weren't just unlucky!!
321151,Robsgirl637,10/04/2005,Just so; so My husband and I stayed at the Jurys Boston for 3 nights in Sept 05. The hotel is in an incredible location. It is very close to all attractions. However; the customer service was not up to par for what I think is a 4 or 5 star hotel. The room was very small; and over decorated which made it seem even smaller. The bed took up most of the room and every other piece of furniture seemed to be cramped in. The room did have some good aspects. Free bottled water was a first in any hotel I have stayed in. The oversized towels; bath robes and Aveda products were very comforting. Would I stay at this hotel again? Maybe if it was less than $200 a night; but at the rate we stayed; we would find somewhere a little cheaper; with larger rooms.
321151,neverenoughtime,09/28/2005,Treated Like Royalty We were treated like royalty! This is quite possibly the finest hotel I鈥檝e ever experienced. Our 鈥渞oyal treatment鈥?started before we even arrived. The day before our visit; I realized I had forgotten exactly where we had made our reservations; and called Jury鈥檚 as I remembered that they were one of the hotels that came most highly recommended by trip advisor reviews. Our recollection was that they had been booked for the dates we needed and had recommended another boutique hotel in the area. I spoke with a gentleman named Dan; who I later learned was the Deputy General Manager. To my great surprise; he offered to call around to other hotels on my behalf to find out where we had our reservation. Clearly; there was no benefit to him to provide this service; as he believed we were not staying at his hotel. After spending an hour calling around to other hotels; he called to inform me that we were actually booked at Jury鈥檚. We both had a well-deserved laugh.Once we arrived; the royal treatment continued. The hotel is absolutely lovely and extremely hip. Carefully selected paintings and sculptures abound. There is a fashionable lobby with a bar on the lobby level; and a 鈥榟appening鈥?bar and restaurant downstairs. The rooms are wonderful with great attention to detail; including warming racks for the towels鈥nd the beds are oh so comfortable. Most impressive was the extraordinary level of customer service they provided. Everyone; including the doormen; the reception staff; the concierge and waiters were fabulous. We got the feeling that they really couldn鈥檛 do enough for us. Of special note were Keith; the concierge; Kevin; our charming Irish waiter and of course Dan the Deputy General Manager (who also had a gift tray sent to our room when we arrived). We enjoyed our stay so much that; even though we were supposed to transfer to the Four Seasons for the last two nights of our stay; we cancelled that reservation in order to stay at Jury鈥檚. Obviously we can鈥檛 recommend this hotel enough and it will certainly be our choice when we visit again. Thanks to all of the staff for making our visit to Boston so perfect.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,09/28/2005,Jury's - Great Place Our family and another family vacationed in Boston in August. Main reason for the trip was to visit the Hallowed Grounds of Fenway. First tirp to Boston for either family so we weren't exactly sure where to stay (wanted to be close to fenway); we were debating between Jury's and Buckminster (which is 1 bolock from Fenway). Decided to go to Jury's and we decided it was one of the best choices we have ever made. Comparing the two is like comparing a weekend at Club Med vs. an emergency stay in the hospital for a couple of days. Jury's is an easy walk to Fenway (we walked it twice) as well as Boston Commons historical sites on the freedom trail and others. Jury's staff was very helpful and friendly; hotel very clean. Yea Cuff's is very busy and noisy at night but we enjoyed the a drink up in the lobby bar. Loved the city and will definately stay here again.
321151,Braikley,09/21/2005,Great hotel- great city Location was ideal; easy walking distance for many of the main attractions. Staff very friendly and helpful with good advice about nearby restaurants etc. Breakfast selection was very good and the option of outdoor seating made for a relaxing start to the day. Cuffs Bar busy but great atmosphere !Room was comfortable and well equipped. Would definitely go back again.
321151,mommy2boys,09/15/2005,Maybe we were just unlucky??!! Ok; so maybe we were just unlucky when we stayed here for 2 nights over labor day weekend?? My husband and I were staying without the kiddies for the weekend; because we were heading up to Lahey Clinic on Tuesday and decided to have a couple nights to ourselves. So; after reading the reviews for Jurys and Nine Zero we picked Jurys. I guess I wish that we had tried the Nine Zero.Our first room was on the 10th floor; one of only 3 rooms; so it would be quiet; which was great. However; the bedspread and pillows had numerous stains on them; the toilet in the bathroom had the seat unattached; and the TV did not work right. The volume on the TV is capped; which is not a problem; but it is when one speaker out of two total speakers is not working. No problem; we called down to see if we could move; as we were planning on catching up on our movies via PayPerView while we were away.We were relocated to a room on the 5th floor. It was not noisy and was a pretty good size. The pros and cons of the hotel are as follows:PROS:1) Good location.2) Nice Aveda Products in the bathroom3) Fabulous dual head shower and towel warmer!!4) Nice and accomodating staff; really superb.5) GREAT breakfast room service; try the blueberry pancakes.6) Refridgerator in room that is empty so you can stock it.CONS:1) Very expensive room service; as expected; but atrocious dinner food.2) No stores to buy snacks or sodas within close walking distance.3) Room not the cleanest...dust on furniture; stains on carpets.All in all; not bad; but for $250+ a night; I would expect the hotel to be in a little better condition. Little things that were annoying were we only had one bathrobe; the warm cookies from room service were good; but not warm; parking was $36 a DAY; not easy in/out either - a good 15 to 20 minute wait each time. All the other reviews were very positive so maybe it was just us. However; this is what happened during our stay. I probably would not stay here again; would opt for the other hotels in the area.
321151,QueenofNW2,09/12/2005,Great value and service Just returned from visit number 3 at Jurys; and already planning return. What clinched it for me since I go to Boston often on business; is the free broadband and the quality of the bedrooms. Beds are almost Westin-like for comfort; bathrooms with Aveda toiletries; which as a woman; I really like and actually do take home. My employers are cheap skates; but I have demonstrated to them that the nearby Park Plaza and other dives are a false economy compared to the goodies on offer at Jurys that happily have me working longer hours. Room service pleasant and prompt; but food fairly indifferent.
321151,charlotteguy,09/08/2005,Wonderful Stayed at Jurys Boston for Labor Weekend. All I can say is that it was PERFECT. Wonderful rooms; super location; and an outstanding staff. I could not have been happier.
321151,CATraveler100,09/04/2005,Loved Jurys! One of the best hotels I've ever stayed in. My husband I stayed there Aug 27 - Sept 1 for our anniversary. Everything is top-notch. The doormen; front desk staff concierge were all so friendly and helpful. Our room was kept perfectly and stocked with Aveda products and had towel warming bars. The restaurant/bar downstairs is a popular spot. It's in a central location (near Boston Commons); walking distance to many sights close to the T. Highly recommend this hotel; we will definitely be back on our next trip to Boston.
321151,danajf,09/03/2005,We stayed an extra night Perfect central location in boston. We walked everywhere we needed to get to....and boy did we walk. Found some wonderful restaurants....again in walking distance. The beds were phenomenal. Be careful of parking on the street boston police like to fill their quotas....maybe a new york license plate?? Gym was tiny but clean and new. Nobody else seemed to use it. Would stay here again.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,09/02/2005,Great value!! Stayed at the Jurys Boston for one night after a long flight from Seattle. Had a really good rate and was very pleased with the whole hotel. I am used to staying in luxury hotels and my experience here was great. Great bathroom with beautiful walk in shower and aveda bath products - plus a mirror that doesn't fog up!The room was small but that wasn't a problem. Free internet; nice flat screen tv; radio; and complimentary water - all in all very good ammenities.The bar Cuffs is very popular and loud at night - there is a line to get in but if you are staying at the hotel; you do not have to wait - worth checking out.I have stayed at other hotels in Boston and this is by far my favorite!
321151,leafgirl,09/02/2005,A Great Hotel I spent three nights at the hotel during my first trip to Boston.The location is wonderful - near the Back Bay subway station. Walking distance to Newbury Street; Prudential Centre; Copley Mall....I stayed in a Superior room. Kingsize bed; large bathroom with a fullsize tub. Nicely decorated. I wasn't facing the street; so it was very quiet.The room had a mini-fridge; so on my first night I took a walk down to Shaw's supermarket and bought some juice; fruits and veggies to keep in it. It's a nice little touch. There is Dasani water stocked in the fridge as well; at no charge.The bed was quite possibly the most comfortable one I have ever slept in...the pillows are phenomenal.The hotel has a turn down service and each evening; I came home to some chocolates; an inspirational card; and soft music playing on the mini-cd/radio.The staff was friendly and check in/out was quick and painless. There was no problem leaving bags in storage until I needed to leave for the airport in the evening.There are two computers with internet access in the business area; but there is no time limit on use; so a few times I got stuck waiting a long time to check my e-mail. I would definitely stay there again.
321151,bigcitymagic,09/02/2005,Attention to detail and oustanding service This hotel is a visual treat. Rich colours; sophisticated artwork in the common areas; a charming room...it all adds up to a great environment. And then there's the service. The doorman on duty when we arrived (Michael) was so pleasant and terrific; Ireland's beautiful Martina on the desk; who called me on my cell phone to let us know when our room was ready (we arrived at 7:00 am; and were in our room at 10:30); our waiter in Cuffs (Joey from Dublin) who was so engaging and pleasant; and our countryman Jean from Montreal who treated us like we were family (thanks for the Sam Adams; Jean!) all contributed to a very personal and special vacation.I've stayed in some fine hotels in North America and abroad. Jurys is my new number one.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,08/30/2005,Very pleasant stay We booked a double room for four nights in mid-August based on the recommendations of this site - and are very pleased that we did!The lobby area and adjacent bar were very welcoming and the staff were courteous and efficient. The room was impeccably decorated / furnished; well provisioned and very clean with a large comfortable bed. Room service was very good with a reasonable choice of food and beverages at acceptable prices. We did not use the hotel restaurant or bar during our stay and; therefore; unable to offer comment. However; there are several good eating establishments close to the hotel including the Hard Rock cafe; plus there are two Starbucks close by.The concierge was extremely helpful in securing a hire car for two days at very favourable rates; although parking in Boston is difficult to find and very expensive. Be advised; if you intend to drive in Boston plan your route in advance; if you do not know this city reasonably well you can go horribly wrong in the one way system and constant roadworks.The hotel is centrally located and adjacent to local transportation services; although a number of attractions are within walking distance.Overall we were very pleased with the hotel and would endorse the recommendations of this site.
321151,clarewalliow,08/27/2005,Friendly faces guaranteed! We had never been to Boston before our trip from Aug 25 to Aug 30. So glad we picked the Jury's for our stay - it gave us reassurance as soon as we stepped through the door that this was going to be a fantastic stay.The beds are.... words cannot describe the opulence and comfort. The staff are just wonderful; they would break their backs for you and the location is top; you are just a few minutes walk from Newbury street (I recommend The Closet...Jimmy Choos for $110!) and about a 30-minute stroll to Downtown crossing.I just cannot find fault with this place and I would challenge anyone to pick holes in the fine location; services and staff relations. This is by far THE best hotel I have ever stayed in; in the US. So people; book up and enjoy. What's to lose?
321151,IMallon,08/23/2005,Best Hotel in New England!! Hotel room
321151,eb20,08/22/2005,Great hotel! Jurys is a beautiful new (just over a year) hotel in Boston. It was great. Make sure you try the Key Lime maritini! I would definitely go back.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,08/15/2005,The Jury(s) finds for the reviewer Jurys Doyle hotel; Boston
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,08/14/2005,Welcome Home Ladies!! From the moment we pulled up to the door we were greeted by the doorman stating Welcome Home; Ladies. What a wonderful place to stay. A great location; extremely nice and pleasant people to deal with. We did have some issues such as cigarette smoke smell in our non-smoking room on the 3rd floor which is directly above the 2nd floor smoking floor. Our TV only went up to a volume of 12 and was difficult to hear. We notified the desk and were promptly moved to the 7th floor and enjoyed our stay with no other glitches. We had ordered cookies one night and had some of the best; freshest and warmest chocolate chip cookies. Because we had to wait a little long for the cookies we even got glasses of milk to enjoy with our cookies free of charge! It always made us smile and feel very welcome every time the doorman opened our car door and greeted us with Welcome Home; Ladies.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,08/13/2005,Great Hotel; Small Beds My family and I stayed at the Jurys August 3 through 10 and had a lovely experience. Every staff member we encountered was helpful and professional. I only had two complaints about our stay. One is the beds. While they are extremely comfortable; they are also very small. We had two doubles since we had our two kids with us. I'm sure the king beds are a dream! Also there was construction going on across the street into the wee hours. This of course had nothing to do with the Jurys; and we tried to ignore it. Overall a pleasant stay.
321151,desbaggie,08/11/2005,issues resolved at Jurys We had an issue during our stay at this great hotel which was not of their making. we were woken at 2am by a construction team apparently repairing undergound pipework in the street opposite; the crew consisted of about 10 with a mechanical digger and heavy drill equipemt. In the early hours it sounded like down town baghdad and it is amazing that Bostonians are prepared to put up with this sort of thing; in the UK we have laws against noise pollution after 11pm. We called reception and asked to be moved but they were full that evening ( v popular hotel) but promised a change of room the for the following night. they were polite; even apologetic; even though the issue was not their fault. they moved us to a bigger room facing the back of the hotel the following evening and charged us the same price as a standard; which imo is great customer service. All the reviews on here are correct; it is a pristine hotel with wonderful staff in a brilliant location. the bar is also worth a visit although there are so many great bars and restaurants in walking distance do take the time to explore. In particular a restaurant just a couple of blocks away called the Mistral has fantastic food and service; highly recommended.
321151,scot5,08/11/2005,Best Hotel Ive stayed at Stayed 3 nights at this hotel late last month.It was excellent; the location was great; the staff were very helpful. the rooms were big and spotless; Bathroom was also great and spacious.They even turned down our beds at night and left soft music and chocs.I would stay at this hotel again without a doubt.The bar was very busy at night; but that was probably due to it recently reopening; however it could not be heard from the rooms.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,08/11/2005,The Jury's not out! We stayed at Jury's for four nights at the beginning of our New England trip and can only say that we were very much looking forward to the day we returned before departing to the airport. Lovely rooms with huge beds; fluffy white robes; Aveda toiletries...heaven! Although a small hotel in comparison with some in Boston; Jury's was friendly with good food in the restaurants and very well placed for a walk anywhere - just two blocks from the Boyston Street shops and the parks and two blocks in the opposite direction to the Copley and Prudential Malls the Prudential Tower and many good restaurants. The concierge was extremely helpful; booking tickets for us whenever needed and giving helpful advice on restaurants.We will definitely be going back here on a return visit to Boston.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,08/07/2005,superb hotel Jurys Boston is a superb hotel. Located in the area known as back bay. It is centrally located and close to everything. The subway is a short walking distance away. Jurys Boston was a wonderful place to stay. The service was outstanding. The food at the restaurant was sensational. The conciergewas extremely helpful. Cannot wait to go back and stay at Jurys Boston.
321151,Geezo,08/06/2005,Great Hotel I can't imagine staying at a better hotel in Boston. The service was impeccable. The rooms were uniquely and elegantly designed. The bed was the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on. My fiance' refused to get out of it on the last day. The location is perfect (right near the Hancock Bldg.). True that the bar gets very crowded and loud at night; but the minute you step into the elevator the noise is gone. The only negative is that parking is $36 / night. However; in the heart of Beantown that is not surprising.
321151,BBrooklineMA,08/05/2005,Nicest Hotel we have ever stayed in! All I can say is Wow; what a nice Hotel. Everything from the room; the staff; etc. was impeccable. The shower was the greatest! (The water actually stayed in the shower; unlike most hotels!) Even though we were right downtown the room was quiet. My wife said the bed was the most comfortable she has ever slept on. When can we stay here again? I can't wait!
321151,maxfli,08/01/2005,What a great pleasure! Stayed at the Jurys Boston this past weekend 8/28 to 8/31. Found this hotel on this website - what a pleasant surprise this jewel is. Probably the best service and the most professional staff I have encountered in a long time. Surprised to find the bar currently the hot spot of the Back Bay;even the staff has no explaination for it! Room was very comfortable; loved the large bathroom with tiled walk in shower. Location was convient and quiet during the evening hours; felt very safe walking around. Richard at the concierge desk has a great sense of humor and gives 110% to his job.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,07/31/2005,Great Hotel; Great Location This is an excellent hotel located beside John Hancock Tower. This former Boston Police Headquarters was opened in June '04 and the staff are amongst the most pleasant you will find in any American property. Rooms are an adequate size and very well designed with in room safe and ironing facilities. Bathrooms are modern and of a great standard. All rooms offer free WiFi facilities.The bar on the ground floor is excellent; altho can be quite crowded at night as it has an outside patio area for the smokers!!!.Overall; one of the nicest; happiest hotels you're likely to experience in North America with staff that really make you feel at home.
321151,Dalkeith33,07/17/2005,Great hotel; great location Jury's Boston has been open about a year and has it all; including a pleasant and helpful staff; and very comfortable beds. A short walk to the Public Gardens; and to Legal Seafood! We will be back.
321151,kboyd912,07/11/2005,Great Hotel; great value! We were very pleasantly surprised by our stay at Jurys - the staff was wonderful (thanks; Richard!); and the rooms; although a little small; were quite elegant. We thought the location was top notch.It does get a little noisy at night with the downstairs bar/restaurant; but if you are looking for a lively place for a drink before settling in; it's great.Would definitely recommend and would stay here again!
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,07/10/2005,Superb Great location; large; clean; stylish rooms; fantastic food; friendly service. The only downside was that our room didn't have a bath.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,07/09/2005,First visit to USA will definitely be back Visited Boston on 5th June and this was our first trip to the States. Encouraged by the reviews of Jurys on your website I booked our eight night stay there. We had an excellent time in Boston and managed to see all the main sights either on foot or by using the excellent public transport system. Jurys was well placed for the station around the corner at Back Bay and we managed visits to Rockport and Salem on the commuter trains.The hotel staff were all very friendly and the room quiet and comfortable. The people of Boston were very helpful - whenever we stopped to consult our town map someone would usually come up to us and ask if we needed any guidance. We have travelled extensively in Europe over the years but we will definitely be back to Boston next year and look forward to staying at Jurys again.
321151,colindoolin,07/08/2005,Best Jury's I've ever seen Just back from US trip - stayed in Jurys Boston at end of trip and was very impressed.trendy; yet retains old charm and the staff and service levels are exceptional.also a good price for the July 4th period all in all; highly recommended
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,07/06/2005,Love the Irish Accents! Everyone was so friendly at this hotel; even though it was July 4th weekend in Boston and hectic. Our room was the standard room; a bit small; so next time I will reserve a larger one; but the amenities were bountiful..Aveda products; heated towel racks; comfortable bed; and a great bar. The only thing I would recommend would be a coffee maker in the room. I had a hard time wanting to leave my room in search of coffee after a night out in the town.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,07/06/2005,Exceeds Expectations The Jury's in Boston is a great hotel. The rooms are clean and modern; yet manage to keep a historical presence in the old Police building in which they are located. The staff is exemplary and the concierge Richard Owen was a great host to the hotel as well as the city of Boston; giving directions and suggestions; which proved very helpful. The restaurants and bars in house a great; but the Jury's is also within walking distance to most of the city. It was the perfect place to stay in Boston and will definitely be staying there again!
321151,trickydicky,07/05/2005,Great Hotel Really first-class Hotel with pleasant; polite and helpful staff. Very well maintained and immaculate rooms with great beds and very good bathrooms. We had a 'superior room' which was exactly that - first-class in every respect. Has its own bar; cocktail lounge and restaurant. Would definitely reccomend it will stay here again next time in Boston.
321151,njh,07/03/2005,Fantastic hotel - highly recommend My partner and I stayed at the jurys hotel Boston In may this year - we got a good deal by taking them up on their 'beat any proce deal' as Orbitz were offering a room cheaper than the main Jurys site and so they kindly matchedthe price!The room was huge - by british standards! the beds and pillows were unbelivevably comfy and the bathroom was nice clean and large. the restraunt was quite upmarket and a bit beyond our budget but they also serve food at their irish bar which is well worth the value for money. but be warned taht the irish bar is a hot spot for tourists and local on weekends so Friday and saturday nightas it is rammed! The staff are very kind; attentve and make you feel very welcome.I would definately stay here again- The only fault I could find was that tea and coffee facilities didn't come with the room and thats a standard thing for most british hotels and was shocked to see that if you wanted any tea making facilities they charged you- but that really wasthe only fault!
321151,Pampered7,06/30/2005,Great Hotel We have just come back from a weekend stay in Jurys and we were not disappointed.We arrived early and our room was not ready; so rather that leaving us waiting the receptionist gave us an upgrade. Lovely touch. The room was lovely; decor modern and unfussy ; bed was huge and very very comfortable. I know it is a cliche but I loved the turn down service.The staff were very very friendly. From the concierge to the bell boy; they could not have been more helpful answering all our questions and providing us with loads of suggestions of how to spend the weekend.Free internet acess in the business center was an additional bonus.
321151,Headwall,06/27/2005,Incredible... My wife and I went to Boston for our 1st wedding anniversary and the Jury's hotel was one of the many highlights of our trip. The employees were very attentive; after our room service the front desk called to make sure it was alright. Walking distance to many shops; parks; and other bars if Cuffs gets to crowded. We are going to stay here again when we return to Boston.
321151,JLG,06/23/2005,Jurys a good choice I thought this was a great hotel! Our room was very spacious; comfortable and attractive. The bathroom is huge and the Aveda products a nice touch. We stayed in the deluxe double room; so maybe the standard doubles are a bit smaller. I was worried about noise because we were located right next to the elevator; but it was not noisy at all. The staff was helpful and the location was good for walking around the city. The downstairs bar was crowded; but it looked like everyone was having a great time; and if you wanted a quieter space; you could sit in the lobby bar. I was very happy with this hotel and would stay there again.
321151,Msk6261,06/23/2005,Loved the Jury's Thanks Tripadvisor; the Jury's has another satisfied customer due to the postings here. We were not disatisfied with our choice......... this from former Boston residents. The hotel is centrally located (halfway between the Copley Arlington T stops; walking distance to Copley; Pru Center; Boston Commons; Newberry Street Shops; Boylston Theater district the Starbucks or Au Bon Pain that we frequented when we did not want the delicious but pricey hotel restaurant for breakfast).The rooms and all appointments are new and the whole hotel is tastefully decorated. Staff was helpful and courteous.We went for 2 rooms for our family with 3 kids and we had 2 rooms at the end of a hall across from each other. The plus for us ( I'm sure our neighbors) was that there was an additional door that cordoned off our end of the hallway which made our space more like a suite. I noticed that each floor had 2 sets of these so it's worth requesting for a family. It was sure a plus!Our rates were quite reasonable for a downtown city hotel too.I'm sold on this chain of boutique hotels. I hope they'll bring more to the States from Ireland.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,06/20/2005,I don't see it I read many terrific reviews of the Jurys on here; but I don't see what everyone is so impressed with. This is just a standard; average hotel with an above-average price tag. I expected a lot more.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,06/19/2005,Superb We travelled to Boston to see U2 in concert in May 2005; and we decided to stay at Jury's to fit with our Irish theme. We got an excellent rate ($139/night) on the hotel's website which we felt was outstanding for a hotel of this superior quality in this location (Back Bay). Speaking of location; the hotel is within a few minutes walking distance to the shopping districts of Boylston St. and Newbury St; and about a 15-20 minute brisk walk to Boston Common; Quincy Market; and the downtown area.The room was quite nice with fabulous amenities; including fine bed linens and Aveda bath products. This is definately a 4+ star hotel; and it certainly deserves all of the great reviews on tripadvisor.comI would certainly stay here again.
321151,eraserheadbaby,06/18/2005,Jurys was excellent After looking at the reviews of Jurys on this site I decided to book here; and was not disappointed. I was in a party of six and we all loved the hotel. Its in an excellent location and is a lovely hotel. From the minute we arrived 'till the end of our stay every single member of staff went out of their way to look after us. The hotel was immaculate; the bedrooms were lovely and the actual beds were out of this world! The restaurant (the Stanhope Grill) was nice and did a lovely breakfast. The bar downstairs Cuffs was great; a nice place to sit and have a well earned drink after a day of sight-seeing. It got pretty busy in the evening with the locals so it was also a great place to just sit and people-watch. We all loved eveything about Jurys and none of us can find one single fault with anything. i highly; highly recommend this hotel to anyone!
321151,rdk8,06/17/2005,recommended Stayed here for 3 nights June 2005. Pluses:-tastefully decorated-excellent service -large bathroomMinuses:-room was small-doors make a loud noise when slammed; you can hear it from inside the room-lobby restaurant is crowded and very loud at nightOn the whole; the pluses outweighed the minuses and I would definitely recommend the hotel.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,06/13/2005,Perfect for our wedding night... After researching Boston hotels on Trip Advisor; we decided to stay here on our wedding night on Memorial Day weekend. It was fantastic! They had upgraded us to a corner room. When we walked in; there was a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries and gourmet chocolates laid out for us; along with a bottle of champagne. The decor is modern; tasteful and warm. No tacky prints on the walls-- interesting artwork. The bathroom was great and stocked with Aveda products. Very nice touch! Beds are very comfortable.We ordered room service in the morning and the people were unbelievably friendly and prompt. The service here was great all around. I'll only mention a couple of things-- first; the bar that greets you when entering the hotel does detract from a relaxed atmosphere (although you leave it all behind when up in your room) and the valet parking is expensive; although not unusual for Boston-- just something to keep in mind when budgeting for your stay. I think it was $36 for one night. All in all; if we didn't live five miles away; we would definitely stay here again. The special feeling of our wedding day was enhanced by our night at Jurys. I highly recommend it!!!
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,06/07/2005,Jurys- The jury is in- it is a winner with a couple of dissenting votes! We loved the location; the rooms were very comfortable and well appointed. The coffee bar in the morning and as wine bar at night were real plusses. The concierge staff and front desk staff were very helpful. On a dissenting note - took 3 days to get extra hangers from housekeeping. The lobby entrance; glass staircase etc are not welcoming as you arrive to a huge din of people in a very crowded bar- some nights they were lined up on the street to get in. The restaurant is pleasant; serves good food but suffers from almost being unable to get to given the crush of people at the bar.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,06/04/2005,Great Hotel; good location Jury's exceeded our expectations from the time of our arrival to our final farewells. We arrived in Boston at 9:00 am and fully expected to check into the hotel but have to wait until noon or later to actually get into our room. Not so at Jury's! The receptionist had a room ready for occupancy and called for the bellhop. Within a matter of minutes; we were handed our door cards and led to the elevator for the beginning of our weekend. Once we entered our room; we were once again pleasantly surprised by the relaxing contemporary decor; absurdly plush bed (which I will get to in a moment); and huge bathroom with a full size walk-in shower! The shower has double shower heads for those hard to reach places. Shortly after; the bellhop delivered our luggage; gave us a tour of the room and all of the amenities in it. Explained the layout of the hotel and suggested that if we needed any further service to call the front desk and ask for Keith. I know that this is probably more of the routine learned at the initial training but his demeanor and pleasant smile made me feel like this was going to be a wonderful weekend.Once we were situated in the room; I took a minute to relax and test out the 'absurdly plush bed' I spoke of earlier. Let me give you a brief description of what that means. The bed was a standard king; long in width and short in length. The bed was covered with 2 decorative pillows; 4 rather large feather down pillows; an overstuffed comforter and underneath that was a feather down blanket. The mattress was pillow top and very; very thick. All in all; the assembled bed reminded me more of a colorful cloud than an actual bed. Needless to say; I had the best rest in a very long time in that bed.The only drawback is that the room was a little small. But you should expect that if you are going to stay in a hotel that was renovated from a very old police station. In the end; it really doesn't matter that much. Who goes on a trip to relax in a room?Lastly; after exiting the hotel; we come to location. With all of the outstanding things listed above about Jury's; there is the issue of location that keeps me from rating it a 5. The location isn't bad at all; in fact it is in the charming South End. You are only minutes from Copley Square and Newbury Street (SHOPPING!) or Boston Common for a relaxing day in the park. Unfortunately; it is located a good 20 minute or more walk from the famed Faneuil Hall and Hanover Street in the North End. You will probably use some type of vehicular transportation for the more famous sites like Fenway Park; Harvard; and Boston Harbor. Although that could be said for about any hotel in the central area. Depending on where you stay determines where you can walk to and where you will have to ride to.One last note more for Jury's than anything. You should change the 3-D holographic design in your elevators. It's so big and so out of place with the rest of the European design.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,06/01/2005,The Jury is in Loved this hotel. I brought a group here and we could not have been treated better. From Colin in reservations to the entire front desk staff we were treated wonderfully. Great room with lots of the little amenities that most hotels overlook. The bar was first rate again with great service. Let me emphasize SERVICE; they do it right. I could go on and on but let me just say; do not overlook this gem in the Back Bay.
321151,chickenlittle1,05/31/2005,Absolutely loved this hotel! We recently stayed at Jurys on a trip to Boston and I was absolutely blown away by the experience. The hotel is perfectly located; close to both Copley Square/Prudential as well as the Boston Common area. The hotel rooms are luxurious; from the beds to the televisions; and of course the amazing bathrooms. There are plenty of places nearby if you feel like going out; but if you feel like staying in; the in-house bar is a really fun place to just hang out. The staff is very friendly and extremely helpful; we got excellent advice on public transportation; places to eat; and sights to see.Overall I would say this is one of the absolute best hotels I have ever stayed in. We are definitely sold and are Jurys customers for life!
321151,NewChapter,05/09/2005,Not a real 4-star hotel (yet) At first; the hotel seems to be a one of high standards and quality. However; staying there brought to light some matters and lack of finesse that you would not expect to find in a hotel that charges as much as it does.鈥?A faulty water feature that made the main fancy staircase tricky to walk on 鈥?Room doors that cannot be closed without being noisy and most people seemed to end up slamming theirs; at all hours 鈥?Hair left in shower from previous occupant (and which was not cleaned after being reported and after the housekeeper had completed her round) 鈥?No soap 鈥?Beds are overly sumptuous; too soft and too high 鈥?The bedding and unnecessary accoutrements are too fussy and the pillows too soft (no choice is offered) 鈥?Rooms are quite warm if the window is closed and a/c not used (a/c is noisy to sleep with) 鈥?Toilet pans give splashback to men and plastic seats move around 鈥?Toilet paper is fragile/flaky and breaks up in your hand 鈥?No towel hooks where they are needed; near the shower 鈥?No trouser press even though there is plenty of room for one 鈥?No clothes caddy 鈥?Missing hair dryer 鈥?Few power sockets; some not where needed 鈥?No backup umbrellas 鈥?Expensive movies 鈥?Most annoying is the function room in the lower ground area which is not sectioned off from the Entry and Reception area (nor has any doors to it). The result of this incomprehensible design decision is that guests are greeted by a phenomenally loud wave of general cacophony from the 75+ people gathered there each time you leave/enter the hotel from early evening onwards. It was not clear if this room is for guests only or if the hotel hires the room out for private use.Perhaps the above would not become issues in a $40 a-night hotel; but somewhere that charges upwards of $185 per night should not be having any of these problems. Better attention should have been paid to the details that affect guests (such as the ones listed above) and not on niceties such as the entrance statue; mesmerising lift walls; a sand-blasted staircase or a cascading water feature; nice as they all are but add nothing to a guest鈥檚 comfort or benefit. In my view; the hotel should not charge more than $80 a night until the above are all resolved.The hotel can be commended for the following;Good overall design; style and d茅cor 鈥?Room furniture 鈥?Bathroom quality and design 鈥?Knowledgeable and helpful staff (except grumpy concierge) 鈥?Handy location 鈥?Turn down service.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,05/06/2005,What a Hotel! In a word - Amazing! A beautifully designed hotel which combines traditional with contemporary. We were greeted by the pleasant Irish staff and escorted to our impressive bedroom. It was like sleeping on a cloud!!!!Bathrooms and accessories are first class with a guest business centre boasting free internet access. Having had a problem with luggage we needed some additional toiletries and housekeeping promptly provided these free of charge.The location is superb and we hope to go back and stay here again within the next year.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,05/02/2005,Absolutely Wonderful! Bathroom
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,04/29/2005,Great Hotel I stayed here for business and loved it. Very nice rooms; new hotel and staff was very accomodating. Great place for business and pleasure!
321151,josiegrammer,04/19/2005,Great place to stay Spent a weekend at the Jury's and found it to be a fabulous hotel especially for the price. The rooms were nice and comfortable; service was also very good; and it is in a convenient location. There weren't any mini bars in the rooms but there was free bottled water. Also no coffee makers however the coffee bar in the lobby was fine for me. The only thing that might bother some people is that the hotel bar is very popular; to the point where we waited three deep at the bar for at least 10 minutes for a drink. So if you don't mind a scene then you should be more than heppy.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,04/07/2005,"Welcome Home" After checking reviews of Jurys on this site we decided to book the hotel for our recent trip to Boston (April 1st to 5th).Needless to say we weren't disappointed; Jurys was an absolute delight from start to finish. After the warm Welcome home greeting from Jean at the front door things continued to get better with a free upgrade at check in; there was no waiting in line and within minutes of getting out of the taxi we were settling in our room. The room itself was very well furnished; nice big bed with the most comfortable pillows I've ever had in a hotel. Nice touch to find a couple of bottles of free mineral water in the fridge; no coffee or tea making facilities in the room may annoy some people but we never use them anyway. Bathroom was superb; all marble finish; spotlessly clean with lots of towels and comfy robes; also the Aveda toiletries were a definite touch above the usual standard of hotel freebies.Housekeeping was very efficient and the turn down service was a nice touch too.We used the Cuffs bar on several occasions and found it very friendly and quite lively with a good atmosphere; staff were great and made sure we never went thirsty!We very rarely use hotel restaurants as we prefer to eat out and sample the local culinary scene; but one particular night we were taking a pre-dinner drink in Cuffs and decided due to the weather to stay on and eat in at the Stanhope Grill. The food was superb and well priced too but it was the standard of service that made the evening - never imposing or over the top but you always felt that nothing was too much trouble; once again the staff were top notch. The buffet breakfast too was excellent and at $15 was reasonable; please don't be put off by the mental image of a typical buffet as this was well above the usual standard with fresh cakes and nice pastries to finish off.Another big plus was the location of Jurys with a good spot in Back Bay; the refined shopping and cafes of Newbury Street are about a 5 minute stroll away; turn left out of the door and you have good shopping at Croxley Plaza also just minutes away. To Downtown Crossing and the more mainstream venues of Macys; Fileunes etc it would take approx 20 minutes - in fact there aren't many places that you can't walk to in reasonable time. I would recommend a trip to North End (little Italy) to sample the atmosphere; if you can you must have cappucino with chocolate biscotti at Mikes Pastries on Hanover Street and I defy anybody to leave without buying a box full of goodies!Also the usual draws of the Freedom Trail; Boston Common; Theatre District; Faneuils; Quincys Market etc are well within reach of anybody with reasonable mobility - we never had to use a taxi the whole trip.I think an earlier reviewer made an excellent point about Jurys; something like it being a smaller scale Ritz? Well this just about sums up Jurys; a nice size hotel in an architecturally novel building (the former Boston police headquarters) which avoids the impersonality and anonymity of it's larger contemporaries whilst giving a much warmer; friendly feel that pervades through the whole establishment.All in all Jurys was definitely a Welcome Home from home to us in Boston and will certainly be again for future trips.
321151,Tonymac,04/04/2005,Excellent hotel and staff TV and fridge unit
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,04/04/2005,Terrific Staff Jurys more than lived up to my expectations on my recent weekend trip to Boston! The staff was amazing ALL weekend long and to an individual they were extremely personable and professional. The most difficult part of our weekend was trying to choose where to go for dinner each night; as there are countless places withing short walking or cab-ride distance. Being several block away from the Copley/Pru Malls was also appreciated by some in the party. We will stay here again in a heartbeat!
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,02/27/2005,Great service at Jurys Boston We recently returned from a very enjoyable 5 night stay at Jury's Hotel in Boston. The service was very good; and all staff that we encountered were; without exception superb. The rooms; whilst not that large; were well equipped; very comfortable and quiet. As the hotel opened under a year ago; everything feels clean and new.We ate in both Cuffs Bar (nice atmosphere; but gets very busy on Saturday evening) and The Stanhope Grille (more expensive; but worth it); and would recommend both. If we had to make any criticism; albeit it a small gripe; it would be that the bar in the lounge area was only ocassionally staffed. It was extremely cold during our stay; and it was very welcoming to sit in the lounge; by the fire; on our return from site seeing. It would have been even better if we could have got a coffee; without having to venture into the bar.The hotel is very centrally situated in the Back Bay area which is just minutes walk from Boston Common and the City Centre.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,02/27/2005,Jury's relaxed; friendly and fun Just returned from a 5 night stay at Jury's and it more than lived up to the reviews we'd read on Tripadvisor before booking. The location is great for theatres; downtown and nearby shopping on Newbury and Boylston. Even with temperatures at -10degrees we walked everywhere! Concierge; and indeed all of the staff; was very friendly and helpful recommending restaurants and booking tickets. A choice of excellent dining options literally on the doorstep and the hotel's own bar is a lively and popular spot with residents and locals. Room was great; with the most comfortable beds; fluffy robes; CD player and Aveda toiletries giving a luxurious touch - really felt pampered after a hard day shopping! Would definitely return to Jury's on any future visit to Boston.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,02/22/2005,Trendy but well-run hotel We stayed at the Jurys over the Presidents Day weekend and had a lovely time. The hotel is well-located in the Back Bay area but within walking distance of the South End and even Beacon Hill. All staff were helpful and friendly; the breakfasts were filling and good value; and the Irish bar was a pleasant place to enjoy a pint. The hotel is modern and feels 'trendy' but without the obnoxious service that often accompanies trendiness. Rooms were average size but nicely laid out and on higher floors have reasonable views of the city. All in all good value and a definite place to return to.
321151,biogal,02/20/2005,Loved this hotel! I spent 3 nights at the Jurys over the New Year and I can't wait to go back and stay again! The staff was extremely helpful with tips on what to see and where to eat. The hotel itself was very cool (we all loved the lighted staircase and the beautiful fireplace in the bar) and the room was fantastic. The beds were very comfortable; the stereo came in very handy and the bathroom was fantastic with a heated towel rack and Aveda bath products (we went through a lot of Rosemary Mint shampoo and conditioner). There's also built in shelves for toiletries and what not. Then there's the location... the hotel is only a few blocks from the great shopping on Newbury St. and Back Bay is a great neighborhood. If you're going to Boston; you've got to check out this hotel!
321151,mickeystoll,02/19/2005,Excellent my wife and I stayed here for seven nights over the new year 2005. excellent hotel perhaps a smaller style top class Hilton type hotel nothing was aproblem and the room and bed were superb! highly recommended......
321151,Gerard49,01/19/2005,Jurys Boston was Great We stayed for 3 nights days 14th January /17th; lovely hotel very comfortable beds and the best pillows i have ever slept on; hotel bar cuffs great with atmosphere; food in the hotel; was good and a big plus the best steak house in Boston right across the street; reservations Friday and Saturday are essential so book through the hotel the name is Grill 23; you will email and thank me for this one.
321151,fruscib,01/19/2005,Very Nice and I like it too!!! I read all the reviews of Jury's and decided that it was a little pricey for a single Mom staying over a night to return her daughter to college however us girls have to have fun! We were lucky it was snowing and the city's parking rules were suspended for the MLKwkend so we parked for free across the street!! Better than 34.00 for parking. The doorman was so nice and sweet helping us in from the blazing snow and hailing us a cab a little later. Check in was quick. The room was very nice and the college student loved the wireless internet. I loved the hot shower and the robe!!! We went to the bar after returning from dinner and the fireplace and the fun crowd were great on a snowy Sunday night. A nice big glass of wine was 6.50 !!! The down bed and linens were divine!!! No street noise and in fact the curtians pulled tight gave off no light or noise; we slept until 10 am. Althought the prior comments about the slamming doors was true; I only noticed at night. The breakfast buffet was fine but a bit pricey @ 15.00 each... we just couldn't eat that much cheaper breakfast can be found. Check out was a breeze!!! Very nice staff and decor. Glad I paid 185.00 over 200.00 I would not be as happy!!! It's the luck o' the Irish!!!!
321151,lakeshore,01/13/2005,Perfect! My boyfriend and I recently went on our first trip to Boston and choose Jury's because we knew of their excellent reputation in Ireland. We couldn't have been happier with our choice. Our room was beautiful; and very tastfully decorated. The bed was so cozy . . . everything down. The bathroom was huge and felt spa-like. Overall; it was homey and didn't make you feel like you were in some boring chain hotel. Also the bar downstairs was great!
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,01/03/2005,Great rooms; great location We stayed in the hotel for the first time in late December 2004. It is centrally located; the rooms are spotless; and the beds are particularly cozy. The hotel design is fun and modern. The bar also has a great buzz about it.My only criticism is that the valet parking is painfully slow and very expensive. It took about 20 minutes to get our car; and this was at 2 PM without a major event at the hotel. All in all; an excellent stay; and this will be our hotel of choice in Boston from now on.
321151,Firgael,12/21/2004,Excellent Boston Hotel Jury's recently opened hotel in Boston; a superb renovation of the old Boston police headquarters; is a great addition to this premier Irish group. Nice location in Back Bay. Well done; very comfortable rooms. Mostly Irish staff. Pub and restaurant are top notch and quite popular locally. Altogether; a wonderful base in the city.
321151,AtlantaKoko,12/19/2004,Wow!!!! My family and I stayed at this brand new hotel for 4 nights (12/7 to 12/11/2004) and it was wonderful. A small and cozy hotel with professional staffs that are eager to help you with any problem or issue you may have during your stay. The decor is very modern and innovative as well. Especially the fireplaces they have in the lobby is quite interesting. The free internet access inside the room and at the business center was a welcome sight to make nightly checks on my emails and conduct research online.Great job!!!
321151,Taisteal,11/30/2004,All trace of the cops is gone This may have the old police headquarters in Boston; but not a trace of its forensic past remains. The gorgeous building has been transformed into a stylish; comfortable; friendly; home from home in Boston. Located in the Back Bay area; just behind the John Hancock Tower; it is steps from everywhere.The bedrooms are well fitted out with very comfortable; feather-topped mattresses. if you can't sleep here; you can't sleep anywhere. Staff are very friendly and everyone seems to do everything. Dinner at the Stanhope Grill is a must; or even breakfast. Bostonians seem to have discovered Cuffs Bar and it is lively; even at the weekends.
321151,L52094,11/18/2004,Jurys Is A Hit Stayed for 2 nights; one for business the other for vacation. I can't wait to go back.I was very impressed with the ammenities; huge plush cotton towels; Aveda toiletries; down comforter and pillows; very comfy bed; nice robes; even an umbrella in the closet. Gorgeous fabrics furnishings. My room was on the small side; but the luxurious appointments more than made up for it. I also highly recommend the waffles for breakfast; I think they were the best I've ever had!I would recommend trying this hotel.
321151,CapeC,11/15/2004,A beautiful and unique hotel We stayed at Jury's for a weekend in Boston; and Wow - it is exquisite. The decor and amenities are first rate in every respect. The hotel restaurant looked terrific; too; but we ate somewhere else. Next time we'll just go downstairs. Jury's is not cheap; we paid about 240$ before taxes; but compared to other similarly priced hotels in Boston; I'd say it was the best that I know.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,11/10/2004,Great place Service and staff was absolutely excellent. Rooms are very nice with upgraded amenities. Stayed here for business and would highly recommend. We did extensive research and found this to be one of the most affordable places. Nice breakfast buffet for $16.00. good location.
321151,Angietraveljunkie,11/01/2004,Jury's is a superb hotel We have just returned from touring New England; our trip included a three night stay in Boston at The Jury's Inn. The Hotel is superb; the quality of the furnishings and decor is excellent as is the cleanliness. The towels were changed twice a day and when we came back to the room in the evening it had been tidied ; the bed turned down and soft music was playing. The reception staff were friendly and extremely efficient as were all the staff. the hotel must rank as one of the best in Boston; I would not hesitate to recommend this Hotel to anyone; enjoy the luxury!
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,10/14/2004,Excellent Hotel; but.. watch out for valet parking!! We just had gotten back from PR; and YES.. Storm/Hurraciane Jeanne spoiled most of our vacation. So; we still had a few days off and booked 3 more nights at Jurys. New property in the neighborhood.. And something about staying at a former Police station was; well.. U know.... The hotel is absolutely beautiful.. The room was magnificent. The bathroom... wow. Shower glass stall; separate tub; bathrobes; and the shower has a little surprise..... The beds; you get lost in them. The food; outstanding. The French Onion Soup;; ooollalla... Room service outstanding. The burgers downstairs; fat and juicey. We had a car for two nights only. I even informed the doorman and valet guy that the car was no longer in the premises. At check-Out time; there was an extra $34.00 added to my bill.. Well; I said that was incorrect. And the attitude was like I was lying. I live down the street!!! The valet company is not owned by the hotel... blah; blah; blah... I got the account straighten out; but I almost paid the $34.00 just to get it over with. When I got home; 5 minutes later; I did call and spoke to a manager.... She offer free dinner; free drinks.. I said. NO thanks... I will be back; but I will be walking like I should have done right from the start...
321151,Peggy21,10/11/2004,Great time at Jurys Boston Hotel October 11;2004My husband and I just returned from a weekend in Boston and stayed at the Jurys Boston Hotel. After reading the the good reviews on tripadvisor I booked the reservation and was not disappointed. The location was ideal close to the T and shopping at Copley and Newberry st. The rooms were adequete in size and one should be out and about in a town like Boston and not holed up in your room! The check in was friendly with Claire and the bellman told us about the restaurant Skipjack just a few blocks away that was fabulous. And after walking all day to come back to your room with a wonderful bed to snuggle in was lovely. Both the room and bathroom are nicely appointed in soothing colors and the heated towel rack was a plus. We had room service both mornings and though the menu is not extensive it did take only 10 minutes to get to us. We will definitely be back.
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,10/05/2004,The 'Jury' is still out! Disappointing say. The hotel is very new and is in places not yet finished ( walls not painted; missing panels etc.) The fixtures in our room were showing signs of coming apart (Draps hanging of the rail which was losse to the wall)The bar is very popular with the locals; especially at the end of the office day. Consequently when you descend as a hotel guest; you will be lucky to find somewhere to sit; and even more lucky to get decent service.Got a wake up call at 7:00am which we did not request; and when explaining our concerns to the front desk; they were totally not interested; they did not even respond to our comments!!We valet parked our car; and whilst waiting at the door for our car to be returned; the young man waiting to escort us to the car; began explaining how he was tempted to take some of the better cars for a spin around the block; infact I may just do that one day he continued...not with my car; we will not be back!Punjabi
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,10/04/2004,Best in Boston A fabulous new hotel in Boston; good location; great service; excellent restaurant and elegant decor. Very smart but very friendly and welcoming to our family of four.
321151,beachboy1,09/28/2004,Super Property showReview(2606479; 'full');
321151,craiginnycNewYorkNY,09/24/2004,Almost perfect; except for the constant door slamming showReview(2597362; 'full');
321151,2travelrs,08/24/2004,Great stay! showReview(2491644; 'full');
321151,magrose621,08/24/2004,Jurys is a must-stay! showReview(2491503; 'full');
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,08/16/2004,Hurry before the secret gets out! showReview(2453659; 'full');
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,08/04/2004,Verdict is in showReview(2399930; 'full');
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,07/30/2004,Could not have been any better... showReview(2339648; 'full');
321151,ATripAdvisorMember,07/27/2004,It would be a crime to stay anywhere else! showReview(2325264; 'full');
321151,hanlonjewl,07/18/2004,Beautiful New Jurys Hotel showReview(2306208; 'full');
321151,pamsrollz,07/17/2004,brand new and trying to be the best showReview(2304825; 'full');
321151,PaulriceVercelli,10/28/2008,Cortesia e buona posizione showReview(21344071; 'full');
321151,lass,08/31/2008,au calme et en centre ville showReview(19631353; 'full');
321151,lass,08/27/2008,Tr猫s agr茅able showReview(19631352; 'full');
321151,lass,08/26/2008,Tr猫s Bien mais un peu cher. showReview(19631351; 'full');
321151,laubia,08/23/2008,Otiima sistemazione centrale. l'esterno
321151,valtellina,08/19/2008,Tolles Hotelambiente showReview(19111647; 'full');
321151,StrasbourgBbbb,08/17/2008,Tr猫s bien. showReview(19054210; 'full');
321151,lass,08/08/2008,bon hotel pour un couple sans enfants showReview(19631350; 'full');
321151,lass,08/07/2008,hotel tres bien place avec bon accueil showReview(19631349; 'full');
321151,lass,07/01/2008,Tr猫s bon choix pour s茅journer 脿 Boston showReview(18530377; 'full');
321151,lass,06/14/2008,Un buen hotel showReview(17430384; 'full');
321151,lass,06/04/2008,Top Lage; super Hotel; besser geht es nicht showReview(17430383; 'full');
321151,lass,06/02/2008,Parfait en tout point ! showReview(17430371; 'full');
321151,lass,04/30/2008,Sans faute showReview(15564708; 'full');
321151,hemba,03/25/2008,Gutes Hotel; aber leider nicht sehr umweltbewu脽t showReview(14521243; 'full');
321151,lass,03/21/2008,Best location in Boston showReview(14730338; 'full');
321151,lass,10/14/2007,Gut gelegen showReview(11661128; 'full');
321151,velsatys,09/25/2007,Une adresse de r茅f茅rence 脿 Boston Lobby
321151,belier,01/12/2007,Excellent Hotel showReview(6583190; 'full');
321151,lass,09/19/2006,Superlativo showReview(11349260; 'full');
325334,traveladdict78,01/09/2009,Perfect for a little bit of everything View out to see from hotel beach - lovely to walk out when tide is out
325334,caddyandbellA,12/27/2008,Unwind and relax Sunrise Griya Santrian sanur
325334,RGCM,12/19/2008,Great stay Great location in Sanur; spacious rooms and friendly staff - a good choice.
325334,Shortvehicle,11/22/2008,Griya Santrian is a must for any discerning World traveller Confirmation that this hotel is everything that you read in the reviews. The people are very friendly; and really cannot do enough to make your stay as comfortable and enjoyable as you could wish for.We got a room upgrade when we arrived; and can recommend the Beach Wing rooms. less than 50mts to the pool; another 30mts to the Beach. how lazy do you want to be? oh all right then... the Massage bay with five girls to pamper you is between the rooms and the pool... (The brochure photos of Pool and Beach do not really do the hotel Justice. They are much better when you see them in front of you. The Hotel is also constantly updating and improving facilities; Rooms etc. I am told this by Aussies who were there also; and who go back every year.For Breakfast; I would recommend skipping out to the Mona Lisa restaurant over the road from the entrance. This place is one of the best for food in the resort. The Picadilly Pub is not given a name to do justice to its food and the sporadic entertainments they also put on. Everything is so far above what you expect. Forget the 'Pub' tag; because that is not what it is all about.Taxi and driver can be at your beck and call for the day at a price of less that 拢20 including fuel. (negotiate hard; then add a tip. They like that.Be warned... it is hot in the tropics close to the equator; so don't plan too much jogging and aerobics... The bars will assist you in raising your glass full of Bintang Beer (very good) but if you have a taste for (say) Gin; you will need to go to the hotel Tandjung Sari (go to beach; Turn left; walk about 50mts.(you will soon get the hang of this).I also recommend you take a Jukung boat (Outriggers style Canoe) to the reefs. You probably won't see many fish etc; but the experience and cool breeze is worth it. The boatman will also tell you loads about Bali.Girls... Get you nails done etc by Mary. she is easy to find...go to beach; Turn right; walk about 20mts (you got it yet?). absolutely everything is where you want to find it.Trip into Kuta if you must; but you could do more interesting things with your time...(Another Bintang). Iced Capuccino is pretty good at the Griya Santrian too. They will even bring them to you on the beach.Food is great just about everywhere in Sanur. Cannot really put you off trying just about anywhere to eat. Try the Nasi Goreng; Mie Goreng; and Tom Yang Goom soup; Try Black Rice Pudding and Fried Ice Cream; and you just have to have at least one Arak...Neat.Trips out.... Go by Taxi yourself...You will see more; do more; and return in fair state.Bali Bird Park is very interesting. Pricey maybe; but when you get in there you understand why... can't say more; or I would spoil it for you. There are Komodo Dragons (you will find them...) and there are Geckos absolutely everywhere. Be also aware that Bugs in the tropics are a little bit bigger than those here.....Oh all right.... They are HUGE... but don't worry; you will be fine.Tanah Lot looks impressive; and so does the Sea there; but the memories are of Fruit Bats and enormous Snakes basking in the sun with their Keeper...(next meal perhaps?)Seriously; If Bali is on your 'Must Do' list (and it should be) then the World's number two most popular Island will be a definite high point of your life.Don't expect alcoholic stupours; Kids everywhere screaming; or a rushed; noisy place full of Hi-Tech gadgetry shops; because it is not the costa brava.Go to Bali with an open mind expecting to be pleasantly surprised that EVERYTHING you want in a holiday is there.Start by booking the Griya Santrian as your base; and then come back and confirm that all I have written is the truth.Enjoy; and here's to the next tick on my list.
325334,Explorer003,11/16/2008,Perfect choise My husband and I spent two weeks in Bali during March/April this year. We decided to book a hotel for the first night only as we wanted to find accommodation for the rest of our holiday as we go. We booked the Griya Santrian for our first night in Bali as it is close to the airport in Denpasar. The hotel was great. Perfectly located on the beach. Clean. Really friendly and helpful staff. Good food and a choise of 3 different restaurants as well as a pool bar. We ended up staying for 3 nights spending quality time on the beach and by the pool bar drinking cocktails. Sanur is also a brilliant town. Nice shops and good bars. We really enjoyed our stay at the Griya Santrian and Sanur and will definitely go back if we ever get the chance to go back to Bali - which I hope is very soon.
325334,Sduo,10/17/2008,Gorgeous location Deluxe rooms - bungalow style
325334,Ursie57,10/10/2008,Loved the location New pool near garden rooms
325334,truus,08/01/2008,Great location Griya Santrian a beautiful resort with a very well kept garden and a lot of old statues in the garden. Also very nice to see at night with all the lights. Breakfast was OK. We ate once in the restaurant which was OK as well. We also joined the BBQ on the beach. Special location and good food (Lobster; King Prawns (you pay for the weight); Chicken Kebab IDR 45.500; Sirloin Steak IDR 59.500). We had lunch at the Wantilan restaurant (main restaurant)or at the Italian restaurant; both with view to the beach. Club Sandwich 32.000; Cheese burger (and a good one!) 41.000; small beer 14.000; Pizza 44.500; mix fruit juices 13.500 and they were to die for!Laundry service was also available (t-shirt 7.500; shirt 10.500; trousers 12.000).We had a very large suite with a nice bathroom and dressing area. It was a pity that it was only one room away from the renovation works so there was a lot of noise from 08.30 AM till 05.30 PM. The works will be finished by now as the manager told us. There will be a new swimmingpool and some 25 rooms are renovated. We were only very disappointed about the reception staff. We never met unfriendly people during our vacation only at the reception of Griya Santrian. They did'n't give you that special feeling that we had in all other hotels on this trip. Cable internet should have been possible in the room (telephone connection)but it didn't work in our room and nobody could (or wanted!)clearly explain how it works so we went to a internet cafe which was nearby. Sanur is a quiet and cosy place. There are lot of shops and the path on the beach side is really great! You can have a nice stroll; passing shops; restaurants and a little market. Griya Santrian is just in the middle of the place.We had diner twice at Ming which was so great! Our last night at Bali we had a fabulous diner. The owner and his daughter were so kind; they recognized us after being there once! It isn't cheap but worth every Rupiah! We also ate at Charming . It's owned bij the same family but a different interior and menu. We loved it here as well!(. They bring you back to the hotel for free.
325334,ellajoshua,07/19/2008,paradise - we've found it We stayed from 6th June till 16th June. Wonderful Island; Friendly people; sea like bath water; lots of underwater fish to see when you snorkal. Fantastic food. This hotel is excellent; we have travelled all over the world and this is one of the best; cannot fault it. Rooms and pools lovely. Clean; helpful staff; nothing is too much trouble. Good selection at breakfast. Wonderful massages; pretty flowers; water features everywhere; inscence make for a wonderful atmosphere;I have no trouble in recommending this island or hotel.
325334,andychem18,07/15/2008,Great beach front hotel beach front
325334,WIWIKS,07/10/2008,4TH visit to this hotel;very special hotel;and each and every staff very nise Wedding vows renewal
325334,TONY19690,06/12/2008,Avoid room 144 or any other connected room to 145 Pools excellent; standard room very dated but currently undergoing a refurbishment; swim up bar and staff excellent; beach very good; but my only complaint was the management not investigating my issue with client in room 145.We arrived and on the first night could hear noise thought it was a local bar; then we realised it was the Guest in room 145 (european) playing loud house music until 04:00 hrs every morning i have a 9 yr old daughter who was woken every night by music and singing.This client actually works in bali (possible timeshare) and often return to his room at midnight then the noise starts the hotel failed to act on my complaint and so it was 14 nts of HELL.Please;Please;Please ensure you avoid these rooms because he has no respect for any other guests allocated rooms next to him.Unless you fancy the Kuta style nightlife please check room number at reception on arrival.
325334,garyhigg,06/11/2008,A perfect place for a perfect honeymoon! Sanur Beach
325334,CoffsHarbourKahuna,06/06/2008,Home away from Home or Paradise My wife and I have been returning to the same hotel now for at least the past 6 years. We return for the same reasons; year after year.1. The Staff are continually trying to make your stay one that you will always remember.Bar staff excellent; wait staff excellent; house staff look after you like a king;excellent; front office staff always a smile and will do anything for you excellent. During our stays we have been to functions; wined and dined and also had pizzas and snacks; the meals are second to none; the hotel has a great head chef and very good team of chefs. This is why the hotel has a high occupancy; the staff and facillities are like a magnet; they keep on dragging you back to paradise. See you in 2008. David Kerry Rose Australia.
325334,roadtrip2005,05/23/2008,Great stay Lovely hotel right on the beach. Nice bedrooms and great breakfasts.The staff were very friendly and the beach was mostly deserted. Recommended
325334,Randello,05/21/2008,A good value family run hotel Stayed at the Griya Santrian for a couple of weeks in late April/May 2008. Stayed in a modern block by the garden pool. A great quiet room. Had a lovely tranquil stay; the food was of good quality and value; especially the beach bbq on the Monday night. The staff were friendly and attended to our needs; the towel system worked fine for us. A couple of minor gripes; the taxi guy at reception is not worth using as the charges he quotes are way over the mark. People have obviously complained about small lizards in their room (they are very useful mosquito eating animals and would do no harm to humans) and so the hotel has resorted to spraying the garden each Friday evening to get rid of the bugs; which is a shame. But these were small matters on an otherwise fabulous time at the hotel and for what we paid for; a real bargin.
325334,cheapflashpacker,05/14/2008,Love the location; but room is disappointing... Poolside beach with swim-up bar
325334,sydandfi,04/20/2008,sydandfiona England ok but On arrival very friendly and helpful staff--the gardens were well kept and tidy--easy walk to the beach also well kept and tidy--the food in the restaurant was excellent.The room a deluxe was ok and cleaned daily to a good standard (by Ratu) but you could always find strange little creatures scampering about (not his fault just plenty of them in that part of the world)Now the downside--a/c not really good enough--a disco banging away on the main street outside the comlex till the early hours--strange smells from the toilet and when we left after two weeks nobody on the desk said goodbye--the bell-boy didn;t turn up so we dragged the cases down ourselves -no big deal but it would have been a nice touch if somebody on the front desk had made the effort----in all a good holiday just slightly spoilt at the end
325334,Brenny50,04/15/2008,Not Impressed 3 of us shared a beach wing room at griya Santrian last week. Our travel agent recommended it as it had newly built beach wing rooms that she had had good reports on.On arrival we were put into a very old room. It was very large; but the aircon was not strong enough for the room. When asked about the new rooms; we were told they were already full and that my request had been only for beach wing and that the new beach wing rooms were deluxe (surely travel agent for New Horizons should have known that; and I'm pretty sure I paid for the new beach wing!)First morning we got towels for pool and had a swim and sunbathed. Handed back towels to get towel coupon back; then went for shopping. A few hours later we went back to hotel to have a swim. Firstly the pool had run out of towels (this was only 5pm) and when we complained were told we had already had a towel that day and should not have another. Was not impressed and won't be back.
325334,johnandjill,02/16/2008,One of the best We've just returned from a 4 week holiday in this hotel and enjoyed all aspects of our stay immensely. We paid a little extra for a de-luxe room which was delightful and also looked at 2 different ordinary rooms which were also very good. The hotel has a superb position; is maintained to a very high standard and the staff are almost universally smiley and helpful.The only reason that we have not rated it excellent is the lack of any smoke-free area in the restaurant. With chain-smoking guests at all meals (including breakfast) this was something of a problem. However; we mentioned this small glitch to the splendid hotel manager before leaving; so; hopefully; some remedial action will be taken.We would readily return for aother holiday at the Griya Santria and it says much for its quality that many people we met do go back year after year.John and Jill Feb 2008.
325334,jessyyarrow,01/13/2008,Too noisy Stayed here Dec 06/Jan 07 with a friend who had stayed at Griya 3 years ago. She had no problems on her first stay but was shocked to find how noisy it has become. Very loud music from bars out in the street until 4.00am! We asked to move to another room after 2 nights. If you stay here make sure you get a room beachfront as much too noisy down the back of the complex. Didn't find the staff overly helpful when we asked to be moved as we had to ask a couple of times. We still ended up with a room that was only marginally better.Staff are certainly aware of the noise issue and and we found out also that other guests had similar complaints. The Griya isn't cheap accommodation and I expect better frankly.
325334,reis08,01/13/2008,Loved it! the big pool Griya Santrian
325334,traveldiva888,12/27/2007,Heading Back For More On our first stay here; I was surprised at the quality of accommodation for the price. For under $200 a night; we stayed at the Santrian Suite for a week! Glad we did as we spent quite a lot of time indoors (the humidity in November was quite high). The suite is spacious with a contemporary design. There were separate dressing area and a large bath suite with glass enclosed shower and deep tub.The front desk manager is the real gem of this property. Everything we wanted; he arranged for us - yoga in the morning; a shopping trip in town; fishing; tours; and a special menu. Agreed with previous review that the place does attract a more senior; and more laid back client猫le. The restaurant by the beach has a very limited menu which is another drawback; but their service is prompt and friendly. With the traditional Balinese features; a large beachside pool with a sunken bar; and it's own stretch of beach; this has got to be one of the best holiday deals! Going back for more in February!
325334,ADTHEMAG,12/26/2007,An absolute gem This is a small hotel; about 100 rooms;set in tropical gardens; right on the beach in Sanur;and within three minutes walk of the main street with numerous restuarants and shops. The hotel is well maintained and the staff are friendly and helplful; we stayed in the garden wing in a fairly basic room;it had no TV or tea/coffee makin facilities; but was spotlessly clean with a very efficient air conditioner; the balcony looked out over the beautiful gardens; with a pond and fountains; sitting there in the evening with a cool drink was a much better way of spending time than watching some drivel on the TV. There is a renovation programme underway; by next spring all the rooms will have been upgraded internally; but will kep their character externally. There are two swimming pools ; the beach pool is adjacent to the beach promenade; and has a swim up bar; the garden pool is smaller though has a wonderful setting; surrounded by flowering shrubs and trees ;an has a separate jacuzzi. The restaurant is near the beach pool; and offers views over the sea; breakfast is a buffet with eggs omlettes cooked to order ( do not prebook BB; we were quoted 拢7 per person per day by the tour company; it's about 拢3 bought directly from the hotel). Food is of a very good standard and very inexpensive by UK standards; the Sea Food Barbecue; held on the beach is excellent. I have stayed in many hotels both much larger and much more expensive the the Griya Santrian; though few if any have made such an impression; I tend not to return to hotel I have previously visited; though I will make an exception in this case; it's an absolute gem.
325334,deniseKearnsNsw,12/11/2007,tranqulity at the griya after checking out the internet for different hotels in the sanur beach area which is where we wanted to stay after staying at sanur on previous trips and seeing how beautiful and tranquil it is walking along the path at beach front to most of the hotels in sanur; months prior to booking our bali trip this year griya santrian would have to been one of my better choices of places to stay in bali after visiting the island for the 8th time and each time staying at different areas! I had contacted griya direct after booking the trip through our travel agent which had alreadygiven us a good price for staying in the beach wing room and asked their customer service people to try and put my son andhe's friend both 16yrs old sharing a twin room either next to our room or close by!! Kadek from griya's customer service had come back to me saying he had up-graded us to the deluxe rooms which were next to each other and what beautiful rooms they were... They were right next to the pool and beach; and sitting on the verandah of a morning was so pleasant and peaceful; just looking out over griya's beautiful and immaculate gardens and everyone walking past would always say good morning no matter what nationallity. My husband and I would go for a quiet swim around 9pm and stay in the pool for over 1hr just to hear the musicians playing and to gather our thoughts; because that is how peaceful it is and you can do that at griya! We all loved every thing about Griya from the staff; the area and the place itself; I cannot say enough about it; definatley will be returning and will tell everyone we know that is interested in travelling to bali about griya santrian and the tranquility feeling you get by just staying there!!
325334,Rubies,11/01/2007,Wonderufl; relaxing and nearly perfect We arrived at this hotel after checking out of a hotel at Jimbaran. Sanur is a perfect location and Griya Santrian is even better. Centrally located with beautiful pools and peaceful gardens. Breakfast is offered in their beachfront resturant which makes for a great way to start your day. We stayed in the deluxe rooms which were contemporary; spacious and relaxing. We had our 3 school aged children with us on this trip. They too enjoyed the ambience. We were completely comfortable with our children exploring the beachfront promenade without us during the day and equally comfortable at night where we discovered different restaurants each night without the swarm of honking cars and bikes. There is plenty to do and see or not do anything at all.
325334,kerrie7,09/22/2007,Lovely Holiday Just Home from fabulous Bali. The Griya is a great hotel so relaxing in a beautiful location. On arrival we upgraded our room and stayed in the new deluxe rooms- fantastic; modern; huge wet room; sofa on the balcony well worth the bit extra money. These new rooms have replaced the thatched roof cottages featured on most websites. Breakfast is nice eggs cooked to your preference; breads; fruit; quite a good selection. Eating it whilst looking at the sea makes it perfect. Lovely pool with a swim up bar and friendly service and a private section of the beach. We hired a driver; Dewa; from the hotel; (parks just out the front) and went to Jimboran for a fab seafood dinner sat right on the beach watching the sun set. He also took us to Dreamlands an amazing surfers beach about 50 mins away and into Kuta for a night out. Definatly hire a driver; they can take you where ever you want to go on the island; wait for you and bring you back to the hotel and are much much cheeper than booking over crowded trips via your holiday rep. Good restaurants in Sanur we visited were Piccadilly; front of the hotel turn right about 5 mins down the road; Village front of the hotel on the right and Pergola which is about a 15 min walk on the right. There are some nice restaurants along the beach front too. Nightlife in Sanur doesnt really exist although there are some bars that do open till late. Go for a drink or a meal at Mangos; left along the beach front from the hotel; the staff there are so friendly ask them anything about sanur where to go; shopping etc and they are full of helpful info. If your after a tattoo ask them about PJ an amazingly talented artist!Great hotel great place will go back ourselves and highly recommend it.
325334,vincec,09/16/2007,A little bit of Heavan hotel garden
325334,hmsdm,08/21/2007,a few things Disappointment on arrival as our room upgrades were not available. We had booked two rooms and had to wait 3 days for one room to be upgraded and 5 days for the other room.; we were only there for 10 days. Not good enough when you have booked better rooms. We were separated from our children and although the gardens of this hotel are fabulous it quite a distance from one room to another. Many older guests that go every year they all seem to know each other. The hotel itself is ok if you can get better rooms make sure you do it; standard rooms not brilliant. Pool area ok. Breakfast dissapointing. Beach lovely. Alot of building work going on although noise is minimal. Would not stay again.
325334,KatherineMarie,08/18/2007,Bali Highlights and Tips from a Recent Trip Bali Highlights and Tips from a Recent TripAgency to book with: Escapes Unlimited!! We were delighted working with Jane at Escapes Unlimited (www.escapesltd.com). She gave us choices for accommodations; answered numerous questions and gave us much good information. She made all arrangements for our flights; stopovers; accommodations and some guide services.Airline: Singapore Airlines is great! From the warm; moist towels given to each passenger on arrival; to the free beverages (including wine); to the menu choices; to the excellent service; to the myriad movie and other video and audio entertainment choices; to punctuality; everything was splendid! On the long flight home; we had requested exit seats and were fortunate to get the exit row that only allows two of the three seat sections to be booked; so we had plenty of room and even slept well!Accommodations: Griya Santrian in Sanur is lovely! The lush gardens surrounding the individual bungalows; the two swimming pools; the good restaurant; and; of course; the location right on the beach make this a great choice! Gamelon players at breakfast and live music of various varieties with dinner really added to the experience.Puri Saraswati in Ubud is also lovely! It is located on the former gardens of the palace grounds; right next to the temple to Saraswati (goddess of wisdom). The location is right in the midst of things in Ubud; but because it is set back considerably from the street; we had real sense of security and escape; but a ready access to events at nearby temples and the palace. Only breakfast is served here; but excellent restaurants are abundant nearby. The style here; too; is bungalows; with individual porches; spacious rooms; most pleasant service.Restaurants: In Sanur we only ate at our hotel; and our meals were very good; especially the seafood grill one evening; with candle lit tables set right on the sand.In Ubud: Caf茅 Lotus right next to the hotel looks out over the extensive lotus pond that is in front of the temple to Saraswati. We particularly liked their samosa.Miro鈥檚 Garden (up the street away from the Palace; a bit up and across from the Museum of Fine Art) is a very quiet place; up a flight of outside stairs to rooftop garden setting; with both open and enclosed tables; very nice presentation of food; good lassi and good chicken curry.Lamak Bali on Monkey Forest Road has a very modern atmosphere; unique menu items; and we enjoyed excellent seared scallops among other things. They also provide a nice service of free rides to patrons back to their hotels.Caf茅 Batan Warung; near the football field; is also partially open air; and there we enjoyed more chicken curry and steamed chicken wrapped in banana leaf teepees.Dirty Duck II; which is further out than the one on Monkey Forest Road; is situated literally among the rice fields. We walked along pathways over the rice; past several dining pavilions before reaching the last one; where we were seated; surrounded by greenery! The food was very good; especially the tuna kabob. Shops: Many; many; many! In Sanur; we enjoyed the first saroung and dress shop to the left from Griya Santrian on the wonderful brick walkway that runs along a major stretch of the beach. Also; in the Sanur Beach Market place that is off the walkway; look up Stall #39; where Studio Co-Operate painters Suana and Marco paint and sell their brilliantly colored paintings of Bali scenes (Note: bring som of the paper Marco wrapped our painting in to adhere to the painting when we unwrapped it.). In Ubud; down the main street; adjacent to the Oka Kartini Puppet Stage is the Oka Kartini Gallery; where we found quality puppets; masks and other artwork; and a most informative puppeteer-in-training who assisted us. Also; Threads of Life; down the alley way between Puri Saraswati and the street before the Palace; features all kinds of woven hangings and other work by a women鈥檚 cooperative of weavers from throughout Indonesia.Artists at work: Suana; mentioned above; is fun to watch; as he puts brilliant bits of color on the canvas and creates vivid scenes. Drive a short distance from Ubud to see I Ketut Darsana; puppet carver; at Br. Babakan; Sukawati (Telephone: (0361) 295012); he will demonstrate how he creates magnificent shadow puppets from treated hides; paints them and then demonstrates the various voices and tells the characteristics of major puppets and even will put on a brief shadow puppet show in the front room of his home! We were most impressed with the passion he has for his art! (And he sells his puppets at reasonable rates - approx.US$40.00 for the White Monkey puppet).Guides: I Putu Artama was the guide provided for us by Escapes Unlimited to greet us at the airport; take us to and from our two hotels and provide one day of sight seeing. He was most informative and took us to see our first temple; to a wood carving family and a silversmith. His information helped us understand what we were seeing and to learn much about Bali culture. He and his driver also; with the help of a suggestion in Lonely Planet Guide to Bali and Lombak; found the above puppet maker.Dewa Marco (dewamarco@hotmail.com) is a guide we learned about on Frommer鈥檚 Travel Talk section on Bali. He was most informative; as he transported us in his air conditioned car to lots of good places! We communicated with him before our arrival; asking for his suggestions; making some choices; and then being delighted when he took us to additional; unexpected sights along the way each of our three days together. Sights: Too numerous to mention! Check out Lonely Planet; talk with other travelers and your guides. Ubud abounds in traditional performances! Also; we want to mention the sunrises at Sanur. Everyone who travels to Bali raves about the sunsets; which are; no doubt lovely. We were never on the Western side of Bali; but we did get up at Sanur at 5:30 a.m. and saw a most beautiful sunrise! General Tips: Pump action bug spray was helpful. A mini-flashlight is also helpful; somewhat on the uneven sidewalks in Ubud at night; but definitely to read the menu at several of the restaurants at night! A lightweight; hooded sweater really helps with the occasionally chilly air on the flights. Be sure to keep your credit card receipts; as in Bali the whole number is printed on the receipt; so fraud is easier if someone finds a receipt in the trash.Peter and Katherine (kmconover@hotmail.com if you have some questions)
325334,RioRitaMandurah,06/28/2007,Favourite place in Bali is Sanur We stayed at the Griya Santrian in Sanur and were upgraded to a superior room which far out weighed the normal garden rooms. Our stay was very nice and we loved the walkway along the beach towards the market all the restaurants were on the beach of an evening.We now stay in the Bali Hyatt and the lovely walk is still there for those restaurants.We have seen all there is to see in Bali but we still go back for the relaxation of Sanur. It is a beautiful place. We do go into Kuta now and then for a change of scenery but are always pleased to get back to Sanur
325334,globedecker,05/08/2007,Wonderful in every way! After a night at a nearby hotel that was less than satisfactory we happened upon the Griya Santrian. Since they were not fully booked and it wasn鈥檛 high season we were able to negotiate a bit with the friendly supervisor who showed us a few rooms. These rates he quoted us were far less than the brochure price. The first and most basic room (superior - $65 including breakfast; tax; and service) we viewed was relatively plain and functional but clean and well maintained. It had a far more lavish exterior than interior; but was still a decent value considering the properties鈥?amenities. The second room (deluxe - $90 including breakfast; tax; and service) was much nicer with a good view; beautiful d茅cor and distinctive Balinese furniture. We agreed to take the second room and went back to reception. As we were registering he looked at his upcoming bookings and asked if we鈥檇 like to see a room that was 鈥渞eally special鈥?for the deeply discounted rate of $100 (including breakfast; tax and service) a night. We agreed and he showed us to a newly remodeled 鈥淕arden Suite鈥?which was at least twice the size of a deluxe room; beautifully decorated with a large canopy bed; had a dressing area and large closets; and was attached to a huge bathroom containing a sizeable bathtub and separate huge glassed-in shower. We quickly agreed and I said 鈥渉appy anniversary鈥?to my wife as we were walking back to the reception (we had been unable to spend our wedding anniversary two weeks prior in a nice locale); and upon hearing this; the supervisor asked if we were celebrating here. We explained that we had been unable to celebrate it a few weeks earlier; he nodded and smiled and we figured it was forgotten. Upon returning to our room after we had visited the pool later that afternoon; two complimentary desserts and a fruit basket along with a happy anniversary card had been delivered! We were touched and surprised!The hotel has a magnificent garden setting; a big stretch of beachfront; two swimming pools and ornately distinctive Balinese architecture and sculpture ornamenting the grounds. Tranquil and beautiful! Service was attentive and the rooms and grounds were immaculate. The buffet breakfast was wonderful with a great variety of food; tons of fresh fruit; an egg station; and a selection of different hot items that changed each day.Overall; the Griya was magnificent for us and we have nothing but good things to say about the staff and property! Amazing service; amenities; and value for the price we paid!
325334,JoanneP,04/15/2007,Beach Scene The Griya Santrian is a nice hotel right on the beach of Sanur. Even though it wasn't peak time in Bali; Griya was packed! So much so that you had to reserve your sun lounge quite early in the morning around the pool and on the beach - oh and watch out for people stealing 2 matteresses for their sunlounge; if you find this just ask the pool attendant. The breakfasts were average; but they did have vegemite!( A rarity in Bali)Its a great location; out the front of the resort is a beautiful restaurant called The Village; absolute fine dining at a great price! The only bad thing about Griya could be that a lot of over 50's go there; being in our young 20's my group found it a little hard sometimes to have fun; but if you are older and looking for a relaxing time with beautiful views you certainly find it at Griya and will most likely make some great friends.
325334,ladymavis,04/12/2007,Loved the Griya! Spent 8 nights at the Griya - and it was perfect for us - two small kids and my mother. The front rooms near the pool are great if you have kids; and the new suites looked very plush and grown-up - so something for everyone. Restaurants and service all great. We looked at a lot of hotels in Sanur while wandering around; and think the Griya was one ofthe best. MANY repeat guests which is a good sign. Sanur was excellent; liked much more than Seminyak/Legian for this trip with kids/grandma.
325334,bella1000,04/02/2007,griya santrian sanur This gorgeous boutique hotel was a quiet; classy oasis on the shores of the palm fringed sanur beach. I stayed in a cottage next to the garden pool. The decor and architecture were traditional and a little tired however the bed was comfortable and the room overlooked the garden pool which was fabulous. Others in my party stayed in the beautiful newly built suites; contemporary styling; bathrooms and decor. Very lush. The restaurant was newly built: location and menu faultless. Both the seafood BBQ and the in house cooking lesson are amust Do. otherwise grab a cocktail and roll up to one of the two pools or the beach when ready( no need to reserve a lounge). The staff were helpful and courteous extending checkout until 4pm on my final day.
325334,Grampians,09/11/2006,Relaxing Getaway showReview(5788076; 'full');
325334,ATripAdvisorMember,06/20/2006,Go Back To Bali showReview(5364314; 'full');
325334,KNB2,05/03/2006,Wedding Day Bliss showReview(5029866; 'full');
325334,ATripAdvisorMember,04/01/2006,Not Quite As Expected showReview(4827336; 'full');
325334,Traveller1001Uk,03/09/2006,Great place to stay showReview(4596908; 'full');
325334,JerseyJo,11/28/2005,Can't wait to go back! showReview(4148739; 'full');
325334,ATripAdvisorMember,09/26/2005,A place so good; you'd like to keep a secret! showReview(3938730; 'full');
325334,ATripAdvisorMember,11/03/2004,hotel heaven showReview(2803497; 'full');
325334,BJC49,06/18/2004,We can highly recommend the Griya showReview(2202117; 'full');
325334,kasumi1818,10/30/2008,娴枫亴銇欍亹銇濄亾锛佺窇銇傘伒銈屻倠灞呭績鍦般伄鑹亜銉涖儐銉?#x201d; showReview(21391278; 'full');
325334,lass,08/14/2008,銇ㄣ仯銇︺倐闈欍亱銇уぇ浜恒伄闆板洸姘椻櫔 showReview(19914850; 'full');
325334,lass,06/04/2008,銈点儗銉笺儷銇硦銇俱仯銇熴倝銈点兂銉┿偆銈猴紒 showReview(19171639; 'full');
325334,golo1997,05/20/2008,Das Hotel ist sehr sch枚n Strand Sanur
325334,lass,01/16/2008,浣裤亜鍕濇墜銇亜銇勪腑绱氥儧銉嗐儷 showReview(19167968; 'full');
325334,hatihati,01/07/2008,Ja; aber..... showReview(12411720; 'full');
325334,lass,09/10/2007,銇ㄣ仸銈備究鍒┿仾绔嬪湴銇с仚 showReview(19164029; 'full');
325334,lass,08/21/2006,蹇冨湴銈堛亜銉汇兓銉?#x201d; showReview(19158537; 'full');
325334,lass,02/29/2004,锛掓硦锛撴棩瀹挎硦銇椼伨銇椼仧... showReview(19925571; 'full');
325383,chewiegranolabar,01/04/2009,Awesome - top notch My husband and I splurged on The Bale for our honeymoon and spent 3 nights over the new year here. From the time you arrive; you feel like you're in paradise. The design of The Bale is minimalistic and modern. I love the simple design of the rooms; and yet they have attap roofs to retain some Balinese feel.The LCD TV is placed strategically across the bed; which makes it good for viewing movies. This is not a given at some of the other villas I went to in Bali (though they are of course; of a different price range). It also comes with a DVD player which has a USB port and we managed to watch some movies which we saved on the thumb drive (in .avi format).There are 2 shower areas and I loved the outdoor shower. The water tasted a bit salty though! I'm not sure where it's from... The bathtub was slightly small but also well designed (tap with feet to plug in the stopper and tap to plug out). There was also a small LCD TV at the bathtub.We were in villa 30 which had the bath area lead directly to the swimming pool. The pool was small; not really for swimming; more for soaking and sunbathing. There was a bigger swimming pool in the compound which we didn't get to go. Beside the swimming pool is a pavillion where you get served breakfast; and for us; our candlelight dinner. The daybed at the pavillion was very comfortable for relaxing and I could still use wifi at the pavillion.The candlelight dinner was so-so; but service was great as usual. We loved breakfast! The menu was interesting and we could order as much as we wanted - which was fun on the first day; but by the last day; we only ordered quite little. The Fried Noodles is a must try! We had it on all three days. The juices were also good. The egg omelette was pretty normal. One thing to note about inroom breakfast; is that the portions get reduced by alot! We managed to order 1 Fried Noodles which was sufficient for 2 to share in Faces Restaurant; but inroom; it was only enough for 1 person. The juices also get halved.The service at The Bale was impeccable. We had the drivers drive us to eat local food (Mee soto; sate; babi guling); to the beach; The Bali Collection; a local pasar which were within fifteen minutes of the villa. We stayed one night in Ubud prior to staying at The Bale and had done our shopping in Ubud and on the way down to Nusa Dua. It is best to enjoy the villa rather than have the drivers drive you down to Kuta (crazy traffic jams) or spend the full day outdoors visiting the volcanos etc. You don't really get your money's worth IMO if you spend the whole day out.We had a great stay at The Bale and will definitely be back on our anniversary!
325383,mdrtn,12/17/2008,Incredible room the pool
325383,vyam,12/17/2008,Great Service...So Relaxed!! Less than 30 villas at The Bale; u hardly see other guests in the complex except for the attendants; feels like u r the owner of the whole complex!!Nice attendants; service was great. But keep in mind that transfer service might not be on time; sometimes 10-15 mins late.On the 1st day; I stayed at No.20 villa; it overlook the whole complex from the top; so it got a great view. However; I can say it's a villa to see and to be seen; people can see u if u stay in the garden. So we moved to No.17 where we got more privacy. What's more; the pool is attached to the bathroom @17; so we can jump right off the pool from our room.U should definately try to order in room breakfast. They would set a table beside the pool for u to enjoy the great food.The sand the water condition @ the beach club was just so-so; not a nice place for swimming; but it's a gd for beginner surfer.
325383,pdesaab,12/12/2008,Good but.... My wife and I ended our honeymoon in Indonesia with 4 nights at the Bal茅. It was our second hotel in Bali (first was the Viceroy in Ubud). The hotel is really modern and well built. We booked a superior villa and it was wonderful : very confortable; well equiped; very nice private pool etc etc But ....I have had the luck to stay at great hotels. What make the difference is in the details : first we waited 2 hours on arrival to have our room (ok... it can happen); we asked for a nice restaurant and we were sent to a on the beach restaurant where the food was not good. Breakfast was average etc etc; we noticed that the hotel is not as clean as it seems.To sum up: Fantastic room; friendly staff (even if not very efficient); good restaurant (not the b.f. though).... but the hotel is sleeping on its reputation (if we compare to the Viceroy where everything was premium - with a same price range) and there's nothing to do in the area (the beach is not pretty). My advise is to forget the south part of Bali (where all the tourists go). The beaches will only make surfers happy; there's nothing interesting to do in the area; and it's too crowdy. On the other end; Ubud was really amazing and I have heard that the north part of the island is becoming really interesting.
325383,Malino,12/11/2008,Amazing Villa hotel!! bedroom
325383,jetsetsansjet,09/19/2008,Wonderful! We had a wonderful stay at the Bale and stayed in a single pavillion (number 8) for 5 nights. Our room was very spacious and airy - the design is very sleek and minimalist but it is still very comfortable/simple and not at all like at all like those ultra-modern design hotels where you can never find the light switch! The bathroom was big and very nicely designed; complete with indoor and outdoor showers. We loved the steps down into our pool from the sliding bathroom doors. The private pool was lovely and it is a decent size as private pools go and there is plenty of private outdoor space. The single pavillions do not have sun loungers but there are deckchairs and there is also a double daybed outside for relaxing (but it has a roof over it so you can't use it for sunbathing). Our garden/pool got the sun for most of the day (until about 4pm) but the downside was that we were quite near the main road - there is a constant stream of traffic which means it is not very relaxing or condusive to mid-afternoon snoozing! At the main pool; we couldn't hear the traffic so it is probably worth asking for a room that is higher up in the complex. The main pool is a good size for swimming (about 20 metres) and it never feels crowded as most people seem to stay in their pavillions during the day or go to the beach club. The Bale's private beach club is very nice with loungers and umbrellas and attendants to bring you towels/drinks etc. - the hotel will drive you down and it only takes about 5 minutes to get there. The beach is not very wide but it has lovely yellow sand and the water is clear and turquoise (much nicer than the beaches at Kuta/Seminyak). There is some seaweed washed up on the beach but The Bale clear it away from their section of sand! The Bale's spa is really nice and most of the treatment rooms have big jacuzzis for private use after treatments. The treatments are fairly expensive by Balineese standards (about $60 for a 1 hour massage plus 21% tax/service) but the therapists were very good. We had breakfast in our pavillion every morning (at no charge which is a nice touch) and the food was great - there is a good selection and plenty of different things to try over the course of a few days. The staff are very pleasant and are happy to arrange anything on your behalf. The hotel offers free transfers to any restaurant in Tanjung/Nusa Dua and Jimbaran; which is a great service and we used this every night - we found Bumbu in Tanjung to be one of the better places nearby. They have great Indonesian food and a decent wine list in terms of both selection and prices (rare in Bali). We were disappointed by PJs at the Four Seasons in Jimbaran - beautiful setting on the beach but the food is not exceptional and the wine list is extortionate (for imported wines; prices start at around $80). It is definitely worth going to the Amanusa hotel (next door to The Bale) for a sunset drink as the setting is really beautiful.
325383,topaccommodations,09/10/2008,A cool place to recover from jetlag The good: This property is architecturally gorgeous and well-designed; with a fabolous pool surrounded by day-beds and perfectly placed for a sneek view of the ocean that is some distance away. The rooms are equally-well designed and comfortable; with an adequate seating area and beautiful bathrooms. The staff are quite friendly; and do go out of their way to assist you. The Bad:That said; our experience at the Bale fell short of what one would expect of a property with a high-price tag. Although service was generally excellent; there were some shortcomings in this area. Check-in was adequate; but ithe hotel failed to adequately explain the complex controls in the room to us. Check-out was especially challenging and unpleasant. Although a car was waiting to transport us; our luggage was in fact held hostage in the room until the hotel was certain that our bill had been paid. This simply delayed our preparartions for departing. Breakfast was excellent; dinner above-average; but lunch merely marginal at best.One would expect that the hotel would (as other hotels of this caliber in Bali do so)provide bottled water for free whether in the room or dining with the hotel; as most hotels do not have potable water. Being charged $5.00 US for a bottle of Aqua simply becuase you request it with lunch is ridiculous. That's gouging the guest for a little extra money.The Ugly:There were problems with the airconditioning and ceiling fan. When we moved into a new room our second night; which had already been reserved in a different; lower price category; the new room had multiple problems; from a sink that obviously leaked (with a towel placed under the sink to catch the dripping water!!); a toilet that ran all night; and a resident frog in our room; which defied our attempts to move it outside our quarters while we tried to sleep.)Although the hotel clearly knew about some of the problems with the new room before it moved us into it; instead of informing us of them; it tried to upsell us into another room at a higher price!! Indeed; when brought these problems o the attention of the rooms manager at the time of check-out; we were informed that the hotel had planned to take this room out of service because of the problems with it. This did not sit with us well. The hotel did not offer anything to address these issues other than a smile. We were not smiling when we left..
325383,spxcfc,07/10/2008,WOW Simply awesome..great staff with their heart soul in service
325383,DrRuth,06/24/2008,Been there twice and still love it Bed
325383,kparsnip,06/18/2008,Exceptional The pavilion and pool
325383,travelsnob36,06/16/2008,Tranquil We stayed in the Bale for the second leg of our 2 week stay in Bali. I had high expectations and I was not disappointed. We were shown around our amazing pavillion (single deluxe) but decided the sun wasn't on garden for long enough so we were moved to a pavillion where the sun was shining on the pool etc until about 4pm (no .36). It is so private; you feel as though it's just you and your partner there! The novelty of stepping into your own pool from the bathroom did not wear off! We were chaffur driven to the beach every morning - when you arrive you receive towels; sun cream; aftersun; body mist and as much water as you wanted. The beach is lovely; alhough the sand is very soft so you tend to sink in it! Cannot complain really but I did prefer the beach in Seminyak. They chaffur you back to your villa when you are ready and we enjoyed the rest of our afternoons in our pool and snoozing on the day bed! Nusa Dua is a lot quiter than Seminyak but we discovered the Bali Collection which has loads of restaurants and shops to keep you amused. Another restaurant you must visit is the Bumbu Bali-authentic Balinesse cuisine. We had breakfast most days served to us in our own garden (fab) at no extra charge. You are allocated a private butler for the duration of our stay but we didn't see him once; we dealt with several members of staff; all of which were lovely and friendly. Their English isn't great but not too much of an issue (only when ordering breakfast over the phone!) All in all a fab time and we were gutted to leave. - miss the complimentary fresh cookies everyday
325383,hugwort,03/05/2008,The Bale - it's one of the best villa hotels in the entire world.. the wife's welcome bouquet
325383,surreygirlUk,01/02/2008,Designer chic with a heart The Bale; what can you write about a hotel that goes out of their way to give you the most personalized holiday you could dream of. Nothing was too much trouble. We arrived with high expectations and were not disappointed. The minimalist architecture felt a little to minimalist but the staff really seamed happy to be working there and this provided the warmth that the buildings lacked. The professionalism was first class and the Villas are designed to provide a small private piece of paradise. The food really is as good as all the guide books say but without all the pretension of a 5 star restaurant. The Bale also has a beach area. There is a courtesy car that will take you whenever you want; walk (15 mins) or just borrow a mountain bike. The team at the Bale arranged a mountain bike trip for us that was exactly to our requests and also provided information about their favorites beaches that were on the route. Many of these were not on the tourist maps.This is a place of relaxation and peace; if you want a night life then make use of the car service and take a trip to Kuta. The major hotels are all located down the road and have a restaurant area. This is not 5 star eating but mass production restaurants that serve nice food at expensive prices. It is however packed with all the shops you could want so is an alternative way to spend an evening there.Having been to both Nusa Dua and the Kuta area I would return to the Bale without hesitation and travel to Kuta in the evenings. The service of the hotel truly deserves it's reputation as one of the small leading hotels in the world!
325383,Irieas,12/15/2007,Solo Honeymoon in Bali - Love! Outdoor showers; Yay!
325383,Snowrose,10/31/2007,Peace and Serenity Itself! We recently stayed at The Bale during the second half of our Bali trip. The first half was spent at a private villa in Seminyak. We were on a mission this trip scouting for venues for a private event and therefore spent most of the first few days of our trip zooming around Bali. By the time we arrived at The Bale; we were totally exhausted and what a haven it was for the weary traveller! The Bale is nothing short of beautiful with minimalistic; elegant modern architecture and interior design. The staff were very polite and did everything they could to make our stay a very comfortable one. The actual check in was done in our pavilion by the butler and over in 5 minutes. We were then left alone to enjoy the place. The villa itself is big and spacious and the architects had thoughtfully designed it such that the bathroom opens out into the pool. We had previously stayed at other pool villas and it was always a bit untidy having to trudge through the bedroom after getting out from the pool in order to get to the bathroom. Our package came with daily breakfast which we could choose to either enjoy in our villa or the restaurant. It was ala carte; which meant you could order anything and everything from the menu. I thoroughly enjoyed the local cuisine and had that every day for breakfast.We also had dinner once at the restaurant. For the service and the quality; I do not think it is too expensive. Naturally; a much cheaper meal can be had at nearby Nusa Dua but the experience was worth it. Staff addressed us by name and their service was discreet and polite and the presentation of the food was excellent. The food itself was very good.On another day; we arranged for a candlelight dinner in our pavilion. We had tea at the restaurant and in the thirty minutes we were away; the staff had laid out all the candle lights and flowers for our dinner! Dinner itself was a delightful experience.We also had massages every single day of our stay there as it came with the package. The spa is; like the rest of the hotel; beautiful. The rooms were big; some with bathtubs which can fit 3 people; and others with jacuzzis and steam rooms. The massages were also excellent; with the exception of the hot crystal therapy which we felt did not do much for our aching backs. The spa menu was very comprehensive; and even had options like hypnotherapy. The Bale is rather conveniently located; about a few minutes' drive from the Nusa Dua shopping areas. They also provide free transfers to and from Nusa Dua.We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in The Bale and would highly recommend it as a honeymoon destination or just a place to relax and unwind.
325383,karimv,10/01/2007,Designer living in Nusa Dua Highly recommend the Bale. It is right next door to the Aman Nusa; but having visited both we were glad with havnig chosen the smaller property which felt so much more personal and welcoming. There were only about 20 rooms when we were there; but we saw that another 10 or so were in the pipeline - which were going to be even better than the rooms which we stayed in. The facilities are not vast; gym is basic and there is only one restaurant - but bear in mind that there are only 20 rooms and that you have huge private villas with your own pool; garden; outdoor day bed and so on that it is the kind of place you go for seclusion and privacy - it was the first week of our honeymoon so just perfect! An especially nice touch was that you can breakfast in your villa at no extra charge - I guess it makes sense because the place doesn't have the numbers for a buffet. The only down-side was the beach; a 3 min drive away and a little bit cramped. The staff couldn't do enough for you - thoroughly helpful. Do think though if Nusa Dua is where you would like to go - there was much life in places like Jimbaran and Seminyak.
325383,dtwl,06/22/2007,Place to remember for We stayed at The Bale last June as a romantic getaway to start off our summer vacation. We booked through our travel agent and were shown a couple of small pictures of the hotel beforehand. From the pictures we thought the style of the hotel would be too urban for our liking; but soon as we arrived we found the hotel's design to be minimalistic/contemporary in design yet with great attention to detail. We liked the suite's layout and atmosphere; very bright outside but calm inside. I think every suite at the hotel has a small pool (not a just plunge pool) and an awesome; transparent-roofed day bed. I believe we spent most of the time outside of our room just lying on the day bed enjoying the cool ocean breeze. Being a hotel junkie myself I like to try different hotels when traveling; even on the same trip; so I rarely stay at the same hotel repeatedly unless it's for business purpose. I am currently planning another trip to Bali for this year; and I was very tempted to call up The Bale again to see if they have vacancy. The overall experience made me wants to stay there again.The Bale is definitely a place to remember. Even after one year; the wow factor is still there every time we look at the pictures we took.. Anyone planning a trip to Bali or particularly looking to stay in the Nusa Dua area should definitely give it a try (for at least two nights; so you can have one full 24-hour day to enjoy the wonderful premise and the great service). Highly recommended
325383,kotarok,02/08/2007,Seclusion + Simplicity = Soothing We spent our honeymoon at this small yet refined hotel; because it had to be Bali; and the Bale is as good as it gets. What we liked:- Secluded villas provide pure privacy. Very relaxing.- Great daybed and small private pool- Friendly Service- No kids; no crowds = no noise. Very quiet indeed.- Very delicious breakfast; available in-room- Simple yet classy architecture. No pseudo-luxurious tacky stuff.- Free car transport within Nusa Dua (to restaurants; etc.)- Stereo with nice music is provided- Library with internet access available- Check-in/out in the room- Lovely barbecue in your own garden availableWhat's not so nice:- The beach is far away; and not so nice. Not worthwhile going.- The location is a bit far away from the center of nusa dua- The restaurant is nice; but somewhat too empty to enjoy.- Fairly high price for Balinese standards; but worth it.- No kids under 16 allowed (now that we have a daughter)Conclusion:A classy and refined; clean and well maintained; friendly and understated resort we wouldn't mind being trapped in for another while. Not recommended for the overly active crowd or those that like hanging out at the hotel bar.
325383,Lotsofhols,01/16/2007,Fantastic; amazing staff Could not disagree more with one of the other reviewers. The staff were FANTASTIC - nothing was too much trouble; everyone knew our names and used them; and learnt what we liked and how we liked it. It was the least stressful holiday experience; solely due to the staff. The restaurant menu was quite limited while we were there; but it wasn't a problem; we told the chef what sort of food we liked and he cooked something different for us. Jose; the manager was great; did an itinerary for us for a one day island tour; and arranged for us to visit the Four Seasons at Sayan and Uma at Ubud; just so we could see some other hotels if we wanted to return to Bali another year. Also gave us a lot of suggestions for eating outside the hotel. The only criticism I had; and it was minor; was that some of the furnishings were a bit tired (the roman blinds were wonky!) and there was no mosquito net. We like minimalist; so were happy with the design; if your tastes are for the more opulent surroundings; you will be disappointed. Would go back - and we rarely say that.
325383,MrsVintage,08/23/2006,You have to stay at least one night there in your life... As captioned; you should not miss this luxury resort in Bali.I went there with my boyfd in Apr; 2006. And we stayed 2 nights there.The privacy is good. And the free transportation in Nusa Dua area is very very convenient to the guests. It's really GREAT for honeymooners; you can have a romantic holiday. The breakfast in faces is so delicious and lovely; i miss the food till now; heehee!I may stay there again next time when I go to Bali =)Enjoy!
325383,dextergo,07/10/2006,The Bale I have to disagree with the last review; we found the staff to be more than helpful. We must have changed our minds about when we wanted lunch/ dinner; where we wanted so many times; and nothing was to much trouble. Well done to Lisa and her staff for making our stay very special. I would also like to mention the food; it was excellent! Benny their executive chef was top class; and every dish was a triumph. I must admit we did not like the beach; but I had known it was not up to much from other reviews. Its not really a beach resort.We loved the pavilions; and enjoyed the private pool so no real need to venture out; but that was what we had planned. I know these things can depend on when you stay and who's there; but we had a wonderful time and I would recommend the Bale.Gordon and Miriam
325383,zendra,04/04/2006,Desing over substance If you like modern design over substance this may be a place for you. Whilst you cannot deny the privacy of some of the villas and their decor (but hardly comparable with some resorts in Ubud); the service and personal touches are where this resort fails by a long mark - from several calls to let us know that breakfast would stop being served in a few minutes (even though there is 24h room service) to staff not being able to recommed a restaurant (or understand you at all) to the manager who seemed more interested in the nightlife of Kuta than his guests concerns. In addition; being so modern; the resort lacks any central point and the restaurant was virtually empty on all nights of our stay.Having said all that; the staff were very charming and trying hard; the small beach club (few minutes drive away!) makes things a bit more pleasurable on the public and often busy stretch of beach. There must be a more personable place to stay in Nusa Dua?
325383,gosford,03/11/2006,Can't help falling in love More photos
325383,excitedforpr,12/09/2005,Perfect Honeymoon at the Bale' Villa Bedroom. Candles were everwhere.
325383,JILLYS75,10/21/2005,Touch of class I have just stayed 3 nights at the Bale during a 2 week stay in bali during which I also stayed at another two 5 star hotels so i am fortunate to be able to do some comparisons.The Bale is a wonderful hotel. Its best quality is something very hard to define-as soon as you enter its walled compound you are overcome with a feeling of serenity. The staff are completely professional and the restaurant is top class.The best bits:- The staff are very professional; extremely obliging and friendly and very good at their jobs- The Bale comes to life at night-it is set aglow by hundreds of candles and has a wonderful ambience- The staff are treated well and seem to love their jobs- I think there is some sort of system whereby when you leave your room for breakfast or dinner the housekeeping staff are somehow alerted to this. Our room was turned over twice a day but never when we were about. We would come back from dinner and all the blinds would be down; candles lit; music playing air con turned up; fresh towels; fresh cookies; fresh water-very good service-the room was beautfiul with everything you could want-you get to choose a range of toiletries on arrival; there are cute dressing gowns and slippers; toblerone in the fridge and fresh cookies (you can tell what my priorities are); stereo; tv dvd players (with great choice of dvds)-the outdoor pool is a great size and the bale day bed very luxurious-the restaurant ambience and music is spot on; the food is great and not too pricey. The Swiss chef speaks to each dining guest indivudally each night. He will make whatever your want-the staff really look after you-i got bitten by something before i arrived and every single member of staff was falling over themselves to get to the bottom of it and make me more comofrtable-the library and spa are top classdown sides--check out the pictures of this place to make sure its your taste beforehand. it is ultra uber minimalistic and modern. if this is your taste then you may not find a better example of this sort of design. if its not your taste you may find it a little cold and foreboding. it is not a design which was meant to blend with nature-dont come here if you want a beach. the beach club is not how it appears on the website photos. you wouldnt want to spend time at the beach but with the hotel amenities that is not a problem as long as you didnt have your heart set on a beach holiday- this is not a place for viewsall in all a fantastic hotel which in temrs of class and professionalism and slickness stands above the restps i stayed at the bale with a female friend not a partner and it was a great place for that-if you are travelling with a friend you will feel athome here whilst everyone else was in couples it didnt feel like a honeymoon resort for those that are not
325383,hairbearbean,10/19/2005,Truly Luxurious Having just returned from 6 nights at The Bale I felt I must write and compliment the quality of the hotel.The Pavilions are fantastic and make you not want to leave their surroundings. The staff are very professional and very friendly and helpful.The drivers recommended local restaurants in the evening and these were excellent value and good quality.We also had a couple's spa treatment and again this was very good. There is also a reasonable gym if you want to burn some calories.Overall I would recommend the Bale if you are looking for a chilled holiday with plenty of privacy. If you want a beach holiday go elsewhere.
325383,ATripAdvisorMember,09/30/2005,Sensationel Villa with private pool / Best Hotel ever; but NOT for beach-lovers Bedroom
325383,Miciogatto,08/28/2005,Great find! Excellent hotel! I used to be a real Amanjunkie; but this year I finally found something different: The Bal猫 is a really beautiful hotel; very intimate; with large rooms; all with private pool; excellent service; gourmet food and attentive staff. What can you ask for more? Maybe they might improve their Beach Club; with new bal茅s and more services. But with a pool in your pavillon you do not really feel like going out!!!
325383,ATripAdvisorMember,08/16/2005,Love the architecture and the intimacy! The Bale is a beautiful piece of resort hotel architecture - the lovely things you see in the pictures on its website are indeed what you're going to get. Food is good; the spa is also lovely; but the high point would be the private pool and the outdoor lounge area. Great place to unwind! That you can wake up and step right from the bathroom straight into your private pool (which leads straight off the bathroom) is pure bliss! Because of its small number of villas; the Bale is also very intimate (try to get the highest villa for best privacy); and do consider booking the whole place for a party with your best friends - I was seriously considering having my wedding there and it would have been very chic indeed!
325383,snail,04/03/2005,The ultimate in style; comfort and privacy Simply the best. The website pictures were nice but it's nothing compared to the real thing...loved the minimalist design and the friendly service. It's right next to the golf course; the Amanusa and the private beach; but it doesnt really matter as the best part is your own private villa. It's so chic; luxurious; complete with a huge private pool that you never want to leave. We had our lunch delivered to our villa while we swam in the pool; followed by a perfect massage at the spa. Breakfast is included in the rate and it's soo yummy. Transport in the area and internet usage is totally free. I would choose The Bale over Amanusa anyday. It's created for couples and adults though; head for the big chains or the private villas if you have a family. The rate is apparently going up quite steeply; it's definitely getting more and more popular!
325383,ATripAdvisorMember,03/22/2005,Not to be missed !!! On arrival into Denpasar; we were greeted by our driver holding a board with our names written on it. On meeting us; we were walked to a van nearby and given cold towels which were very much appreciated in the Balinese heat. The driver was friendly and gave us a good review of the area. Approximately 20 minutes after leaving the airport; we arrived at The Bale where we were greeted by our butler and a whole bunch of other staff. The butler walked us straight to the room; giving us information on the hotel spontaneously. Our pavillion was huge and equipped with a pool - not a plunge pool but a proper private infinity edge lap pool with 2 frangipani trees beside it. The butler welcomed us into the room where a fresh welcome drink was prepared and waiting in the fridge. Balinese music was also lightly playing in the background. We were registered while drinking our welcome drink in the pavillion. Equipped with our own garden; pool deck; outdoor shower; outdoor day bed; 2 vanity; double bath; separate shower and toilet; oversized king bed and tv/radio/minibar/homade cookies etc; the pavillion was nothing ever than immaculate. We were never EVER disturbed by the staff; but whenever something was needed; it mysteriously appeared - I am serious! We would wake up and go to breakfast and upon return 40 minutes later; the room was tidied up. In the afternoon when we went for a massage and back; the room was once again cleaned. In the evening upon returning from dinner; the room was cleaned! I seriously wondered how many times a day the room was serviced. Wherever we wanted to go during our stay; our butler would organise transport and bookings for us. We went to a local restaurant on the first night and was driver there and back (complimentary of the hote) at our conveneince. On the second night; we went a bit further; so we took a taxi. If you have a chance; try the massage facilities. It is not overpriced at all. We tried a traditional balinese massage; which costed us US$50 per person. That is what we would have paid in a standard massage place in Sydney anyway; let alone a 5 star Small Luxury Hotel. The massage spa area is equipped with a bath (have to pay extra to use); sauna; steam bath etc. The bath has a small water fall to it so you can hear the sound was water during your massage - simply heavenly. For a moment during the massage; I actually had to think where I was!The food was fantastic - the room service menu was exactly the same as the restaurant menu. If you ever have a chance to go to Bali; this hotel is a must. However; please bear in mind that Nusa Dua is an exclusive area with nothing much to do (no shopping; no bars/clubs etc). It will be perfect for people who expect the highest levels of service; cleanliness; comfort and do not really want to venture far from the hotel.I highly recommend at least 2 nights at The Bale if you are heading that way
325383,loveharp,12/28/2008,蹇冨湴銈堛亜 showReview(23050205; 'full');
325383,glovic,11/16/2008,la mejor honeymoon la cama del jard铆n; frente a la piscin
325383,etquidautre,11/11/2008,Fabuleux ! Le bar
325383,kenzo717,10/28/2008,銉椼儵銈ゃ儥銉笺儓閲嶈銇ぇ浜哄悜銇戙儶銈俱兗銉?#x201d; showReview(21333929; 'full');
325383,chiakipenguin,08/29/2008,銉淬偅銉┿伅蹇仼銇с仚銆佸皯銇椼亾銇樸倱銇俱倞銇椼仸銇勩伨銇欍亴 Pool of the villa / 銉淬偅銉┿伄銉椼兗銉?/a>
325383,plaza5,04/08/2008,un encanto de hotel ssss
325383,Passionvoyage,09/06/2007,Le sens du d茅tail showReview(8665222; 'full');
325383,lass,06/16/2007,銉椼兗銉仱銇嶃伄閮ㄥ眿銇с倛銇嬨仯銇?#x201d; showReview(19161423; 'full');
325383,adamez,05/03/2007,Impresionante piscina villa
325383,rohrk,11/14/2006,Das Paradies showReview(6124096; 'full');
325383,lass,06/26/2004,銇欍伖銇︺儣銉笺儷浠樸亶銆佺櫧... showReview(19928324; 'full');
325490,kmohiuddin,01/02/2009,Great hotel and great customer service by Storm This Holiday Inn was very comfortable to stay at. Never had any complaints during my stay. The bathroom was a good size. One of the main reason to pick this hotel is Storm. He is the person who makes sure his guest are well attended to. Language is the biggest barrier in China. Storm speaks good English which makes it very easy for you to ask questions and get advices on where to eat and what to see while you are there. If you don't already have a day-to-day plan when you arrive at Beijing; Storm will help you with that. Storm will also go out of his way to make sure you reach your destination; stay after his regular work hours as well to help out. There was one time; when the front desk got us a taxi for the wrong place; but luckily I had Storm's number; and when i called him from the taxi; he immediately answered and talked to the driver to explain where we wanted to go. Storm took us to two restaurants- youth restaurant and Dragon light. Dragon light is very good for mushroom soup and Youth is good for peking duck. I have to say; Dragon light had very good customer service; but if you cant speak Chinese; it will be extremely hard for you to order any food without Storm around. One more thing; to keep a note of; there is a massage place behind the hotel; if you go there; please make sure to specifically tell them that you don't want any talking during the massage; our masseuse kept talking the whole one hour. This place is a little away from the main sight seeing sites. You have to use the taxi;if you are relying on metro/bus; it might be a small walk. Overall was great trip in Beijing.
325490,crosis,12/21/2008,The hotel is great; Storm is better! This hotel is simply one of the best I have stayed in ever... and I have stayed in some famous ones.The staff are excellent; the breakfast is huge; and the rooms comfortable. While I had a small issue with the noise outside my room (soldiers on patrol as we happened to hit Beijing at the same time as 40 world leaders!); everything else made up for it and I was offered another room if I needed to move.The breakfasts were massive and I defy anyone not to find something they like. Even so when I asked for peanut butter and bacon on white toast it was no problem. However even though everything in the hotel was great; the thing I remember most is Storm. This guy is amazing. For example I was eating breakfast and he came over to say hello. I was talking about the fact we were going shopping at a Mall no one seemed to know and he instantly pulled out a map and identifed where we needed to go and what we needed to ask for. Another time we were walking along the road to the Youth Restaurant and he hapened to see us. As we werent completely sure where we were going he turned around came with us; introduced us to the staff and made sure we had ordered and eveything was OK before leaving! On our last night Storm even took us off to a small restaurant (Dragon Light) which is a small family restaurant a couple of kms from the hotel. This night ended up of being one of our highlights of China even though we spent amost a month travelling to a wide number of places. If you are in Beijing and dont want a tacky tourist stop but do want the best food ever then Dragon Light is the answer. The owners are some of the nicest people in China and even though they knew no english and we knew no Manderin it was still a great night and they made such a fuss over our 10 year old. If you need to stay in Beijing this hotel should be your first choice. If you need some help with anything then Storm is the person to ask. My wife and I have just booked to go back to beijing for a week over Christmas and I am highly dissappointed that the hotel is booked out. Next time I will book earlier...However we plan to eat at Dragon Light no matter what!
325490,SaintsB,12/07/2008,Best in Beijing?! You wouldn't expect a Holiday Inn to be good; i've always thought of them of average on the outside but had never stayed in one up until this very pleasant stay at the Central Plaza Holiday Inn in Beijing.This was the last leg of our holiday in China and i really wanted this hotel to be good and it was.Pretty much everything was superb; the lobby; the contemporary colour schemes and ambience; the business facilities; the breakfast buffet; the attentiveness of staff; the room; the beds etc. It was all superb and we really could not have asked for more out of a hotel which is moderately priced (think we payed about 拢400 for a week) in July.Recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to stay in a 5 star top hotel but can't justify the price; it's as good as many 5 star hotels i've been into thats for sure.
325490,tehsteve,12/04/2008,The reviews don't lie; this is a great place to stay. I travelled to beijing on a whim; while enroute to Tokyo to meet a friend. I only spent one week; but I definitely chose the right hotel to spend the week at. The rates were very reasonable; and the service was just fantastic. Most of the staff spoke enough English (as though it is their responsibility to make up for our ignorance!) to help me find everything that I needed; and the concierge went above and beyond. He lined me up with a car for an entire day that took me anywhere that I wanted to go; he setup dinner reservations; got me to the markets; and even warned me about potential scams that go on in Beijing - which ended up saving me a lot of money when one of them happened to me!The location was great; the service was great; the rooms were clean; and almost Western room size. Very good; very impressed; and if I ever go back to Beijing; this is where I will stay.
325490,skotchie,11/24/2008,Storming Success - a huge asset to Holiday Inn and any visitor. So this hotel does deliver on all counts - the reason for this review is to illustrate why you might pick this hotel from one of the many hotel chains on offer in Beijing. The hotel itself has everything you would expect and is a great place to stay but the main reason someone on holiday should choose this hotel is simple it is their employee Storm. We cannot emphasis enough how helpful and considerate Strom was to two people who had a lot to do and see and a very short time in which to do it. Let's just say that he went above and beyond what Holiday Inn probably expect - to the extent that when we left he insisted on escorting us to the (incredibly large) train station to ensure we found the right train for Xian. This was at the end of his day when most employees would be more interested in going home. If you are going to Beijing - stay here and you will be looked after.Holiday Inn take note - without Storm your hotel might have all the usual offerings but you are No.1 because of this guy's efforts.
325490,csb77,11/23/2008,Great stay in Beijing! We chose this hotel based on reviews on tripadvisor and we were not dissapointed. The rooms have been recently refurbished and are certainly very comfortable. The breakast buffet is ample and caters for all tastes.The hotel's main asset is 'Storm' the helpful guy who can get you pretty much ANYTHING that you need. No Job is too big or too small from restaurant recommendations to personally picking you up from the airport. On arrival he will go through with you the aims of your stay and organise your entire itinerary including all day trips/tour guides etc as well as plan you day according to the weather forecasts for the coming week. To be honest - there are probably many nicer hotels in Beijing but it really is worth staying here just for the reasurance that Storm truly will arrange your entire trip to your specifications and will not disappoint.The hotel also provides free mobile phones on loan from the concierge to enable you to make local calls within Beijing and local mobile phones free of charge - a nice touch that saves you a fortune in roaming costs! Dont worry about the location - taxi's are very cheap in Beijing and its easy to get around; besides - Storm will organise a driver for you for your entire stay if you so wish!
325490,bagspacked3,11/16/2008,Loved Storm Beautiful clean marble entrance. Rooms were clean and spacious. Morning buffet was huge. The real reason to stay is the concierge; Storm. We emailed him a month before our stay and told him what we wanted. He met us at the airport at 5am and took us to the hotel. He gave us a cell phone and said if we ever need help we just call him. That was a life saver. He arranged a rickshaw ride that took us places we would have never seen any other way. We also had a driver take to take us all the places we had asked for. At the Great Wall we took a ski lift up and a toboggan ride down. We even got lost one day and he came and got us. Storm personally took us to dinner every night because it is hard for a foreigner to read the menus and met us for breakfast every morning. He never ate with us but always made sure we were taken care of. Our last day we had to get to our ship which was a 2 hour journey away. Again he went with us to make sure we got there. He bought train tickets on the nicest; cleanest; smoothest train we had ever been on. When we got off the train he negotiated with a van driver to take us to the dock. He never left us until we were checked onto the ship. Storm would be a 15 on a 1-10 scale. We have never had service like that. It turned a good trip into a fantastic trip. We have made a new friend! Thank you Storm.
325490,mscitygirl903,11/12/2008,Outstanding Service There is a reason why there are so many positive reviews for this hotel and it all comes down to outstanding personal service. We went on a family trip to Beijing with my mother and my grandmother for 5 nights and we were all very impressed by the personal attention to every aspect of our hotel stay...transportation; dining; and room preference; even personal doctor house call were promptly arranged when my grandmother was a bit under the weather. A special tribute needs to be made to Frank; Leo and Jackie from the Concierge and Lisa from the Room Services and Reservations Dept for providing such attentive and personalized service. They really went above and beyond and made our stay pleasant and memoriable. I would definitely go back and would recommend this hotel to anyone who plans to go to Beijing.
325490,mattias76,11/10/2008,One word. Storm! I travel a lot in my work so I am used to stay at good hotels but I must admit that Storm (the guest relation manager) takes this hotel to another level. My girlfriend and I just came back from a perfect weekend in Beijing that was organised by Storm and his assistant Alice. Without charging anything extra (which is otherwise standard for everything in China) they organised trips; set us up with nice restaurants etc etc. The weekend in Beijing could not have been better. The hotel itself and the rooms are nice (location could be better but you always have to take a taxi anyway so the extra 5-10 minutes doesnt really matter) but the reason you go here: Storm.
325490,jrbb0309,11/04/2008,Absolute gem! My husband and I stayed here with our 7-year-old daughter in September of 2007. We stayed for 5 nights and paid the equivalent of $146 CDN a night for an upgraded room with 2 queen size beds; upper floor; breakfast included; wifi; satellite TV; etc.We were on a year-long trip; this was one of our splurges and we're thrilled with how it turned out.Location is not central but cheap and easy taxi rides to anywhere you want to go. The girl at the door always wrote down our destination for the taxi driver in Mandarin; told us how much we should pay and wrote down the taxi's license plate just in case we had any problems. She also asked our daughter at the end of each day where she had gone and what she had done and took a genuine interest in her answers.We arrived by train from Xi'an and hoped (at 7 am in the morning) just to be allowed to leave our bags there. Instead we found ourselves being checked in; offered a free breakfast and able to shower and start our day nice and fresh. Wonderful.The food was fantastic. My husband loves seafood and aside from the included breakfast we came back to the seafood buffet two nights while there. It was incredible. As well; we ordered room service (first time ever for us after coming back drenched after a full downpour) and it was /so/ good. Our room was wonderful. The beds were comfortable; the bathroom was gorgeous; the wifi was stable and reliable; and the cleaning staff was great.The pool was lovely too. We made use of it on several occasions.We wrote a letter of recommendation for one of the hostesses and received a personal letter of thanks from the manager of the hotel; cc'd to the girl in question; her school (she was working there on an exchange program) and human resources.Just can't say enough good things about this place.p.s. for anyone looking for another restaurant within the area; the Youth Restaurant several blocks down on the same side was very very good.
325490,readytogoSeattle,11/03/2008,Gem of a full-service hotel in a quiet; easily-reached haven of Beijing. We always consult Trip Advisor before booking any holidays abroad; relying on the experiences and reviews of others before making hotel reservations. Our experience at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza in Beijing not only met our expectations; which were shaped by prior reviews; but exceeded many of them.The hotel has many sought-after qualities; but chief among them is their Hospitality Director and Concierge; Storm. Never in all our travels through Europe; Asia and N. America have we encountered a more attentive; helpful staff person at a major hotel.Three generations of our family gathered for an independently-planned tour of Beijing and three other destinations in China. Storm made our 4-day stay in Beijing seamless; arranging for taxi and other ground transportation services to all the sites we wanted to see. We received excellent value for every trip; knowing they would have cost us more if not for Storm's suggestions and advice.Awaiting the arrival of our daughter and her family from Japan; my husband and I spent our first day visiting the Temple of Heaven and the immense park that surrounds it. Storm arranged for a taxi to drive us to the park's east gate; letting us know how to obtain a return cab if we wanted to explore the nearby Pearl Market after visiting the Temple of Heaven. The entire visit was a success; and was timed perfectly to coincide with our extended family's arrival at the hotel when we returned.The next day Storm arranged for a driver and minivan to take our family (2 1/2 yr. old toddler included) to and from the Great Wall at Mutianyu. En route to Mutianyu our driver took us past the major Olympic Games venues; stopping to let us stroll and explore the areas between the celebrated Bird's Nest stadium and Water Cube. The remainder of the day at the Great Wall (clear skies; high temps. around 65F) was ideal. Does it get any better than this?Well; it did. Storm had arranged for our family to go to a traditional family-style restaurant for a hot-pot dinner. The restaurant was not located in the tourist heart of the city; but rather in a neighborhood not far from the hotel. Storm escorted us there for the evening; doing all the translation for us since we have no Mandarin speakers in our family. The meal was outstanding -- vegans take note -- the hot-pot began with a purely vegetarian stock and included nine different types of mushrooms.Tienmanen Square and the Forbidden City were on our list for the following day. Wanting to see more of the city ourselves; we took the #10 bus from its terminus; about 3 1/2 blocks from the hotel; and enjoyed the adventure of riding with everyone else to work. The bus went directly to the square at a cost of 1 Yuan each way. Our little granddaughter had the best time running around Tienmanen Square; we have many photos to remember those moments. We strolled into the Forbidden City and; after visiting its grounds; split up according to our individual interests to explore other venues in Beijing. Storm had provided us with English (and Chinese) guides to assist us back to the hotel via taxi or bus. The bus had been such a success on the outgoing route; when all of us had returned to the hotel we found that each family member had chosen to return that way as well.An elegant dinner of Peking Duck at another local restaurant -- clearly patronised by local residents and not clusters of out-of-towners -- capped off another perfect day.Every visitor / family's narrative is different; because every traveller seeks something that speaks to him or her individually. I simply chose to report the above events so readers could see how this hotel's Hospitality Director tailored our Beijing visit to suit our family's needs and wants. The hotel itself is an overlooked treasure. It is not located on Beijing's busiest (and noisiest) hotel boulevards; yet is in an easily-accessed quadrant of the city that has rapid taxi; bus and underground links. The quiet setting in this huge; ever-busy city is a godsend. After touring very busy venues during the day it is a pleasure to return to a hotel that features no blaring horns in the streets below; yet offers all the amenities that seasoned travellers expect: spacious rooms; well-appointed baths; excellent business services and high-speed internet hookups in all rooms; pool; exercise room; and much; much more. Our daughter and her family were especially impressed beccause the hotel had provided a child-sized bathtub and potty seat for their (almost) potty-trained 2 1/2 year old.Did I mention the food? The breakfast buffet at the lobby's Salt Pepper Restaurant is opulent; it would take a stay of several days to sample all of it.Without reservation; I would recommend this hotel and its staff to tourists and business travellers alike. It offers a very comfortable stay; in well-appointed rooms; at an extremely good value. If you go to Beijing; by all means consider staying at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza.
325490,Traveldreamers11,11/02/2008,Loved the breakfast buffet breakfast
325490,Auliya,10/31/2008,Does have potential to be a gem We just finished conference over in Guanganmen and we had booked 14 rooms up in Guoman and we had to do a lot of liasing with the staff to coordinate many ongoing events and we have been very happy with staff.
325490,Slacker01,10/30/2008,Pleasant stay; great service So glad we decided to stay here after reviewing other feedbacks. Location a little out of the way from major sites but taxis cheap in China and actually; it was nice to be staying away from the crazy congestion around the sights; specifically around Forbidden City. Service was excellent; very professional. Hotel comparable to 4- to 5- star hotel in the U.S. Met Storm briefly; who was helpful but I didn't see him often around. The other concierge...limited English and not as helpful...overpriced cost for private transportation to Great Wall but did not let us know that it was possible and much cheaper to hire private taxis (which should be approx 600 RMB). After staying at 3 other hotels in China (including Hyatt); I would say this was best service; cleanest; and most worth the money.
325490,Timbocozy,10/24/2008,Pleasantly Surprised We visited Beijing with another family and when we arrived we didn't have any trips planned (Great wall; Forbidden city; etc...). We were greeted by a hotel employee named Storm upon arrival. He was very pleasant and helpful as we herded the 6 kids in our party into the lobby. After getting our rooms we discussed our plans with Storm and he sat down with us to lay out our short 3 day stay. I would have to say that without his help we wouldn't have seen as much as we did. We live in Southern China; but our friends traveled 15 hours to visit us and they were very pleased with the hotel and the activities while in Beijing. It is no wonder that this hotel is ranked very highly in Beijing. The food; the rooms; and the staff (Storm and others) made this a very memorable trip. All of this and the price is also very reasonable.
325490,Hamnida,10/16/2008,Number One I can see why this hotel has a number one ranking. Perfect in every way. The best breakfast in the world.
325490,Haugen,10/15/2008,This is the Hotel to stay! If you are going to spend a few days in Beijing and looking for a hotel with great breakfast; excellent service; spacious room; easy to going around and with a very reasonable price; this is the best hotel to stay!We are a 6 people family group from Norway (including 2 kids aged at 8 and 10; 2 Grand parents aged over 60); by carefully reading the reviews on Beijing hotels from different travel agents; we finally picked up Central Plaza Holiday Inn (which is #1 on trip adviser list) as our one week stay in Beijing from 18th; sep. We made contact with Storm prior to our arrival via his email to help us book the hotel; he quickly made us a reservation with a very reasonable price; he also asked us if we need to be picked up in the airport and our arriving time; we did not use the pick up since we need meet our relatives first in the airport. When we arrived in the hotel; Storm surprised us by being there waiting for us (he actually worked additional hours just to wait for us and make sure everything is OK). He quickly asked our plan and also suggested a local Chinese restaurant which turns out to be our favourite place to eat during the week stay (Qing Nian Can Ting); 5 minutes walk from the hotel; and right besides a small supermarket. Once we checked in the hotel room; we felt immediately relaxed; specially my mother- in-law; she has been worried about the hotel standard in China all the time ever since we start travelling; now she had a big smell in her face. We felt to sleep right away on the comfortable bed (some people complain the bed is hard; but we love it.) The bed in the double room is about 1.35 meter wide each; which is perfect for one adult and one kid to share; so this double room is perfect for 4 of us. The grand parents also loved their king-size room; they love the 鈥淗ard鈥?bed too.All the room are very clean and well designed. Every positive comment from Trip adviser and Forum regarding the Hotel standard is very true. Great pool; we used it everyday; kids love it. Service on this hotel is the best among all the hotels we had stayed around the world; they have no problem to beat the Five Star hotel on this point and much better than them. You can see and feel every people worked in this hotel love his jobs; they are very happy to help you from the bottom of their heart. Breakfast is great with large selection of western and Eastern food; our kids specially liked the fresh squeezed juice from different fruit and vegetables; and the fresh made milkshake. Good coffee! Each day we spend nearly an hour in the breakfast charting and eating; very enjoyable.Storm is the Gold Key of this Hotel; and he deserve more than that. During our stay; he arranged us a trip to MuTianYu Great Wall; a Beijng Duck dinner (LiQun KaoYa) in a very local small Hotong area; great experience; and delicious Beijing duck! We booked to ducks; I think my father-in-law eat at least one of it by his own. 飦? Storm also helped us booked 6 bullet- train ticks to QingDao at no additional charge!! He makes our stay more relaxed other than just be busy tourists. We spent next 2 weeks in QingDao; HangZhou ;Xi鈥橝n; also stayed in several 4-5 star hotels including a Holiday Inn in HangZhou; none of these hotels we stayed can beat this one; they are good; but Central Plaza Holiday Inn Beijing is the best! When we were back to Beijing in October 8th; a day before we leave to Norway; my mother- in-law specially asked us to book this hotel as her last night in China. We enjoy every minutes we stay in this hotel.Thanks again; Storm and every one working in this Hotel! Haugen familyNorway
325490,radaNZ,10/13/2008,Wonderful Hotel; Wonderful Storm Great Wall - Simitai
325490,DaveCarmen,10/11/2008,Fantastic Beijing. Wonderful Hotel. Highly Recommended!!!!!!!! Us in the Hotel Lobby!!!
325490,rockinrick,10/03/2008,Great Hotel; Outstanding Service Everything and more than what the web postings already tell you. Storm is outstanding; very willing to help you out with anything you want to do. Someone posted his email in a previous post and he will stay in touch with you and make sure you have a good stay. All other staff were outstanding also. Very friendly and eager to make your stay pleasant. I'm used to staying at average American hotels; but I have stayed at a Ritz Carlton; and this hotel beats the Ritz I stayed in hands down. The Ritz had great service; but this place was phenomenal; especially Storm. I haven't stayed at any other Beijing Hotels; but this one beats any American hotel I've ever stayed at. Facilities were great; nice pool; jacuzzi; steam room and sauna. Great room; comfortable and clean.
325490,Gemakan,09/24/2008,Yes; it's as good as all the other reviewers here have reported! Mini-bar area
325490,EivindO,09/18/2008,Excellent hotel 2 x 2 Bed
325490,IncredibleAsia,09/15/2008,Great Hotel for the $$ We travel to Beijing 2-3x per year and have seen the prices for hotels creep up. On our first visits to China in 2001 it was important to stay in 5-star hotels and anything below that was not comfortable for a picky Western traveler coming from a long distance and traveling for business. I found this hotel searching the Internet and was pleasantly surprised. The Holiday Inn chain in the U.S. has an OK reputation as being just and OK chain; but in Asia the facilities are often not company-owned and vary greatly from hotel to hotel. For the most part they are above the average Holiday Inn in the U.S. and this one is no exception.The location is just OK if you are a tourist; but clearly within a reasonable distance from the major sites in the city. The hotel is modern; clean and comfortable. On this visit I found a great deal on the Executive Floor including evening happy hour and breakfast and it was well worth it. Free internet also won me over as that is very important to me. The staff in the Exec Club could not have been more friendly or helpful. The morning breakfast was limited; but very well prepared and the evening happy hour had beautiful appetizers that could easily have made a meal for someone who is not a hearty eater. Staff in this club was excellent; friendly and helpful. Don't pass this hotel by if you are considering a 4-5 star but don't want to spend the extra money...this is a great value.
325490,kitties,08/20/2008,Very nice hotel bedroom
325490,Emilylovesholidays,07/23/2008,Great hotel; especially if you upgrade We stayed at this hotel at the end of our tour of China and we decided to treat ourselves and upgrade to the Executive Suite. The room was great with a brilliant view; a fantastic shower and really comfy beds as well as all the bonuses you鈥檇 expect in a 5* hotel. Best of all was the lounge where you could get yourself a drink or a snack at any time and they laid on a huge buffet every night of delicious western appetisers which at this stage in our trip were a godsend. The staff were friendly and helpful. We tried out both their Chinese and their Western restaurants and they were both excellent. All in all I鈥檇 highly recommend this place.
325490,nycavidtraveler,07/22/2008,Location has its challenges I just returned from China and spent about 9 nights at this hotel; using it as my base as I traveled around China. The one main reason for staying is the Concierge Storm - he made sure we had a unique experience. The first week I thought the hotel was too far from the center but by the second week we realized we were actually in a great little community; restaurants and local life a mere 5 minutes walk. Laundry service too - just ask Storm.For the price this can't be beat! We chose the Executive floor so it gave us a place to hang out and free breakfast everyday - which during the first week was a real plus until we got our jet lagged bodies into gear.Contact Storm - goodstorm@188.com to make your trip unforgetable.
325490,frequenttravellar,07/18/2008,Loved the Concierge The Great Wall; Maitaiyun
325490,kmf54,07/09/2008,Great Hotel; Fabulous Concierge! We had a little trouble initially with our reservation but the Holiday Inn more than made up for it by giving us a room upgrade with access to the executive club (free wireless; free food) and free breakfasts each morning! We stayed for 3 nights and the rate was incredibly low. Then there was Storm; the incredible concierge. He would listen to what we wanted to do each day and then lay out a few options; complete with relevant advice (don't take such-and-such cabs; they'll rip you off; etc) and dining reservations. One day he walked us to the bus and paid our fare; one night he beat us to the restaurant to translate and order for us since the place he recommended didn't have any english speakers; the last night he set up dinner and a show (don't recommend the show) and then SHOWED UP even though he wasn't on duty just to make sure everything had gone well. This man makes the hotel. Definitely recommend the Holiday Inn Central Plaza!
325490,Ninjaman0714,07/07/2008,Very nice This hotel was really very nice. I stayed for 3 nights; then flew to Xi'an and came back for 1 more night before leaving China.The service was excellent; the staff very friendly and professional - and very stylish uniforms; I must say! The hotel itself is pretty impressive. I did not have any chance to visit the bar and other amenities available; but by appearances; they were all first class.Rooms very great - enough space; beds were very comfortable; and very nice decor. Bathroom was large and very clean.Breakfast was fantastic; a very wide spread of traditional Chinese and Western food.The hotel is situated in a very convenient area for seeing a lot of the sites (Tiananmen Square; Forbidden City; Summer Palace; Temple of Heaven); all within 20 minutes drive of each other I estimated. It's also about 35 minutes from the airport (without traffic). It however is not close enough to walk to any areas for the nightlife - a taxi is necessary. You can negotiate a cab to the Hou Hai area (about 30 minutes away) for about 30 Yuan; but if they use the meter; it works up to about the same in any event.You can take a walk down the street (exit hotel; turn left and walk up to T-junction; then swing right and walk down the street); and you'll find some restaurants and street food along the way; with a few small shops for shopping and such. I didn't walk more than 10 minutes down though; but I found a restaurant with the street vendor grilling a variety of meats on skewers (lamb; chicken; beef; octopus; squid; etc); each ranging between 3-6 Yuan. You can order the meat; then go into the restaurant and pick your sides to have a full meal; I just had a few of the skewers. Nice to experience; and pretty tasty.All in all; a very good option for staying in Beijing; and I would recommend to anyone visiting Beijing for the first time; with the primary purpose being siteseeing.
325490,MustSeeThis,07/06/2008,Stock up on Breakfast! Spent 4 great nights at the HICP. When we came in at 9:30 pm from New York; we were utterly exhausted. The front desk was helpful; and check-in moved quickly. We ordered room service; which came quickly; and the food was delicious. We collapsed; and slept very well. The hotel was quiet; the room had plenty of space and amenities; and we enjoyed our time - recovering from our daily tours. (We had already booked a tour guide through Dragon Delight; so did not use the concierge services very much..). The highlight of our stay was the delicious breakfast served in the hotel every morning - they had everything from kimchee to Danishes; Chinese dishes and European cheeses; toast; cereal; waffles; a variety of fresh fruit; you name it. The servers brought coffee and tea to our table; and we stocked up for the day ahead.Although we stayed in several hotels during our trip (Guilin; Yangshuo; Hong Kong); the HICP breakfast was the standout way to begin the mornings. There's a coffee shop in the lobby serving coffee-to-go at prices that make Starbucks look affordable; but at least it's available.The location is fine. We took cabs to ManLianDao (Tea Street); the Pauliner Brauhaus (great German food 40 minutes away!); the Quanjude Duck house (what a restaurant!); and a number of other locations. The concierges helped us enormously by writing out the destination in Chinese for the cabbies; and making sure we had a return direction card.Check out was fine...no surprises AND I received extra points on my Holiday Inn/Priority Club card because I had signed up for a summer promotion. Sweet!I highly recommend this hotel and would happily stay there again. I'd stay there just for the breakfast if nothing else!
325490,LindaLouNewJersey,07/01/2008,Perfect Sitting Area
325490,gtan,07/01/2008,Fading glory - skip the HI Central Plaza!! HInn Central Plaza was so disappointing!!As mentioned in many other reviews; cabbies dont know of the whereabout of HI Zhong Huang (in Mandarin) nor whereabout of Caiyuen jia; the address in Chinese.The physical property still seems ok. Ooooh the TripAdvisor 2006 trophy takes pride of place in the lobby. BUT this hidden gem of 2006 is fast fading..Service from porter to check-in to housekeeping is sloppy. And I write factually without any secondary agenda ( in fact just sent a favorable review for their group hotel in Qingdao ).Evidents : inspite of after 3pm arrival; room was not ready. After check-in at 4pm into room 627; had to call housekeeping to re clean the toilet seat - bits of excrement from the previous occupier left uncleaned!!!!!!!! The water not for drinking sign was unglued n it was left dangling on the basin ledge thru all 4 days of my stay. The shampoo+amenities box pull-handle was missing and again nothing was done. Night lite didnt light up; neither did the desk lamp. Holder for shower head doesnt hold well anymore.No free internet connection; charged by the minute or abt US$15 a day.Bedroom slippers - the worse quality I had seen any of their group properties. The much raved concierge Storm - bumped into him once at the coffee shop - he gave me a map of Beijing. The receptionist had earlier said they dont hv any give away map. Coffee shop staff and cooks were somewhat a shade off. And oh the coffee shop closes at midnite; at half-past-ten was told the kitchen is almost closed - except for rice; all dishes on the menu were not available. Not even a pizza; muffin nor cake. No choice; other than a foot massage shop across the driveway; the entire neighborhood is dead quiet after 9pm.Forget about staying here! For location; there's nothing like choosing a hotel around Wangfujing or Chaoyang Sanlitun. For once I totally disagree with the high ranking racked up at TripAdvisor for the HInn Central; Beijing. There maybe a root cause for the 'i-cant-be-bothered' looks on the staff.
325490,travelinggirls08,06/28/2008,Excellent hotel I booked this hotel based on the reviews. We never met the infamous Storm even though the reviews on his service were the final factor in booking this hotel. The rooms are exceptionally clean and inviting. I do not know about the location and it did not really matter because taxis are readily available and very inexpensive. This is definitely a four star hotel as noted in China (trip advisor lists it as a 3 star). We had no trouble getting anywhere we wanted to go because of the exceptional concergie service. The staff wrote down in Chinese where we wanted to go and numbered each card so we simply handed the card to the taxi driver and off we went each day. I recommend adding the breakfast to the room charge; the buffet is varied and an excellent value. I highly recommend this hotel and would love to stay there again!
325490,superatsu,06/27/2008,Excellent! My hasband and I had a really relaxing stay at this hotel. I will come back agian!
325490,Rivahguy,06/20/2008,Excellent value and hospitality in Beijing In April; my wife and I returned from a 7 night stay at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza in Beijing. Always before I have stayed at 5 star hotels such as the Swissotel. We highly recommend the Central Plaza as a less expensive alternative with about the same proximity to Forbidden City. It is located in a nice neighborhood for local color; restaurants; groceries and sundries. Storm; the concierge; is excellent. He understands concerns of those from the west and can provide good advice and make arrangements with a concern for value and comfort. The buffet is first rate and the staff is very attentive and friendly. The hotel management seems to really try to be on top of things. Recommend Club level accommodations; though the service in the Executive Club; though friendly; is not on a par with that in five star hotels. Only other complaint was that we could not get our room sufficiently cooled at night - a common experience in my travels.However; free broad band access was available in the club level rooms either through Ethernet connection or wi fi. This was in addition to a terminal in the club lounge.So; that is my hotel of choice as I return; this time on business; in June.
325490,zachnyc,06/09/2008,Hidden Gem; Storm shines like a diamond Stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza for two separate stays; first for three nights in King room; May 115th-18th; 2008 and again for two nights in a double room; May 19th-21st. Upgraded to Executive floor for both stays. Terrific room; great design; free internet wireless in room. No great views to speak of; but this seems typical of Beijing hotels. Hotel was spotless and buffet breakfast was the best we had in Beijing; including the Hyatt Regency and other five star properties.Although the location is not wonderful; taxis had no trouble finding this hotel with a taxi card. Taxis are incredibly cheap in Beijing; so this is not a problem. Subway is a good 25 minute walk; but several convenient buses run right outside hotel; and Storm provided two metro/bus passes for our stay and they did come in handy. Buses are comfortable and the ticket takers are happy to help with getting you to the right stop.Now; for the best thing about this hotel; Guest Relations Manager Storm Li. Storm arranged airport pickup for us; and the driver was waiting when we cleared customs. Storm immediately rang up the driver to insure that we had been properly meet and that all was in order (even though it was past 10 pm.)Storm arranged to meet us the next morning at breakfast and when he did he had plenty of recommendations for us to do on our first day. Since we had a tour guide arranged for the second and third day in Beijing; Storm recommended a pedicab tour of some of the lesser known sites around Beijing. The guide he found was great; although he hardly spoke any English; and he took us to some very interesting sites; and made sure we returned to the hotel in time for our other plans.We also enjoyed chatting with Storm in the evening about the culture of China and Beijing and its history. He is a kind and interesting man; with many talents. He is a true gem and gives this hotel all its character and charm.Unfortunately; although the rest of the staff is caring and attentive; their lack of good English skills leaves you feeling somewhat helpless in the few hours a day when Storm is not on duty. I look forward to visiting this hotel again the next time I visit Beijing and most look forward to seeing Storm again!
325490,eprVancouver,06/08/2008,Enjoyed my Stay I really enjoyed my Stay at the Holiday Inn. Most of this was due to Storm. I had read about him on trip advisor and he certainly more than met my expectations. He made sure my party was equipped with a cell phone; so that we counld phone him when needed and arranged our three day stay according to our interests. I'm not sure how he had the time to help so many people! After me asking about possibly visiting a doctor regarding a sore throat he even met me the next day with a prescription and medicine.I was not thrilled with our room Although it was spacious; it lacked character and had no window. I've never stayed in a room like that; however I'm sure if I had complained I would have been moved.I was also not fond of the location; but the taxis were cheap and did get where we wanted fairly quickly.
325490,Daoda2,06/08/2008,Great hotel. Not so great location. Hotel is equivalent to a 3-4 star hotel in the States. Very comfortable; clean; modern. Great staff. Only downside is that it's not in a very pretty neighborhood and it's a longish cab ride to get anywhere. Had I the choice next time; I might stay in a more central location.
325490,Hatman007,06/08/2008,Storm and Linda = The Real Dynamic Duo! Linda/Blair/Storm
325490,MrsZippy48,06/06/2008,Hotel met our expectations; Storm exceeded them My husband and I stayed at this hotel for 4 nights at the start of our trip to China; and one night prior to leaving. We chose the Holiday Inn Central Plaza after studying Trip Advisor. The hotel rooms were well furnished; spotless; with fairly comfortable beds. Two bottles of water; and usually 2 pices of fruit were complimentary daily. We had several meals at the main restaurant; the buffet choice was comprehensive and tasty; but did seem a little expensive. One night we chose from the menu but we were both disappointed with the qualityWe had the perfectly adequate 'Two egg' room service breakfast (coffee extra) several times; the cost was reasonable; and the eggs were usually still hot on arrival. The location of the hotel was OK; we found it very interesting going for walks to check out the neighbourhood. There is a nice bakery a short walk to the left of the hotel; bottled water/soft drinks were very cheap locally (approx 100yds to right). Taxis were very easy to find; and we were only turned down once one evening. The hotel was well staffed; they were very polite; and most had a reasonable command of English.We had read many positive comments about Storm; we were pleased when he introduced himself to us on our second day; and asked how he could help. The next day he arranged a Pedicab ride from the hotel to the Hutong to finish with Peking Duck lunch. That evening he arranged tickets for the excellent Acrobatic Show. When we returned to the hotel for the second time he arranged a driver to meet us at the airport; and detour via the Olympic Stadiums which we had wanted to see.Storm really went up in our estimation when he took time out of his busy day to accompany us to catch a train to Zhengzhou. It was a huge relief to have him guide us through the massive Beijing West Station. When we discovered we had been booked on the slow instead of the fast train he managed to find 2 people to exchange trains with us! Lastly he helped us onto the train and made sure we were able to sit together. We just feel so grateful to him for all his help. There is a world of difference between someone who says have a nice day and Storm; who takes the extra trouble and time to make sure it is.
325490,PatnLarry,06/03/2008,Style over content The view from the room
325490,goldcoastguy71,06/02/2008,Bad Location I booked this hotel partly because of its location.If you look at Google Earth and like me assumed it was bordering the Forbidden City; you would be completely wrong. The Google Earth indicators are wrong.This hotel is a good 20 mins drive from the Forbidden City. You will be able to get a taxi there; but getting one back to your hotel will be almost impossible (the drivers will refuse you). Have fun sitting in backwards in a motorised rickshaw weaving through 8 lanes of peak hour traffic.You will probably be offered an upgrade to the Executive Floor. I can't say I got too much benefit from it.There is nothing in the immediate vicinity that would entice you to leave the hotel.If I was returning to Beijing; I'd find somewhere closer to The Forbidden City.
325490,sunvalley102,06/01/2008,Storm does it again - great holiday in beijing My wife and I recently returned from our first trip to china having 4 days in Beijing and 5 in Shanghai...Our stay at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza started our holiday in the possible way. The hotel room we stayed in was modern; clean and a good size. Our first morning we met the mighty Storm Li; (my wife was very skeptical about how my late nights trolling through Tripadvisor would be of any assistance and especially all the deeds of Storm). Well it knocked her socks off when we asked about somewhere on the street to have breakfast. He not only told us where to get breakfast but guided us to the place then told us what they were making; helped us order and sat with us over breakfast. Storm also arranged a taxi for us to the Great Wall for 600 RMB with a visit to the National Stadium (Bird Cage) where we managed to get through the security to watch a rehearsal for the medal ceremonies.Storm also provided us with a mobile phone for contact with him if we had any communication problems and a travel pass for bus and rail. Nothing was a bother for him. The only unfortunate thing was we did not get the chance to say good-bye to him on our departure. From reading some of the other reviews he was probably performing some good deed to another traveller.Some reviewers have said the hotel is pretty isolated from the main sites and shopping of Beijing but we found this in fact added to the value of our stay. (and the taxis are very cheap anyway) We found a beautiful park about 300 metres from the hotel which was full of local people taking part in their daily routine of exercise.
325490,Viajeraincansable,05/31/2008,Very good experience We spent 3 nights at this hotel. It is not close to the center; but taxis are so cheap that this is not an inconvenience. We did not have problems to find it. The room was incredible; big; confortable; nice. The bed was huge and confortable. The window was very big but it had not dark curtains; so we woke up early in the morning. Moreover; our room was in the second floor (the same floor of the pool and the gym) and it was a bit noisy. The bathroom is OK and you can find an advice about the tap water (it is not safe to drink it) and 2 free bottles of water each day.The staff is kind and efficient; but they do not speak fluent English and there is a man who speaks some words in Spanish. Anyway; they do their best to help you in a proffessional way; specially bell boys. They are nice and helpfull. You can find an ATM inside the hotel and the restaurant is very well assorted. The hotel is comfortable; nice and clean and the staff is very nice. This hotel is a very good choice.
325490,BR00KIE,05/30/2008,Not the best place to stay Having returned from 3 weeks touring Hong Kong; Shanghai; Tokyo and Beijing and having spent all this time is great hotels I'll have to say the Holiday Inn was not up to the mark.We arrived late at night 11.30pm to find no Concierge service and the bar was closed. Having checked in and taken our bags to our own room we found the mini bar. The fridge didn't work so the beers were warm. I reported this and this wasn't taken seriously.We went out into Beijing that night and the hotel isn't in the best location for bars and restuarants; so a taxi was called. The doorman who was there to get us a taxi didn't speak enough english to understand where we wanted to go so had to get another member of staff out to help.We then returned to our room in the early hours; put the Do not disturb sign outside our door and at 10am house keeping walked straight into our room!!We finally decided to check out and find another hotel after only staying the one night of the 3 we paid for - the icing on the cake was the doormans constant spitting.On check out we were never asked why we were checking out.
325490,ChewyWilly,05/25/2008,Thank you Storm! We chose to stay at this hotel based on other reviews. I was particularly interested in meeting the infamous Storm; whom I've now dubbed the best concierge - EVER! Storm made our stay in Beijing unforgettable.The hotel itself is amazing. It had every amenity possible. The food was delicious. We tried the massages and my boyfriend got his haircut. Everything was totally impressive. The only thing lacking from out standpoint was an ATM. Luckily there were a couple of options not too far from the hotel.Now; back to Storm. We travelled to Beijing without much a plan except a list of sights we needed to see. Storm helped us plan each trip as well as suggesting other off the beaten path options. He took us to a GREAT Peking Duck restaurant and overall provided a level of customer service we have never experienced.I would definitely recommend this hotel for travellers on a medium budget and looking for really be taken care of.Thanks Holiday Inn and especially Storm for a visit we will never forget!
325490,dane5588,05/23/2008,Couldn't have asked for more We stayed with 15 friends at the Holiday Inn Beijing at Central Plaza for three nights this May 2008. Physically; the hotel was in almost perfect condition with clean; updated rooms and lobby. Didn't get a chance to check out the gym or pool; but I heard they were nice. The absolute best part of this visit though was the concierge; Storm. Storm guided us throughout our trip- setting up tours; giving restaurant reviews and recommendations; and getting us to and from our destinations via public transportation. Storm even went as far to actually lead us to places that he thought might be difficult for us to find. He set up a great day tour with our awesome tour guide Sunny who took us to the Ming Tombs; a jade factory; the Great Wall; and a silk factory- all for $28 USD including entrance fees; transport; and our awesome tour guide. If this is your first time in Asia like it was ours; the Holiday Inn Beijing should definitely be your choice for a hotel.
325490,senriquez,05/22/2008,Ok; this can't be real... I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn in Beijing and the overall experience was very nice. They keep everything very clean and when I reported that my refrigerator was having problems; they replaced it promptly when I was away from my room. The food was good and the service was great. I paid for the Business plan which allowed for unlimited Internet access in the room and in the lounge and free outgoing local faxes.It was a tad confusing when I accessed the Internet from my room as it said that it was going to charge me but I just figured that if it did that it could get straightened out later. In the end; it did not appear on my bill but it was just confusing. I sent one fax while I was there but was charged for it but I didn't even mention it since the amount was so little. The business center helped me to get a rush fax out in the nick of time but they were slightly confused when I inquired about sending something via FedEx. So I did not end up shipping out the item that I wanted shipped.Ok; now everybody mentions Storm at least once in their post so I was interested in how good the service was to say the least. My phone ran out of minutes so I went downstairs and Storm greeted me when I approached the concierge desk. I asked about how to buy minutes for my phone and he advised against purchasing minutes because I would be leaving the next day and that the Beijing minutes cannot be used in Shanghai or something like that (the entire system there is very confusing). All the while he was discussing this with me; it seemed that perhaps the questions were bothersome and he was preoccupied with something else...kind of like when you're talking to someone and they're looking for someone else to talk to because they are done with you. Well; you know; everyone has an off day and I guess he just wasn't living up to the hype but I really didn't think about it much more.Fast forward to today; I am now in Shanghai and I realize that I forgot; in my haste to get to the airport; my souvenir photos from The Great Wall and some of my clothes hanging up in the closet. I contacted the hotel and they said that they could send it to my hotel but they may cut it close as I am checking out tomorrow back to the U.S. They finally contacted me to let me know that the courier service or shipping company was unable to make the deadline to get it to me so quickly...Ok; here's the kicker...Storm just called my room at the hotel in Shanghai (not a Holiday Inn) to let me know that he is on a TRAIN bringing my belongings to me...FROM BEIJING!!! Are you kidding me??? Who does something like that...People like this do not exist in the real world. I am completely flabbergasted and cannot believe that someone would go through this much trouble just for me. The only words I have left...If you come to Beijing...stay at this Holiday Inn!
325490,Cilgwyn,05/13/2008,Couldn't be better We chose the Central Plaza after reading some great reviews and we were not disappointed. I had arranged an airport pick-up and we were met by Frank; the head concierge who then organised our check in and sorted out a subsequent rearrangement of our room allocation without any fuss. Our accommodation was excellent; the staff in every department were friendly and efficient and the breakfast was superb. We did have dinner in the hotel on one evening which was also very good.But of course the star of the show was Storm Li. I had read so much about him on trip advisor but I was very sceptical and I could not believe that he could be so good - but he was. He sat down with us and asked us what were our interests; then he set about devising an itinerary for us which included a morning exploring Beijing by rickshaw to include as many different photo opportunities as possible. This included Storm Li phoning our rickshaw 'driver' to check that all was well and a brief chat with us on the driver's mobile to ensure that we were happy with the arrangements. He truly cares about the guests and went out of his way to ensure that we had the best possible experience; and all this at a time when his wife was due to give birth at any time.I was very apprehensive about our first visit to China but we felt welcome and cared for at the Central Plaza and I would not hesitate to recommend it.
325490,JetsetTX,05/07/2008,Deserves to be number 1! Our room on the 10th floor; notice the huge windows!
325490,escapingontherun,05/05/2008,Amazing Hotel. Wow.What an amazing hotel.No detail was too minor during our entire stay...Everything from fresh fruit in the rooms to prompt; excellent service.I'd say that this is the best hotel in Beijing based on 3 things combined:1) Price2) Place3) ServiceThis is the only hotel I would ever think of staying in in Beijing.
325490,greygranny,05/05/2008,As reported this Hotel was great!! My room - pretty nice!!
325490,deepdivetexas,05/03/2008,Great Value; Great Staff Just got back from a four night stay in April 2008. The hotel is a great value and the staff are truly exceptional. The staff was very attentive to our needs and very helpful. The concierge arranged drivers for eight of us to go to the Great Wall before sunrise. The transportation was there as planned at 1:30 am and we arrived in time to catch the sunrise. The rooms were very nice and comfortable. The only issue I had was with the air conditioning not keeping the room cool enough for my taste 20C. I opened up the windows and allowed the outside air to come in and the temperature was fine. I would reccomend getting the business upgrade for the room which includes internet and breakfast and snacks in the evening.All in all I booked this hotel on recomendations from this site and I have to say I was not disappointed. I would definitely stay here again.
325490,xxxadixxx,05/02/2008,Very accomodating Our sunrise view made possible by the outstanding Concierge staff at the Holiday Inn Central Pla
325490,QuitaVirginiaBeach,04/24/2008,Loved the hotel My brother and I were in Beijing from the 17th to the 22nd of this month and loved the hotel. The facility is spacious and spotless; the rooms are large; clean and the room service was prompt. The concierge service was very helpful and the Dutch girl Linda went out of her way to be friendly and helpful. The hotel was a very nice surprise; I can see why it's #1 on Trip Advisor
325490,birdette,04/21/2008,Everything great but the LOCATION!!!! My husband and I just returned from a week trip to Beijing. We had a lovely time and we were very pleased with the Holiday Inn Central Plaza. I would definitely give it more than a three star that the Tripadvisor has given it; however there are few things about the hotel that I should mention to the readers who are debating whether to stay at this hotel or not; it all depends to whether they are there for business or pleasure. I鈥檒l first give you the Good Points followed by the NOT SO GOOD points.GOOD POINTSThere are many good points about the hotel. Rooms are very clean and modern. There is a safe in the room plus a mini bar and you get 2 complimentary bottles of water each day. The breakfast was included in our room price and it was actually very nice and adequate with a variety of choices. The Caf茅 in the lobby has good lattes and it鈥檚 a great place to relax after a busy day. Please note only GOLD Priority Club members would be upgraded to the executive room for free; we were not gold members so we were asked to pay an extra 300 RMB per night which we chose not to. All the staff members were friendly and willing to help; we saw the famous Storm from a distance helping other travelers but didn鈥檛 get a chance to talk to him. There is a currency exchange machine in the lobby that is very convenient and offers exchange at a normal rate. So all together the hotel was great; I would say if it wasn鈥檛 for the location it would definitely be a four and half star. We had a wonderful time in Beijing and I should also suggest that the famous John Yellow Car service to the Great Wall that are mentioned in the tripadvisor forum was amazing; John was very nice and professional and took us to the Mutayanu Great Wall鈥ighly recommend him.NOT SO GOOD POINTSThe location is relatively far from most of the sightseeing and shopping malls/restaurants. I guess if you go to Beijing for few days for business it won鈥檛 be a problem; but my husband and I were there for 8 nights and almost every day we had went toward Forbidden city/Tianamen and Wangfujing as most of the things were around that area. Some people on this site suggested it was only a 20 minute drive to Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square/Wangfujing Shopping and food district for about 15RMB HOWEVER I guess they must have been lucky because the traffic was crazy for most of the day when we were there and from what we heard it is of course very normal for Beijing (at times we were stuck in traffic for nearly 35-40 minutes and ended up paying 30 and even 50 RMB). Many taxi drivers were reluctant to drive out there and often we had to really bargain and offer more money especially if you go out at nights you鈥檒l find it difficult to take a taxi back to the hotel as it is not in the drivers ideal location so be prepared to pay more otherwise good luck finding one. Other than the location I would stay the hotel is great for a Holiday Inn; although next time in Beijing I would pay a little more and stays at another Hotel in Wangfujing area simply because the malls and food courts/food markets/restaurants there offer better and greater food variety at much cheaper prices. For example a dinner at the hotel buffet restaurant would cost over 400 RMB but outside at any other decent restaurant would be around 150-200 RMB; so as you can imagine the location of the hotel is the reason the prices are lower; but because of lack of option for restaurants nearby you end up spending just that much in the hotel more for food/coffee at the hotel. The Spa is mediocre; we went there for a foot massage and it was not really a smoky dark room with a plastic bucket filled with water and didn鈥檛 feel too clean either; so don鈥檛 bother with the spa. The Zen restaurant is not too good; it鈥檚 overpriced and the food was really bad. My husband ended up getting sick at night after having diner there.That鈥檚 it about the hotel; please note other than the few negative things it was a pleasant stay and if I had to stay there again; I would. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
325490,theMonty,04/15/2008,Bravo! This is never just a 3 star hotel! It has an awesome gym (for a hotel); pool and restaurants - particularly the Zen - Chinese. The buffet breakfast is excellent as well. The staff do a great job; particularly the Dutch girl Linda who honestly gave us so much help about what we should do in China in general. She was awesome and the concierge were pretty good as well. Just make sure you don't get laundry done here because it is a rip off! Over a British pound to get a pair of boxer shorts cleaned!!!
325490,Annick9,04/13/2008,Wonderful experience The location of the hotel is quite convenient; and no cultural site in Beijing is very far away by taxi.I loved the rooms; everything was spotless; you have your own control of heat and A/C. The staff was helpful and unobtrusive as well as very efficient.Restaurants around are cheap and open around the clock. I only had breakfast at the hotel but all things were fresh and excellent (even the croissants). I booked through the hotel website; and paid $100+ a night; which was very good value for money.
325490,WaggaWaggaDes,04/11/2008,Fantastic stay thanks to Storm. He's the MAN! We now know that there is absolutely no other place to stay while in Bejing; Sure the Holiday Inn in Central Plaza has everything you want and need; and sure it's beautiful and well located; but the main reason we are going back is because of 'a man named Storm'.Storm is the head concierge; however he takes his job far beyond handling your luggage to and from rooms and calling taxis. Storm was our personal tour guide; interperter; public transport coordinator and good friend!Storm pre organised our taxi from the airport; where when left alone you are at the mercy of over-keen drivers who may not always price the tourist correctly. On arrival Storm had optional day plans pre thought and coordinated. This included clear directions; bus travel cards and written messages for local bus drivers and taxi drivers.When we asked him the best place to eat Peking Duck; Storm escorted us to THE BEST; out of the way; fair-dinkum; restaurant in Bejing. He helped us order then left us to enjoy.On leaving; our man Storm even escorted us to the train station; knowing there would be local language and procedure issues to endure to make our continuing journey from Bejing.After leaving Bejing; we travelled to Nanjing; Shanghai; Guangzhou and Hong Kong; and although we have no major complaints with any of the other hotels; we certainly didn't come across another Storm. That meant working out where to go; what to see and how to communicate was definately that much harder and certainly more time consuming.We recommend when you next travel to Bejing; welcome The Storm at The Holiday Inn; he'll make your days sunnier and brighter.Thanks Mate; your Aussie friends.
325490,wiwoo,04/08/2008,Exceptional! We are just back from 3 wonderful nights in this hotel. We couldn't fault our stay in any way. Our room was clean and spacious; the buffet breakfast was huge; varied and delicious. We tried the Zen restaurant and were not disappointed. We did not have any dealings with Storm but the rest of the staff Brian; Frank and Cindy looked after us equally well. It was 5 star service at 3 star prices.If we are back in Beijing; we would not dream of staying anywhere else.
325490,clymout,04/06/2008,R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Small section of the international buffet
325490,BritAbroad0,03/30/2008,Fantastic I have stayed in more Holiday Inns than I care to remember and this one has to be the best by a long way. Helpful staff; luxurious room; great food - try the peking duck in their cantonese restaurant or the international buffet in their main restaurant. It is easy to see why they have won so many awards.We are fairly independent travellers who like to find our own way around when we can and one of the reasons we chose this hotel was the positive comments about Storm the concierge on this web site. We only saw Storm in the distance; but his staff were excellent as well. For example; we wanted to go and see the Great Wall at Mutianyu; but without all the unadvertised; time wasting retail opportunities that seem to come with organised tours. We explained this to the hotel and half an hour later were in a private car driven to and from the wall for 800 RMB. The english speaking driver even provided us with an umbrella when it started to rain! Great service.Because of the location you do need a taxi to get anywhere but given the traffic levels in BJ being out of the centre was actually an advantage. The nearest metro stop is a little too far to walk but this wasn't an issue. Whenever we left the hotel the doorgirl briefied the taxi driver where we were going; gave us a card with the hotel details; and idea of the usual price and the taxi driver's number with a number to call if there were any issues and the hotel would sort them out which we never needed to do.
325490,donkey1976,03/03/2008,Believe! I stayed at this hotel last summer for two nights; alone; deadset on seeing as much of Beijing as I could. The staff at this hotel learned my name really looked after me--even gave me a temporary cell to use while I was out. Storm is the ultimate concierge (OMG!! Is he real? YES! He was away the first day and things were very nice; but then he made a good visit into a fantastic one.) I took the bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai; and he arranged my tickets even made sure that I got a window seat. But I would recommend this hotel highly for the price even (gasp!) without Storm. It was perfectly clean and efficient. Everyone was very nice and fussed over me a lot--I think because I was traveling alone. I think this could annoy me under other circumstances; but I also think they would take the hint. Don't worry about it being far out of town; you can take taxis and they are cheap by western standards. (PS-I spent the first two nights at the super-fancy Grand Hyatt near the Forbidden City--I wasn't paying! It was absurdly posh the rooms were nicer but nowhere near the 3X-cost nicer. If money were no object....)
325490,WorldTraveller1944,02/09/2008,Thanks for your hospitality We visited Beijing on our way to Australia and New Zealand and only; really went there because of the forthcoming Olympic Games. It was a very interesting and enjoyable stopover of a week.The hotel staff all could not do enough to help us - we were travelling independently. The rooms and public areas were clean with smiling; helpful staff. If they; individually didn't speak English they were able to communicate in other ways or find someone that did. That made it fun to find out about how people live and where best to visit. One of the waitresses was especially welcoming and went out of her way to greet us everyday; as did most of the staff.Storm was especially helpful and took us to a bus stop himself and showed us the procedure for using public buses. We enjoyed that immensley. As it was also my birthday whilst we were there he took us to a local Chinese dinner show where he had arranged for a birthday cake to be cut. The hotel also produced a lovely boquet of flowers. This made my birthday a most memorable occasionl; one that I will never forget.Although we had arranged our tours before we left the Uk; the location of the hotel meant that there was not too far to travel to visit them.A very memorable stay which we will remember always.ThanksPat and Roger
325490,gkellis,02/09/2008,Storm and the Holiday Inn are Fabulous Storm and the staff of the Holiday Inn were beyond expectations! I made reservations based on the reviews here and was SO GLAD that I did. Storm appeared at breakfast the first morning after we arrived; asked what things we had planned to see; and made everything happen. When he found that there was an interesting event that we might want to see; he gently suggested that we change our plans for the day and we were so glad that we did. He has lived in Beijing all his life and knows the city. If you want Peking Duck; he knows the best authentic (non-touristy) restaurant. If you want to go to the Great Wall; he suggests the least crowded place to visit. He loves his job and it is easy to see how much care he takes with each person. The hotel is clean; comfortable; and the staff is wonderful. They speak good English and are there to make your stay memorable and enjoyable. Each room has bottled water; fresh fruit; nightly turndown service and nice beds. I cannot say enough good things about this hotel. We stayed a week and felt like we barely made a dent in the list of things to see in Beijing. It is a wonderful city! Stay at the Central Plaza Holiday Inn and you won't be disappointed.
325490,Bleeper999,02/03/2008,Storm is THE man.... Beijing is a wonderful; interesting City. Very vibrant. Lots of traffic but taxis are cheap! Generally speaking the population does not speak English. However staff in the Hotel did - the Hotel was excellent and staff so friendly and helpful. I was ill with bronchitis during our stay and STORM came to our rescue - he was so helpful; friendly and full of advice without being too persistent. He got us medicine; and helped us get a camcorder head cleaner; and told us where to go for the best values in tourist purchases. I cannot imagine a more helpful person - Holiday Inn take note; you do not want to lose this member of staff.The Hotel was spotless - the food excellent. I cannot rate the hotel or its staff highly enough.
325490,NYCtraveler08,02/01/2008,Service the best We researched hotels and found the Holiday Inn Central Plaza to have the best overall comments and a very reasonable price. When I contacted the hotel for assistance in touring Beijing and the Great Wall I was put in touch with Storm. Storm was terrific! He sent me information beforehand so my family could discuss and plan what we wanted to do and see. When we arrived; Storm met us and gave us some preliminary information for our time there. The next day he escorted us to Tiananmen Square and got us oriented to that area of Beijing. We did the Forbidden City alone but that was set up to assist English speakers.Storm arranged for our dinners at an interesting variety of places: traditional Chinese in the neighborhood; Peking Duck at a renowned restaurant that does it in the traditional oven roasted way; and Mongolian Hot Pot. He set up our tour to the Great Wall and offered us other alternatives. Since our visit was short; we opted to tour the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple. It was a great first time visit to Beijing which was made particularly wonderful by Storm and his assistance.If you go; stay at this hotel and ask for Storm!
325490,diatombaby,01/27/2008,Excellent hotel Incredible hotel: beautifully decorated rooms; cozy slippers and robes; good tea; fresh fruit and copious bottles of water; a well-stocked fridge; high-quality linens and a very comfortable mattress; and a varied; extensive; and immensely tasty breakfast. Staff was very friendly and accommodating. No complaints at all and I would happily stay here again.
325490,MiaMia62,01/06/2008,Wonderful Experience We chose the Holiday Inn Central Plaza because of the outstanding reviews on Trip Advisor. But it still exceeded our expectations. The rooms were worthy of a five-star hotel; but the service was even better. We were especially blown away by the attentiveness and concern of the concierge; who goes by the English name of Storm. He went so far above and beyond what might be expected to make sure our needs and preferences were met that we felt we truly had a best friend in Beijing. He even accompanied us to the train station when we left Beijing; and saw us onto the train!! As far as the room goes; the beds; sheets; air conditioning; towels; cleanliness and quality were all five-star; and we have stayed in some truly world-class hotels. Wonderful hotel!
325490,Holidayssoon,01/02/2008,Surpassed expectations I had high expectations of this hotel after reading the reviews and they managed to surpass them. We stayed for 5 days at the start of our holiday and one day at the end.Room was lovely; newly fitted out and very stylish with thoughtful touches like UK plug points (also other types but not sure which ones)The breakfast and dinner buffets were superb. A great selection of European; American; Chinese and Japanese dishes - it was like a challenge to try as many as possible. Very reasonably priced. Waiting staff were attentive without being intrusive.Health club was clean and good facilities. Never met the famous Storm but all the staff that we met were extremely helpful and polite.
325490,sjmortons,12/22/2007,It's the Best As a financial auditor my work role is the identify weaknesses and exposures in the way businesses are conducting their affairs and provide an overall opinion ranging from 鈥渘ot satisfactory鈥?to 鈥済ood鈥? Most overall opinions are satisfactory; few are classified 鈥済ood鈥? My wife I; together with our son daughter (both adults); have just spent 4 days at the Central Plaza before heading to the UK. Our choice of hotel was based on being a gold Priority club member and research via TripAdvisor. Overall opinion鈥 GOOD. Why? An old saying 鈥淵ou get what you pay for鈥? in this case our expectations were exceeded. The hotel is comfortable; all staff we came in contact with were obliging; the facilities adequately met all our needs; particularly the beds; we were upgraded and overall felt relaxed; comfortable and happy. Some might say location could be better however we had no trouble in getting the transportation we required. And then there was Storm; the hotel鈥檚 鈥淐ustomer Service鈥?man; Concierge come 鈥済ive good service to all guests鈥?Manager鈥︹€?well referenced by many in TripAdvisor. He deserves the accolades given by guests to this hotel. Storm contacted us prior to arrival; met us upon arrival; played an important part in ensuring we got out of our Beijing visit what we wanted (plus more) and blended weather advice with sightseeing options to maximise our experience. Additionally; he was sufficiently astute to respect the fact that we were independent travellers who like and enjoy our own space. Storm; accompanied us to dinner on two evenings; this adding to the atmosphere of feeling at home and with friends whilst in Beijing. A man who loves what he does; is proud of his job; employer; culture and city and is willing to share all with the guests. He is a great asset to the hotel and its success. In summary good value for money; warm friendly staff; great beds and Storm. The hotel met all our needs and I鈥檓 sure they would yours.
325490,lilasp,12/11/2007,Storm Li; Conceirge Holiday Inn Central Plaza Storm Li took the stress and worry out of visiting Beijing and getting us to our ship on time. He arranged our tours and train trip to Xingang where we joined our ship. We would have been lost without him. He went out of his way to help us and get the most for our money. Look him up even if you're not staying at the Holiday Inn. He'll gladly help you anyway he can.
325490,KeithfromPattaya,12/01/2007,Watch out for dodgy taxi drivers and tour operators I have travelled to many places and have always tried to arrange a reliable pick up from whichever airport I go to. With this in mind I arranged to be picked up from Beijing Airport by Gray Line tours via their website at a cost of $69 for the pick up to the Holiday Inn and the return trip to the airport. The evening before my departure Gray Line rang me to conform the pick up time of 5.30am. I was waiting in the lobby at 5.20am when a Chinese gentleman approached and in his best English said You man for Airport? I asked if he was from Gray Line to which he said he was and the taxi was waiting. When I arrived at the airport he told me the fare was 160yuan and that he was not from Gray Line. I had very little option but to pay. He has obviously done this before as a 'friend' of his ushered me into the departure lounge while he stood in front of the licene plate to prevent me from getting the number. I expect to be confronted by touts and spivs at the airport but I find it totally unacceptable that somebody purporting to be a representative of a reputable company can walk into a hotel unchallenged and 'con' hotel guests. Needless to say I cannot claim the 'fare' back from Gray Line as they state that payment over the internet is non refundable. Apart from that I found the hotel to be everything already written on this site. The staff were excellent. The room; on the West Wing was comfortable and quiet and the food and the overall service were of a 5 star standard. Only two small gripes. The ATM in the hotel was not working for the week I was there and the bath tub is miniscule. However the shower is excellent. I would recommend the Gray Line tours ( with the proper guides ). I did their main three tours ie Tiananmen Square; Forbidden City; Summer Place; Temple of Heaven; Great Wall; Ming Tombs. Lama Temple and Beijing Zoo. All very good value for money. I was there for the last week in November which was the 'slack ' season. I dread to think what it must be like in the heat of the summer in the busy season.
325490,DaleMR,11/26/2007,Excellent Hotel Breakfast at the hotel
325490,worldin80,11/26/2007,Excellent Hotel Although this hotel is not central; the location really does not matter when you are visiting Beijing. The concierge makes it very convenient to take a cab anywhere you need to go. This hotel feels more like a five star than a Holiday Inn. The rooms and bathrooms are really clean and big. I will absolutely stay here the next time I am in Beijing.
325490,husainml,11/26/2007,Very nice hotel. MY stay at the Holiday inn central plaza was very good.The service is very good and the most important the breakfast at the hotels was very good.It realy felt like a 5 star but the location is not good.Little bit far from the city but worth it if u in a private tour with a private car.
325490,SST07,11/25/2007,Best Kept Secret in Beijing We stayed 10 days at the Beijing Central Plaza Holiday-Inn in November. Our experience was great after we ironed out a few kinks the day we arrived. We reserved a room with breakfast and Executive Lounge privilege. The breakfast at the Salt and Pepper was great and the staff was very friendly and eager to help. We could choose from the traditional milk and cereal; coffee and pastries; or bacon and sausage to Chinese won-ton soup; steamed buns; Chinese baked bread; soy bean milk; porridge; fresh fruits; and a number of other delicious items. The Executive Lounge was also very good. We could get drinks throughout the day and the happy hour between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM provided us with drinks and a sample of snacks including hot and cold appetizers; deserts; fruits; and coffee. We could get all sorts extra assistance from non-English speaking staff because I am fluent in Mandarin.Hotel location is very convenient to the Forbidden City; Temple of Heaven; and major shopping areas. I found major bus routes on WWW.bjbus.com. We went to the Olympic Stadium by bus from the hotel. We took the number 800 bus near the hotel to Yonghe Gong (Lama Temple) station where we transferred to # 858 bus across the street via a pedestrian bridge to the Olympic Stadium East gate. It was surprisingly easy and convenient. The hotel is also very close to the #10 bus terminal where we used to visit the Forbidden City and the newly completed national concert hall/theater. We also took #5 bus to Bei Hai Park; which is one of our favorite place in Beijing.Beijing is our favorite city and the Central Plaza Holiday Inn is our favorite hotel in Beijing. We plan to go back again in the near future.
325490,TheSound,11/25/2007,First Time in Beijing This trip to Beijing was our first experience in China and our stay at the Central Plaza Holiday Inn was an important aspect of our enjoyment.The Concierge; Storm; made excellent suggestions and assisted us in organizing interesting and worthwhile activities in order to see the best of Beijing. His planning included good suggestions for dining out in the city and in visiting the Great Wall on a day in November with optimal weather conditions.His services included several personal touches such as: finding us some fresh walnuts; helping us to use the urban transit system to get to Tianamien Square the first morning; and ensuring that a taxi was where we needed it for getting around the city.We would recommend the services of this hotel concierge to anyone visiting Beijing. We found the city and its sights easily accessible because of Storm's efforts.
325490,Forgettaboutit,11/20/2007,Storm was Great We were able to find a better deal by booking directly with the airline and the hotel.Flying to China from NY is grueling (12+ hrs) and you really don't want to contend with finding a taxi and then not knowing if they know where you are staying (you need directions in Chinese and have to pay them in Yuan); so I had Holiday Inn arrange airport pickup ($45 USD). Even though it was more than twice the going taxi rate; it was well worth it.The hotel itself did not look like a typical U.S. Holiday Inn - it was more upscale; meticulously clean and the dining was pretty good. Definitely book the breakfast as it is very good and good western food is not widely available. There's even an omelet/egg station. For money exchange we brought our atm card - be sure to alert your card provider you'll be using it in China. The hotel has an atm that we used to make withdrawals in Yuan. Exchange rate is approx $1=7.4 Yuan; so we withdrew 2000 yuan and that went in two days! We paid meals; shopping and tourist attractions in yuan because credit card conversion fees were 3%. Shopping at their markets (e.g. pearl; silk markets) and side streets is by negotiation; but you can find incredible deals. Most vendors know a little English but will hand you a calculator with their ask price. Type in what you are willing to pay in yuan (as a rule; we started at one-third the ask price). Walk away if you don't like the price; it will come down to what you are asking because they all sell the same things.We arrived on a Sunday and Storm called the room on Monday morning. He was great. He makes a 4 star hotel earn a 5 star rating. He only works in the mornings and can be found by the concierge area to the right of the entrance. We knew what we wanted to see and he made all the arrangements. He even came with us to Tinnanmen Square and showed us how to use the buses and subways. Both are cheap but incredibly crowded - especially during rush hours. Storm gave us a complimentary cell phone and on several occassions that saved us when the taxi driver did not know exactly where our hotel was. He is also good at recommending eateries and a great resource for getting to places on time (with traffic).You should still make sure you get a card with Hotel directions in Chinese at the Holiday Inn front desk. The city is huge and construction is at breakneck speed so taxi drivers may not know your hotel. Taxis are the best way to get around - I would not rent a car. Cab fare is quite reasonable. Traffic is usually horrendous as other posters have noted. Air quality the first 3 days was terrible - about a block visibility. It cleared up the final 3 days so that was a great way to end our stay. No surpises on the final bill either!
325490,ConnieHK,11/19/2007,Stylish Hotel; Super Concierge Having heard so much about Storm the super concierge I was expecting to meet a loud; boisterous; imposing man marching out to pump our hands and overwhelm us with ideas and suggestions. Instead; we were greeted upon arrival in the lobby by a rather unassuming; quiet; polite gentleman who was soft-spoken and gentle but who proved to be everything we were hoping for; and more. I had exchanged emails with Storm prior to our scheduled arrival; and he met us promptly as we got in from the airport; though it was getting to be late in the night. He had even called the airport earlier than morning to double check our arrival time. From then on; we were in his capable hands; and he certainly did not let us down. From dinners with his love wife Jasmine to a program of activities for each of the 4 days we were there (including sorting out transportation); Storm went above and beyond the call of duty - that's for sure. He listened to what we wanted and was proactive about making suggestions and arrangements. On our first day; he even accompanied us personally to Tiananmen Square via public bus; to give us a more authentic; local experience and to make sure we got there safely. Throughout; he was patient and kind and accommodating. We have never met a Concierge like him before. On finding out that I was pregnant; he even bought me a big bag of fresh; delicious walnuts (and cracked half of them for me during his personal time at home!!); as they are apparently good for the baby's hair. His level of service was absolutely touching. It may sound suffocating to some tourists; but for us he was perfect; and I believe he is sensitive enough to read people and decipher what level of attention they require. For our purposes; Storm fit the bill perfectly. In terms of the hotel; it was certainly more chic than what I would have expected of a Holiday Inn. Rooms/bathrooms were stylish; modern; and immaculate. Our king bed was HUGE and very comfy. One negative for me was the noise coming from the streets below at night; esp early in the morning. The room we were first given was Rm 906 and it faced the street so that by 6:30am; the sound of the engines from the cars was loud enough to wake and keep us up! To their credit; the staff was very nice about exchanging rooms for us immediately. While the new room was better (higher up and faced the other direction); I did think it was strange that I could STILL hear the cars early in the morning! Obviously the soundproofing around the windows could be improved upon and if there is one thing I would recommend to the hotel; this is it. Breakfast was pretty average. Stylish restaurant but the food was really rather bland and nothing to get too excited about. Not a problem though; because one would assume the exciting places to eat are OUTSIDE of the hotel in the real world. I would recommend the hotel (ask for an inward facing room if you're a sensitive sleeper like i am) and certainly for first timers to BJ would recommend that you contact Storm ahead of time; as he is by far the most dedicated and helpful Concierge we have ever encountered.
325490,Globetrotter1London,11/03/2007,Fantastic Stay My husband and I recently stayed at this hotel with my 13 year old niece for six nights. We booked it on the strength of the previous reviews and the oft mentioned 'Storm'. Before we arrived we emailed Storm and he organised the hotel limo to pick us up from the airport (350 Yuan). When we first met him he was on a day off! This guy really loves his job! He gave us a mobile phone so that we could contact him at anytime. He called us with some regularity to make sure everything was going well and to see if he could be of any help. He organised two evenings out with him and his wife. The first was to a restaurant which had traditional chinese entertainment e.g. acrobats; opera and martial arts - brilliant evening. The second was to a family style restaurant where we were the only guests - fabulous experience. He helped us to conquer some tourist boundaries and; as such; we travelled on buses; had local haircuts; local foot massages and bought several pairs of prescription glasses. My husband even tried out some acupunture at the local hospital! He showed us great local restaurants. On top of all of this we visited the Forbidden City; Summer Palace; Temple of Heaven and The Great Wall. We also managed a visit to the zoo where Storm advised to catch a boat to the Summer Palace. Storm made this holiday. However; the hotel was excellent. Very smart executives rooms. Great food. Super executive lounge. Very easy to get around as taxis are super cheap and organised by hotel door staff; however we did walk to the Forbidden Palace from the hotel; and it was exhilarating to be on foot in the city. This was a great stay and we will be going back!
325490,davwhite,10/24/2007,Great Hotel Tastefully decorated; staff were great; restaurant well above average; good location.Our group of 18 had no problems at all here; all were very satisfied
325490,Rekha,10/15/2007,Value for money hotel Stayed in this hotel for 3 nights and found it pretty decent; value for money and great breakfast. Would definitely recommend it to my friends; only hitch was that I found it slightly away from the central Beijing.
325490,Derbyfan21,10/08/2007,hotel oasis No Storm for our stay during National Holiday week but a great time and the young concierge boys were very helpful. Hotel is like an oasis at the end of a busy day sightseeing. Do try the local eateries in the streets around the hotel - even a posh restaurant only worked out at less than 拢4 for food for 2 of us. Taxis don't all know where the hotel is but the concierge gives you a handy card with full directions on it to help! Ideally located as all attractions are only a reasonable and cheap taxi ride away.
325490,bugsbunny6,08/30/2007,loved beijing had a wounderful holiday with a single's group traveling china;Beijing the Holiday inn; Chengde hotel Yunshan very good central.then Xian stayed @ Bell tower Hotel another very central hotel
325490,illflyaway,08/24/2007,Beautiful hotel This is a quite luxurious hotel with beautiful rooms; excellent service; and an unbelievably good breakfast buffet. We stayed in this hotel as part of a school tour group and it was the nicest hotel of the four we stayed in during our trip to China. I would definitely stay there again.
325490,ancarbone,08/18/2007,Disappointed! I booked this hotel after I read the review and awards given by other tripadvisor users.This hotel really disappointed me. But what I can't really understand is how some of you find this hotel great or outstanding!!I was coming from a three week stay at Crowne Plaza Fudan hotel in Shanghai which was really amazing...When we arrived; reception staff tried to persuade us to have some upgrade and pay more than 50% of the room rate I had booked... This lasted for about 20 minutes.We were 4 friends and they were not able to give us two rooms on the same floor as I requested in my reservation; but the gave us two rooms in two different WINGS instead....Needless to say that personnel struggle with their english.... And they often lose...Concierge and Reception were almost useless apart from the Chief Concierge (i think his name is Mark) who was great and gave us his cell phone in case we had any problems...Rooms were average though I had some problems with dusty carpets and my allergy. The other wing (i think it's the West Wing) had much smaller rooms with ridiculously tiny bathrooms....Location is horrible. Beijing is such a big city and has big traffic problems that you have to get a Central Hotel.this one is far from every attraction you can imagine.....Last but not least I asked them for stamps to send postcards in Europe and they only had domestic stamps. So i left them some money to buy int'l stamps and send my postcards for me....Obviously; these postcards never arrived...
325490,maac56,08/16/2007,Wonderful Stay Hotel Foyer
325490,felitrip,08/11/2007,Beautiful stay We have chosen to stay here in July based on the reviews we saw on this site. I can only say they are totally true. Our daughters (5 and 7 years old) simply loved this place. And the difference amongst the other hotels we've stayed is made by the personnel and their happiness to satisfy even ridiculous simple requests. From the reception; concierge; restaurant; to room service they are all the time warm and friendly. Special thanks to Annemarie (Guest Manager); who through all our stay stayed closed to us; gave us good advices; ... and didn't make any complain about our noisy daughters:).
325490,Lraep,08/06/2007,Value-for-money; but... We chose to stay at Holiday Inn Central Plaza in mid-July based on the numerous excellent reviews; esp. on their Concierge Manager; Mr Storm Li. We expressed our intension to have a side-trip to Datong Tai Yuen (Shanxi); and Storm even called us long-distance! He offered to make all hotel and transportation arrangements for us; helped to follow-up on my son鈥檚 summer camp arrangement; and arranged a taxi (楼150) to pick us up from the airport. Although he wasn鈥檛 at Beijing during our arrival; he called the taxi-driver to make sure we were okay.Our only complaints with Storm were: right before our departure from home; we got a e-mail from him saying the price of the hotel room in Datong has gone up; and he has not made reservation for our air-tickets. I was quite annoyed because I have done a lot of research on hotels and air-tickets; and could have made all reservations on the internet well in advance. Upon our arrival; we had to spend time doing last-minute bookings for air-tickets and hotels in Datong Tai Yuen. Thanks to 鈥渆long鈥? I was still able to get the rates I wanted. We only used the car arranged by Storm in Datong (楼400 for the day; including airport pick-up); and the same taxi-driver (Storm always arranged the same driver; but he was really nice) who drove us both ways between the hotel and the airport in Beijing.My advice is: if you don鈥檛 like to plan your trip; don鈥檛 mind to spend about 25% more; and don鈥檛 mind last-minute confirmation; then Storm could be really helpful as your last-minute trip-organisor. He could probably give you good advice; like one evening we made dinner reservation at 鈥淔amily Li Restaurant鈥? Storm advised us not to go there as it was expensive; but the food was just average. We went anyway; but deeply regretted it; as the food was really below average; very expensive; and the restaurant did not accept credit card (our bill for 2 adults 1 kid was 楼1;600). Much better alternatives are Tanjia Restaurant in Beijing Hotel; or Da Zhai Men Restaurant; where you could watch Chinese dinner shows (face-changing; acrobats; etc.) free while you dine (remember to make reservation well in advance for good seating).We鈥檝e probably got a good 14-day advance rate for our room. We did not have the luck to have free room-upgrade despite we were Priority Club member as some had mentioned. Instead the Front Receptionist tried very hard to pursuade us to pay 50% more to upgrade from a deluxe dbl room to a Suite; including offering us free breakfast; internet; and access to the business lounge. Luckily I had my room package print-out handly; and knew they were offers we were already entitled for. Of course they were not happy when we declined the offer. When we check-in the second time after our trip to Shanxi; we had the same experience again.Our room was nice and clean; and well-stocked with amenities.If your room package have access to the business lounge; you have the options to have breakfast at the lounge or their 鈥淪alt Pepper Restaurant鈥? My advice is the latter as breakfast at the lounge was always not hot enough; and had a limited variety. Coffee at the hotel was very good; but I later found out quite a lot of hotels in China used those Coffee machines now.We had dinner one evening at their Chinese restaurant. Food was only average.It鈥檚 unavoidable to mention the Hotel鈥檚 inconvenient location. It could be quite a nuisance to have to go to the Metro station by taxi as traffic is often bad and even a short trip to the Metro station could take 15-min. easily; esp. in the morning.We made reservation to stay at the Hotel for 8 nts.; but we finally decided to cut it down to 5.
325490,DreamLover3,08/03/2007,Same quality and service as you would get at a Shangri-la hotel My 13 year old son and I arrived on July 4 and stayed for 2 nights.This was our first trip to Beijing. I normally stay at Shangri-La hotels when travelling in Asia. This Holiday Inn offered the same service and quality of a Shangri-la; which is saying a lot. Infact their service and attention to detail is better then some Shangri-la hotels and many other 5 star hotels! The breakfast buffet was excellent.If you have time then take a richshas ride from hotel to Tienamen Square. It is fun and takes about 30 - 45 minutes of great sightseeing.If you need anything then check with Storm Li the concierge and I am sure you will be taken care of better then in many 5 star hotels.I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone. And say hello to Storm from Dean and Adam!
325490,robatleyland,07/30/2007,excellent service at holiday inn After a long flight delay out of Manchester and a missed connection in Dubai thanks to Emirates; we were grateful to be greeted by the Holiday Inn van driver at Beijing airport at 11 pm. OK it cost a bit more than the amazingly cheap local taxis but well worth the 350 RMB. This Holiday Inn is on the south side of the city; not central but then getting anywhere from A to B in Beijing involves a taxi ride. The hotel upgraded us to executive club which meant complimentary breakfast and drinks on the top floor- even free beer! Internet was free; there was plenty of bottled water and free pop in the fridge. Free laundry service was also appreciated. The room had enough space for the three of us. When I tried to get the fridge a bit cooler the fuse blew- an engineer was round to fix it within half an hour. The hotel has pool and a well-equipped gym; though it's a bit dsconcerting to have people in the lift watch you work out.Celebrity concierge Storm was not much in evidence but not needed- staff were genuinely friendly and helpful. Ann-Marie from Salt Pepper restaurant had plenty of helpful advice. There is a neat device for handling local taxis where you take a hotel card to the driver the name of sight ticked off. On the back is the hotel name in Chinese and a local map. One slight problem is that the hotel is new and some taxi drivers don't know it.Surrounding area is very local; interesting and also very safe- without the hawkers that pester you in Tianamen Square and other sights. We tried Salt Pepper in hotel for first night meal but better value is to be found outside. Try the Youth restaurant for great peking duck and some unusual dishes- I drew the line at bullfrog! There's also a new restaurant right opposite the hotel which does great seafood. Beijing is amazingly cheap to eat out .This is one of the best value hotels we've stayed at and comes in sharp contrast to those grabbing and sloppy places you get in US and UK. Well worth a visit anf a great start to our stay in Beijing.
325490,MilwaukeeCol,07/20/2007,Good hotel; great service. Our family of 3 stayed at the Holiday Inn July 18-20; 2007. We specifically chose the hotel because of the reviews on TravelAdvisor and we were not disappointed. I contacted Storm Li; the concierge; before we arrived to ask him to arrange a trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu for our family for the day after we arrived. He did so and asked if we'd like to add a trip to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square; as well. to top things off; the same driver picked us up at the airport (even when our flight was 5 hours late). Storm was not at the hotel when we checked in; but he called us on our way from the airport to make sure that everything was going as planned. At check in; the hotel manager spoke with us to ensure that we understood everything and that everything was to our satisfaction. The hotel had no non-smoking rooms; but the smoking room we were given was cleaned like none I had ever been in before--I am very allergic to smoke and I detected not a whiff of it the entire time were there. The first night; we were very tired; so we ate the buffet at the hotel. It was very good and quite diverse. Nice for a hotel buffet. The next day; our driver picked us up at the hotel at 8:30 and we went to Tiananmen and the Forbidden City. At about noon; we left for Mutianyu Great Wall; stopping for lunch along the way. We were back at the hotel by 6:00pm. The wait for us at the airport (5 hours) the day before; the hour ride to the hotel and then 10 hours of dedicated sight-seeing time cost us 900RMB with tip; paid to the driver. It might be a little steep; but it was very nice to have our own driver because we had limited time in Beijing. When we arrived at the hotel Storm was there (in civilian clothes) and asked if we'd like to accompany him; his wife and another family to a local Beijing Duck Restaurant at 7:15pm. Of course! So; we joined Storm; his lovely wife; and an Irish family (with a child the age of our son) to have an authentic Beijing Duck dinner. Storm insisted on paying the bill; over protests from both families. We decided to move our flight to Shanghai to an earlier time and Storm spent the morning ensuring that we could get our tickets at the airport and gave us directions to ensure we'd get to the right place upon our arrival there. All in all; a wonderful; but brief; trip to Beijing. This is the first time I've used TravelAdvisor to help me choose a hotel and you can bet I'll do it again!
325490,miyasmom,07/18/2007,A great place to start a great vacation!!!! tv; desk; internet access
325490,seetheworld33,07/09/2007,Great Stay I can't say enough good things about this hotel...friendly staff; fabulous decore; spotlessly clean. We are Priority Club members and were upgraded to the executive floor on check-in so we ate all of our breakfasts and dinners in the lounge which worked out well after long days of sight-seeing. The hotel is not centrally located and has only a few Chinese restaurants nearby so the lounge was a bonus and would be worth the added cost. We did have some trouble with taxis not knowing where the hotel was located even though the hotel provided us with a card with both the address and map in Chinese. Great knock-off buys at the Silk Market which is only a 35CNY cab ride away.
325490,frompoletopole,07/03/2007,Great Value at the Holiday Inn We stayed at this hotel for a few days while in Beijing. We had 2 rooms for our family. Our stay was absolutely wonderful. It was an outstanding value and the staff was really helpful. In fact; we had a financial dispute with a taxi driver who took us to the great wall and wanted more money. The hotel manager came outside to help resolve the dispute (although the hotel technically had nothing to do with it) and helped resolve the matter to our complete satisfaction. We had no meals at the hotel but their cafe lattes were outstanding.The free cell phone they gave us during our stay did not work; but maybe we did not how to operate it.The Holiday Inn is not the Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons (we have stayed at both) but it far exceeded our expectations for a Holiday Inn. We can highly recommend this hotel as an outstanding value. The only drawback is the hotel location. There is nothing really nearby; so a taxi ride is needed no matter where you go. A tip for people just arriving in Beijing: have the hotel email or fax you the hotel name; address and DIRECTIONS in Chinese; because most taxi drivers hardly speak any English. Having this info in mandarin will definitely help you get there from the airport. We paid around 100 yuan for the taxi from the airport to the hotel (not sure if this is a good price or not). The fitness and pool were nothing fancy but were certainly adequate.
325490,ColoradoFamilyoffour,06/26/2007,Enjoyed our stay at the Central Plaza Holiday Inn Our family of two adults and 2 children (11 and 7) were in Beijing from May 30 - Jun 5; and again on June 11 on our way back home. This was our first time to China though we have traveled to many other countries including Europe; Mexico; Canada; India etc. The hotel is very nice; with clean rooms; comfortable beds; and friendly staff. The complimentary cell phone the hotel provides is a great idea and service. Storm Li and his staff really helped in making our trip enjoyable and less stressful. Storm Li helped us with tickets for the Kung Fu show as well as tour of the city and a private car to go to the Great Wall. The concierge desk provided us the phone and told us we could keep it with us for our entire stay in China including the days we were in Xian and Shanghai. Storm Li would call us daily to check on our arrangements and to help with the day鈥檚 plans even in these other cities! We really think they go beyond the call of duty in taking care of guests. The buffet breakfast was a good way to start the morning. The selection got a bit boring by the end of our stay but not having to think of what to order and whether the meat or fruit was safe to consume sure made it worthwhile. We stayed in a standard room with two double beds and found it was adequate for our family. Even though the website states a limit of three to one room; we did not have any problems in this hotel or Crown Plaza in Shanghai or even the Sheraton in Xian with 2 adults and 2 kids to a room. The room was clean and the bed with feather pillows (we called house keeping for these) very comfortable. The wireless worked well. There was a charge for the wireless but we only used it for about an hour a day so the charge was reasonable. The travelers check exchange rate at the hotel lobby was the best compared with the other hotels we stayed as (see above) or the airport. There is also an ATM in the hotel where you can get cash.Salt and Pepper was a good though it is pricey and service is slow. We only ate here once. The room serice was good and fast and preferred by the kids over eating at the Chinese resturants close to the hotel. The hotel鈥檚 location is probably the one draw back but we always got a taxi when we needed it. We never had any issue with the driver not knowing how to get us to the hotel.Since we had plenty of luggage we took the hotel van back to the Beijing airport. It cost just about the price of two taxis but was more comfortable.
325490,RTWManchester,06/24/2007,All Hype. My partner and I have been using trip advisor to book hotels on our round the world trip and until Beijing so far so good.We booked into this hotel based on its rating with trip advisor and because of the rave review on their concierge; Storm.Hotel - very good for a Holiday Inn and good breakfastStaff - extremely poor or no english spoken e.g asked what time sunrise was and response was you want to go to airport?Concierge(other) no english spoken and no help offered at all. His response to any question or task was No.Concierge(Storm) - booked trip to Great Wall and taxi ride there and back was way more than it would have been if booked independently Concierge(Storm) - booked Pedicab trip through Hutong District on his insistence. This turned out to be again very expensive for what turned out to be no more than a ride through some bricks and rubble. Also our Pedicab rider spoke no english and couldn't explain where he was taking us(no english signs outside temples etc.)Concierge(Storm)- we told him we were going to Tibet for 6 days and would be returning to Beijing for 1 night . He insisted he book an airport hotel for us on our return as we had an early flight the next morning. We returned from Tibet not only to find that he hadn't booked a hotel for us; but that all the airport hotels were full; leaving us with no other option than to sleep in the departure lounge. This was all after leaving him with a very healthy tip.We strongly believe that the reason we paid so much for the taxi and Pedicab is that Storm is taking kickbacks i.e. getting commission from the taxi and pedicab drivers.Beijing is not a difficult city to navigate and arranging tours independently isn't that difficult.We paid 650RMB for the taxi ride to and back from the Mutianuyu section of The Great Wall and 350RMB for the pedicab. The taxi should have been 500RMB max and the Pedicab.....forget it; just a waste of time.I think that Storm has become a little too big for his boots.Avoid this hotel if need to communicate in english with the staff.
325490,Pianoman7,06/23/2007,Made our independent China Trip Wonderful We stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza for 9 nights; with a side trip to the Shanxi Province (Yungang Caves; Pingyao; Jin Cin Temple) organized by the concierge desk in between. This is a wonderful hotel in a great location with an amazing concierge desk led by Storm Li. It is no overstatement to say that this hotel; and Storm Li at the concierge desk; helped make our first independent trip to China work. The hotel is very clean and up to Western standards; the location is more typical Beijing than the other western brand hotels; and is half the price. This would easily be a 4 star hotel in the US. We never had a problem with taxis. The only taxi that would not take us here were gypsy cabs that knew they could not overcharge us if they drove up to the hotel's door. I suspect the reports below of taxi problems are really from gypsy cabs; not regular metered cabs. What really sets this hotel apart; however; is Storm Li at the concierge desk. You get a cell phone to take with you; in case you need advice; or translating services while away from the hotel. His advice on activities and restaurants was exceptional. We also arrived with an unusual request. We wanted to explore the nearby Shanxi province to see the Yungang Grottos and Pingyao. He was able to provide travel services advice to help organize this trip for us; by train and bus; something we never could have done on our own in the short time we had in China; and not speaking Chinese. Storm had never seen the Yungang Grottos himself; and he even took a vacation day on a Friday to treat his wife; Jasmine; to a short weekend mini-vacation; accompanying us for the first 2.5 days of our 4.5 day side trip from Beijing. We cannot possibly express how much better our trip to China went with the services of Storm Li at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza. Many of our friends had gone to China on package tours and said they loved China but hated the rushed tour. We wanted to see China independently; without a tour; and this hotel made all that possible and easy. Highly recommended.
325490,Lovinlife2,06/11/2007,A First Class Experience from beginning to end! Reviews are correct.Happy I went I had a very relaxing stay at this property. I took a taxi ride from Beijing Airport (PEK) at around 2100. The taxi queue had about 20 people in front of me. It takes about 45 min to arrive to the Hotel (approx.USD$8.00) It seemed kinda far out from the airport; but all driving was done on tollway. I felt welcome from the beginning; my room was nicely decorated in black laquered furnature and trim. The hotel restaurants seemed very much renovated or fairly new; and everything was fashionable/up to date; almost boutique'ish The rooms were alsoup to date (my room was a standard room with two beds) I had dimming lights on the wall; flat screen TV's; and Pay wireless/wired internet access. The beds/bedding are feel very new. very clean comfortable. The Showers were spacious; lined with Brown Slate; with a large glass door keeping the water out. It was a very comfortable shower! Amenities were the standard ones. Room Service was nicely presentated; and what i ordered was very much worth it! I was not able visit any landmarks around the hotel this time; so i cannot tell you how close it was to anything of interest. I did notice that a major rainway station was just couple of blocks awayI I was not able to see much around the Beijng area; Except for my 45 min walk around the neighborhood which was very safe clean and will give you a glimpse of the local lifestyle. For my stay; priority club membership i think was all it took for them to comp me Business Lounge Access w/ all the benefits.Super Staff in there. Checkout was again; swift no wait for taxi ride back to the Airport. This hotel is trying very hard to be a 5star experience; and i think that they have not very far to go! A Great Choice! and it seems that i am not the only one that had a fantastic stay!
325490,Nosh79,06/10/2007,Olivia and Storm were fantastic We had a fab time in May. Olivia the restaurant manager for Salt and Pepper and the concierge Storm were sooooooooo helpful; kind and friendly; especially when the language barrier was a bit difficult. Olivia answered all our queries and questions always with a warm smile. Storm saved us lots of money by giving us alternative ways of getting to places with such personalised service. They really made the difference to our whole trip and think we would have been lost without them. Generally all the staff were helpful; although language was a bit difficult with some. Rooms were clean and spacious with good prices. Not far from Forbidden city or Silk street; make sure u haggle lots though; start from 10% of the price they give you.
325490,MissPf,05/31/2007,WONDERFUL STORM This Hotel is one of the best I have stayed in and the primary reason is the Concierge STORM.From the minute we met he was very quick to work out I was a difficult customer and rose to the challenge immediately. He was wonderful and so thoughtful and extremely proffesional. He made my stay at this Hotel and my trip to the sights fantastic. There is not a thing this man can not sort out and for that very reason; he is what makes this hotel outstanding.It is in a good spot; it is a modern;clean and comfortable with a twist of sophistication at very fair rates. My only gripe is the quality of the food in the restaurant but I may have caught it on a bad night.If you want a good hotel with an excellent concierge who will make your stay perfect then stay here.
325490,Katrice,05/26/2007,Brilliant; brilliant;brilliant... Are currently on a round the world trip; hence its taken so long to get around to writing a review! We stayed at this hotel for two weeks in February 2007 and since then have been to Thailand; Hong Kong; Australia and New Zealand. This was the best hotel we stayed in by far. It is excellent value for money; the rooms are spacious and the concierge; Storm arranged an itinerary for my birthday which made it a day I will never forget. I dont agree with the comments re location. If you go to see some of the real Beijing as well as the usual tourist sites take a walk around the surrounding streets and watch chinese life go by. Fascinating. The taxis are so cheap; nowhere is far away. A good tip is to never get in a taxi that is stationary; always flag one down and always check the meter is on. I cant rave about this hotel and Beijing in general enough.
325490,allgau58,05/14/2007,home away from home The moment I arrived at the hotel I was met by the duty manager at the door and accompanied to my room on the business floor for check in. From this moment on; the personalized service and attention continued until check out several days later. ALL of the staff seem to make the well-being of their guests a priority.I really liked the location of the hotel; an easy going neighbourhood; where people still dance outside in the evening; where you can find local chinese restaurants and supermarkets ; not tourist traps.All this within easy reach of the major tourist sites either by taxi or subway (very easy to use and no traffic jams; stations are announced in english too ) .Take a taxi to the nearest subway station changchun jie.Never had any problems with taxis whatsoever; the meter was always turned on and i was always given a receipt; there are even prerecorded announcements in english in the taxi.Great breakfast ; very good coffee ; impeccable service.My special thanks go to Michael ; the reception supervisor ; vivian and all the other staff who made my stay very relaxing and unforgettable. thanks again!
325490,obrushevshiy,05/11/2007,Very Good Overall Just returned from Beijing. The Holiday Inn is not central; but as a fellow guest pointed out the only central place in the city is the Forbidden City and you can't stay there. Beijing is about as spread out as Los Angeles so you will spend a lot of time in cars no matter where you are staying.I ditto the very positive comments on Storm Li that other reviewers have left.One thing to be aware of- the website says they have free internet which is only half true. They have free wireless in the common areas which means you can check e-mail while eating in one of the restaurants; etc. But access in your room is RMB 90 per day and the speed of the free internet is rather unimpressive- maybe 2-3x a dial up connection.
325490,MX3,05/10/2007,A Very Unexpected and Pleasant Experience By some error or slip-up; My wife and I ended up staying at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza during the latter part of our trip to Beijing. I'd have to say; that was one slip-up that we wouldn't mind happening again. Our overall experience at the Central Plaza was; to put it mildly; wonderfully terrific. No wonder Central Plaza has been consistently ranked no. 1 here and has been receiving such great reviews. The Central Plaza's facilities; rooms; food and SERVICE are just what you would want to experience when you are on a vacation and just want to relax and enjoy. We stayed at the executive club floor and the room we got was spacious and the furnishings; beautiful and tastefully done. The buffet breakfast was also something we looked forward to every morning. The spread and selection of the food was something that we would probably never get tired of eating; even if we were to eat there everyday for a week. Of course; the real reason for the Central Plaza's top ranking is the quality of SERVICE they provide. From the Central Plaza's managers to the bell hops to the chambermaids; they really know how to pamper their guests. I should perhaps add here that when the manager learned that my wife and I were celebrating our anniversary; he sent a bottle of wine to our room; compliments of the hotel.This review would never be complete without mentioning Storm; the concierge. He is one concierge that every hotel should have. If ever you find yourself going on a trip to Beijing without any plan or itinerary; or if there's anything at all you need; just ask Storm; and he'll take care of everything for you. That's how good he is. REALLY!The only not so nice thing I can say about this hotel is that it's location is not that central. It is not near any of the famous tourist areas. However; this was not really a problem for us since most of the Beijing tours and guides pick you up right at your hotel lobby. Besides; taxis are relatively cheap; so going around doesn't really cost that much.We really had a very pleasant and satisfying stay at the Central Plaza and we look forward to staying there again. We highly recommend it.
325490,nonoyManila,05/08/2007,We made the right decision! After a thorough checking of the different hotels and websites before we left for Beijing; we definitely made the right decision by picking this hotel. The room is nice and spacious. The breakfast buffet was the best; the service was excellent. And to top it all; you have the best concierge manager; Mr. Storm Li. He was instrumental with our hotel reservations; always making sure that we stay in touch with him just in case we get lost by way of the in-house cellphone lent to us during our entire stay. The hotel must be extremely proud and fortunate to have a concierge manager like him. Thank you Mr. Storm. Can't wait to make another trip.Nonoy; Manila
325490,aj1a,04/22/2007,The rumors are True! This IS one of the hidden gems in Beijing and Storm IS the best concierge I've ever met!! Being an avid traveler and reviewer of TripAdvisor; I trusted in others reviews of this hotel. Traveling a far distance to a foreign land can sometimes be scary. Thankfully to TripAdvisor; I was able to pick one of the best hotels I've ever stayed in. This hotel is a FIVE star hotel. Yes; it isn't central. We get that. But like other's say; what is in China; nevermind Beijing. Taxi's are cheap and everything is within a few miles. As far as service and hospitality; this hotel and its staff are UNbelieveable! As the location gives you a local feel; the staff makes you feel like family. I traveled here with my mother and fiancee. My fiancee left to Shanghai for work and my mother and I stayed in Beijing for leisure. We stayed two nights here and enjoyed everything from the hotel from airport transfers; massages; the coffee shop; the two restaurants and bar. We booked a tour of the Great Wall and Ming Tombs from the hotel and it ended up being an awesome group of people and a fun day for $50 USD pp. We also ate locally at a nearby Hotpot restaurant and while they may not have understood us; we had a great meal for $9 USD that left us stuffed. We were so happy with this hotel; on our return trip back to Beijing for one more night before we departed; we canceled our Hotel Kunlun reservation just to come back to the Holiday Inn Central Plaza. I can't say enough about this hotel and I was truly sad to have to leave. Saving the best for last; Storm Li is the other hidden gem. If you want to make your trip memorable; have a quick chat with him. If it hadn't been for my train ticket issue I had with an outside ticket agency; I might have never met him and we wouldn't have been able to see the high quality standards he and the hotel adhere to. I can't wait to return to Beijing because of my experience here and will choose ONLY to stay at the Hoilday Inn Central Plaza.
325490,Clon11,04/11/2007,child friendly; great staff A great welcome from staff at reception; and all luggage was delivered quickly to the rooms. Inter-connecting rooms were great for families with young children. Food choice was diverse and excellent for a tourist grade hotel. The children ate free with us; and they loved the choices available. Storm Lee was on hand to discuss holiday itinerary while we ate; and planned everything for us; even allowing for the young ages of our children; and even got out of his way to look for some items we could not find in Hong Kong and GuangZhou - A most accomplished concierge who deservedly received a big tip! The hotel is a little off the beaten track; but taxis are cheap and a complimentary hotel mobile phone ensured we never got too lost. However; we got to walk around a mainly residential area and saw the locals; and got to speak to some of them; not just fellow holiday makers. Hotel key holder has some tremendous info; with phrases and tourist attraction names; most helpful for first time Beijing visitors!Many taxi drivers are from outside Beijing so the hotel address may not be familiar. Only stop a rolling taxi on the streets or at designated taxi ranks. A small tip (5-10 Yuan; equivalent to 0.5 -1 Euro) for services was always most welcomed; but never asked for (except in the hotel restaurant where it was standard); unlike most US establishments.Hotel pool was good sized for a city hotel; and the gym looked excellent.We will definitely be back; not the best voted hotel in Beijing for nothing.
325490,spailey,03/29/2007,Very impressed with this great hotel Suite: bedroom
325490,racerx27,03/13/2007,Wonderful Deal Jason is the man! This hotel is so clean and so classy; especially for the price. True; it is not near any major landmarks and if you do not speak Chinese; many cab drivers will not be able to find it simply by pointing at the card (as some of my non-Chinese speaking friends found out). But just call the hotel and one of the wonderful concierge will talk the driver through it. They are quick to help with any needs. The rooms are very slick and cool with beautiful woods and leather. And the bathrooms are clean by American standards. Any traveler to China can tell you even luxury hotels have a hard time keeping mildew down; it's just in the water! But this hotel is very nice; great lobby; and the Salt and Pepper restaurant is so good. If you've been in the real China for a while and are dying for some good Western food; this restaurant delivers. I highly recommend this hotel.
325490,KohPhiPhi,03/10/2007,Best $100 Hotel Ever!!! The positive reviews on TripAdvisor were spot on for this great hotel. The hotel was very attractive; including lobby; bar; restaurants and room. Everything is modern and minimalist; yet warm and attractive. The room was spacious enough with all needed amenities and a nice and large bathroom. See-Through bar was a good spot and Zen Restaurant was really nice place with great food. The gym in the hotel was also very good. To top off the wonderful ambience and amenities was the service. Frank and Tony at the concierge were great. Frank hooked us up with a tour guide friend of his named Bill for a tour of the great wall. Expected a large bus filled with other tourists but ended up being a private tour for 2 and Bill was great. All of the staff is friendly; courteous and goes out of their way to help. The hotel is a bit outside center of town; but since not everything you want see is right in the center of town; and since everything in Beijing is a cheap cab ride away anyways; this did not detract from our stay at all. There are also many great restaurants in the South side of Beijing near the hotel; and plenty within walking distance. By far the best Holiday Inn and $100 hotel I've ever stayed in.
325490,Keystraveller,03/10/2007,Wonderful hotel; great service Bedroom view
325490,hiker66,03/08/2007,great place; friendly people stayed here the 21st of feb. to the 1st of march.i cannot say morefor Storm the hotels conceirge(SPELLED WRONG) he set up trips4 us clued us in on taxis and even gave us a cell phone to call him if we ran into any trouble.we got into a illegial taxi whereisaw the meter was going 5 yuon at a time instead of 1. i calledand he was waiting at the front door and the taxi driver took 60yuon instead of 180 that was on the meter.he made our stay inbeijing a memorable one. THANKS STORM.
325490,Advancepsy,03/07/2007,One Exception to a Great Stay; but matter is resolve My wife and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza for four days. The hotel is clean; comfortable; and staff members were very accomodating. We stayed on the Executive floor and were very pleased with the beverage and food service. The hotel restaurant has a delightful and extensive breakfast buffet. We encountered one problem: one hotel employee had directed us to hire a private car for two excusions (i.e.; Great Wall one day; and the Summer Palace the next). Unfortunately; we later learned that the employee had hired a friend of hers to drive us around; and we paid about fourfold what we should have. When we contacted the hotel manager; he was extremely apologetic and refunded our out-of-pocket expenses. He certainly didn't need to do that; but it exemplifies the length this hotel and its staff will go to make your stay a pleasant one. I was very impressed with the manager's response. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone; including families.
325490,blogginovertheworld,03/03/2007,Fantastic top to bottom There were three of us who stayed here. First time in Beijing; first time in China. We didn't speak a word of Mandarin; and I gotta tell you we couldn't have a better time or better service than we did. The staff was fantastic and friendly; primarily a younger group they clicked with is immediately. We're in our 20's and grasped at the chance to experience China. While we were there Jens was the manager; and he and the rest of the staff at the Holiday Inn were friendly helpful and full of information. The entire hotel always had a smile; and were always helpful. The buffet was fantastic; and as travelers who were very weary as to what to eat; it was a great start to the day. The hotel from the lobby to the rooms came across like a 5 star hotel; the location isn't the greatest; but who cares? It's like a 15RMB taxi ride to anywhere. Three guys; that's a 5 a piece; less than a dollar. This place is well; well worth it.
325490,FEnriqueCV,02/13/2007,The best one I ever stayed I was on a business/leisure trip at HI Central Plaza... please don't be fooled by the bad comments about these hotel; hard to believe. I can say it's the best hotel I've ever stayed in a 3* property; but honestly this one because of the quality of services and rooms; it can boast a 5* ranking... I was attracted by the good grades I saw and I am happy I have chosen this hotel.All the staff is always helpful; I didn't find anyone who tells me a no for a request; at the beginning I felt strange nobody seemed to be tired; upset; etc.; that I thought they were hipnotized; truly; but after you have talked with this magnificent staff you realize they do their best because they love what they do. Food is very good; nothing to do with chinese food; it's very international. Regarding location; that is not a problem as you can take the safe taxi that are parked just in front of the building and the bell-boy personally takes note the plates of the taxi that takes you and where you are going so they can help you just in case; this is superb!! I always felt safe here; and the only time I didn't take these taxis I was tricked. Use only those black and green and black and dark blue; no others! The rate is quite good and I recommend you to chose a little higher one so that includes breakfast which is delicious. In my next trip to Beijing; although I knew some other hotels; I definitively will stay here again... by the way; I am a travel agent.
325490,raku,01/15/2007,NOT central Why all the hype over this place? I would not stay here again simply because it is in the middle of nowhere. I speak Chinese and none of my cabdrivers knew what I was talking about when I directed them to the hotel. The first driver admitted that he was a new cabbie. I called the hotel on my mobile and had them give him directions; and he still took a wrong turn. The next time I took a cab back; I was armed with a handy map from the concierge; but even that did not help my driver who got lost on the way home. In both cases the drivers turned off the meter and apologized profusely. Cab drivers leaving the hotel were not as polite and took advantage of the hotel鈥檚 southwest location to head even further south or west to one of the ring roads in order to take us to the action on the other side of town. The cab to the airport; for example cost twice as much as it would have from my friend鈥檚 apartment near the Kerry Center on the east side of town. I hate being fleeced by Beijing cabbies and staying at this hotel makes it inevitable. Also no Starbucks or Yonghe doujiang (local soymilk/breakfast chain) in the area means that you鈥檙e forced to have breakfast at the hotel buffet which is overpriced (88 RMB) and excessive as those things usually are. It wasn鈥檛 included in our rate and we tried to negotiate with the front desk (in English and Chinese) to no avail. The coffee was good and the Chinese breakfast included not-to-be-missed local Beijing specialties like jianbing 鈥?a crispy savory pancake with egg. The young English-speaking man at the western breakfast station was very rude about egg orders to the point of amusement.We were pleased with our room 鈥?spacious and very well appointed but underwhelmed by the service (Storm the super concierge must have been on vacation in January). If this place were located in an area like Wanfujing or Chaoyang I would stay again but at the current location and price I recommend giving Holiday not so Central a miss.
325490,Hurcules,01/07/2007,Wonderful Staff and hotel We immensely enjoyed our stay at Holiday Inn Central Plaza Beijing. Staff was courteous; responsive and flexible; and Storm was incredibly helpful. As we (wife I and our two small boys) spoke little English; Storm copied maps for us to give to taxi drivers or local bus attendants. When I told Storm that my family would like to see acrobatics; Storm arranged discounted tickets for us and personally escorted us to the theater via local bus and subway; and showed us how; so we later took the bus and subway on our own; much faster than taxi from downturn during the long rush hour. Storm had excellent suggestions; such as the Lao She tea house performances and the Hebei park. In each case; Storm copied the detailed map for us while we ate a hearty and delicious breakfast.Rooms were clean; quiet; and comfortable. Also conveniently exchanged both US$ travelers checks and cash at the hotel at a good rate. We stayed at this hotel because of the great reviews and would definitely stay there again.Other notes: the taxi ride from the Beijing airport to the Holiday Inn CP hotel was 130 yuan. Ignore the young airport police officer who tries to get you into his friend's taxi for more than 400 yuan. Also; if you fly China Southeast Airlines; ignore their demand to pay luggage insurance.
325490,luccesse,12/21/2006,Holiday Inn Central Plaza All I can say is that if it wasn't for Storm we would not have had the best trip of our lives!!! Storm arranged everything for us; always checked in with us to make sure everything was ok; without being intrusive. He told us in detail the things to expect; explained the culture; took us to a Chinese wedding at a famous teahouse. He arranged a rickshaw ride that was incredible. He arranged for us to have a massage that was a real experience. He took time out of his Sunday to make sure we saw the forbidden city; he even stood in line with us for tickets. He took us to the bank and made sure we had dinner plans. He is AMAZING!! He goes above and beyond!!In terms of the hotel; it is very nice. We booked the executive rate; the girls in the executive area had a little bit of an attitude; but that just might be the culture; we were 2 women visiting. The hotel breakfast and happy hour was the best. We didn't pay for one meal. The room was fantastic; three different types of pillows; awesome bed; great showere and tolietries; fresh fruit daily as well as 6 free sodas daily. The executive area had drinks all day and snacks and you could even brew yourself an expresso. The internet was free as well and in a very relaxing atmosphere. The bar in the lobby had great ambiance too. I can't wait to go back. The shopping is the best at the pearl market. Pashminas for 2.50 usd at jenny's shop. You must go see Cha Cha for purses; gloves; belts; etc on the 2nd floor atParis No. 87 right off the escalator; she is great!!
325490,SharpView,12/13/2006,An excellent hotel This is the best hotel I have stayed at in mainland China. The staff; the service; restaurants; food; room; bed; bed linen and bathroom were all excellent. It demonstrated that staff training pays off. My only gripe was the outrageous 3 RMB/minute (180RMB/hour) for business centre internet access. If you have WiFi; there is free access at public area hotspots (but I saw no notice mentioning the service). Wired laptop access was 90RMB per day. Why hotels discourage customers with these charges I don鈥檛 know. I really enjoyed staying at this hotel and would really want to stay there again if I was in Beijing.
325490,jltaylor,12/12/2006,Nicest Holiday Inn I've ever seen
325490,Worldtraveller06,12/06/2006,Great Room; Great Pool; Great Staff I have stayed already at several Hotels through Asiabut this one has been the most helpful one of Alleven if it is not a 5 Star!!!First of all the room was very clean and spaciousthe pool was great for a swim every dayand a cool small bar/lounge at the lobby for a beer or twonot cheap but good enviroment.The Concierge and Staff of the Hotel where very friendly andhelped and arranged all things that you needed.I also managed to get the toilet stuck and within a few mins it got fixed; greatt ins't it!!!The Location may be not centered but easy to reach...and taxis if they not cheat are cheap...Stay if you can and want a relaxed few days in beijing
325490,downtowntan,11/29/2006,Average Hotel Just returned from a three-night stay in one of the property's Club Floor rooms. We liked the newer lobby area and enjoyed some of the tastiest waffles I've had in a long time. Arrived late at night and the reception staff was welcoming and efficient at check-in. Enjoyed complimentary in-room broadband (not Wi-Fi); four-per-day garment pressings; and evening canapes and open bar in the Club lounge. Certainly worth the slight price rise for the Club Floor rooms. Unfortunately; although the rest of the property tries hard; it's looking a little worn around the edges: from the slightly old-ish elevator cabs to some of the dog-eared in-room fixtures. A couple of pieces of furniture were slightly stained and the odd bathroom setup featuring a window separating the bathroom and bedroom areas (with mini-blinds) conveyed a somewhat dated feel. Same applies to parts of the fitness center; locker room; and pool area.Also; the chauffeured car service we arranged through the Club Lounge concierge was only adequate: we reserved the car for a flat rate the night before only to be informed in the morning that our agreed price didn't include tolls and fees which could amount to another 200RMB. Not a fantastic amount; but it was a bit of an unpleasant surprise. Also; the driver didn't speak any English; which we weren't entirely expecting either.An okay choice for the money; but not the best.
325490,HGWells,11/28/2006,Central Plaza; not really. Don't be mislead by the addrerss; it is not central to anywhere and 20 mins at least to get anywhere in town.Hotel itself very nice; modern; good food very nice staff.Heating and lighting could be better.Took tours by Grayline; excellent.
325490,FrequentTraveller7,11/28/2006,Stay here! Fantastic Staff! Absolutely FabulousWe have just returned home to Australia after staying at this hotel for 9 days. Before we left my friend; a frequent traveller to Beijing; suggested staying at a hotel much closer to the subway and more central (3 star) to avoid taxi fares but upon reading trip advisor about a man named Storm from the Holiday Inn Central Plaza; I was drawn to staying at this hotel; rather than my friend's suggestion. I am so glad I did! From the minute I introduced myself to Storm Glis Li; (Golden key Service as it says on his business card)everything was a breeze. My husband and I had never been to Beijing and I was actually meeting up with my husband here; after he had been away from home on a business trip for some months. Of the many countries he had just travelled through (U.S.A.; U.K.; Japan); throughout the world; he commented that this was the best personal service he had encountered. Storm went out of his way to help you plan your stay; whatever your preference. I didn't know the language but this was no barrier with the maps and cards that were written in english and translated into chinese provided by Storm. Mary; the concierge lady dressed in red; was also great and would tell the taxi drivers in chinese where we wanted to go. When we were out and wanted to return to the hotel; all we had to do was point to where we wanted to go on our maps and show the taxi driver. Before we got into a taxi we would always show them the map to make sure they knew the hotel; as being a newer hotel; some drivers were unsure of it's location; even after showing them the map. But in all we only had one driver say he had no idea of where the hotel was and not want the fare; most would ask other taxi drivers if they were unsure. I would suggest never taking a taxi from any of the drivers that approach you; saying taxi; meter; especially outside popular spots such as the markets(Silk/Pearl etc). All you need to do is walk a little down the road and hail one yourself; there are an abundance of them! Once in the taxi make sure they turn on the meter; which is usually done by switching a lever under their rear view mirror. Once the taxi meter shows the starting fare; 10.00 yuan; your right. The maps Storm gave us also tell you the rough cost of a taxi fare from the hotel to popular spots; so you know roughly how much it should cost. Storm also took us to his very special Peking Duck restaurant in a very old style neighbourhood where many dignatories have visited; he arranged a personal driver to take us to the Great Wall; where it wasn't too busy; he took us to a fantastic dumplings restaurant and invited us to have traditional noodles with him. He took us running with him through the Temple of Heaven Grounds(very early)and we watched the elderly there doing their exercises and writings. He showed us how to take the subway and buses too and helped us arrange to get a massage. We were also after a particular item to buy in china and he went out of his way to reseach the availablilty and shipping cost. In all; Storm and all the staff were wonderful at this hotel and a special mention must be made of Roger Wang; the Front Office manager. He was away on training for some of our stay; but was very helpful. I plan to return to China and although Holiday Inn is a little further away than some of the other hotels; the service and amenities there far outweigh the others and I will return there. Taxi's are cheap anyway; for the two of us; most of the time it was about $5 (australian dollars) to go the markets etc. The hotel room was wonderful; clean; lots of free bottled water each day; the pool was nice; the breakfasts were the best and kept us going all day and the bar/coffee lounges areas great too.This hotel was fabulous and Storm; What more can I say- he made our stay; he was awesome!!
325490,MinneapolisTourist,11/25/2006,Best concierge we have met in Europe; Asia or USA! This is a lovely hotel only three years old. Rooms are nice; service is excellent. However Storm; the concierge; is the reason to stay here. He helped us decide which Beijing sights are worthwhile and how to get there and back. He helped us decide where to eat; what to eat (dumplings!); and how to get there and back. He hired a wonderful driver to take us to the Great Wall. He hired a rickshaw driver to pick us up at our hotel and take us on a 3.5 tour of the back alleys and historical center of old Beijing (this was my favorite experience in Beijing and is not available at most other hotels). He taught us how to navigate the subways; buses; taxis and negotiations necessary when shopping. Our package included breakfast on the executive floor or in the Salt and Pepper restaurant. I would recommend breakfast in the Salt and Pepper restaurant because Storm circulates there every morning to help tourists plan their day.We have found touring in Asia to be much more challenging than doing so in Europe but Storm was wonderful in helping us explore Beijing. We chose this hotel because of other Trip Advisor reviews and made a point to meet Storm our first day there. We are very grateful to Storm and only hope the General Manager appreciates him!
325490,hxdirect,11/19/2006,You won't be disappointed We have just returned from a holiday in China and choose this hotel for our time in Beijing based on the reviews it received on this website.We booked an Executive room through the hotels own website from 5/11/06 to 10/11/06 and again for 17/11/2006 and we weren't disappointed. On our second visit we were upgraded to an Executive suite which was delightful and unexpected.From the moment we arrived by taxi we were treated fantastically. All the staff from were very welcoming and took the utmost care to ensure we had an enjoyable stay. At check-in and check-out there was certainly no feeling of being processed. We never got to meet the concierge Storm whom other reviewers recommended but Jason and Tony couldn't have been more helpfull when arranging our trip to the Great Wall. We only eat the buffet breakfast at the hotel so can't comment on the food at lunch and dinner time but if the breakfast is anything to go by food at other times would be off a very high standard.As previous reviwers have pointed out the hotel is a little on the outskirts of the vast metropolis that is Beijing but armed with Chinese directions and a map which the hotel sent us before we left home we had no difficulty getting to the hotel.The only problem we had was once when a taxi driver decided that he would take advantage us being foreign tourists and take us on a scenic detour around the outer ring system from Tainanmen Square back to our hotel and tried to charge us 70 Yuan. However he hadn't reconned on 3 things: 1. Us having previously been made aware of the normal price via this website2. Our daughter who speaks Chinese as she is living studying in Beijing University3. Mary the hotel staff member who greets guests who arrive at the hotel. You should have seen her talking to the taxi driver.All in all I couldn't rate this hotel highly enough. I've seen it advertised as both a 3* and 4* hotel and would say that 4* is more accurate. So if you are thinking of staying in Beijing please consider this hotel as gives very good value for money even taking into consideration the nominal price of the taxi's.
325490,Worldglobetrotters,11/10/2006,Excellent Hotel Chose this hotel after reading the reviews on Tripadvisor and am so glad we did. What a fabulous place with excellent service. Large room; good size bathroom with everything you could wish for to hand. We chose a club room which included breakfast and the use of club facilities on the 16th floor. All drinks were included including alcohol; canapes; complimentary use of internet (be aware that they charge 5RMB for each print and there is no sign telling you this). The public areas are superb and the location is good too. If you turn right out of the hotel and walk towards KFC; turn right - the bus terminus is on your right. You need the number 10 which takes you to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The cost is 1RMB and you pay on the bus - journey time around 40 minutes. It is a very safe area to walk around with a lovely garden at the very end of the road on the left (past KFC). You will be offered lots of packs of postcards around Beijing the price you should pay is 5RMB. Insist taxi drivers use the meter only use the 2 tone gold taxis. Best price for hotel is on their own website.
325490,navigator,11/09/2006,Outstanding hotel and staff We picked this hotel due to the excellent feedback on TA and it turned out to be better than suggested.We chose to upgrade our rooms to the delux rooms which are only approx 拢10 more per night but well worth it.Doing this gives you access to the executive lounge on the 16th floor which is a quiet relaxing area away from the hustle and bustle of the main area's within the hotel. You can obtain free coffee and tea; light snacks; breakfast and internet.The staff are excellent and friendly in the the lounge and there is always a smile from Cherry the manageress.The hotel is spotless and rooms are serviced twice a day; the second is a turn down service where they leave the next days weather and restock the bathroom.Jen's Gossen the customer relations manager is excellent at his job and would always speak when passing and made our trip special whilst we were there.The hotel has 2 restaurants; the Salt pepper which serves an A le carte munu and also a buffet which caters for all tastes and nationalities. You would find it difficult not to find something to eat here. The other restaurant is the ZEN restaurant located at the back of the hotel.It is open 6pm-10pm and only caters for chinese food but it is an excellent restaurant with first class service.The bar in the hotel; the See Thru bar is relaxing with a resident singer Mon-Fri and pianist. again I cannot fault any of the staff in this hotel or the service.We stayed 20th Oct-26th Oct then 30th Oct- 5 Nov. 14 days total and we had a superb stay.Be aware though; the taxi's outside the hotel will charge you big bucks and some will say there meter is not working. Mary is the girl on the door of the hotel. Get her to make sure the meter is on and tell her where you want to go and she will tell the driver. 10 Yuan should be the starting price on the meter. It should be about 20 yuan to Tiananmen square and no more than 40-50 yuan to some of the bigger sites.I cannot say rate this hotel enough and when I return to Beijing this will be the first place I go.For those who want a bit of excitment; try the Joy bar in the basement. Only the middle lift in the hotel will take you there. Enjoy.
325490,redlands,10/29/2006,run; don't walk; to the Holiday Inn Central Plaza We selected the Holiday Inn Central Plaza in spite of the off the beaten path location because of the number one rating at tripadvisor.com. It turned out to be a a very wise decision as this is an outstanding hotel. The location was never a problem. Taxis were available around the clock at the front door of the hotel. A taxi to Tiananmen square was only 20 Yuan; about $2.50 USD; and took very little time. Taxis from the hotel to more distant locations such as Behai Park; the Lama Temple; and the Summer Palace typically cost between 25 and 55 Yuan. A taxi from the airport cost us 111 Yuan and to the airport was 160 Yuan.Another review at tripadvisor.com gave us the idea to come prepared with a photo of the hotel from this website and also a map and Mandarin language directions from the airport to the hotel that we copied off of the hotel's own website. This assured smooth sailing in the taxi from the airport to the hotel. The business card of the hotel that has instructions for taxi drivers has an even better map that worked well for our many taxi rides after arrival.We reserved the hotel through the Holiday Inn website in the United States. We had a printout of the reservation for two standard rooms with a confirmation number and credit card guarantee. For some unexplained reason; the hotel's record only showed a reservation for one room and there were no additional standard rooms available. Fortunately; the well trained and eager to please front desk staff offered us a two bedroom two bath suite. The suite was comfortable; quiet; and spacious.The hotel is very well organized and the operation is run efficiently with meticulous attention to guest services. For example; when the housekeeper did not understand something that we requested she went right over to the phone; dialed a number; and handed the phone to us. A fluent English speaker then listened to our request and informed the housekeeper. The hotel's Salt Pepper Restaurant offers excellent and moderately priced buffet breakfasts and dinners that we thoroughly enjoyed.The swimming pool temperature was appropriately warm and the pool was clean.The public areas of the hotel are bright; airy; and modern. Every single person on the staff that we encountered was competent and friendly.When I return to Beijing in the future I will be sure to stay at this remarkable hotel. If you decide to stay here I am confident that you will find it to be a comfortable oasis in a bustling city.
325490,bshort4,10/28/2006,You'll like this hotel My son and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza for three nights the first week in October on recommendations from others on this board who had stayed there. Great hotel---great food---great service---and don't believe people who say the hotel is far out of the way from everything in Beijing---it's not. From the Forbidden City to the Summer Palace to the Temple of Heaven a taxi ride was never more than 20 minutes and a couple of dollars. We never had a problem with a taxi refusing to take us back to the hotel from anywhere in Beijing. The hotel gave us a card with directions in Chinese and we never had a problem. We stayed in an Executive Suite and enjoyed the amenities of the Executive lounge; free breakfast; free internet in the room and you could take 6 sodas or waters from the rooms mini-bar each day without charge. The beds were SOFT and bathrooms were nice. If you've ever stayed in other hotels in China you will appreciate the soft beds. If you wish do eat breakfast at the hotel and it is not included in our room price it will cost you about $11 American. The breakfast is great for everything you could imagine eating in the states---very nice---Chinese food also if you prefer. I used the electrical converter in my room for my battery charger for my AA batteries and I plugged it into the wrong outlet and blew the charger and asked the hotel to let me know which plug to use and when they found out I had blown out the charger they went out and bought me a new one without my asking----I felt bad about that---entirely my fault. When I checked out there were some charges for phone calls on my bill and charges for the mini bar that were not mine and when I said they were wrong they immediately took them off the bill. I will definitely stay in this hotel again when I return to Beijing again.
325490,jdbro,10/18/2006,Great service I have stayed in this hotel for more than sixty nights during this year; mainly for business. I have been very pleased with the hospitality and courtesy of the hotel employees. Many of the tourists that I have spoke to at the hotel have also been very impressed with hotel and its stafff. The staff have made me feel at home while I am in China. Almost all of the staff speak english. In particular; I would like to thank the Hospitality Manager; Storm Glis Li for his assistance. Storm has been invaluable to us. He is very dedicated and willing to help us out in any way he can. Once again; many others have a very positive experience and have thanked Storm for all of his help.
325490,dagobert,10/08/2006,wonderful hotel we have been 2 nights in october in this hotel and got a room in the bizz floor. the room was very clean and comfortable. we booked over the holiday-inn webside and payed approx. 95 US-$ for one night.the staff is very helpful and friendly. the breakfast buffet ( included in this rate ) is really excellent.we have been coming to beijing by train from shanghai.the taxi drive from the train station to the hotel takes 40 minutes and cost you approx. 3 US-$.because there is no city-center in beijing it doesn麓t matter that you are not so close to the forbidden city or tianamen place. a taxi ride is mostly 30 minutes to all important tourist attractions; but be sure that you are in the second ring.when you want to arrange a tour to the great wall by youself ( strictly recommended ) then ask the guest relation managers in the hotel; mister storm or mister gossen. they will arrange a private trip for you. i recommend a trip to mutianyu because there are not so many people as in badaling.dont leave your hotel with the adress-card written in chinese !!!
325490,ClaudeGeorge,10/03/2006,Just excellent! I chose the Central Plaza on the basis of previous reviews and was not disappointed. It is an excellent place to stay for holidays. It proved worth to accept the offered upgrading to the Executive Club Level (150 yuans per day) which included taxes; an excellent breakfast buffet; full internet access; drinks and evening snacks in a quiet and cosy lounge at the 16th floor.As pointed out by several other reviewers; the location of the hotel is not central but it is not a problem: bus 10 is around the corner and brings you directly to the Tien-anmen Square and the Forbidden City as well as several underground stations. By the way; using public transportation means is fun; cheap; safe and provides a good opportunity to watch - and sometimes meet - local people. I can only recommend it.Mr Storm; the loyalty manager; is a jewel. Do not hesitate to contact him as he endeavors to make you feel happy during your stay. He greatly contributed to my full satisfaction with an 11-day holiday in Beijing.Some travelers seem to encounter difficulties at Capital Airport with taxi drivers not knowing the hotel and its location. I printed beforehand a large copy of a picture of the hotel posted in the section Candid traveler photos: it mentions its full name in the Chinese writing. It really helped reaching the hotel without difficulty.
325490,Worf,10/02/2006,Loved it! This hotel was fabulous!Upon check-in; we were told that the deluxe; non-smoking room that I had reserved was not available and that we would be upgraded to an executive room at no extra charge.The room was large and very beautifully decorated. The king size bed was very comfortable and came with a down comforter. The white marble bathroom was absolutely gorgeous; with both a tub and a shower in a glass enclosure. There was also a sitting area and a desk with free internet access for the first 24 hours.Breakfast at the Executive Lounge was included in the very reasonable price of the room and was excellent. On the main level are 2 restaurants: a more Western restaurant and a Chinese restaurant. Both were excellent; although a little more expensive than we had paid anywhere else in Beijing.Contrary to its name; the hotel is not really central and although taxis are really cheap in Beijing; some drivers had a hard time finding it; some even refused to take us there (this can be explained by the fact that the hotel is only 2 years old).But none of these little inconveniences mattered when looking at the bigger picture. This hotel is fabulous; I would definitely stay there again and again and I would certainly recommend it.
325490,JenniferPhoenix,09/13/2006,A Gem of a Place - Excellent Service! We recently stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza for three nights. The stay was for our first nights in China and a wonderful place to refresh after the long flight from the States.The hotel is new and clean - and the service is wonderful. We recevied the best advise of our trip to China from Jens - one of the Hotel Managers. He was most patient and informative in answering all of our questions.I would strongly recommend this hotel to everyone looking for a nice quiet and clean place to stay. We did not find the location all that difficult; as it was a 10 RMB taxi ride to the Metro - which gets you just about everywhere in Beijing anyway! Also; the breakfast is FABULOUS and worth getting included in your room rate. We booked the hotel through the Holiday Inn web-site and got breakfast for two for only 40 RMB additional in the room rate.
325490,ashley26,08/31/2006,Fantastic Service This hotel is a great deal for the money - it'd be even better if you get breakfast included in that rate. However; the location of the hotel is not superb and a cab ride will cost you between 30-50RMB. The official website indicates that there is a complimentary area service shuttle and a complimentary subway station shuttle - this is not accurate and quite deceiving. Bus No. 10 is 3min walking; but then you have to transfer and buses have a tendency to eat up time. But if you stay at the more centrally located Holiday Inns (either Lido or Crowne Plaza); then you're paying twice as much for a room plus cab fares. Therefore; even with not-so-great location your cab expenses from location to hotel should only be about $10-12USD a day and going anywhere in Beijing will take at least 20minutes.And there's no way the other branches can beat the service.Make contacting Mr. Storm a must-do. He goes above and beyond and definitely has a can-do attitude. He treats you with the utmost respect and even checks in with you at the end of the days he arranged for you. He arranged a driver to take me to Jinshanling/Simatai Great Wall; so I paid less for the excursion and wasn't on a tour guide's schedule. And it was the same driver to take me to the acrobat show (also arranged by Mr. Storm) and to the airport. Mr. Storm is genuinely concerned about his guest's experience in Beijing and does everything in his power to make sure it's a positive one.A great place for the value.
325490,Aafia,08/14/2006,Total satisfaction We booked an executive king room for my husband and me and a double for our son and friend. We were completing satisfied with everything this hotel had to offer.
325490,Travel1235,08/10/2006,Great Place I stayed here at the beginning of July as part of a tour. The hotel was excellent. The biggest down-side to this hotel was that while it is called Central Plaza it is hardly central in Beijing. I was on a tour though and this wasn't really a problem. The area around the hotel was actually interesting and somewhat different compared to what I would have experienced had I stayed in downtown. The rooms are big; the breakfast buffet was great; and the pool also was big and excellent. I would encourage others to stay here.
325490,AJME,08/07/2006,Great experience I spent two nights at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza in July 2006 and I must confess that I was surprised that a hotel with those prices could be ranked #1 in Tripadvisor; but it certainly deserves it.The hotel was clean and modern; the staff was friendly and most of them spoke English. Besides; there was a reasonably-priced Chinese restaurant with excellent service on the ground floor (I didn't try the other restaurant).The only possible drawback is location; which is not a big issue if you travel on leisure; since taxis in Beijing are very cheap (aprox. 24 RMB to Tiananmen Square).
325490,jiDenmark,07/20/2006,Neat hotel; fantastic value Stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza for 12 nights with my eight year old daughter. The location is called Central Plaza regardless of the fact that it is not centrally placed in Beijing. Holiday Inn has a couple of other hotels in Beijing; one of them named Downtown Beijing. Likewise; this hotel is not anywhere near downtown.Anyway; we both absolutely loved the place.Rooms are large and comfortable (bath tub; work desk; laptop sized safe; minibar). The hotel has attractive fitness; pool and restaurant facilities. The staff is fantastic. They are friendly; helpful and genuinely fond of kids.We had no problems with the location. Yes; you do have to jump into a cab to get anywhere; but within ringroad 2 I never paid more than 40 yang (app US$4) a ride. And even if you did stay in the very town center; I would still expect that you would need taxis to go to the sights.The local neighborhood is very nice. It has no real tourist attractions but it has a lot of character; including it's own hutong almost opposite the hotel. There are a couple of good local chinese restaurants nearby; a couple of good supermarkets and - if you must - a KFC. Pool and fitness are free; but unfortunately you will have to pay app. US$6/d for broadband in your room. Free hotspot is in the lobby.You will not regret staying in this hotel. For reasons I can not understand they are selling the rooms at rates close to US$75- which in my view is absolutely unbeatable.
325490,gaffgolf,07/02/2006,Outstanding Service!! Outstanding Beijing Bargain!! We vacationed in Beijing during the first week of April and had selected the Central Plaza based on Tripadvisor reviews and other sources. The entire stay exceeded our expectations due mainly to the friendly and helpful hotel staff. Room rates were surprisingly low for a new Holiday Inn opened in 2005-most probably due to its more remote location in southwest Beijing. I will confirm what others have noted that the hotel desk provides map cards for taxi drivers unfamiliar with the hotel location. Our various drivers had no problem locating the hotel and it only adds about US$5-6 roundtrip taxifare to get to the Central tourist and shopping areas. This is substantially less than the higher room rates in the Central area. If available; suggest upgrading room to include buffet breakfast; wi-fi internet and happy hour cocktails available in the business lounge on the 13th floor. At the time; this was an additional $10 per nite. The buffet breakfast; served in the Salt and Pepper restaurant on the main floor; is superb offering a large selection of Asian and American breakfast choices.Above the cost savings; the friendly service provided by the hotel staff was exceptional.My wife needed medical attention and staff member Sally Wu was very supportive acting as interpreter with the Chinese doctors and nurses at the local hospital. She was also very attentive and reassuring to my wife.In summary; a new hotel with American-size rooms comparatively underpriced ; exceptional service from a friendly staff and excellent amenities currently makes the Central Plaza a hidden gem in Beijing! We plan on returning!!
325490,ATripAdvisorMember,06/11/2006,An outstanding hotel We are pleased to say that our recent stay at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza was most pleasurable. We stayed for roughly two weeks in late May with several rooms on the executive floor. The accommadation; service; dining and staff are all first class. The personal touch of Mr. Storm went above and beyond our expectations. We agree with Ronvoyage's comment that the location posed no inconvenience. We have no hesitation and strongly recommend this hotel.
325490,sfguysf,04/26/2006,Great hotel; but location means that I will not return Like other reviews of this hotel; I think the Holiday Inn Central Plaza is terrific. Great service; great rooms; soft towels; good restaurants; great buffet. In fact; the breakfast buffet gave an American; a Chinese and a finicky 5-year-old great choices.But the location was just unacceptable for a pleasure trip. * It takes 20-40 minutes (with traffic) to get to and from places* Had 5 taxi drivers (in 5 days) refuse to take us to the hotel* Had 2 taxi drivers get lostThere was simply too much stress and time related in the travel to/from the hotel. Now if they could only move the hotel 15km to the northeast....
325490,chris036,04/19/2006,It's hard to find...but even harder to beat Nice size bathroom
325490,seasonedtraveler41,04/13/2006,Great choice We selected this hotel based on your other TRIPADVISOR ratings and were not at all disappointed. The furnishings; buffet breatfast were all superior. The hotel location is not as convenient as some of the other hotels; but that was not a problem. The buffet breakfast was excellant; but on our final morning there when we went down at 7 am we were surprised they hadn't yet put out have of the items; even though the buffet starts at 6 am. The other mornings we went down at 8 am and had no problems. THe buffet breakfast was one of the best we have had anywhere. The non-smoking room didn't smell of smoke at all when we checked in; but during 2 nights of the 4 night stay we were awakened in the middle of the night by the smell of smoke probably coming in from the bathroom vent or under the door from another room.
325490,ATripAdvisorMember,03/07/2006,Made our trip to Beijing a trouble free; amazing time! Just like everyone else; we booked it because of the reviews; and even with all the high expectations I had it was still great. I read another review about it being far away from everything; which is true; but taxis are so cheap who cares. And make sure you have the map when you arrive at the airport; and everytime you go out. Still; some taxi drivers dont know where it is and wont take you there. Keep trying; someone will. Get the buffet in the resturant. We would eat like one huge meal a day; and one small meal later. I wasnt really too into authentic Chinese food. Peking Duck is ok... Da Dongs is a good place. The manager Storm was really helpful in arranging our Great Wall trip; since we wanted to go to multiple sites. All in all; one of my favorite hotels ever... I will stay there anytime I go back to Beijing.pj
325490,Sigean,02/13/2006,Excellent hotel at amazingly low price showReview(4456389; 'full');
325490,ATripAdvisorMember,01/19/2006,SImply the best!!! showReview(4364749; 'full');
325490,yvr1,01/14/2006,Great Hotel showReview(4352087; 'full');
325490,ATripAdvisorMember,12/08/2005,Affordable; clean; and perfect! showReview(4220013; 'full');
325490,poleposition,11/18/2005,Great Hotel showReview(4125926; 'full');
325490,chendol,11/17/2005,Modern and fantastic showReview(4122926; 'full');
325490,Kentosan,10/13/2005,Great Place showReview(4018672; 'full');
325490,wrigaj1,09/26/2005,Excellent Hotel showReview(3940734; 'full');
325490,GemLK,09/05/2005,Absolutely amazing hotel! Bedroom
325490,ATripAdvisorMember,08/11/2004,A Great Holiday Inn! Really! showReview(2441908; 'full');
325490,Packmichein,10/03/2008,Wunderbares Hotel mit gigantisch tollen Betten und B眉ffets Doppelzimmer
325490,marcusp,10/22/2007,Das HI Central Plaza wurde dem Lob leider nicht gerecht. showReview(10224815; 'full');
325490,espa,09/08/2007,excelente ba帽o
325490,lass,04/17/2007,琛椼伄瑗垮伌銇柊銇椼亜銉涖儐銉?#x201d; showReview(19160803; 'full');
325490,lass,04/07/2007,娈点€呫偟銉笺儞銈广亴鑹亸銇仯銇︺亜銇俱仚 showReview(19160731; 'full');
325490,lass,04/06/2007,蹇仼銇с仐銇?#x201d; showReview(19160726; 'full');
325491,travelsoldier,11/11/2008,Nice room but sterile place I chose this as a low hassle starting point for my trip to china. It lies in a reasonably central location and is about 10 mins from a line 5 underground station. Probably 15 min walk to the temple of heaven park. The hotel's situation is quite nice; pretty quiet area - not particularly touristy at all.The room was comfortable and of a decent size with a nice powerful shower - albeit a slightly stale shower curtain.The lobby is a bit of an empty cavern and the evening buffet dinner expensive; tired and uninspiring. Breakfast; while quite pricey was good though.There was a bit of a buzz upstairs in the KTV karaoke lounge - but these are private booths and being a lone traveller i didn't hang around long. Taxis cost a shade over 100RMB to and from the airport. It is possible to take the metro and this might be advisable if travelling alone at peak hours since the roads get quite clogged.
325491,TravelerQc,10/30/2008,Thanks to tripadvisor I get this fine hotel I was looking for a hotel in Beijing for a 4 night stay at about $100s and found good reviews for this hotel at tripadvisor. I was not deceived! We got a realy nice room; the staff was very professional and the breakfeast was very good. Even if the location is not very central; a 10 minutes walk to the subway station put you everywhere in Beijing. The only point is that smoking is allowed indoors; but it is not a problem specific for this hotel; this is China.
325491,ksguenov,10/17/2008,Loved the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven--Again! In October of 2008; I stayed once again at the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven hotel in Beijing. This was my third stay; and I was very pleased; as usual. I stayed on the executive floor for about $100/night and considered it to be a very good deal. Although the hotel does not do a very good job of publicizing it; all executive floor rooms come with an excellent free buffet breakfast; a laundry allowance sufficient to clean a pair of pants and shirt daily; up to six free juices or local soft drinks from the mini-bar; and free coffee; tea and soft drinks all day long in the very pleasant executive lounge. There are also snacks and two free alcoholic drinks daily available in the executive lounge; but only during a designated happy hour period. All in all; I found my hotel experience to be top notch. The room was very clean; the bed linens (and towels; to a slightly lesser extent) were of good quality; and the housekeeping staff did a good job. The concierge staff was very helpful and friendly and the front desk clerks were efficient and pleasant. The employees in the hotel restaurants were particularly customer-oriented--after specially requesting pineapple at the breakfast buffet on my second morning at the hotel; I found it delivered without fail to my table for each subsequent breakfast. In addition; once the staff learned that my sister and traveling companion had a bad cold; they specially fixed her ginger tea and ginger in hot Coca Cola (an established and trusted Chinese cold remedy; apparently) and delivered it to our table. This hotel is really a gem. I will say that my executive floor room was considerably nicer than the one standard room that I visited during my time at the hotel; so I would recommend spending the extra money to upgrade. The location of the hotel may not be the most central; but with the new subway station nearby; it is really easy to access other parts of the city. I found the subway station to be a pleasant 10 minute walk from the hotel; and at 2 RMB per ride; it is a great bargain.Don't miss out on this great Beijing hotel!
325491,Rors21,10/05/2008,Decent Hotel Option Altogether; the experience you get at this hotel is what you would expect. The service was fine and the rooms were clean and by-the-book. The only real downside was the ludicrously high charge to use the internet in the business center - the worst I experienced during my two weeks in China. The location wasn't amazing; but it's only a 10 minute walk to the nearest subway station; and it should be noted the Beijing subway system is top-notch; so you'll be able to get anywhere you want to go fairly quickly from there.
325491,jszafraniec,09/21/2008,Great Value This hotel is a very good value for Beijing. Like everywhere we went in china; though; it was a good value because it wasn't too close to anything. the nearest metro stop was about 4 blocks away. we always managed to find a good pastry shop along the way to the metro. Very clean rooms. They gave us as many complimentary water bottles as we wanted. I would definitely stay here again if i went back to china; despite the location. the staff also was very helpful in telling us how to get to every attraction.
325491,OziMum,09/08/2008,Really liked the HI Temple of Heaven Very nice hotel. Clean and well appointed. Good facilities. Desk staff spoke very good english. Silver-service in their dining areas. Loved the breakfast! Family friendly. Kids loved the heated pool... although we had to purchase a swim cap (AU$9 each!) Great value for money. Although expect it to be a good half hr drive to where most tourists stay and shop. Cheap taxi's though!
325491,kkliCanada,06/29/2008,Excellent Hotel I have just spent 5 days in Beijing staying in this hotel. My family and myself is very happy with this hotel. I will say this is one of the best hotels I experience. First of all; all the staff (reception; restaurant; doorman; even the lady that clean the room) are very friendly; polite and helpful. My daughter got sick on the last day we were there; not only they recommend the hospital that suit our need; they also extend my check out time for two hours so that I can handle the situation comfortably. Frankly saying; I think their service attitude is the best that I have experienced in any country. Everybody work there has very good attitude!!!This hotel has all the facility you will need on a touring trip or business trip. The room is not really fancy but still roomy; clean and comfortable. It has great value and the kids eat free. I especially like the buffet breakfast that they supply. It has both Chinese and Western food and the quality of the food is very good. My kids grow up in Canada and I don鈥檛 have to worry about finding food that fit their diet.I saw some of the reviewer complain about the location. It is a normal residential area for Beijing resident. It is perfectly safe. I personally like this location because I can go to the grocery to buy local snack and bottle water and not paying the premium of the tourist location. I also find a store that sell excellent local pastry. There is also local dry and wet cleaner that can wash the clothing at a very reasonable price (5 RMB/clothing; underwear is done by weight).I realize this hotel is not in the main tourist area. I went downtown where all the action is twice during my visit. Beside that; all the other tourist area is on the outskirt. When I don鈥檛 have to go downtown; I avoid getting there. If you saw the traffic jam of the downtown area; you will understand why I prefer not going there. I cannot imagine going through that traffic everyday if I live there. Since I have two young kids; I am not looking for party every night.I am sure that I will go back to this hotel on my next visit.
325491,potatoehead,06/15/2008,Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven- Great value I stayed at the Holiday Inn- Temple of Heaven at the beginning of June 08 and was pleasantly surprised at how nice of a hotel it was. The lobby is very nice; the staff great and the rooms while not overly large where very clean. I didnt find its location bad at all. Close to the Temple of Heaven and the Pearl Market. Cab rides to other places where also very reasonable. Overall; for the price I thought it was a very good value especially with the included breakfast.
325491,bigbird090,04/18/2008,Amazing hotel; amazing experience The Holiday Inn - Temple of Heaven is by far the best Holiday Inn chain hotel I have ever visited. Unlike HIs in the United States and Canada; the hotel has amazing concierges; friendly staff; spacious rooms and halls; and new furnishings and decorations. The staff was helpful with writing out the chinese characters for all the places we were going; and helped us out getting Z-line trains to Xian with little effort. Furthermore; while the breakfast may be overpriced to some travelers; you have the ability to order a-la-carte; thus having a 5-6 USD breakfast. Overall; the service is what sets this hotel apart.
325491,libbyh,01/05/2008,Great place to stay ! We booked this hotel through a travel agent; total 9 of us; we enjoyed the stay; the rooms are very comfortable; clean and quiet; the buffet was excellent. You can find anything you can have in Canada. Plus it is in a residential area; you can simply walk to a cornor store to pick up some drink/beers.The service was nice; since we join the local tour; we always were picked up from the hotel; so the location seem perfect for us. We definitely recommend to our friends.
325491,palghat,01/03/2008,Clean place My wife and I stayed in this hotel and also at the Holiday Inn in Shanghai (which is much; much better). The rooms were clean; the staff polite and friendly. A woman in the business center was particularly helpful. The breakfast buffet was good. Plus; we got to see how people live since it's in a residential area. Go out for a morning walk and you'll see all sorts of interesting stuff -- including people carrying birds in cages (they are taking the birds out for a change in scenery!).
325491,IncredibleAsia,10/27/2007,A nice Surprise from a picky traveller I usually stay at a 5-star property (China World or Grand Hyatt) but I'm here for just one week on business and didn't need the extra ammenities or price. I reluctantly booked this hotel after reading other reviews and was very pleasantly surprised! The lobby is large and modern; and the location is not bad depending on where you are going. The room (regular not club floor) is average size; good ammenities and a big plus for me...free broadband Internet access. The on-site Heavenly Cafe was also a big surprise great value and great service. My husband and I had 2 beers and 4 dishes for about $10. For regular Beijing travellers who are used to staying in hotels at the $150-250 range this is a welcome budget friendly hotel at 575rmb!.
325491,maac56,08/16/2007,Excellent Value Hotel I recently stayed here for 3 nights. I also stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza on my recent visit to China and in comparison i was not disappointed with my stay here. I got what i consider a great room rate for a Suite Room. This included access to the Business Lounge and Breakfast was included.The hotel location is not central; but a short affordable taxi ride will take you to most sites in Beijing.I believe this Hotel is ideal for people visiting Beijing who would like to sample 'local' life. Stepping out of the Hotel you are in a local area and not the 'touristy' areas that most people only see and experience. There are plenty of small eating places and shops close by.My room was a little dated and would need upgraded; but for the cost of the room i consider it was good value for money. I am sure when they upgrade the hotel they will also upgrade the room rate.To conclude i would have no problem recommending this hotel; both for value for money and friendliness of the staff.
325491,Anneel,06/01/2007,Too expensive for remote location The previous reviews mentioning the location were on the money; this place is remote. Without Chinese I think it would be impossible to get to/from this hotel. No taxi drivers knew the hotel even when I showed them the card; every driver had to call to get directions. Furthermore the traffic is so bad in Beijing that location is key. There are other international brands that have much better locations for the same price.The hotel itself is fine; the service is fine; the rooms are fine; the food is fine. Nothing great. My key complaint is the cost; it is simply too expensive for how average it is and how out of the way.
325491,uiuc,05/24/2007,Excellent Choice My family and I stayed here for several nights while sightseeing in Beijing. The hotel is clean; the staff professional and the price a bargain (I booked at the Holiday Inn website). Although not in the center of the city; a taxi ride to Wangfujing costs only about 20 yuan (and there are plenty of taxis); and bus 803 goes directly there from a stop immediately behind the hotel for just 1 yuan. My children loved the fairly large indoor pool. The hotel's dinner buffet left something to be desired; but there are plenty of decent Chinese restaurants right out the door. I will definately stay here again when in Beijing.
325491,ChrisMcMillan,05/09/2007,Temple of Heaven Hotel (Holiday Inn); Beijing Lion for good luck
325491,funatfifty,04/11/2007,Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven; Beijing My husband and I stayed at this hotel as part of our Classic China Tour with Travelscope (50 group members). The hotel was excellent; very clean; the rooms were very luxurious; and the staff were wonderful. I sent a fax to my mother (she is very deaf so it is my only way of communicating) and it was dealt with immediately and for a very low price. My laundry was handed in at 0800 and was returned; washed; ironed and on hangers at 4pm - again for a very reasonable price.I have to follow a gluten free diet; and breakfasts can be difficult; but I was spoilt for choice here; there was so much food of every variety on offer - I certainly did not feel hungry!!If I am ever lucky enough to go back to this wonderful city; I would definitely stay at this hotel again. Very very good value and very helpful friendly staff.
325491,spgfan,03/31/2007,great value; excelent location We stayed for only 50鈧?including breakfast; and for this money it is the best choice in Beijing. The hotel has a beautiful lobby and restaurant; very comfy and the room; although smallish is well apointed and nice.We also stayed at the Westin and the location of the Holiday Inn is much better. We went walking to the Temple of Heaven; about 20 min. through a very interesting street. It is also not far from the forbidden city and the silk market.It is more than enough if you are looking for a 5star without high-end luxus and service.
325491,friartuck83,03/03/2007,Awesome; but a little overpriced for a guy on a budget This place was great. Biggest problem in China was finding people to understand english. This hotel had an abundance of workers that were able to help.Rooms were very clean and well stocked with everything you could want.It wasnt too far from most attractions; not far from the tennis centre. Taxi's are cheap anyway so you can get around.Unfortunately; compared to the dodgy places; this Hotel was very expensive. around $60 - $70 AUD a night. It was definately worth paying to have some staff who could speak English!
325491,scaal,11/08/2006,Loved the Holiday Inn We just got back from two weeks in China. We stayed about 4 nights at the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven. It was hard to depart this hotel as the staff was so dedicated to making our stay as comfortable as possible. The hotel room was very clean and very well kept. We felt spoiled each time we got back to the hotel from a day out in the city with a very clean room and access to the reasonable priced 24/7 spa. The breakfast was full of various selections of western and eastern foods to the point that it felt as we had a feast each time we had breakfast. Overall; this hotel is one of the best hotels I鈥檝e stayed for the price we paid. We liked the location as it was very close to the Forbidden City; and the temple of heaven. Another thing we liked about this hotel is that it was located within a neighborhood; which allowed us to get a taste of the everyday lives of the peoples in Beijing. This hotel made our stay in Beijing a memorable one. In fact; when we went on with our trip to other cities; we often talked about how wonderful our stay at the Temple of Heaven hotel was compared to the hotels we stayed in other cities. I would definitively recommend this hotel to others.
325491,gte253f,11/07/2006,Horrible Location The hotel is new and has a great breakfast buffet. The rooms are nice and it has cable with multiple english channels. HOWEVER; it was a horrible location. I was traveling with my mother and we had an extremely hard time finding a cab that would take back to the hotel from Central Beijing. Overall; I would not stay here again solely because of the location.
325491,gosaka,07/09/2006,Touring with Teenagers Just stayed in the hotel as part of a tour package. As the other reviewers said; this is an excellent value and great overall holiday. Not in the center of activity; but we were with a group of teenagers who didn't have far to stray as a result. Good facilities; free internet access and refreshing pool in the summer heat.
325491,coloradogal925,05/09/2006,Great Hotel! What great rooms I found at the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven Bejing - at about $68 for a single on the Holiday Inn's website. It was less than the rate quotes direct from the hotel - but it's always great to check all options. It has everything I like when I travel including a decent health club; plus robe and slippers; coffee maker; free high speed internet; and it's bright because of the large windows. They also had a non-smoking floor. The bed was fairly comfortable and had a great silk comforter. Try to buy one when you are in China.The service from the hotel staff was impeccable and very friendly. The restaurant had a good buffet breakfast with everything including omelettes; fresh eggs to order; etc. The dinner buffet was fine - although we didn鈥檛 find a lot of great restaurants generally in China; unless you stay at a 5 star Western Hotel. Since we were picked up by the Tour Company; we found it fine for location. Not too far from the Pearl Market. Will absolutely stay there next time I am in Beijing.
325491,ATripAdvisorMember,06/28/2005,Impressed Extremely clean; neat and new!!! Excellent choice for the price and the staffs are extremely helpful. Food at the restaurants in the hotel are better than expected and very reasonably priced. The only downside is the location which is a little away from the city centre and half the time the taxi drivers do not know the exact location even with the map of the hotel. Nevertheless; I will recommend this hotel to anyone who wants a very comfortable and clean hotel room to go back to at the end of the day. I have stayed at a supposedly prestigious hotel nearer the city; it is nothing compared to this holiday inn which is at half the price.
325491,ATripAdvisorMember,06/20/2005,Great place to stay! We were very impressed with this hotel. The place is much nicerthan most Holiday Inns in the Usa. We were greated and assistedwith much care. The location is not the best but the hotel is great.We had a massage for $20. for 45 min. You cannot beat that!There are 3 restaurants. The breakfast buffet was plentiful.A variety of foods from different countries. The taxis are cheap toget to the pearl market. The Temple of Heaven is only a 15min walk.However; I do recommend to travel in a group as you are walkingthrough some areas that are a little scary. We did not have a welcomefeel as we walked through this area. We had a van take our group of 5to the great wall and ming tombs. We were disappointed because theydid not get an English speaking driver for us. So we could not get anydetails....wish we would have taken the English speaking tour instead.For the $75 a night we were very impressed
325491,lass,05/18/2008,鑷炽仯銇︽櫘閫氥伄銉涖儐銉仹銇?#x201d; showReview(19171188; 'full');
325491,lass,10/10/2007,缍洪簵銇ц惤銇＄潃銇勩仧銉涖儐銉仹銇欍€?#x201d; showReview(19165267; 'full');
325491,marcusp,09/04/2007,Modernes Hotel mit sehr vern眉nftigen Preisen showReview(8617622; 'full');
325491,alain71,03/07/2007,bon hotel mais deception Hall de l'h么tel
325502,Ferfs,09/30/2008,Very nice hotel! A very western hotel. The accommodations are really confortable; clean. The breakfast is huge. You have east and western options. They have a very good massage service. The location is also great.
325502,3174,07/04/2008,Exceeded Expectations I was skeptical when our travel agent booked us at this hotel. This property is affiliated with the U.S. chain notorious for slapping their name on old Holiday Inns. This property also operated under another name in the past. I was; however; pleasantly surprised to see that the original quality of this hotel seems to have been maintained. I'm not a wordsmith; so I'll simply list what I liked and didn't like.Liked:*good neighborhood; walking distance to McDonald's; two shopping centers; Starbucks and large grocery store*clean except for carpets (all other hotels we stayed at in China had grungy carpets - walking down the sidewalks will give you a clue as to why this is)*nice breakfast spread*tight security*efficient money exchange counter*reasonable rates in business center*room was adequate size*staff helpful when we tried to order pizza and experienced language barrierDisliked:*service for supper in first floor restaurant was slow - they forgot my husband's meal*HARDEST BEDS ON EARTH. They seem to have eliminated the mattress on the beds and have decided their guests should sleep on the boxspring - sleeping on the floor would be more comfortable.*room was on the warm side; but staff provided us with quiet; efficient commercial fan*need converters and adaptors if you want to plug something inSummary:Not a five star hotel; but if you can stand hard beds; this is a pleasant place to stay.
325502,Brian5900,06/17/2008,Definitely not a 5 star hotel Stayed here for 3 days as part of a tour group. Lobby is nice but room is quite small. The room has a safe and internet is free. Breakfast is average. As other reviewers have pointed out; the hotel is located in a business district and thus is far away from most activities. A starbuck is located 1/2 block a way and there are a few restaurants nearby. The main problem we had; however; was hotel service. We had a room with problematic toilet and kept flushing every 10 minutes with a high pitch noise. We just couldn't sleep the first night. After complaining to the housekeeping staff; someone did come immediately and tried to fix it for 1/2 hour. He identified the problem (defective toilet rubber flapper) but left without replacing it and never came back. We couldn't get another non-smoking room and ended up having to manually adjust the flapper every time we flushed so that we could sleep. I wouldn't stay here again if I have a choice.
325502,hotelcomments,06/05/2008,Great stay. We just returned from China and spent two additional nights at the Days Hotel before our tour. We were upgraded on our arrival and enjoyed a large room with an oversized king bed; chesterfield; chair and table. The room we occupied for the tour was a little smaller without the chesterfield but again with a huge kingsized bed much bigger than what we have in Canada. The bed was a little hard but that is the way there are in China. Both rooms were nicely decorated and had housecoats and slippers as well as a bathroom scale. The carpets were a little dirty but slippers were provided. Other than that the room was very clean. There was an exercise room; ping-pong table; golfing range and pool on the 3rd floor. The breakfasts were western and Chinese buffet style. Food was the same every day but you could pay and order from the menu however this service was not fast. The staff were friendly and though they did not speak English very well; they did try. The reception staff were very helpful and efficient. Chinese people do not smile very often but they are very polite and take their work very seriously. . The location was great; lots of places to walk to in the area. Taxi cabs are very cheap. We would certainly recommend this hotel to any worldly travellers.
325502,KiteWalker,03/30/2008,Do not expect a 5 star hotel. We have just returned from a 4 night stay in this hotel. On entering one is immeadiatley impressed with the lobby which is large and full of marble. The bedroom which we had was a superb room with a large bathroom. The beds are hard - but you get used to them very quickly. The problems with this hotel start when you step into the restaurant. The first thing you notice is that very few of the restaurant staff speak or understand even basic English - expect to resort to sign language as the communication medium. The next thing we noticed is that you very rarely get a friendly face or a smile from the restuarant staff - I would also by the way include the front desk staff in this comment who seem to make a virtue out of being sullen; often bordering on rude. Never expect an apology from any of the staff for mistakes or poor service. Breakfast is a buffet event and food quality - for western tastes - was in my view mediocre at best. We were part of a large group and most mornings the restaurant was very busy. Despite the activity levels there was just one person making omlettes and it didn't make one jot of diference to the staff that people had to quque forever to get an omlette. Also to get coffee/tea we usually had go looking for the manager who never once apologsed for the poor service. We had dinner there twice. If the restaurant is even half full expect very slow service and; if it's full; you can expect total chaos and confusion in terms of service. As another post noted we also saw bills being mixed up on a number of occaisions. Food quality for dinner is reasonable but is nowhere near a 5 star rating - for example while the wine list was good; only two or three wines are actually in stock and the restaurant actually ran out of wine and beer on one night !!! The one comment most of our group made was that this hotel was going to have to seriously up its service and food standars to cope with the onsluaght of guests arriving for the Olympics.
325502,PatKAustralia,03/03/2008,Very comfortable; spacious and courteous Hotel was part of a tour. Found it to be quite comfortable although throughout China the beds are unbelievably hard. Large room with good facilities. The staff were eager to practice their English. Next door is the Antique and Curio market. Only found this on the day we were leaving. Had we know about it earlier would have done some serious damage in the financial department. Pearls; Corals and Jade jewellery at very reasonable prices. Keep in mind Buyer beware when shopping anywhere in China. Silk Street was 20yuan taxi ride from the Hotel. Be sure to buy a trolley bag to bring home all your purchases.
325502,Colin3160,03/03/2008,Not a 5 star hotel or anywhere near it This hotel is certainly not 5 star standard. The rooms are very ordinary with very tired furniture and appointments. The staff are not able to speak English and the food is terrible. I would avoid staying here if at all possible.
325502,Scotttt,11/11/2007,OK hotel; shame about the service My wife and I stayed at this hotel for 4 nights in September 2007 as part of a group tour. This hotel was called 'Chang An Grand Hotel in our tour itinerary.The staff at reception were friendly enough; but not very helpful. We were given a room with 2 single beds instead of 1 double bed (this was a common problem for us in China) and the reception staff made no real effort to help. We had other similar minor experiences as did some of our fellow tour members. Some of the concierge staff were helpful; it depended on the person.Our room was modern and clean. The beds were like concrete; but that was the same in most other hotels in China. The bathroom had a filtered drinking water tap (we weren't brave enough to drink it; we just used it to brush our teeth)The gym looked to be well maintained and well equipped. We were told we had to buy an over-priced swimming cap to use the pool; apparently this is a new rule in Beijing and some other Chinese citiesThe breakfast buffet was ok but we had better variety in other hotels.There is a supermarket (hypermarket) around the corner with cheap water; drinks; snacks; etc. It is worth stocking up there. To get there; turn right out of the hotel's front entrance and then take the first street on the right. Walk down and it is the large yellow building on the left.There didn't seem to be many tourist attractions around the hotel area. This didn't bother us as we were on a tour. There is a bazaar nearby; but we didn't go. You can easily catch a taxi to the Silk Market and Wangfujing.Some fellow travellers liked the seafood restaurant next door; although it sounded pricey by Beijing standards. We were also told that the hotel massages were very good; but also pricey.As for Beijing in general; we were impressed. It is an advanced; modern city with a lot of culture and history. Pollution is quite bad as expected but bearable. Surprisingly the city is very green with a lot of healthy looking parks and trees. We caught the subway around the city; and it was ok although very crowded during peak hour. Hang on to your bags and valuables and be prepared to barge your way in/out or you will be left behind!
325502,GALILLEO,09/20/2007,poor service We stayed at this hotel for about one week and although we were brought to other hotels by our designated guide for meals.This turned out to our advantage; as this hotel could not cater for groups; If you consider eleven people as a large group; Well the service was pretty terrible at the best of times.The staff seem to have no training in this department at all.The staff were very helpful at all times. but were lacking the basic training. Paying for meals was at times very embarraasing with staff getting bills mixed up with other guests in the group; although we had ordered seperately. Its hard to believe they are preparing for the olympics next year. The staff were able to manage to cater for one to two people at a time. I dont think any of our group were happy with the service.I don't think I'm been to harsh here as eleven people should not be a problem to any five star hotel well in Europe that is. The carpet in our hotel room seemed to have never been cleened it was rather dirty. We were rather surprised that this hotel had a 5 star rating
325502,WymanInk,08/19/2007,Clean but a very hard bed! This property; situated in an older part of Beijing had a lovely lobby and a nicely appointed breakfast. bar The rooms were medium sized; clean and featured complementary water bottles ( which we drank without incident) and slippers.Other guest amenities included an in-hotel gym; a pool and a bar. However a virtual golf driving range was out of commission and if it had been working; there would have been a fee even for guests.Drawbacks included it's location; outside of the city center and right across from a large highrise that was being torn down (not surprising...it seemed most of China was being reconstructed right in front of our eyes). Additionally; the bed was right on the verge of unacceptable. It's as if they forgot to include the mattress and expected us to make do with just the box springs. It made sleeping an interesting proposition.
325502,buttery,08/02/2007,4-star room; 2-star location The Days Hotel is a good business-type hotel. Though not luxurious; the rooms are quite spacious and clean; there is a separate faucet in each room supplying filtered water for drinking; and there are gym and internet facilities readily available. In addition; the hotel is reasonably priced for its class; since it is located by the Third Ring Road; to the southeast of central Beijing. If you have a reason to be in this area; or if you are in Beijing to spend time at the weekend Panjiayuan antiques/flea market; then this is a great choice for you. But if you have business in another part of the city or want to spend most of your time sightseeing in central Beijing; think twice. Yes; taxis are very cheap by Western standards; but the traffic in Beijing is very bad. The problem should be alleviated somewhat when the city builds much-needed new subway lines; one of which will serve the southeastern sections of the city; but for now; traffic is bumper-to-bumper much of the day and early evening; and even getting to the nearest subway station at Guomao could take half an hour. Is that really how you want to spend your time in Beijing?Finally; we experienced a few of the service-type issues mentioned in previous posts -- on arrival there was no toilet paper in the bathroom; another afternoon there were no bath towels (this discovered while showering); and at one point the elevator was out of service for around 12 hours; and this in a building with 25 floors.
325502,vinn2k,06/28/2007,Great Hotel; Great experience; Great Value Before paying for my package; I went through this site; and reading most of the reviews; I was in two minds whether to stay here or not. It was only when I stayed at this hotel did I realise that most of the reviews were over rated and exaggerated to a great extent. I loved the place and would heartily recommend it to anyone who intends staying here.... Here is something you should note:1) It took me just 5 minutes to register and reach my room. Staff speak good english; efficient; courteous; and there is even an atm machine in the lobby.2) breakfast was extremely wonderful - wot a large spread and the staff were always smiling and filling cups of coffee or tea3) Room service was excellent; quick; portions good and very reasonably priced. The wanton soup was enough for 3 !4) Location is not too bad and taxis are inexpensive. The concierge were very helpful in finding a taxi and explaining to the driver where to go to. Keep a card of the hotel in chinese handy !5)rooms - yes the mattress was hard; but after a day; u get used to it. Spacious; clean; comfortable and the bathrooms where spacious and comes with a lot of goodies. Theres a tea a coffee maker facility and you get CNN and HBO on the TV.6) Its situated on a main road and not on a seedy road as on person had written. Come out of the hotel; turn right; and right again and walk straight and you will find the the Jian Hypermarket there. You get everything here and very reasonable. Visit the first floor for some good bargains on clothes; cutlery; crockery; etc...I cant understand why some many people cribbed about the place and I cant understand; for the price they pay to stay here; what kind or service they expect....but take it from me; you will love this place.....and dont pay much heed to the crap many have written. They are probably some people who expect the world for what little they pay....I loved beijing....visit the antique city next door if you wanna shop for antiques and pearls; and bargain. My best shopping was done in Silk Street; a large 5 floor shopping centre. If you wanna buy a shirt; they start at 600 yuan; but dont pay more than 40 or 50. Great value if you can bargain !!!!!!!Enjoy your visit to Beijing and to the Days Inn !
325502,Lorraine777,03/31/2007,Not good enough for an emperor; but not bad at all A three-night stay at the hotel was included in our multi-city China tour package. The location is not in the midst of everything; but is only a $3 taxi trip to People's Square. The room was large and well-furnished; but the air conditioning did not work well. The bathroom was very nice. The breakfast buffet was wonderful; and featured Chinese and Western breakfast items; including vegetable buns; fried rice; sauteed vegetables; hot soybean milk; eggs; sausages; fresh fruit; and omelette and congee stations. However; the hotel had a few problems and was overstaffed with individuals who didn't seem to know what they were doing. Do not touch the small porcelain covered vase on the bathroom sinktop. I tried to open it; then broke it accidentally -- it cost me 10 RMB. There was no laundry bag in the room; so I asked the concierge for one and a laundry slip. They gave me a bag but no slip. Following the directions in the hotel guide; I left the bag in the room for collection by housekeeping staff in the morning. When I returned in the evening; I was surprisedto see that the laundry was not collected.
325502,tdu888,03/23/2007,Bad experience This hotel is terrible. My friend booked this hotel for me for the night of March 13;2007. However; when I reached the hotel that night around 11:40pm due to delayed flight; I was told my room reservation was cancelled. They did not arrange me to another room or hotel. This is a terrible experience happened to me. I will never live in this hotel again.
325502,ablinder,03/17/2007,Room Excellent; with Poor Service I thoroughly enjoyed days 1 - 3 of my stay at the Days Hotel in Beijing. The rooms were clean and well-furnished and I was very pleased. And then I got the bill.On my first night in Beijing; I summoned assistance to help with an internet connection and both a technical employee and an assistant manager were sent to help. While the assistant manager was there; I asked her for a tutorial on how to use my prepaid calling card. She provided the wrong instructions and hence; when the bill arrived; I had a bill for a few thousand yuan in long distance calls.I went to the front desk; seeking a resolution. The hotel staff flatly admitted that I was not the source of the trouble; but they refused to erase the charges. One employee told me the problem is not your fault; but you are responsible and the charges stand. I went back and forth with nearly half-a-dozen employees; most of whom said the same thing: not my fault; but certainly my bill. The next morning; with assistance from ACIS; the tour company I was traveling with; the hotel finally agreed to erase the charges. This unacceptable service by the Days Hotel severely diminishes my view of the hotel and I would exercise extreme caution in staying there in the future.
325502,senninha,02/20/2007,Pity.... My family and I stayed at the Days Hotel Suites Beijing over Chinese New Year from Feb 16 - 20; 2007. The hotel has an impressive lobby and the room size is excellent. The condition of the hotel; being just 3 years old; is mediocre and the rooms look a little worn out. The staff at check-in was not very impressive and; despite having a written confirmation from the hotel (which I fortunately requested prior to leaving home) they claimed that they were unable to give us the inter-connecting rooms. This was obviously unacceptable to me as I was travelling with two small children. After making a scene and presenting their own written confirmation; we finally were given our inter-connecting rooms. Pity to have had this arrival experience.The hotel does a reasonable breakfast buffet; but the service was shockingly bad. I am still laughing about it now; but it certainly wasn't that funny at the time...The location of the hotel is OK and it is easy to get a taxi there which will bring you anywhere you like. Speaking of which...the service of the taxi drivers was a lot better than that received at the hotel!
325502,Tunces,03/27/2006,Great Hotel and Good Beds Great service; clean rooms; great buffet breakfast; and great price. Yes; the beds are somewhat hard for Westerners; but so what; we came to China to experince these things; not try to change them. ...I slept fine.
325502,ATripAdvisorMember,03/10/2006,Highly overrated and bad service I stayed in this 5 star Hotel for one week during before festival. I liked the location very much; close to a weekend antique market and not very traffic congestion for Beijing these days. The Hotel is about 3 years old and caters mainly to Western tour groups and Chinese tourists. The rooms are generally spacious and the best is the large beds. I requested a king size bed but 95 percent are twins so; I had to move the next day. Being on the executive floor makes the noise in the night a little bit better since there is construction 24 hours; especially facing the north side. Since I need internet and in my new king size bed room it was broken; I had to move again the next day and they upgraded me to a junior suite. After all the changing I had lost a lot of valuable time and the junoir suite was allmost no diferance to the other room.I would rate the hotel 3+ star since the cleaning and the service are below a 4 star hotel. The Hotel atmosphere is cold and the A+A restaurant on the 25th floor is very average. TV channels are only CNN and HBO in English one Korean and one in Japanese the rest are all in Chinese.
325502,retiredandtraveling,01/11/2006,Lovely Hotel Spent 6 nights in January 2006. Hotel is very lovely; with all amenities. Staff speaks limited English; but all concierges spoke well enough to satisfy our needs and questions. Excellent breakfast buffet. Beds are typically Chinese - rather hard. Marble baths with lots of goodies. Lots of storage space and room safe. Taxis needed for all sightseeing and shopping; but was only 15 yuan (less than $2) to either Silk or Pearl markets.
325502,postiecdnmo,01/11/2006,Nice for a Days Inn but a little cold We stayed at this hotel for a week while in Beijing with a group of families there to adopt. This hotel is very nice to Day's Inns standards but the service lacks. This hotel doesn't cater to families and certainly doesn't hide it. We didn't experience any problems concerning eating in the dining room as one reviewer stated but they did not like the fact that there was screaming children during breakfast time not to mention the mess that went along. Also the windows in the rooms open in a way that if a child was to climb up on the window sil they would be able to climb out the window. Very unsafe for any child to be near the window... This hotel was situated at the far end of town and there was really not much near by except a hyper market and some local restaurants.Would I stay there again?? If I didn't have a family with me and was on business...yes.
325502,ATripAdvisorMember,11/12/2005,Days Inn Beijing Okay We have just returned from a week at the Days Inn (formerly Chang'an Grand Hotel Beijing). The hotel is quite nice and rather formal in feeling. The service is pretty good but we were there with our adoption group (14 families adopting babies) and all the families felt that we weren't really 'welcome' if you will. Turns out that some hotels in Beijing are now not welcoming these groups of adoptive parents. For breakfast (included in the price of the room); they tried to shuffle us off to small rooms where the buffet was less than acceptable. Toward the end of the week; we were all refusing to be shunted off and more or less forced our way into the main dining room's buffet. The food in all the restaurants is good but is very expensive in the restaurant on the 26th floor.The hotel is situated in a part of the city that is very far from downtown and is rather a seedy area so walking is not great (nothing to see and what there is to see is not very pleasant). There is a grocery store about 2 blocks away and you can buy just about anything there.Would I stay there again? Not likely but if you have to; it is definitely okay.
325502,cat2tvl,10/06/2005,hotel has changed ownership This hotel is now called Days Hotels and Suites.I found it hard to believe Days Inn has this property now. We arrived and were greeted at the doors by white gloves. Check in was about 2 minutes and our bags arrived up to our room 2 minutes after we opened the door. Breakfast buffet was wonderful and a very large selection of American/Chinese foods. The only negative comment would be on our daily trip with the kids to the Silk Market to bargain. We took a cab 3 days in a row and we knew by the meter it would be 15Yuan.The gentleman who hailed our cab the last day tried to tell us it would be 25Yuan per person. We told him to call another cab since we knew better.As expected the taxi driver turned on the meter and agreed. Wow the meter read 15 again on this ride.The housekeeping staff was great as well as the staff in the resturant for dinner.Beautiful views; on time wake up calls and attentive staff made our first trip to China so unforgetable.
325502,lass,10/01/2005,I really loved this hotel This was a thoroughly enjoyable hotel with very nice; modern rooms; a great restaurant and excellent facilities. While it is true that the beds are extremely hard; I understand this conforms to normal customs of the area and we learned to adapt and experience it. After all the fun exploring Beijing each day (do go to Beijing if you have the chance) we could hardly not sleep! Television was limited but did have CNN International and BBC World in English. I recall having an HBO type channel that showed older movies. In general the hotel gleamed with marble and felt posh and clean. There is a money-exchange window right by the elevators which was most convenient. The exchange rates are very consistent no matter where you change your money. NOTE: You MUST keep your currency exchage receipts if you want to change Chinese money back to US dollars at the airport. They simply will not change it back without these receipts!!The included breakfast buffet was among the best I have ever had with a wide selection of hot and cold Chinese and Western dishes. We dined in the restaurant a few times (for dinner) and found the food to be excellent and in right proportions for a healthy diet. The price was a little higher than elsewhere but the comfort; service and convenience made up for that.Service staff spoke a little English and were eager to show their entire facility including the pool; spa; gym; etc. There was no pressure to purchase the services though and I understand that the services for massage; steam room; cupping; etc were quite reasonable.Do note that this hotel is some distance from the city center and taking a taxi to the center is mandatory. However; taxis are extremely cheap. It costs about US$3.00 for a taxi to the center and the doormen can help you get one. There is a also a small grocery store nearby which is handy for buying bottled water (drink only bottled water on vacation just to be safe) and small snacks. To find it; walk out the front doors and walk to the right down the street. Turn right at the next street and walk a little way until you see the store on the left-hand side. You will see food posters on the building. It is one of their chain stores.This hotel is often part of package holidays and if you find yourself here you will really enjoy it! We did!
325502,hifredChicago,01/06/2005,Eye Candy Without the Comforts of Home This hotel is all eye candy but the rooms offer little in the wayof comfort. The hotel has the appearance of a palace with marble;granite and paintings. However; the bed in our room wasessentially a box spring (seriously). This was brought to theattention of the assistant manager who explained that in Chinaparents and families like hard beds. We have stayed in other hotels in China where the beds were comfortable. There was no give in the bedwhen I sat on it and my whole family as well as friends wetraveled with woke up with body pain and stiffness due to thehard surface. I asked the manager to provide some comforters toput under the sheet to soften the bed but all they wouldprovide were brown wool blankets that were not soft and reallydid not help make the bed more comfortable. Hotel amenities weregood. The bar and lounge provides free internet when you purchasea drink. The hotel has a whirlpool but it is an additional chargeto use it. There is also an additional charge to use the steamroom or the ping pong table. The restaurants in the hotel areover priced compared to other hotels we stayed in while visitingChina. The portions were small. The hotel was renovating and thenoise from work being done was excessive. The workers finish at10:00 p.m. and start very early in the morning. There was astrong smell of an adhesive or acetone that permeated every floor.When I asked for a room change the manager showed me severalother rooms but the smell was present in all of them. I noticedthe emergency exits were propped open on all floors and the smellcame from that area. In the U.S. this probably would haveviolated a health code but in China it didn鈥檛 seem to matter. Sowe would go in our room; put a towel under the door; and open thewindow. The bathroom had an under mount sink and galaxy granitecounters. Overall although it was a good looking hotel it did notconform to Western standards enough to where I would recommend itto visitors.
325502,scilist,11/21/2007,Tr猫s bon hotel showReview(10956248; 'full');
325519,PHV009,09/04/2008,Great Hotel! Excellent location (close to Forbidden City Tien'anmen Square plus a Subway station at 100 meters); great breakfast with Continental and Chinese Food; good and smiling service. I would absolutly recommend this hotel.
325519,matt1845,08/05/2008,Our stay at Jianguo Garden Hotel (Beijing) Clean and comfortable room. Great breakfast (including both Western and Chinese food). Good location (walking distance to golden street and Tiannamen. We had a nice stay here.
325519,CathRun,07/31/2008,Helpful staff We had to stay in Beijing for nearly 3 weeks while completing the adoption of my 5 year old daughter. I went with my 11 year old and my mother and picked up my other daughter after two nights. The staff; and Alan; one of the concierges; in particular; were very helpful. My new daughter spoke no English and Alan was always on hand for all of our and her needs. He even gave her a wonderful name stamp as a departure gift that I know she will always cherish! He is a class act and very sweet guy. Ask for him if you have any issues.Otherwise I can only say that the hotel was clean; if a bit frayed around the edges. You can tell they are really trying to step up to the plate and become a contender in today's market but the whole place needs an overhaul. They seem to have a few issues with things like leaky shower doors and windows. I blame the building manager as these were almost all maintenance issues. Downstairs is a bowling alley (never worked); shuttleboard table; ping pong; pool tables; spa; etc. But be forewarned: none of these are free to guests at the hotel. And the spa staff can be kind of aggressive about getting your business.Also; the pools in China for the most part don't use chlorine or filters. My kids didn't go in them; I didn't feel comfortable with it.The restaurants were okay; but except for breakfast served no western dishes except for hamburgers and some very greasy spaghetti which made a 3 week stay with an 11 year old American kid into a very LONG stay...The breakfast buffet was wonderful and we easily filled up enough to keep us going until dinnertime; but we are kind of light eaters. There's not much to walk to from this hotel except for Wangfujiang Street; but there are tons of shops on that street and the ever present McDonald's (always packed). If you are feeling adventurous; right around the corner from the hotel is a Mongolian restaurant; with a very sweet staff; 75% of the menu is mutton; 24% is camel. Made for an interesting evening with two little kids.The wine bar is quite nice. The little cafe/cocktail lounge in the front of the hotel a very cute place to people watch and unwind. I would stay here for a short trip; but beware of those nagging little technical problems that they have. Personally I probably wouldn't go back to this particular hotel; but I can't say that it was a bad experience. Just not one I would repeat. And if you are going there to adopt just know that there is very little for young kids to do there or in that area. Next time I'll pick a western brand chain.
325519,whereswaugh,05/07/2008,Great....if air conditioning isn't high on your priority list We stayed in the Jianguo Garden Hotel in Beijing for 3 nights in mid April 2008 and found the hotel to be centrally located and ideal for our needs with the exception of the lack of air conditioning in the rooms. Upon arrival the temperature in our room was approx. 84 degrees (27 Celsius); but upon adjusting the thermostat to cool the room we discovered it wasn't putting out any cool air. We called the front desk and they promptly sent someone up to investigate. When the hotel employee could not get the a/c to work we were moved to another room. This room was older and not quite as nice; but hey鈥?if we were cool we really didn't care that much. Once again we tried to bring down the temperature in the room; but since the thermostat controls in this older room were all in Chinese we had to call for help again. Again; the employee could not get cool air to start generating. Long story short; we finally were told that there was a city ordinance stating that the temperature was not hot enough outside to turn on the a/c to the rooms! Since we found this to be the case in almost every hotel we stayed in during our visit to China I'm not sure if the Jianguo Garden Hotel is 100% fully to blame. With that said; we do find fault in that the hotel advertises that the rooms are air conditioned without any disclaimer that this only applies to certain months of the year. In addition; no other hotel claimed it was a city ordinance (one claimed it was to conserve energy) and our English speaking guide had never heard of such and ordinance. We were disappointed that they could not tell us up front the reason the A/C was not on rather than go through the trouble of moving us to another room. We think the reason we were moved to a different room was to give us a room where the window opened 鈥?the fact that it only opened a few inches and let in the Beijing pollution and the sounds of construction next door that went on all night long really outweighed any cooling benefits. Didn't think to ask for an electric fan; but it would have helped tremendously as we discovered in the other hotels we stayed in.One last thing to note - The breakfast buffet was quite good; however we thought it to be a little pricey since it was not included in the cost of our room.
325519,Coltbridge,03/24/2008,My bed had fleas My bed had fleas. What more can one say? Try the Regis.
325519,DarthAnonymous,02/03/2008,Room works okay for three adults. Standard Room bathroom view
325519,Landfall38,12/11/2007,Very good hotel --Recommended ( too bad "incidentals" cost so much...) Stayed here for 8 nights in Dec 2007 -- combination of work and leisure.We were VERY pleased with the hotel (but do have some suggestions).Hotel spotless; rooms very clean and in excellent condition; staff very nice and helpful; breakfast excellent. Good location in Beijing.Complaints?1) The room only had heating or no air. That is; one couldn't control the temperature (even with the thermostat turned to lowest temp) so ssystem had to be turned off -- otherwise it was way too hot. Asked staff for help and they said there is no cooling; only heat in December. So we had to turn off all air. (Opening the window was possible BUT the Beijing smog (!!) ends that idea.2) Use of fitness centre costs 100 RMB (~$14) per day per person -- should be included (only the executive floors get it included).3) Internet is 20 RMB/hr -- it should be included for a hotel of this quality/level4) Pool is free but is only about 1 metre deep everywhere. And you must wear a cap (50 RMB at desk). We used it only once as we did not find it so enjoyable. But it is not so bad.All-in-all; a good experience. The restaurants are good but pricy -- get out and explore. (Try the Mongolian restaurant 1 block away at the back of the hotel!)
325519,canbagna,12/01/2007,Liked it; but can be improved The old styled Jianguo hotel is located in a good position on the main city axis which allows people with Beijing taxis allergy to jump into the underground station nearby (100 mt). It has recently undergone a partial restyling; at least in the entrance hall (i haven't seen the rooms after the entrance restyling) which is more a sort of open bar than a reception.The rooms are spacious; although rather unpersonalized; generally clean; and there is free internet cable access.The breakfast hall is nice and the food excellent and abundant. Dining at the restaurant; if one should want not to move from the hotel; is pretty good.Amongst the nice features of Jianguo are a pool (which; btw; i never had the occasion to visit) and a Sunday concert.I would suggest this hotel for business stays but not really for family stays (the surroundings are safe; but not properly family oriented ;-) )
325519,OB1ONE,09/11/2007,Great Location and Great Hotel I am a Tour Manager. Stayed at this hotel in 2006 and when we went back surprised to find that it has undergone a complete renovation of the foyer; reception and restaurant areas since our last visit. The hotel is in a great location near railway station and a short bus ride from Tiananmen Square and great shopping. The breakfast is great and the service friendly. The standard rooms were clean and a good size. We stayed 3 nights this year and could not be happier. Great spot to use as a base for all Beijngs many attractions. Recommend this one .
325519,stltraveler7,08/22/2007,Two weeks at the Jianguo Garden Hotel in Beijing My husband and I recently returned from a two week stay in this conveniently located hotel. Our trip was a combination business [for him] and pleasure [for both of us]. We very much enjoyed our time at the Jianguo Garden; and definitely would stay there again. The location is very central. It is a three minute walk to the Dongdan subway station. We bought public transit cards in the station and used them on the subway [3 rmb/trip] and the bus [ slightly over 1 rmb per trip]. There is a 20 rmb deposit on the card that you can only get back at the Beijing Railway station subway station between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. The very nice Oriental Plaza Mall is 10 minutes by foot [lots of restaurants] and a fun 鈥榤e ga bite鈥?food court. The western end of the Mall ends on Wangfujing shopping street. Tian鈥檃nmen square and the Forbidden City are only an additional 10 minute walk west.The service at the hotel was superb. The staff was without exception very friendly and helpful. This was especially true of the front desk staff. Since we like to travel by public transit; we went to many sites [Summer Palace; Temple of Heaven; etc.] by bus. The staff would find out what bus number we needed to take and where to catch the bus. In addition; they would write out in Chinese characters where we were going; so the bus driver [or other passengers] could help make sure we disembarked when we needed to.The breakfast that was included with our room was excellent; with a wide variety of Western and Chinese dishes. It included eggs made to order; wonderful cut up melons; a pastry and cereal bar; fried noodles and sauteed veggies; steamed dumplings; etc; etc. Tea and coffee are served by the excellent wait staff. [Larger coffee cups would have been nice; but this was the only flaw in an otherwise terrific set-up.]The room we had was perfectly fine. The King size bed had a very comfortable mattress. Towels were big and fluffy; as were the bathrobes. Two small bottles of water come with the room per day. The room also has a quick heating tea kettle that we used to purify extra water for teeth brushing and drinking. We did not take a chance with the tap water. There is a 110 V outlet in the room for re-charging camera batteries; or whatever you need.If you want to swim in the pool; be sure to bring a swim cap with you as they are required. If you forget - no worries - the Silk Market is only two subway stops to the east [ Yong鈥檃nli station - there is an entrance right into the market from the subway. Just remember to negotiate the price.]The only negative about the Jianguo Garden is the overall lack of lobby seating.There were several days when I returned from solo outings to the hotel prior to my husband; and found housekeeping in the room. There are only three lobby chairs directly across from the front desk. All the rest are associated with one of the restaurants.
325519,ATLMommy,04/30/2007,Good Choice I stayed at the hotel for 9 days in April; on non-smoking Executive Floor (10th floor). This floor has a small conference table area and a sitting area and library. The room was huge; with a sitting area; desk and large separate dressing area. It could easily have fit my husband and two children as well and appeared to have been recently renovated. A lack of certain amenities (tissues and enough trash cans); flowers that were left to wilt and die and a poorly-designed shower door (difficult to open) kept this from being a five-star room. Free Internet; drinks; breakfast and business and fitness center use were provided. A small breakfast buffet (cold cereal; etc) was set out each morning; and snacks in the afternoon. The daily downstairs buffet had a huge selection at breakfast; lunch and dinner; with a few western choices and excellent curries. The subway stop is right across the street; and there are small shops from which to buy snacks in the hutong directly behind the hotel (or the over-priced grocery in the basement of Oriental Plaza). Overall the staff were very pleasant; particularly on the 10th floor. Business center computers have software in Chinese; which can be challenging to navigate; and the staff did not greet guests nor assist them until asked during the three times I visited. English proficiency is limited among the hotel's staff (probably equal to my Chinese proficiency) but they try hard. All in all a good choice for business travellers to Beijing.
325519,burnessis,04/09/2007,Very Pleasant Property Stayed here with my wife for four nights--her first time to China. Centrally located; very good buffet breakfast with both Chinese and Western (even some Indian) dishes. 9th floor non-smoking room was very nice (I think this might be an executive floor)--bed was quite firm; but that is just how we like it. Furniture did not have many drawers but was otherwise in very good condition.Staff always extremely helpful and eager to please. English skills range from passible to quite good; they would always find someone with better English skills if needed. Housekeeping always ready to deal with any special request with a smile.Centrally located--you can walk to Oriental Plaza and Wangfujing Street; a subway stop is right there; and taxis are always available if desired.We booked them through a travel agent; so we had already made other tourism arrangements.The pool looked like it was being renovated; and we didn't try the fitness center in the basement--can't report on those.This is a 4-star property; but the service is up to 5-star levels (save perhaps for English skills). The 9th floor room was close to 5-star quality as well. Based on rates I've seen on other web sites; I think this property is an excellent value.We would look to stay here again if and when we return to Beijing!
325519,Melony,12/15/2006,Super breakfast After a journey with the Trans-Siberian we enjoyed spending six days in Beijing staying at Jianguo Garden. The service was super from the beginning. All employees will say hello when they meet you; and are very helpful. The room had two double beds; and was nicely placed with no sounds etc. bothering us. The hotel has a nice location too. It's lovely to have a pool available when the weather is as hot as it was outside; just to cool down. Excellent service in the pool/gym area; towels provided and my friend had two massages that she found very nice as well. The breakfast was amazing- they would cook your eggs and pancakes any way you'd like; and have everything available; from chinese to american to continental. Amazing fruit. I would definitly stay in the same hotel if I get back to Beijing.
325519,RJT,04/14/2006,Luxury on a budget Spent 5 nights at this hotel in a deluxe room; non smoking floor. An extremely large room with 2 dbl beds; desk chair and armchair. Decor a bit bland. Bathroom spacious with 2 showers. Only problem I had was the room; which faced south; got extremely hot during the late afternoon. A little quirk was the maid coming in to turn the bed down and putting out slippers about 8.00 every night. The hotel is 10 minute walk from Wanfujing Street; 5 minute walk from Oriental Plaza mall and 20 minute walk from Tiananmen Square and not far from the railway station.
325519,B57,11/06/2005,Would stay again Stayed here for a full week. They have a NON-SMOKING floor... be sure to request that (if that matters to you). Reasonable price; quiet; EXCELLENT location within walking distance of Oriental Plaza and Wangfujing Street. Overall; would stay again.
325519,AndreaTreviso,08/06/2007,Sosta a Pechino showReview(8359388; 'full');
325634,NickDAustralia,11/01/2008,OK hotel; anoying location The Shinjuku New City Hotel was a perfectly adequate hotel. While it was dated; my room was large; quiet and clean and the bed was fairly comfortable. The staff were efficient and all spoke good English and I had no hassles checking in or out. The only thing which bugged me about the hotel was that accessing the internet is very expensive (100 yen for 10 minutes).Despite that; I wouldn't recommend this hotel for tourists due to its annoying location. The hotel is a boring 15-20 minute walk to Shinjuku Station (which is the closest interchange station - Tochame station is about 5 minutes away; but is only on one line; and it's not easy to change lines in the vast Shinjuku station) . To make matters worse I couldn't find any interesting restaurants (or many restaurants at all) closer than the station area. This probably isn't an issue if you're traveling for business and are working in west Shinjuku; but for tourists its a real pain to face a long and uninteresting walk every time you come and go from the hotel. It would be worth paying a bit more to be closer to the station and Shinjuku's excellent shops and nightlife.
325634,smagey,10/07/2008,Beware aircon and heating not working in Oct I booked this hotel through asiarooms.com; which advertised heating and cooling. After payment went through; they then sent an email saying that repairs were being done throughout October and the hotel would provide extra bedclothes if you are cold! Unless you don't mind not having any heating or cooling; I suggest choosing elsewhere.
325634,levingetskitty,09/06/2008,Good value for money - would recommend I spent a lot of time researching hotels in Tokyo and thought this one looked like the best value for money in a good location. And fortunately; I wasn't wrong. Yes; it is a little dated... and perhaps the 'new' should be amended to '70s' but it is clean; convenient; has a/c (which is an absolute must at this time of year); and has internet access (not wireless unfortunately) in the room.As already mentioned by some of these reviews; the bathroom is a little small but since Tokyo is limited on space and the nation doesn't have a problem with obesity; it's understandable. And the shower is great which is a massive plus. The really odd thing about the toilet is that it starts to flush as soon as you sit down (I think I read somewhere that the Japanese do this to mask natural noises!) - the only problem with this is if you are sharing a room and have to get up in the middle of the night and are trying to be as quiet as possible!Other than that; there is everything you'd expect from a hotel (plus kimonos and slippers!) and it is good to have the BBC world service (what would we do with out the BBC?) on tv.
325634,ampiBud,06/04/2008,Great location; great service; wonderful people I am pleased that I could travel to Tokyo; met those people; and stayed in a hotel like this. I lived on the 14th floor for 10 nights and the view and the whole thing was just amazing. You won't get a much better room or kinder treatment in the Hilton on the opposite side of the park but it will cost you at least two times more. This is a good budget hotel and has everything you need to spend your nights there.They have a coach to and from the Shinjuku train station which is quite handy if it's raining but you should also try the moving pavements in the tunnel from the station to the Government Buildings.I would not hesitate staying here again any time.
325634,iTwins,04/27/2008,Spacious and lovely park view hotel Park view - Look front
325634,TavelLite,04/01/2008,EnjoyedJapan PROS: Breakfast buffet was not bad; Free internet; Free shuttle bus to and from Shinjuku Train Station; Helpful Staffs who speak English; Near convenient store and grocery store; Restaurant in the hotel is good and efficient; Rooms are clean and spacious for Japan; Hot water kettle in room; Ice Cream and Soda vending machine prices aren't more than grocery store; HairDryer; toothbrush; comb provided.CONS:Breakfast buffet is exactly the same everyday; No shuttle bus from 11:30am-4:30pm; Washroom is very small; When room window is open; it's very noisy; 10am check out time
325634,Jeanie215,11/29/2007,Good Value; Location Hotel We were surpriesed that the rooms were spacious and clean; and the location of the hotel is good and they have shutter service to the shinjuku station which is 5mins away. The staff were very helpful. We will definitely go back to this hotel again if we visit Tokyo again. Jeanie
325634,esnam,10/24/2007,Great value our room
325634,ali1ali,10/20/2007,Good value hotel The room was clean; spacious and had everything you need. The location is good; next to the Government Buildings; a visit to which is a must for the stunning city view from the top. Considering the price; I found this to be a great value hotel.
325634,elbeeperth,10/17/2007,Great 2 weeks I am from Perth; australia and we just returned from 2 weeks at Shinjuku New City Hotel. I stayed with my 12yo and 7yo. It was brilliant. We had a triple room; which i thought was a great size; service was excellent; it was no fuss. I took my laptop and used their internet connection kit - i used the internet to stay in touch with home and to plan our next day's activities and work out the trains etc. it was great. the internet was free. there are some computers at reception for public use.There are many convenience stores in the area - say 4 within a couple of hundred metres of the hotel. You can buy nearly everything at these stores - meals included - they will heat them up for you if you need to. There are at least 2 McDonalds (i did have a 7yo boy...) within very easy walking and many; many eating places close by.The Park across the road is excellent and we spent a bit of time there too. totally safe and many; many local families used the park. The stray cats with mangled tails did catch our attention tho...Homeless people - some people have commented on this - they are absolutely no problem at all; they do not look at you; they keep to themselves and do not interact. we found them harmless and fascinating (yet sad) - they are a part of Tokyo - all over Tokyo; not just in this suburb.Coin Laundry!!!!! - we had to ask reception a couple of times - but they came through with a map and it was within 2MINUTES walking from the hotel. 24 hour coin laundry. it was great.Shuttle bus - absolutely brililant - we used it every day; we found it easy to find and always on time. We also walked to and from shinjuku station all the time - at all hours of the day. There was absolutely no question of ever feeling unsafe - remember i was with 2 kids also - the latest we walked home from 11.30 at night though - to most japanese people this isnt regarded as 'night time'.Taxis - there are taxis everywhere! They do not speak english and will need you to point to a map or have an address written in Kanji.Smoking - for a supposedly non smoking floor - no one obeys this rule. it did bother us a fair bit that we could smell the people from the next room. we foudn that most rooms around us were business people staying for 1 night.We found that the guests were mostly Japanese people - either touring in their own country; large school groups or business people. Some foreignors - but not many. Our room did not have a view - we looked out onto the next apartment building. this didnt worry us at all. The building is being renovated and the outside of the front of it has netting over it so at the moment - the views wouldnt be great.Daily cleaning - the state of the room was very clean. You are expected to be out of your room by 930 or 10am every day while the cleaners do all rooms on 1 floor. sometimes this bothered us as we could never sleep in - but then again it got us up and moving. We could have always put a Do not disturb sign up; but we just used the reason to get out for the day.the bathroom is a small 'unit' with a shower over a bath with a toilet and basin. Totally usable and great.The pillows - some people have commented on these. Ours were half and half - half western style on 1 side and if you turned it over you got the rice husk side. You could choose.The beds were wonderful and made up each day with clean sheets.Food - we didnt have breakfast included and we never ate at the restaurant so i cannot comment.I hope this has helped some people; especially those with families. I would choose this place again. It is a business hotel - meaning you dont get the gloss and glitter; just good basic services as a good price. that is what i wanted.Leisa from Perth; WA
325634,travelforsnow,10/04/2007,Good Location-Value for money Good location..close enough to Shinjuku station for an easy walk.Hotel shuttle bus available; but can be tricky to find the first time.Rooms average size for japan; and very clean.Decor a little dated.Counter service average. Would saty there again
325634,Carrieringwald,09/19/2007,Adequate; Clean Hotel We went for the super-delux room; since it had a bigger bed. It was still smallish by American standards; but the room was clean and quiet. The shower was hot with a strong water flow. The bed headboard has these 70's style controls for the lights; alarm; air conditioner; etc; but it has a particular retro charm. The staff was friendly and helpful. There's also a free hotel shuttle that will take you to the Shinjuku Station; while not important since you can walk there; it is helpful when you get ready to leave and have luggage with you. There's also internet in the lobby for 100 yen per ten minutes. There's no room service but there's a vending machine for sodas; water; beer; shaving kits and Japanese snacks near the elevators. The location is good; next to a quiet park and close to Shinjuku station; where you can catch a subway to another district. Next to the hotel is a coffee shop for those that love coffee. However; it is not open on Sunday (or if it is; it opens late). Getting there: take the Narita Express from the airport to the Shinjuku station. Take the east exit and then hail a taxi. Have the address written down and the driver will punch it in his GPS. Costs about $7-$8 to take a taxi from Shinjuku station to the hotel. You can book through expedia or travelocity; but it's cheaper to book through the hotels website.
325634,jackdripper,04/19/2007,Good value/Location view from room window
325634,daffykk,12/05/2006,I won't stay there again My friend and I stayed there for 5 nites and both of us hated it. Since we have paid for the whole stay before we got there; we did not have option to change the hotel. The rooms were very small and have some bad smell (we both are 5ft 2 girls). We booked a twin bed room and they gave us a queen size bed room due to no more rooms availble. So we had to wait until somebody check out. The staffs were not friendly at all except ony one. I don't know if because their culture; I don't think they repect women. They are pretty rude when I asked them questions compare to other Japanese people. With the room price they charged; I for sure can find better hotel. My friend said it is wose than Motel 6 in the US.
325634,Notelle,11/04/2006,Good value; great location The Shinjuku station is overwhelmingly big and crowded and it is extremely difficult to find the correct exit to catch the hotel's courtesy bus; if you are not familiar with it and are saddled with heavy suitcases on arrival. But this hotel is not far from the station by taxi - and therefore a reasonable price to pay for comfort. Taxi drivers are well aware of this hotel; they are also very honest and therefore won't take you via Mt Fuji. (They won't accept tips either!)My first impression of this hotel was mixed. I wasn't expecting such a huge chandelier in the lobby of a 2 star hotel and there was a strange; almost unpleasant; smell in the place. (But that was the only time I really noticed it).The staff at the reception desk were friendly; polite; spoke English and treated us with the usual Japanese respect. Booking in was efficient and the lifts were so appreciated. Our room was basic - neither small nor large and quite adequate for our needs. The beds were comfortable and I was pleased to note that this Japanese hotel had western type pillows. In the past I have stayed in hotels where they had pillows which appeared to be stuffed with rice husks.Everything was spotlessly clean and well maintained. Our bathroom was terrific; it included a very modern toilet with more buttons than I knew what to do with; and there was also a deep Japanese bath to relax in.There was a window; but the view was only suitable if you wanted to spend your days watching what other people were doing in their rooms across the way. (Like the lady who spent ages with a toothbrush and Jiff; cleaning the bird poo off her window sills).We did not try the breakfasts in the hotel as we bought our food at a convenience store only a few doors down the street. It was very handy and they sold almost everything. We did try the Mermaid Restaurant and enjoyed a few lovely dinners there. Part of my enjoyment of that restaurant was the fact that you could sit at a table; eat and watch people pass by (whilst smoking a cigarette after the meal - something unheard of now; in our neck of the woods.)Once we were free of toting our luggage; we took full advantage of the courtesy bus and found it to be absolutely punctual and perfect for our needs. Although we were still struggling to find the correct exit on the way out of the station; until I had the bright idea to ask the man at reception to write the name of the exit on a piece of paper in Japanese - which we then flashed in front of whoever offered to help us when we looked lost. It worked like a charm.The actual location of the hotel is excellent. So close to the Shinjuku city centre and station; near a nice park and within an easy walking distance of the Government towers (which provide as good a view as the Tokyo tower without the queues and tourist fees.)Yes; we did see several homeless people in the park near the Government buildings but they were certainly not urinating in public. They sat reading their papers; or dozing; next to their bikes and boxes and minded their own business. They did not threaten us or make us feel unsafe. One of them was actually busy washing his clothes with soap and water from the public tap. Just because someone is homeless does not automatically make them a low character!
325634,ormeaugirl,10/02/2006,overall a great experience If you don't know Shinjuku station very well; then I would suggest that on your arrival; you take a taxi to the hotel. The daily shuttle is a great service provided by the hotel; but it is tricky to find the location of the shuttle if you don't know where to look. The taxi ride costs only the basic fare of 640 Yen. The location of this hotel is really great though and only a very short walk up the road to the neon lights of Electric Street where you can find many Japanese style eateries amongst the hubbub of people out shopping for bargains. The hotel room was very good for the price and the English speaking staff were generally very helpful. Each morning; the breakfast (included in our package) was tasy and provided both western style and Japanese. My one complaint is that because we travelled with a child; we were forced to book a triple room; and despite booking and requesting a queen size bed some 5 months in advance; the hotel was unable to accomodate our request. My husband and I spent the whole week in rather hard single beds with possibly the hardest; most uncomfortable pillows in the world! Overall though; we had a great stay and would definitely recommend the Shinjuku New City Hotel; just on location alone.
325634,japan01,07/08/2006,Bad; unwelcoming; poor service; tiny room I wouldn't recommend this hotel to my worse enemies DOG. I can honestly say that this Hotel has NOTHING going for it. It's location is a 15min stroll from Shinjuku station but dont be surprised if you see homeless people urinating on the walkways. The area is really run down and is home to many homeless people. Although the hotel (I dont think it can be called a hotel) has a shuttle bus; it only runs from 7:30am - 12pm and 4pm - 10pm. Not to mention the size is not big enough to fit the HUGE amount of guests staying at the hotel. I have also never experienced a hotel that requires FULL payment on arrival. The hotel asked for the full amount prior to even seeing the hotel room which I thought was dodgy and questioned but they insisted it was hotel policy. I now know why they ask for the $$$ on arrival. The rooms are tiny and we were given a King size SINGLE (non exagerration) for the two of us to sleep on. We told the hotel that we had booked a Double room and they said that it was their Double room. If you are considering booking this hotel due to it's relative cheap price; I would recommend you check the room before handing over the $$$. We were going to change hotels until we realised it was an 80% cancellation fee. Dont expect to be spoken to in English. Have your dictionaries and thinking caps on when trying to communicate. However; the Hotel must be commended on its excellent cleanliness which was flawless.
325634,ATripAdvisorMember,05/02/2006,70s style in shinjuku This hotel is a great find. The lobby's 70s style chandeliers are probably its most distinguished decorative feature; but the rooms are clean; pleasant and fairly spacious and the windows open; which does not appear to be a given in Japan. The staff are friendly and although you need to know the timetable to get much use out of the shuttle bus it's a short walk to Shinjuku station through a small park and past the iconic Municipal Government Towers.There are intruiging refreshment options in the vending machines on each floor but the hotel's one downside is its overpriced restaurant. Whilst are plenty of other lunch and dinner options in the immediate area; you may find yourself stuck for breakfast. If you are too hungry to walk to the station there's a convenience store a couple of minutes away (go out of the hotel and turn right). A minute further is the Park Hyatt Hotel where you can spend the money you saved on accommodation in the New York Grill.
325634,Mir222,03/17/2006,Great Location; Great Price Great location - one block from the Government Towers and 15mins walk to Shinjuku station. The surrounding area is safe and quiet. Our triple room was clean and spacious. Hotel staff were friendly and helpful. This is a great place to stay in Shinjuku.
325634,houndtang,01/14/2006,Good hotel Shinjuku New City is a decent hotel; the rooms are small (no cupboard) but well-equipped with toothbrush; pyjamas if you need them; etc. There is coin operated internet access in the lobby and a passable if bland restaurant. They can post your cards or letters for you which is handy and there is a shuttle bus to and from Shinjuku station which is very useful.
325634,fishgod1010,09/26/2005,Great Value We (3 adults) just got back from our stay here and overall; it was a good experience - with a couple of catches. First; mid-Sept proved to be quite hot in Tokyo with the usual high humidity. The hotel air conditioning was working; but not that strong. When the weather cooled down; the hotel was much more enjoyable. Second; the location is great (quiet and a bit residential feeling) and a bit of a walk to Shinjuku Station (15 minutes or so). The free shuttle is convenient and used frequently by hotel guests. Regarding the room; I somehow neglected to take any photos of it; but it was exactly as pictured on their webpage. We reserved the triple room and we were not disappointed. The staff was extremely helpful and even ordered a Domino's Pizza for us during the only break we took away from the great Japanese food of Tokyo. Only on the last day did we actually explore the immediate area around the hotel and we all felt that we should have not defaulted to getting to Shinjuku Station so early each morning and instead; tried to discover the nuisances around our hotel. The overwhelming-ness of Shinjuku Station is legendary and it also did not disappoint so; the New City Hotel's area is a nice break. We ate at the hotel breakfast buffet (about $17 USD p/p) and it was okay. Half Japanese food and half American/Western food. The hotel primarily caters towards Japanese guests (about 99 percent - I would estimate) and that actually added to the ambiance. This is not a Marriott nor did I want it to be. The rooms are cleaned each morning at about 10am via an orchestrated army of personnel wherein the entire floor of rooms have the doors opened and the service commences. It is actually quite a site to behold; so I think if you are hoping for a late checkout I just do not see how it would be possible. The 100 yen / 10 minute internet computer in the lobby was handy and generally available (as there are 4 or 5 terminal; I think). Would I stay here again? Yes. I would probably choose another district - just for a change of scenery; but the hotel was a great value for the location and it's proximity.
325634,Bob73,06/07/2005,Review Of The New City Hotel; Shinjuku. By Tokyo standards this hotel was very cheap. I booked on-line via their own dedicated website and got my single room for about 拢43 per night. This was in December 2004. As I recall the double/twin was only about 拢65; again; very cheap for Tokyo. We had originally tried to book the Shinjuku Washington but it's ancient website had a bug which wouldn't allow us to complete the booking and when my Japanese friend called to make a reservation they wouldn't honour theInternet Special price; despite the fact the website wasn't working!Having stayed in Tokyo on two previous ocassions the size of the room was a pleasent surprise. Obviously it was a good bit smaller than we're used to in the West but it was by no means as small as the rabbit hutches I'd stayed in previously. Enough room for a table and chairs though wardrobe space was limited.The room was superclean and well equipped although a bit tired looking. Staff were OK though we didn't really have much need to call on their help at any point. Those we did speak to spoke good English.there are two internet terminals located in the lobby.Where the New City comes into it's own though is in location. It's about a ten minute walk down a straight road from the heart of Shinjuku which to my mind is the perfect Tokyo location in terms of convenience for the rest of the city and also because there's so much for you to do right on your doorstep.If you can't be bothered with the ten minute walk there's a free mini bus which leaves every half hour and takes you to Shinjuku Station in 5 minutes. Right next to the New City is a very nice park and also the Park Hyatt Hotel which is where the Narita Shuttle will drop you off and pick you up. The Park Hyatt is also well worth a visit for the bars and restaurants on the upper floors. The views of neon lit Shinjuku at night and Mount Fuji during the day are amazing. They do an Evening Tea deal which is about 拢20 a head for complimentary food and drink for two hours anytime between 5 and 9pm.All in all I would say that the New City represents fantastic value for money and is in a location which to my mind couldn't be bettered.
325634,ATripAdvisorMember,02/02/2005,great value for tokyo.... prime location! what a great deal for tokyo! rooms are considerably cheaper than anywhere else in the shinjuku area. sure; the rooms are kind of small; but i don't need a huge room. the front desk staff is very helpful and they even have a FREE shuttle bus from shinjuku station. GREAT place!
325634,Toniton,12/07/2008,Hotel correcto en el area de negocios Vista de la habitaci贸n
325634,lass,10/04/2007,Bonne situation showReview(11662082; 'full');
325790,sjwolf64,11/10/2008,Dirty Room; Scary; Rude Help See thru shades window unit.
325790,Machinecog,09/14/2008,Tepid Charm My wife and I stayed in one of the townhouses. We stayed for a long weekend. The hotel and townhomes are on an N. Rampart street- an extremely busy thoroughfare of a street. While the townhomes were quaint and charming; those qualities were offset by the busy; noisy street in which they reside. Accompanying vehicle traffic was foot traffic. Though we did not encounter any problems; my wife and I felt less than comfortable walking our dogs day and night on and around this street. Louis Armstrong Park was closed so we resorted to walking our dogs on Rampart Street鈥檚 grassy median鈥ess than ideal but it served our purpose.The townhome courtyards and vehicle parking are cordoned off from the street by security gates and are very appropriate and useful for this urban environment. I encountered three staff members and none of them really impressed me. I received the student job/I鈥檓 only doing this until my band/my art/my writing makes it vibe. My wife and I did not like the unit we reserved (its only door opened up to the street) and requested a transfer to a quieter townhome which the staff accommodated last minute although hardly graciously. This hotel serves its purpose but don鈥檛 expect too much. The French quarter is across the street and Bourbon is three or four blocks away so it is close to 鈥渢he middle of it鈥? It is merely a place to stay for pet owners and park your car for a reasonable price in close proximity to the French quarter. If the antiquity; charm; and character experience are what you are looking for in a hotel; a unit in the quarter will likely be the better option.
325790,zephyrwisconsin,09/08/2008,VERY Unsanitary Upon check in there was hair in the bed; hair on the floor in the bathroom; stained sheets AND towels; dingy thin towels; arrogant and unhelpful staff; inoperable lamps and ceiling fans; wifi that doesn't work . It shouldn't take 20 minutes to check into any hotel/motel. The hotel; more like a motel or motor inn is so run down. The carpet was in bad shape. It's a flea bag motel disguising itself as upscale. When I stay in a hotel there are certain things I expect are a given...not here. I would never stgay here nor suggest it to my worst enemy...
325790,motherthesequel,07/08/2008,Very Comfortable Our stay at the Suites were very comfortable. We stayed there for Essence Fest 2008 and was amazed. When we booked our stay there; we were a little weary because of past reviews. I am here to say that all negative reviews must come from negative people. We stayed at the annex and it was very clean; service was excellent; staff was very friendly and we really enjoyed our stary. I would definetely stay there again.
325790,Shortie153,05/20/2008,Great Experience I just got back from a lovely long weekend in New Orleans and can't say enough about the French Quarter Suites Hotel. A group of seven of us went down to NOLA for a friend's 30th birthday and I was in charge of making the hotel arrangements. I looked at many hotels but had difficulty finding one that could acommodate our large group without splitting us up into several rooms. Many of us had not seen each other in years and wanted to spend as much time together as possible. I am so happy that I stumbled upon this hotel on Trip Advisor! The staff at the hotel was responsive; polite and downright generous. I had initally booked two; two-room suites but after talking to the management switched to the three bedroom executive suite in the annex. With five beds; a comfortable couch and a rollaway bed; we were able to comfortably fit our whole group in one suite. And what a suite it was! If you're looking for luxury acommodations this isn't it - but everything was clean; in working order; spacious and nice. We particularly enjoyed the balcony and courtyard which provided ample space to lounge and visit; in addition to the nicely appointed living room. I have absolutely no complaints about the room or the service.As others have pointed out in their reviews; the neighborhood around the hotel is not exactly posh; but was in easy walking distance to everything we wanted to see in New Orleans and allowed us to come and go throughout the day. The weather was hot and sticky; so coming back during the day to cool off before going out at night was essential. Most importantly though; as a woman; I never felt unsafe walking down North Rampart Street but taking normal precautions (ie: not walking alone at night) is still a good idea; as it would be in any city.Overall; I can't rave enough about my group's experience at the French Quarter Suites. We absolutely got a great value for our money and would certainly come back to the hotel again in the future (especially to visit the cutest dog who lives in the rental office and loves to greet guests). Thanks to the management for making my friend's birthday wonderful and this gathering of friends possible.
325790,Banjosmom,05/03/2008,Friendly and Accomodating I really liked this homey hotel only blocks away from the noise and traffic of the main French Quarter. My friend and I were just coming off of a week sleeping in bunk beds and standing in line for showers at Camp Hope (Habitat for Humanity headquarters) so the spacious suite was a great luxury. The big comfy sofa prompted both of us to take a nap on our first afternoon in New Orleans. We had a great experience in our dealings with both the owner Blake Miller and employee John White. A perfect example is when we needed to get our airline boarding passes and they happily looked them up for us. Also; the hotel is dog friendly but we only saw and heard one dog in the hotel and apparently there were actually 6 staying there during our visit. We also got to meet John and Blake's dogs who were hanging out in the office...Great stay in New Orleans; and we would highly recommended this location. Next time I would like to try their townhouse units...
325790,RobNJ,04/30/2008,A Great Jazzfest Experience! My wife and I and another couple had a great stay at the French Quarter Suites for this Jazzfest. After years of spending the week cramped in larger hotels with smaller rooms; it was a true pleasure to have such a spacious and comfortable living area in which to relax after the show. Our suite had two large beds; a living room area with chairs and a sofa; a kitchen; bathroom and porch -- and we enjoyed all of it.The staff and management were accommodating and extremely friendly. And the hotel even threw a Saturday-night crawfish boil for guests. Completely unexpected; and definitely appreciated.Honestly; this kind of friendly; personal service can't be beat. I'd stay there again in a heartbeat.
325790,nascarguy2,04/15/2008,Easter in NOLA Easter in New Orleans was great. The French Quarter Suites Hotel was really a great discovery. Location is excellent; just 3 blocks from Bourbon St. The room was very spacious with everything you would need like a sitting area with sofabed; kitchen area with dining table; seperate sleeping room and bathroom. I had an accident the first night - I tripped and fell and cut up my face somewhat. They seemed very concerned and made sure I was ok. That is what hospitality is all about. Thanks and I will be back soon!!
325790,DaveMon,04/14/2008,Not somewhere I would recommend We stayed here as a group of 6. The hotel is only a few blocks from the French Quarter...but the area is a place where you do not want to walk alone at night. We stayed in one of the town homes which was supposed to have 3 br + bath. The bedrooms were not rooms...there were no doors; nor any privacy from other roomates. Beds were laid out across open spaces that are connected with no dividers. You literally had to squeeze your way around other beds (if someone was sleeping you would definitely wake them). A majority of the staff was very unfriendly. Upon checkin; one male individual was extremely nice...the other was acting as if we were interupting something important that consumed him at his pc...he vaguely helped or answered our questions. Another time I went to use the wirless connection for my laptop (our room was not in range; you had to literally walk down 100ft to the main office)...I asked the female attendant (who was intentally reading a novel) if I could please get a couple more rolls of toilet paper. She stated that she didn't think she had any ...but would check or call the maintanence staff to get some. I said ok...I would be back after a few minutes working on my laptop.When I came back after 15 minutes she was still reading her novel. I asked her for the tp and she hadn't even looked...she then proceeded to go into a closet and said she didn't have any and she would call someone to get me some. An hour later someone arrived. Very; very lackadasical staff.The pictures online are very misleading. Plus; they do not detail information about the rooms.
325790,Tink69,04/11/2008,Would definitely stay there again!!! Exterior
325790,fletchernc,04/05/2008,Great Place in the French Quarter We enjoyed our stay here. Our Lucy; a 60 pound lab mix; was welcomed here. The daytime clerk even had a dog in the lobby. It was nice to have a seperate living room; kitchen; and bedroom. There is an elevator; and we took advantage of the locked; gated parking area under the hotel. There was a clean pool; and far enough away from the party streets; that we got a good nights sleep. Just a block and a half away there is also an off leash dog park that our Lucy enjoyed playing with some of the local dogs. We were able to walk everywhere in the french quarter both days we were there. We highly recommend this hotel. The staff was very nice. We have stayed at BB's in the french quarter before; but this was by far the nicest. It's an older place; but that just lends to the charm.
325790,babylil,03/29/2008,Great Place This place was great. We enjoyed our stay. It was close enough to the French Quarter to walk to everything. It had a quiet and relaxing atmosphere. The staff was super friendly and helpful.I will stay there again.
325790,mrcoffee46200,03/27/2008,Great Find! Very nice hotel. It is an older place; but it is very well tended to. Out of the party zone of the quarter; but just a few blocks out when you want to get there. Very secure with onsite parking for a nominal fee. Perfect for the family! We will definitely stay there again.
325790,dhodges103,02/25/2008,New Orleans B We are frequent travelers to New Orleans; and needed to bring the dogs this time. Although we were concerned about the location of the hotel; as we don't usually stay on that side of the Quarter; we found our concerns to be unfounded. The residential areas on the Quarter side of the hotel were beautiful and quiet places to walk the dogs; and the three blocks off Bourbon were just a pleasant walk. We had some initial concerns about our room; and the manager Blake quickly acted to do everything possible to make us happy - and he did!! The room was beautiful and had all the flavor of New Orleans. Like most of the old BB's in New Orleans; there are some things that aren't what we are used to in our own homes - but that is part of the charm of New Orleans' BBs; the combination of old and new. There was safe; covered parking at the main hotel; and a secured gated parking lot next to the annex. The prices were reasonable and they didn't gouge you with none refundable pet fees. We will definitely stay at this hotel again!
325790,Dustoid,02/10/2008,Loved It! Front room
325790,wyobuckeye,01/10/2008,Nice place I was impressed with the French Quater Suites. The suites were confortable and tidy and the staff was superfriendly. The heart of the French Quarter is a mere few blocks away; so the location is great. The suite we stayed in was beautiful with high ceilings; antique furniture; and comfortable beds/couches. I think the bathroom could have used a little work at what was probably flood damage from Katrina (the grout between the tiles on the floor looked dirty); but that is getty pretty nit-picky. The secure parking is a big plus. One thing that was a minor issue is that North Rampart is a busy street. If street noise bothers you; stay away from the rooms that are directly adjacent to the street.
325790,Christine75,12/13/2007,Highly Recommend this hotel to everyone! We stayed there for 3 nights and was extremely satisfied. It was right on the edge of the French Quarters. Our room had a nice size living room with a sofa bed; full kitchen; nice bathroom and seperate bedroom. The bedroom had a safe to keep your valuables. The breakfast wasn't the best; just the basics: doughnuts; juice; cereal; milk; coffee and cocoa. The price for the room was fairly cheap. We had to pay for the parking which was expected in the French Quarters. Which overall was around $110 per night. We must have went at the right time. When we stepped outside of our door; there was an awesome view of the courtyard. One night when we were there; we watched a movie being filmed right in front of the hotel. Which the 4 of us sat there and watched them filming. The main actress talked to my daughter and asked if she would hold her robe for her. My 12 year daughter was thrilled. Then the crew asked us if we wanted a soda or water; and of course the kids couldn't resist. Just becareful when walking the streets; there were alot of homeless people trying to bum money and cigerettes.
325790,AZFrequentTraveler,11/02/2007,Never going back We had been here in Oct 2006 and the only room we thought acceptable was the servants cottage at the end of the garage. We liked this place mainly because of the secure garage on the premises with a gate considering New Orleans very high crime rate; This year; we reserved the same room/cottage and called again in the afternoon to reconfirm our reservation as we would be arriving late. When we got there; the room was occupied and we were offered another room on the second floor with no apology. When we refused that room and started to make waves; they offered us the executive suite. As it was very late; we decided to spend the night. The suite is quite large but is dark and not attractive and looks run down. The door to the room would not stay shut unless bolted. When I sat on the couch; I thought I would hit the floor so soft it was. Two lightbulbs were burned in the bedroom ans the living area. Both TV remotes (room and L.R.) did not work. Internet did not reach the room and would only work in the office. We also heard stange noises during the night but I thought more about rodents than ghosts ! No offer was made to reduce the price despite our numerous complaints. The breakfast is not great for a city like New Orleans. Better head for World famous Cafe du Monde. Next time we'll definitely look to stay elsewhere.
325790,RosiePosie83,10/15/2007,Yucky and really not part of the French Quarter We 6 girls stayed here for a bachelorrette party and it is in a bad neighborhood that isn't really a part of the French Quarter but rather a few blocks down. The room itself was pretty disgusting; we had a two story town house with three bedrooms and the girls were scared to sit on the couch. They said the smell was horrible when they got there and there was a door that was locked and when you looked under it you could see another room where a skylight was apparently leaking and the room was now full of mold. So the whole weekend we all got sick and were congested when we got home. I really am not too picky and I am not exaggerating. The city is still recovering but I do think there must be better places than this. If it had just been me and my boyfriend; I would have left for sure! It is just not a nice place and it is out of the way. The Le Richelieu looked pretty nice when we walked by and it was near or was probably in the French Quarter.
325790,antonnpost,09/01/2007,Haunted Don't stay in room 213!!!!!! It was haunted; I couldn't even sleep. But we were staying one night so we didn't complain. There were noises everywhere in our room - sounds of dresser drawers being open and shut; scratching on the floor; sound of someone walking around; something that sounded like digging through something - i thought some big animal was going through my suitcase. Not to mention both my sister and I heard something fall off the end of our beds (I thought it was my notebook that was on my bed and I looked and it was still there); I felt something touching my foot while I was laying in bed; and we also heard someone walking around the room. SO - don't stay there in 213! I had to get drunk in order to sleep in that room (so I'd just pass out and not hear/ feel anything).
325790,Alex3333,08/24/2007,STAY AWAY unles you like filth and roaches. Where white socks and walk around the rooms for about 10 minutes; you will pack your bags ASAP. Caught two roaches and took them down to the desk with my socks and told her this was unacceptable. Instead of giving us a full refund; they charged us for 1 days stay after our 90 minutes stay. Try the Hotel Monaco or places in the warehouse district and leave this slum to others.Alex
325790,putterb,01/09/2007,A great place with a wonderful staff A good friend of ours was on leave from Iraq and we all decided to go to New Orleans for Halloween. We booked two rooms for 3 couples at the French Quarter Suites Hotel. My girlfriend and I arrived several hours before everyone else and the gentleman working at the hotel offered to watch our luggage; for no additional fee so we could wander around the French Quarter. We had a good time but got tired quickly (late night before; early flight) and went back to the hotel. The person working the desk took our card to hold for our room till my buddy got in(he booked the rooms under his card and was paying for everyones rooms; early Christmas present I guess). After we checked in we walked into our room and our jaws dropped. We had a one bedroom suite; which has a full kitchen; a living room. It was awesome for what we wanted. The furnature was all very comfortable; and all the remotes worked (rare at hotels these days). The building felt VERY secure; and the pool was extremely clean; and you didn't get that over chlorine smell that you get from some hotel pools. The staff suggested many great places to eat; as well as fun things to check out. Also they arranged for three taxis to be out front to pick us up when we checked out (all our flights were at different times heading to different locations) with no hassles at all. We had a great trip down there. A few days later we checked our credit card balance and saw that we were charged for the rooms; in one quick phone call they took care of everything for us; as well as apologized several times for the mix up. We were so happy with this hotel and the service we got while we stayed there that we are booking another trip with them this April for Jazzfest; this time though were going to check out one of their townhouses.
325790,AllOverTraveler,12/14/2006,Great Value...Wonderful Stay Fellow travelers; I am a former native New Orleanian who tries to get back to New Orleans often. I am glad to have found French Quarter Suites Hotel. For me; it is like living in a French Quarter apartment combined with a hotel. I have stayed here several times; and have found all suites to be large; with living room; dining area; kitchen; large bedrooms and full bath. it feels a lot more homey. It is close to everything in the FrenchQuarter; on a main street easily accessed by car; unlike the traffic of the inner French Quarter. It has ample secured parking; which is unusual in this historic part of town. For a small hotel; the staff work exceedingly hard to meet all your needs just like their larger competitors. The pool area is lovely; and the on-site laundry is great if you are planning an extended stay. There is a breakfast room with free breakfast every morning with complimentary newspaper. During the day I can walk or take an inexpensive cab anywhere in the downtown N.O. area; as well as a short walk to French Quarter restaurants; coffee shops; entertainment; bars; stores and historical sites.
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,07/10/2006,This place is a rip off and the owner is nasty! My experience is much like the one above. My sister had originally reserved a room for her; her boyfriend and his daughter for $79. Supposidly it was a coupon rate but it was posted that price on the web too b/c I looked. Anyhow; me and my daughter decided to go so my sister called back and they told her they could give her a 2 bedroom w/ 2 full size beds for $99. Great! We were excited. When we got there they told us that the people who were staying in our reserved room decided to stay over again and all they had was a 1 bedroom w/ 2 full size beds in the same room or a 2 bedroom with one full size bed and 1 king. Well; we had 3 adults and we didn't want to all sleep in the same room. Besides; we originally had a 2 bedroom reserved for $99. Well; when my sister went to pay the bill; they charged us $20 more a night. What! I was like; why did you pay that??? It was not our fault that they did not have the room available for what we reserved?!? I called back and asked for a manager. The man said he could help me. I told him our whole story and about how I did not agree that we had to pay more for an upgrad b/c they did not have our room available. He preceeded to tell me that we came in at a discount rate and that the room we stayed in was regular $250 (whatever; the website says $129) and all in all basically that he didn't care; he was the owner; we got a good rate; he didn't care what we thought and he would credit us back $40 and hung up on me. My sister was a repeat customer. Not anymore. Don't stay here. They are hateful; greedy; and liars!
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,08/30/2005,Who spends all their time in their room on vacation anyway? We wanted to stay within walking distance of Bourbon Street; didn't want to rent a car; etc. We wanted to keep the trip reasonable but fun... didn't want any problems. After we booked I read some reviews on this site and I became weary (because of location; etc) I'm from Chicago so I figured things would be fine and they were. This place is within walking distance of the french quarter; a nice walk... wear good shoes if you don't plan on renting a car. We took the Airport Shuttle to and from the airport.We stayed in a 2 bedroom suite and the price was great compared to the price to stay in the middle of the french quarter... not to mention all the noise at night around Bourbon Street. I felt safe walking back and forth (even at night) you just have to be careful and use common sense - don't carry a big purse; keep your money; etc. secure. You can always take a cab back to your hotel at night if you feel unsafe walking but I didn't see a problem walking day or night. The St. Louis cemetery and Armstrong Park are nearby (and free) My opinion is... your hotel is a place to sleep; the rooms were clean - we had no problem. I don't spend my vacations in my hotel room; the majority is spent outside the room so if your looking for something reasonable; this is the place. I rate this place average (compared to other places to stay in NO; it's not the Ritz Carlton so if your expectations are high... look to stay on Bourbon or right in the middle of the French Quarter just remember it's pretty loud at night)
325790,kmhamilton,08/23/2005,Great place We stayed here for five nights in late July 2005. We were extremely pleased with the cleanliness of the suite - one bedroom with double beds; full kitchen; large living room and full bath. Just outside on the large balcony were tables and chairs. Great place for groups to meet; eat and chat. Free use of washer/dryer. Within easy walking distance to all the fun in the French Quarter; but far enough away for quite relaxation. Pool extremely clean. Fantastic Staff - We did not meet a single rude person working at this hotel. Parking is a little cramped but they do their best to please everyone.
325790,jmoreno76,08/09/2005,Get It In Writing I was planning a trip to NOLA with some friends of mine; after hearing great reviews of this place I decided to give it a shot. I called the first time and spoke to the owner; when I asked what the hotel cost for the times I was going he had quoted me a rate much higher that what was advertised on the website. I played along with it and asked for several rates for different room categories and each one was significantly higher. Finally I mentioned it and asked why he was charging me more; it is low season because no conventions or events were happening and he said this is what was posted on the web too. When I pointed out that it wasnt he apologized and offered me what was on the rate. I made the reservation and asked for a fax. One week later looking around I noticed that on Fri and Sat the rates are higher than Sun; and it should drop. I called back and got someone who's name I forgot; he was very nasty pointing out that I called during check out time; and he couldnt talk to me. To call back on be put on hold. I told him I call back. When I did; I got the owner again. I told him that the rate for Sunday should have been lower than Fri and Sat and he agreed and cut off 50bucks. I was excited and asked for a fax; after days went by and no fax. I called again; the owner wasnt in but got someone else; who gave me a higher rate than what the owner gave me with no lower sunday rate. I was apalled and asked that the owner call me back. When he finally did; he said he never quoted me such rates. And it was back to square one. I was so upset that they never got the rates fixed and played around chargin what ever they pleased. I asked my reservation to be cancelled and they told me they had to charge me a processing fee. For what?? To rip up the index card my reservation was on. This place is such a joke; if it got to this point just being on the phone with them I didnt want to think what it would be once I checked in... I booked me and my guest at Faubourg Guest Suites much lower rate and the owner was so sweet. Ask for the rate in writing if you decide to stay at the French Quarter Suites.
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,07/25/2005,Friendliest Staff in New Orleans My sister and I were in New Orleans for eight days in July and stayed at this hotel. While the hotel is not a 5-star in looks; the staff made us feel as if we were staying at one. The concierge; Velda; the best resource in the City of New Orleans; was very personable; outgoing and willing to assist with whatever we asked. We stayed in a one-bedroom double with a living room and kitchenette area. There was plenty of room for us to spread out and not get in each other's way; the beds were very comfortable and the room was clean when we arrived. We took advantage of the pool and the continental breakfast offered. We were in walking distance of the French Quarter and we also utilized the buses which stopped 1/2 a block from the hotel and ran frequently during the weekday. It was a wonderful experience and we are planning to return to New Orleans later this year would stay here again. The only thing that we would change would be to add Hi-speed Internet connections in the room. Great job Velda and Peter!!!
325790,sterlingsilver,06/29/2005,Re: French Quarter Suites I agree with the previous post; this is by no means a 5 star hotel. We just got back from a 3 night stay. First the good. The staff here is extremely nice; and very helpful. They will go out of their way to make sure that you have a nice stay at their hotel. I give them an A+. Another feature that we enjoyed was the pool area; since we were there in the dead of summer it was nice to have a place to cool off. The building is also pretty secure. There are only two ways to enter; either through the lobby (that always has somebody in it) or through the gated parking area that you have to have a key to enter. If you plan on going out during the day to explore and coming back to the hotel before it gets late; then this is the place for you. It's a short walk to everything and the rates are very reasonable. We stayed in a 2 bedroom 1 bath unit w/ a living room and a small area w/ a mini-frig and microwave. There is also a balcony that runs all the way around both floors. The rooms were clean and spacious; but the furnishings were a bit outdated. Also; some of the lamps were not in working order. As other people have already mentioned. the hotel is located right on the outer fringe of the French Quarter in a high crime area. If you plan on going out at nights I strongly suggest that you either find someplace more towards the center of the FQ; travel in large groups; or that you take a taxi back to the hotel. On our last night there my husband and I were walking down Urseline only a block and a half from the hotel and we were assulted by two young men who robbed me of my purse. It was a frightening experience; but it could have been much worse! We plan on coming back to NO sometime in the future; but we definitely won't stay at this hotel again because of the location.
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,06/12/2005,Just an average and OK hotel in a not to good of an area Well; I have stayed at the French Quarter Suites Hotel when visiting New Orleans earlier this year.Checking out the reviews on this site I must admit that I am a little surprised about the hotels high 5-star rating.Having stayed at this and other hotels throughout the country; I like to state in my opiniated review; and in fair comparisons to any other hotels I have visited in the past; that this hotel does not meet any compatible 5-star hotel standards; and nor does it even come close to any fair other first-class hotel ratings.I do not like to be taken wrong; especially as this hotel is in overall review OK; and deserves a moderate average rating. However; it is fair to state that the hotel has some problems it has to deal with; and that the location; because of the nearby crime area; is being one of the biggest ones.There is no doubt that the hotel; being located on the far N.E. side of the French Quarter; is just a few blocks away from the dangerous; high crime rate bothered East New Orleans neighbourhood; and that especially tourists; as told by local police forces; are being warned of potential night street crimes nearby the hotel when walking home; running the potential risks of being mugged (police words; not mine!).As stated already; the hotel itself is OK; but it certainly does not offer any services and standards of hotels that justify a hotel rating within the 3*star to 5*star brackets.Again; the rooms are of average size and well furnished; but need a little renovation. The hotel services and the staff itself can be considered as average to good; but do not come close to any first-class hotel standards.In conclusion of this review; I honestly have to state that I will stay at another hotel during my next visit to New Orleans; especially as I expect to see a better value in return for my Dollars spend for hotel overnights in New Orleans. Knowing now; there are many nice hotels in the central New Orleans area that are located much better and offer many more services at a much better price per room night!I am sorry; but I can only rate this hotel as a 2-star in this review (i.e. Okay; but some problems - on this site)!
325790,hillb,06/02/2005,What a wonderful place!!! After having reservation problems with the French Quarter Courtyard next door; we walked over to the French Quarter Suites. Luckily they had an extra room during Memorial weekend. The deskperson; Velda was very sympathetic to our problem. She provided excellent Customer Service while we were checking out the rooms. She wouldn't even let us book a room without looking at it. We ended up with a wonderful room. It was very clean and the bed was very comfortable. One night we spent in the room and watched cable TV. Our room was #102 and on the street. You can barely hear the traffic though. The swimming pool is also nice and clean. They always had extra towels at the entry gate of the pool. The served a small continental breakfast (coffee; muffins; pastries; and juice) gratis. Velda recommended a few restaurants (Mike Anderson; Petunia's; and Meuxbar) that locals like. On our last day; it rained. My husband and I decided to go to the cemetaries. Believe it or not; they offerred an umbrella to borrow. Talk about service!!! Last of all; there seemed to be a small mix up with the pick up van. She called the company and stayed on the phone with them until everything was fixed. Unbelieveable. Though the walk wasn't as close as we expected to Bourbon; it was doable and worth it. By the way; she told us which street to turn down for a safer walk.
325790,helicopter,05/17/2005,Excellent Choice I can only echo what everyone else has said about the French Quarter Suites. We chose it because of the recommendations here.It is close enough to the action to walk to Bourbon St but far enough away to be quiet at night.Four of us from the UK shared a two bedroom suite for a week which was comfortable and a great rate. It was properly cleaned and fresh towels were provided every day.A complimentary breakfast was provided and although officially it ended at 10 am there were usually free pastries or muffins and strong coffee around much later for those who had been clubbing until the small hours.It has a nice suntrap swimming pool.We drove in from Memphis to be greeted by the lovely Velda who could not have been more helpful with recommendations for restaurants ; clubs and tours. She provided mugs ; tea bags and milk so we could have a cup of tea after our seven hours drive.We were also given help and advice by Blake ; the owner ; and being British; we just loved his two spaniels. This is a pet and people friendly hotel.The area was no more unsafe than any other part of New Orleans and we did notice regular police patrols along North Rampart . The hotel itself was very secure.We walked back a couple of times from Donnas ( a great Jazz Club) about three blocks down and never felt threatened; in fact I had more aggravation along the riverfront.We all loved the hotel and we look forward to returning to New Orleans soon
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,05/16/2005,A Great Choice Just got back from 3 nights at the FQS and can confirm any of the positive reviews listed here. The location is just far enough from the action in the Quarter that noise and traffic isn't an issue; but close enough that you can walk anywhere in a few minutes (restaurants and music clubs start just down the street). Our group never felt threatened or unsafe when walking in the area; even at night or alone (but did not dare a combination of the two; of course). The staff was extremely friendly and helpful; making great recommendations of places to go. We stayed in a 2-bedroom suite in the main building and the room was clean and nicely appointed and well-attended to by the housekeeping staff during our stay. The room faced North Rampart but we barely heard any street noise. If I've any complaints at all it would be about the half-broken showerhead; but a very minor incovenience that may not affect other rooms than ours. I plan to return and stay there again.
325790,Garcias,04/01/2005,Home Away From Home We just returned from a three day visit to New Orleans. It was purely by chance that we stayed at French Quarter Suites; and we were pleasantly surprised by what we found. The staff at the hotel was very nice and helpful; especially Scott White. His recommendations were excellent. We will definately stay there again!!
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,03/06/2005,Practically a steal I just got back from spending my spring break in New Orleans and stayed here at the french quarter suites. It was myself and 7 of my friends from school and we have nothing but praise for this place. The people at the front desk are some of the nicest people that are more than willing to do anything to help you w/ any of your needs. As far as the location; it is fine. I never once felt threatened or scared on my way into the french quarter. The rooms are very nice and i felt kept noice very well. W/ there being 8 guys Im sure we were loud a few times but never had any real complaints so that was nice. All of us loved the place and plan on staying there again next year. I am already in the plans for making arrangments for next year; great place and can not be beat for the price; practically a steal. Thanks again for everything
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,02/18/2005,Nice Hotel I was a little aprehensive when I saw the reviews concerning the hotel being in a bad neighborhood; but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I asked the lady at the front desk if she had a suggested route for going to/from Bourbon Street (especially at night). The lady was very helpful and even gave us a map showing us what route to take. We had a short; safe walk to/from the heart of the quarter every night. The rooms were nice and clean; but not overly fancy. I would stay there again and I would recommend this hotel.
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,02/13/2005,nice hotel; great price Stayed here for Jazz fest in 2003. The rrom we had booked was being repaired; so we were upgraded to the one room mini suite. Bedroom with a separate kitchen and living room. The staff was great; and the the place was kept clean. As this is a pet friendly hotel; you need to expect that there is some pet odor that will stay with the place no matter howm uch cleaning they do; so it has a bit of that pet smell to it; but nothing overwhelming. The pool is small; but a nice place to cool off if it is hot out. For Jazz fest; this place is great; as the bus to the festival runs right past the hotel. This is on the edge of the Quarter; and Rampart isn't the safest street in the world; but it is no worse than any other street in New Orleans. Just be careful and don't act like a rich drunken tourist wanting to get mugged and you should have no problems. The Annex next door is nice as well (same owners). There were a few parties thrown at the annex's pool; with Dj's and speaker sets; loud enough to hear in our room; but that didnt bother us since it was Jazz fest and we werent doing a whole lot of sleeping anyway. Several families were there with us. Everyone seemed pleased. Locked covered parking (free) is a huge plus as well.
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,01/12/2005,Safe and Super Clean Hotel My mom; sisters and I had a lovely stay at the French Qyater Suites Hotel in April of 2004. We felt very safe...as far as that goes we felt safe everywhere we went. The rooms were very clean. One afternoon we just sat on the side of the pool and dipped our feet for a while. The office manager Velda is a jem!!!! She gave us directions and great eating advice. We are planning another trip in the fall and plan on staying again.
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,12/15/2004,Loved the Suites! My familyand I stayed at this hotel in December; 2004. We loved the place! The location is convenient and the rooms are clean and well-appointed. I can't say enough about the staff; they are extremely welcoming and helpful. We can't wait to stay there again!
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,09/30/2004,Highly Recommend!! Loved The Suites!! showReview(2610459; 'full');
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,09/22/2004,Fantastic. showReview(2591894; 'full');
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,07/29/2004,Wonderful find showReview(2329695; 'full');
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,06/30/2004,Wonderful staff; comfortable hotel showReview(2230310; 'full');
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,04/20/2004,Great Suites-Pet Friendly showReview(1794771; 'full');
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,03/25/2004,The Best Hotel Room In Louisiana showReview(1746087; 'full');
325790,jakost1,02/18/2004,We loved it!! showReview(1659823; 'full');
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,01/12/2004,Excellent choice in New Orleans!! showReview(1547251; 'full');
325790,ATripAdvisorMember,12/30/2003,A great hotel and not in a dangerous neighborhood! showReview(1533456; 'full');
325790,Audnorge,08/25/2003,OK hotel in Dangerous Neighborhood showReview(1259747; 'full');
450266,st3phie,01/05/2009,Bravo Beach Hotel Vieques has amazing pristine white sand beaches. Untouched; secluded; natural; and what a variety! Red beach was my favorite; it is a sheltered crescent. What I'm getting at here is that you go to vieques for the beaches; not for a hotel... If you're looking for a beach-front hotel this is not your island. BBH is on the coast; a kind of slimy rock beach. To get to the sandy awesomeness you must rent a car; preferably 4wd; and be willing to trek off into the wilds.BBH has an extremely friendly helpful staff- they scooped us up from the ferry our first day; and arranged our rental jeep.They'll pack you a nice lunch to take to the beach. The food is pretty good at the hotel. You won't want to use the pool by the restaraunt; but the one by the honor bar is more private we spent a couple of enjoyable hours there.Locals of the island's south shore seem to resent tourists; at times being openly rude. But other than that most people were quite friendly- the kayak bio bay tour was really fun and the guides were very nice.My favorite moment on the island was a sudden brief rainstorm while at one of the more remote beaches-- swimming in a downpour and then watching the storm retreat over the ocean was amazing. And the soggy pothole infested dirt road would have been impassable after had we not had a 4wd; so keep that in mind when choosing your car!
450266,angie1801,01/02/2009,No hot water Bravo Beach was okay. This is not the side of the island to stay on. The beach is rocky and unswimmable and not blue. I wanted to love the hotel. I liked the decor and the Aveda products; but for $300 plus a night we didn't get any hotwater. I told the front desk immediately that we didn't have any. They send a repairman who informed us that the hotwater heaters suck and there was nothing he could do! So we spent our entire time there without a hot shower. Not cool!!!The food at the restaurant was super expensive. I didn't get any type of discount for the inconvenience of no hot water. I asked and did not receive. I wouldn't stay here again. I recommend that you stay on the other side of the island!!
450266,phpettis,12/22/2008,Bravo Beach Hotel -- Overpriced and very average This is probably the best hotel on the island but it leaves much to be desired. First; its overpriced.... not worth the $ 300 or so a night when you count taxes etc.. It is much like staying in a old Florida beach hotel from the 60's with nice linens and a few other updated amenities. Second; its on the beach but you can't use the beach... all rocks and very rough. Third; they have wifi but it does not work in the rooms... you have to drag your laptop down by the office and sit on a bench for it to work. The staff was nice enough but they should be in a hotel. If I had to go back to this island I would try my luck in another hotel.
450266,dhmor,12/02/2008,Love the staff but hate the location! The staff was great; very accomodating and even picked fresh plumeria flowers for my bouquet without me even asking. The staff was very kind and resourceful. However; I booked this hotel primarily because of their websites description that the beach was within 30 feet of every room and I could wake up on the beach essentially. The part they fail to mention on their site is that although the beach is very close; there is virtually no sand; only rocks and the water is too rough for swimming so yes the hotel is on the beach but you cannot swim on the beach or even layout on this beach!
450266,NewYorkEandT,09/12/2008,We LOVED it. But do your research! We just returned from 5 days at BBH and we couldn't be happier with our stay. Friendly staff; beautiful grounds; great pools; well stocked honor bar... just an all around wonderful experience. We arrived on Wednesday; September 3rd. All Cape Air flights from San Juan to Vieques were canceled that day due to the weather (pretty nasty but other airlines still seemed to be flying later that afternoon) and decided instead to take a cab (about $80) to the ferry. Rough trip in that weather to say the least but we made it to Vieques in one piece. In our opinion; try and fly from SJU if at all possible. We were checked into our room (#9... lovely with a huge balcony); given a tour of the hotel and then pretty much left to our own devices. The hotel was relatively empty as it was just the start of the off-season (and hurricane season) so we had the pool and honor bar to ourselves that evening; outside of meeting a couple who had been on the island for a few days. They gave us the scoop on where to eat (a lot of places were closed due to the season... Blue Crab was decent but not very islandy); the good bars (Al's; Bananas in Esperanza) and a bar that had a wine cellar where you could purchase bottles to keep in your room fridge (El Sombrero). We picked up our jeep the next morning at Marineau Rental (the most reliable one there); found Patio; a cute breakfast place (good for eggs and bacon if the BBH muffins and fruit aren't your thing) and went off to explore the beautiful beaches we had heard so much about. What we wanted from our vacation: We were looking for the anti-South Beach. We wanted to explore; stay in a charming boutique hotel; be alone on a stretch of beach; swim; snorkel and relax. That's exactly what we got. However; to set expectations here are some things to keep in mind about Vieques and BBH: This is not an island for people who want exciting nightlife or white sand beaches right outside of your hotel. Little to no nightlife (especially in the low season) and you have to drive to all of the beaches... sometimes through a rain forest on dirt roads with massive puddles. As a city girl; I was pretty certain we were going to get stuck in the middle of nowhere. But thanks to my boyfriend who understands off-roading and has an excellent sense of direction; we made our way just fine. The locals were all very friendly but we heard from many people to be careful and not take anything of value when you're out. We didn't run into any problems (or see anyone near us on the beaches for that matter); but we still took their advice... I would assume during high-season there's a higher probability of theft. You'll see roosters; horses and some guy with a pet pig crossing the streets at any time. This is not a commercial island and a lot of the places look run down. But for us; all of this was a part of it's charm. As for BBH; if you're looking for a Four Seasons; go to St. Barts. It's clean; charming and well kept but not 5 star luxurious. The restaurant is open sporadically and the staff service can be spotty if Jackie and Harold aren't there to run the show. Yes; some of the pictures posted by other guests were accurate (rug coming up in the room; patched leak on the ceiling); but all of that is being fixed. Jackie and Harold run the place and shut it down the day we left to begin 6 weeks of upgrades and maintenance. That being said; Jackie; Harold; Enid at the front desk; Eric at the burger place; etc... were phenomenal. Friendly (would sit and chat with us at the pool; show us the villa; etc.); went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable and really just went above and beyond. We were the only guests at the hotel the last 2 days and they kept the restaurant open... for us. They rebooked our return flights on Cape Air so we could remain in the pool. They offered to let us stay after they closed if we got stranded due to weather (though Harold would have put us to work!). We can not say enough wonderful things about them. If you're the type of person who lives for room service; freaks out at mosquitoes; doesn't like to get a little dirty... go to another island. But BBH (and Vieques) is the perfect vacation spot for couples who aren't high maintenance; can toss a can of bug spray in their bag; enjoy getting a little lost and just want to chill.
450266,jawiii17,08/15/2008,Stay at BBH This was the most wonderful place I have ever stayed in my life. We got in late (after rental car places had closed) so our hostess' husband came to pick us up personally. My boyfriend had stayed here before and highly recommended we stay here on the island of Vieques; now I understand why. I had heard that there was nothing to do on Vieques; but out of the 5 other places we visited in Puerto Rico; Vieques was by far my favorite; and there was plenty to do. At Bravo Beach hotel; I would definitely recommend one of the ocean view suites or the villa if you chose to stay here. There are 2 pools; huge continental breakfast is included with the room price and also an honor bar (very convenient). All in all; if I ever go back to PR; BBH is on the top of my list of places to stay and I hope you have fun if you go...enjoy.
450266,sieg6529,07/11/2008,Pretty goo The good: great balcony with a scenic view; clean rooms with a modern feel; soft cushy bed; honor bar; and clean pools. Breakfasts were large and free. The fruit included with breakfast wasn't the freshest (dry papaya and pineapple); but still better than most free breakfasts. Dinner was great (not free); and the chef took time to chat with the diners. They gave us a free bottle of good red wine after we told them it was our honeymoon. Satellite TV is nice when you are tired at the end of the day. Oh; and the AC works great. Comes with a yoga mat; even though we didn't use it. Beach towels and beach chairs are free to use for the day; but the snorkle equipment is not free ($15). The rooms also come with an iPod docking station (iHome) that puts out pretty decent sound.The bad: white blinds that don't keep sun out; shower that has varying water temp (but the shower itself is nice); mosquito net that came down on us as we slept (imagine a giant spider web); and it is pricey. The beach is rocky; but not gross (dead things; trash). There are animal noises; such as roosters and dogs; but only the latter was noticed by me and only on one of our 3 nights. Oh; and parking is an issue; there will be double parking unless you park alongside the road. Esperanza looked like a better town to be near (closer to beach; not so crowded).We had heard about the staff not being friendly; but they seemed nice to us. The manager was pretty standoffish; but friendly enough. Overall; a good hotel; but there may be better deals on Vieques.
450266,BadAndi,06/23/2008,Bravo Beach - a few small amenities would go a long way Just returned from BBH with a mixed review:Positives:Groovy decor; intimate grounds; really comfortable bed; Aveda products; on the beach; close to ferry; friendly and accomodating wait staff. Honor bar was a clever idea; but we would have preferred a bartender. Dinner was delicious (pricey).Negatives:American manager was stand-offish at best. Office hours were terribly inconvenient and impacted our arrival and departure plans. No one to assist outside normal business hours. It's on the wrong side of the island (I'd prefer Esperanza next time) and is next door to a big mouthed rooster who runs 24/7. No coffee maker in room; which is especially inconvenient if you have early plans before 8am; which is when breakfast service begins. No lunch service to speak of- you can order sandwich boxes ahead of time; but no impromptu food service whatsoever. All food service is completely closed on Tuesdays. You are on your own- plan accordingly; because you will have to travel at least a few miles to find any type of food on Tuesday.Overall; we were excited to stay in an intimate little inn; but for the price; I was most disappointed in the lack of desire on the manager's part to pamper us with a welcoming friendliness. Rather; she treated us as an inconvenience. The restaurant/food situation is a major problem at times. We loved loved loved Vieques and will definitely return. Might consider BBH under new ownership.
450266,carolynmike,06/07/2008,the best It has been just a week since we returned from an amazing vacation in Vieques. My husband and I chose the Bravo Beach Hotel we had room #6 and I all I can say was it was beautiful; amazing; wonderful and all that I hoped for. The room was beautifully decorated; it was romantic clean and the added bonus was the I-pod docking station where we were able to add our own special soundtrack.It was my husbands birthday a very seminal birthday and I asked Jackie (part of a very sweet loving couple that manages the hotel) to help plan a special dinner. There are truly no words to express how very special the staff made this night for us..... the dinner was incredible thank you chef chris.... just a few words about the dinner; it was tapas style with each course prepared special by the chef each course was just perfect; from cheese to the scallops (perfectly prepared) to the chicken hmmmmmmand the added bonus was the wine choice which complimented each course starting with a sublime rose; followed by an exquisite white and then a beautiful rich red all chosen specially by chef chris; we even took the menu so we can have it framed (and we are in the process!!)it was done with such care and thought touched us so deeply..... I asked for champagne in the room ..... and so it was champagne; candles on a moonlit night over looking the ocean .... our second honeymoon!!!! we were lucky enough to spend time with harold (the partner of jackie) who always made us feel like more than just guests we left feeling we had made friends.....my husband travel quite a lot and typically we pick a spot off the internet and actually believe it or not use sites like this as well as other internet resources to make our decisions and we were not disappointed.the island of vieques is majestic - we will be backwe wish once again to thank harold; jackie; chef chris and the rest of the staff for a truly memorable vacationcarolyn and mike fernandez
450266,wholewomanme,06/01/2008,Aaahhh Heaven. We loved our vacation so much we were sad to leave. Bravo Beach Hotel is a little piece of heaven on earth. The staff always greeted us with big smiles and helpful suggestions. The managers treated us like welcome guests in their home. Harold threatened to put my husband to work. Talking to Jackie is like talking to your best girlfriend. Get them both together and they're hilarious. My favorite spot was the back pool. I could (and did) stay for hours reading; naping or chatting with other guests. This hotel isn't as new as it looks in photos but it's extremely well kept. The atmosphere is really special. It's peaceful but not remote. We didn't rent a car (should cause it's not easy to get around the island without one). But we walked to town and found a few local places to shop and eat. The only disappointment was the restaurants. The two we heard lots about were Uva and Bravo Beach. Uva went out of business. Although we ate at the hotel restaurant numerous times (breakfast; lunch and dinner) the chef was never there. We'd heard so much about him and were disappointed that he wasn't around the four days we were there. Overall it was a great vacation and we can't wait to go back.
450266,RyanAndErin,05/14/2008,Oh my God...the Mold. The ceiling that couldnt be leaking - it wasnt raining.
450266,konkoski,05/08/2008,Fantastic Stay! Me and my girlfriend just spent 2 nights at the Bravo Beach Hotel last week and absolutely loved it. It's not the boring standard of a resort in San Juan; but has the charm of a trendy; modern guest house. We stayed in room 6 and found the view stunning; our room in superior condition; and all the ammenties of a major hotel chain - satellite TV; amazing guest services; wonderful food; etc. The employees went out of their way to provide us everything we requested (taxis; boxed lunches; directions). We had the sunny pool to ourselves one entire day; and the healthy breakfast in the morning was a great start to each day on the secluded beaches of Vieques. If you're looking for a modern; perfectly manicured resort; don't go hear. If you're looking for something between that and a cozy guest house; this is the place to go.
450266,og217,05/04/2008,Maybe it was different in 2005? My husband and I stayed at the BBH in room 9; aka The Honeymoon Suite; for a week. This was not our honeymoon; but it was; I would have been livid. Now; before I get started - overall; the experience was great. We liked Vieques and are even looking into buying property there. The hotel; however; left a lot to be desired. As was mentioned in several reviews; the room was filthy. Both upon our arrival and every single day (except Monday. Very odd.) Having read the reviews; I called ahead and mentioned that my husband has severe seasonal allergies; and asked that the room be specifically vaccumed for pollen. It was not only not thoroughly vaccumed prior to our arrival; it appeared to not have been vaccumed for weeks; possibly ever. The carpet was a mosaic of filth. Each and every single dresser drawer was broken; and full of sand and pebbles. Our bed was made every day; with no regard to the state of the sheets - dirty sheets were just folded right back up. I shed like crazy and my hair was all over the place. No matter - it wasn't removed from the bed; just left there; on the pillows. I mean; I know it was mine; but it's still gross to open the covers and see what appears to be a dead animal. The carpet was laid down in squares and a few squares were loose; skating all over the room. All in all; I don't know what this place looked like when it was built; but its pretty shabby and run down now. The ceiling leaks; too; when it rains. Now this was not truly awful; just not New York or anything of the sort. I'm from New York City; but you don't need to be to see that. Apparently its for sale; which may explain the owners' reluctance to invest in anything new. The beach chairs had rust on them. There were always mosquitos in the room; no matter how many we killed; so obviously the windows had cracks (we never opened them as we had air conditioning). The idea of an honor bar was cool; but apparently not for real. I found the American manager to be unpleasant; she appeared to take an instant dislike to us and while I didn't come there to make friends with the hotel staff; I must say we were still quite upset. We discussed moving to another hotel; but in the end just made ourselves scarce (for $300/night; that's absurd! And apparently this woman upgraded several other couples; but not us; which made me angry.) We had a few drinks with other guests at the honor bar on our second night and were reprimanded later by the manager; like children; because apparently we made noise. Just my husband and I; no one else. I found that to be incredibly rude - there were other people there as well; and if you have some idiot lights out policy; then don't have an honor bar; hello. I thought that was the point of a child free place; that you can have a drink (in a designated place; and maintaining a conversation - no screams or anything; just a bunch of people talking and laughing) and not have people get their panties in a bunch? And like I said; why single us out? I just thought that was hideous. The rest of the staff was local; and was nice and helpful. Breakfast was the same thing every single day. That was fine with me; but if you are with a guy; he may need protein; and there was only a baked thing of some sort-muffin; etc; granola; yogurt and fruit. It was good; but after day 2; its a bit dull. The one redeeming feature of this place was the restaurant and Chris; the chef. The food is absolutely superb (the only thing up to the New York standard); the wait staff is friendly and knowledgeable; and the view is lovely. The wine list was very good; and Chris paired our food with fantastic wines. We ate dinner there 3 times- it was absolutely awesome - try the fois gras; the steak; the scallops; and the cheese plate. (Breakfast; while at the same place; is not by Chris). Another great place to eat was Peter's - chocolate bread pudding was to die for; and we quite liked the Cuban sandwiches as well as generous cocktails at Duffy's. And of course; across the street from BBH - a great new restaurant in the yellow building (name slips my mind!) Great fish; excellent prices; lovely ladies! FYI - very few vendors take Amex. What else? Maritza's Car rental was awesome - dropped the car off at the hotel; and when the entire island was out of gas; they let us exchange our out-of-fuel truck for another; full one. We took the Bio Bay tour - definitely worthwhile; went to Navio beach ( we went to all the beaches; but liked Navio best); and to the black sand beach. It was a very nice; mellow vacation. If you harbor an ex-pat fantasy like we do; Vieques is great - just keep your valuables locked up - we didn't have a problem; but everyone talked about petty crime and warned us. All in all; we had a great; lazy time - reading swimming; walking along the beach. A week was more than enough time to do everything. We plan on coming back; and will stay at a different hotel. Either something of the BBH class; for $100 or so; or look for something more like what we are used to - if the W ever gets set up; we'll be there! So; I recommend; the island; the restaurants; the beaches; and just about everything; but for your money; stay somewhere else. Apparently; from what other people at the hotel described; the other rooms are even worse than the honeymoon suite. If you've ever been on a student or a budget tour of Morocco or Egypt; this hotel is just like that. Totally fine for a cheap hotel; but not at all what you'd expect at the rates charged.
450266,edugirl,04/02/2008,Wonderful Bravo Beach We stayed at the Bravo Beach Hotel the last week in March in room #4. The room was clean; white; crisp and cozy; with a beautiful terrace view of the water. We kept the door open each night and slept to the sound of waves. The breakfast was perfect for us - yogurt; good coffee; fresh fruit - and some kind of baked surprise each morning. We had dinner twice at the hotel; and both were very good; if a bit pricey - but that seems to be the case for some other higher end restaurants on the island as well. The hotel will pack lunch for you to take to the beach. All you need to do is fill out a request the night before for what you'd like - then off you go in your jeep in the morning to find a quiet beach. The proprietors; Harold and Jaqui could not have been more accommodating; and the same for the charming staff. This place is a truly tranquil place to get away from it all. We'll be back!
450266,horsemmam,04/02/2008,Helpful staff but........ Just returned from BBH. The staff of this hotel is it's strong point. They were very helpful and friendly during our stay. The hotel is nice but way overpriced. We stayed in room #9. The view was partial obsrtucted by overgrown palm trees. The carpet was old and worn. The bath tub and shower were discolored and molded. I don't think there was one dresser drawer that wasn't broken. The housekeeping was horrible. Our bathroom floors were not cleaned. The carpet was not vacumed. For 300$/nt; I think the room should have been given a little more attention. The bed was comfortable; though. There is NO beach at BBH; just a small path of sand and tons of rocks. The beaches of Vieques were beautiful but not safe. DO NOT take any valuables to the beach with you! You will be stalked as a tourist and they will steal anything they can at the moment you let your guard down (while snorkeling). We looked forward to this trip but were dissappointed. Final points: The Yoga at Hix Island House was great. Martineau car rental was rude and did not honor our internet booked car rate.
450266,usuallyhappy64,03/23/2008,A little disappointed The reviews in Tripadvisor mostly raved about this place. It did not live up to our expectations. First; I would advise others going to the island to stay at a place in Esperanza where there are a few more restautants; shops and things to do and that is where the best beaches are. Second; BBH is an old motel redone. If you look at the pictures on their web site you will see a lovely and minimilistic room. It really is minimiistic. One lamp; one bed side table and one chair for a room with a king bed (meant for two). So...one of us could read at a time! Also our air conditioning was broken. They promised to fix it by the next day. I like to be cool; so I wasn't so happy. But our room did look over the ocean and we could open the doors to the balcony and got a lovely breeze and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean. There are no screens on the door; but there was misquito netting for the bed. The bathroom was very small. There are two pools; one only open during meals the other near the honor bar. Neither are impressive.Now the good stuff...while the air was never fixed they did not charge us over and above our deposit for our two day stay. They do provide chairs and towels to take to the beaches...a real must. The continental breakfasts were fabulous; with terrific banana muffins and homemade granola. The setting for breakfast was the terrace overlooking the ocean. The staff was accomodating and the linens (which they boast of) are really luxurious.
450266,r8dohead,03/14/2008,Comfy We stayed at Bravo the first week of March and had a very nice stay.We stayed in the 2 BDR villa which was very spacious for two couples.This hotel is water front just a short walk up the hill from the ferry dock in Isabella.The only negative about the villa is the bedrooms back up to the pool and bar where guests linger till around midnight.So you will here people chattering outside if you go to sleep early.The continental breakfast of sliced assorted fruits;Guava lowfat yogurt;Granola;Juice;Coffee and fresh baked muffins were very good and really all you need for a good start in the morning.The Tapas restaurant was excellent and the staff eager to please with late comers to dinner.Jackie marvin were great at the front of the house also.The hotel is a 20 minute drive from Esmerelda;which is popular for the tourists.Rent a Jeep for sure well in advance a go to a different beach each day and dont be afraid to go out of bounds.We witnessed no crime while on the trip but use good common sense when traveling here or any Caribbean Island.The locals where all nice.All in all a great visit;great beaches;great food and we will return.Oh.....the Bio Bay was really COOL!!!
450266,MsNewBooty,01/16/2008,Really enjoyed BBH! BBH-Zimmer mit Blick auf die Veranda
450266,grimmts,01/15/2008,We're lukewarm about Vieques and BBH Honor bar
450266,jeckel13,12/27/2007,hotels aren't the reason to go to vieques bravo beach was a nice home base. the rooms are simple and the view was beautiful. However; it's the service that makes the hotel special. We loved the breakfast; the chairs for the beach; and the lunches. the staff was always full of suggestions on which beach to visit. vieques is an amazing place and the bravo beach is nice; but you shouldn't be spending much time in the room. We've never been anywhere where we were the only people on the beach. We went to a few beaches each day; thanks to the advice of friends and this website. The hotel tapas was good; Uva was amazing. Going the first of December was a great time; the island was empty. You'll have a jeep; so location isn't important. Esperanza isn't a huge town; 4 gift shops; and a few restaurants. Vieques is the most relaxing place we've ever been. There's nothing to do; but enjoy the crystal clear water; and beautiful beaches.Bravo Beach was nice. Our only complaint was that the room had little light so it was difficult to read.
450266,jjdolan,12/26/2007,Re: Nothing Special. Goodness is right on. The hotel you see on the website is not the hotel you'll be staying in. Expectations are seriously over set. The awards and great press the BBH has received in the past has gone out with the tide. You don't want to stay here at the price they are charging. It would be worth it at half the price...maybe. At this price you want to stay at the Inn on the Blue Horizon. Go to Esperanza....that is the place you want to be.
450266,GOODNNESS,12/16/2007,Nothing Special Bravo Beach Hotel is situated on the north shore of Vieques on the outskirts of the city of Isabel II. The barrio location of BBH is surprising considering how they market themselves as the ideal escape for couples who want to get away from it all. After negotiating the crowded streets of Isabel II avoiding potholes; haphazardly parked cars and half dead dogs; you arrive at BBH not feeling like you escaped anything. The rooms are alright but nothing special. The view of the water is beautiful but you can not access it. You can not even walk on the tiny beach to put your feet in the water because of the rocks and coral. The pools are okay but the area is cramped all around them. Breakfast might be called adequate. To experience the charm and beauty of Vieques; get in your rented jeep and drive away from BBH and head to the south side of the island where some of the most beautiful and isolated beaches in the world are. Also on the south side of the island is the laid back little beach town of Esperanza. The best restaurant on the island; El Quenepo is located here. Wanting to savor the feeling of being on a beautiful tropical island and avoid the urban setting of BBH we packed up and left. The Hacienda Tamarindo and the Hix Island House which is in the most gorgeous peaceful location are two excellent choices for people who really want to get away from it all.
450266,Boricuadentro,11/19/2007,All about the beds This is a chic boutique hotel but laidback. With no one under 18 allowed; it is a great place to relax. It is quiet. You can bring kids if you want to rent the entire property for your stay. If you want to be waited on hand and foot; this is not the place for you. The service is unobtrusive. This is like staying at your friends (much nicer than your's) house while they're away. I consider this a plus.Reserve an ocean view room and then lay in the so delicious beds and listen to/watch the sea. You could sit on your patio; but really the bed is just too good to get out of. The Frette linens are great. Rooms are smallish and functional----perfect for a stay of up to 5 days. If you do get hungry go downstairs to the restaurant for a continental breakfast. It was good; nothing fancy. If you want a big american breakfast--meat; eggs; potatoes-- you will be disappointed. We stayed only one night and were not able to sample the restaurant or sushi bar offerings. There are two pools both lovely. One surrounded by beautiful tropical plants in a courtyard; the other between the restaurant and ocean. The pool bar in the courtyard is on the honor system--get what you want; make a note of it; drop in the jar. The beach at the hotel is not usable. Not to worry; a quick jeep ride (the one you rented) in almost any direction will deposit you on a great little strip of sand for the day. BBH will also pack box lunches for your adventure. The women at the front desk will be happy to arrange taxis (don't do it unless to/from airport) and tours of the Bio Bay. It would have an excellent rating if the breakfast offering was more substantial and the gardener had not been chasing around the property with the leaf blower morning and evening.
450266,WeLoveOurLife,09/20/2007,Bravo Beach is a Special Place We absolutely loved this boutique hotel. The view while you are eating your (included) breakfast was so serene. We stayed in room #9 - a great suite on the 2nd floor. The bed was comfortable and we had plenty of space. We ate dinner at the restaurant our first night and loved it. We really appreciated the box lunches; which we took to the beaches we explored. Thomas was friendly and helpful. Loved the pool and honor bar and met many friendly people at the pool. This place is an excellent value as well and we will definitely return.For more info and photos; see [--]
450266,NorthernIcePrincess,09/18/2007,Return to Heaven This was my 2nd visit to BBH (so far for 2007). Heaven can't be better than this! BBH's staff and accommodations was as great in June as it was in February. I spent 2 glorious days in the pool and filled my days with swimming; eating; drinking; walking and sleeping. Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch were fabulous food presentations and selections from Chef Chris. Chef Lauren made me a special lactose free desert. If this restaurant was in my neighborhood; I would be there every week with friends. For my next visit; I'll spend some time wine tasting.Treat yourself to my favorite place in the Caribbean.
450266,ChixRule,07/01/2007,Fabulous Villa! We stayed in the Villa as it was the only room available and it was fabulous. It's a great deal; if you need a 2 BR as it is spacious and comfortable. Decor is modern in Caribbean beach colors (gold orange) against a neutral and white background. Very nice; adequately equipped kitchen. The villa has a wonderful patio and little backyard with BBQ leading directly to the ocean. Ditto to all other recent 5.0 reviews (excellent staff service; wonderful breakfasts; nicely stocked honor bar). Unfortunately we were only there for 2 days (Mon Tues)...the only days the restaurant and wine tasting room weren't open...but just means we'll have to go back. Menu looked wonderful. We didn't rent a vehicle and stayed in town since we had a short stay. Ate at Mamasong Cafe (not much ambience; but great food). Although we ordered sandwiches one day from the hotel (they pack in ice cooled pack so you can take to the beach for the day). Following day we walked to the bakery in town and stood in line with all the locals to order sandwiches and pastries (fresh; simple; good; and REALLY inexpensive!)
450266,Erandinrew,06/03/2007,Heaven Aussicht von unserem Zimmer
450266,greegor22,04/03/2007,Didn't want to leave Aussicht von unserem Zimmer
450266,PamMinneapolis,03/30/2007,Bravo for the Bravo My husband and I stayed at Bravo Beach Hotel March 8-12; 2007. We had a fantastic time! We were a bit hesitant after some negative reviews; but we were thrilled that it met and exceeded our expectations. We were in room 8 for 2 nights; and room 7 for 2 nights. Both rooms were white with a soothing; minimalistic decor; had comfy beds; luxurious linens; white mosquito netting over the beds( though few mosquitoes); thick Turkish towels and fresh flowers. Room 8 was roomy with an ocean view over a low walled patio; and room 7 had a ocean view from a lovely balcony. Not only were the rooms relaxing with ocean views; the grounds were lush and beautifully maintained. We arrived around dinner time; and were pleased to get a last minute table at the wonderful BBH restaurant. It was the best meal in our entire 10 day trip! A complimentary wine tasting was offered before we ordered drinks - a very classy touch. Breakfast was served to us poolside overlooking the ocean . It was sooo tasty. The best; homemade granola; dense homemade muffins with butter and preserves; individual fruit plates; yogurt; passion fruit juice; and coffee. The staff was very helpful - offering us beach chairs; a boogie board and substantial wrapped sandwiches in a cooler bag for our days at the beaches. We felt like everything we needed was at our fingertips. We also ate at the Mr Sushi restaurant and thought it was very good. The location was great because it was so close to town( we rented a Jeep through Martineau Rental) and we had no problem with the roads. The only negative for me was too loud music at the bar and restaurant our first night. It did not bother my husband though; and the next nights the music was soft and not evident in our room. It may have been a rare occurence. We would definitely stay here again; and we recommend it.
450266,NEWYORKCityScott,03/07/2007,What My First Kiss Should Have Been Like When I walked through the iron gates of The Bravo Beach Hotel; I exhaled the stress of New York City. And; I inhaled a tranquil calmness. I have been coming to Vieques since New Years Eve 2000. I have always found Vieques one of the last bastions of the Caribbean.Bravo is one of it's privities. Seeing the classic hacienda; I was ready for a rest. I stayed in room six. It was perfect in it's modern minimalism.The informative concierge pointed to an ipod docking station. I informed her that; I left my tunes at home on purpose. I only wanted to read. She gave me a huge smile. Vieques is for readers. I had a prepaired jeep waiting for me. But; I decided to pour a chilled glass of wine and welcome the Sun by the pool.Since the other guest were at the beach; I had the whole property to myself. The inner courtyard was in full floral bloom.This was once; one of the greatest sugar plantations on the island. There was always eclectic music with a carribbean sense riding through the breeze. Bravo Beach has two restaurants. The first is BBH. Really cold and extremely comfortable in design. The design follows the theme of the hotel; along with the impressive wine selection; and most importantly the food.Tapas is the fair: soft calamari like I had in Naples; skewrerd shrimp like off Big Surr; and good friends from around the world. As a special one night ; they served foie gras..........braised perfectly with a little bit of apples...nice. I could have had that for 3 days straight. For lunch; I order a savory chirizo and roasted garlic pizza for the beach to nibble on throughout the day. Breakfast is served seaside along the pool. You can hear the ocean's low tide lap against the walls off the pool; So soothing. Warning; Brunch and dinner is a big deal here on the island. RESERVE! I The second restraurant is Mr. Sushi. Great Sushi. But; I have never done a Sake Bomb before. Let's just say; I took alot of bad photo's and twiwsted my ankle.....goodtimes; GOOD TIMES. I asked the manager Thomas Martin for directions to the beach. He gave me directions but said; The key to Vieques is to get lost. Boy did I get lost!.Over hills and potholes; passing wild horses;stopping for hens and their chicks; beeping for a dog to move out of the road........I felt as if I were back in India driving from New Delhi to the Taj Mahal in Agra . Finally I found Silver Beach. There was only a group of five people on that beach.They left at 2 p.m....leaving me; myself; and I alone. ME;me;and only Me . I know alot of advertising companies that would try to capture a moment like this. And I was living it. I found it odd that every guest at the hotel was estetically beautiful; or at least in conversation. If my first kiss was as good as this.
450266,iriredodge,03/03/2007,The Best! The best in Vieques; actually the best in the Caribbean. The staff were so helpful; informative; professional; and warm. The property is beautiful; the food; views; pools; perfect all around. The honor bar was probably the most unique feature I've had the honor of using. The fully stocked bar; top shelf liqueurs; world class wine; mixers; etc. poolside; and self-service (if you wanted someone to make you a drink during normal hours; somebody would). After a day at the beach; grab a cold bear; a tequila sunrise; or 3am martini... All made my way anytime; for less than a cost of a latte from Starbucks. $3-6 if I remember correctly. A stellar amenity and convenience; for a destination without a single traffic light.We went to most of the other Hotels on the Island; for lunch; spa treatments; etc. The food was horrible; service sub-par; the atmosphere etc.; did not hold a candle to Bravo!This was our honeymoon; both of us have traveled the world; from Hostels to Top Ten global hotels and resorts; we could have left and went anywhere.After seeing what was available as far as hotel / resorts on the rest of the Island; and how great the staff and property was. We had no desire to go to another hotel; or destination. We had planned to travel elsewhere; for the second leg of our trip... We decided to stay and extra three nights at the Bravo! InsteadThe gourmet to go lunches are awesome for exploring the Island. First class all the way. While being treated as if you owned the place; a key to the front gate sends that one home.Thanks for a great time.
450266,rstTraveler,03/01/2007,Wonderful Hotel Bed in Room
450266,AlabamaAnita,02/15/2007,Bravo is Tops My husband and I waited too long to take a vacation. By the time we finally arrived at Bravo Beach Hotel; we were so emotionally and physically exhausted that our first few days are now a blur. Between losing a cellphone the first day; the room key on day two; our jeep rental key on day three; and a jeep break down on the fourth day; we were a complete mess midway into our vacation. I MUST emphasize none of these issues were brought on by the hotel.Bravo Beach Hotel exceeded our expectations. As far as we are concerned; the hotel is tops. The staff is beyond friendly and courteous.Throughout our ordeal they encouraged us to relax. When we finally did; our vacation actually began.My only disappointment at Bravo was its location on a tiny beach devoid of space. We ate dinner there most evenings to avoid getting lost on the hazardous roads. The food was a delight at both restaurants.Regretably; after reading TripAdvisor warnings about crime on the island; we lived in fear of driving around much. We discovered our jeep had no headlights on one night's journey to eat off site. That was an interesting experience after dark. We spent valuable vacation time on day four at the rental agency; getting a replacement vehicle. Our true hope is that you will visit Bravo Beach Hotel and experience it for yourself. The staff will go out of its way to accommodate you.We wish all good things to Bravo Beach Hotel; its fine staff and to the people of Vieques.
450266,mitchqqq,02/13/2007,Definitely NOT NY Chic I am from New York and this place; despite its marketing; is NOT NY chic. Unless you consider holes in your sheets; next-door-neighbor roosters crowing; 79 cent dannon yogurt breakfasts; obnoxiously loud music; unswimmable pools (not one single guest in my entire 4 days was in the pool); thick layers of dust on the furniture; alternating hot/cold showers; rocky sandless beaches; TVs with blurry signals to be chic then this is not the place for you.Personally; I found this place to be somewhere in between motel chic and hostel chic.P.S. The staff; when we checked in; told us that there had been several muggings in the nearby area and we should not walk alone at night. That was probably the closest thing to NY about the whole experience.
450266,weathergoddess,02/10/2007,Chic and hip at bravo beach hotel Two seasoned travelers just returned from a glorious week on Vieques; P.R. after a marvelous stay at bravo beach hotel. We have been to nearly every Caribbean Island and were looking for the ultimate relaxing beach vacation. We found it in Vieques - the former US Navy bombing target. Now that the Navy has stopped the madness and the beaches are part of the National Wildlife Refuge (read NO resorts to be built on these remarkable strands); we spent our week discovering beach after beautiful unspoiled beach. We stayed at bravo beach hotel (bbh) in Isabel Segundo. The accommodations are New York chic - stylish; stark white; with the softest Frette linens; and fabulous views. The hotel is literally 30 feet from the ocean with one pool overlooking the Atlantic (and the fabulous tapas restaurant) with most seating outdoors around the pool. Another garden pool sits in a lush coutyard with an honor bar with great spots for lounging. If you want a resort vacation; go elsewhere. You can have the cookie cutter large hotels by the water that could be on any sunny island. For those of you sick of the same old stuff who want a unique experience and want the flavor of the real Caribbean; then this is the place. We found ALL the staff at bravo beach hotel to be committed to our comfort and safety; to making certain we had the best experience in getting around the island (a jeep is a must!); to recommending dinner reservations at the island's many top flight restaurants; and to ensuring our experience would bring us back as repeat clients. Don't worry; bbh. We will definitely return next year.
450266,branchworth,02/09/2007,Loved the Bravo Beach Hotel!!! We stayed at this hotel the week of Jan 27 th and as seasoned travelers loved everything about our experence both at the hotel and the island of Vieques. We were in several rooms at the hotel and felt they were all very clean and safe. The staff was most helpful at all times. The views from each room were beautiful; and the property well maintained. The beaches on the island are grand; visit as many as you can; Loved Carcaus best (Red Beach)Rent a jeep and have an adventure. I don't really understand some of the recent negative reviews as I would say they are not accurate. I have already recommented this Hotel to many friends.
450266,theatford,02/07/2007,The best vacation ever I was a guest at the beautiful Bravo Beach Hotel the week of Thanksgiving and have been there several times. We find it to be the most professionally run hotel we could possibly imagine. Thomas; the manager; could not have been more helpful or charming to my husband and myself. From the check-in to departure we felt only pampered to the fullest. It distresses me to read some other reviews; however; as I watched the entire staff treat every guest with the utmost of courtesy.There were two couples staying in a small villa on the property while we were there who had left their door unlocked while they were out and got robed I overheard the manager telling them and all of us to make sure our doors were locked. So we did at all times. The couple who were robbed even told Thomas that it was their own fault. They were asked by the manager as to what was taken and they expressly said that their I-pod and other things were not bothered. They all seemed to be working this out very well according to what my husband; Ed and I saw. And the way the hotel handled the robbery none of the rest of us felt uncomfortable.We had the same towels and they are not Pratesi; they are Frette and they are wonderful. The Frette sheets were also great. Our room was perfectly clean every day and we found the breakfast really nice and enjoyed every bite. The restaurant is perhaps the best on the island. It is fresh and modern and the place is 'hopping with good vibes every night they are open.And Thomas plans all kinds of exciting activities and theme nights so there is always something new happening to look forward to.There is nothing shabby about this South Beach -styled' hotel at all. The pool is clean and wonderful and their honor bar is fun and homey. We feel very safe here and always lock our door....everyone who travels should do the same and you will have a wonderful vacation. Its not just Vieques who have robberies...all vacation spots do. It is sad but it is the state of the world. So just use common sense.If you are looking for an island escape; Bravo Beach hotel is the place to go. We have been four times and have already booked Easter this year as well! Totally wonderful.Amy Phelps
450266,LKWashDC,02/06/2007,Cool; Relaxing Modern Retreat This was our 2nd stay in as many years at Bravo Beach Hotel and once again it was a wonderful time. Thomas; the manager; and the rest of the staff are fantastic; the property is fabulous; and the two restaurants are excellent! I love the sleek design of the rooms (very caribbean modern); the intimate size of the hotel (only 9 rooms); that almost every room has a view of the ocean; the ipod docks in the rooms; the 2 pools (one with a bar where you mix your own drinks!) and the groovy music that plays on the property all day long. It's just a very cool; relaxing setting with no pretense. We love it and look forward to returning next year to BBH!
450266,agifin,02/05/2007,The right attitude. Hmmmm; I have used trip Advisor for many; many trips with my family in the United States and abroad and we tend to agree with the opinions of fellow travelers. I quite honestly have never written in on our own opinions following a trip. But.... I was quite taken aback by a few recent entries on the Bravo Beach hotel in Vieques. We have stayed at the Bravo as well as several other inns on the island over the past few years. Let me begin by saying that although we are normally five star hotel patrons; we appreciate and love the atmosphere on Vieques.. If you are looking for five star service and 400 count sheets head to St. Barts; which we also appreciate and enjoy.. although for different reasons.Vieques is a very special island. We first visited about twelve years ago because we had read that it was the last bastion of the true carribbean;. that description still exists. It is the kind of place that your Inn; including The Bravo will pack you a picnic lunch; after a lovely breakfast overlooking the ocean; and send you on your way to one of the amazing beaches with towels; an umbrella; beach chairs and several bottles of wine. Where else can you be on a palm covered beach with crystal clear water; white sand and not a hotel in sight; not to mention a person. Bravo is a Miami beach; spare; modern; trendy and smart hotel. We found our room to be spare in a very current way with beautiful views of the ocean. Yes; the pool on the ocean is open to the restaurant; but we had wonderful cocktails in the pool at sunset. There is another pool in the garden that we have frequented later at night. The food has always been some of the best on the Island; and supprisingly there are many good restaurants on the island. It is an Ecotourism destination. If you want gambling; disco's; etc. this is the wrong place; On the other hand if you want bioluminescent bays; beautiful solitary beaches; warm people; and dancing with the natives by the carribbean in Esperanza this is the place for you.
450266,gina29mas,02/02/2007,Beautiful; but not safe.... We stayed at the Bravo for 3 nights in November and the island is beautiful; beaches are amazing! The Bravo is fine to stay in; the pool is nice; the breakfast is lovely; but our stay in Vieques was ruined by a break in to our room on our last day there. We had electronics; ID and cash stolen. It was obviously an inside job; however the managment denied any responsibility to adressing the issue with its security staff. I would not recommend this hotel as a place to stay if managment is not even going to equip the hotel with the necessary devices (cameras; dead bolts) to ensure its guest safety.
450266,AnonymousNewYork,01/29/2007,Overrated. We just came back from Bravo Beach Hotel. While we had a great time exploring Vieques; Bravo Beach itself was an extremely disappointing experience. Do not stay here. I had read great reviews from Travel Leisure and Conde Nast and arrived with high expectations which were not at all met. We stayed in Room 5 which had a pretty view; but that was about it. Our comforter had holes in it; the sheets didn't fit on the bed; the tv didn't work; and dust was everywhere. The bathroom is completely run down and the shower does not stay consistently hot. We ran out of bath products early on and they were never replaced. The hotel itself is also run down and located in the worst area of Vieques (Isabel Segunda). There is no beach access as marketed; and the infinity pool shown on the website is located in the restaurant - no one swims in it. The staff was also unhelpful (despite what we've heard in other reviews). They don't provide beach towels (you are supposed to take the shower towels located in your room). And we rented snorkels for a day to find they had not been cleaned from their prior use (even though they were located in the main office). The restaurant at BBH is decent as is Mr. Sushi which is also located on the premises (the guy who runs it is great); but neither stay open past 10. To compensate for that they have an honor bar...however; it has taken over by the staff at night and they are not welcoming to the guests staying there.With that said; I would highly recommend that you stay at either Inn on the Blue Horizon or Martineau Bay if you are going to Vieques...you will have a much better overall experience.
450266,carol8297,01/28/2007,Disappointed My husband and I stayed at the Bravo in Jan 2007 and were very disappointed. I have used tripadvisor many times before and I was always delighted with the results. But this time we got screwed.The Bravo is overated. Everyone raves about room # 9; but let's face it; over 90% of the guests are not in room 9. We were in room 5; the second best choice-- on the second floor with a view of the ocean. They make a big deal over the Avedo bath products; but I would gladly trade a dresser; or a chair; or even a luggage rack for those little bottles of mint flavored bath products. Other than a couple of hangers on a pole; and a high shelf over the pole; there is no place to put your clothes. I had to keep my suitcase on the floor and rifle through it to get my things. There is no tub and the shower sucks because of low water pressure. There is insufficient bathroom counter space. There is a step between the bathroom and bed.The place looked clean and there were no bugs; but you couldn't walk barefoot in the room without getting dirt all over you feet.The managers wrote in tripadvisor that they finally got black out drapes; but my room just had a few narrow panels of drapes on a loose string. Even when we took the time to spread the panels; they did not cover the entire window and had big gaps between the panels.In sum it was like camping-- for $225 a night! Most disappointing was the view. I thought I was going to stay at an oceanfront location. It was on the ocean; but the view was mostly blocked. The ocean was very close to the rooms; but unless you were standing at the edge of the balcony; it was hard to see the ocean. You could hardly see it when you were sitting because the rail was 9 thick and the balasters were also thick. Also; there were high walls on both sides of the balcony. I specifically asked if I would be able to see the sunset into the water from my room. I was assured that I could. The room faces north and I could not see the sun at any time of day. There was never any sunshine on the balcony.When you left the room; the only time you could see the water was if you were dining in the restaurant; and even then the view was not great because of the low elevation of the restaurant and the high walls on either side.Everyone raved about the restaurant pool (there were no floating pillows when I was there) as it overlooked the water. Yet; you were not allowed to use the restaurant pool except when the restaurant was open; which was sporadically. You couldn't lounge around the pool and no one swam in the pool because who would want to swim when people were watching you while they eat?Once you left your room; unless your were dining in the restaurant (assuming it was open); the only place to go was the inner pool which was surrounded by walls. It was a small pool with nice lounge chairs and the self serve bar nearby. The only problem is that you couldn't tell you were near the ocean. If this is what you want; then find a hotel inland and pay 1/2 the price that Bravo is now charging.The tapas at the Bravo were delicious but the restaurant is only open a few days for dinner and a few days for lunch.Bravo is on the market for 5 million dollars. They no longer have entrees with the breakfast. The breakfast is fine unless your on a low carb diet. We walked to Mommasonger in Isabell; 2 mornings. It's a little place with pretty good eggs.One morning we drove to the Blue Horizon for breakfast. We were kicking ourselves for not staying at the Blue Horizon which was gorgeous. The terrace where we ate a delicious breakfast was gorgeous; the bar was gorgeous; there were plenty of lounging areas with beautiful views; they had an infinity pool overlooking the ocean which was gorgeous. We didn't see the rooms; but if there was any consistency they had to be nice. The bar was like a big luxurous tiki hut with a view. Blue horizon has only 10 rooms but they are in the process of building more.We liked Red beach the best; then blue; then Sun Bay; which is the only beach were you can get Pina Coladas.Don't bother driving to green beach. The sand is very grainy and not nice.Media Luna had great food-- even better than the Bravo. We ate at a small table on the balcony which was romantic. Don't get disappointed; thought-- the balcony overlooks the street; not the water.If you plan on going to Vieques; you better be a good driver. The roads are narrow and rutted and the people drive like madmen. It was not surprising that we saw so many wrecked cars on the island.We were lucky and got a brand new red Jeep from Mariza; which we trashed after 2 days because the roads were so bad!We did the Bio Bay which was nice. We paid Abe $35 each. Another alternative would be to rent 2 person Kyacks in Esperanza at the same place that has jet skis. You can keep all day and overnight for $45 and use it for the Bio Bay and also to paddle out and snorkel near the out island during the day. You can rent snorkels there for $10 whereas Bravo rents them for $15 a day.In sum; I think the Bravo just got greedy. Had we paid $150 a night instead of $225 I would have given it a higher review.
450266,walnutknollfarm,01/27/2007,Burglary; with no response from owner; in this shabby hotel We visited the island of Vieques; off the coast of San Juan; PR over the Thanksgiving week. We stayed at what has been touted the best small hotel on the island. We have been to the island several times before; and knew the general types of hotels; service; etc. to expect. We booked the best room at the hotel; a 2 BR suite; and went with another couple. The hotel is in a state of disrepair: our oceanfront room had windows painted shut that did not open; air conditioners leaked or did not work; Pratesi sheets; yes - but with holes in them; several light bulbs out when we checked in; that took a few days to get replaced; no light in master bedroom; only small reading lights beside bed; no beach towels available - bath towels were equivalent to a gymnasium; furniture was quite modern in the living room; but the fabric was filthy; breakfast was the same every day; and while a small thing; their website mentions daily quiche - never saw one; and on the last day; the room was broken into and ipods; camera; cash; and other valuables stolen. We called the manager immediately; who told us that it was no use calling the police; they would do nothing. He was extremely disinterested; but said he would follow-up with us and take care of everything. It is now 2 months later; and we have made phone calls; sent numerous emails; and have received only one response from Thomas; the part owner/manager: I have contacte the other owners and will be in touch once I hear from them. This was over 8 weeks ago; and our correspondence continues to be ignored. Most importantly; locks on the doors in which the burglar entered were broken when we took the room; this was not addressed by management. Vieques is a wonderful island; which has recieved quite a bit of publicity in the travel press in the last few years. The hotel; Bravo Beach Hotel; is always mentioned as a 5 star hotel. This is clearly untrue; aside from the way we were treated after a burglary. We have traveled extensively; and are forgiving guests - we don't look for things that are wrong on vacation. We prefer to enjoy wherever we are. However; this establishment is shabby; and has treated us in a shabbier manner. Others who are contemplating going should be aware.
450266,buckinsa,01/09/2007,Loved every single thing We just got back from our honeymoon which included 3 days in San Juan then 3 days at the Bravo Beach Hotel in Vieques. I urge anyone who's going to try to book suite 9. You walk into a huge room that's completely white except for the dark wood that lines the bed and C shaped couch. There's a modern feel to the room but it's not overstated at all; rather just nice clean lines and really comfortable. A door leads to a dressing room with an extremely large dresser; closet racks and more storage. This room is open to the bathroom which is more traditional with blue tiling. The patio is amazing! It's like 15'x20' and overlooks the pool area; but you also have a roof area from the room to the right that you can get up on and this thing is about 40'60' and overlooks the ocean. It's just a beautiful beautiful room! We ate at a few places but the restaurant at bravo was the best by far. They serve tapas which are like little dishes that I'd never had before. Try the pork and steak dish; because there were amazing. The monfongo fish was average. The only thing that wasn't amazing about the property was the beach; and it's not because the beach was bad; it's just that there are about 10 beaches on the island that are breathtaking; but none of the hotels are on any of them. They're all secluded and off of dirt roads so please rent a jeep or you'll have trouble getting around. I'll be happy to answer any questions regarding puerto rico or vieques. Both places were so amazing and I can't wait to get back there. Email me at jeff_calhoun@hotmail.com
450266,frequenttravelerdc,12/21/2006,Bravo Beach--You will be intoxicated by the beauty; this is a wonderful hotel Bravo Beach is probably the absolute best place to stay on Vieques. We had reserved a garden room; but they upgraded us to an ocean front room. The room had floor to ceiling glass (and a balcony) looking out to the sea--we were only about 40 feet from the shoreline. We just drank in the view and the beauty of the sea constantly. The people there are incredibly friendly and helpful (esp. Thomas and Hilda; but everyone really). The restaurant serves wonderful food that is not cheap; but nonetheless excellent value. Every morning we were served a lovely continental breakfast (included in room price) looking over the sea that consisted of fresh muffins; beautiful fruit; granola; yogurt; coffee; and fresh squeezed juice. It is walking distance from the ferry (although up a steep hill). I would reserve a car--you'll want it for going around to the beaches. The beach at the hotel itself is small and rocky. Our room was beautiful; by the way. Wonderful linens; thick; plush towels; wifi and all of that if you care; and an honor bar. and they'll pack a lunch for you if you want (also fairly priced--$8.50 for delicious wraps).
450266,mamiesgirl,12/05/2006,Nice Hotel on a Great Island We stayed in Room 8 which is the lower suite. We didn't have a view but found the room large and comfortable. While not up to US 4-Star standards; this was a luxury Caribbean property. The staff was polite and helpful. The location was convenient for our first trip on the island as it is close to Isabella II where most of the restaurants are located. The hotel provides nice beach towels; chairs and had a few unbrella's available. There is a new sushi restaurant right on the property where we had excellent appetizers. The honor bar was also very convenient for after-beach and/or after-dinner drinks.
450266,cpmt,10/07/2006,Fantastic restaurant; great staff Staying at Bravo for a few nights was the highlight of our honeymoon! We stayed in whichever suite is on the ground floor and doesn't have as many windows--room 8 maybe? The view from there wasn't great. My advice would be to stay in either room 9; or one of the regular ocean view rooms; which are less expensive. Our room was very comfortable. The rooms are not as fancy as you might find in a luxury hotel chain. We recently stayed in the W San Diego and you can definitely tell the difference. However; Bravo had all the luxuries that matter to us--air conditioning; soft sheets; cable tv; fresh flowers; and a big; clean bathroom. The restaurant and service couldn't have been better. That's really what made the trip for us. We ate at the restaurant twice for dinner and everything we tried was amazing. For Vieques; it was very reasonably priced. We ate at a few other good restaurants (Chez Shack; Tradewinds) but BBH topped them all. Very romantic atmosphere. It rained most of the time we were there but we still had fun. Thomas was friendly and accessible. If you stay at Bravo; definitely go to Al's for happy hour!
450266,bdogmama,07/13/2006,Honeymooned at BBH Rooftop patio
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,07/06/2006,Bravo! Bravo Beach Hotel! Honeymoon Suite
450266,neo1man,06/11/2006,Very quiet island The hotel is very small with only 7 rooms; 2 suites(we had one; number 9; we got through a Luxury Link[--] auction) and 1 villa. The suite was large with a large bedroom with all windows; a dressing area and a bathroom but the dressing area and the bathroom did not have their own air conditioning and were very hot. The room needs a thorough renovation with old; battered furniture and many drawers in the dressing area which do not open correctly. There are also many mosquitos in the room and there was a net over the bed but you need to constantly use bug spray. The sheets do come from Italy and are wonderfully soft.The staff; though; is fantastic; especially Hilda and Marietta as well as the manager; Thomas. Also; Hannah and Agnes in the restaurant were great.You need to rent a car so you can visit the several different beaches since there isn't a useable beach at the hotel. We loved Blue Beach which is usually isolated and has trees to use for shade. The roads are very bumpy in most locations; even town; and the road to Blue Beach is a long dirt road.The food at Bravo Beach is excellent. It is described as tapas but the portions are quite large. The chef;Chris; has a lot of experience and is quite creative. We went to the Martineau Bay Hotel; which will be turned into a W Hotelin the next year or so. My wife and I both had a wonderful massage and then stayed at the pool. We had dinner there and the food was fair at best and the waiter terrible. Another problem in the summer is that only a few restaurants are open on Monday and Tuesday; including the Bravo Beach. Overall; it was a very relaxing vacation but there is not a lot to do on this small island; at least not at the present.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,06/06/2006,Great Hotel- Crazy Cleaning Staff!!!!! Stayed at Bravo twice this year - once for two nights in February and again in May; both times the food was delicious; the rooms comfortable and bright; the staff helpful. But the cleaning people were incredibly intrusive!!! The first time; we were staying two nights and the morning after the first night; the cleaning crew knocked on the door once every half an hour starting at about 9:30am until noon! Then they just opened the door and came in!! While we were still in bed... What kind of relaxing; Aveda products providing establishment allows the cleaning crew to just open the door?? Especially when the people are staying a second night and ask you not to come in? The second time in May; again before check out time; while my husband and I were still in bed; the cleaning lady (in spite of our shouts that no we were still in there) just opened the door!! We had to practically run into the closet before she shut it and went away. I have stayed everywhere from The Penninsula Hotel in Chicago to La Quinta in Los Angeles and never until now have I been afraid to go to sleep without covering myself in case the cleaning people barge in when I'm still in bed!!The hotel may be very nice; but if they don't speak to the cleaning crew; we'll never stay there again!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,05/30/2006,Bravo Bravo! My husband and I spent three great nights at Bravo! as part of our honeymoon and had an incredible time. We arrived dirty and tired to a very warm welcome from Hilda including the exciting news that the manager had upgraded us from room 9 to the Villa. The villa includes two bedrooms; two full bathrooms; a kitchen; a dining room and living room space; and a porch with a BBQ. We had a few problems with some water leaking into the living room but it was understandable as we experienced heavy rains on and off for two days; and the cleaning staff were quick to clean it up. The villa itself was spacious and open; and with a very comfortable bed. Hilda was a gem! She really anticipated and catered to our needs. She made dinner reservations for us at excellent restaurants. She was able to get a brand new 2006 jeep wrangler for us to rent - I had no luck getting a rental myself as we only needed it for two days (they like to rent for a full week). She provided many excellent suggestions for activities sites to visit; demonstrating a thorough knowledge of the island.The continental breakfast was small but very filling - fresh baked muffins; fresh fruit; and your choice of granola or a hot dish. Unfortunately we were not there for nights when the restaurant was open (something to try next time!). The honour bar near the other pool is a really neat; and very convenient touch.Bravo! has a great overall atmosphere. We felt very comfortable there and very spoiled by their excellent staff. Our many thanks to them for helping make our honeymoon just that little more special.
450266,Elliemay72,05/22/2006,Can't wait to go back! My boyfriend and I stayed at bbh for 4 day鈥檚 vacation in room #6; which faces the water. We loved it! We fell asleep and awoke to the sound of waves each day. The room was simply decorated with handcrafted beds; lots of airy light. We had wine and cheese waiting for us when we checked in and the mini-bar is well stocked with a fridge big enough for your own snacks too. The included breakfast was quite filling: muffins; fresh fruit; juice; coffee and a choice of a hot item each day. The servers were very nice.The box lunches are a good value; but the sandwiches were way too huge for me. Lunch and dinner are served by the water for great ambience (especially at dinner time!). The servers and staff are amazing all around. The honor bar and pool area was very relaxing. bbh used to be a villa and that's why the front pool seems like it's in a strange spot. I think the quirkiness of the rustic and beautiful grounds adds to the charm.Marietta and Hilda are wonderful; wonderful ladies and they will take care of whatever you need. Harold; the resident dog is a sweetie. You can borrow beach chairs; coolers; umbrellas; kick boards for the day and rent snorkel gear for a nominal charge.My suggestions are to try tapas there one night and then bili and Island Steakhouse were my favorite restaurants. It seems like a lot of the restaurants are geared towards tourists鈥攖hat sort of fusion cuisine that seems quite popular these days. Don鈥檛 get me wrong--the food is great; but try some traditional Puerto Rican food while you鈥檙e there. You won鈥檛 be disappointed! The Bio bay with Caribe Kayaks is a must; horseback riding with Maureen was great--she showed us some very scenic views that we would never have otherwise seen. Bahuko the horse was the best for my first horseback ride ever! Captain Bill will take you out on a half or full-day sail and he's a great guy to go sailing with and chat about life on the island. The island itself is rather small; but you definitely need an SUV (not a car) to get around. Our Kia Sportage was kinda old and smelly; but we didn鈥檛 really have to worry about all the potholes in the streets either. It鈥檚 hot and humid there and you will need insect repellant if you go to the Bio bay. Otherwise; the bugs weren鈥檛 much of a problem. There weren鈥檛 any more bugs than I would expect to find in any other lush; tropical location and the water is safe (in case you were wondering). This is not a Spring Break destination鈥攖here are no clubs or places to get rowdy. This is best suited for couples and small groups of adults on a relaxing holiday. Overall; let me say that for a relaxing island getaway; bbh gave me exactly what I needed: intimate; personalized service without the McMegaresort feeling. I love Vieques and bbh just the way they are and so let's just keep this a secret; shall we? ;-) I can't wait to go back!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,05/17/2006,Bravo is overrated We stayed at the Bravo for 3 nights then at Martineau Bay for 3 nights and I am very glad we didn't stay at the Bravo for the whole stay. Ok; so parts of the hotel Bravo are quite pretty but the rooms are totally overrated. First of all the beds are uncomfortable and hard; all the Frette linen in the world wouldn't help since the bed is a cheap foam matress on a hard board. There were no proper drapes or blinds in our seaview room; only about 5 or 6 strips of white cloth that you can not pull together and right outside our window there was a terrace were guests of the restaurant could eat. So don't count on any privacy in your room since people can stare straight in at you. All we used the room for was sleeping and we would get up at 6 or 7 am since the sun was blaring in the room. I assume they would call this minimalist but I just call it low standard.Also; you can not use the beach since it is very rocky and the swimming conditions are bad. Nobody used it during our 3 days. The staff was very friendly. The restaurant had good food. The packed lunches were pretty good except that they only had half of what was listed on the menu and you wouldn't find out until you picked it up. The Martineau Bay became heaven after our stay at the Bravo. The hotel has 2 pristine beaches and our room had a beautiful luxurius bathtub between the bedroom and bathroom. The rooms are clean and three times the size of the rooms at the Bravo. The spa is really nice too.Blue beach and red beach are amazing.
450266,viajeelmundo,05/15/2006,GREAT PLACE! FIrst time in Vieques and this hotel was great!Bravo has 2 pools - yes one of the pools is located in the restarant but the main one is enough.They have wine tastings in the evening - not great wine but still a nice touch.The room was clean and opened up to a balcony with a beautiful view of the ocean.The hotel is on an oceanfront property but you are not allowed to swim in the water because it is rocky. There are many other great beaches on the island.The staff was friendly and helpful as to where to go sightseeing.THe food at the restaurant was okay- very small portions and overpriced!Overall this is a great place to stay and I would recommeded it if you are not looking for a resort type experience.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,05/08/2006,Thought it would be nicer We stayed at the $245 a night ocean view room for 4 nights. If I could go back in time; I would definitely have gotten a cheaper room. The room wasn't as nice as I thought it would be. The shower head was broken in our bathroom; which they fixed for us on our 2nd night. But they did such a poor job; we ended up juryrigging it ourselves. There was also a litle bit of mold on the shower wall; which skeeved me out a little. There were little bugs (ants?) crawling around the walls of our room; which we didn't notice until the 3rd day we were there. I don't think this is specific to Bravo (I'm sure the other hotels/BB's have them); but it was still disturbing.The main pool is in a weird area; right next to the restaurant and dining area. We didn't feel comfortable using it and I didn't see anyone else use it while we were there. The other pool is in a better location and we used it periodically during our stay. The restaurant is pretty good although a bit pricey considering the portions are not that big (it's a tapas menu; but still). Bread was $2.50; which I thought was a little ridiculous. The staff is pretty great; though; and the women who work the front desk are more than happy to answer questions and make reservations for you. You definitely need to rent a car while you're there. We rented a 2005 Jeep Wrangler w/ air conditioning for $65 a day from Maritza (sp?) Car Rental.Cafe Media Luna was good for dinner. We also went to Uva (the most expensive restaurant in Vieques; I think); which was a big mistake. I really; really did not like my dish (seafood cassoulet). Bananas has great burgers; but the waittress was pretty rude.Things to do: Bio Bay (of course); Beaches (we went to Red beach and Blue beach and loved both); Horseback riding ($65 for 1 1/2 hours; my friend loved it; but I just thought it was ok); Spa (we both got massages at the Martineau Resort Spa - very nice).
450266,MrTambourineman,03/27/2006,Bravo + the real things you need to know There are a couple of things you need to know about Vieques and Bravo. First of all the island is wonderful. It is relalxed and quiet; the people are warm and welcoming if you extend a little interest. Try a beer with the locals at the plaza bar in Isabel Segundo and you will be pleasantly surprised. Life is simple; teenagers tame wild horses and ride them bareback down the streets; old men grab a drink in the mid-afternoon; people sit and relax in the shade. The beaches are amazing; the water is the clearest you'll ever swim in. You might share a whole beach with a hand-full of people. You definitely need a Jeep though to get to them and make sure you book one in advance because you can't get a taxi or walk to one from the Bravo. It should be a SUV and probably a hard top. We used a soft top Jeep Wrangler but found it to be very dusty on the roads to the beach.There is no beach at the Bravo; there are 2 pools. The one you see in photos is in the middle of the restaurant and i can't imagine anyone ever uses it. So there really is one which is ok but why use a regular pool with no view when you can drive 20 minutes to the best beaches you can find.The staff at bravo is good at providing lunches and beach equipment. They were very helpful. Supplement that with a trip to the local supermarket and you have a perfect lunch on the beach.The Hotel rooms at Bravo are poor and not worth the price. The white walls had water damage;our room did not have real blinds or curtains so it's really bright early in the morning. The boutique hotel angle is overplayed. I don't think the Aveda bottles in the bathroom is enough. The food was good and the wait staff were good. Keep in mind the restaurant is only open Thursday to Sunday so if you are there on a monday you have to jump in your car. Given that you are going to spend only the nights there you might choose a cheaper hotel or if you want the comfort of a hotel with amenities you might be best going to the Martineau Bay. Factor in the cost of an SUV too .Media Luna is the best restaurant by far and if you made reservations every night there you would be very happy. Blue Horizons restaurant blows. Keep in mind the island is dead. Esperanza which they make out to be the busy strip is tiny. We were happy with dead because we wanted to get away from it all. Strangely though you need to make reservations for cars;restaurants and the MUST trip to Bio-bay because everyone that ends up there wants to do the same thing.
450266,Beth5,03/08/2006,Ideal Oasis Bravo was the perfect spot for exploring Vieques. The rooms are beautiful and comfortable at the same time. The ocean views are gorgeous. The little touches (packed lunches; beach chairs; etc) made it perfect. I look forward to returning soon!
450266,wetravelchicago,03/01/2006,Great little place We spent four days at Bravo Beach and loved every part of it. The views are wonderful. Our room; #9; was very spacious; had a good sized bath and dressing area. A plus was the roof top patio which was a great place to watch the stars. Breakfast comes with the room and included muffins; fresh fruit; an entre of the day and delicious Puerto Rican coffee. The hotel will make a lunch for you to take to the beach for about $10 pp. For dinner; the resturant offers an assortment of tapas and wines. Two can dine for about $75 not including tip. There are two pools; one featuring an honor bar that works quite well. The staff is friendly and accomodating. They were able to honor all of our requests. The hotels motto is eat; drink; sleep; swim. We recommend Bravo Beach Hotel to anyone looking for that type of experience.
450266,Natal152,02/28/2006,Fabuloso My family and I just returned from a week at Bravo The hotel can only be descibed as brilliant. We stayed in the Villa which I would estimate is at least 1000 sqare feet. It has two bedrooms; two bathrooms; a full kitchen and a loftlike living area. Views literally allow you to look out over the ocean and spy on Puerto Rico and Culebra. Comfy sheets;ample and plentiful towels; a well stocked minibar; lush grounds and beautiful pools enhanced our experience. What made our stay most memorable was not the amenities; but the willingness of the staff to accomodate and anticipate our needs. We were not the typical Bravo guests as we were traveling with two teenage girls (I understand that hotel policy has changed and that guests under 18 are no longer allowed). We were included and welcomed in all that the hotel had to offer- best of all; a family style Italian feast where we got to know the manager and fellow hotel guests. As others have noted; Vieques is not the place visit if you need action or adventure. I personally loved Isabel Segundo which looks like a movie set- slightly seedy but charming nonetheless. Yes; Roosters crow and dogs bark in the early morning hours; but I found them much less disturbing than the sirens and traffic noise one might be exposed to in an urban environment.The tranquil setting allowed us to forget our busy schedules and to truly enjoy the beauty of the Island's beaches and the hospitality of the staff at Bravo.
450266,AshleyMP,02/21/2006,Fantastic Find My husband and I stayed at Bravo for a long weekend; and based on all of the reviews; we expected quite a lot and we had high expectations. Our expectations were met and far exceeded what we had imagined in most areas. I am suprised that the food at bbh; the restaurant at bravo; has not been complimented more. The food was absolutely excellent. Being New Yorkers; we are picky (and maybe snobby)when it comes to food; and all meals at Bravo were delicious. We had the pleasure of meeting the fantastic dinner chef who took us into the wine room and helped us select a great wine for our meal. The box lunches are also a great idea and I recommend ordering it each day and bring to the beach. We ventured to several gorgeous beaches; and our favorite beaches were Navio; Blue and Red beaches. One morning we were literally the only ones on Blue Beach; and it couldn't have been more spectacular. Marietta was extremely helpful in mapping out different beaches; and making reservations for dinner. The location of Bravo is an asset. Like previous reviewers have mentioned; if you are looking for a Cancun experience this is not the place for you; but if you are looking for an authentic experience this is it. We walked into town everyday for a sunset drink at Als and we walked to an excellent restaurant called Cafe Media Luna for dinner. It was so convenient. Ezperanza is nice; but too built up; in my opinion.A few complaints though...One; I think the could spring for boogey boards and umbrellas that are not broken. It was great that they have them; but not useful when they are broken.Two; the garden rooms are dreadful. Worse than a motel. Dark and dreary; and not worth $175+. We stayed in the ocean view rooms for the majority of the trip and had to move to a garden when our flight was cancelled. The ocean views are gorgeous; light and airy. Most people come to Bravo to be on the water; and I am not even sure why they even have those awful; extremely small; garden rooms. I totally recommend visiting Vieques and Bravo!. We definitely hope to return.
450266,jecar,02/12/2006,Great Place to Stay My wife and I just returned from 9 days on Vieques and we spent the entire stay at the Bravo Beach Hotel. We loved our time there. Thomas; the manager is always available and helpful. Our first room did not have an ocean view which puts you right where people enter to the restaurant. Not a big deal but the ocean view rooms are definately worth it the extra money. The rooms are clean and modern with all the conveniences.The restaurant is great with their Tapa menu and we took advantage of their boxed lunches that are very handy. The continental breakfast was good; fresh fruit; quiche; muffins; etc.We weren't bothered by the roosters or mosquitoes.It is also within walking distance of some very good restaurants and it felt very safe to do so.Jim and RobertaPS Definately rent a vehicle
450266,klejnieks,01/21/2006,Amazing-- We couldn't of had a better honeymoon!!!! 5 stars! My husband and I honeymooned in Vieques in late November 2005.Everything about our experience was wonderful! The hotel and the island of Vieques exceeded our expectations; and the service; location; and amenities were amazing.My husband and I were a little unsure about Vieques as a honeymoon location. We weren't sure how developed the island was; and we didn't know anyone who had been.From the minute we contacted Bravo!; we felt like we made the right choice. The staff put our concerns at ease; and were willing to help us arrange anything we need.First; I want to describe why my husband and I loved the hotel so much. The rooms were clean and relaxing; although slightly small (however; we were never in our room; so it didn't matter). The linens and bathrobes were amazing! We loved the Aveda products. We had no problem with hot water or air conditioning; and we fell asleep to the sound of the ocean every night. The staff was unbelievable. Everyday our restaraunt reservations were made for us. The manager; Thomas (hi thomas!!); even lent us his personal beach chairs and blankets. The staff was extremely welcoming and flexible. We felt like we were staying at a private estate; not a hotel.Now; I would like to respond to some of the concerns raised in posts below:1. Location- There is nowhere else on the island I would rather stay. The view from Bravo is amazing. It is located in a neighborhood within walking distance from the ferry. Because it is a neighborhood; you really get a feel for the neighborhood and the people (hence; the roosters). It is not in a gated community; which allows (or forces; depending onyour perspective) you to fully experience life in this amazing community. The hotel is right on the ocean and has two pools. Someone below said that they wished that they had stayed in Esperanza; but I totally disagree. Esperanza only has two real restaurants; where as Bravo is right in Isabel Segundo. It is within walking distance of many restaraunts and the shops in Isabel II.2. Beaches-- No one in their right mind would even want to swim by the hotel. This is not because the hotel's beach isn't nice; it is because Vieques has some of the more beautiful beaches in the entire world within a 5 minute ride. The beaches located in the nature preserve (former army base) are unbelievable and totally secluded. Basically the hotel's beach is great; but why swim there??3. Rooster- Vieques is a small; secluded; and somewhat undeveloped island. We found the roosters charming. If you don't; you really shouldn't go to Vieques; and if you do; you should stay at Martineau Bay.For people who like the possibility of exploring an island with an interesting history; and that is the opposite of Cancun; Vieques is perfect. And; there is nowhere else I would stay on the island. If you are looking for a resort experience; there is no reason to come to Vieques.-Kristen and Joe (Washington; D.C.)
450266,MARINACH,01/10/2006,Located next door to a storm drain This nice beachfront property is unfortunately located next to a mosquito-infested storm drain. I don't know why all the rave reviews on trip advisor failed to mentioned it. You'll have to think twice about swimming in the beach (especially after it rains) so try their pools instead. The rooms were very clean and modern with a minimalist tone. Friendly service does make up for having to deal with a faulty air conditioning unit.
450266,Elizabetham,12/30/2005,Bravo-wonderfull-unless your picky and whiney! We love Bravo! I had never got around to posting a review of my stay at Bravo in August; but after seeing the latest review; I knew that I must! My husband and I went to stay at Bravo for the second time in August. This place is absolutely exceptional! Thomas and Marietta are the most gracious and knowledgeable hosts we have ever encountered anywhere. They really make us feel welcome; and like we were their only guests. We have never had any problems with our rooms; and are toiletries were replaced as we would expect; but had they not been; I'm sure we could have simply asked for some. We try not to focus on the petty stuff; when we are in paradise. As for the roosters in the neighborhood; HELLO! This is authentic Puerto Rico. Are all of the locals supposed to stop living because people are vacationing there? The sound of them reminds you of the authenticity; kind of like the wild horses running around! We had no problem with the neighborhood;we find it a little cozy; and we actually took a walk to the little town section one day for ice cream. We also drove more inland to see the big houses up on the hills. Although there is plenty of warning about petty thieves; we have never had a problem; and we just kept our valuables out of sight or at Bravo like they recommendThis hotel; or this island experience for that matter is not a typical one that you would find anywhere but here. Stay at the Wyndham if you want big over priced resorts; that aren't at all authentic or personal. But I didn't see any differece between staying there or in Florida (cheaper trip). Bottom line: I have stayed at one other place on Bravo-Hectors' by the sea; and that was great as well; but we really like Bravo better; and I don't think that we would stay anywhere else; now that we've found it. Thomas; and Marietta the best!Ok; I found one bad thing to say. Sorry Thomas; but we don't like your little beach chairs! But; we are not picky; and we will still use them so we don't have to lug around our own!
450266,pupopirupo,12/29/2005,Probably one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever stayed in BYE!! Isabel II from the Ferry
450266,DCSwimmer,12/19/2005,Not What We Expected My husband and I stayed at Bravo! for 5 days/4 nights during August 2005. We chose it over the Martineau Bay resort because we wanted a more intimate; non-corporate environment; without sacrificing comfort and luxury (a boutique-hotel feel). Unfortunately; our experience was much different than that reported by other tripadvisor travelers.(1) The chances of a warm shower were about 50% -- and it didn't matter if we showered during the morning or in the evening. (2) The toilet malfunctioned mutliple times. Considering that we only spent about 3 hours at most in the room on any given day (usually we were out snorkeling or exploring -- we'd leave in the morning and return in the evening around 6 pm to shower for dinner); we didn't use it much; but just about each time; it wouldn't flush properly. Trying to find someone to unclog it when it finally backed up completely (in the evening) was a challenge. Very unpleasant to deal with during a vacation.(3) Every morning at about 5 am; roosters from directly across the street woke me up with their high-pitched braying -- I can't describe it as crowing; as it was such a harsh; obnoxious noise. They continued until about 7 am; so being able to fall back asleep wasn't an option. (4) Location of Bravo!. Bravo! is located in a rather isolated part of Isabel Segunda. There is no way I would walk around outside of the hotel grounds (which; by the way; are rather small) during the evenings; or during daylight; for that matter. Contrastly; I felt very safe in Esperanza at any hour; given the number of tourists walking about and restaurants open; and it would have been much more convenient to be able to walk to any number of restaurants and back home to our hotel; rather than having to get in the car and drive at least 10 minutes. Additionally; Bravo! is not near any snorkeling areas/beaches (most are on the South shore; where Esperanza is located) -- and being near the ferry terminal is not a benefit -- rather; if you're unlucky enough to leave the hotel bound for any of the beaches or a restaurant (even one within Isabel Segunda); you'll get stuck in local traffic.(5) Free kayak tour of the bioluminescent bay. When I made the reservations at the hotel; I was told there was a special -- a free kayak tour for 2 people with a stay at Bravo!. When we actually went on the tour; however; the tour provider informed us that he had no such arrangement with Bravo!; so we had to pay in full. When we informed Marietta at Bravo!; rather than just quickly acknowledging there was a screw-up and promptly crediting our hotel bill; she complained to us that the tour provider should not have charged us; etc. When we pressed the point; she finally (and; it seemed to me; reluctantly) credited our hotel bill with the amount we paid for the tour. As a note -- the tour was fantastic -- we thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course; the tour co. was located in Esperanza.(6) Unrefreshed toiletries. During our entire stay; our toiletries were never refreshed. When we ran out of the initial items presented in our room on the first day (1 small bottle each of conditioner shampoo; 2 small soap bars); we dipped into our own provisions (brought with us from the US). I kept expecting that we'd have new toiletries each day -- so never bothered to ask -- and; unfortunately; they never materialized. Since they failed to refresh our toiletries for every day of our stay; this struck me as cheap; not just an oversight.On the positive side: Marietta was great at welcoming us to the hotel; accomodating our request for a change in rental car; recommending various beaches for snorkeling; large waves; or sunbathing; recommending restaurants; and even giving us tips on protecting valuables while snorking off a beach; Our view of the ocean from our room on the second floor; with a private balcony; was lovely; The continental breakfast was wonderful -- hardboiled fresh eggs (probably from chickens across the street); homemade bread; a few cereals; tea coffee (we didn't have lunch or dinner there);We appreciated the honor bar -- a great idea; and The grounds were rather unique and romantic; and I liked the modern feel of the place.However; ultimately; I would not stay at Bravo! again. Frette linens and boxed lunches are lovely additional touches when the basics are in place. Since we just hoped for a warm shower and working toilet on a daily basis; those extras were really irrelevant. Also; the location of the hotel was extremely inconvenient. Given that we could have stayed at the Martineau Bay resort that week for the same price (with its much larger; lush grounds; although not necessarily more convenient); I was disappointed we didn't chose to stay there; or one of the places in Esperanza (if opting for convenience over luxury).
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,11/21/2005,just lovebly A perfect place for relaxing and enjoying a romantic evening. Unfortunately; I only had time for one night; but I am hoping I can get to come back. The employees are very nice and the service is excellent. I have never been treated so nice at an hotel in my life. I enjoyed myself so much I am looking forward to visiting it at least once a year.
450266,dt012319,11/12/2005,Like waking up on a cloud every morning... Back pool and honor bar at Bravo!
450266,CZP,09/18/2005,Bravo! is one of the Best! My husband I stayed at Bravo! for 5 nights in late August and would highly recommend it to everyone! We had room #5 overlooking the pool with an ocean view and a little balcony and we loved it! The room had 100% cotton sheets - high thread count; almost everything was white so you know they have to keep it clean! There were no suspicious flowered bed spreads which is a plus. Satellite TV. Aveda bath products. You can borrow beach chairs; boogie boards etc to take to the beaches. The AC was perfect. They have 2 pools but we were so busy at the beaches we didn't get to enjoy them. They were well kept and beautiful. The bathroom and shower area were clean and very nice. The towels were big and fluffy and they give you a bunch presuming that you will be using some for the beach. We initially thought the Esperanza side of the island would be the preferable place to be but clearly the northern side has a lot happening and as everyone else says - it only takes 15 minutes to get across from north to south. Upon making the reservation; we let them know that we would need to rent a jeep (absolute must for getting around). They have their own jeeps that they can reserve for you relieving us off the task of going elsewhere to rent. Even on the day we left; Marietta told us to drive the jeep to the Vieques airport and leave it there and they would pick it up later! If that isn't accommodating I don't know what is! We originally selected Bravo! for many reasons but mostly because at this writing; is one of the only hotels that advertises free wi-fi internet connections. If anything could be improved about Bravo! it would ONLY be to add a phone to each room but even then; Marietta and Thomas let us use the office phone with our calling card when we had trouble finding a working public phone! Thomas and Marietta will go out of their way to help their guests! As it is a smaller hotel; they are very interested in how your stay is going; tell you how to get to this beach or that; advise on restaurants; etc. They offered a free continental breakfast right by the pool. The lunches were very affordable and gourmet! We would love to return to Bravo! again and out of all of our annual trips to PR; Bravo! helped to make this one our best ever!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,09/10/2005,Bravo! es muy bueno My husband and I just returned from four great honeymoon days at BRAVO. We relied heavily on trip advisor to guide us in finding the perfect place to stay; we were definitely NOT disappointed.From my first telephone conversation with wonderful Marietta - who helped us by coordinating everything for us; from our trip to the bio bay (a MUST!); arranging for a car rental (also a must) from the moment we arrived to the day we left; coordinating our meals (i am vegetarian; my husband is vegan - she ensured that we ate so very well - check out Tropical Babies... the owner; Baby; is a great vegetarian/vegan cook; and a wonderful woman; and BBH chef; Chris Ellis; created a delicious meal for us as well); guiding us to the best beaches; and simply creating an atmosphere in which we felt so comfortable; welcome; and taken care of. The rest of the staff are just amazing - so sweet; kind; and great at what they do. Our room (#4) was the perfect size for two; very clean; sleek and modern; with no bugs; great a/c; comfy feather pillows; beautiful view of the ocean; and was totally private. Fresh flowers and a bottle of wine awaited us in our room at check-in; and the hotel provided fresh beach towels daily; beach chairs; coolers; and boxed lunches. The aveda products and soft bath towels and sheets were much appreciated as well. They even supplied sunscreen by the pool!We couldn't have been more pleased with our stay. Many; many thanks.
450266,drinette,08/11/2005,A wonderful Stay and Hotel We stayed at the Bravo Hotel on July 4th weekend. The staff is absolutely charming and helpful. They made reservation for us for the kayak tour (Blue Caribe; very nice people). They came to pick us up when our rental car (Marco rental) broke down in the middle of a dirt road...took our luggage and dropped us off at the airport. The hotel itself is very quiet; the view from the restaurent is great (pool + sea). The breakfast + packed lunch were delicious; and I regret I did not have dinner there. Vieques' beaches are beautiful and it is not AT ALL an issue not to have the beach at the hotel...since there are no hotel on the most beautiful beaches and you need to drive there...We will recommand the Bravo Hotel to anyone going to Vieques!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,08/01/2005,Bravo to Bravo My husband and I returned from Bravo about a week ago-we had a great time. We thought the service provided by the staff was outstanding-they made dinner recommendations and reservations-provided directions to the beach etc. The staff is as accomodating as any 5 star resort we have ever stayed in. The property is very pretty- nice pool areas-we had the pool to ourselves every afternoon after the beach it was great. The wine selection is fun; interesting and well priced with selections from around the world.Upon making reservations I asked about the beach conditions and Thomas was very upfront and told us that it wasn't a swimming beach and that we should rent a car to get to the best beaches. Yes; the roads to the beach are bumpy but so worth it once there (only takes about 15-20 minutes).The resort falls short with some of the creature comforts-- the bed-foam mattress on a platform (now my husband is in his early 50's I am in my late 40's so we may be we are more fussy than some younger folks-in terms of bed comfort). There wasn't enough lighting in the room; or drawers to stow your stuff but the room was clean and there were plenty of towels etc.The BBH tapas resturant was very good to excellent; the contential breakfast was so-so at best; the box lunches were okay.We were looking for an inexpensive vacation spot and understood that at $200 a night we wouldn't be getting luxury but overall the resort did exceed our expectations.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,07/27/2005,Nice; but....Not on the beach The staff was fine. The food (breakfast and boxed lunch) was fine. The room was very small and cell-like in need of at least another 3 light fixtures in order to read and dress. I could have lived with the hotel as it was; except for one big flaw which is not evident in the reviews or the hotel's website. The problem is that although the hotel is on the water; has a very nice view; there is NO BEACH. The shoreline is all slippery rock. Upon our arrival; noticing that there was no beach; the person checking us in told us do not try to swim off the shore here since the rock is very slippery and we could get hurt.In order to go to the beach you have to rent a car; drive to the other side of the island on some badly rutted roads. Along the way you should stop in one of the local stores and buy beach chairs and an umbrella because the hotel does not have enough for the guests of its 10 rooms. I donated mine to the hotel at the end of my stay.If you're 22 or 23 years old and want to take your girlfriend away for a couple of days; this place is fine. However don't come here expecting an undiscovered diamond.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,07/25/2005,Everyone is right; Bravo! rocks! Everything about Bravo! is terrific -- from the fluffy towels and bathrobes; to the modern; but comfortable; design in the room (we were in #6) that compliments the beautiful ocean views; to the excellent new BBH tapas restaurant and its uber-chef; through the pool area with the honor bar and great soundtrack. Thomas (who was pulling extra duty while Marietta was away; even while his mother was in town) recommended everything from the most beautiful (and empty) beaches to local lunch places; on top of making all of our reservations; and being simply awesome. Just the type of laid-back; cool; romantic honeymoon my spouse and I wanted. Don't come expecting room-service and formally dressed butlers; but do expect a wonderful time.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,07/17/2005,The Perfect Honeymoon Bravo was nothing short of excellent. My new husband and I enjoyed our oceanview room and excellent service that was provided for us. Marietta was wonderful and gave us great ideas and recommendations of what to do; what to eat; etc. We had a perfect honeymoon! Thank you Bravo for making our honeymoon experience extra special!
450266,hhbartman,07/17/2005,BRAVO; BRAVO....... Bravo was indeed true to the reviews........ beautiful botique-style hotel; very friendly and sincere staff........ We were there for three nights on our honeymoon (then on to Old San Juan; Gallery Inn; also awesome) and we wish we would have stayed at least another night....... We were in room 9 which has stunning views and accesses a huge deck which for all intensive purposes is private to that room........ even did some naked suntannin....!Definitly do the bio bay trip; you will remember it forever. You can also join the Wyndham for the day for $20 which has a pretty good health club facility and then later hang by the pool/ocean; use their towels; showers; etc.....The onsite restaurant recently re-opened and offers a tapas type menu. The service and food quality were very good but even by tapas standards the portions were small and pricy...... for example; nine steamed mussels were $7.95......... thats my sole complaint and as they just opened they need some time to tweak things......
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,07/12/2005,Hands down- Bravo is the best place to stay on Vieques! We just returned from a 5 night stay at Bravo- we loved the hotel and would absolutely go back and recommend to friends. The staff and management was incredibly accomodating and went above and beyond in every way. We stayed at Bravo over the July 4th holiday weekend which was the grand opening of their restaurant. The food was outstanding and the crowd looked as though they were dropped in from Soho if not for the sweeping views of the Atlantic; one could certainly forget that you are on Vieques. Our oceanside room was great- perfect balcony for cocktails after the beach. The bed was so comfortable and felt like a memory foam mattress. Same goes for the pillows. Frette linens and fluffy towels for the shower and for the beach. The mini bar was stocked with everything; but the poolside honor bar was our favorite place. We would have been happy eating in the restuarant every night as the food was superb; but we wanted to try some local restaurants. (Taverna Espagnola-delish paella and the best Sangria we have ever had!) Thomas and Marietta gave us great recomendations and we enjoyed each meal. During the day we spent time at the beaches and brought along our packed lunch that we ordered the night before from the Bravo restaurant. They pack it in a refrigerator bag that you can pick up after breakfast. The continental breakfast included in the room rate was very good. Great Banana Bread; fresh fruit; Puerto Rican coffee; cereal and hard boiled eggs. The last two nights at Bravo were supposed to be in a garden side room as the ocean side were all booked. But the fab. management upgraded us to the Villa- 2 bedrooms; 2 bath; backyard leading to the ocean. Massive living room; dining room and kitchen. It was great. All in al we had a fantastic time and we were very impressed with the staff. They work really hard to make sure that the guests are having the best experience possible whether in their hotel or at other location on the island. We look forward to returning to Bravo!Thanks so much to Thomas and Marietta. You guys made our trip!!Brigit and Pete MaulikNYC
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,06/25/2005,Outstanding time at the Bravo Beach Hotel Just had outstanding rehersal dinner at the Bravo Beach Hotel. What an intimate place to hold a party. There were 65 people enjoying the wonderful atmosphere in the Palm Courtyard at the Bravo Hotel-There were candles around the beautiful pool as well as floating in the pool. There were big open cabanas to relax in-Everyone enjoyed the sunset from the balcony. We enjoyed fantastic food - fresh island cuisine-( So good we 25 people came back for dinner a few nights later!)The Bravo Beach Hotel has a sophistication to it- no wonder it was voted one of the best new hotels in 2005 in Conde Nast Traveler. The location; the property; food drinks were amazing but what really made the experience was the wonderful management of the General Manager; Thomas Martin. He has an eye for detail and goes beyond your greatest expectation to surpass what you have requested. I planned this rehersal dinner in 2 weeks and he was a joy to work with! The Bride and Groom were so thrilled with the evening they checked out of their large hotel and enjoyed 3 nights at this intimate chic hotel. Many of the wedding guests will be back and will opt for Bravo- I know I will!! We could not have been happier!!
450266,catfitzgerald,06/21/2005,fantastic What a great place. I've been there twice and it still exceeds my expectations. The rooms are not huge but are lovely and quiet and the beds are extremely comfortable and you can lie there and look straight out at the ocean. They even pack a mean lunch in a cooler for the beach.
450266,CindyAshevilleNC,06/21/2005,Superb Vieques itself was a very pleasant surprise with its low key atmosphere and great beaches. Bravo is excellent in all categories as all the reviewers have noted above.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,06/19/2005,Fantastic! My boyfriend and I recently visited Vieques for the first time. A friend had recommended the Bravo Beach Hotel and we are forever grateful! The hotel is located in the small town of Isabella; just a quick drive from the airport or ferry dock. Inside the hotel; you'll discover an open air lobby surrounded by a calming fountain; pool; and garden lounge with an honor bar. The rooms are beautifully decorated and equipped with satellite TV; small refrigerator; and comfy reading chair. The best part was the balcony that provided views of the best sunsets on the island. We were slightly disappointed that Chef Michael's Foodspace was under renovations; but the hotel was kind enough to offer a complementary breakfast that we enjoyed each morning; poolside. We loved the coffee the most!Perhaps the best part of our stay was the super-friendly staff! Both Thomas and Marietta were absolutely amazing and helped us with dinner recommendations; biobay reservations (our favorite!!!); car rental; and directions to the best beaches on the island. In short; the staff goes above and beyond to ensure the happiness of their guests. We will definitely be back and will tell our friends and family.
450266,hitthelights,06/07/2005,We loved our stay at Bravo! My wife and I celebrated our one year anniversary in Vieques over the Memorial Day holiday; and we loved our stay at Bravo!The beauty of this boutique hotel is equally matched by the care Thomas and Lawrence give to their guests. Lawrence provided excellent directions to the hotel; and Thomas was very helpful in showing us how to get to the beautiful beaches that are off the beaten path; and provided us with beach chairs and a cooler that was very handy.Our stay in room #9 was great. The view was incredible; with windows covering 3 of the 4 walls; and the canopy bed was very romantic and relaxing. The ceiling fan was very cool and very quiet; which was great. And absolutely nothing beats the calm sounds of the Atlantic while you sleep.The amenities were nice; especially the poolside breakfasts and the honor bar. We were sad to see that Chef Micheal's FoodSpace had closed; but Thomas was very apologetic for the inconvenience; and did provide ample dining recommendations for lunch and dinner. The future restaurant there should be very nice.We only had minor constructive criticisms regarding Bravo!; and Thomas listened to us sincerely and did tell us the imminent plans that would address those concerns. They did not in anyway detract from our experience. I expected the highlight of a stay in a boutique hotel to be the personal touches in design and service; and our experience at Bravo exceeded our expectations.Highlights of Vieques: Beaches: Blue (very scenic); Secret; and Garcia are fun to get to; but for incredibly calm and warm water to relax in; and pure white sand; Red Beach is hard to beat. Dining: The service at Cafe Media Luna was average; but the food was fantastic. Our favorites were the corn fritters with fresh mango salsa; and the indian dish of saag (spinach); tomato curry; and swordfish steak. Also; if you are in the mood for some simple pizza and ice cream; we'd recommend Scoops.Activities:1. The biobay tour with Sharon Grasso's Island Adventures is a must. The presentation on the biobay and the dinoflagellates was interesting and humorous thanks to Snoopy; and sure the pontoon boat is less adventurous than a kayak; but when the boat docks and you swim in the water; the real experience begins. 2. The Spa at the Wyndham Martineau Bay resort is very nice; the lounge facilities (stone whirlpool; sauna; steam room) are good; and the ocean front couples massage is very therapeutic. Overall; we had a great time.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,05/21/2005,BEAUTIFUL and WONDEFUL This hotel is a travelers dream. With its beautiful decor and small but cozy feel; this hotel is a definate match to the likes of The W Hotels and the Standard Hotel.....It is amazing....I recently stayed there for a one night stay while in Vieques and I did not want to leave. It is just wonderful. Words do this hotel no justice....it is something that needs to be experienced. Thomas; is an amazing host. I definatley recommend this hotel with my highest enthusiasm.
450266,DPTChicago,05/17/2005,A Touch of South Beach in Vieques Just returned from Vieques where we spent the night of May 13 a night at the Bravo Hotel.If you arrive on the Ferry from Fajardo; no need to take a cab if you are reasonably fit and travelling lightly - the hotel is about four blocks from the Ferry port.The Hotel struck us as being sort of art deco with pastel colors and funky minimalist rooms which we enjoyed. However; while technically on the beach; the Hotel is not on a swimming beach. Most of the best sandy swimming beaches are about a twenty minute drive to the other side of the island.Our hosts; Marietta and Thomas; were eager to please with lots of good recommendations; particularly for dinner at Media Luna which is a cozy little place in town within walking distance of the Hotel. Sadly; though; Chef Michael's Food Space was in the process of having a going out of business sale the weekend we were there. It was not clear to us what Hotel management's plans are for the space or for bringing-in another deli; snack shop or restaurant...
450266,sandsage1,05/05/2005,Gorgeous rooms and grounds After spending a few nights at a lousy vacation rental; we were desperate to escape and incredibly lucky to get two nights in the last available room at Bravo! The rooms are beautifully decorated in modern style. The pool is lush and inviting; surrounded by lovely plantings and comfortable high-end louge furniture. Our favorite part was the honor bar. It's just a great place to invite new friends to for leisurely drinks into the night. The front desk staff were really helpful and friendly. The only complaint would be that the maid service was a bit difficult to deal with; as if they wanted to clean the room when you wanted to nap; it was hard to get them to come back later.Chef Michael's gourmet food shop - on the premises but under separate ownership and management - is a really great added bonus. after a few days on vieques you may find yourself going through cheese withdrawal (if you're that kind of person - we are) and chef michael will provide your fix. he picks up a special shipment from boston once a week of specialty goods that are impossible to find elsewhere on the island.(by the way; the lousy vacation rental is advertised as the breakers: ---------------------- don't go there; the advertising couldn't be farther from the reality)
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,05/04/2005,Bravo for Bravo Warm weather and even warmer people. We visited Vieques for the first time last weekend and can't wait to visit again. Marietta; Lawrence and Thomas are incredible hosts and we appreciated just the right balance of availbility and privacy. They helped us feel right at home both at the hotel but also getting around on the island. Their suggestions for meals and fun places on the island were right on point. The hotel has several features that make it stand out. The simple; modern design of the room is refreshing after a long day at the beach. The frette sheets and aveda products are a nice touch. The hotel has several areas that are perfect watching the sunset. And if you want to spend time in your room; they also provide a nice selection of dvds and playstation games. Another fun feature of the hotel is the honor bar. I will definitely recommend Bravo to anyone planning a visit to Vieques.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,05/03/2005,You must be kidding... We read the reviews on this site prior to our trip to Vieques. After staying at Bravo! it wasn't clear to me that any of the people who had written the reviews had actually been there. The rundown:Rooms: The rooms have a modern; minimalist feel; but that fails to accomodate for the fact that they are just small and the beds uncomfortable. Breakfast: Pretty good. It was catered by the store below the inn and probably the highlight of the experience. Service: This was bloody awful. We were moved around to 3 different rooms in 4 nights. Although the staff moved our things; they forgot to give us a key so we were locked out until we could drag the manager from a local bar to let us in. Another night the music in the courtyard was left blaring until I climbed up to the speakers and muffled them with some beach towels...Overall; I recommend putting your $200 per night to a better use.
450266,chachanewyork,05/02/2005,resort bliss meets B The ultimate in DIY luxury. If you're one who likes the luxury amenities like frette sheets; fancy products; the ultimate concierge service; all without the attitude; craziness and impersonal feel of a resort; then this is the place. We felt completely at home here as soon as we checked in and met Thomas and Marietta. We were then wisked off to our romantic hideaway(room #9) which overlooked the ocean. Vieques itself is a beautiful island with endless beaches to discover where most of the time; you had the entire beach to yourself. As most beaches were remote in location; it was key to take the picnic basket prepared for us by Chef Michaels. After a long day at the beach; we relaxed by the ocean-side pool watching the sunset drinking our cervezas; very picturesque. Staying at Bravo only made us love Vieques even more and would definitely recommend to anyone!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,04/25/2005,Intimate; lovely place for a getaway My husband and I spent a wonderful 2 nights at Bravo; in room 9; which overlooks the ocean and has a large rooftop terrace. The hotel is intimate; personable; easy--the super-friendly staff anticipate needs such as dinner reservations; and the poolside; make-it-yourself honor bar means that you don't have to venture from your oceanside haven. This is a great option for those weary of big anonymous resorts; and yet like their creature comforts. The Frette linens and robes are a nice touch. Breakfast from Chef Michael's Foodspace --imagine a Vieques Dean and Deluca--includes all kinds of fresh baked deliciousness; as well as fresh fruit and coffee. They also sell top quality wine and cheeses-perfect for stocking up for a beach excursion. Highly recommended for couples or families; and reasonably priced.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,04/23/2005,Bravo?? That's Hot. What I saw at the beach
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,04/22/2005,The PERFECT place for an off the path romantic vacation! View from our room
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,04/14/2005,Bravo! Indeed! Wow! Thank you again Thomas and Marietta!! My wife and I were looking to hang out; drink cocktails and experience something more 'bohemian' than the ususal fare. We got way more than we bargained for! Great food; great weather; cool people and memorable vacation. If you're looking for a full service experience; go elsewhere. If you want to read a book on a totally secluded beach with some cold Heiniken's and eat like a king - go to Vieques. I imagine Vieques is what Key West was like when Hemingway was hanging out at Sloppy Joe's. Bravo is located in the city of Isabela; so it's 'urban'. But we had to close the patio door at night because the ocean was too loud! It's that close. The decor is minimalist; but comfortable. The area is so neat; that you are not likely to be hanging out in your room anyway. The common areas at Bravo are very inviting; so you end up knowing everyone staying in the hotel by the 2nd day.You have to drive to the beaches; so rent a jeep and go exploring! You're sure to be amazed at the beauty of the island and the scar left by the US military.A word to the wise - DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING OF VALUE IN YOUR CAR/BLANKET UNATTENDED!! I was told this 3x; but did not heed the advice and got ripped off. We felt very safe despite this inconvenience.We're already planning our trip next year and we'll be back to Bravo! This time we're bringing our friends!Thank you again Thomas and Marietta!!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,04/12/2005,Bravo a perfect retreat My husband and I spent 4 nights at Bravo earlier this month and enjoyed it immensely. After a day at the beaches it was wonderful to come back and relax by the lovely pool. Our room (#9; over the villa) was clean and gorgeous and airy; with water views all around and an enormous bed. We were really pleased with the location; as it meant we could walk into town for dinner at night. But we were especially happy with the wonderful people at Bravo. Marietta was so helpful in getting us set up for our visit; and Thomas (the manager) was just so gracious and pleasant; with wonderful recommendations. We felt very at home; very at ease; and can't wait to return.
450266,lin77,04/04/2005,Bravo a Gem! My husband and I recently returned from 3 days at Bravo and just loved every minute of our stay. From the moment our taxi pulled up to the hotel and we were greeted by Thomas; General Manager; we were made to feel welcome. Restaurant reservations had been made for the following two nights for us and Thomas tracked down our rental car and had it delivered right away. Marietta was also a gracious host and most helpful.The rooms were a wonderful change from the cookie cutter hotel room. They were bright; clean and uncluttered. I was a little concerned about reading previous reviews on the floors not being clean (sandy) but realized that were were in fact bringing the sand in ourselves from the beach and tracking it through and so were more vigilant upon entering the room. There was no mildew in the bathroom that I could see. Everything was spotless. The ceiling to floor windows to the ocean gave an awesome view and we spent much time on the balcony taking in the beauty of the ocean and listening to the waves rolling to shore while sipping wine and snacking on cheese and pate from Chef Micheal's Foodspace. The pool area was just fabulous. Although not a mega resort pool; it was great for swimming laps and cooling off. Thomas has done a wonderful job of placing huge pillows on oversize benches to lounge on apart from the regular pool chairs and decorating to create a beautiful oasis; with soft music; an honour bar and beautiful plants.Chef Michael's Foodspace was a great place to have our breakfast. Fresh squeezed orange juice; fresh breads and cappucino started our day as we overlooked the ocean and one of the pools with the friendliest service. For lunch the deli sandwiches are excellent and often one is sufficient enough to feed two. They will even pack a cooler for you to take to the beach. The wine selection is to die for and priced for every budget; and the cheese and pate selection fabulous.There are in fact roosters belonging to the locals which do crow throughout the day - but you have to realize that this is the culture and lifestyle of the people here and respect that. To see how people actually live is a large part of any trip for us. Being on an island with no fast food chains or box stores( for now) and seeing wild horses roaming and people riding horseback as their sole means of transportation is a refreshing and educational experience.Thank you Thomas and Marietta. Chef Michael and all the staff at Bravo for making this leg of our trip to Puerto Rico the most enjoyable and memorable one!
450266,ptowndb,03/26/2005,Wonderful; relaxing stay We (two couples) stayed in the villa for a week. Marietta and Thomas could not have made the experience more pleasing. They and the other staff did an excellent job of making sure we were taken care of without being overbearing or intrusive. It was like renting a house with a concierge service whenever we needed it. The villa is a great choice for anyone who wants more space (or privacy) than a regular room affords. There's a kitchen; but no oven -- so don't expect to bake a cake or lasagna or anything. (With Chef Michael's a stone's throw away; there's really no need for one.) Overall; excellent accommodations that I would not hesitate to use again!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,03/22/2005,Bravo; Bravo! We stayed at Bravo during March 2005 and were very pleased with the hotel. Here are some of the advantages of Bravo:1. An excellent location. The hotel is right on the water and the majority of rooms have panoramic views of the beach and ocean.2. Very friendly staff. The owner and employees are on-site from early morning into the evening. They readily provide on-target recommendations for activities and restaurants. They also make efforts to think of small details that will be helpful (e.g.; lending beach chairs; arranging car rentals; etc.).3. Wonderful amenities. There were two small pools that were pretty; plush cushions on the adjacent lounges; an outstanding gourmet deli/shop; thick-n-thirsty towels; aveda shampoos; an honor system bar outside; and other similar nice things.4. Nicely situated so you can enjoy Vieques. Vieques has the most unspoiled beaches in all of Puerto Rico. Water so clear you can easily see 5-8 feet down; beaches that you can find by following bumpy; unpaved roads and be the only one there...What's holding me back from a 5 star rating? Well; some of the furnishings are out-of-date or seem older; the deli/shop isn't open for dinner and closes all day during mid-week; and there were tiny ants in the bathroom (I figured that this sort of thing would be endemic to the area; though). Overall; an excellent place that I definitely recommend to others.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,03/15/2005,Puerto Rico Paradise We loved our stay at Bravo! From the moment we checked in; we were well taken care of. This is a small hotel with a small staff; yet we felt pampered. They suggested restaurants; beaches and other activities; and they were never wrong. They provided maps; good directions; made reservations for us; lent us beach chairs and were happy to provide additional towels.The rooms are a bit too spare (very modish decor does not leave much room to put things away or to spread out) and the bathrooms could definitely benefit from an upgrade; but they try to make up for it with luxurious linens and toiletries. The rooms have satellite TV and video game boxes (games are available at the front desk). But who wants to watch TV? The hotel is right on the ocean; and the views are spectacular.It helps to have Chef Michael's food space in the hotel. He hosted a wine tasting our second night there; and we loaded up with food for the long flight home before we left.We had never been to Vieques before; but we would go back; and Bravo is the only place we would stay.
450266,MeloKacey,02/18/2005,Brave is Unique We recently spent four nights at Bravo; and from the mixed reviews on TripAdvisor; we weren't sure what to expect. Well; here's what we found: Bravo is tiny and unique. Marietta and Thomas; the new manager; were friendly; genuine; and incredibly helpful. The grounds are lovely and well maintained; Chef Michael's truly is delicious; and the unobstructed ocean views from the rooms are unbeatable. Although located on the wrong side of the island; we grew to love our little corner of Vieques at Bravo; and didn't mind the pleasant drive across the island to the beaches. Once we got used to the neighborhood (which isn't BAD; it's just real Vieques) we decided that it added a sense of adventure to our experience. The rooms are small; spare and simple; and the staff would do well to address the cleanliness issue we had read about on-line prior to our arrival. (Clearly they read TripAdvisor; so CLEAN; Bravo; please!) Bravo is not inexpensive; and our sandy; dirty floor was disappointing. Overall; we really enjoyed our time at Bravo; and would probably choose to stay there again for the unique island atmosphere; friendly staff and great food. The other hotels we visited on the Island (Wyndham; Inn on Blue; etc) were nicer; but had no flavor of Vieques whatsoever; so if you're up for a unique; flavorful island experience; give Bravo a try. And don't miss Chef Michael's pecan danish. It may be the best thing I've ever eaten.
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,02/09/2005,A Gem in the Latin Caribbean Just came back from a fantastic trip to the Island of Vieques where we stayed at the beautiful Hotel Bravo. The first thing that struck us on entering the property was the Architecture which is very reminiscent of Old Latin America;very much like walking down the streets of Old San Juan. The lush vegetation; the sounds of the waves crashing onto the nearby reef and the music playing; immediately reminds you that you have entered into a Latin Caribbean Paradise. Sexy; Romantic; and Passionate with the smell of the fresh sea air all around you. We were immediately met by the very professional and friendly staff who quickly checked us in and took us on a tour of the property then to our wonderful Ocean Front Room.....Que Lindo!!!! We arrived at just the right time; the sun was setting; the Tiki Lamps were lit around the property and cocktails were being offered poolside; need i say more? The rest of our four day stay was just as enchanting as the first. The staff were always available with suggestions on things to do and places to go; and after a day out at the beaches or a night on the Town it was always a pleasure to get back to our Oasis. On our next trip to the Island we would definately make it Bravo again....Bravo!!!!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,02/07/2005,Not that great The location of the hotel is terrible. There are chickens running across the street and there is a ditch next door. There is road construction going on and it has been going on for over a year-still no end in sight. Be wary of the descriptions they give on the website. There is no beach to speak of(mainly rocks). The rooms are tiny. The one saving grace is Chef Michael's--The only reason I would go to the hotel is for lunch. Much nicer hotel locations in Espernza (spelling); the other town on the island. We changed hotels to Wyhdam after first night.
450266,dananyc,01/03/2005,Here's the skinny... Just returned from a 4-nt stay at Bravo on the beautiful and interesting Isle of Vieques. In brief; here are the pros and cons: Good stuff: Were warmly greeted by proprietor's Mark and Christian who were very helpful in recommending restaurants; beaches etc...Marietta too was fantastic. We LOVED Chef Michael's Foodspace downstairs and were thrilled to have such high-quality food so readily available. Everyone who works there (and the wonderful chef himself) were FABULOUS and gracious at all times; even preparing us an emergency cheese plate after hours. (you know how it is) I am sad they are not in the lobby of our buiding in NY! Ok; the rooms were really cool; stark; and the view was unobstructed floor-to-ceiling ocean. Pretty awesome. Plus; Frette linens and Aveda products were a bonus. The downside: We felt it was at least $50 too much per night (we paid abt $200 and the room was pretty tiny) for what you get. Bed was hard; our shower curtain was totally mildewed; and the maid service was minimal. They only made our bed. (ie. Didn't sweep up the floor which inevitably gets sandy; didn't clean bathroom or replace empty products) For $200/nt; this is not OK. This was the priciest hotel we found except for the Wyndham resort; so we were disappointed in that. I hope they resolve these glitches and all-in all; it was a very good stay. Ingeneral; the service on Vieques at restaurants is very; very slow and not always gracious; so be prepared for that. However; we found great food (terrible service) at Media Luna and an overall great dining experience at Bayonda (sp?). Also; don't miss Red Beach; it's unbelievable. Have fun!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,10/29/2004,Fabulous Stay at Bravo! I just returned from a six-night stay at Bravo. Everything was perfect; from the preparations (the hotel staff arranged all my flights to and from Vieques and my rental car--a necessity!); to the actual time spent there. I travel often---it's my vice---and I love researching and finding great accommodations that are reasonably priced but full of character. Bravo! is exactly that. The buildings and grounds are beautiful; the pool gorgeous; and the rooms are designed with simplicity and class. It was wonderful to return each afternoon from exploring the island to my oceanfront room with crisp linens; satellite TV; great lighting; and floor to ceiling views (and sounds) of crashing surf. It was also great to have Chef Michael and FoodSpace on site. Breakfasts were yummy--cappuccino; freshly squeezed juice; fruit; cinnamon rolls; omelets with gruyere and asparagus; and the like. Last; but certainly not least; was the amazing service provided by Christian and Mark; the managers/designers; Chef Michael; and others. When I arrived tired and hungry my first evening; they opened up FoodSpace; and; while Michael made me plate of imported cheeses; I picked out a bottle of wine to unwind with on my balcony. Mark and Christian gave me great advice on restaurants; the island; and beaches. They work very hard to ensure that their guests have a fabulous stay. Finally; although I was a woman traveling alone I always felt safe; took the same precautions I'd take anywhere; and had a great time exploring the whole island and its beaches. I can't wait to return with my husband!
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,10/09/2004,It was off season; but still expected more. showReview(2675016; 'full');
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,08/27/2004,Renewing vows at Bravo! showReview(2497424; 'full');
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,08/17/2004,Bravo is the best place to stay on Vieques showReview(2456185; 'full');
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,08/04/2004,The Best Destination Wedding Weekend! showReview(2381926; 'full');
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,08/03/2004,A Special Place on a Secluded Island showReview(2379645; 'full');
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,07/15/2004,We had a wonderful time! showReview(2300211; 'full');
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,07/01/2004,The Villa at Bravo! showReview(2248767; 'full');
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,06/19/2004,Simply Perfect!! showReview(2205652; 'full');
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,06/15/2004,Awesome! showReview(2191805; 'full');
450266,ATripAdvisorMember,06/13/2004,Simply divine! showReview(2185983; 'full');
454952,drillerdoc,11/08/2008,Great location; but don't open your window This was our second hotel on the Rick Steves' tour and it was the worst of the bunch. I don't know if it was the time of the year or the location but our room was full of mosquitos and also a few fleas. Everyone in our group had issues with bugs. The front desk will provide an insect repellant that is a plug-in; which I didn't find out about until the last night; but it worked great. Otherwise the location and staff were superb. You are within easy walking distance of the Duomo; Accademia and Central Market(Mercato Centrale). The room itself was fine though a little tight; but the bathroom was huge for Italian standards. The bed was fine and the room had a TV with CNN if you are interested in keeping up with current events while in the magical city of Florence. Breakfast is included; the usual fare of rolls; croissants; fruit; cheese; cold cuts; yogurt and cereal; with coffee; tea and juice.
454952,1ChristopherLee,07/28/2008,Ideal location for train station and Dormo side of florence Stayed one night as a stop over whilst travelling from Siena to Rimini.The hotel is less than a 10min walk from the train station in an ideal location for the Dormo side of town.The late booking of a double room upgrade for the price of a single was a very good price.The steps to enter the hotel may not suite some people and the roadworks at the minute makes it into an obstacle course to reach. Any noise though cannot be heard within the hotel.The double room / bathroom were clean; average size but nice and cool with the air-conThe facilities are very basic for the breakfast plus the outside area to sit in after a long day is just a very small enclosed courtyard with a table.For price and a nights stay at this hotel it is quite a good option. Anything longer I personally would look for better outdoor facilities and breakfastIt is ideal though for leaving your bag after checking out and picking up on your way back to the train station after a days exploring.
454952,crazymaria,04/29/2008,Good hotel - great location Nice hotel - very friendly; helpful staff. We were referred to this hotel by the Hotel Centrale which was full. Staff here went out of their way to help us. They had no triples so gave us a double and then later moved out a desk and added an extra bed for our son. Since they were booked solid the next night; they found us a room across the street at a three star hotel for the same price.Hotel room was nice and bathroom a decent size. Extra blankets were provided along with shampoo; safe; etc... Only negative was that the road in front Via Faenza was under constructon and had awful sewer smell. Also hotel layout is a bit of a maze and there is a charge for Internet. Also no elevator so you must carry luggage up stairs. Other than that; a great hotel.
454952,maja077,01/23/2008,Great staff; very warm welcome !! We have spent 5 nights at the Hotel Accademia and as soon as we got at the reception we knew that we were at the right place to have a great vacation in Florence. We have had a very warm and frendly welcome and the staff was able to answer at all our questions; as soon as we got there; about how spending our time in their city. They speak fluent english. They also helped us to make reservations for some museums.The room was big and clean. The breakfast was very abundant.We can not believe that this Hotel is only 2 star !!The rate that we had was really not high comparing to the service that we have had.If you think that the Hotel Accademia is in the house of Bernardo Cennini (sculptor of the 15th century) you really can not think to chose a better place.We hope to come back there as soon as we can. We highly recommend this Hotel !!!!
454952,GeoTrvlr2008,01/06/2008,Location okay; property small and slightly dated; breakfast mediocre We stayed at this hotel in late December 2007. The desk attendants were always friendly; and always available when we returned (you leave key at front desk). I found the decor to be a little mediocre; which perhaps affects one's view of the hotel. The location was very good; and if you don't plan to spend your time in the hotel; then it is convenient both to the train station; the outdoor shopping stalls; and the other sites (all the main sites seemed to be within 5-10 minute walks). The breakfast provided was not of the same quality of other hotels we stayed in during our overall time in Italy. Each morning; there would be a place setting for about 20 people or so; consisting of a hard roll and a croissant (brioche). There were some standard choices as well; but I would skip the breakfast if you can get some discount off the room rate. Bathroom was cramped. One morning the water pressure ran out in the shower.
454952,Europeantraveler57,12/05/2007,Greatly enjoyed the Hotel Academia This hotel was recommended in Rick Steve's tour guide and we checked it out and were very pleased. The staff was excellent; spoke passable English; and very friendly. The night desk clerk even waited up for us the night we missed the last train out from Venice. Unforturnately; we had to spend the night in Venice and didn't make it back until the next morning. He said he was worried that something bad had happened to us.The room and bathroom were large and and very clean and comfortable and faced an enclosed terrace. Although we were five minutes from the train station and around the corner from the street market it was very quiet.We were so pleased that we stayed 6 days instead of 2 and took day trips from the convenient train station. Felt very safe and welcome in Florence; as opposed to Rome!
454952,FLLocalyocal,11/16/2007,GREAT Location Great location! Located in the historic district; just a short walk from the Duomo. Nice hotel and the rooms were okay. Avoid rooms 1 2...they are right at the front desk and you hear EVERYTHING all nightlong...the bathrooms in these two rooms are very tiny...to put it bluntly...you never have to get up to do anything...your feet rest comfortably on the shower drain...need I say more. Our travel partnershad a room in the back...16; I think...and it was very large and quiet...with a BIG bathroom.
454952,pavacati0ner,09/26/2007,Great Location - Just Ok Room Stayed here based on Rick Steve's recommendations. It was in a great location and the staff was very friendly but I felt the rooms left a lot to be desired. They said the rooms were recently renovated but ours just seemed old. It was clean but the parquet floors and the dingy yellow bed cover made the room just blah. It wasn鈥檛 a room I wanted to stay in for more than sleeping. Even for European standards; this was slightly below average.
454952,boozercow,08/21/2007,Great location To say this hotel was supposed to be only two stars I think it truly surpassed itself! The hotel was a little hidden but the reception area was really pleasant. The hotel was spacious and laid out almost villa like which we thought was lovely. The room was much bigger than the one in Rome. The bed was large and comfortable. The room had very nice air-conditioning which was quiet enough to have on all night. The bathroom was a little strange as the sink; shower and toilet was separated. the shower was excellent and was in its own little room. the location was also excellent and very close to all the main sights.We did not have breakfast included; but the hotel was excellent; the staff friendly and helpful except at the end when we were told that we had to pay by cash very rudely. But everyone else seemed helpful and friendly. That was really the only issue we had; because they did not tell us we had to pay in cash and were a little rude about it. I would stay here again and recommend it!
454952,JHROrange,08/17/2007,Location; Location; Location We stayed at the Hotel Accademia as part of a Rick Steves tour. (LOVED the tour; but that is another review!) This hotel is centrally located to EVERYTHING. Not only the artistic sites; museums; and churches; but also restaurants and shops. We had a great room (quiet) with a double bed (#15). However; some of our tour group did encounter a) noise from street facing rooms and b) the shower over the toilet. I suggest if you book this hotel; you mention these problems in your booking request. Also; our tour guide told us NOT to use the launderettte down the street from the hotel (some prior tour members had their clothes cooked in the dryer!). There is another small convenient launderette near the hotel; ask the staff for further directions. Gelato across the street and Michelangelo right around the corner! Can it get any better??????
454952,oxfordcook,06/21/2007,the Accademia a great location This hotel is located near the San Lorenzo market for open air shopping at the numerous vendor stalls selling everything:shoes; clothing; jewelry; and leather. The Mercato Centrale is a few minutes away. The Duomo; train station and some other sites are not too far. Also a good restaurant is located next door. The staff makes this place a great place to stay. They are very helpful and bend over backwards to accommodate you. The rooms are clean and the cleaning staff does a great job.
454952,LJBmonterey,06/04/2007,Hotel quality expected for Europe We stayed for three nights in May. The hotel was about average Location was great! The bathroom is a bit small in width even for Europe. Was fairly clean. There is construction next door that made for very loud mornings. Lots of noise in the streets early in the mornings as well.
454952,doutravel,01/05/2007,A good compromise We have just spent 2 days in this hotel. Florence is a very expensive town so the accademia hotel is a great compromise for those who doesn't want to spend all their budget in the hotel. Before going to Italy we had checked the price on the hotel website and it was 75鈧?per night for the first week of January but we did not book. Once arrived at the hotel; the price suggested by the receptionist was 90鈧? After a couple of minutes we finely paid 75鈧?per night.The room was charmless but extremely clean; calm and spacious (as well as the private bathroom). The hotel is located in the historical center of the town so it very convenient..The only think that we did not appreciate was the price of the garage (24鈧?per day!!!!) whereas the hotel is supposed to have an agreement with this garage. Except that everything was perfectly find.
454952,Valorous,12/17/2006,Great experience! The Accademia is a quaint hotel with a lot of character and was a great place to stay - once we moved from a room that faced the street to one that faced the interior! Our first night; we were awoken at 4:00 am by the noise of vendors setting up and supplying the local shops. The staff were helpful in setting us up with another room. The rooms were spacious and the bathrooms very nice and well-equipped. We visited in December and it was cold; and we found that by law they could only run the heat certain hours of the day - so by American standards it was a bit chilly. The staff were very helpful and reasonably fluent in English. The breakfast; included in the rate; was OK. The hotel is situated in a great area if you like to shop; a major clothing and tourist merchandise market is only a block away; it is also situated well for those who prefer exploring the art and architecture of Florence. We would stay there again - if we could book the quiet rooms.
454952,SoCalDixieGal,12/01/2006,Great budget hotel I stayed at this hotel recenty as part of a small tour; they also accomodated my extra nights. The hotel is in a great location. 5 minute walk from train station and just a few minutes away from most major sites. Just off the Piazza for the Medici Chapel.My room was in the back and I packed a little heavier than I should have so did have to drag my luggage around. Each room is a little different. Mine was average size by European standards with a small bathroom. My shower was directly over the toilet but it was fine for a single person. Wouldn't want to share this kind of bathroom as drying off the toilet for the next person would be a pain. Other people in our group had larger rooms; and really nice bathrooms. The window overlooked a small tiny courtyard; and while there wasn't much exterior light; it was nice and dark at night. I didn't have much outside noise. Yes; other windows are close; but I kept the exterior shutters closed and it wasn't a problem. Some of the folks in the front had street noise at night. Breakfast was fine. Pretty basic but more than adequate. Breakfast isn't a big meal in Italy so save yourself for lunch dinner. The staff are all incredibly gracious. Remember to leave your key at the front when you leave the hotel. In Italy you aren't meant to take the key with you. We learned from our guide; that in Italy the electricity is government regulated so most air conditioning and heat doesn't operate 24 hours a day. They will turn off at night - additionally; no mater what; you will never get your room American cold with the AC in the summer so don't even try.They do provide hair dryers if you need it; and I'd recommend that you bring your own soap; shampoo etc. Also; the wine bar on the right corner is fabulous and has great sandwiches; coffee and wine. Internet cafe just down the street (left) is convenient as is the great little market left -then left again.
454952,Mymmeli,11/24/2006,Good budget hotel I stayed in this hotel on July 2006 with my partner. The hotel is a good budget choice; our room was clean and ok. The hotel is a bit worn but it didn't bother us. The staff was nice. Breakfast could have been better; it consisted of bread roll; juice; coffee/tea. Also the air condition in our room didn't work as well as it could have worked.Our room lacked natural light - our window was looking on a sort of chasm which was quite dark also during the daytime - and opposite to our window there was a window to another room which was only about 2 metres away so we didn't want to keep the shutter open. The location of this hotel is very central; it is only about 5-10 minutes away from central train station and Il Duomo by walk.
454952,lgxtripboston,11/10/2006,Ok Hotel - People were Nice Property Location: Centrally located - 15 minute walk from train station; Duomo and Central Market. There are no elevators in the hotel and there is also a long flight of stairs before you get to the reception. So if you have a lot of luggage or heavy luggage you should take this into account.The room we had was not very large but the AC worked and we were there in October but the weather was summer-like and the AC was very necessary. As well; there were mosquitoes so we could not sleep with the windows open (plus the noise some nights gets quite loud - we had earplugs with the windows closed and could still hear). **We were told that Florence is mosquito-y in general and that it is not a problem necessarily with this hotel.There is no Internet access for guest use - but there are internet cafes nearby (5 minutes walk). You will need your passport to gain internet access in Italy (anti-terrorism laws).The bath room was small; toiletries given was very basic. The bathroom can emit and odor so remember to shut the door when u leave the hotel - and that seemed to help a lot.All in all; the hotel is very basic (from the breakfast; rooms; bathrooms etc.); but the central location and helpful front desk people were great. I think this hotel is especially perfect for those of the mindset that the hotel is just a place to sleep in - you are not looking for luxury just the basic comforts and helpful front desk personnel.
454952,mrgnk,10/08/2006,Good place; Great Location The hotel is very conveniently located; a short walk from the SMN Railway station and the Duomo. Our room was big and the airconditioning worked well. The bathroom was also very big. We had an inside room on the first floor; so not too much climbing and no noise; though no outside view either. The breakfast was good; usual croissants; cheese; fruit etc. The management were very helpful especially Paolo and the smiling lady whose name I didn't catch. They made our bookings for the museums ( a must unless you like queueing up for hours ); helped us look for another hotel ( they were fully booked one night of our stay ) and even kept a bag for us for a couple of nights while we went visiting San Gimignano.Very convenient for a tourist; and would definately reccomend it.
454952,ATripAdvisorMember,06/24/2006,Great hotel; great location I stayed one night at the Accademia Hotel; on my own; before meeting friends in Florence and touring Tuscany. I followed the directions on the website from the SMN station and fund the hotel easily. The staff were all very friendly and my room was lovely. I paid 75 Euros for a single room but actually had a double bed which was great. Bathroom was fabulous and I had air-con as well; which was a bonus because it was stonkingly hot in Florence that day!The hotel is up stairs and I was on the top floor with no lift; but that wasn't a problem for me. My room was very quiet with only the slamming of others doors to bother me (always take earplugs when sleeping in hotels lol!). The hotel is very well placed to wander around Florence but it's not in the 'best' parts of town but I felt perfectly safe wandering about in the late evening.I would recommend this hotel to anyone and I would stay again if visiting Florence again.
454952,oregongirl2005,05/28/2006,Decent hotel I stayed at this hotel as part of a tour in May 2006. It is in a great location for Florence; near the Central Market and walking distance to most of the main tourist sights. It is located next to the 鈥淢useum of Torture鈥?but don鈥檛 let that deter you; it makes it easier to find. Many; many US college students in the area; giving it a somewhat surreal feeling you鈥檝e not left home. On the plus side; Internet cafes all over the place. The rooms were very clean and pretty spacious (I was in a triple). Terribly noisy on garbage day because my room faced a street (others in the group had courtyard facing rooms and had no noise issues). Decent breakfast; although one morning the coffee was stone cold. There is a lovely internal courtyard to have a pre-dinner drink or just to relax.
454952,ERRN95,04/03/2006,Pleasurable experience We stayed at the Accademia for two nights; apparently special rate of 75 euros; which was nice after Rome prices. The hotel is within walking distance from the train station; and pretty much walking distance to everything else. Nice clean room; confusing hotel floor plan; good breakfast. Irish Pub a couple of doors up. We had no trouble with smells or noise. It was pretty cold in Florence in mid march. Hotel clerk turned us on to a great restaurant. I fell for the steak Florentine; which was a good steak; but just a char broiled porterhouse which you can get anywhere in the US. Not exactly the kind of food I went to Italy to experience. I would stay in this hotel again. Staff member ran out after us to give us an item of clothing that was left in room. A pleasant experience.
454952,ATripAdvisorMember,01/20/2006,I would came back We have had a great stay at the Hotel Accademia in Florence. We had a 4 nights stay; our room was big and clean. The breakfast was like in a 3 star hotel.Staff absolutely friendly; they made for us the reservation at Uffizi and Galleria Accademia.Great position
454952,Kimberly1881,11/29/2005,Enjoyed our stay Hotel Accademia was a nice hotel on a street that was well kept up. We stayed for 2 nights and the room was bright with nicely painted walls. The bathroom was wonderful with a light that was automatic. The room was small; which is expected but the bathroom was spacious. Breakfast was enjoyable with coffee; 1 roll; 1 croissant; coffee/juice; etc. I would definitely stay here again. Based on the previous review; perhaps we had an inside room. It was room 3 right off the main lobby; which was quiet. Note: There is a 1:00 am curfew.
454952,ATripAdvisorMember,08/02/2005,Great hotel!! We stayed two nights in the Hotel Accademia in Florence; and we loved it there! Close to the station; lots of market stalls; and easy walking distance to everywhere else. The staff were friendly and helpful; the room clean and comfortable; the windows and shutters made the room very cool and quiet - we slept like logs. We would recommend this hotel and definitely stay there again.
454952,ATripAdvisorMember,06/21/2005,Smelly Just returned from a fabulous trip to Italy but unfortunately the low point of the trip was the Hotel Accademia. The hotel seemed fine (room was ok; bathroom clean) but the sewer smell was overpowering. We thought maybe this was coming from the street but realized quickly that it was coming from the drains in the bathroom after we openned the door to the bathroom (the bathroom itself was clean; the smell was from the drains in the bathroom). Air conditioning was useless since it was impossible to be in the room without the windows open. Other areas of the hotel did not smell - it seemed to be only in the area around the room. Would suggest making sure the room does not smell before you consider a room here.
454952,gopatriots,05/20/2005,The front desk made an effort. Well; we were actually assigned the largest; quietest suite in the hotel. It was great except the smell of smoke was overpowering. We were moved to the very noisy; room next to the back alley. We asked to be moved again and was shown 2 other choices. We picked the room off the lobby and were very happy with the choice. That all happened in the 1st 2 hours. The hotel was not crowded so we were lucky to be able to switch. We did ask for non-smoking and the room was designated non-smoking but I guess policies aren't enforced. The room was pretty standard; the shower sprays all over the bathroom floor; but it worked out fine. The hotel itself is in a great location. We walked everywhere. The train station is a 5 minute walk. The hotel clerk recommended the Za Za restaurant and it was really great. The breakfast was fine; same as the other 2 hotels we stayed in. All in all it was a good experience.
454952,knitsafghans,03/27/2005,Nice budget choice; but can be noisy We stayed here for 1 night. Pretty hotel in a remodeled old old building. Next to the medieval torture museum (kids laughed about that). Well located for sightseeing. (We arrived late afternoon and still made it into the Uffizi.) Up a long staircase to desk; beautiful stained glass entry (which we were told is locked late at night). We had a quad room which was plainly but nicely painted and decorated and was also quite clean. Ok - the bad parts - the neighborhood gets a bit dicey after about 9 or 10pm and the street noise continues loud pretty late. I told the kids to pretend someone had left the TV on to an HBO special: Druggies and their Motor Scooters. Much laughter before we finally got to sleep (which we did albeit later than normal). Would I stay here again? - sure; but I'd try for an interior room.
454952,lewishogs,03/21/2005,Noisy - could not sleep at all! My husband and I stayed at the Hotel Accademia for one night in early March; 2005. We did not have a reservation and walked there from the train station. Using Rick Steves book; we chose this hotel. We were pleasantly surprised when the desk clerk said it would only be 80 euros; but then we were put in room #2 overlooking a busy street. We thought we could handle the street noise; but around midnight; the samba club directly across the street started picking up. Around 3:30 am; my husband and I got up to look out the window because the noise was getting louder and louder. There were probably 100 or more partiers in the street directly under our window. Music; sirens; singing...it never stopped. The next day we moved to the delightfully quiet Residenza Il Villino and then wasted our first day in Florence napping at our new hotel. The Hotel Accademia was not on the side of the tourist area I would have preferred to stay on - Florence is nicer closer to the river or north of the duomo. The bed was uncomfortable. Things were clean; but the bedding was old and we had a hard time trying to figure out how to turn off the light in the bathroom. The staff was very nice; however. Not the worst hotel ever; and if you had an interior room it might be okay; but I would not stay here again.
454952,ATripAdvisorMember,11/23/2004,Okay for the money... Stayed at the Hotel Accademia for 3 nights in mid November 2004. The room was decent; clean and relatively quiet. The bathroom was huge by Italy standards and very updated. The location was great; would stay here again.
454952,finickytripper,10/23/2004,Average for the price Stayed at a variety of hotels in Italy; Germany and Switzerland; most within the 100-150 Euro range; and this was probably the least attractive for the price (140 Euro). Had a quiet; clean room in the inner part of the building; air conditioning worked well; and was centrally located to sights and the train station. However; the room was among the most plain-looking of those we stayed in; and the bathroom left something to be desired. It was the only in this price range in which one shared the shower with a toilet. The floor plan; as Rick Steves mentions; is boggling and a little annoying for the tired traveler. One nice touch: the staff pointed us to a small stash of guide books they loaned for free to help appreciate the local museums.
454952,kmozena,09/27/2004,not so sure about this one... We stayed for 2 nights at the end of August; and I'm not entirely sure that I would reccommend this hotel to anyone...The hotel itself was really neat-an old palace/mansion w/ a crazy floor plan. We stayed in room #1-Rooms #1 and #2 are right by the front desk-EXTREMELY noisy at night. The sheets were super scratchy and actually gave my husband and I both rashes; and the toilet ran all night long-I kept trying to convince myself it was a beautiful stream in a meadow-but w/ the front desk noise combined w/ a little jet lag sleep was difficult. But you get what you pay for-we only paid 90 euro a night. The other good things: Nice location; decent breakfast; good A/C.
454952,ATripAdvisorMember,05/20/2004,Wonderful; small hotel We spent 10 days at Hotel Accademia in late April-May. Excellent location; quiet at night;very clean;great bed and bathroom;good breakfast;taxes and service included plus the hotel owner and staff are very helpful and gracious. Several excellent restaurants within easy walking distance:Trattoria Antellesi (right outside entrance to hotel) on Via Faenza and Porcuspino-(porcupine) trattoria around the corner. One of Rick Steeves tour groups stayed there for a few days. We walked all over the city; took public bus to Fiesole for the day and the train to Pietra Santa-marble carving area.; and also joined a tour group to Siena and San Gimigniano for a day. Easy walk to train station. Hotel staff can get reservations for you at Uffizi; so no waiting in lines. We would strongly recommend this hotel .....
454952,jean14,11/20/2008,chaleureuse!!!! showReview(22033018; 'full');
454952,lass,04/10/2008,Tout 茅tait parfait: accueil... showReview(16726470; 'full');
454952,lass,04/07/2008,Cet hotel typiquement florentin... showReview(16726930; 'full');
454952,lass,03/11/2008,Abbiamo passato solo una notte... showReview(16725085; 'full');
454952,jordi75,01/20/2008,Perfecto!!! showReview(12818692; 'full');
454952,KIKEMadrid,04/10/2007,Maravilloso hotel showReview(7313490; 'full');
454952,lass,03/03/2007,H么tel central donnant sur rue... showReview(11384124; 'full');
454952,lass,01/25/2007,Visto dalle foto; mi aspettavo... showReview(11384125; 'full');
454952,lass,11/05/2006,Mi sembra un buon hotel. Ho... showReview(11384126; 'full');
454952,lass,04/03/2006,Ottima posizione per... showReview(11384127; 'full');
454952,lass,02/23/2006,Tr猫s agr茅ablement surprise par... showReview(11384128; 'full');
454952,lass,01/17/2005,Ottimo soggiorno in pieno... showReview(11384129; 'full');
454952,lass,12/23/2003,Piuttosto fastidioso il bagno... showReview(11384130; 'full');
455460,CamWh,12/21/2008,Not regrets about being different Possibly the best validation of the high marks I have seen written about the Luxe Manor by previous clients on tripadvisor.com; was the praise of my boutique-hotel-weary wife.Most likely to gravitate to the larger hotels and known names in hospitality; she was really pleasantly surprised by the overall package; from the courteous and resourceful staff; to the great location; and everything in between.We made our booking through wotif.com; after discovering the other major websites were priced within HKD20 per night. We regularly use wotif.com; and have so far had satisfactory results with no screw-ups.We stayed at the LM for six nights. On arrival; we were upgraded from a Superior (240 sq feet) room to a Deluxe (320 sq feet) room (on the 6th floor)! This was an outstanding introduction; but meant we missed the opportunity to check out the smallest room in the hotel for when we inevitably return under less grand circumstances (read: not honeymoon).I am a breakfast type of guy and my wife is more of a late-starter. However; we rolled into the Aspasia restaurant (set out as a buffet for breakfast) at 10am most mornings; and never felt rushed by the staff to leave at 10:30 (breakfast closing time). In fact; food kept on being replenished the whole time; unlike other hotels that make closing time palpable; by loudly setting-down 30 minutes before closing. For me; a self-confessed continental breakfast afficianado; the range was about a 6 out of 10. There is a half-decent espresso machine; that is regularly emptied of spent pellets and cleaned; lovely bircher muesli; nice yoghurts; fresh tropical fruit salad; whole fruits (apples; pears; kiwi); juices and breads. Bacon; eggs; grilled vegetables and pastries also feature for people that enjoy a cooked breakfast. On Saturday morning; the restaurant was packed; so we shared a table with two other couples. No matter; it added to the fun; and the staff where meticulously mannered; as always.We dined at the LM's Italian-themed Aspasia restaurant on our second evening. It is apparently headed by a Michelin-starred chef. Three courses and HKD1200 later; we both left feeling quite unimpressed. I won't go into detail; but save your money and visit the restaurant strip which runs directly behind the LM.; inhabitated by Italian; Thai; Modern Chinese; Indian; (etc; etc) restaurants of good quality.Sitting at HKG airport; I realise that I need to check in for the flight back to Sydney. If I get a chance to add to these comments soon; I will. I'm not normally one to bother commenting on something as commoditised as accommodation; but such was the impression made by the LM
455460,PetekAtes,12/14/2008,Overall is good Exellent Location; only few steps away from Nathan road. Tsim Tsa Tsui metro station is about 300 m. but there is no view at all.. Although our room was premier it was tiny with a tiny double bed. We changed room to twin beds which was bigger. Our room was at 4th floor and the noise was unbearable at the night. Hotel and rooms are stylish and different. Cable Internet connection s 100 HKD per night.Staff is excellent. Hotel has a very good Italian restautrant. Breakfast has many choises. But If I go to HK again I'll choose a room with view and bigger rooms.
455460,MBWSydney,11/02/2008,A good option I visit Hong Kong 3 or 4 times a year for business normally stay over at the Hyatt; but decided to try The Luxe Manor after hearing some good things about the hotel.In terms of location; The Luxe Manor sits just off Nathan Road is a short walk to the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. Kimberley Rd itself is safe the neighbourhood has a great selection of restaurants bars; particularly in the Knutsford Steps precinct behind the hotel.The hotel is compact; like everything in HK; but offers great decor which adds Dali-esque touches to its contemporary boutique aesthetic. The staff are accommodating helpful as are the room keys which auto-select your room floor when you enter the elevator. The rooms are again fairly compact so my suggestion would be to go for the largest that the budget will accommodate. The superior rooms I saw looked like a single person option with very limited floor space; so maybe bear that in mind if you're a couple with plans for shopping. My (studio) room was clean; had great decor an excellent bathroom with rain shower. The hotel offers complimentary breakfast a nightly delivery of home-made sweets as part of the turn-down service; which is a nice touch. There is a (tiny) gym onsite; but a better option is the nearby Fitness First.If you're looking for something with more imagination flair than your regular hotel; The Luxe Manor certainly delivers.
455460,JoSpy,10/29/2008,Luxe Manor Room
455460,werenasong,10/09/2008,A great hotel! A great little hotel located about 10 mins walk from TST MRT station. I loved the kitsch dog lamps and big bureau housing the mini bar! The rooms are a little small; but are fine and make the most of the space with a flat screen tv and shower rooms without baths. The shower was excellent after a day wandering around in the heat of Hong Kong! We stayed for two weeks and always enjoyed coming back to the hotel about a long day of sightseeing! Breakfast can be a bit repetitive after two weeks but the food is always fresh and kept stocked. Staff at breakfast are polite and efficient; almost a little too efficient at the clearing away of plates! One of the best things about the hotel is the fact that it is quiet despite its location and its lack of package tour customers. Reception was generally quiet and breakfast did not turn into a scrum for the food. I would definitely stay here again if I were to go back to HK!
455460,DLPA,10/02/2008,Brilliant hotel; shame there's no pool though. The easiest way to the hotel from the airport would be to take the free shuttle from Kowloon station. Unfortunately this shuttle is infrequent and doesn't run during late hours; so we took a taxi which whisked us there within 10 minutes.This hotel looks fabulous on the outside as well as on the inside. Located along the busy cafe-filled Kimberly Road and directly beneath trendy Knutsford Terrace; the hotel is in a comfortable in-between if you're looking for a weekend away without busting the bank to stay on Hong Kong island.The service here is good; proven especially by the restaurant staff who still served us despite being in the midst of shutting down the breakfast counter. The breakfast itself was average; but came inclusive with the rooms - I only stayed for 3 days so it wasn't quite enough time to get sick of the food.The rooms are very clean and perfect for maximum of 2 people (if more than 2 make sure you book one of the deluxe rooms!). The bathrooms are teeny but very well decorated. Absolutely love the shower's sparkly floors and the rain showerhead! View was nothing to speak of but if you really wanted view you'd have to pay a bomb at the intercontinental.Proximity to TST MTR is good which makes travelling anywhere easy!All in all a great place to stay apart from the lack of a pool - but on a weekend trip who has time to swim anyway?
455460,cavignan,10/02/2008,Great magical place! Bed
455460,LETAus,09/29/2008,Fantastic little hotel-recommended!!! My boyfriend and I spent New Years in Hong Kong and booked 6 nights at The Luxe. I had read good reviews on the tripadvisor website so was keen to see if it would meet my expectations.I have to say this boutique hotel is fabulous and overall exceeded my expectations (apart from a slight hiccup at the start!). Upon arrival we were presented with a standard room and although we were delighted with the funky decor-the room had a strong stench of smoke. Disappointed; I immediately went down to reception to complain that we had requested a NON smoking room and that this was not acceptable. The man at reception responded immediately apologising and said he would find us a more suitable room and to wait at the room and he would return shortly. Within 5 mins he was back and said he had another standard room to show us. This room was on a higher floor with a better view and was much cleaner and fresher. We happily accepted the roomI!!I honestly can say this was the beginning of the exceptional service we recieved from the staff at The Luxe. Honestly they went out of there way to bring a smile to our face. Whenever we asked for room service; directions; restaurant recommnedations etc they were more than helpful to accomodate our requests. Once I accidently locked the room safe and couldnt remember the code. They had to get someone in to reset it and I was sure we would be charged extra; but they just laughed and said not to worry that it happens all the time-easily fixed!!We got the standard room and it was big enough for both of us and our luggage and we loved the little ornamantal lamps in the room; the plasma TV; and overall decor. Very funky different. The rain shower in the bathroom was a delight! We also enjoyed the little afternoon snacks they would leave in our room. The location of the hotel is perfect and we found it central to everything in Kowloon. We were able to walk to all the sights. And there are plenty of great restuarants and bars around the hotel.Breakfast was ample and had a good selection. I liked being able to have my eggs freshly cooked the way I like them. There was not much other hot food but a plentiful selection of salmon; cheese; cold meats; cereals and fruit yogurt. For us it was great and food was always fresh and regularly replenished. You must try the muesli-its delicious!!! The waiters were most helpful and recognised us each morning and saved our favourite table for us!In all we loved the Luxe Manor Hong Kong and the 6 days we spent there. From the beginning the staff were so helpful and we felt like kings in our little funky posh pad!! If I had one minor complaint it would be that occasionally our swipe card would not work and had to be fixed at reception; but that was only a minor inconvenience. Other than that everything was wonderful.I would highly recommend this hotel experience.
455460,Vanian,09/24/2008,Something different Stayed here for 3 nights on a stopover as we fancied something different to your usual large hotel.We had a deluxe room which was a good size. The room decoration was fun and kooky with great attention to detail.The staff were friendly but struggled a bit with english. We had some problems connecting to the hotel's Wifi; but they sent someone to sort it out very quickly. Fantastic location in Kowloon and nice breakfast.Tip - catch the free shuttle bus from the Airport Express train to get to the hotel.
455460,candishhh,09/19/2008,Hotel is okay BUT there were hassles.. The hotel is nice; new and very modern. I was impressed with the interiors and the look of the hotel. Unfortunately; I found that the front desk staff were a little snobbish and not warm (compared to the other hotels) The just looked at us and waited for us to bring ourselves to the desk for assisstance. The door man/bell person did not even smile - AT ALL!! re: the luggage - I had to ask them how it will be brought up! They did not even ask us which lugages were ours! Tsk.. Tsk..I hated the fact that our room keys were not working! We had to go to the front desk every day at least 3x a day to have the keys validated/updated/scanned. There was one time on of the staff did not believe that the keys were not working!One thing I liked was the staff at the 1/F restaurant during breakfast - they were so friendly and helpful!! They were very attentive and so willing to help!!The location is alright. Could be better. But alright I guess. There are nearby shops (that are bridal shops!) traffic on the road where this hotel sits is quite heavy.
455460,LosHombresFlacos,08/30/2008,Loved the Luxe Manor - Great Location Std Room
455460,jltdf,08/26/2008,Pretty nice Boutique Hotel Design Lamp!
455460,trevostar,08/20/2008,Was so happy here I didn't want to leave Bedroom
455460,TDexpats,08/15/2008,Not quite Saint Martin Lane London This hotel is about as far from a quality boutique hotel as you can get. You arrive and it all looks ok and then you meet the staff. Unfortunately; they think they own the place. A blank stare greets you. I don't know about you but I'm ready to slap any front of house staff that takes that tone. Don't arrive early because you will be promptly told to go for a walk until a room is available. Ok I understand that the rooms may not be available when you arrive at around 12.00 noon but normally you're politely asked to take a seat and relax until the room is ready. Why do these new boutique hotel always allow photo shoots to happen in their lobby when paying guest are arriving and would like to use the seating provided. The film crew had taken over the whole lobby and there was no where to sit. The rooms have nothing to do with S.Dali. He would roll over and die again if he knew his name was attached to this place. Dali's art was clever and resolved. The room we stayed in was silly and had been decorated by a uni student who liked the idea of creating some crazy. The restaurant operator is obviously not attached to the hotel. The breakfast was quite good. Yes the muesli is excellent. They should clean the domestic espresso machine though because the coffee become incredibly bitter if they are not pulled apart and washed thoroughly often. I've got the same one at home and if don't do this the coffee is terrible which was the case at the Luxe. Stick to the English Tea. We booked for 2 nights and got the hell out of there after one night.
455460,lionlocks,07/28/2008,Outstanding service Was so impressed by this hotel I wanted to make sure I wrote a review. After 12 hours on a plane from Europe we arrived before check-in only to have the staff try and find us a room early so we could freshen up. Outstanding. During our short stay I was constantly surprised by the level of service. Adaptors for appliances; no problem. Ironing board; no problem. Reservations and bookings; no problem. Wonderful. The decor as mentioned by others is certainly different. Not my cup of tea; but appreciated the individuality. Not sure what other reviewers were saying about the room size. I booked a Premier room (second smallest available) and it was more than ample. Definitely spacious enough for two people. Breakfast was also great. Lots of healthy selections as well as some hot offerings! Great location and for the price I would definitely stay there again. Book this hotel. You won't be disappointed.
455460,Cebuana77,07/28/2008,Good Location My partner and I stayed at the Luxe Manor for 4 nights. The best thing about it is its location. Right smack in Kowloon; along Kimberly Road which is walking distance from malls; small street shops; and restaurants. The service was efficient; but was a bit disappointed when they couldnt really help me when I asked assistance for a birthday cake. The room was clean; decor was funky; but was a wee bit too tiny for us. My partner and I hardly fit in the small/soft double bed and our feet was always dangling...mind you; we are not big people. We couldnt even use the bathroom together without bumping into each other or without bumping into a corner. But it just made us laugh; we had comic moments. The breakfast was very simple; paper napkins; and food that didnt really require cooking skills..nothing fancy at all. They are also renovating; so the hammering and drilling woke us up every morning at 930am which wasnt too bad..it served as an alternate alarm clock since the alarm clock they gave us in the room wasnt working. Over all its a good hotel. I wasnt too disappointed. But its not what we expected from an SLH property.
455460,Justine04,06/10/2008,Fantastic Service and Location My boyfriend and I stayed for 10 nights at the Luxe Manor and it was fantastic. The bus from the Airport Express stops directly outside and porters were extremely efficient. Check in was easy and we were shown directly to our room. The rooms look exactly like the pictures on the website but started to feel a bit small and cluttered once my shopping bags started collecting. The decor is whimsical and amusing and helped me remember I wasn't on a business trip. Although the amenities in this hotel would be great if I were.The room was clean and housekeeping were very good. The bathroom was well set up and looks great. just enough room for 2 people at once.Breakfasts were nice; served in a gorgeous room and great service. The breads and pastries were great and I enjoyed the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs each day. The staff were friendly and helpful; providing information for us and booking great tables at popular restaurants on busy nights.Fantastic Hotel with spectacular service.
455460,HiBeautifulLife,05/30/2008,As beautiful as the photos I love this hotel. This is the hotel which is as beautiful as its photos.Will come back to stay if I got a good discount!! :)
455460,garybelan,05/01/2008,Fabulous! On arrival at Hong Kong Airport I took the train to Kowloon Station and then the shuttle bus from there. Very easy.The Luxe Manor is in a very convenient location in Kowloon. Close to all the shopping and the subway. Staff were welcoming and efficient. I wish more hotels would take the Luxe's lead and include internet availability as an amenity not an extra.My first reaction on seeing the room was the designer had been on drugs. Very strong drugs!It may not be everyone's taste but it is great to see something different and I liked it. The room was small but very well designed; clean and efficient. I loved the bathroom.I used the gym. It's not for Arnold Schwarzenegger but it was enough for me.I thought breakfast was great and don't know what other reviewers were complaining about.I also had dinner at Aspasia. Expensive but outstanding service and one of the most delicious meals I've enjoyed in a long time. I can't wait to go back to the Luxe and highly recommend it.
455460,Leer,04/30/2008,Loved the Luxe Manor My sister and I stayed at the Luxe Manor in February - she stayed for 5 nights and I stayed for 2 before we moved to the Island. We have been to Hong Kong every year for about the last 20 years and nearly always split the trip between Kowloon and the Island side. We love both sides equally so this saves a lot of trips back and forwards.This was our first stay at the Luxe Manor and we both really loved it. Quirky is a good desciption. Compact rooms but we rarely spend a lot of time in the hotel rooms anyway. The location could not be faulted and the service was terrific. The breakfast room is lovely and whilst the selection is not huge we were more than satisfied each day. There is no view but that is why it is so reasonable. A very good value hotel unlike some of the other hotels we have stayed in previously. We do love 5 star but the value just isn't there when you spend all day out shopping and every evening at restaurants eating the amazing food. Knutsford Terrace with a good selection of restaurants is very close (although doesn't quite compare to Lan Kwai Fong on the island).
455460,DADeetz,03/28/2008,Great Value and Clean!!! This was a wonderful experience in a very busy city. The hotel is almost new. The decor is really out there and not my style; (i.e. ultra modern and artistic as decribed on thier web site) but immaculate and comfortable. We had a superior room that for Hong Kong (Kowloon) was a terrific buy at $173 per night. It included a very nice breakfast and wi fi. Location is superb for shopping and sightseeing. We also opted for the HK$550 limo service that they offered (@$USD70). It was only about $15 more than a taxi and they picked us up in a brand new Mercedes S class car; loaded our luggage from the airport to the car and put it in the lobby of the hotel for us to check in. After 15 hours of flying; it was a welcome experience and well worth the money. We thought is was a good enough value that we opted to do the same on the return. There is also a high speed train that is very reasonable; but we had 4 good size pieces of luggage so that was out for us. The hotel is wonderful; the personel are most helpful and speak English very well and the restaurant is top qualitiy; but not a great value. I recommed this hotel.
455460,JohnGregory,03/24/2008,Great Location and good product The room was a bit on the small side; as mentioned in previous reviews; but fine in comparison to other big cities. We had a superior room and the design was quirky; good bathroom shower and overall good facilities. Breakfast was good too; can't understand previous reviews; unless you expect a 'full English' fry up in Hong Kong. Nice scrambled eggs and smoked salmon; fresh juices; fresh yogurts and variety of cheeses. Excellent muesli choice too.Overall good experience and great location.
455460,Redhowie,03/12/2008,Great Location We have never been to Asia before and so didn't know what to expect. The Luxe Manor hotel is small; friendly; clean; comfortable; and located in a good spot for tourists. When we arrived we were told we had been upgraded to a larger room. The bedroom/storage was quaint and adequate; the bathroom/shower great. I wouldn't have liked to have been in a smaller room though; as there was not a great deal of space as it was. However; we soon got used to it and settled in (as you do after the first night!). Breakfast was limited but of high standard and fresh. The staff are all eager to please; and will offer good advice when planning your days activities. There is no bar if you like a nightcap. Always the mini-bar I suppose.Hong Kong is fab. There are lots of interesting things to do and places to visit. Just being there was exciting for us. Getting your bearings and getting to know how best to move around (MTR underground; cheap; reliable; quick; clean and busy) is fun. As with all cities the money you spend will depend on the choices you make. We ate in a couple of cheap chinese restaurants which were a little disappoining; but had great food elsewhere. There are so many places to eat in this vast city. Overall we had a fantastic stay. 5 nights was just enough.
455460,needcaffeine,03/05/2008,Funky! LCD TV
455460,HLChang,02/11/2008,unique! this hotel is indeed unique in decoration; very excellent in location (in between TST and Jordan station); and very clean.Overall; we were not dissapointed; except for one issue: we stayed there for 3 nights; enjoyed the service and desearts they provided every evening...except for the last night--there was no desert on the table; when we returned to the hotel at 10pm; and no complimentary bottle water. The staff were helpful; water was sent within 5 minutes. The same thing happened to our children's room that evening. Wonder what the problem was.But it is really a unique hotel; the decoration were eye opening; and breakfast was ok (tho' limited in choices).We would recommend this hotel to anyone that is fed up with the usual decoration of big chain hotel; which is always dull...
455460,Lana0273,01/17/2008,Great hotel!!! This hotel is really great.... unique style (a little bit like Versace style); great location for shopping (located directly in Kowloon where your credit card starts to glow); the rooms are new; very modern and absolutely perfect! Hotel staff does not speak English very well; but when I became ill (terrible influenza) they recommend a health center across the street as this only charges EUR 30 i/o EUR 300 if the hotel calls a doctor. This was really a great recommendation and 1 staff even accompanied us to the doctor.The little minus is the breakfast as the choice is quite poor; but they refill all plates very quickly. Great value for money!
455460,Fryn,12/15/2007,Love the treats twice a day! The hotel decor is what attracted me to this hotel and the fact that they included breakfast in the price. I loved the hotel room and I found all the staff to be friendly and helpful.The treats left in the room were such a nice touch and very tasty.The shower was also really good.I thought the location was excellent. You could walk to nathan Road and Knutsford terrace had some really good restaurants and bars.Anyone going to Hong Kong should pick up the 3 day Octopus card at the airport as it is a must for travelling on the subway and getting on the airport express.
455460,ArleneL,12/09/2007,A perfect little hotel I have just returned from a stay at the Luxe Manor and wanted to let everyone know what a treat it was to stay at this boutique hotel. The individual touch was apparent and attention to detail was consistent from the unique design; the cleanliness and room service through to all interactions with the staff. It is apparent that the staff is well trained and very professional.The premier rooms are on the small side. Book the deluxe if you are two people with a lot of lugguge. If you have minimal luggage the premier would be fine. The Breakfast room was lovely and there was always a variety of food available. The location of the Hotel was great...easy walk to the MTR and to the waterfront; Star Ferry etc. I have tried to think of a criticism for this hotel and really could not find one.
455460,beauu,11/19/2007,Luv showerrr!!! room 809 rain fall shower
455460,OwlBarn,11/18/2007,The Luxe Manor - Unique Boutique Hotel Luxe Manor Hotel Kowloon9th to 16th November 2007We stayed in a Deluxe room which included breakfast; couldn't have asked for better service and friendliness from the staff. The decor of the hotel was unusual and interesting; the room was lovely; loved the 'rain' shower in the bathroom; very different. This hotel is very close to Nathan Road and also Knutsford Terrace which has a good selection of restaurants; it is also within walking distance of the harbour. The hotel only has 14 floors so if you don't like heights this hotel could be for you - highly recommend it. A trip to the Peak is a must; fantastic views; try to go both day and night you wont regret it.
455460,Dkissel,11/04/2007,Lovely! Great location; loved the decor and the little treats each daysent to the room were so nice! Would stay here again.Location was on Kimberly Road so all taxi driver's understoodwhere we needed to go if we said Kimberly Hotel...whichis right across the street. The street behind the hotel wasrestaurant row and we ate there several times. A Japaneserestaurant was close as well and food was great there too.
455460,MBBCW,10/30/2007,Luxe Manor fails to deliver MB Sydney; Australia We stumbled across the Luxe Manor and after reading the positive reviews decided to give it a try at the expense of the Grand Hyatt where we would normally stay whilst in HK. We payed for the top room- the Deluxe; in order to gain a bit more space and make the trip just that little more special. We checked in via the stuffy staff at reception and were taken to our room; a 3rd floor of 14 floors room which overlooked the aircon towers and the neighbouring building. I contacted reception prior to unpacking our bags thinking there must be some sort of mix up- we will try and sort something out sir was the response. To cut a long stort short; we did not hear from them again until we checked out and aside from breakfast which we rated as reasonable the place is lame. There is no Deluxe room; just a deluxe pricetag for a room which is no different to the others in the hotel. The service is average; the follow up non existent although the decor is somewhat funky and well done.If you want boutique that is done well ie/ Cote Cours hotels then you will sadly be disappointed with this Kowloon joke! 2 out of 10 and never again!
455460,PM2Sydney,10/08/2007,Fabulous Boutique Hotel Googling 'Boutique hotels' in Hong Kong I came across this gem and happily they had a 3 night special - the exact length of time I planned to stay. I'd always hoped to stay in one of the new style of modern 'designer' hotels and thought it beyond my reach - but this place is exceptional value. It has awesome decor (which admittedly will be very dated in 5 years' time - but right now; it's hot!) It is a true sanctuary; superbly located just a walk from the Star Ferry/ MTR etc. Stepping in off the busy street is such a relief. The staff - from the manager to the cleaners - are without fail polite; helpful and friendly. The rooms are funky; comfortable and spotless. Breakfast could be a little better; but that's about the only thing I could fault - the Luxe Manor is fantastic and a bargain - I won't be staying anywhere else in Hong Kong that is for sure.
455460,Incognitosu,09/27/2007,certainly feel the luxe experience Toilet
455460,MrAsia,09/15/2007,Fantastic new style Boutique property In Hong Kong there is a new style of hotel emerging and the Luxe Manor is at the top end of the scale! While light on facilities it more then makes up with very stylish rooms; great services- staff we that can do attitude and an amazing restaurant - Aapasia!Excellent location close to all the shopping along the Golden Mile of Nathan Road and great local dining and entertainment
455460,TCU2007,09/07/2007,A Feast in the Eye - The Luxe Manor Hotel HK Be impressed with the hotel's lobby - from the bell-adorned huge doors to the artsy mosaic floor; the unusual chandeliers and surreal sofas. The room decor and furnishing is funky; you will not mind the size of the room. Flat screen TV framed like a painting is creative and the faux fireplace is so cool. Bed linens are of high count to ensure sweet dreams. Bathroom design fixtures are modern with clean; fluffy towels. Room amenities are complete - wifi internet connection; wireless phone - you can't ask more. Turn in service can't be more pleasing: it includes bite-size cookies and cakes for midnight cravings. The Aspasia restausrant is tastefully decorated and the food and service is superb. Just behind the hotel is Knutsford Terrace where you can find a variety of good restaurants and bars. Conveniently located; the Kowloon park (where you can go swimming in the public pools) is just a walking distance. So is the the TST MRT station; China Ferry terminal; star ferry terminal and the world of shopping. Best of all; it is moderately priced. This boutiqe hotel sure provides the best value! The interactive TV is not very user-friendly. No CNN; MTV or HBP/movie channel. It takes time for you to get used to security elevators wherein you have to swipe/flash you room card before you can take the lift. Very minor setbacks.I am recommending this boutique hotel to everyone who's wary of the usual; standard hotels in Hongkong. For a change; this hotel stirs up some excitement! Even their website is unique. Check it out!
455460,toandfromtheairport,08/15/2007,A stunning boutique hotel that is now my favourite HK hotel Guest room
455460,Tmug,06/03/2007,Cozy Came back in the afternoon and found these waiting for me in my room!
455460,MarkandJo,05/19/2007,It's Certainly Different! showReview(7646008; 'full');
455460,SixtyDays,03/07/2007,Brand new designer hotel showReview(6926629; 'full');
455460,WERNERTURNER,08/15/2006,1970's Era basement apartment showReview(5615196; 'full');
455460,ATripAdvisorMember,04/09/2006,Don't Expect Too Much showReview(4953183; 'full');
455460,ATripAdvisorMember,04/05/2006,Great place to stay... showReview(4941490; 'full');
455460,ATripAdvisorMember,03/12/2006,Glad I chose this one showReview(4602324; 'full');
455460,Chichebuenosaires,01/04/2009,Un buena eleccion showReview(23247628; 'full');
455460,blamari,01/03/2009,銉戙儍銈便兗銈搞亴銇婂緱 showReview(23215652; 'full');
455460,lass,11/10/2008,銇嬨倧銇勩亜 showReview(22855444; 'full');
455460,lass,07/04/2008,higlly recommended showReview(18528665; 'full');
455460,lass,07/02/2008,銉囥偠銈ゃ兂銉涖儐銉?#x201d; showReview(19172313; 'full');
455460,ociosu,05/23/2008,Un buen hotel. cama
455460,lass,05/12/2008,perfetto showReview(16603997; 'full');
455460,lass,04/22/2008,excellent choice for business travellers showReview(15578487; 'full');
455460,miwa092,03/24/2008,hotel surfait showReview(14479201; 'full');
455460,lass,01/11/2008,骞存湯銉诲勾濮嬨€€銉炪偒銈兓棣欐腐銇銇ｃ仸鐫€銇俱仐銇熴€?#x201d; showReview(19167807; 'full');
455460,lass,12/03/2007,Non male showReview(18528666; 'full');
455460,lass,11/25/2007,si je reviens a hong konk;je reviens au luxe manor hotel!!!! showReview(11310673; 'full');
455460,lass,10/07/2005,銇俱亜銈娿伨銇椼仧 showReview(19155489; 'full');
455460,lass,12/22/2003,銉勩偆銉炽伄閮ㄥ眿銇儎銈兗... showReview(19923632; 'full');
455460,lass,11/10/2003,銉併儬銈点兗銉併儳銈ゃ兓銈兂... showReview(19922772; 'full');
455460,lass,03/24/2003,鍫存墍銇湴涓嬮墑銇皷娌欏拃... showReview(19917854; 'full');
455460,lass,02/20/2003,鎰涙兂銇偑銇勩儠銉兂銉堛亴... showReview(19917229; 'full');
455460,lass,02/07/2003,澶│銇ф梾琛屾檪銇娇鐢ㄣ仐... showReview(19916897; 'full');
456558,itraveltotravel,12/27/2008,Quiet; comfy; free Wi-Fi I've been staying at this hotel for several nights and am writing this review from their room while on my laptop just before I check out! There is 100% free wireless internet (ask at reception for the code) which you can access in your room - so it's perfect if you want to combine business with sightseeing.The staff are friendly and speak English. I chose a double room with a shared toilet and shower; never had to wait to use either and both were clean. The room I chose was actually quite large by Parisian standards (maybe because it hasn't got a bathroom) - there is room for a desk; open wardrobe; comfy double bed; two bedside tables; phone; a washing basin; luggage rack and safe; and still room to do sit-ups! The safe was deep enough to fit my 15-inch laptop. The room overall was very clean; fresh and tidy.Cons are few. The lift is rickety and gives an almighty jolt as it hits your floor which was disconcerting; and the breakfast is; in my opinion; overpriced so I didn't choose it (there are many restaurants and creperies outside and it's very close to the Blvd Haussmann and several Metro/bus stops). Also; the TV doesn't have English cable channels; but this is no big deal when there's so much to see outside (and free internet). But if you're with kids; don't channel surf at night as you may get a surprise - it appears some of the more adult channels are not censored.
456558,DwayneDibley,12/25/2008,Good Value I spent three nights at this Hotel in December for a getaway with my girlfriend. As most of the other reviews state; the rooms aren't huge; but are perfectly adequate given the price. Rooms were cleaned every day and were well heated.The location isn't too bad- a couple of Metro stations within 5 minutes and the centre of town within walking distance.The staff were universally friendly and can speak sufficient English.The rooms were advertised locally as being 160 Euros per night; the hotel doesn't justify this sort of money. I booked via an intermediary on the internet and paid considerably less as part of a package. At approximately 50 Euros per night; the place is outstanding value. I would have no hesitation in recommending this hotel to a friend and would happily stay there again in the event of my returning to Paris.
456558,ae398,12/03/2008,very good hotel for those on a small budget stayed for 4 nights in a double with shared bathroom. room was small but very clean and cosy. outside bathroom was always clean and i never had to wait to use it.staff speak english and are very helpful.you can leave bags before check-in (3pm) and after check out (12pm).Le Peletier metro is 2mins walk awayHard rock cafe is 5 mins away.
456558,SouthamFabrice,12/02/2008,Really nice hotel and good location After hours of web searching trying to elimiate all the bad and average hotels I found the Hotel Monte Carlo. The good reviews convinced me it could the one...and it was. My wife and I can only recommend this lovely hotel. Clean; friendly staff; nice decor; decent room size (bathroom was big)....all in all a pleasant stay. Do not hesitate.
456558,Limmon,11/24/2008,Great Value Hotel Nice; cheap and conveniently located hotel.The staff were friendly and the rooms while not big were by no means small. The bathroom was a comfortable size and the hotel was clean. I did not eat breakfast there as I would rather get out and about and have my breakfast in one of the many local cafes.It was only a 30 min walk from theLourve and with the Metro station almost by the door you were never far from anywhere. Would definitely recommend it to those on a budget.
456558,Octofuzz,11/07/2008,Not bad at all Good location; 5 minutes walk to a Metro station and 30 minute walk to the Louvre. The rooms were clean and the hotel staff friendly. The hotel was maybe a little expensive without breakfast but considering its location its comparitively cheap. My big moan about this was that the bathroom had a clear window that backed onto a buisness; this required various creative ways of blocking up the window to get some privacy when having a shower. Overall however not bad;
456558,cybergrrl6,10/20/2008,Great value; great staff Hotel Monte Carlo
456558,maria035,09/16/2008,Absolutely perfect! I choosed this hotel because the previous guests had a good experiance here; and I also wanted to find a place diffent from banal; usual; pale white walls in the room of any ordinary two stars hotel in Paris. Paris is an unforgetable capital and this hotel; named Monte Carlo; is remarkable! To describe it is to repeat again and again the other reviews. For me this place was bright and elegant; very warm and cosy. The theme of the hotel is cats ( they are everythere from entrance to the breakfast room. I suppose the owners adore them.) I brief; It was an absolutely great stay!
456558,VidaLocaRanch,09/15/2008,Small like in 'tiny'? First of all; I have never prepaid a hotel in full before I COULD EVEN SEE MY ROOM. Company policy; I was told. I did not like that at all.Then; small is being redefined here. We traveled by car; fortunately; we were able to leave suitcases and purchases in the car. Otherwise we'd have to choose: us or the suitcases in the room. On the plus side; they gave us room 203 which is quiet. The location is ok; yet there are no nice restaurants close. The place is clean. But for the money I'd like a couple of m2 more.The reviews here are overrated in my view.
456558,blhappypets,09/15/2008,Loved location; staff My boyfriend and I were on a European vacation; and this was our first place without our friends; and on our own with our French (luckily; I speak it; unfortunately; not that well). They staff was so nice (especially the woman at the front desk with the long blonde hair). We had a quiet room (interior; not facing the street). Comfortable room; clean bathroom/shower; maybe this is the norm; but free adult channels? Just an FYI. Free Wi-Fi in the lobby; and we did not have the breakfast there; we ventured out (excellent places nearby). I would return in a heartbeat to this hotel!
456558,HelenBristol,09/05/2008,Nice little hotel I booked this hotel because it had fab reviews was within my budget. I spent 4 nights at dream castle hotel (we did the Disney experience) 2 nights at Monte Carlo hotel visiting the tourist sights. The hotel was very easy to locate from Disney. RER to Auber then metro to Le Pelitier (not sure if spelt that right!) anyway it is pink line. Hotel is on a lovely little street with loads of resturants. The Japanese resturant is great so is Pizza place. We were in room 202 on 2nd floor. I must admit when we entered the room there was a musty smell. I think this is coming from bathroom which had no extractor fan just a small barred window which was left open. We had our own bathroom which had a bath with a shower over it. There was a separate shower cubicle in corner of bathroom but it was not in use. There is a safe in room which is handy also a lift as well as the stairs. I was expecting 3 single beds but I got what I thought was a double 2 singles. Actually my bed was 2 singles pushed together. I found this out half way thro night as my beds started to seperate!!!!!!!!!!! but I can't complain as I was expecting 3 singles. The receptionists are great; very friendly indeed. There is a great Hardrock cafe just at end of street. This hotel is so convenient for metro tourist spots. Great for visiting Louvre Pompidou centre as both are just a couple of stops on pink line. Hotel stored our bags on our last day as our flight was 9.55pm. I paid 258 euro for 2 nights for 3 people (triple room) not sure if this is bargain but as a single parent I felt very safe travelling alone with my kids. Lastly there is an amazing bakery just down the street which I purchased our breakfast from. Try the apricot pastry thing it is gert lush!!!!!!!!!!!!! I consumed 3 in 2 days!!!!!!!!!
456558,EastHouse,08/30/2008,Small but beautifully formed Nobody should ever expect a Two Star Hotel in Montmartre to be a perfect hotel; but this comes pretty close. The reviews already posted give an accurate description of what to expect.As you approach the hotel; your heart may sink a bit as you spot an Irish looking theme bar (it isn鈥檛) and a busy street - but have faith! The welcome is charming; the small foyer peaceful and there is a ready willingness to store bags and give advice. We had an en-suite room at the back of the hotel and; as everywhere else; it was spotless. The cost was 鈧?5 per night for a double room. Having stayed in many Parisian hotels over many years; we did not expect big rooms 鈥?the difference was that this had a very comfortable bed and was remarkably quiet. One can always hear something from adjoining rooms in a hotel but; apart from the heavy doors shutting; this was about as quiet as it gets in Paris. Air conditioning would be pleasant but there was a tower fan; which kept us cool enough at night. I have to say that I liked the unusual colour scheme though will not replicate it at home! We did not have breakfast in the hotel; preferring to sit at a street cafe (many to choose from) just yards away.Montmartre is a super base for exploring; and the hotel ideally situated with Le Peletier metro station just around the corner. If you haven鈥檛 been before; do go to the Chartier restaurant; just up the road at 7 Rue du Faubourg. Fairly average food; cheap prices; Basil Fawlty service but a terrific atmosphere.Unless we win the lottery; this is where we will be staying next time 鈥?and we鈥檝e never said that about a hotel in Paris before!
456558,PVH068,08/25/2008,loved it! I loved this hotel; its location and the area around! Very convenient and central that means two steps away it is Opera; fashionable shops; tourist buses with crowds of people and nearby I found a quiet street with a french restaurant that serves local food. In the morning I had breakfast in hotel. I would tell that it was a french breakfast like the parians take it every day: croissant of boulangerie; a cup of coffee or chocolate. Not expensive recarding quality and price.The room I occupied was on the second floor giving to the street side. I don't have any complains about noise as I returned to the hotel very late and tired; and I slept very well. The room size was ok; Paris is known for expensive sqare meter and small rooms.In the hotel corridors I saw lots of old paris photos; interesting and funny. The room doors are amazing: big sqares of differnt colours. The hotel elevator impressed me a lot. It was a magnificent big mirrow inside. The elevators in Paris that I saw before were very old; narrow and ugly. The last touch was the entrance doors with brown wooden cats and two little cats in the aquarium with golden fishes in reception hall.I would recommend this hotel to my friends and everybody!
456558,Julka,08/22/2008,Nice little hotel The TV
456558,nduk,08/18/2008,Excellent I booked this hotel on the basis of reviews on Tripadvisor and because it fit my budget. I was not disappointed!I had a room on the top floor facing a courtyard to the rear; which considering it was central Paris was extremely quiet. I make a point of always having earplugs in order to get a good nights sleep - I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't need them once and was able to sleep with the window open.The room I booked had a shared shower and toilet; which I was a bit apprehensive about; but it was really not an issue. The shared facilities were scrupulously clean; and there never seemed to be anyone else using them.The decor of the room was interesting (eclectic perhaps!) but it was very comfortable. As a solo traveller I arrived expecting to be put in a tiny room; but no - it was a decent size with a double bed.The neighbourhood feels very safe; and the hotel is literally steps from the metro (Cadet) and easily walkable from Gare du Nord.Tripadvisor speaks the truth - this hotel is an excellent find!
456558,gringaviajera,06/26/2008,incredible find I hate to tell everyone about this hotel because I don`t want it to be full when I go back to Paris; but they deserve this review. We stayed in a room with a bathroom on the third floor. We couldn`t have been happier. The room was airy with good windows(don`t know how hot it would be in the summer since I didn`t see an air conditioner). It was super clean; simple decoration; small; but enough room for us and even had a closet and a safe box. The hotel has the best location...lots of little stores and restaurants close by that are open til late. The staff was friendly and professional; always helpful. This is really the ideal place to stay in Paris.
456558,ivanoff123,06/21/2008,The hotel that does not resemble to others Me and my husband had a 6 night stay in this hotel and we want to share our great experiance with others. Hotel Monte Carlo is geografically in the center and we could reach practically all the nice places by walking. It was a big advantage for us. This hotel is probably not so big like many chain hotels; but it keeps its unique parisian authenticity and charm. We felt that we were the welcome quests and not just one of hundreds tourist couples in Paris. Thomas; the manager; was very helpful and gave us good suggestions to explore Paris and to have a good dinner . We learned also that the hotel has its long interesting history and a french writer lived and created his book in hotel Monte Carlo.We would recommend this place to others; as the hotel is exceptional and Paris is worth while visiting at least once in live.Mrs and Mr Ivanoff
456558,superEmy,06/03/2008,Brilliant Hotel; look no further! We had a great experiance and 5 wonderful days in this hotel. The communication when booking over e-mail was good; easy and quick. We booked a double room / 135 eur for night. The room was comfortable and nicely decorated; adaquate for two of us with good bed ; the bathroom was clean too. The staff speak good English and very helpful. Perfect location; 2 subway stations and good restaurants; bars; shops nearby.Conclusion: beautiful hotel; excellant stay and very good value for money! We will definately be going back and recommending it to all our friends.
456558,ConnedByMonteCarlo,05/13/2008,Rip off Stay away Booked this hotel for 2 nights through [-]; due to work commitments I had to return home early. I make a cancellation request through lastminute.com which sent me an automated email stating that I will be charge 20 pounds for cancellation which I accepted due to the problem coming from me. The cancellation was made at 1pm 2 days before the check in date. lastminute.com sent me an email stating that I had missed the 48 hours before checkin time and ask me to call the hotel. I am not sure what happen between the 2 hotels but in the end I was charged the full rate for the 2 nights. lastminute.com asked me to call the hotel to check; I spoke to the manager who asked me to call lastminute.com customer service. What I can say this it is a rip off with finger pushing.
456558,EuroFloyd,04/14/2008,Great Paris hotel Hotel Monte Carlo is a welcoming; clean and convenient place to stay for those wanting to enjoy Paris on a budget. Though small; our room was clean and decorated in a contemporary style. It included a televsion; phone and hairdryer. We opted to save money by sharing a shower and toilet with others in stead of ensuit and this worked out well. We also had a basin in the room. The best thing about this hotel was the friendly and helpful staff who made us feel welcome and helped us with directions.It also felt safe and there was no noise from other rooms or from outside.For local places to eat try some bistros off the main street as those tend to be tourist traps and not so good value for money.
456558,thelimopit,04/11/2008,Just perfect I'm really glad I found this site; and took the time to find a hotel with decent reviews. Hotel Monte Carlo was exceptional.To save money we booked a room without ensuite facilities; which meant we had to share a toilet/shower with other people (not at the same time though). But the room was great; and we didn't seem to be sharing with too many other people.The staff were very friendly and helpful; had good local knowledge and were happy to point us in the right direction. The decor was unique but tasteful; and the room was small but cosy.And the location is utterly perfect; we managed to walk to the Louvre and the Pompidou Centre on day one; and the Eiffel Tower and the Arc d'triomphe on the second day. They were quite long walks; but you get to see the city without walking in any dodgy areas
456558,Acasto,04/11/2008,Great place to stay! We had a 9 night鈥檚 stay in this hotel and we spent a good time there. The location is great with 2 subways within 5 min walking. Lots of restaurants and snack bars nearby. Two steps away you find a small supermarket; open till late at night; a little bit expensive but it could be a solution if you do not have toothpaste.As for the sightseeing; it's great. Opera is at 10 min max by foot; where you can catch a red bus to make a city tour. Till Eiffel Tower and Louvre there is a direct subway line. For shopping it鈥檚 impossible to imagine a better place; the famous shopping center La Fayette with its chick; very expensive boutiques or accesible fashion brands ( I mean that in any case you will find something to your taste and your budget) is in front of Opera.Now; about the hotel itself. You can occupy the room from 15:00 but you have the possibility to leave the bags at the reception and see Paris all the day. The room is very clean and morden; decorated in bright colours. In our room we had a flat screen TV with ALL channels free; free safe box; hair dryer and ensuit bathroom. The hotel breakfast that we had every day was not bad with good french croissans. The font desk staff is very helpful; polite; they are always available for any explication and speak good english. We recognize; it is a great place to stay.
456558,CanariesPA,03/21/2008,an affordable find Given prices and service in Paris; it is nice to report on a nice find suitable for a range of travellers. I stayed for one night in March; traveling alone; and stayed in the cheapest room. I was pleased to find it of adequate size (I've stayed in smaller rooms; esp in London BBs; for more money); very clean; and well organized in terms of furniture; etc. It had a sink and the toilet and shower rooms were across the hall. (I'm not sure how many there were on the floor - I didn't have to compete for their use; but in the high season this might be an issue.) These were also very small; but likewise clean. The front desk service was excellent - very welcoming; bi (or probably tri or quad-) lingual; and helpful in giving restaurant etc recommendations. The neighborhood is convenient rather than fashionable; but seems safe enough and has a fair array of restaurants within 2 blocks of the hotel. There are a large # of Asian restaurants in the area; I noticed; and a late night convenience store perhaps 1 block south of the hotel. The nearest Metro stop is only a block away but other lines aren't far; I walked from Gare du Nord; and this was about 20 minutes; a straight line down Rue de Lafayette. I didn't have breakfast; though the price seemed a bit steep for what was on offer and what's available at local boulangeries. All in all; I think this was a very good find at the price; and would recommend it as a nice foothold for a night or two in Paris.
456558,pinnacle306,02/17/2008,Small; but clean and really great location! This small and clean hotel is located between the metro stations: Le Peletier; Notre-Dame de-Lorette and Grands Boulevards; which gives you access to the trains number 7;8;9 and 12. Pigalle and Sacre Coeur are in walking distance; nevertheless a metro day pass is a smart investment. There are great restaurants and caf茅s nearby; ranging from budget to high end. Later ones are easily found near Grands Boulevards station. The kitchens are open way past midnight even on week days. Our room on the 4th floor was very quiet. There was little noise coming from the street. Renovations on the outside are on the way; so the hotel may get noisy during daytime; but seriously; who spends the day in the room; when you're in Paris?I would certainly stay at this hotel again!
456558,HJ123,02/09/2008,Convenient location; good value Good location; friendly atmosphere and helpful staff make this the perfect place for business travellers in Paris. I stayed for 2 nights and was very satisfied. I would recommend it to my collegues and friends.
456558,fzemma,02/03/2008,Great find! This is a very nice hotel. It's quite lovely. Clean and nicely furnished. A great merci to the staff; who were very courteous and helpful at all times. And a special thank-you to the maid who carefully arranged our bed every day!We had a lovely room with a nice bathroom and absolutely no complaints. We would recommend this hotel for it's convenience; location and price. And; we would stay here again.
456558,aljung,01/26/2008,Great Hotel Great location- near few metro station. The rooms are small by American standards but very clean.A short walk from everywhere. Mass transport and shopping are nearby.It was a welcome place to come home to when sightseeing in Paris.I purchased this as a package deal so I didn't pay full price. The hotel had excellent service. Free wi-fi (many nearby hotels charge a LOT extra) I was greeted by name by some staff. I am very likely to return to the Montecarlo Hotel. I would definitely recommend it to friends.
456558,fh1234,01/21/2008,Avg hotel despite rave reviews Very average hotel despite the reviews. The people working at the hotel were friendly. but the rooms were really really small; the bathroom was kind of dirty; with a small shower with a mildew covered shower curtain that hugged you everytime you had a shower. Plus it got really really hot at night with the heat; and you had to open up the windows which faced a dirty little area between the buildings. The hotel serves its purpose if you are out all day and only come back to sleep; which is what we were looking for. My main problem with this hotel was that the bathroom was not clean when we went in.
456558,HelenD020,01/21/2008,Loved this hotel! I love Paris and I come rather often. This time I came to see my parisian friends and stayed at hotel Monte Carlo for 5 nights. It was a realy nice stay. On my arrival I was greeted very warmly with a smile that in Paris is a rare thing. The room was clean and warm ( it was rather cold outside) and the daily room service women were very polite; asking me if I wished my room to be cleaned. They did not disturb without need. I felt very comfortable there. There is no need to tell that the location is perfect. A lot of touristic places of interest are situated nearby. But as for me; I prefer to explore the steets with a lot of small pretty boutiques and to take a creamy coffee in tipically parisian bistros and cafes. I appraciated a lot all the staff. I will stay here again and I will recommend it to others.
456558,ravina,01/15/2008,Great Location; Friendly Staff; Clean rooms We booked the hotel with www.booking.com. We came for a busy weekend break where we were out early in the morning and back late in the evenings. We therefore found the hotel's 24 hour open policy very beneficial. The hotel was clean; the rooms were adequate with a telephone and tv (not a small one); a shower and a toilet. The hotel was very brilliantly located; 2 minutes from a metro. The staff was friendly and spoke fluent English. as we literally just used the hotel for the purposes of somewhere to sleep it would have been more appropriate to get a slightly cheaper accomodation as the hotel was a bit pricey for our purposes. however it was centrally located. we walked to Sacre-course in 30mins through lively streets. on the opposite end we went to the opera house and the academy of music. fairly good shopping within 10 mins of the area by walking. I would recommend this hotel to young couples and anyone who wants to stay somewhere well located.
456558,AinolRazman,01/05/2008,Comfortable; convenient and good value triple bedroom with 2 single and 1 queen size bed
456558,Travellers095,12/25/2007,Absolutely great stay! This hotel is a real find. We were not wrong; it was a very good decision to book a room there! All of the good reviews of the hotel Monte Carlo are correct. It is excellent value; perfect location; and wonderful staff.Our room was ideal. Reasonable size (for Paris) and clean bathroom. Street side room but good double paned windows kept it quiet. Bed was very comfortable. Just what we needed after walking all day long. Free internet connection at the reception. We didn鈥檛 bring our lab tab but just nearby of the hotel there is an internet spot. Location; as many have noted; is a real plus. We were able to walk comfortably in any direction. Opera and Galleries La Fayette is a just 5 minite walk to make shopping for Christmas. Absolutely great stay!
456558,kiwikidNewZealand,12/19/2007,A home away from home in Paris This is a wonderful small hotel in an excellent location; close to the Opera Garnier and Grand Boulevards. I stayed here for seven nights in november this year. The hospitality and courtesy from the staff was superb;welcoming and nothing was too much trouble. They put their guests first and it was a home away from home. A very busy noisy street but with the double glazing on the windows; it was no problem. Rooms vary in size so best to inquire which would suit your needs best. Some have ensuite and some without bathroom which is in the hallway. The street has a number of good cafes plus a small night market and the metro Peletier is only a five minute walk away. Thanks to Thomas and his staff; I will definitely stay there again next time in Paris.
456558,SaraandAnna,12/13/2007,Loved it ! My mother and I spent 4 days here and loved it! Our room was on the second floor with the windows overlook to street but this was not at all a problem. It was quiet ! The room had a desk; good firm bed; safe box; good hot shower; clean sheets and towels: the principle things for a hotel room. For us the most important was location. The hotel is situated within a walking distance to the Opera and main shopping centers and till the avenue Champs Elysse; it is 15 min by metro and it is a direct line. We found it very convienient! All the days we were out visitig Paris; small parisian cafes ; galleries and restraunts; so we had no time to watch TV. Lobby person who greeted us was very helpful and friendly. He gave us a map and pointing out the attractions we shouldn't miss in the area. Staff is courteous and efficnient. We would definetly return here!
456558,FMAM,12/12/2007,Good Hotel I booked this according to the reviews is TAThe positive aspects are that the hotel is near restaurants; bakeries and a small supermarket. The staff are very nice and helpful and speak fluent English. Me and my wife stayed in a double + bath and shower.The room was clean with a flat screen. The size of the room was acceptable. It has a heater and a small fan (no AC).The bathroom was also OK; standard nothing special.The things that I disliked; was that first of all the parking is a bit far from the hotel. It costs 27 euros for 24 hours. I stayed in anothe hotel in Paris and the parking lot asked me to stamp the parking ticket from the hotel and charged me 12 euros/24 hrs.The hotel location is a bit far from the Champs and Eiffel; for the same price I can get a hotel 5 min walking to the Champs. The view from the window was to a junkyard in between a couple of buildings. What I really disliked is the channels they were viewing at night. First of all; all the channels were in French; at night 3-4 change to adult channels. I was glad that I didn`t bring the kids with me or else they would of had a room by themselves and might seen this crap. In general; the price I spent (130 euros from Venere) was too much for the room and hotel. It deserves 90-100 euros per night maximum.
456558,il0veparis,12/07/2007,Perfect location and cosy hotel! My husband and I stayed here a few days ago and loved it! The location was excellent; near loads of shops; restaurants; bars and cafes. This hotel is different from many parisian hotels. It is lovely and very friendly.We really enjoyed cosy atmosphere at the hotel: comfy; simply and nicely done room; perfect location (situated very close to the subway) .The owner of the hotel was extremely helpfull and friendly; giving us useful ideas and advices on the places to visit in Paris. The room was exactly like on the photos: clean and with lovely colours. It was not very big but quite enouth for two of us. Now really we advice this place to all our friends. Next time visiting Paris there won鈥檛 be a question for us where to stay. Highly recommended!
456558,Writerwriter,12/04/2007,OK but I can't see why it has all these rave reviews I was surprised at the rave reviews this hotel has had. Yes; it was clean and very near a metro stop and the staff were pleasant and friendly (although we hardly saw the same people twice in our three day stay). It was also warm. We had a quiet room that overlooked a dingy courtyard although the walls were very thin leading to the other rooms. But I am afraid I found it quite uncomfortable. The room was very small and oddly shaped; the colour scheme was extraordinary; the woodwork was dark brown the carpet also dark brown; the walls were very dark green or very dark purple so it felt like walking into a gloomy cupboard. The TV only got French channels. The lights were dim and I found it quite hard to read in bed. After dark there was no chance of writing anything at the very narrow desk which was pushed against the far wall; just no lighting there at all. The double bed was 2 narrow singles pushed together; which developed a gap in the middle by the end of the night. We didn't want to spend the evenings there at all and felt a bit banished to the rainy streets! The bathtub was gnome sized; and the floor had a pronounced slope. We didn't try the breakfast as it looked a bit dull but we did find a great boulangerie patisserie just a few steps to the right in rue de Provence. You can sit down and have coffee; fresh orange juice a tartine and a croissant or pain chocolat etc for 6.50 euros there. Beware it was shut weekends! In fact the whole area was a bit dead at weekends. It's a rather workaday area of Paris with a lot of philately shops; a little road of food stores (rue Cadet). It's not too far from the Folies Bergere and some Jewish shops. And also a lovely chocolate shop in rue Provence. But it's not exactly a thrll a minute; nowhere you can sit around really and nothing much to see. I much prefer staying on the left bank. Given that it was a very tiny hotel with odd shaped rooms in a dull street; the owners have done pretty well with it and they have tried to make it individual. I guess what I am saying is that it is not any kind of a boutique hotel if you were expecting it to be and somehow from the photos I thought it would be. Oh well.
456558,Danna074,11/20/2007,Beautiful and friendly hotel! We were looking for a nice hotel in a cenral part of Paris; not far from subway and we choosed Hotel Monte Carlo in the Opera area. It was a good choice. No regret; only good things to tell. First of all the hotel is very well located near the opera house; big shopping centers and nice restaurants. Good; quiet room. The heater was hot and there was a lot hot water in shower. Daily room service.A good staff that will help you at any time. It鈥檚 open 24 hours.It鈥檚 a good quality hotel. Highly recommended!
456558,Chjenny,11/06/2007,a very good hotel! We stayed in this hotel for 5 nights and confirm that it is a very good hotel. We booked 2 rooms: a double room with ensuite bath for 150 Euros for a night for my parents and a double with shower and toilette on the floor for 80 Euros for a night for me and my husband. When we arrived it was very early to check in. My mother was very tired and she prefered to wait at the reception. When we were back she was already in the room. After she told me that the man at the reception was very kind and took care of her. Besides there are lots of books at the reception! Our rooms were on the top floor; facing street and back sides but both were quiet. They were fresh and newly renovated. A very good thing about this hotel ; especially for my parents; is a lift; because for Paris it鈥檚 rare. Everything was very clean. The rooms were made daily.I will advise this hotel to the friends and everybody who appreciate good quality and friendly attitude!
456558,itsumono,10/31/2007,clean and friendly perfect location; few mins walk to metro with lots of cafes; bars; bakeries etc close by; including a fantastic vegetarian restaurant about 6 doors down on same street (cant remember the name of it noe; though!). very clean rooms(clean beds;sheets;bathroom etc); my room faced a side street and was very quiet. very friendly staff; would highly recommend; the perfect hotel for the price!
456558,franco037,10/28/2007,Great hotel! I have stayed in this hotel just for 2 days and I would be glad to stay more but I had to leave Paris to continue my business trip.If I tell that my stay was great; the hotel was clean anb breakfast was good; I would just repeat the opinions of others. I would tell thanks to all the hotel staff who cleaned my room; took care of the bags at the reception on my departure and tried to make my stay comfortable and pleasant. I will recommend hotel Monte Carlo to my best friends! Merci!
456558,happytravellers90,10/25/2007,We will be back for New Year鈥檚 holiday! Me and my husband love Paris; this romantic city ; and now we have follen in love with hotel Monte Carlo. We have spent a wonderful one week stay there. They welcomed us with smile from the first day. They were eager to help us. The front desk staff speak English and give Paris map. Hotel was very clean and in a good spot. It's 10 minute walk from Opera and 20 minute walk from Montmartre. In the area of hotel there lots of restaurants and bars; small and big shops.The breakfast was very good with a great variety of choice and it is served till 11 a.m.. We loved a lot the hotel decoration: fresh juicy colours make the place expressive and exeptional. In the breakfast hall and reception we saw a lot statue and paintings of cats; I think for cat lovers it鈥檚 the ideal place.We hope to be back for New Year鈥檚 holiday. Great place!
456558,CanuckTraveller07,10/21/2007,Wonderful Stay at Hotel Monte Carlo Breakfast room at Hotel Monte Carlo
456558,sarah095,10/20/2007,I would stay here again! My boyfriend and I have just returned from Paris. We stayed for four nights at the Monte Carlo hotel and would agree that the rooms were clean and simply but nicely decorated. The maids came in daily to clean and to change the towels. The staff were most helpful. The gentlemen at the front desk were always friendly and helped a lot with places to visit and the restaurants to eat . I would stay there every time I visit this lovely city. A safe; nice hotel!
456558,AnnavonM,10/18/2007,Dazed and Confused Having read the reviews on Tripadvisor and hoping to find a nice budget hotel in Paris for my next visit; I contacted the hotel directly. The rooms were available and I decided to go ahead with the booking. First of all; I was asked to provide my bank card number INCLUDING the security code at the back of the card... I NEVER give out such information; especially at the hotels or small businesses; where chances of fraud are paramount! Anybody can access this information which is stored in the hotel's books forever and steal the card information and this happens left; right and center! Without the security code; I was told; the hotel could not take my booking. Well; I regularly make reservations at various hotels all over the world and I was never asked to provide such level of security information. Secondly; the hotel do not accept Visa Debit card. They only accept credit cards. As I do not have credit cards but used my Visa Debit for years all over the world without ANY problem whatsoever; I was extremely surprised as to why Hotel Monte Carlo would not take my Visa as a guarantee of my booking. They did; however; suggest that I could transfer the money via Western Union (no way!) or make an inter-bank transfer which would add at least 20% on top of the total amount. Alternatively; the hotel suggested they take the first night's payment to see if the card works but this amount would not be refundable. I live in London and go to Paris regularly; at least once every 2-3 months. I have never had such problems in Paris or ANYWHERE in the world before so this experience is rather confusing. Thankfully; there are many other hotels in Paris which do not give such hassle to their potential guests.
456558,traveler581,10/17/2007,Great Experience and Friendly; Clean Hotel We stayed at the Hotel Monte Carlo for a few days and would definitely recommend it. The hotel front desk staff spoke very good English and was very; very helpful. Thomas was especially helpful. They gave us great suggestions on what to see and where to eat/drink. The hotel is in a great location and there are alot of restaurants and shops nearby. There is also a little grocery store right across the street to stock up on food and water. There are two metro stations very close to the hotel which was really convenient. The hotel is also about 10-15 minutes by foot from the Louvre.The room is small; but was very clean. Our room also had a bathroom which was small; but nice and clean. You may want to make sure that your room has a bathroom before you book (if that matters to you). The interior walls are a little thin; but not bad. The window to the street blocks out almost all of the street noise; which was very nice. We really didn't have an issue with noise at all. Paris is a great city and we loved it. I would definitely stay at the Monte Carlo again!
456558,calderara,10/12/2007,I would recommend it to a friend! In Paris there are millions of hotels but to find a good one could be a problem! It was not my first visit to Paris but it was the first time I have stayed in this hotel. Hotel Monte Carlo is a true gem in the heart of Paris. I appreciated best of all a good quality service. My room was nicely done and cleaned daily and the staff at reception speaks english and was very helpful.I 鈥榲e got a room with shower on the third floor on the street side. It was clean; quiet and the size was adequate for Paris standarts. I don鈥檛 have any complains; I had everything I needed: good bed; good pillows and a good service!I had a nice stay and I will return to this hotel. I would recommend it to a friend!
456558,etravel2007,10/10/2007,Friendly and helpful staff We stayed at the hotel for 6 nights in September. The staff are lovely; very helpful and the hotel is quite clean. It's well located between a few metro stations (we used the Le Peletier station) with lots of food options around; including 2 fabulous bakeries!The only downside was that we had asked for a quiet room; away from the street. The hotel was happy to arrange this; but we ended up getting a room on the 2nd floor; which had a sloping floor or a slight gradient. We didn't immediately think it would be a problem until we slept on the bed. I felt like I as sleeping head-down all night and subsequently made my partner sleep on my side of the bed for the rest of the trip. I guess we could've changed rooms; but since it didn't bother him; we stayed in there.I'd recommend this place andI was to go back; I'd ask for a room with a flat floor!
456558,StingrayLincolnUK,10/09/2007,Clean anf friendly Clean and friendly hotel close to all the sights; we had a problem with a leak in the bathroom; but overall our stay was fine. The staff were friendly and happy to help; all those we met spoke English. We had a room at the front of the hotel but didn't encounter any noise problems mentioned by others. The bed was very comfortable; with TV and en-suite; there was nothing else we needed. The room was a reasonable size and cleaned daily; we were charged 150 Euro; I think due to various events on in Paris at the time.
456558,levitt,09/29/2007,If ever in Paris I will stay there again! I stayed 6 nights and completely agree that the hotel discription is true. It was a pleasure. I called the hotel and they made for me the same rate that on internet site. It was a good deal!I was in the hotel very early and tired. A man at reception gave me a cup of hot tea; it was very welcoming.I felt better and I went to see the city. The hotel is very well located; all the places of interest are not far. When back to the hotel the staff were wonderfully friendly; they gave me a Paris map and kept my bags. I don鈥檛 speak good french but the staff explained me with patience all the information I needed. Besides a lot of touristic brochures and information is in the lobby stand. My room was on the second floor in a quiet corner. In the room I had a safe box; flat tv; table; hairdryer. It was clean; i liked that there was a lot of hot water; a good pression shower. Daily room service made a good job and did not disturb without need.In the lobby they have free WIFI; so you can use it if you have your labtab. If not ; a cybercafe is nearby.I was a nice stay in a nice place.I will recommend this hotel to my friends. If ever in Paris I will stay there again!
456558,Shazzy1,09/22/2007,Great Value; great location; great staff Earlier this month I had a four night stay at this hotel and it was a brilliant find. The staff were really friendly and helpful from the moment we arrived til the day we left.We were a bit concerned having booked a room without bathroom facilities but the shared facilites were immaculate. There is only four floors to the hotel and a max of ten rooms per floor; some of which had their own facilities. We also had maid service every day. Our room faced the back and was very peaceful!Would deff. stay here again!
456558,neuehaff,09/20/2007,Definitely stay here again! Before booking we have checked the reviews ; and agree that this is a good-value well-located hotel for Paris sightseeing. It is situated at the centre of Paris and so you could practically walk to any famous/popular parts of the city. It's less than a 10 minute walk to the Opera house; and 20 minute walk to Louvre. The metro is a 2 minute walk from the hotel.I stayed in this hotel with my girlfriend for 5 nights and enjoyed a very pleasant and friendly stay. The front desk was very helpful and the atmosphere of the hotel was peaceful. During the stay the staff helped us to book a place at cabare Moulin Rouge; it was a very beautiful show; and on departure they called for us a cab early in the morning.The housekeeping employees and breakfast crew always greeted us with a friendly smile. Speaking of breakfasts; they serve it till 11 in the morning which is very convinient if you like to sleep ( and you would like to sleep till 10 o鈥檆lock as the bed and pillows are very comfortable and soft! ) and they have about 5 different kinds of cheeses; boiled eggs; cereals; jam; honey; fruits and bio bread. The coffee was wonderful. The hallways and rooms were always kept clean. Our room was lovely blue and green. A very highly recommended hotel to stay inParis. We 'll definately be back.
456558,victorylehmann,09/15/2007,Charming hotel in a great location Last year we stayed in a hotel in St. Germain des Pres; but this time we decided to change the area and choosed the Monte Carlo after reading the positive opinions and it was a great find! Monte Carlo is a nicely decorated; cosy hotel with a very friendly and efficient staff in a city center and close to three metro stations. We had a double room with ensuite bathroom with good quality shower. Everything was very clean and the room was made every day. The most wondeful thing about our room was the bed! It was so comfortable that every morning I was fresh and ready to enjoy Paris all the day! It was neither hot no cold; the weather was just perfect to explore Paris; so we did not use a fan that was in our room. We loved a lot the elevator with a fantastic mirror. I have never seen such a beautiful elevator!Breakfast was also good 鈥?lots of different kinds of tea; chocolate; cofee; fresh fruits; eggs; cornflakes and cheeses ; french bread for 9 Euros only! In the evening there is no problem to find a place to dinner; besides the hotel staff can advise you a nice restaurant. There is a little supermarket in front of the hotel that is open till late at night.We would use the hotel again and recommend it to others. Highly recommended!
456558,Canada14,09/06/2007,I am recommending this hotel to everyone Hotel Entrance
456558,Wanderingaroundabout,09/05/2007,Excellent Value Stayed for 3 nights in a double room with shared bathroom for e65/night. The hotel is nicely decorated in a modern style and looks a lot smarter than I expected from its official rating. Although the room was small it had a sink; flat screen tv and air con. Our shared bathroom was amazingly clean on every occasion. Its really near to a variety of metro stations and even walkable from Gard du Nord. Would highly recommend!
456558,Alimac04,09/04/2007,Great value Spent one night at this hotel and thought it was excellent. All was really clean; staff friendly and efficient . I arrived expecting to share bathroom but found to my surprise all was ensuite! A lucky break.. Location is really good - within walking distance of Gare St Lazare and Gare du Nord and easy to reach from metro. Would definitely stay there again.
456558,bing1978,08/09/2007,a nice find Stayed in the hotel for 3 nights in August. Its situated between 3 metro stations so its pretty easy to reach from wherever you are apart from the airport (CDG) which is slightly trickier. To start with the reception is always staffed and they always greet you when you arrive with a smile. All the staff we met spoke good English and were very helpful. We never ate there at the hotel so I cannot comment on that.The room was a-bit odd and looked as though it had been two rooms some time ago but this wouldn鈥檛 be a problem. The bed was nice; a lot of closet space and bath room was also very nice.
456558,GandT16,08/07/2007,It took two visits to make a great find. We stayed at the Hotel Monte Carlo for 3 nights all up; broken in the middle by an out of town stay. Our first room was the one next to the elevator; so it seemed that the room lost space because of this. The decor was very nice and the french doors opened to the front street; which we loved.The bathroom was a let-down. The light above the basin was loose. There were cracked tiles and the shower was so small you were hanging out of the cubicle if you weren't standing ram-rod straight. The shower also leaked at the tap.Having said that; the bed was comfy; there was a TV and a safe inside the wardrobe.What saved it for me was when we returned from our out-of-town stay; we had another room which was pure luxury compared to the first one. Our bathroom was clean; in great order and with a bath. The bedroom was larger too. We felt we'd been given the honeymoon suite; it was that different from the first!So overall; we would return to Hotel Monte Carlo - it's terrific value for money - but we would request any room other than the elevator room. Special thanks to Thomas who was extremely helpful throughout our stay and who endured my poor french with aplomb. Thanks also for organising our early a.m. taxi.
456558,Lauragogo,08/06/2007,Fabulous Hotel; great neighbourhood I travelled to paris via eurostar with my mum; and we wanted to stay in a cool hotel whihc didn't cost the earth.After looking on Trip Advisor; I selected this hotel and they had 1 room left on the weekend we wanted to go; with twin beds and a shared bathroom. The cost was a brilliant 130 Euros for 2 nights.The hotel was lovely. Very quirky; very clean and very friendly. I have to admit I was expecting something resembling a youth hostel but it was nothing like this.The location is fabulous; and the neighbourhood is very homely. It is much more edgy than the posh parts of paris; but this only adds to the charm. At no point did I ever feel intimidated or worried; in fact I felt very safe walking around as 2 women after dark. The streets around the hotel are full of restaurants; bars and the hotel staff are v good at recommending places to eat ect.The room itself was perfect. Small but individual and very clean. You do have a sink in the room for washing hands cleaning teeth ect.We also walked to La Louvre and this was doable although took a good half hour.I would definateky recommend this place to anyone who wants a good deal; but doesn't want to compromise on the important things such as location and cleanliness.
456558,roles,08/05/2007,Will happily go back This was a very pleasant 3 day stay. The hotel is within walking distance (quite a long; but interesting walk) of everywhere.The surrounding streets are full of restaurants; patisseries; cash machines and suchlike; but is not as 'touristy' as the Latin quarter.There is a small supermarket just across the road (they are hard to find) and the entertainment provided by the patrons to the karioke asiatique club across the road was priceless.The room was small but adequate and as we have found with most city hotels; is quiet with the window closed. It was warm; so we slept with the window open and the trick is either to wear oneself out during the day so you sleep through anything; or go with the flow and enjoy feeling part of the bustling life of a city that does not sleep until 2 or 3am (when the Karioke closes).
456558,williamthorn2,08/02/2007,Great place to stay! I was searching for a hotel in Paris that was clean and in a great location and that wasn't ridiculously expensive. I came across the Monte Carlo in Opera area. My initial reservation was for three nights; but decided to extend two more because of the fantastic location and wonderful city. The hotel is within walking distance of Opera; Montmartre; Galeries Lafayettes; close to a subway which could connect you to all parts of city. In the area around the hotel; there were many cafes available for lunches or dinner. The rooms are nice and were kept VERY clean. Good bed; flat tv ( all chanels are free); free safe box; hair dryer; telepnone- I had everything to feel comfortable. The breakfast was tasty and a good start for the day.The entire staff is courteous and entirely helpful. In summation this hotel is ideal. I would stay here again!
456558,ArronHendy,07/20/2007,Lovely Hotel - Great staff I would definitely stay again. The hotel is right in the centre; walk to Montmartre; Tour Eiffel or anywhere. The metro is only 50 yards away and will get you everywhere in minutes. The double room was recently decorated and kept spotlessly clean by the friendly staff. Bathroom the same; with a bath. Good breakfast too.The staff will help you with any information you need. It felt great being so close to the grand boulevards; excellent restaurants nearby; as recommended by Thomas the manager. Very sad to leave. Wonderful stay.Go to the corner of Rue de Fauburg Montmarte next to the Grand Boulevards Metro; there is an excellent creperie for a takeaway crepe; the ham cheese and egg one is lush.
456558,rythmicjane,07/09/2007,Wonderful experience An excellent renovated hotel situated in Paris center; close to Opera; LaFayete and many other attractions. We had a five night stay in hotel Monte Carlo in June and we liked a lot this nice place. Very friendly and helpful staff; all with very good English made our holidays unforgettable. I can wholeheartedly recommend this hotel. I felt I could trust the staff. This was very important because it meant I could relax and not worry about leaving things in the room. We stayed in a standard room which was adequate for two people. Most importantly; the rooms were clean and well maintained. We took a hotel breakfast in the morning; it was very good: lots of coffee and tea; orange juice; french bakery; diffent cheeses; eggs; honney and fruits only for 9 Eur! In a bar neaby just a cup of coffee and a tost costs 6 Eur. I would not want to stay in any other hotel when I return to Paris. It's great value for money.
456558,jonny55,06/30/2007,Happy to return again to this gem of Paris! It is the second summer I travel to Paris and the second time I stay at Hotel Monte Carlo! I鈥檝e got a quiet room on the low level; so I had no chance to use their beautiful elevator. Friendly staff welcomed me with a smile again! I love this hotel because I feel verycomfortable and secure; the room is quiet and clean; hotel is centraly located; the bed is good; service is like usually excellent!Thank you! I love Paris and I hope to return the third time!
456558,laylo,06/26/2007,Perfect Location! My husband; 8 month-old baby and I stayed at the hotel from June 23-25th. We loved the location in Montmartre. There was so much life in the area. There was a cafe every few steps; a grocery store right across the street. There was also an internet place just down the street (they also have 3 phone booths in there for really cheap phone calls long distance!). For those who love to shop; there is a Galleria mall just blocks away!We walked everywhere. We walked to the Louvre; Eiffel Tower; Arc de Triomphe; and along the Seine River. The furthest was the Eiffel Tower; and we got there in about 1/2 hour - 45 minutes.Thank god for the elevator in the hotel(for our baby stroller and all!). The staff was friendly and helped us with any directions we needed. There were 2 useful maps in the lobby that were perfect for us to find our way around. We didn't take advantage of the breakfast; as we found it at the numerous cafe's around the area.The room itself was sufficient. We had room 403 which was front-facing with 2 big windows that opened up to the street. It was pretty hot when we were there; and wanted to keep the windows open as there was no air-conditioning. However; it was pretty noisy at night; so we used the big fan they provided for us instead. They didn't have a cot for the baby; so she shared the king-size bed with us (it was actually 2 twins pushed together; so we had to watch she didn't fall between!).We opted for our own bathroom; which had a bathtub and shower with great pressure; and never ran out of hot water.To get to the Charles de Gaulle Airport; we took the direct bus from the Opera House which was very close by. It cost 8.50 Euros each; and took about an hour to get there. You just buy your ticket from the bus driver. It stops at each terminal at the airport as well.All in all; the Hotel Monte Carlo suited most of our needs. If we ever make our way back to Paris in the summer though; we may opt for an air-conditioned hotel.
456558,Lilysteel,06/26/2007,Great Location This was my first time staying in this hotel in Paris. Located in the 9th Arrondissement; it is convenient to the Metro; Gare du Nord; Gare de l'Est and Paris shopping. A three minute walk to the Cadet Metro station makes it a perfect location for getting around Paris in a hurry.I booked a single room with ensuite bathroom for two nights and paid 95 Euros per night. The typical French Breakfast (bread; cheese; coffee; yogurt; cereal; etc) is not included but is available for an additional 9 euros. Because I was only in Paris for two days; I didn't waste time with breakfast because just around the corner on Rue de Cadet are some of the best boulangers and patisseries in Paris -- where you can buy exquisite pain du chocolat for 1 Euro and the most scrumptous quiches and fruit tartes for a mere 2 Euros each.The hotel is well kept and the staff is very friendly; courteous and eager to please. My room was quite spacious but a bit stuffy upon first entering. No air condition but a fan and windows to open. Paris was very hot and so it was a challenge to make the weather work in my favor while in my room -- but the rain kept both mornings and evenings cool and I was out and about during the heat of the day so I escaped what would have been a very warm room for most of my stay.My room was located facing an inner courtyard which contained the open door to the hotel's kitchen which was a bit noisy at times. Also you could hear anyone else located in rooms facing the courtyard who had their windows open -- these were mostly rooms above and below me -- there was no one across from me so I did not have to worry about anyone looking into my room. Fortunately; by the time I was ready to go to sleep it was quiet.The bed was comfortable; the ensuite bathroom was of a nice size but with shower only -- plenty of towels; clean linens and a safe in the room for valuables. The housekeeping staff does a nice job and they even have a sense of humor -- I had a statue of a horse in my room on which they changed the poses daily!I know this neighborhood and most of Paris very well so I didn't have a great deal of interaction with the staff but they were very accomodating throughout my stay. The neighborhood is safe to walk through day and night but it is a very busy neighborhood with lots of activity on the streets. Both nights I arrived back at the hotel near 10 pm with no problems walking from the metro station.Although I can recommend this hotel to others; it would not be my first choice on my next trip to Paris. Unfortunately; the hotel at which I usually stay was fully booked and I took this one based on its location and the recommendations I read on the [--] website.
456558,traveller275,06/19/2007,fantastic place to stay This hotel was everything that people had previously written about it on this website. We loved it. The very friendly staff(english speaking); fantastically clean room; very quiet at night; easy walking to everywhere; lots of restaurants around and mini mart over the road. Would definately recommend it.
456558,IHateAirplanes,06/08/2007,Loved this charming gem!! My boyfriend and I stayed at the Monte Carlo Hotel as an end to our 2 week UK vacation. We were not disappointed. The staff was very helpful and everyone spoke English. Our room was clean and the bed was comfortable. We did not have the bathroom en suite. The public shower was so clean and so was the public bathroom. I was very impressed with how clean they both were. The hotel is small but it does have an elevator!!!! If you've traveld through Europe any you will know how much of a treasure this is!! The hotel is in a great location; we even walked all the way to Montmartre!! When we go back to Paris we will definitely stay there again. The only disappointment was that the cats no longer stay at the hotel; they are at the owners house now.
456558,andrewbis,05/28/2007,Brilliant location and great hotel! We passed three nights in Monte Carlo in early may.It was a very nice experiance! Close to the main attractions of the french capital; just two steps from a subway station le Peletier 鈥?a great location. The price is reasonable: 110 euros for two persons for a night. The room maidens cleaned the room and changed the towels every day in our absence. Every evening when we were back from our visits of Paris; the room was clean and fresh. The size of the room is not enomous but we had everything we needed : a desk; TV; safe box; a wardrobe and a good bed. But the best of this hotel is the good quality of service. The staff speaks English and we had no problem of communication; besides they are very nice and helpful. We left our lugges dowstairs at front desk before check-in and after check-out for free.The breakfast is also very good. Nice place and nice experiance! We will be back in hotel Monte Carlo next time!
456558,peter522,05/04/2007,Very happy to stay at Monte Carlo ! To spend a nice week-end in Paris we booked this charming hotel Monte Carlo. Little jewellery in the heart of the city. My husband booked a double room for 110 Eur per night. It was a pretty room; very clean with the windows to the street. A young man; working at reception was very polite with us and gave us a couple of good advice concerning Paris. In the hotel was also an elevator; I think for the aged travellers like me and my husband it is a great advantage. In the evening my husband had a good idea to go to a music entertainement and the staff helped us to book two places and to call a taxi.We are very grateful to the staff of Monte Carlo for their daily care and help.Highly recommended this nice place!
456558,friends4,04/27/2007,excellente choice! Me and my friends choosed the hotel Monte Carlo after reading tripadvisor鈥檚 reviews and we were pleased with our choice.We booked 2 double rooms for 4 persons in April and it was a pleasure! Our rooms were clean and colorful with ventilator; a safe; a writing table; TV; private shower and toilette. The staff was very polite and helpful; patient with our terrible spoken french. It was a wonderful weather in Paris and we really enjoyed our week-ends.It鈥檚 sure we will stay at the hotel Monte Carlo next time!
456558,TripsterUk,04/24/2007,Great Experience at Hotel Monte Carlo We just spent 5 nights at the Hotel Monte Carlo and had a very pleasant experience. The hotel is centrally located in a lively neighbourhood in which I felt very comfortable as a tourist; even taking the metro back to the hotel at very late hours and walking to the hotel. Nearest metro stops are fairly close: Grands Boulevards (green line) and Le Peletier (pink line). Plenty of restaurants and eateries on the street! Very convenient.The room itself was on the 4th floor; it was very small but adequate for the limited time spent in it. Clean towels and bed made daily; reception desk 24 hours; flat screen TV with all channels in French (including a bonus porn channel!). Our room was facing the street and the first night was warm; so we left the windows opened: big mistake! It was very noisy all night long with motorbikes and busses whizzing by! The management was more than happy to give us a back room the next day but we decided to stay in the room and try the windows shut as it had cooled down. Amazingly; it was very quiet! But beware in warmer weather and request back room. We didn't try the breakfast. Reception held our luggage on the last day so we could do our final sight seeing after check out time; which was great. Located close enough to Gare du Nord to walk (once you get your bearings and know where you're going!). Taxi ride from station to hotel was about 6 euros but we did walk it back; which took about 15 minutes lugging a large suitcase on very tired legs. Overall; a very pleasant experience; especially for the money; quite reasonable!
456558,lesked,04/20/2007,We would definately stay here again perfect location and great little hotel. Although the room was typically small given it was Paris it was very clean and provided us with a comfortable stay at a reasonable price. 拢70 per night. The reception staff were both friendly and helpful. Everything you need is literally a few mins walk including the nearest metro stop. Montmartre district is a perfect location for a weekend break. I'd definately recommend this hotel to a friend.
456558,connaught,04/18/2007,Basic but just fine for our needs Double room; non en-suite; Hotel Monte Carlo
456558,janus81,04/15/2007,More than 2 stars hotel! I travelled a lot and I know the value of a good parisian hotel! I called directly the hotel and booked a double room for 3 days. Everything was like promised.The room was ready at 3 p.m. and I payed what I booked:Room: renovated; clean ; not very big; but for Paris it is normal. A safe box (free); phone; flat screen TV with free sports; music; movie chanels; new carpet; comfortable bed; every day room service. Bathroom: clean; towels changed every day. I loved a good pression of water in shower.Breakast: good with a big variety; nicely decorated inviting breakfast room . They served me even when breakfast was finished! Thanks.Service: rapid; they helped me to book the Lido spectacle and taxi on my departure; explained the metro stations and hotel was open 24 hours - good idea! Staff: freindly; ready to help; speak english. It was very nice to stay there.I will cetainly return to this simple; charming hotel with my friends and daughter! Tres bien!
456558,parisloverBarcelona,04/11/2007,very good deal! Good quality/price hotel! Good location.Nice; calm; clean hotel!Excellent service!What else....?
456558,travellerOsaka,04/09/2007,An excellent stay in the Monte Carlo We choosed this hotel for our 4 day stay in Paris and We were not disappointed.It was great! We left our lugges at the reception ( because we arrived very early); a nice gentleman who works at the reception gave us a map and till late at night we enjoyed Paris!The hotel was open all the night; so we were not worried to come back. In the area of hotel there are a lot of bars; cafes; restaurants;so in the evening you will be not borring! When we returned to the hotel we were very tired. We had 2 heavy bags; but fortunately there was the lift! It was rather big: me; my friend with 2 heavy bags managed to get inside.Our room was on the 2 floor. There was no luxury; but it was simple; pretty; warm and clean. The bed was fresh and comfortable. The carpet was new and clean. I think; the hotel was recently renovated.I liked also a strong buffet breakfast: fruits;eggs; cheeses; sereal; coffee; tea; chocolate; milk.... and a lot of other things that kept me walking along Paris. Really it was an excellent experience. Many thanks to friendly staff for help and good advice!No doubt next time we will returned to Monte Carlo!
456558,Boubouche,04/06/2007,Beware I booked a twin room after I read all the positive posts here. At our arrival; they gave us a small creepy room with 2 camp beds. The bathroom was dirty as the room carpet. We went back to the reception to ask for a new room. They - the manager I think - told us they had nothing better to offer us. On a very unpolite tone. So we decided to go and look for another hotel in the area. They didn't even ask for our passports at the check-in; which surprised me. Receptionists don't usually hand you the room key before checking all your details. So I guess they knew we would come back. The worst part; i did insist on them not charging my credit card and they did assure me they wouldn't do so before we left. But surprisingly; they did charge one night!!! So beware of this hotel as this may be standard practice for them. Now I have to call my bank to have this trransaction cancelled and even call a consumer association to see what i can do. They will certainly not get away with it. And given their reaction; I'm pretty sure this is certainly not the 1st time they do this to tourists.
456558,happyday46,04/03/2007,great staff and ideal location Not stayed here before; but we鈥檒l definitely go back - this place is a gem; especially location. The hotel is within ten minutes of Opera. There are plenty of shops; cafes and bars in the immediate area.We found it to be a really comfortable; friendly place to stay .The room was clean and tidy with all basic facilities; there was a tv/radio also a safe and it was warm. It was cleaned every day and beds made with towels changed.We found this hotel to be absoloutly brilliant and you can even keep your luggage there on your depature date to spend more time in Paris before leaving.The Monte Carlo is a great little hotel if you want clean; comfortable and affordable accommodation in Paris!
456558,kingfisher,03/26/2007,Great location and Great Price This is a small hotel in a great location. Only 5 minutes walk to Galleries LaFayette and Opera. There are many nearby shops; restaurants; a mini-mart across the street. There is a street just around the corner; which is lined with wine shops; cheese shops; delicatessens; bakeries and pattisieries - not touristy; but I think for the locals!The hotel has 4 floors and has rooms with WC/bath and ones which are shared. We paid 101 Euros for a double/shower and bath. The room is standard size for Paris ( but compared to US - its small ); has a flat screen TV; indoor safe; desk. All rooms require a keycard. The bathroom is more than average size; with good hot water and towels replaced daily. The rooms are quite clean! nothing luxurious; and cleaned daily. Our heating worked very well; we didnt have issues like the previous contributor. the windows are double glazed and we had a room facing the back of the hotel - not a great view but extremely quiet.There is breakfast at 7euro which we didn't try. Thomas; who at reception; was very helpful over the emails and also in person when recommending estaurants - very polite; not rude and speaks english. There is a free nespresso machine to use in the reception; amidst a small but cosy seating area.The hotel is only 8 minutes to Gare Du Nord station by taxi; and only cost 6 euros. Of note: you have to pay the first night in advance by PayPal. You pay the rest of the stay once you arrive ( but we only stayed for 2 nights ). Highly recommended for the price; and will stay there again!
456558,jessika18,03/21/2007,Cosy; safe hotel! Great location! I was travelling alone and I appreciated a lot this nice safe hotel.The location could not be better: big shops; opera house; restorants and bars. Supermarket is just in front of the hotel.The staff were really really friendly and helpful ; I was greeted warmly when arriving to the hotel. The front desk was open all the night. The room is not that big (using US standards) but it exactly what you need. There is no view to speak of; but the rooms were quiet and the beds comfortable and very clean( they cleaned my room and changed the towels every day)The breakfast room was so pretty and welcoming in the morning.This hotel was great! The staff were amazing! The rooms were clean; safe and secure!Highly recommended!
456558,absolutstyle,03/09/2007,Absolutely Fantastic This hotel is ideal for sight seeing Paris. The room was very clean and we were given new towels everyday. The man at the desk was extremely helpful; even getting us two cups of hot water late at night. The price was very fair and I would only stay at this hotel the next time we go to Paris.
456558,sallyHereford,02/17/2007,A great spot in Paris We have just returned from a trip to France. We booked in this small but wonderful and cosy hotel in the Opera area. We enjoyed our stay because we had everything we needed to be comfortable. Helpful and friendly staff; a nice and clean; well maintained room; free Intenet access and a good buffet breakfast; almost all-you-can eat breakfast with lots of coffee and tea. Howerver the best thing about this hotel is the location! Steps away from all the tourist attractions and most importantly great restaurants. I have stayed here for both short-term and monthly vists on numerous occasions. Simply wonderful for both tourist and business travellers. Need I say more?
456558,mergind,02/13/2007,Very good place for the price!! photos confort room 303 Monte Carlo
456558,stathy,12/28/2006,excellent value for money ! I found this hotel from Trip Advisor and based on quality / price; I decided to book it. What a gem! Firstly; the hotel is very central and easy to find. It is located a short walking distance from Paris main attractions. It was just over a 5 minute walk to the Laffaettes galaries and Opera. The hotel staff was good. They helped us make reservations for Moulin Rouge and gave us directions and advice on other sights which was great. The hotel is very clean and comfortable. It is a city hotel; so don't expect massive rooms. Breakfast was great. This really was a full-blown continental breakfast. The woman that runs the breakfast room was very nice. If I ever go back to Paris (which will probably be soon); I'll be staying there again. Really - very; very; happy.
456558,kleins,12/10/2006,excellent little hotel ! We booked the hotel Monte Carlo on the basis of previous Trip Advisor reviews........and were not disappointed. The rooms; although small; were very clean; warm and nicely decorated. The breakfast was also very good and well presented.Very handy for the subway.The staff were equally competent; friendly; and willing to help. All of them spoke good English and we never had a communication problem. They tolerated my attempts at speaking in French. Every request was politely met. And there is staff 24 hours so you don't need to worry about returning by a specific time.This hotel is very nice; great value for the price. On our next visit to Paris we will definitely stay here again. Highly Recommended.
456558,TravelingHoyt,12/02/2006,Simple but clean; friendly and superbly centrally located First of all; the Hotel Monte Carlo is extremely centrally located. It is within walking distance of just about anything: the Op茅ra; Les Halles; Montmartre; etc. It's in a nice residential shopping street; with a supermarket right across the road and tons of restaurants within a 100m radius; so getting and out something to eat is really easy to do.But then; the hotel is also really nice for what it is. We stayed there for 3 nights in late November; and were pleasantly surprised by the whole experience. Yes; it is undeniably only 2*; but the hotel was clean; the bathroom was very (!) clean; and the beds were nice and made up by room service every day.Finally; the hotel staff is very nice; especially the younger gentleman who appears to be the owner (?). They let us leave our bags behind reception after checkout time until we left the city; knew our room and names by heart from the second time we were at reception; gave advice and help; and were generally just really mellow and pleasant.I'd absolutely go there again. If you are on a budget; and prefer spending your money on something other than the hotel room; this will be a perfectly suitable solution.
456558,chansteve,11/12/2006,Wonderful Paris bargain ! This is a great hotel; right next to the Opera and shopping center . It was very clean; comfortable beds; there was an excellent buffet breakfast . We love the room's decoration and hotel is located in a safe area. The staffs were helpful; courteous and could offer great attention to details. Overall; very good indeed; reasonably priced; and great location. I'll definitely stay here again when in Paris.
456558,bouillonjohn,11/10/2006,Friendly; great location We stayed in Hotel Monte Carlo for three days and felt so welcome and warm from the Hotel every time when we were back to the Hotel after a long stroll in town. The hotel location is excellent; right in the city center; and there is a supermarket; right across the Hotel; which makes everything convenient. There are only five minute walking distance from OPERA and gallaries Lafayette. All is great at this hotel but the greatest thing was our BED!!! It was the most comfortable; the best bed I have ever slept in all my life! Not only that; the mattress was not too hard; not too soft; it was just right!The Hotel staff is rated absolutely 5-star. They are very helpful and warm from the start to the end of our stay. They deserve every penny of the price.
456558,adamrus,10/07/2006,Right in the heart of the city We really enjoyed our stay at this little freshly renovated hotel Monte Carlo. The hotel is very quiet; we had no complaints at all given that it is located on a very busy street. lots and lots of shops and places to eat around and about.The hotel is well located for the Metro and within walking distance to all the major tourist sites; we reached the Louvre in 15mins and we walked quite slowly. The location also offers some benefits as you are only minutes away from Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur .The staff is extremely friendly and greet you with a very warm welcome and smile each time you enter the lobby. They are available 24 hours to answer any and all questions; and they speak English. They were helpful in every way possible. They gave us tips on the best way to travel around Paris in addition as to the best places to shop. We recommend the breakfast; which for a reasonable price was enough to keep us going for most of the day.If we return to Paris we wouldn鈥檛 hesitate to rebook into Hotel Monte Carlo.
456558,Maggiehh,09/27/2006,Overall excellent stay My husband and I stayed at the Monte Carlo for a week in early September. Our choice was based on the many favorable reviews on Trip Advisor.I really enjoyed it. As it was my third time in Paris; I was really concerned about what the hotel would be; given that I had bad experiences with other hotels in the city.Nice little hotel; rooms were small but adequate. Very comfortable; impeccabble clean; with good bathroom facilities; towels changed every day. the hotel was a safe comfortable place to lay down your head after a busy day sightseeing.Very nice breakfast with lots to eat and good variety for 7 Euros.Excellent location. Metro is only a block away; but you can always take a walk. It's a beautiful city and there's only a short walk to major shopping area.The reception was absolutely proffesional; very kind and with a great command of English; as my French is a little bit primitive; and the rest of the staff was very polite; smiley and helpful. The hotel is surely an excellent 2-star hotel; with logical prices for its category and next time I am visiting Paris I definitely will stay there again.
456558,ewenchris,09/03/2006,Highly recommend this quiet 2 star No more doubt as to where to spend a night or two in Paris. This two-star hotel is above average; well kept; well organised; honest and forthright. The hotel team was quick and eager to help with any projects: my wife and I felt we were a respected part of things; and Paris became accessible and comprehensible for us. We recommend the Hotel Monte Carlo.
456558,mikihouse,08/20/2006,Easy to recommend to a friend For our fifth trip to Paris in a August period; we really enjoyed our stay in Monte Carlo hotel...it was great! Good breakfast; clean bathroom; new bedding. We paid 90 dollars per night for two.The room was comfortable though not huge; much better than we expected for a two star hotel; without being luxurious; the hotel provided everything we needed. Of the two and three star Paris hotels we know since our last trip; this one is our favorite. The location is central with many varied restaurants and sights within easy walking distance. We had no trouble exploring the Montmartre area; the Sacre Coeur; Notre Dame Cathedral; the Opera or the Louvre museum.The staff were helpful and friendly. They gave us maps of Paris and helped us with our tourist program. Besides; the hotel is open 24 hours!Reasonable price and good quality! Easy to recommend to a friend.
456558,jenmorris,08/04/2006,great hotel! I arrived June 28th at 9 a.m. at the hotel Monte Carlo and was recommended a buffet breakfast; I liked it a lot : first of all it was cheaper than outside in the coffee shops and you can eat as much as you want for 7 Euros. The day I was to check out; after breakfast I left my luggage at the reception and went shopping. The location of the hotel was perfect with plenty of lovely bars; pavement caf茅s and restaurants to choose from. All the main shopping centers like Galeries Lafayette are within 5 minutes walk of the hotel! I picked up my luggage at 6 p.m.. This time I stayed only two days in Paris; and for sure I鈥檒l return again to hotel Monte Carlo.
456558,lm33,07/02/2006,Good Budget Hotel... Key Word = Budget Monte Carlo is clean; fairly comfortable (very firm beds) and best of all; well located. Have no qualms about booking this hotel if you're travelling on a budget (I believe we paid around $50 a night for a double room w/ no WC in high season). However; consider skipping breakfast- for 7 Euro; you could do better at a corner bakery.
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,04/25/2006,Good for the price I also booked this hotel through lastminute.com (best deal) and the place was intended to just be a location for sleeping while exploring the vastness of Paris. The place was pretty clean; the only real grunginess I saw being some dried liquid splattered on the wall and fluffs of cat fur on the stairs. Speaking of cats; I am highly allergic to them but was never bothered by them in anyway during the stay.At checkin the guy wasnt particularly friendly; but during the course of our stay everyone else was; and they helped us find things/places we needed. Bathroom did have soap and towels and was pretty clean.Overall good experience for an EXCELLENT price. FYI; when you walk out of Cadet metro station you are facing SOUTH; not north.
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,04/01/2006,Clean; excellent base for Paris I stayed at this hotel for 3 nights as part of a suprise trip for my girlfriend. I paid 拢150 each including eurostar from London. I was not expecting much; but I was not disappointed. As other people have mentioned; the staff are not overly friendly; but we were able to leave our luggage in reception on the day we checked out; and picked it up in the evening on the way to the station. I wouldn't advise eating breakfast at the hotel; for the same price you can get fresh food from a bakery which is a 5 minute walk down the road. The location of the hotel is good; roughly 20 minute walk from the Gare du Nord and close to Metro lines to get to all the main attractions. The room was clean; but small although this didn't bother us as we only used the room for a place to sleep.
456558,bobalyssa,03/19/2006,Nice little hole in the wall Our room
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,03/17/2006,NOT the best kept secret!!! Average at best. Anyone who gives this hotel 5/5 is probably an owner or someone who works there. It's not bad; but you get what you pay for. The rooms are tiny - if you have big suitcases you will not be able to set them down to open them anywhere except on the bed. The bathroom is tiny; really really tiny. The staff is not overly rude; but don't go out of their way to make you feel welcome. If you like to sleep in until 10:30am or 11:00am the cleaning ladies will barge in on you once or twice. The TV is atrocious - essentially 8 channels. A version of CNN; 6 french channels with awful reception; and 1 soft-porn channel running naked girls 24/7 (so beware if you have kids). They charge you around 7 euros for breakfast.The best thing about this hotel is the location. For the price; the location is great. About an hour and a half walk from the Eiffel Tower / Champ D'Elysees area; an hour to the Louvre; there is a Metro around the corner from the hotel that goes everywhere if you want (learn to use the metro; it is awesome in Paris). As another reviewer points out - don't go to the store next door; it is a rip-off. If you are going to Paris on a budget and don't plan on spending too much time in the hotel other than sleeping it is probably a good bet.
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,03/01/2006,Hidden Treasure My boyfriend and I booked this hotel on Lastminute at the amazing price of 拢140 each with eurostar for 6 nights. I wasn't expecting much (I am a seasoned hostel traveller) but I was wrong. The hotel is basic but extremely clean; the communal areas outstanding and the staff friendly and go out of their way to help (We left our luggage at 12pm checkout and didn't have a return on eurostar til 8pm; booking taxis etc). We used it as a base to explore Paris and never spent more than 30 mins on a metro to see all the main sights. It's in easy reach of Gare Du Nord for transfers out of Paris ( For Versailles or Disneyland) The hotel is situated 10 mins walk from all the big department stores and is surrounded by many reasonably priced international restuarants (e.g. massive meal for two at a chinese restaurant 拢15 or sushi at 拢9 a head) It's also near Le Chartier restaurant and close to picturesque Monmarte. If you're looking for a cheap break to Paris i cannot recommend this hotel strongly enough.
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,02/25/2006,At least it's clean We booked the hotel through lastminute and was thrilled with the bargain price of 拢126 each for a 3 night stay. When we got there; we understood why. I don't like to moan becuase I know how off putting it can be to read bad reviews- so don't get me wrong if all you need is a comfortable bed (a double- not two singles put together!); a nice hot shower and cleanliness then it's excellent. It's a bit out of town but the connections via metro and bus are good. The Cadet metro stop is 5 mins away; however; after reading at lastminute the hotel was 500 metres away from the Gare Du Nord we attempted to do the transfer ourselves. It's more like a good half mile and not easy to navigate through the busy streets with a case... get a taxi. We arrived a good 3 hours before check in and it was nice they let us leave the case behind the desk for us to have a bit of an explore. It's a shame that was as helpful as they got really. We were reluctant to ask for a taxi transfer back as they seemed rather unfriendly and unaccomodating- we felt bad for disturbing one man from his TV programme to get us the key for our room. The resturants nearby are good value- especially for the set menu's but we enquired about breakfast at the hotel (as it wasn't included in the price) and for 7 Euros we could have all you can eat toast and bread... you can find better value out and about. No tea and coffee in rooms- fair enough- you can get a drink from the hotel but its 3 euros for 1 cup of tea or machine filtered coffee. It was nice to see the cats about the hotel- made it more homely and the only noticable bit was a bit of fur on the stairs. I think we were unlucky to get the view of the bins but then what do you expect for that price in Paris?So; at least it's clean... but don't expect much more.
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,12/23/2005,Lovely jubbly! the friendly hotel cat!
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,12/11/2005,Cat's meow and breakfast chow Cat
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,11/05/2005,a good clean hotel It is a good clean hotel in a central location. The owner is very friendly and helpful. Overall I am very happy with the hotel.
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,10/11/2005,Excellent value for money showReview(4013377; 'full');
456558,atlr,10/11/2005,Very happy with our stay here showReview(4006488; 'full');
456558,agro,10/10/2005,Good budget hotel showReview(4004064; 'full');
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,09/16/2005,What a surprise (and not in a nice way) showReview(3908687; 'full');
456558,deeguy,07/20/2005,The best deal you can get in Paris! showReview(3684902; 'full');
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,06/28/2005,Excellent value; great location showReview(3616325; 'full');
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,06/13/2005,Stop looking. You Found It! This is a great deal! showReview(3548823; 'full');
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,03/21/2005,Nice little hotel showReview(3291416; 'full');
456558,ATripAdvisorMember,02/16/2005,Cute hotel Cats on the stairs.
456558,littlelioness,02/11/2005,Furry showReview(3179067; 'full');
456558,Insolence78,01/06/2009,Un Bijoux showReview(23310634; 'full');
456558,lass,08/31/2008,piccolo ma grazioso!!! showReview(19646709; 'full');
456558,GGala,03/14/2008,H么tel impeccable ! showReview(14280070; 'full');
456558,agnesagnes00,03/04/2008,Excellent h么tel bien situ茅 ! showReview(14036570; 'full');
456558,anne044,02/27/2008,H么tel Sympa showReview(13884606; 'full');
456558,lass,02/11/2008,Lo mejor es que puedes llegar... showReview(14293387; 'full');
456558,muert,02/07/2008,Das Hotel Monte Carlo ist nicht zu empfehlen! showReview(13351109; 'full');
456558,lass,12/27/2007,Un buon albergo pulito con... showReview(12805855; 'full');
456558,lass,11/04/2007,J'avais pris une chambre avec... showReview(11410615; 'full');
456558,lass,11/01/2007,Mi estancia ha sido de 3... showReview(11410616; 'full');
456558,lass,04/08/2007,Etablissement correct pour le... showReview(11410614; 'full');
456558,nono4781,03/07/2007,Sympa; bien plac茅 cet hotel.... Vue Ext茅rieur
456558,lass,01/16/2007,Pour le prix versus... showReview(12649093; 'full');
456558,lass,08/04/2006,E' la prima volta che... showReview(11410617; 'full');
456558,lass,04/20/2006,L'h么tel est id茅al pour un court... showReview(11410618; 'full');
456558,lass,03/28/2006,Hotel ok - par contre petit... showReview(11410619; 'full');
456558,lass,12/15/2005,Hotel est tres bien situe; pour... showReview(11410620; 'full');
456558,lass,11/10/2005,Ottima posizione; centrale ed a... showReview(11410621; 'full');
456987,pearlan79,12/17/2008,It's ok Well if you are looking for a hotel that is centrally located and cheap I reccoment it.But I have to make sure that you all know that the rooms are small. we had 2 luggages and we couldn't fit in .But still it was a very clean hotel; with friendly staff and of course helpful.
456987,BKbroiler,11/29/2008,B is great for a small but chic place to stay Comfortable; great rooms; free internet; great service by the front desk. Only tough part is that you need two connections to get there from the airport by train. Otherwise; the area is great and breakfast is average; but better than nothing.
456987,mariogriffiths,10/05/2008,Brilliant place to stay We`ve just ended a 5 night stay at the B Roppongi and it was an excellent place to stay. The room was perfect; very clean and comfortable. The staff were realy helpful and all spoke some English so were able to help us plan any trips out. The location is brilliant - tons of bars and restaurants nearby for the evening so you don`t have to trek too far of a night if you don`t want to. Also right by the Ropongi subway station which gave you good access to most places. All in all a brilliant place we would definitely recommend it!
456987,akg,07/02/2008,Nothing to write home about We stayed in this hotel for 1 night on our return to Tokyo; and it was pretty standard really. It was clean and comfortable; but the room was by far the smallest we experienced of the 6 places we stayed in Japan; and there was a general lack of the little touches that other hotels excelled in. Also the breakfast was utterly awful; little selection; and all of it had been sat out since who knows when - do not bother; go and find somewhere else to eat! It's not that there was anything really wrong with the hotel; it was a perfectly fine place to stay; and convenient for the shopping/nightlife area round about; but it did feel a bit expensive for what it delivered; and if you're looking for somewhere a bit special or original; this isn't it. If however you're not worried about that and just need somewhere quiet and clean to spend your sleeping hours then you'll be totally fine; and to be honest most visitors to Tokyo probably aren't spending much time lazing round in their hotels anyway!
456987,bigsexc,06/30/2008,Excellent location with comfortable rooms Stayed in the B Roppongi during a quick layover to visit Tokyo before heading back to the States. Since we only had 36 hours to experience Tokyo after accounting for airport travel time; we were looking for something convenient. It's location couldn't be better; literally less than a minute walk to the main Roppongi intersection and subway station. The staff was helpful; though their english was limited. A buffet breakfast was included in the rate and it was OK. Include an egg quiche; juices; pastries and some cold cuts. The rooms were comfortable and sufficient; though not overly large and luxurious. I was staying with my best friend with a ton of luggage (5 suitcases plus other small bags for the 2 of us) and it wasn't uncomfortable cramped for us; though we primarily used the room to sleep and bath before going out.If you are looking for a comfortable; convenient room for a great price; this is your place. If you are looking for luxurious amenties; you probably want to go somewhere else.
456987,notherportlander,04/03/2008,Comfortable rooms We stayed the first night of our trip here. Its close to the subway; in a neighborhood with lots of restaurants. The lobby is tiny but nice looking; reflecting the small size of the hotel. The staff spoke English; checked us in; and gave us bath salts to enjoy. Our room was one of their simpler rooms; with two single beds. The rooms were small; with very little decor. But the bathtub was deep; and they had the fancy toilet. The beds and pillows were the most comfortable we would have on our trip. We enjoyed the included breakfast the next morning-- its Japanese breakfast but well done when I considered all the free breakfasts I have had in the states (cereal boxes and bad muffins for instance). there was an egg casserole; miso soup; salad; and a couple other things. It was a great deal for 135 a night; and we would stay again. Its only drawback is that its on a single subway line; so going anywhere involves transfers.
456987,DrewMDublinIreland,04/01/2008,Thumbs up to the B Roppongi! In short I loved my three nights in the B Roppongi. I had read that rooms in Tokyo were small so I expected the worst. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that the room was actually quite a decent size; even with a large double bed in it. And the staff were extremely helpful and polite; bowing at every opportunity which my girlfriend and I found culture-shocking but also very endearing.The location was fantastic; right in the middle of the bustling Roppongi. The hotel is easy to find as well. Take exit 5 from the Roppongi Station and it鈥檚 only a few metres away. One tip for staying in this hotel however; the hairdryer is actually kept in a box in the bathroom. Unfortunately we didn鈥檛 realise this until our last day.In all; I would recommend the great value B Roppongi hotel.
456987,bergo,03/09/2008,Great Hotel! My stay at the B Roppongi in Tokyo was just great. After backpacking in Japan it was great to arrive in such a nice hotel. The interior is modern/warm and the welcome by the staff is professional; warm and not too much. They upgraded me to a bigger room since i asked for a kingsize bed and the rooms was very nice. Good beds with clean white bedding and good lighting in the room. The bathroom was average; it was clean but nothing special. The hotel served free breakfast which was really nice and simple but good! Egg; toast; juice and coffee and that's about it but it gives you a good start of the day.Specially for the price/quality of this hotel it is a 5 star.
456987,metrobird,01/06/2008,Great Location Standard Room
456987,DJB7,11/11/2007,Good; basic hotel in great location Hotel is very convenient for the night life in Roppongi and access to Roppongi station (50 metres from the front door). Use exit 6 from Roppongi statioin and hotel is just ahead on the right. Although situated on a very busy road most rooms seem to be at the side and rear of the hotel so we had no problems with noise. The ground floor has obviously been recently fully renovated but the bedrooms have only been spruced up. Having said that they are perfectly fine and very clean and comfortable.Breakfast is served in the bar area and is fairly basic but includes Western items as well as usual Japanese breakfast.Good value for what you get.
456987,JAYHongKong,05/28/2007,Above Average Hotel double room
456987,jim7cary,05/25/2007,Great hotel We stayed here during Sakura season 2007. The room was a large corner room (4 large windows) overlooking Tokyo Tower. It was very clean and well priced. The staff were very friendly (even though we couldn't speak much Japanese; they were nice).Beware if you stay a while there's only one washer (slow) dryer.Also; while it is close to the metro; it still requires a transfer or two to get to the more well-known areas.
456987,zavini,02/12/2007,Great Hotel for Great Price Ensuite bathroom
456987,UKTravelmad,02/08/2007,Fab location Tokyo was not quite the shock we were expecting; but we were pretty tired and hot when we arrived. Train from airport to Tokyo station was easy; then we took a taxi to the hotel. We would have been completely stuck if I hadn't printed the name of the hotel in Japanese off the website. You could definately get there using the subway to Roppongi hills and then walking; but it wouldn't be much fun in August heat with heavy bags. Good clean room. Not big; but o.k. Location is superb. Don't miss the french bakery on the short walk up to the Mori tower. Brilliant for breakfast snacks. The hotel breakfast is a waste of time. Lovely staff though.
456987,kw81,12/05/2006,excellent standards; excellent value We stayed at the b roppongi for 1 night in November and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had been in Japan for a week and wished we'd had stayed in the b for the entirity. Its a very modern; clean hotel with friendly staff. The ladies get a little gift of toiletrieswhen you check in which was a nice touch. No spectacular views from our room but the location was excellent for the nightlife of Roppongi. This is the main district for bars; clubs and restaurants; however; like the rest of Japan it is not in the least intimidating or threatening. Close to Roppongi metro station which is handy if you arrive this way with all your bags. The room was very quiet considering its location. I'd definately stay here again.
456987,tylds,10/31/2006,Good location and spotlessly clean The location of this hotel is excellent. Right next to the metro station and the bars; shops of Roppongi. The rooms are a very good size and spotlessly clean with tv; minibar fridge etc for a 拢60 per night hotel The rate also included breakfast. Staff were friendly and helpfulDirections from Narita Airport If you are coming from the airport then either get the bus to the ANA hotel then it鈥檚 a 2 minute walk up the hill. If you get to Rappongi crossing then you have walked to far.If you are coming by train get the express to Tokyo station and then the Marunouchi line (red) to Ginza and change to the Hibya line (grey) and take exit 5 at Roppongi station
456987,clairetokyo,10/12/2006,Great service and value in the heart of the action We stayed here for one night on arrival in Tokyo and could not have asked for more for the discounted 80 pounds rate on Expedia. The location was excellent; steps from the subway station and the room large -including huge queen size bed; and spotlessly clean with tv; minibar fridge etc. Staff were friendly and helpful. Not a luxury choice but much much better than expected and would highly recommend; particularly if you expect to be out late in Roppongi.
456987,MarcJH,08/24/2006,excellent location my wife and i stayed at the b roppongi for 6 nights in may. i was a little apprehensive at first going to tokyo but i needent have worried. getting to the hotel from the airport was my biggest concern but turned out to be a doddle. just catch the narita express train (NEX) to tokyo station and then get a taxi. it is worthwhile having the hotels website printed in japanese as we found the taxi drivers did not know where to go without it. the hotel is a 2 minute walk from roppongi hills and if you are not into japanese food; just around the corner is mcdonalds; tgi fridays and the hard rock cafe. roppongi is very lively at night but we never had any trouble at all and the japenese people are always very courteous. the hotel itself is excellent. the room was very clean; and a lot more spacious than i expected with aircon and free internet connection. i found it worthwhile taking the laptop and using the internet in the room to plan days out. the reception staff knew very little english but we got by ok. one nice touch was when we went out of the hotel in the rain; the receptionist ran after us to give us both umberellas. trips worth doing are to go to the shrine at senso-ji; go by metro; so easy to use. also joypolis was well worth it if you like theme parks. overall i would highly recommend this hotel and the whole tokyo experience. if this hotel were in england i would expect at least a 4 star rating. any questions feel free to contact me and i will try my best to answer them.
456987,Starlet2303,07/11/2006,Lovely hotel Stylish hotel in a great location. We stayed here for three nights at the start of our holiday.The bedrooms were clean and comfortable; tastefully decorated; with all the amenities you would expect. We were worried about street noise as Roppongi is quite a lively area; but needn't have been. Slept soundly every night.A simple buffet breakfast is available each morning with a selection of hot and cold drinks; toast; cereal etc. Its pretty basic but enough to get you started.Our rooms weren't available when we arrived (it was first thing in the morning); but the hotel was happy to look after our bags while we hit the sights. Plenty to see and do near the hotel; with tons of bars and restaurants to choose from. The nearest subway stop was just a few metres from the front door.Would definitely recommend this hotel for first time visitors to Tokyo.
456987,ATripAdvisorMember,07/09/2006,OK for budget traveller. OK for location The hotel was a few minutes walk from Roppongi station and in the hub-bub of the Roppongi district. The staff were limited in their English; but were accommodating and pleasant. The room was average size; but had a funny smell (reminded me of blocked drains) Decor; bordering on bland. The room was clean; and the bathroom spotless. The bathroom reminded me of a bathroom you would find in a caravan; all cheap thin plastic and aluminium. It was as if it was a ready made bathroom cubicle; just dropped into a corner of the hotel room. The room was also quite noisy and every evening we could hear either an over exuberant honeymoon couple in the throes of passion; or more likely some old fella watching the 'adult channel' a bit too loud. Not the best was to try and fall asleep in the same room as your teenage son! The breakfast was awful; but we didn鈥檛 mind as we went elsewhere. I personally did not like the area; and found it noisy; smelly and dirty and the touts pestering you to go into the numerous strip clubs overwhelming. It did not feel as safe as other parts of Tokyo. This may be because I am an old fogey in my late thirties travelling with my teenage son! We actually booked out a day early; and went elsewhere. We found three nights stay here plenty. We would recommend Roppongi hills for a bite to eat. We ate here every evening; and the food was great and cheap.
456987,Charding,04/28/2006,Hard To Beat
456987,AndrewandKurt,04/03/2006,Definitely a Great Choice We stayed at the B Roppongi in Tokyo for a week in March 2006. The hotel is in a wonderful location in an upscale entertainment area with tons of restaurants; bars and grocery stores nearby. Also the Tokyo Metro station is located a half block away.The hotel is spotlessly clean and is nicely designed.There are really no amenities other than a restaurant and a bar. Hotel staff spoke passible English and were totally efficient when we needed them.The best thing about the hotel was the spotless; large and airy room which we had on the corner of the 9th (top) floor. Aesteticly the decore is a cross between The Embassy Suites an an Ian Schraeger hotel.In any case it was totally comfortable and had very nice bedding. Housekeeping was perfect.One peculiarity was that we could only use international calling card calls from the lobby coinbox phone. It was not possible to do so from the room. Breakfast had few choices and got drab after a few days. Not a shame to miss this if you have a choice when booking.All in all this hotel is a great value for a buck.I would definitely stay here again.As a seasoned traveler who held off on travel to Japan for years due to the high price of doing so I also have to say that Tokyo is quite affordable at this time. We found prices similar or a bit less expensive than home in Los Angeles for daily living. This is a great moment to visit this very impressive city.
456987,Mimsicle,03/29/2006,Fab hotel in a Fab City After getting such cheap rates for this hotel I was really worried BUT I could't have been more pleased. What a find! Great location near the hustle and bustle of Roppongi; right near the tube station and on the main road so great for finding a cab. The room although very small was fine; the bathroom sufficient. The staff were just great; we arrived in Tokyo at 630 am so we arrived well before the 2pm check in and although we couldnt check in that early they took our bags and we were able to return a couple of hours later and check in well before 2pm. Would definitely return and stay here again.
456987,annamacl,03/20/2006,Good base when arriving in Japan Room 608 bathroom
456987,ATripAdvisorMember,10/01/2005,Stylish; contemporary; friendly We stayed here in September of 2005 for a ridiculously low sum; and were blown away by how much we got for our money! The hotel is; admittedly; small; but so are most things in Japan. The rooms are spotless; the hotel quiet (a rarity in the centre of Roppongi!) and the staff extremely helpful and polite. Despite the previous reviews; we found that the staff actually spoke very good English; and couldn't do enough to help us locate our luggage which had been lost by the airline. Also it couldn't be more convenient connection-wise. Just get off of exit 5 of Roppongi metro station; and you'll see the B sign less than 20 feet away.The only down side was the very limited range of food on offer in the breakfast room (but then you're in Roppongi - the place practically bristles with coffee shops and restaurants anyway); and the single english language channel on the TV (CNN). Still; for this money and quality; we really can't complain.If I visit Tokyo again; I would probably just book in here without bothering to look elsewhere. A great hotel.
456987,ATripAdvisorMember,09/30/2005,great hotel; would stay again We picked this hotel from a website and were most impressed. We stayed 3 nights and had a room on the top floor; in the corner. We didnt hear any traffic noise and slept well in the huge bed. The only TV we could understand was CNN and we were able to follow the terrible events happening in New Orleans with the hurricane. The staff were very helpful however their English was limited; as was our Japanese. Breakfast was included in the tarrif; and was ok. The location is good; and i felt quite safe walking around the area on my own. Bathrobes supplied and a high tech toilet!
456987,ATripAdvisorMember,08/21/2005,Good location but a but basic Friendly service but very few English spoken. The staff will do all its best if he understands English ...The rooms are correct but not outstanding. Luxury rooms are more standard than luxury. Breakfast is very basic with very few choice.But the location is terrific; five minutes from Roppongi Hills and one minute from Roppongi Station.
456987,ATripAdvisorMember,07/21/2005,Very nice room; cheap; but noisy I staid with my friend in a deluxe room and I was really impressed by the size of the room; it was also really cheap in comparison to other Tokyo prices (拢199 for three night for two on lastminute).Flat screen TV; large sofa; very nice bed and huge room.The only problem is the noise. I was staying in room 410 just facing the main road; one of the busiest in Tokyo and they were doing lots of roadworks at night which did not help.Although the staff was helpful their English was really limited.The room had feather pillows and duvet. To avoid if you are allergic because they do not have any synthetic ones to replace them.
456987,ATripAdvisorMember,05/25/2005,No extra frills - but clean and safe! We didn鈥檛 book the hotel as it was booked by our client. Like a lot of things in Japan 鈥?it wasn鈥檛 large; but all in all it was a pretty nice hotel. Front desk staff were very friendly and tried their best to communicate with us despite the difference in our languages. My Japanese is non-existent; so their English was much much better. I was in room 809. Two single beds. The biggest problem is a lack of space to put your belongings. There was no dresser in which to unpack your clothes; and only a small rack on the wall to hang things. Thank goodness I was only one person and could use the other bed to store my suitcase; briefcase and clothing. If you were two people in the room you could be in trouble. The LCD TV was nice with only one channel that broadcasts in English (the ubiquitous CNN) but hey 鈥?you鈥檙e in Tokyo 鈥?turn off the TV and go explore!Broadband internet access is excellent 鈥?a must for any business traveller. The bathroom was great. All the way from the high tech toilet (you have to experience it to believe it) to the best shower pressure I have ever experienced in a hotel. It鈥檚 amazing!The place that you eat breakfast becomes a lounge at night. The guys behind the bar are amazing. Total showmen that know their liquor. Good martinis and a big selection of scotch. All in all it鈥檚 not a hotel with a lot of frills; but if you鈥檙e looking for a very clean; safe; nice hotel; at a very reasonable price; then it鈥檚 the one for you.
456987,ATripAdvisorMember,03/28/2005,the b roppongi; the new hip hotel Our Room
456987,lass,07/06/2008,tr茅s bien situ茅. showReview(18535568; 'full');
456987,lass,07/24/2007,super hotel dans super quartier! showReview(11452918; 'full');
456987,lass,04/02/2007,excellent choix 脿 Tokyo showReview(11403104; 'full');
472078,Kikujiro,12/28/2008,Excellent value for money Bed
472078,ijdwright,11/22/2008,Easy and efficient hotel Spent two nights in November 2008.Everything was straight forward and efficient with this hotel. Nothing spectacular but everything you would expect from a chain hotel. Liken it to a Travelodge in the UK - clean; good basic level of service. Location was good; just south of the Rijksmuseum and close to the excellent tram service - lines 16 and 24.If you are looking for a simple; no-fuss hotel I'd definitely recommend this particular NH Hotel.
472078,ninamarta,09/10/2008,Excellent hotel! This is by far one of my favorite hotels my company uses!The location is pretty good; near of the most important Amsterdam's museums and the town city center.The staff is friendly and the whole hotel very cousy!
472078,soeti,08/19/2008,very good hotel very nice hotel ;modern rooms; exellent service; very good breakfast;internet available but very expensive - (22 Euro per day)10 min walk to museums- a bit far from center (dam) about 35 min walk or 15 min by tram - thats the only major disadvantage.
472078,katwoman0326,07/02/2008,Nice Hotel Had a room on the first floor facing the street and canal. A window opened to allow some fresh air in. Rooms are large and comfortable. A choice of bed pillows is offered. Bathroom was big and clean; but couldn't get the drain stopper to come up in the sink; so had to take it out altogether . Good location in the Museum Quarter; 1 block from the Rijksmuseum. Walking distance to Leidesplein; and also the Paridiso Theatre. Take a Tram from Central Station - aprx 20 minutes.
472078,chirpyLondon,03/31/2008,OK Hotel This is an OK Hotel for the price we paid; I think we got one of the penthouse rooms facing the canal which was an added touch; no real complaints so to speak except I it was a little out the way although not the greatest walk into the center (Dam Squ); no problems with staff as mentioned in previous reviews; pretty much a middle of the road hotel clean and probably a little smarter than some other hotels in its grade.Amsterdam is a pretty fun city to visit and has plenty on offer from museums to nightlife; skip the breakfast and eat out plenty of places around thats if you can get up after a late night out.
472078,paco54,11/22/2007,Not good Value Not good value for the price. No help with luggage; internet charges are sky high. No full minibar. Towels are very small and very thin. Soap is miniscule. Moved to Mariott down the street paid a little more but well worth it.
472078,mradl,09/22/2007,Lovely staff - Great Location We found this Hotel to be in a great location; on the edge of the Museum Quarter and also very close to the city centre. Everywhere was very walkable (even for two very middle aged men)! Across the bridge and into the 'real' Amsterdam of the 'Pijp' was a great bonus!When we arrived I had left my wallet in the public bus en route to the hotel and the staff bent over backwards for me to ensure its safe return and;even this apart; I cannot say enough for them. Everyone was so friendly.Room was spotless ( but then I do not spend my time examining cornices for traces of dust)!. Bathroom great and everything changed and replaced daily with absolutely no fuss.Only neg. is that the wardrobe was tiny - not great for two gay men on a wee break!!Don't know about food as we didn't eat there.A very nice hotel otherwise I would have given the hotel a five!
472078,MRau,08/13/2007,Loved the Penthouse We were on a work related trip in Amsterdam and stayed at this hotel. The location is ideal. Rijksmuseum just next by and the tram station just around the corner. If you're not afraid to walk a bit the shopping streets are just 20 minutes away and there's lots to see on the way there. And great restaurants. I was fortunate to get a room all to myself. I stayed in the sixth floor at the corner suite. A superb room; king size bed; two rooms; a huge bath room. The breakfest was also great and the staff reasonably nice. The hotel does deserve the four stars!!
472078,StuartStockbridge,07/24/2007,Tired and Uninspired This hotel is on the fringes of what we would consider City Centre Amsterdam; near the Museum Quarter - as the name suggests. As an area to stay; it is central enough to be a walk into town; but not central enough to just pop in to change before going out for the evening. We had stayed in an NH hotel previously (Budapest) and found it clean and smart and the hotel staff very helpful. This hotel was a different story; the building itself looked a little tired from the outside and didn't get better inside. Room was adequate and; while there was no peeling paint; it was crying out for redecoration; it was certainly not up the level we would have expected from NH. The lifts were very small and slow. Normally I am happy to use the stairs for a couple of floors; but the stairs were also pretty cramped; steep and institutional.Breakfast was; at best; OK. There was a reasonable selection of food available on a buffet counter; however; if you want any of the cooked food options (e.g. fried eggs); you have to rely on a single chef; standing in the middle of the buffet counter making food on two gas rings. That in itself wasn't a problem; the issue was more the fact that the chef was rarely there and would just disappear if you didn't queue up.Staff were helpful and helped us to get our bearings and direct us to where we could find restaurants - although their definition of restaurant also apparently included McDonalds KFC etc. Overall; a satisfactory hotel in a good secondary location; which was probably matched by the room rate.
472078,FAMRAU,07/13/2007,Great location; great value My wife; children and I just returned from a European vacation to Brussels; Brugge and Amsterdam and enjoyed our stay at the NH Museum Quarter. The location was key to us because we did not want to be in the center of the city and we did want to be near the museums-- PERFECT. This is a modern hotel; the rooms are spacious; a little quirky in design and clean. We chose NOT to take breakfast in the hotel due to the expense and our preference for a lighter; continental-style breakfast. SOLUTION--Just 10-15 minutes walk away is a grocery store called Dirk's with a bakery on the left as you walk in; and on the walk back a shop called the Coffee Company. Voila; you get your morning constitutional; an apple turnover fresh out of the oven and a latte in less than 45 minutes. Breakfast for 4=less than $20 a day.The Anne Frank House is about a 40 minute walk along the canals. This is a must for your visit to Amsterdam if you have never been-- A harsh; tangible reminder of man's inhumanity to man.Museums are on the next block[we preferred the walk to the right as you leave the hotel; through the park; canals are across the street; tram is a block away[not that we ever used it]. There are a tons of restaurants within a 15 minute walk of the hotel in any direction although we usually crossed over the canal right in front of the Rijksmuseum. There is a pasticceria for sweets and pastries a few blocks away in the other direction.We took the 1/2 day tours to Delft; etc and to Edam; etc. Both were great and arranged by the hotel. There is a canal boat ride a few blocks away and a concert hall a short walk from the hotel. Enjoy!PS-- if you are a light sleeper do not stay in room 110.
472078,fudgiebox,07/09/2007,Nice Rooms; Awful breakfast and appalling staff attitude! We booked 2 double rooms for a weekend break between 6th - 8th July. The rooms themselves were clean and the beds comfortable - not the biggest rooms in the world but fine for a weekend stay. We had breakfast included in the price of the stay however should you be looking to stay; DON'T have the breakfast - you'd be better off going to a cafe. We arrived for breakfast the first morning only to be shown to a dirty table full of used dishes; which we ended up having to clear ourselves. When the waitress did finally reach our table; she made no apology for this. The cooked breakfast (eggs; bacon and sausages) on the second morning looked like left overs from the day before and were stone cold. I informed the waitress that the food was cold; to which she placed the palm of her hands directly on to both the eggs and sausages at the counter right in front of me!! She then gave the items a mix around with a spoon and then took them off to the kitchen for reheating! Hygiene standards are clearly lacking here and one member of our group ended up with food poisioning for the entire weekend; the likely cause appearing to be from the breakfast (althouh we cannot be 100% certain)On the second morning I used the hairdryer in my room and it caught fire - luckily it was not close to my hair otherwise it would have burnt my hair and possibly my scalp. We immidiately informed front desk of this incident and were informed that someone would come up immediately. No one arrived and when we went to check out we raised this issue again. The duty manager provided us with poor excuses claiming that no one could find him to inform him of this incident. Overall; there is a clear lack of staff training by all levels of staff (excluding the cleaning ladies who were very polite and friendly) and our complaints were met by front desk with a negative; don't care a less attitude. We shall be contacting the NL group directly regarding this incident. If you want somewhere decent to stay; our advice would be to book early at a hotel within the Jordaan area (where we have stayed before).
472078,Nospamplease,06/10/2007,Close to museums We stayed 3 nights in a large corner room overlooking the canal. Very good location for visiting the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum and easy walk to shopping area and restaurants. We found the hotel very clean and the staff very cordial. The breakfast buffet was very good. We would stay here again.
472078,brenada,06/05/2007,Dirty and smelly Dirty carpet
472078,InterntlTraveler10,05/09/2007,Nice Hotel; Good Location We selected this hotel after reading the reviews on this site and were not disappointed. Stayed six nights. Modern hotel; good location; easy access; convenient - we were seeing museums and general touring. Large; well-appointed room (superior corner room). Quiet.Room service is minimal but good. A LOT of airline crews stay here - one desk clerk said it was 70% of their business. Would stay here again.
472078,thielees,04/01/2007,Pleasant surprise... modern hotel with nice fitness center One of Amsterdam's great charms is the way its residences have evolved over the centuries... all over one sees wood-framed buildings leaning against each other. Unfortunately many of the hotels I've visited in Amsterdam have the same aged feeling: dark decors; dated bathrooms; and slightly sagging wooden floors. Not the NH Museum Quarter; which is a fresh; contemporary hotel with appealing facilities. My room was on the sixth floor facing the canal. It was spacious and welcoming. The bathroom was really pleasant; with stone floors and light wooden fixtures. The staff were generally helpful. The bar area has a good atmosphere; and the fitness center is really convenient: free for guests 24 hours; several pieces of good-quality cardio equipment (bikes; tread mill; rowing machine; etc). Finally; the location is just fine; a short taxi ride to the central train station (or a pleasant 30-minute stroll; if it isn't raining!). There are numerous restaurants in the neighborhood within a 10-minute walk.I'll definitely recommend this hotel to friends and stay here again next time in Amsterdam.
472078,gz,03/27/2007,Decent hotel with great location for museums; galleries; etc The NH Museum Quarter is just a few minutes away from the Rijksmuseum; Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum. You can also walk to Leidseplain in about 10 minutes -- where you will find bars; restaurants; shopping; etc. So it's a pretty good location for the south part of Amsterdam.There's a tram stop just around the corner from the hotel; so it's pretty quick and easy to get to the north/central part of Amsterdam too... It was also very easy to get to the hotel from the airport by taking a train to Centraal Station; and then a tram (number 16 or 24) from there to the hotel.The room I stayed in had air con; fridge (no minibar); safe; TV and wi-fi connectivity (not free!). There are vending machines on every floor selling soft drinks and beer; plus there is 24hr room service. I believe that there is also a gym; although I did not have time to go and see it.The breakfast (included) was decent -- the usual continental selection of breads; pastries; meats; cheeses... Plus hot food such as bacon; sausages; scrambled eggs; etc. They also have a cook to order service at breakfast which is very good! I can recommend the omlette!So; overall; the hotel didn't blow me away... But it's decent; clean; safe; and comfortable. Nothing special. But I would have no hesitation in recommending it for either business or leisure.I also got a great deal on the hotel by using the TripAdvisor View All Best Deals service. Before that; I had checked every internet hotel booking site I could think of; and every single site was giving me the exact same price... I even called NH hotels direct; and was again quoted the same price. But using the View All Best Deals link on this site; I managed to find a price that was about 30% cheaper than the price quoted everywhere else!! So well done TripAdvisor!
472078,Shergar1981,01/17/2007,Room service ? We booked the hotel through the NH web site after reading the positive reveiws that have been posted. All in all the hotel was adequate but was a bit dissappointed with a few aspects; firstly we were left a bit miffed by the room service; after ringing down for a pot of tea we were brought up a couple of tea bags and told we had the facilities in the room; secondly we could not order any bar food after 3pm and found the bar shut at mid night at the weekend ? We found the room and the facilities clean and well presented and the staff overall were very friendly; but felt we could have found better value elsewhere.
472078,MJT,12/07/2006,Loved it! We stayed here for 2 nights in early December and cannot fault it at all. We were given a room on the 7th floor with a canal view and floor to ceiling windows with great views over the rooftops of Amsterdam. The room was clean and spacious with a nice selection of bathroom products and a tea/coffee tray. The reception staff were wonderful - really friendly and extremely helpful giving us restaurant recommendations and general information. Two tram lines serve the stop nearby but we managed to walk into town a couple of times without too much trouble.If you arrive by tram get off at Ruysdaelstraat and walk back towards the bridge/canal and then turn left and the hotel is a couple of minutes walk on the left hand side.Great hotel; great staff - what more can you ask for.
472078,milktray,10/23/2006,Comfortable and Peaceful This was not a first choice; but was near where our friends were staying. First off this is a modern purpose built hotel and is very well furnished and decorated. Staff were very polite; friendly i couldn't fault them. Our room a superior one on the 6th floor was huge and extremely comfortable and so quiet! The Tram lines 16 and 24 stop just a few moments away (RuydaelStraat) and take 10/15 minutes to Centraal Station. Also best steaks in Amsterdam at Cafe Loetje is just down the street from the tram stop. The main museums and the best shopping street (PC Hoofstraat) are also in close proximity. It's also within minutes of Albert Cuypstraat and Amsterdams largest general street market so it's position is really great especially if you like a bit of peace and quiet after a days sightseeing.
472078,PaulCarter,10/02/2006,Impressed the girlfriend!! Good feel about the place the minute you walk in. Bright; modern reception area. Staff at all times very couteous and helpful. Room was fabulous - incredibly comfortable bed. We had very large room on sixth floor with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the canal. Admittedly not much to see beyond that apart from a few blocks of rooftops. It is quite a stroll from the centre should you decide to walk but 16 and 24 trams run from stop about 3 minutes walk from hotel. We bought a stripkarten from a tobacconists (15 trips for 6.70 euros and lasted both of us all weekend). There is also a night bus service which stops very close although both nights running; after visiting a few of the bars in the centre; we opted for taxis (should be about 10 euros after midnight on the meter). Unfortunately got ripped off the second night - charged 20 euros for same trip and driver suddenly decided he didn't speak English when I queried the reason for the tortuous route taken.Hotel less than 10 minutes walk to Museumplein. Recommend the Cobra cafe - delightful sitting in sunshine for brunch.I would recommend the hotel; certainly for couples; and would certainly stay there again. In a city where accommodation seems very expensive this place didn't seem too bad for price.
472078,rockchick22,09/26/2006,great Stayed here for 2 nights. Quiet area; but not too far from the centre. I think we had the best room. Very Clean; massive bed!
472078,rekcut,09/09/2006,Great hotel; Great location Very Nice Hotel. Staff was very friendly and efficient. Room was large and well equipped. We were in room 735 which was on the corner of the top floor and overlooked the river and toward the rooftops of the Rijksmuseum. Couldn't have been more pleased. Booked on Venere.com
472078,trinity2104,08/30/2006,Stay here for a peaceful time in Amsterdam! My boyfriend and I decided on this hotel after reading the reviews on this website. The only downside about this hotel is that it is not located in central Amsterdam...but mind you; I've heard that's a godsend. I did try to follow the directions which were given on this site but to no success - it actually added to the confusion when I asked which tram went to Hobbemakade at the bus terminal at Centraal Station. Arriving at Schipol Airport; do not get the shuttle bus - its costs something like 鈧?2 whilst the train to Centraal Station costs about 鈧?.60. We bought an IAmsterdam card because we didn't want to worry about buying tickets when getting on the public transport. Get the train on platform 2 to Centraal Station. Outside at the tram terminal; go to the stop for trams 16 and 24 (this is currently located on the otherside of the large blue construction site on track 4). The stop you are looking for is Ruysdaelstraat...unlike the UK; the trams speak to you and tell you which stop it is stopping at. On the tram; you are looking for a door knob looking black button on the side walls; thats the bell! Press that and the tram will stop at the next stop....but remember to press the button by the doors to get out (we made the mistake on the first day of waiting at the doors and the tram then subsequently driving off without letting us off!). Hobbemakade is the road next to the stop; look up at the side of the buildings and you will see the hotel name. We arrived an hour before check-in but the receptionist very courteous and checked us in anyway. We were also allocated a beautiful room on the top floor - a panoramic view of the canal below us and stars at night! The rooms are clean - oh and the shower! BEWARE! Hot on this shower is SCALDING!! I recommend setting the temperature of the water before walking into the bath. Room was cleaned everyday. Overall - an excellent excellent stay! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
472078,Markthemover,08/06/2006,Great little stay Myself and a friend stayed here for one night in February 06. We were put up there by KLM as their flight cancellation from the UK to Amsterdam meant we missed our connection to Bangkok. Upon arrival the girl at the reception was very professional; and took our bags. We were allocated our rooms; these were very nice; mine over looking the canal out front! We were given meal vouchers but didnt use them; but the food that was coming out looked tremendous. It had a great atmosphere; very relaxed (Dutch). The only thing I would say is that it is a fair walk to the bright lights of Amsterdam; but the taxi took 5 mins. Lots of Air Crew around in the morning; and the breakfast on offer here is amazing. I would most deffinately recommend this Hotel to anyone.
472078,ATripAdvisorMember,07/10/2006,A Very Pleasant Stay This was a lovely hotel. It was central enough and easily accessible to the hussle and bussel by tram service. Everything one could ask for was in the vicinity of the hotel also- coffee shops; a small inconspicuous red light area at night (if viewing such is on your tourist 'to do' list); museums; lovely park; supermarket; open street market- without the droves of tourists one would find in the city centre. The area around the hotel is a very nice part of the city. Our room could be cleaned each day up until 4pm which was great as we left the hotel late each day. Lovely view of people going by in their boats on the canal. Vending machine on the corridor sold beer. The 2 biggest pluses were the black-out curtains and air conditioning. A place I would highly recommend.
472078,StormSurvivor,06/04/2006,Clean; Comfortable; Convenient Due to flight schedules from the US; we arrived at 9:30am and were able to check into our room within about an hour with no extra charge. The room is an average European size in a contemporary style. Great bed. Our room was exactly like the website photo with big windows that actually open. The staff was always helpful and friendly. This hotel is only a couple of blocks from the (temporary) Rijksmuseum and van Gogh museum. Otherwise; there is not much within a block or two (shops; restaurants); but the NH is close to a tram line. Also; walking to the city center is safe and only about 15 minutes (watch out for the bycyclists). If you want to go to the north side of Amsterdam (Central Station and Red Light District); the walk is considerably longer. All in all; while I originaly wanted to stay closer to the city center; this hotel suited our needs very well on a crowded weekend.
472078,fancynanc85,06/02/2006,Wonderful Hotel! My daughters and I just returned from a 2 week trip to Europe. Our stay at the Nh Museum Quarter Hotel was delightful. We had a large corner room with canal views and all ameneties. The front desk staff were helpful in providing directions and maps. Since the computer for hotel guests doesn't allow for printing; they invited us to come behind the desk to print our boarding passes for our next flight! The location is quiet but within easy walking distance of restaurants; the tram and major attractions. Flight crews from many of the major airlines stay here. I would highly recommend this hotel.
472078,TravelLab,05/30/2006,Good value for the money Just returned from a 5 night stay; Pluses- Room was nice sized; bed comfortable; floor to ceiling window with canal view (not the greatest cabal; but still a canal). Breakfast (not incl.) while seemingly pricey (16 euros) was decent quality; eggs the way you like; good choices decent start of a day. You'll only need a light lunch; then a good dinner.Staff was very helpful. If you're not enamored with European duvet's; ask for an extra bottom sheet (they don't use fitted sheets); and use the blanket provided. Temperature control was good; we were able to leave the window open all day; then turn the air on at night to cool the room down for sleeping. Cons: Housekeeping; while at a high standard for cleanliness; wasn't necessarily at a 4-star level. We were only given one-set of towels repeatedly; and would find the sheet and blanket replaced with the duvet every other day. Annoying; but quickly corrected. Some front desk staff are more helpful then others; they have maps; some give them; and advice freely; others it's like pulling teeth. Don't be surprised if they're recommendations aren't what you want; the secret be as specific as possible; e.g.; instead of a place nearby to eat; ask for a nice restaurant; serving 'traditional鈥?Dutch food with minimal smoking (if preferred); that's quiet. Otherwise you're likely to get a really smoky dive that probably has good food; but leaves a lot to be desired. Bottom line. Reasonable price; excellent location; and quiet (props to the previous mention of the curtains; they are thick). With a tram stop within a 10 minute walk; as well as the major art museums 10 minutes away; don't worry about being in the town center; this is close enough. Tips: Friday night鈥檚 both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum are open until 22:00. If you plan on going to both; as well as a few others; think about the year long museum pass (30 euros); it's the best deal. The bigger souvenir shops sell tram tickets. A 15 trip ticket goes for 7.00 Euro; you can hop on by the Van Gogh; and get to the central station in under 5 minutes. I'd recommend walking as much as possible; as you see more; but you're feet will appreciate a fall-back plan.
472078,Colingus,05/08/2006,Marvellous Hotel Stayed at this excellent hotel for a short city break. Room was large; clean and comfortable with a fantastic view from the very large window (sixth floor). Staff were friendly and most helpful and the breakfast was truly great - kept us going for most of the day. Although the location was quiet; it was within easy walking distance of museums; Leidesplein; trams and canal bus stop. Would definitely stay ther again.
472078,pml,01/03/2005,Quiet but central location Recently stayed with my wife and two boys over the holidays. Hotel is in excellent location. Quiet near the museums; but very central to everything. Hotel staff is very friendly. Breakfast is very good. For English speakers Amsterdam is a great place. Nearly everyone is fluent in English. Recommend the Quinto restaurant near the hotel.
472078,volvo99,12/12/2004,Another nice NH property. This property is convenient to the Rijksmuseum; Leidseplein; tram stops; the Heineken Brewery tour; and the Albert Cuyp Market. It is a rather new (2001) property; and hosts many airline crews. The walls were thick and curtains dark enough to promote a good night sleep. There's a lounge; restaurant; and it is a stop on the conexxion (KLM) airport shuttle bus. There's a PC available for rent in the lobby. The property is functional and elegant; without unecessary flourish. Well recommended.
472078,ATripAdvisorMember,09/14/2004,nice..recommended stayed 4 nights end august..two couples.Modern clean hotel with great/friendly staff.Nice quiet location with easy access everywhere.Great corner bar at canal across the way.Had prob as to whether breakfast included in price(145 Euro a night) resolved positively and nicely.Storage for clothes poor if long stay but otherwise great with good food and service.Allin all a great base.Try for a deal.I will be back
472078,puffy74,07/28/2008,Ottima location;ottimo albergo showReview(18344054; 'full');
472078,lass,06/07/2008,Es un muy buen hotel; con... showReview(16914434; 'full');
472078,lass,02/29/2008,鑹挵澧?#x201d; showReview(19169108; 'full');
472078,Queco,08/03/2007,Bien en General Habitaci贸n
472078,lass,01/16/2007,modern; ruhig; hervorragend gelegen showReview(11394518; 'full');
472078,lass,01/15/2004,椋涜姗熴伄涔椼倞缍欍亷銇岄亝... showReview(19924183; 'full');
472078,lass,07/11/2003,銉堛儶銉庛亱銈夈偄銉犮偣銉嗐儷... showReview(19919605; 'full');
478252,suricklouruss89,01/06/2009,Hated It This place is HORRIBLE...STAY AWAY !!!!From the minute we walked in the doors...The people who work there do not want to make your stay enjoyable. The food is the WORST FOOD I have ever tasted and the alcohol is compeletly watered down. I saw them open new bottles but it was not the real deal. We overpaid for this horrible vacation. If you are going there is nothing for kids to do after dinner. No movies in room. No Lounge chairs available on the beach. OVER CROWED and TERRIBLE DO NOT GO THERE!!!
478252,Sofiya123,01/06/2009,We had a good time. The hotel was beautiful; and the wedding we saw out of our windows were extremely romantic ( just in case anyone is looking for a hotel for their ceremony .) The beach and the four pools was really great; and the service was excellent. Large clean rooms with a very large; luxurious bathroom. I loved the little bus that takes you around the territory so you do not feel too bad if you get a room further from the large; main pool and the beach. The other four pools were also great and reachable from every room on the territory. Overall; highly recommended.
478252,Needa64,01/04/2009,Outstanding Front entrance
478252,aljac,01/03/2009,loved it again... My husband and two daughters and myself had a wonderful stay from the 6th to the 20th of December..We have been to many places and this was our 4th stay in the Dominican.This was our second time at the Bahia...We were upgraded to Diamond club (last year we stayed at the bahia in Riviera Maya)We enjoyed the extra perks...The food; the service were great; the resort is spotless and very beautiful...The last few days we were there ; it started to get alot busier; line ups everywhere....The weather was good; rained but never lasted long; mostly at night when we were sleeping..Overall wonderful time...you can pm me if you have any questions...Go and enjoy yourselves!!!!!
478252,OceanLive,01/01/2009,Very bad Well; I went with my friend. They say punta cana is expensive and beautiful..start with the beach: it was brown and dirty; the water wasnt clean at all; ther was lots of whole and they closed some part of it. The service was ok (even though we had the Gold Bracelet); the food was ok I thought untill i got food poisoned for 4 days. And i went for 1 week! so I was kept in the hospital. The hotel did very less about it; but bcuz i had insurance; they took care of me very little. Thank God i had insurance; could of imagine..!! Its very americasined; its not like Cuba where u feel the good latin music; the dance...At the hotel; they would put slow american music from the 90s. And the tourists look so down. (i have been traveling alot and to see Bahia Principe like this IS SAD) Theyr show was all about Michael jakcson..Brtiney Spears; Tony Braxton..nothing like in their dominican traditional dance music or simply latin dance so everyone can DANCE together! The vibe was dead; there wasnt good energy. You wanna party? not the place to go. As couple: Yes.
478252,fromquebec,01/01/2009,Will not return The beach and grounds are beautiful; the rooms are spacious and clean. However the beach was so crowed..I have never been to crowded beach like that in my life. Pools were so crowed too. The food is was not the greatest; it was served cold; the meat was hard and tough. I read many reviews about that; but did not pay attention to it because we are always one of the first ones to be at the buffet. But even being the first ones there; the food was always cold. We don't drink but we like to have a good cappucino...the coffee was terrible; the inside restaurant by the pool smelled bad when we walked in; the beach bar buffet was so crowed and had a huge line ups.The resort is pretty big but the shuttle bus is quick. I prefer a smaller resort than a big one; you feel more special in a smaller resort; people remember you.All we go for is the beach; I don't really care about the shows; entertainment; pools etc. we are simple people who like the beach and that is it. I can't say we had a bad time; but basically this resort offers nothing special for me to return. We paid way too much for what we got..
478252,ryguy2008,12/31/2008,Amazing Resort! We just got back from Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana a few days ago; and as a family of 5; everyone had an amazing time! Here's our run-down. If you have any questions; feel free to send me a message! You can't go wrong here!Went for a week (Dec 20-27) from Montreal; with Air Transat. Not great flight times; but everything was on time; bus left prompty; and we were the first stop. Only 25 minute busride. Chose the Royal Golden package.Check-in: Arrived at 3 AM; so the resort was pretty quiet then. Only one person at the front desk. Check-in was fairly quick; followed by a short wait since only 1 bellboy was working at this time. Had to get our safe activated the next day in the Royal Golden area. We were told to stop by the Royal Golden area the following day. When we got to our room; we found a letter from them. They made our restaurant reservations for us; but we were more than welcome to change them. (You get 4 dinners with the Royal Golden; 3 without).Royal Golden Reception:We went the following morning to the Royal Golden area by the lobby; made the dinner reservations that we wanted very quickly and easily. Got our safe activated here too. They have a safe door there to demonstrate exactly what you need to do. They have a very very small bar here; and 3 computers for your 15 minutes of internet. Officially it's 15 minutes of internet per day per room; but during slow periods you could get away with 15 minutes per person too.Rooms:We had 2 adjoining rooms; on the second floor in villa 2. Very spacious; clean; only saw 1 bug all week. The maid did a good job of keeping everything in order; at a decent time; with a gift and a dollar or two left daily. Although the rooms were always tidy; didn't see any decorations in the first half of the week. As teh week progressed; we saw a heart with flower pedals and some balloons. The a/c worked perfectly fine in both rooms. Just be aware it only works if your balcony door is firmly shut. As well; bathrooms were interesting... No fan or shower curtain. It gets very steamy in there after showering; but not a problem. Beautiful bathrooms none the less. Remember; the tap water is not drinkable. Shower towels were never a problem.As well; at night; we often found beach towels for us for the next day from the maid; along with candies; or chocolates. As well; any dirty towels from that afternoon were already gone.Grounds:Stunning grounds. All throughout the day; there is always someone picking up garbage; painting; cleaning; spraying insecticides; and more. The resort is big; and it is true; it takes a day or 2 to figure out your way around. However; it is manageable. We were in Villa 2; which is 5 seconds from the beach; and we barely used the trolley. It's about a 10 minute walk to the lobby only.Beach:Just like the grounds; it is constantly being cleaned. There are people picking up plastic cups on the ground throughout the day constantly. The beach is beautiful! Bavaro beach (the beach where the resort is next to); has such smooth and soft sand with crystal clear water. We did actually have some problems with beach chairs when we tried to do it the polite way; and not reserve chairs. We like having our chairs near the beach; to the extent that we had to sometimes go into the pool area and take chairs from there. Later on in the week; we reserved chairs around 9 AM and never had a problem. But by 11:30 AM; it's much harder. A towel or a sandle does the trick.There are vendors about 20 minutes along the shore to the right on the beach. Good stuff; just be prepared to haggle as always. Pools:We spotted 3 pools during our stay; but only used 1. There is a pool right near the beach which has the bulk of the animation and action; and halfway to the lobby there are 2 more pools. One of these pools is for everyone; the other is reserved for Diamond/Hacienda club members only. Every pool had a swim-up bar. Pools were kept clean; and we never had a problem swimming in any of them. As well; short wait at the swim-up bars (and this was during the high season!).If we were to be critical; we found the animation to be lacking a bit. It did exist; but there wasn't as much as another resort we were at. However; some may prefer this as they aren't in your face all day.Bars:To add a bit more about bars; there are many throughout the resort. One on the beach; one at every pool (both inside and outside the pool); at every location where food is served; and more. The drinks were good and served quickly. The beach;/pool bars had all the typical frozen drinks like Coco Locos; Banana Mamas; Pina Coladas; lemondade and so on. The bartenders were always willing to add alcohol as you may desire. Every bar also had water; which is 100% bottled water. At the pool and lobby; there are people who also bring drinks to you. No drinks inside coconuts. Punta Cana LOBBY and Lobby bar: Beautiful open-air area. Lots of areas to sit and relax. In my opinion; the lobby bar served the best drinks. They had the largest variety; and were always served the nicest. They just were classy. Had little pineapple and cherry's sticking out; sugar candy rim; and so on. In the evening; there would be usually someone playing piano and singing or just music playing which was nice. As well; there are staff who come around and offer to get you your drink. They also have the drinks here that cost money (international drinks). Very enjoyable area throughout the day. In the morning; they also have good muffins and croissants here.FOOD:Main buffet - Orquieda:Air-conditioned buffet.Huge variety of food; throughout the day. Be careful of the hours when meals are served. At any buffet; when they say it ends; it ends. They won't ask you to leave if your eating; but the food will be gone then. At breakfast; they have 2 omelette stations; which were really good. As well; the usual nice variety. Fresh juices; scrambled eggs; toast; waffles; pancakes; bagels; yogurts; cereals; bread (which was quite good!) and more. Nobody goes hungry.Lunch was good here as well; typical variety. Only ate here once; so don't really remember what it had.Dinner: Every night is a different theme. We ate there on international night; and I think spanish night. In any event; the food was great. It was served hot; fresh; and a nice variety. Every dinner has a pasta station that's served and made fresh with food for kids as well. Often had stuff like lambchops; and what not being served for u at different stations. For all meals at the buffet; never had to wait long for coffee/juice/soft drink/wine. The waiters come around often. Second Breakfast Buffet:Air-conditioned.There is also a breakfast buffet near the beach; at El Pescador restaurant. They have a much smaller amount of food; but it's fine none the less. Still have eggs (just not cooked in front of you); along with fresh juices.Beach lunch buffet:Open-air Great food served throughout the day. Had salads; sandwhiches; hamburgers; hot dogs; fries; pastas; and so on daily. They don't let you take food out of the buffet area officially; but if it's in a napkin or something; nobody will stop you. A la carte dinners:We ate at El Charro (Mexican); La Trattoria (Italian); Garden Grill (Steakhosue); Mikado (Japanese). All air-conditioned.All the restaurants we ate at; besides Mikado; have buffets for apetizers and dessert. We didn't mind this; since it allowed us to try all the food we want. Some restaurants served you a little appetizer none the less.El Charro: Good food. Everything was served hot; with a nice variety. No complaints. La Trattoria: Lambchops (meal) were cold; sent back; and weren't much better. Not a big deal; still edible. That aside; great variety of food.Garden Grill: No problems. Steak was cooked perfectly and was quite good.Mikado: Hit or miss with the chefs. Our chef wasn't all that entertaining; he just cooked the meal in front of us; and left. Other chefs (as we heard) really got the crowd applauding. Yummy food. The dessert is served just outside the showroom; and the fried icecream was delicious.Christmas Dinner:Ate at the buffet. Very nice variety of food. Had a cold seafood buffet; steaks; fillet mignons; salmon and more. Huge variety of very delicious food. Also; a few interesting carvings by the staff. Nice amount of christmas decorations; and music.NIGHTLIFE:Shows at Tropicana Theatre:We were there for Mr. Bahia Principe; ideal couple; Michael Jackson; Circus; Musical Legends; Lion King; and one other pop music show. The first 2 listed were cute; with the usual audience participation.The other shows were well done. Of course they lip synch the words to the songs; but it was well rehearsed none the less. Very enjoyable.As well; the circus show was quite impressive with quite a few interesting acrobatic stunts. There is a bar by the theatre as well.Shops and post-show entertainment:The Pueblo Principe area; where all the shops and vendors are; becomes the hub of the nightlife after the shows. During the day; this is where the vendors are. They can be quite pushy; but be prepared to bargain for at least 1/4 of their price. They all have the same stuff; and it isn't unique to them. Either way; got some nice souvenirs here from them and the stores. As well; at night; this is where the after-hours eating takes place (hamburger restaurant from 11 PM - 7 AM); the casino; nightly house band from 11 Pm - 12 AM (with chairs and servers offering you drinks); and the casino and bar. Didn't use the casino or bar really. We found the nightlife to be lacking somewhat; especially since the lobby bar closes at 11:30 PM. Would have liked for some more entertainment maybe; like dancing after the show. (Besides the disco.)ROYAL GOLDEN thoughts:We found this to be a very useful upgrade. The 15 minutes of internet was nice to have; along with a 4th a la carte restaurant. The location of the villas close to the beach is also very convenient. And finally; with towels; we usually got away without needing towel cards because of our bracelets at the towel shack.Check-out: We needed to leave our room by 12 PM; even though the bus only came for our flight at 11:20 PM since they were overbooked. (Otherwise; $12/hour extra for the room. You need to ask the day of if it's free.) Since it was daytime; and the Royal Golden area was open; that is where we had to checkout (unlike where we checked in). Took a while; because there's only 3 people there; and a lot of people had just arrived. (Like over an hour).We had to shower in the hospitality showers near the main-lobby. Make sure you bring beach towels; because there are none there. Somewhat inconvenient; but not a huge problem. Your luggage is stored in a locked room; just make sure you have your valuables.Our bus came on-time; and our flight left the airport on time too. Very easy.Note about Punta Cana/Bavaro/Ambar:Punta Cana and Bavaro are the same thing; just with different identical lobbies. Ambar is the same as well; just adult only. Royal Golden is in Punta Cana side; Diamond/Hacienda club is Bavaro. (Diamond/Hacienda perks are their own pool; and private breakfast/lunch lobby.)Trolley:Came very often in both directions. Very easy; and quick.Staff:The staff was always very friendly; and always greeted you with a friendly Hola. Most new some english as well; and we never found it a problem. FINAL THOUGHTS:Gran Bahia Principe is an amazing resort. It definitely merits its 5 stars; and it's very easy to be happy here. We all had an amazing time; got lots of sun; and nobody got sick. We would definitely recommend it. We thought the animation team was lacking a bit during the day; but the place is still very relaxing! That's all I can think of. Feel free to message me with any questions; and have an amazing vacation! You'll love it here!
478252,LUZULU,12/29/2008,We loved Punta Cana Hi; me and my husband and our 4yrs old son and our two friends just came back from our Xmas vacation in Bahia Principe Bavaro. We stayed there from 19dec till 26dec. We had very adventure trip; we flu with Skyservice; they have excelent service. We arrived to Punta Cana and weather was nice and worm; my son had runny nose and little bit of cough; we went to check in and yes it took around 30min to arrange everything and we had to wait in our friends room until they clean our room; but it was ok because we were tired from the flying; we were up from 3am because our flight was at 6.15am and you have to be at the airport at 4am. After we unpacked our suitcases we went to look around the resort; it was amazing; nice palm trees; ground was clean all the time; every day somebody was cutting grass or cleaning the grounds; first night our son got high fever; so my hubby went to the receptionist and ask them about the doctor; and he told us they have 24hrs medical service and that they know english and french; we run there; the doc was nice; she listned my son's chest and looked at his ear and sure enough he got ear infection on both ears and he was very mucusy so she prescribed him antibiotics and gave him injection for ear infection; we went back to our room around 5am; we slept till afternoon; and went we woke up; my son felt better; we went to see the beach; it was amazing; nice white sand beach; beautiful palm trees; beautiful tyrkys sea; it was breathtaking but we didnt stay long because it was windy so we took our son back to our room; and again in the evening he had fever; we gave him tylenol; next day we went to see the doc again; she saw my son in bad condition; he was vomiting because of mucus; and he was still touching his ears; so she sent us to the hospital; we were very concern; we didn't know in what condition they have hospitals; she called the taxi for us; and I asked her if she can call the hospital; if they know TIC insurance; she called and they said yes we know that insurance and we wont have to wait. Perfect. It took like 20min to get there; we went right to the emergency and I ask them where's pediatric section and they very nice and polite; some of the nurses didnt know englisth but then when pediatrician came she was fluent in english; she had report from our doc in the hotel so she already knew which antibiotics he had and it didnt help so she gave him some special puffer to clear his mucus and then she sent us for xray; in 30min they had result; BROMCHIDES and the pediatrician said be glad its not a PNEUMONIA we wouldn't let you go back to canada. omg; she prescribed another rapido antibiotics and sents us back to the hotel; and we were suppose to come back in two days for the follow up. WE WERE SO IMPRESSED WITH THE HEALTH CARE IN PUNTA CANA. Our son has lots of health problems so we always take insurance and would recommend it to everybody with small children. You never know. Next two days were fine but my son got diarhea from the antibiotics and he had very sore bum; even I had special cream AVENO from diaper rush but it didnt help; when my husband went back for follow up with my son; he told them about diarhea and they said its normal for kids to have diarhea from such a strong antibiotics; and if the child's immune system is low it can happen very easly; she gave him special cream for sore bum and some pills for diarhea; and she said he's much better; he's chest sounds much better so you can fly back to canada; we enjoyed last 3 days; finally we were all together and with our friends. We loved the resort; its huge; good for walking; but you have a little bus there which take you from one end to the other. food was very very nice; plenty to choos of; different variety; people who complain they probably eat just junk food. We didn't even have a problem with booking a la carte restaurants; you have to book it first day when you arrive; of course they didn't have too much choices left because of the Xmas but we were happy; we could arrange 4 a la cartes because of Xmas; we had French; Japanesse; Mexicano and Mediteriano. For us the best food was in Mediteriano; then French; Japannese. Some people say that Japanesse is best; but we had our booked at 9pm and it was too much food so we were feeling full even next morning. But it was also niceEnterteiment; yes I have to admit that it was ok but not the best; in Mexico or Cuba it was much much better. But you're on vacation you suppose to enjoy everything best you can.Even stuff is more friendly in Cuba or Mexico but even Dominican people try their best; but sometimes we had feeling they could smile more. If I would go back to Punta Cana? YES but not to the same resort; we like to go to different places; but I would recommend this hotel; its very very niceHappy New Year everyone.
478252,danielles19,12/29/2008,The Best Time Ever I went to Gran Bahia Dec 13-20 2008. I had a great time the resort was a 5 Star for sure!!! It was beautiful the staff were all so nice and it was pretty easy to understand because a lot spoke english and the ones that didnt made it easy to comminicate.The swim up bar was great and the drinks were amazing.the resort was massive and i wish the maps were easier to understand but after a day or 2 you found out where you were.The buffet was ok wasnt amazing but the a la carte dinners where really good; Japanese was by far the best.The Marianarium excursion was so much fun its a once in a life time trip the staff on the excursion were all great and very helpful.my suggestion was keep american money its easier to understand and they seem to give you a better deal. At the vendors maybe 20 minutes up the beach you have to haggle big time; you know they get it for cheap so dont spend a lot of money when you know they try overcharge you. Bring shampoos and other bathrtoom needs to the vendors they need it and they will give you a really good deal and even free rum!!! Canadian pins and hats are widely expected!!!!!!!!! they love it! And if you tip you staff you will be treated so much better.This resort is good for both family or adult trips; i would recommend it to anyone!!!
478252,dfahmy,12/27/2008,Amazing Experience! My girlfriend and I just got back from 7 nights at Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro and we had a wonderful time.The thing that stood out the most for us was the absolute cleanliness of the place. There was no garbage; no dirt; no tree debris after a stormy night. The grounds and the landscape was kept immaculate. Even the beach was combed daily and all the garbage was removed. We could literally walk along the beach and know when we had come back to the Bavaro property b/c the garbage abruptly stopped.The breakfast and dinner buffets were excellent. I haven't been to too many Carribean resorts; but they were comparable to any Canadian breakfast or dinner buffet that I have gone to. Lunch on the other hand was rather mediocre. However; what they lack in variety during lunch they make up for in convenience by having two lunch buffets right at the pools by the beach that are open from 12 to 4. I stuck with the hamburgers; hot dogs; and fries - I found it generally satisfying until the dinner.During the week; we were given three a la carte dinners. We went to the Mexican restaurant; the steak house; and the Japanese restaurant. Unlike some reviewers; I loved the option of having a buffet along with what you could order on the menu. That way I was able to try lots of different things and still have higher quality food and the personal attention of a waiter. The food at all three was great. They put a lot of care into the food.On the other hand; we were given a fourth free a la carte on Christmas eve; and that was torture. It was an 8 course meal; that provided zero choice and lots of shellfish which I'm allergic to. It was really frustrating to sit through that without being accomodated; but we went to the buffet afterwards and the food there was AMAZING - best food at the buffet that week.The rooms were spacious and clean. The bathroom was large and the bath tub had jacuzzi jets. Nice touch.It's hard to comment on the night life because we only went out once. All the other nights we were too tired after waking up early to lie on the beach or go on an excursion. The one night we did go to the nightclub; we were pretty happy with the crowd; the drinks; and the music. The strobe lights got pretty irritating; but that might just be a personal intolerance.Overall; the place was amazing and I would definitely go back. Go and have an amazing time!
478252,CSVT,12/27/2008,Good; but not great. Dont expect a lot. So me and my family stayed at the Bavaro from the 20th to the 28th of December (just got back). There were six of us in total; all above 18; so you know where this review is coming from. I鈥檒l start out easy; this resort is good; it鈥檚 not great or excellent; it鈥檚 just good. If you're expecting the most amazing vacation ever; this probably isn鈥檛 your resort. I鈥檓 going to break it down for you.The Hotel/grounds:The people here are VERY nice; I never once met a staff member who was angry or had mal-contempt for any of the travelers. The grounds are very well kept; people are always walking around trimming hedges; picking flowers; cutting grass etc. The grounds are also very pretty; the walkway from the lobby to the beach is very very pretty; the hedges with the flowers are amazing. The rooms are big; much bigger than the rooms I had in both Mexico and Cuba; they are well decorated and have decent amenities. The bar fridge was always full and we never had a problem with the cleaning staff at all. If you're a diamond star member you can get bath robes and slippers for no cost if you ask the front desk. The bathrooms were always clean; however the bath's do not have a shower curtain or anything covering them; so if you鈥檙e having a shower; only one person can use the bathroom; annoying for anyone not travelling with a spouse. One major issue I had with the room is that the AC was pretty awful; even with it turned on full with the temp as low as possible it barely felt like the ac was on; my brother鈥檚 room on the other hand was always cold; so it could have just been our room. Another annoying feature is the roads that run between every building; if you鈥檙e a light sleeper like I am; you will be woken up b the loud annoying trucks and trains that run by every couple minutes. Very annoying.Having said that this hotel is VERY VERY VERY clean. The beach was clean; the rooms were clean; the lobby was clean etc. Overall I give the hotel/grounds a 4.5/5.The Disco/Entertainment:I鈥檒l start off with saying this; the disco has the worst hours I鈥檝e ever seen; whoever decided that the disco should open at midnight instead of say 10:30 or 11:00 was very very stupid. If you're like me and like getting up at 8:00 to actually enjoy your week or 2 of vacation then by the time 12:00 rolls around your going to be bagged. Because of this I found myself partying almost not at all. Both Mexico and Cuba had much better planned night life than Dominican. However; having said this; when the disco is open its usually pretty packed with decent music; the bartenders suck though; for an all inclusive resort they sure act like they try to curb drinking too much; one time I had to specifically wait for about 15 minutes because one of the bartenders would not get me 10 shots of tequila for my group of friends. Now for the shows; and I鈥檒l preface this by saying that they suck; most people will say how the Michael Jackson show is the best; but it isn鈥檛. Not unless you like watching a bunch of guys lip-synch and dance around on stage. All the shows except the circus one sucked; I was literally sitting in my chair with my hands in my lap because they were so bad. If you want to relax; go to your room and watch T.V. for an hour and actually be impressed; or hangout in the lobby and just talk. Now the circus act is pretty good and involves fire-breathers and a bunch f cool aerobics stuff; very Circ-de-soliel. Bars:The bars were ok; most cocktails are mixed consistently; but the only bars that will serve the more exotic drinks like mojitos and banana daiquiri's are the lobby bar and the theater bar. I also found the alcohol to be very very very watered down; I could drink 5-6 margaritas and not even feel anything; whereas if I made those drinks; I would be insanely hammered. Another stupid thing was bars running out of certain types of alcohol; like most of the bars ran out of tequila every day. I would assume a resort with over 1000 rooms that they would have adequate drinks for all the bars... apparently not.Food:Pretty awful; most food is cold and tastes like it came from a 3 star resort. The beach buffet serves the exact same food every day; pizza; hot dogs; pasta and some chicken. I seriously recommend eating every meal at the main buffet because they at least attempt to change the food every day (even then it doesn鈥檛 change much) Most of the meat is tough and over-cooked and doesn鈥檛 taste very good; most food is pretty bland and I found myself walking around the buffet seeing only 1 or 2 things I wanted to eat. Mexico and even Cuba had much much much better food.The Ala-cartes also suck; the waiters confuse the bills all the time and out of the 4 we went to; 3 of them missed meals and left at least one person in our party without a main course. Also most of the ala-cartes are glorified buffets. Basically it鈥檚 a buffet for the appetizers and the deserts and you get your choice of 5 main courses... Even then the food is pretty bad. Once again not even close to Mexico or Cuba. Also if you like seafood or are expecting lobster or crab at any of the restaurants; don鈥檛 bother going to this resort. None of the restaurants have lobster or crab except the French restaurant which did a small portion of lobster as a main dish (which was also band and cold) The only saving grace for the restaurants was Miko; the Asian restaurant; the food there is prepared right in front of you; the decor is very nice and the food is tasty. If I could I would just book all my dinners there.The beach:The beach is very nice; it is very well kept and tidy; no seaweed of garbage is on the beach. The water is nice; but rough. Don鈥檛 plan on snorkeling if you go; there isn鈥檛 anywhere to do it( even though the site says it has snorkeling on site; you can鈥檛) The shipwreck is pretty cool; rent a catamaran or a kayak and go out there to see what it鈥檚 all about; its pretty good. Most of the days we went there was scattered showers so the beach had plenty of places to sit even past noon; but if there is a clear sunny day; you better get out there at 9 otherwise you鈥檙e going to be out of luck for a spot.Not much to really say about the beach; it鈥檚 clean and the sand is very fine and soft. They do need another beach volleyball net because I played almost every day and there was always at least 5 teams playing at any one time. One crappy thing about the beach is the people who constantly walk up and down the beach trying to sell you things; the Scuba Caribe guys were so annoying; asking you to buy excursions every 10 minutes. Activities: Has the normal stuff; they are pretty over-zealous with red-flagging the resort for high winds; 4 out of the 7 days I was there the boats weren鈥檛 allowed on the water which sucks. Once again; not much to say; they could use more boats for a resort this size but it鈥檚 nothing to complain about. Also; there is NO SNORKELING on site. Good resort for kite-boarding if you鈥檙e into it.I'll conclude this review by saying that the bavaro is a good resort; it鈥檚 not amazing; it didn鈥檛 have a special feel to it; I probably would not go back given the choice I imagine some of the other resorts are better. The resort is big and long so be prepared to walk a decent amount. The diamond club is pretty much useless; a private pool and private lunch/breakfast buffet is a lame incentive to buy into the club Would I go back to the Dominican? Yes. Back to the bavaro? No.
478252,Denico,12/27/2008,Extra Large Resort The entire site is generally very well maintained; clean and the gardens are beautiful.DominicansSmiley and courteous; most services are available in English and French. It is a good idea to get to use a few classic phrases in Spanish as a number of waiters at the table and room mates speak Spanish.RestaurantsWe had no problem to make reservations for 6 dinners in restaurants (3 per week). The Garden Grill; Caf茅 de Paris and El Charro were excellent and the buffet was better than the 3 other we went to. The buffet is well diversified.From 10 AM to 9 PM; tea; coffee; muffins and croissants were served on the terrace of the Lobby Bar. The only place we found where the coffee was hot.Internet$12 USA for 30 cumulative minutes on 4/5 days.Good speed and many interesting options for laptop rentals.CucarachasWe saw cockroaches or similar insects near and into restaurants; lobby; near the pool and a few feet from the door of our room. Hugh!RoomGood size; the furniture is getting a bit old. The cleaning of the room and the replacement of beverages was done properly at 50% of the time.Hair rinse and skin cream are not supplied.About every day; sewage odours were present in the room; we had to pour water in the sink and bath tub to seal the drains.2 out of 14 days; air conditioning was not cooling the room.Evening ShowsWe saw 8 different shows. Then; it was a repeat.Pools and beachUnless you have paid for a special club privileges only 2 pools are available. They seem to be well maintained.Chairs at the pool and at the beach are comfortable but at times less than one per cent is available.This is a huge resort; nice; clean and comfortable. The food is good. The service is uneven.Deficiencies in the room; uneven quality of service make it too expensive for the $ paid and consequently should not be rated 4.5 stars. We have seen much better in 4 stars resorts.
478252,Oliviauk,12/26/2008,Nice resort; but not a true 5 star! We have just returned from a 2 week stay at the Grand Bahia Principe resort. The resort is huge but well organised and you never have the impression that it is over-crowded despite +4000 guests staying there (1880 rooms!). The pools however do get very busy and many people have the nasty habit of reserving their space early in the morning.The grounds are very well kept and all areas are very clean. The staff is motivated.Grand Bahia Principe claims to be a 5 star resort but it is not. It is a strong 4 star compared to other 5 star hotels. You shouldn't expect to pay for the safe; the pool at the spa; the toiletries are basic....The gym is a real let down. I tend to exercise daily and was looking forward to be able to do so during our stay. The gym is small; dark and damp and way too small for the size of the resort. The 2 rowers were broken; so was one of the treadmills and a few of the bikes. Despite reporting this to the manager nothing happened. A lot has been written about the food. We found the food choice to be better than in other all inclusives we stayed in. The kitchen team do an incredible job at feeding thousands of people several times a day. The food was not always warm but the vast choice compensated for this.Overall a positive experience but there is still room for improvement at the Grand Bahia Principe to be able to claim the full 5 stars.
478252,wezer03,12/25/2008,the best This hotel was fab so big never been to a resort were you had to get a lift to the beach Food excellent rooms clean and tidy maid was a bit hit and miss with towels but not a problem beach was very nice and clean plenty of entertainment regardless of what you liked Weather was very hot when it was not raining and that only lasted a couple of minutes
478252,imazour,12/23/2008,Great Decline In the Last Year This review is written by former fun of this resort; who sicerely recomended this place to friends. Now; I would be less enthusiastic about going there. While this place is still OK; there was a big decline in the last year; especially food wise. I was under impression that their food budget was cut at least on 50%.Instead of delicious SEA food you have what you SEE...chip; tasteless food; undercooked or dried out meet. I found myself barely finding to eat something more or less decent. Nothing to compare 3 years ago.I was also upset with some of front desk staff who were irresponsible; manipulating.Well...It's time to lok for greener pastures...
478252,Alllegionoflegit,12/19/2008,2nd trip to the GBP Bavaro and loved it as much as the first This was our 2nd time at the hotel and we loved it!!!We will be the first ones to admit; the check in process is slow and the worst part of the trip. But knowing that when we got there; we were prepared for it and enjoyed every second of the trip after it. The beach is fantastic. It is clean; huge; soft sand. There are always plenty of chairs for everyone. Being our 2nd time there; we were upgraded to the diamond club. The private pool you have access to with the diamond club is fantastic. Always a seat in the shade; warm water; etc. The food is great; no matter what other ppl say. There is always a huge choice of what to eat. I assume the ppl who complain about the food won't be impressed with anything. We ate at the Japenese restaurant - loved it. it is very entertaining to watch the main dish cooked infront of you.Also ate at the French - best food of any bar none.We tried the new Italian restaurant by the new Villas in section 70 - it is a lot better than the other italian restaurant by the pool (we had that one last year). We would go back.Finally; we also ate at the Mediterranean restaurant. To my surprise; i am a picky eater and loved it. The Mousakka there was the best thing i have tasted in a long time. Don't forget people; you are in a foreign country and not everyone will speak english. But when we ran into waiters who didn't speak english; they tried very hard to get what we wanted and if they didn't understand; they got someone who spoke english. You are on vacation; and the staff always tries very very hard; so be patient and enjoy yourself here.For those who haven't been there; the stores on site are expensive. When you are facing the sunken ship in the beach; if you walk right past the Riu resort; etc. for about a half our; there is a market of vendors on the beach you can haggle with. We will be back for a 3rd visit next year.
478252,nibaru,12/15/2008,one of the nicest! Although we are seasoned Caribean travelers; this is our first review mainly due to our overwhelmingly positive experience at this wonderful resort. If you want fine french cuisine......go to Paris. If you want non stop high-roller gambling........go to Vegas. If you want a hip party seen..........go to LA. If you want a safe; relaxing;enjoyable and good value holiday...........go to this resort.We booked our holiday from Dec.7/08 until 14/08 thru Air Transat from Toronto. The flights were punctual with no confusion during transfers.Upon arriving at the hotel; everything went smoothly for us during check-in as we did ask questions and patiently received answers with a smile; proabably because we said HOLA.Our rooms were pristine! My wife is a clean freak and even she could find no fault. The room was larger than average with tiles and marble/granite in the washroom.........easy to keep sanitary. Our fridge was replenished several times daily and our room was kept in the most orderly fashion by a wonderful lady named Sonia. We had ajoining rooms # 6208-6209.The beach is stunningly beautiful. The pools are lavish and clean. The grounds were so well kept I can only pray that some of these guys come to work at my golf course in Canada! The food was plentiful and none of us became ill. I only say this because regardless of what Carabean resort we ever stayed at;The food does become redundant after the 2nd or 3rd day. The staff was allways extremely polite and very anxious to please. The nightly entertainment was the most enjoyable anywhere..........not Broadway or Hollywood but the most heartfelt and well practiced performances one can imagine for this part of the world. Our 4 yr. old was in heaven as were my wife and her mother.......all in the same evening. This resort is definetly the real deal for unpretentious; open minded and well travelled people of all nationalities.
478252,lulaToronto,12/14/2008,Wonderful vacation at the Club Diamond Bahia Principe Bavaro My boyfriend and I just returned from a fabulous week at Bahia Principe Bavaro Club Diamond. Let me say that we were a little apprehensive after our stay last December at the Bahia Principe Tulum in the Mayan Riviera. However; many friends at work raved about this place so we gave it a try. We have been to many all inclusives in Mexico and were previously at the Bavaro Princess in Punta Cana. The Bahia Principe Bavarro was the best place that we have stayed at. We never go to the same place twice but will now make an exception.The Club Diamond staff (Jacky; Gabriella and Raquel) was amazing. I emailed in advance requesting reservations at the seafood restaurant on my boyfriend's birthday. Not only did they arrange that; our room was also decorated on his birthday and the restaurant had a birthday cake for him! In addition; these ladies took care of all our requests (ie mattress pad; mini bar top up). They were terrific and made our week worry free.The food at this resort is amazing! As part of Club Diamond; we had ala carte lunch everyday at Il Capriccio and also had our breakfasts there. You had a choice of freshly made pastas; pizzas or meat /fish. We alternated between grilled salmon; grouper and mixed seafood along with a lovely salad bar. In addition; this restaurant is steps away from the Club Diamond pool and the Club Diamond rooms.For dinner; we loved both El Pescador and The Grill. Both dinners were comparable to The Keg quality. The tenderloin beef steak at the Grill was fantastic and I have never had good steak at any all inclusive. The mixed seafood dinner at El Pescador was delicious. The main buffet also had great selections.Overall; this resort is beautiful; very clean and well run. The staff work very hard to make your vacation wonderful. Our maid Rosa was terrific. Our room was always immaculate.Although we did not take in any of the evening shows; they looked very good. There was a lot to do in the evenings and the resort has something for everyone. Don't think twice - go ahead and book it and enjoy. I wish I were back there.
478252,LadanTak,12/09/2008,wonderful resort!! I was there with my husband the first week in December.Transat flight from Toronto was decent and on time. We landed in Punta Cana on time to a beautiful sunny and warm day. Went through security fast and luggage arrived quickly. Found which bus needed to be on and was on our way within minutes! The bus ride to the resort is OK - relax and enjoy the ride - after all you just started your vacation. Was checked in right on the bus (gave us our bracelets; towel cards etc.)We had welcome drinks and dancers. We had to wait a bit (about 2 hours) for our room to be ready. While waiting we enjoyed a nice lunch in the main buffet and had wonderful coffee in the gorgeous lobby. We were in building 28 - very nice; clean and big room. Few minor problems; but nothing to be upset about. (shower was not the best 鈥?not enough pressure and our bathroom was missing the vanity mirror)Our maid/house keeper was great. We tipped few dollars every other day or so and always had towels and water鈥?One thing I noticed 鈥?the towels that she made little art things on our bed with 鈥?were towels that we had thrown on the ground for change. (we marked them so we know for sure)The restaurants are nice and cozy 鈥?the food is OK 鈥?they do try to please everyone. Keep in mind that you are NOT on a cruise or in the French Riviera鈥?There is a huge pool by the beach (which tends to get really busy and kind of dirty) and 2 pools in middle of the resort - one is for diamond guests and one for general guests - the pools were wonderful! This resort is huge; spotless and beautiful!! You have to see it to believe it! Oh; just make sure you catch the Michael Jackson show. The rest are OK鈥?
478252,coronah,12/08/2008,Amazing Wedding and Vacation at the GBP Reading some of the bad reviews on here I really have to laugh - I don't get it! I LOVED this resort. Its huge (which means you can actually walk around and get some exercise to work off all that food and booze) but there are also trolleys that chauffeur you around til 3am if you are too tired/lazy/overheated/drunk/etc. to make the walk yourself (i took it many times for some of those reasons! haha!).My husband and I were married at this resort on November 27th and everything was wonderful and beyond our expectations - the group of 32 people who traveled with us all agree as well. The resort is immaculately groomed; the beach is STUNNING; the food and drinks are good (i know i tried every single one of the daily cocktails while I was there! haha!); and the staff go above and beyond to make you happy. What more do you want? The only bad thing I would say was the other guests sometimes! My fellow Canadians; please represent our wonderful country in a good way. Don't yell at the bartenders or staff - they work very hard and for very little money. Tip them a buck or two when you can - it goes a long way for people who work 13 hour days for $4 an hour.I wish I had not been so stressed about our wedding prior to the trip but once I arrived and met with Patricia the wedding coordinator; all of my fears melted away. Our wedding was gorgeous and fun and everyone had a great time!After our guests went back home to Canada my husband and I enjoyed another week to ourselves. We ended up switching rooms to be close to the diamond club pool (we were upgraded to diamond club which was WONDERFUL..highly recommend it) and spent our days on the beach or in the pool; and our nights in the Bavaro lobby; just relaxing. We also were treated to a romantic dinner on the beach on our last night - a gourmet 7 course meal (including the freshest; most incredible lobster i have ever eaten and that's saying a lot because I am a bit of a foodie snob) by moonlight with our own personal waitress...AMAZING. I also recommend doing the Saona Island excursion if you can - we took our entire wedding party and had an absolute BLAST!It boggles my mind how someone could not have a good time when you are relaxing in what is essentially PARADISE; with no cooking or cleaning to do; and no work to think about! Maybe everything isnt exactly how you want it all the time but seriously....just relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery and weather; have a cocktail!
478252,Tevern,12/08/2008,Amazing Beach
478252,coboric,12/05/2008,Way to big Just back from Punta Cana at the Bahia. Never again would I travel to this resort; after arriving 45 minutes early we were told that all our room keys had just been shipped to the airport so we would have to wait until they returned with them. Due to a medical condition we asked for a room closer to either the pool or beach; we even faxed in the request 2 weeks prior to getting there. We think they looked for the room farthest from either of these and it took 3 days to get it changed. I have to agree with bellamelissa in the previous review that the food really sucked. My wife lived on eggs and pasta pretty much all week. The beach and pool were packed at an early hour with towels on all the lounge chairs; but no people and if you watched some of those towels never even moved all day. This resort is 5 resorts in 1 so it is pretty segregated if your a high end payer you can go anywhere and if your a low end be prepared for using only 2 out of 5 pools and half of food establishments. Some of the staff are very helpful but most really are not trying to pass the buck to someone else. The cleaning staff do do a good job though they are always cleaning. So all said our time there was alright but never would I reccomend this resort as it is to big and as i understand it is even expanding again to well over 2000 rooms.
478252,djmkdm,12/05/2008,Lived up to all of my expectations and more This was my first time to the Dominican; so I did not know what to expect. We had upgraded to The Diamond club and I would suggest that to anyone who is booking this hotel. Easy seperate check-in; closer to the beach and your own private pool and restaurant(for breakfast and lunch). The rooms were really large and kept immaculate. The Resort is huge but not to big to navigate. The staff were excellent( not too much english). When booking this vaction food was a major concern. From the reviews I read food was on par with the best. I would not completely agree with this. The al a carte is the way to go for sure and if can squeeze a couple extra in I would recomend it. The spanish and the steak house restaurants where the best. The Large main buffet has lots to choose from but quality always suffers when serving that many people. All and all I would recommend this resort to anyone! Period! And from what I heard from other guests the other Gran Bahia Principe resorts all live up to the same expectations. I can't wait to try them out.
478252,ManontheMoonUk,12/05/2008,Don't Bother (Stay next door) Stayed for a week at the end of November. The Bavaro section is the worst of resort. The place is never a five star. Food is absolutely terrible. Rooms poor. Not allowed to use the other 'practically empty' pools but had to use the over-crowded main pools. In my seven days I never saw them being cleaned even once. The beach is OK but again overcrowded. To make matters worse we have stayed previously at the Riu Bambu hotel that is next door. Everything about the Riu is a step up yet costs less than this over-priced; over-developed 3 star Butlins. The one saving grace was the excellent enterainment and nightlife. I guess that is where the resort spends all it's cash - as it is definately not on the food (the worst i have had anywhere in the world - everything and I mean everything is undercooked and luke warm)!
478252,bellamelissa,12/04/2008,Beautiful resort; however; lacking quite a few things. We just returned from our stay at Grand Bahia Principe Punta Cana. We had a wonderful time; since the weather was absolutely perfect. The hotel's grounds are kept very well as well as the rooms; however; here are the cons to this resort:-The food is TERRIBLE! We did not even have one good meal in any of the restaurants or buffet. Since most of our time was spent by the beach and pool area the only option for lunch was the snack bar. The snack bar consisted of stale pizza; some salads; and leftover chicken. I would NOT recommend eating in the snack bar. You are better off taking the trolley back to the lobby and eating in the main buffet area or just skipping lunch totally. We skipped quite a few meals.-The gym was a joke. I happen to exercise daily and I woke up the first morning to walk to a gym that was severally undersized for a resort of this size. They had 2 treadmills and 1 was broken. They had a total of approx. 10 pieces of equipment. There were 2 trainers present whom were using the equipment opposed to allowing the clients to use them. They actually put there towels on the machines to show they were in use. I decided to just exercise around the resort. -The safety deposit box needs to be paid upfront in order to use it. They did not tell us this. We went back to the lobby and paid the 18 dollars US. We went back to our room and the safe still didn't work ;we had to have a technician visit our room 3 times in order to fix the broken safe that never wound up fixed. -If you want a good seat by the pool make sure you are up at 6am in the morning to claim your territory. These people are up real early with their towels and belongings already on the chairs way before breakfast. I find this to be ridicolous. They should put a policy in place that you can not claim your space before you even open the pool area.-The Japanese restaurant was a joke. The chef didn't say a word to us at the hibachi table...he just cooked the food and threw it on our plate. They need some training if they want to act like a Japanese restaurant. **Dont bother eating here** or going out of your way to make reservations in any of their specialty restaurants they are all the same. Most of them are also buffets.-All the liquor in the resort is well liquor...real cheap..the kind that gives you a headache in about a minute. I didn't drink more than 1 drink the entire week. Pros:-Very pretty grounds and kept very clean.-Shuttle service is very frequent to take you around the resort.-Great excursions around Punta Cana. We took advantage of the ATV tour and Snorkeling and enjoyed both.-Pools are kept very clean and they are spacious enough to enjoy a nice swim. They are very refeshing and cool.-We enjoyed the SPA services..the SPA is very pretty and the after sun treatment was excellent.I hope this helps.
478252,londonontfamily,12/04/2008,great place for a family vacation We Stayed here in feb of 08 and planning to go again in feb 09the positives far out way the negatives the food is above averagefor a resort in the Dominican. in my opinion way more choice than Cubathe grounds are amazing..the pools are wonderful each with a swim up barthe rooms are spotless.. they stock the fridge daily with bottled water pop and beer.the beach is incredible..white soft sand that goes on forevera 45 min walk up the beach will bring you to an open air market(do your girt shopping there if you can) they tend to haggle morewith the price then on the resortthe complex is huge to walk from reception to the beach is about 10-15mins...however the trams run every 2 mins and your on vacation so relax and take it easythe language barrier can be a bit much at times...but you are in there country and they tend to be more relaxed about doing things right away. its there lifestyle. again your on vacation so relax If your a family with kids and just want a place to go relax and have a great time this is for you. if you expect a place where they will wait on you hand and foot look someplace else
478252,RuthBOttawaCanada,12/03/2008,Bahia Principe is Excellent! BACKGROUND: We have traveled to various Caribbean destinations: Mexico; Mayan Riviera; Cuba; Jamaica and the Dominican; always going to 4-5 star resorts; booking all inclusive; and relying on Trip Advisor before we book. Our primary concerns when doing research on a location are as follows: (1) Trip Advisor reports and ratings (2) the beach (3) pools and amenities (4) brochure ratings. We spend hardly any time in our rooms; apart from changing/cleaning up/sleeping. Basically; if the sun is up; we are outside. TRANSFERS FROM AIRPORT:This is a nice part 鈥?a relatively quick 30 minute transfer to the resort; with a glimpse of the local scenery along the way. While on route; we received our check-in package; wrist bands; etc. so that when we arrived all we had to do is bring our luggage to the resort transfer trams (waiting for our arrival) and we were off to our rooms. This avoids the lineups at check-in; a nice touch. If you want a room safe; though; you will have to go to the lobby desk to book this; which we did right away.RESORT/GROUNDS:This has to be the nicest resort in terms of lush tropical vegetation; constantly being maintained and groomed. We have been to some very nice resorts over the years; but this location is stunning in terms of the landscaping.Yes; this place is HUGE; but we knew that and loved it. Always something or someplace to go. The trams run constantly; and we used them when we were tired; but also enjoyed many nice strolls through the grounds. This is an excellent resort to take advantage of the walkways and exercise off some of that extra all-inclusive consumption we all tend to enjoy!The resort is divided up into the following sections: Punta Cana (708 suites); Bavaro (540 suites); Club Premiere (288 suites); and the Ambar (adults only) sections. Inside these sections are the various exclusive clubs: the Royal Golden; Club Diamond and Club Hacienda. Your booking will determine which section; and sub-section if applicable; you are staying in. FOOD/RESTAURANTS:I tend to not give our personal reviews on the various a la carte restaurants; as people鈥檚 opinions vary so greatly in this area; even at home. I might like one type of locale; you will like another鈥y advice is to book whatever you can; enjoy; and if you want something else head back to the buffet. As for the buffets; typical for your all inclusive resort. They need to feed hundreds of people with various tastes and preferences; some people will be thrilled; some will not. Personally; I enjoy the varied selection and appreciate the choices. As for service; we were treated very well and promptly at all meals. Our attitude is that these people work very long hours; for little pay or gratitude. We make a point of greeting EVERY waiter/waitress with a genuine smile and engage in our best broken Spanish/English conversation; and they would always light up and smile in return. We always tipped; but this made no difference in the level of service received. In fact; being kind and appreciative would get the best service; rather than being miserable; complaining; and then leaving a tip. We observed both behaviours; and I feel sorry for the wait staff when they have to deal with these rude people. ROOMS:All the rooms are junior suites; and well appointed. Lovely marble tile; d茅cor; etc. - we were in some brand new buildings which were not even on the Resort's maps yet! Book your in-room safe as soon as you arrive (we paid $31 US for the week); no sense in risking losing anything. The resort is not responsible for any valuables not locked up in the safe; simple as that.BEACH: Stunning; amazing; goes on forever with adjoining resorts along both directions. There is a nice set back from the water鈥檚 edge to the start of the resort; allowing for ample room for sun and shade choices. Loungers were in abundance; and the shade choices for those with sunburns or young children were excellent. The sand is a very light tan/brown colour; and extremely silky soft underfoot. Absolutely no stones; shells; coral; or other hazards for your feet (which we have experienced at some other resorts; unfortunately). Again; excellent for wonderful walks that go on forever in either direction. The water is incredibly warm; quite a pleasant surprise for the ocean 鈥?we have experienced cooler waters further south! BEACH FOOD DRINK:A nice touch are the two restaurants close to the beach; which you can use without having to cover up. You can go in barefoot; with your bathing suit on; and enjoy the beachside buffets; self serve non-alcoholic beverages; and the bar. This might sound lame; but when you are hot and sweaty from lying out in the sun; putting on clothes to get something to eat can be such a hassle; I really enjoyed being able to just walk over and get some food/drink along with all the other people doing the same thing. POOLS:A nice selection to chose from; and large. This is a nice option for those who like the pools; they are big; and provide plenty of room for singles; couples; and families with children. We personally prefer the ocean; as we have pools up here; but we do use them on occasion. The pools/pool bars close around 5:30 鈥?6:00 pm for maintenance and cleaning; typical for down south. EXCURSIONS:As we have been to the Dominican before; we have done the excursions we wanted to do; and decided to stay the entire vacation right at the resort. However; in the past we have done the Saona Island and Swim With the Sharks/Catamaran trips; enjoying both. Saona Island has the most incredible white sugar sand! The only downside of this excursion is that it makes for a very long day; with a long bus trip each way. EVENING ENTERTAINMENT:Again; typical for the all-inclusive resort; they work hard; and do their best to keep you entertained. We enjoyed a few shows; every resort seems to have their Michael Jackson look-alike to amaze you (we enjoyed that show as well). ONLY DOWNSIDE:We were astonished at the high percentage of people who smoked; everywhere! If you have any sensitivity to second hand cigarette/cigar smoke; take care to position yourself upwind. I normally don鈥檛 get put off by things at any resort; but this was a surprise; even when at the huge beach. You are not allowed to smoke inside any enclosed restaurant; but in the open lobby bar; theatre; and beach restaurants its okay. We found that our enjoyment at the beach; lobby bar and at the theatre was compromised by the volume of second hand smoke; more than once we had to move our beach loungers to avoid cigarette smoke. This situation is a non-issue if you smoke. I鈥檓 not complaining; just astonished. RECOMMENDATIONS:This is a very nice 5-star resort; and comes highly recommended. Do your homework before you go; so that there are no surprises. If you prefer individual; royalty treatment; consider upgrading to the Ambar adults-only section; but remember you are still part of a very large group of vacationers. Leave negative attitudes at home; they will not get you very far when travelling (ever wonder why the complainers; who keep it up all week; always have such a lousy time?). We did hear of some couples having problems with their rooms/air conditioners/etc. but the 鈥渘ice鈥?people had these issues rectified to their satisfaction. There will invariably be issues when you travel; but being prepared is a big part of enjoying your vacation. Book your room safe for valuables.Enjoy!
478252,kpytou,12/03/2008,never again I already wrote in the header. Will be very brief.Disgusting food; roaches in the room; NOBODY speak English except 1 and a half person in the front lobby. Very huge and crowded.
478252,crymsun,12/02/2008,Fantastic Resort For Just About Anyone Went on a honeymoon and invited everyone to come as well (though we were in a different section of the resort). I'll do the review by category:Accommodations - simple but bright; airy and clean. Bed was comfortable but very firm; pillows were plentiful. Balcony was a nice size and the breeze drifted over the water and flowed nicely into our room. The bathroom wasn't anything extraordinary; but was always clean and everything worked. The maids there are wonderful; leaving imaginative towel displays each day. My only complaint is so minor it's barely worth mentioning - the minibar; while stocked daily; became stocked with one kind of beverage by the end of the week (a pleasant note and extra tip took care of this quickly). Honeymoon Upgrade - if on a honeymoon; definitely take advantage! We had a room close to the beach; the fresh towels each night was awesome; the fruit basket was nice and the maid service was great!Pools - HUGE pools. The swim-up bar usually had a stool or two unoccupied; the pool itself had plenty of room for uninterrupted swimming; but if you're the poolside type; the perimeter is packed with people.Restaurants - the buffet is absolutely oustanding. We use the buffet for 4 dinners and breakfast every morning and still did not get to try everything. The service is good (not superb; but good). The banana juice is AMAZING! For a la cartes; we went to the Mexican (just average food but great service) Steakhouse (again; fairly average) and Italian (AMAZING!). Facilities - the spa was wonderful; I had a facial; two others had massages and reported two huge thumbs up. Be sure to tip the individual that performs the service right afterward; because once you exit the room you were in; you don't see them again (front desk does the final check out). Leave extra time before your appointment; as the spa is at the very back of the resort; past the front gate. The Disco and Casino were both a lot of fun; but the karaoke bar is small and was impossibly cramped. The gym looked good; not huge but otherwise a nice size. The walkways and grounds in general are immaculate. the trolley that shuttles people around was great - we only had to wait once for the next one due to the first being full.Beach - what can I say... it's Bavaro beach and it's absolutely spectacular! Crystal clear; soft and sandy... the waves were a bit wild the one day and you have to watch where you are compared to where you first entered as the current gets pretty strong. The only thing is; with a resort that has this many people; good luck getting a beach chair!My Personal Advice/Tips:- The second you get your room #; book your a la cartes (we waited a day or two and barely got them)- The resort is MASSIVE - be prepared to walk a lot or take the trolley- Beachside and pool side chairs get reserved very early and very quickly.- People with allergies/asthma - keep in mind that people can smoke just about anywhere... including the bars and open-air restaurants.- Barter with the beach courtyard vendors - they'll give you a really good deal or throw in some extra pieces if you demonstrate a genuine desire to do business.- Use the indoor buffet at lunchtime if you can... the outdoor poolside buffet tends to be overly crowded and they won't let you take your plate to your lounge chair (you have to be seated at their tables).All in all... the kids; the older adults; the singles and couples all had an amazing vacation. There was something for everyone at all times. I would go back in a heartbeat!!!
478252,Avroqueen,12/01/2008,Loved everything about this resort. We were there for 2 weeks for our son's wedding. It was absolutley beautiful. Our rooms; food; services; the wedding planner; the grounds; the beach; the people even the guide from the Bavaro Runner tour were all excellent. We would go back there in a minute.
478252,mytwocentsTO,11/30/2008,Nice Resort We got a great deal on this resort through Westjet Vacations so I would have to say overall we had a great time for the money we paid. The grounds are well kept. The beach is beautiful and the pools are clean. There were enough chairs by the pool and on the beach. Also lots of shaded areas. The food was okay. The al la carte restaurants were good; especially The Gourmet Restaurant. The lobster bisque and the lobster main course was delicious. We were impressed with the 5 star service at The Gourmet Restaurant because the service at the buffet and other restaurants were hit and miss. Our room was kept very clean. We loved our maid she was so nice and friendly. The resort is really big and we were lucky to have a room close to the beach. If you are looking for room close the beach and pool area; ask for a room in the 25's or 23's. Our child is too young for the kids club but we took her to the mini disco that they have nightly at the main theatre. She really enjoyed all the dancing. We were able to see a few shows. They were quite good for resort entertainment.
478252,kimnjab,11/30/2008,Paradise.....again!!!! Room
478252,GTravel777,11/27/2008,Stay away - Roaches - bad food; very poor service This is the worst hotel I have ever been to; very poor service; they always run out of towels; food is very bad; roaches; etc鈥?Since the hotel is big they have buses which create pollution and it stinks all over the hotel territory.We came there with a group of 10 people and everyone hated the place. We tried talking to the management; but it did not resolve any of our problems. Most people we met there complained.
478252,Larisa121,11/27/2008,Great vacation !! We stayed at the Bahia Principe Punta Cana from Nov 15-22 and overall it was a great vacation.We updated do the Golden Club which I would NOT recommend because you paid $120 extra per person and really the one differentiator was getting the free 15 mins a day of internet use; if u dont value that then dont go for this lam upgrade.PROS:Service - I thought the service was amazing for the most part. The wait staff at the buffet were by far the best at the resort and pretty amazing. They didnt speak a word of English but were sweet. HOWEVER; THE WOMEN IN THE GIFT SHOPS WERE PURE EVIL AND SHOULD NOT BE EMPLOYED IN CUSTOMER SERVICE; THEY WERE VERY RUDEPool - The pools were great; great atmosphere; hot bright sun and the drinks and food were close by. It was hard to find a seat in the shade though and water was sometimes way too cold but heyBeach - beautiful. The sand was white and waters clear and blue. Loved it. The waves were a bit wild and it was very windy at the beach which was a turnoff. I always said if theres a beach; y would anyone ever go to a pool ?? That was answered at this resort as the pool was not windy and the beach had too many wavesGrounds - beautiful; well maintained and huge property. Had to take trams back and forth which was annoying; esp if it was raining out which it did for 2 straight days so if u wanted to eat u were foreced to get out in the rain and take the tram to get some food which was quite nasty in the rain.Food - I thought the food and a la cartes were quite good. Mexican was by far the best. Italian had great lasagna and Steakhouse was good but staff not as nice. Buffet had a variety and I had food posining on the flight back but hey.Entertainment Shows - I really loved these. Esp the Micheal Jackson and Musical Legend. The Tropicana dancers were not as good as Cuba but they were all rightCONS:Service of Females working in the lobby gift shops. PleaseRough waves and wind on the beachOverall great.
478252,fats4,11/24/2008,Pool was great We were at the Gran Bahia Nov 17 to 21 and I must say it was a bit like Fawlty Towers...the only thing that was missing was Basil. Asking for a wake up call was a joke; since we either got one at 7:15am regardless of the time we asked for or none at all. The maid service was okay; not the greatest. The food was okay; but the meat tended to be undercooked; which isn't a good thing. The pool was great; loved it. The bar service was great. The mexican restaurant was unbelievable; so yummy. The shows at night were fun. I probably won't go back to this resort. I found it to be too big.
478252,Lis08,11/19/2008,Great resort; but not great food Stayed for one week Nov.10 to 17. THE RESORTThe resort was nice with very well manicured grounds. We have stayed at the Bahia Principe in Mexico which we loved and that influenced our decision to book this one.Our room was acceptable; although it may have been a bit moldy. The bed was hard and the pillows are wafer thin. Not the best room I've had.Although the beach was gorgeous (like icing sugar); I would choose not to return to the DR again simply because of the food. THE FOODHaving stayed at several 5 star resorts on different Carribbean islands; I have to say this was my least favourite. On average the food here was just not up to par with others we've stayed at. We have never experienced being sick while away before and both my husband and I had to use all our Immodium; despite being careful to always use bottled water to brush our teeth; etc. I guess maybe it's hard to avoid as they probalby use unbottled water to wash the food; etc.They had a lot of choices on the buffet; but I didn't find a lot that I really enjoyed. Bacon hard to come by in the morning and it's hardly cooked.A la cartes: We booked the Mexican - very good actually. The appetizer buffet had lots of choice and was good. Much better than the Mexican themed night at the buffet. I was full by the time my main course came. We also booked the Gourmet restaurant. We could only get into the late seating at 9:30 at night; but it was excellent. My lobster bisque was great. My lobster entre茅 also fantastic. Lastly we booked the Japanese. The food was good; but I've been to a few other Japanese restaurants like this at other resorts and this one sucked. The cook put on absolutely no show at all.WHAT WE LIKED DIDN'T LIKEThe resort was what I expected. Lots of pool areas... a huge one right by the beach with a pool bar; children's area; places for volleyball; etc. Lots of chairs and we never had a problem finding some in the shade; even getting to the pool usually after 10am. This is where we hung out. Lots of bars; food; etc. close by.Learn a few key phrases in Spanish. I found there was a language barrier with a lot of the service staff in restaurants and bars. You could order the same drink all the time and get 5 different versions of it.They did have a couple of waitresses around the pool; who I tipped. I also tipped $5 at the a la carte restaurants; $10 at the Gourmet. I left $1 for my maid every day. The one day I didn't; we got no towels. We arrived very late; so we did not get the reception I saw other buses get (dancers and drinks). In fact; the guy at the front desk would not give me a key to the room safe because he was too busy to fill out the paperwork; come back later tonight. There was nobody else in line behind us and it was already 11:30; but I wasn't coming down later after travelling all day. I went to reception in the morning. My opinion is that this should be included with your stay and not have to pay an extra $4/day. We did have a problem with our safe malfunctioning which maintenance had to replace the battery. After calling and he was coming right away and didn't come after 1.5 hours; I told them to forget it. I called later that afternoon and then they did send someone right away.We didn't leave until 7:30 at night; but had to check out at noon. The hospitality facilities were fine and we had easy access to our luggage that they stored. You have to use the public washroom in which there are 3 showers in the back. I then used one of the stalls to change.The entertainment is your typical resort shows with some really good dancing and some really bad. We actually ended up skipping it most nights and didn't even make it to the entertainment complex for the disco or the band.Trains came every few minutes or less. No waiting or hassle there.So; bottom line? I would book the Bahia Principe in Mayan Riviera rather than Punta Cana. The resort I think is better there and the food definitely was.
478252,upsguy1985,11/17/2008,Great pool; awesome weather My family and I stayed here for 14 nights in the club diamond section.Its a huge resort and at first one is overwelmed by the sheer size of it. The grounds are kept immaculate and there are a variety of tropical plants everywhere. The rooms are amazing. Ours had a king size bed and was adjoined to my sons and daughter-in-laws next door. We did have some issues with our mini bar as it was not always stocked daily. The pool in the club diamond section was definately the best in the resort as it was very clean and just the right temperature. The bartender who worked at that pool; Robinson; was great and had your next drink ready without you even asking for it. I did find however that the beer on tap was a little week and had me longing for a Labatt Blue. The beach is amazing;very clean. We enjoyed walking down the beach to the beach venders. they had a great selection of souvenirs. Do be prepared to negotiate the price however as they all start high. The food at this resort was dissapointing to say the least as I've had better at star resorts. My wife actually had some food poisoning and was ill for a couple of days. The entertainment here was very average and could use some improvement . I had the impression from the moment we arrived that this resort seems to cater to the European Traveller. Ther was very little English spoken by the resort staff and one had difficulty communicating at times. If they want Canadians to keep coming to this resort they had better do some improving.
478252,canuckgrl06,11/17/2008,great vacation with the kids! I am back from a relaxing vacation (yes...with the kids - 4 yrs and 8 mos) at Gran Bahia Principe. I finally settled on the Bahia after much online research. It was highly rated on trip advisor and we wanted to stay in a resort chain with a good reputation so we would have a worry free vacation.I will give my review and a few tips we found helpful for travelling with our children.We stayed on the Bavaro side of the hotel and requested a room closest to the buffet. This is a HUGE resort and it was so handy staying close to the lobby; buffet and entertainment areas. The beach is furthest away with all the rooms situated between the lobby and the beach. We stayed in building 38 which was very handy to the lobby.FlightThe Skyservice flight to Punta Cana was excellent; left on time; staff were great and a breakfast sandwich was offered. The return flight smooth with a sandwich offered for lunch. The staff were very helpful. Take some special treats and a couple new toys and I found cheerios were a gret diversion for a baby. There is a changetable located in the bathrooms. The Punta Cana airport has a number of little shops for browsing and snacks. Upon arrival they take your photo which you then pick up on your return to the airport. There are some sections which are air conditioned and some are not. Wear your shorts and pack your pants to change into on the plane or at home because the airport is so hot in some sections and waiting in line to check in can be very frustrating especially with children.Check InYou are transported by a large coach to the hotel. I was worried aboout taking car seats vs not and found that it wasn't really necessary and the ride was smooth and the road was not busy so I found it to be quite safe. You are given an envelope with your room number while on the bus which was convenient. We had our wrist bands and were ready to enjoy the resort as soon as we got there. Also in your envelope is a pass port guide to the hotel and towel cards. Check in is at 3pm but we found that when we asked if our room might be ready early as we wanted the put our daughter down for a nap that we could get in the room by 2pm. Also at check-in ask for your safe to be set up if you will require it (the cost is $4 a day). It gave us peace of mind leaving any valuables in the room.RoomsThe rooms are set up in 3 level buildings. If you have kids; request a ground level room. It's so much easier ! The rooms are apparently king bed or 2 doubles. I requested a king but got two doubles - oh well; it ended up being fine. There is also a large wide sofa in the room which would work well for a child's bed. Rooms are equipped with a TV with a fair number of channels (mostly spanish but a few english as well) including Nickelodeon. There is a minibar fridge which we used to store bottles of baby food. It is stocked daily so you never run out of pop; beer or water. The bottled water is excellent for making bottles or taking to the beach as you should not be drinking the tap water in DR. We were given a playpen; although over the phone I was told it would be a crib and not a playpen when I asked specifically. Nonetheless is was in good condition and suited our needs.A la Carte RestaurantsAs has been mentioned; on a week's vacation; you can book 3 a la carte dinners. I would do so early (possibly even as soon as you arrive and are waiting for your room) as we found most were fully booked until at least 5 days into our trip. There are 6 options and 1 additional new bbq restaurant a la cartes. We had the Japenese (excellent and our son watched his DVD player at the table while we ate); Gourmet (we found the service to be not so great with the expection of Julianna who was lovely; they have a kids menu). Las Olas was the new bbq restaurant we were offered because the others were full. We found out is is really the beach buffet so we weren't too excited about that as it wasn't a true a la carte. I have heard the Garden Grill (steakhouse) is excellent and there is also an Italian; Seafood and Mexican restaurants on the Bavaro side. The Bavaro guests are able to dine in the a la cartes on the Bavaro side and not on the Punta Cana side and vice versa. They also have seperate buffets.BuffetThe buffet was very good here. You can eat at the main buffet restaurant; the seafood or mexican restaurant (also buffets open at breakfast and lunch). There is so much variety and most is very tasty. It is open a little late for dinner when you have kids (7-10pm) but we found that we all just adjusted our schedules slightly and they were fine. We would often feed my daughter (8 mos) a jar of food in the room beforehand and then give her some cheerios to snack on while we ate. For breakfast; the is breads; bagels; cereals; eggs; pancakes; french toast; fresh fruits; juices; smoothies; omelets and eggs to order; pastries; jams and a variety of other dishes. For lunch; there are salads; breads for sandwiches; hot dogs; burgers; pizza; pasta; soups; and various dishes of the day. The dinners are in a different theme each night (spanish; american; italian; mexican; dominican; asian and a gala dinner on Saturday). We loved the mexican and dominican nights - delicious!! The details are amazing including towers of desserts; ice sculptures; carved melons; and sugar and bread sculptures which decorate the buffet area. There was always 4-5 selections each night specifically for kids. Often; it was fried foods but it was nice that they thought of this. My son loved the pizza; pasta; fresh fruits; eggs; juices and we would often make him sandwiches for lunch. The staff were sometimes friendly; sometimes cool but were always at your service and plates and dishes were always cleared right away. It might be helpful to learn a few key phrases in spanish - the staff really appreciated it and your kids will learn some works in a new language.BeachWe didn't spend alot of time here with the kids. My son was leary of the ocean waves and it was often rough and babies and sand aren't the best mix. If you do go; take along a few towels to make a beach blanket. There is plenty of shade and tons of beach chairs. There is a trolley that runs from the lobby to the beach every few minutes. You never have to wait long. There is a ship wreck right in front of the resort in the ocean apparently a wreck from the 70s we were told. Interesting to see.PoolsGorgeous and warm ! There are 2 pools - one located at the beach (the large main pool) and a smaller central pool located halfway along the little road that runs the length of the resort. There is a 3rd Diamond Club pool but unless you've upgraded you cannot swim here. Both pools have seperate kiddie areas; gradual entries and pool bars! The pool bars had a variety of refreshments for kids like juices and slushy drinks. We spent almost all day every day at the pool. There are shady areas in the pool and my we always dressed my son in his suit; a t-shirt and hat to keep him out of the sun as much as we could because he was in the pool most of the day. There are lots of chairs (provided you arrive before 10ish) and shade covers. I found I didn't need a playpen at the pool; because my daughter either was in the pool or sat with us on the beach chair sleeping or playing. You will use your towel cards for a beach towel daily so you don't have to lug them back to your room and you have a fresh; dry towel every day. There are towel huts at each pool.EntertainmentThere is a Mini Club available for kids 4-12. I have heard from other travellers that other resorts have them but were not always open. The MiniClub at the Bahia was open daily from 9-12:30 and 1:30-5. It is staffed by Virginia (she seemed to be there every day) who was excellent and very good with the kids. There are different activities offered every hour including swimming; inside games; movies; mini golf; etc. My son only used the Kids Club once but it was a nice offering and I felt comfortble leaving him there.Also for kids; there is nightly entertainment at 8pm in the Tropicana Theatre. Virginia does games; dances and there is music and prizes for kids of all ages. The highlight is Thursday nights when the kids staying at the resort can participate in the evening entertainment of the Lion King; all dressed in costume. Very sweet.There is nightly entertainment for adults at 9:45pm - the Michael Jackson show; Stars are Here and Legends (impersonator shows) were all excellent and the dancers were amazing!! More entertainment continues at the Pueblo Principle ( a market square area with vendors and stores ) with nightly offerings at 11pm. With kids; of course; we never saw any of it but we did enjoy shopping there and chatting with all the vendors.There is tennis; minigolf and tons of activities pool side (bingo; water aerobics; dance lessons; etc). We didn't try any watersports as we found the seas to be too rough but there was lots to offer.Overall a great resort to stay with kids! Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions.
478252,traveljunkies30,11/16/2008,Sand Like Silk Rock Show
478252,Lynnresort,11/15/2008,Perfect ! ! Went november 3 ; 2008 for a week Big resort. Nice rooms; garden; restaurants;pools and the beach wowwwwwwww. We can take a long walk and look at the other resort and I think we had the best beach; very clean; nice perfect waves So nice and didn't pay much $ 850.00 last minute The temperature was perfect; very hot . I did not expect that in november. I realy like going in november. I usely go in march. I will go back and I will be proud to bring my family and friends.
478252,KimKim69,11/14/2008,I love it I was in Grand Bahia Principe from Oct 17-24 ; 2008 with my husband little daughter . We really had a great time and absolutely love it .The Resort is beautiful; clean huge. Our check in check out was Breeze. All staffs are friendly and helpful.The food is good; in buffet you will find lots of different foods with good quality taste. We were in Japanese; French Mexican Restaurant. The outstanding was Japanese ; we love the food service . French restaurant was terrible; it took almost 1 hour half to get our food. My daughter got so sleepy and tired of too much waiting; we ignore the desert ate our food so fast. We heard such this complain from some other people as well.The Mexican Restaurant was awesome too . Good welcome drink; tasty appetizer great food. .Most of the people were happy of Garden Grill Steak house too .Bu we could go only 3 restaurant per week and we didn鈥檛 try those one .There is a buffet at the beach too ; even though the food was almost same everyday but No complain .We spent most of our time at main swimming pool beach which has lots of activities Entertainment and you never notice how the time fly .I can鈥檛 describe the Beach; you must see . it is just beautiful with lots of chairs and white sand . The Ocean was as blue as the sky . we did lots of swimming and enjoyed a lot .We thought we will have lots of rain ; but one time andtook only 5 min shower . the other time was around 11 pm with heavy rain . Other days was sunshine and beautiful .There are lot of bars everywhere with tasty cocktails . Even thought the international drinks wasn鈥檛 included; but their domestic drinks was good though .The room was clean ; air conditioner was working well . The mini bars was always full of water ; coke beer .We heard Punta Cana is a high risk of Malaria ; so that all us took prevention pills ; but in this resort you hardly see any mosquitoes . I saw a small truck do spray all over the resort every afternoon .The entertainment at night was great ; it starts at 8 45 pm with lots of game in the main Theater ; then at 9 45- 10 45 pm you will see the shows . I loved Circus Michael Jackson ; others was perfect too.Then you can go to Band live music from 11 -12 pm with lots of dancing in outside stage ; they will serve you with lots of drink and there is a snack bar as well .From 12-2 am you can go to disco or Casino .In third days of our arrival ; my daughter (she is 6 years ) burn her hand . She wanted to take pancake in the buffet and the dish was so hot ; her skin was pilled off completely . We run into the clinic ; the doctor did a perfect job .he cleaned up and did the bandage ; he advised a shot injection to prevent infection and apply Anibiotique cream .. My daughter couldn鈥檛 go swimming for 2 days and was a disaster for her. However she had great time with lots of activities around the Pool and not to get bored at all . The management feel guilty about this accident; and thought they shouldn鈥檛 put such a hot dish so close or they should put a note as a 鈥?Hot cautious 鈥?.They sent us fruit basket to our room every day with Balloon鈥檚 decoration to make my daughter happy. they called two times per day to see how is she which was so nice from them .The customer service manager the resort manger were so nice and helpful too .I will send my special 鈥?Hello 鈥?to them .they tried their best to make our vacation wonderful and they did .It鈥榮 almost one month after this accident; her hand didn鈥檛 get any infection and today it鈥檚 hardly to see the scar ; thank God .Overall ; we absolutely are happy of this resort and would come back again ( I wish I could back NOW ) . Please feel free to contact with me if you have any question .
478252,PuntaCanada8,11/14/2008,Wowza! What a great place! Just returned home from this resort a few minutes ago. What a great resort/ holiday! We really wanted to stay another few days.When reserving this trip; we spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to go; investigating on the internet; finding best price vs best place and reading these reviews for thoughts. We found a fantastic resort; Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro.Last year we stayed at Grand Paradise; which was a very nice resort too. I certainly wouldn't mind staying there again but Gran Bahia is superior and MUCH larger.We didn't figure out until we got there; that there are two parts to this resort. One is the Punta Cana side (the regular side) and the other being the Amber side (the step up side). It might be worth while finding out how much more the Amber side is. You get a few extra (ie- meals; private pool; extra access to water sports equipment). We travelled with Air Transat which was okay. I recommend taking extra snacks and drinks with you on the plane as they don't feed you too much.Hotel room- Gran Bahia rooms were really good. The bathrooms have normal showers; facilities;etc. The bed linens; towels were clean. Beach- what can I say....it is truly amazing. There are lots of sun beds; palaps; palm trees; quiet areas and fun areas.Pools- great!! The pool closest to the beach isn't the clienest. Not sure what to expect with the pool is so close to beach and people don't shower off their sand covered bodies. This didn't stop us from spending the whole day in this pool. However; my preference was the pool closer to our hotel room. (Did I mention the pools have swim up bars??? Fun! You must try the chocolate banana slushy and if you are new to the Resort lifestyle the Bahama mama is also a must!)Water sports- this can get very busy and can be a little frustrating. It seems like you have to reserve the day before or hang around and hope people don't show up for their reservation. For Wind surfing you need to take lessons cost $35. A 2 hour snorkeling trip was really good; cost $35. Boogie boards; kyacking are free.Food- buffet is good; lots of variety and nicely decorated. For the al a carte restaurants our favorite was the Japanese. Also tried the gourment which was very nice and the seafood place which was fine. Bars- endless drinks. Also; have a nice coffee tea area. This area can get pretty smokey. Lobby- beautiful. Lots of places to hang out.Entertainment- really appreciated the effort of the entertainment staff. The Michael Jackson and Legends shows were really good. The Lion King show should have been for kids. Old towne entertainment which includes a house band which was great! And a little skits iwth crowd participation. The skits were silly but mindless fun; good for a laugh.Old towne also has stores; vendors; internet; hamburger joint; karobe bar; pool tables and a night club. All really good. Staff- overall very good. Some of the staff seem a little bored or annoyed (this is only an observation- not a comment of concern).Did hear on our travels that the RUI location is great and the Barcelo locations are good too (there seems to be 3-4 different Barcelo resorts). There was one I saw that I would like to go next year. Melia Caribe. We also went on two tours. Bavaro Runners was fantastic. We had a hilarious tour guide; Alex. It is worthwhile requesting his tour. Santa Domingo- we went this year and last year. Good this year. Great last year. Last year we ended up on a tour with a women tour guide from the Netherlands. She was great. If you can; go for two weeks. We went for one and wanted to stay longer. Hope this helps you make a decision.Happy travels.
478252,Al11,11/10/2008,Decent Place Huge place; awesome grounds. great transportation service within the grounds. It took us a day to find out where to book the a la carte's; by then everything was booked......like for the week !!!; they have to work on that one; we only could get the Japanese..which was aswesome; and the Italian....which wasn't even edible...close that one up folks. The food wasn't great at all; wasn't crappy either; just food. All in all it's a nice resort; real clean; do yourself a favor and learn spanish; as the only people who can speak english are the bartenders @ the pools and beach; and the people who work in the room where you book your meals; even most of the guests are spanish.; tough to communicate. I would return to this one; overall pretty good.Al
478252,redsuspenders,11/10/2008,Big resort; loved it! My wife and I just returned from a week at the Bahia Principe Bavaro with our 2 year old daughter.We had an excellent week.Room:nice suite with jacuzzi tub; maid was a bit hit and miss on the towels.Beach:beautiful clean sand nice swimming area; ample loungers;Bars:Fast; friendly service; no complaints! Lobby bar in the evening gets busy; but service was still great.Buffet:Lots of variety; each night has a different theme;Pools:Spent out time at the pool nearest the beach. Lots of room; lots of loungers; close to bar. Pool could use a really good cleaning; as there is black build up in the tile grouting. Some of this material floats around in the water after a while each day;A la cartes:Only went to the Steak house; the tenderloin was excellent!Check in/check out:All paperwork ready on the shuttle from the airport; so when you get to the resort; you just get your room key and the bellboys take you to your room. This was the first time we had experienced this; and I wish all resorts did it because it kills the time on the bus; and you can enjoy the resort as soon as you ge tthere instead of waiting to check in. As for checkout; we got there early before breakfast and glad we did with only one person doing checkouts. A bit later; it got busy; and I noticed they added two more people on the desk.I would sum up our vacation as great; but I don't think I would go to this resort in the busy season due to how large it is and how crowded it might be.
478252,jonford,11/10/2008,Amazing Hotel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This hotel is fantastic!! If there are any dodgy reviews - ignore them (they are probably written by people who are far too fussy!)The first thing you will notice is the size - this hotel is massive (there are mini bus/trains to take you from one area to another-and have about 10 stops from the reception to the far end/beach) (the tain busses are small little things; not big coaches) They are V reliable and good fun to jump on.There are 3 HUGE pools dotted along the strip of apartment blocks. 2 are identical; with swim-up bars open from 10am; and there is a HUGE HUGE one at the end of the strip with fountains and bridges. (when I say strip; I mean the little lane from reception to the beach)The beach is beautiful and private to hotel stayers only. Food is fantastic - there is loads of choice each night and you wont get board (Ive never seen so much food) It is refilled every couple of minutes (we saw them throw away 3/4 of a platter because the next one was ready!!) There are about 5 a la carte restaurants and u get to eat in 3 of them per one week of staying (Included in deal) The japanese is highly recommended)Deff do Soana Island - but book through one of the other reps (not thompson - half the price) there is a room full of reps - all are fine and offer different options)Staff are v helpful - take lots of $1 notes for tips!!ANYONE WHO BOOKS THIS HOTEL REALLY WILL HAVE A GREAT TIME (it is called Punta cana and Bavaro as it is split into 2 hotels - so if someone says they are staying a P-Cana; and your reservation says Bavaro - dont worry; it is the same place!
478252,happycamper059,11/07/2008,not a care in the world Spent a week at the Bavaro section mid week after thanksgiving. Second time at an all inclusive. First time was 5 star Mayan Rivera. This one was even better! Everything about the resort was service oriented; and you can do as much or little as you like. The food choices were excellent at all of the venues. Al a carte were alot of fun. Beach is amazing - the best ever. Learned to sail and went out and around the ship - cost of 35 to learn then 5 dollars a day WOW!!! Upgrade to the diamond level will give you one extra al a carte weekly and access to a private pool and restaruant. Cant think of one complaint - except that we had to fly home and stop wondering which of 5 or 6 spots we will go to and be served next. Would recommend this property without reservation to anyone at anytime. Do take along plenty of dollar bills to tip - because we can. Have a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!
478252,alo2008,11/07/2008,Dont worry - GREAT vacation!! Hello;Very helpful website - I used it alot before we travelled; so I thought I'd return the favour...I travelled with my wife; and 2 kids; ages 4 and 10 months.My wife and I have been to a few places in Cuba and Mexico before so I have enough to compare to. This hotel is in my top 2.We might be slightly biased because we speak spanish; so it was alot easier for us.Weather was incredible. Poured one nite (we were sleeping anyway); and rained one day for about 20 minutes; and the sun came right out again. Arrival and Flight November 2008Sunwing Airlines from Toronto AirportFlight times were brutal; depart: 7am to 11am; return: 10pm to 2am. We were worried that the kids might suffer; but they didn't. Maybe just luck; but they just slept the whole time! All things considered; flight wasn't bad. Rooms Rooms were great. I booked only days before we left and right away sent an email to the hotel requesting ground floor; near the pool and a playpen for an infant. When we arrived; they gave us 2 out of 3; and sent us the playpen asap when I called front desk.Rooms were always cleaned well. AC worked fine.Restaurants Buffet restaurant: great. Better than most other resorts. Always plenty to choose from; we are all picky (ok not me); and we all found plenty to eat; even my 10 month old daughter.A la cartes: even better! We went to Japanese (fun and food was fine); Mexican (we LOVED the buffet appetizers; main was OK) and Steakhouse (pretty good).Bars Service was usually good; not always the quickest; but c'mon; you're on vacation... lighten up and just enjoy; no one should be on a schedule or in a rush when on vacation. Tips do help of course; but in general; tip or no tip; service was fine. Drinks did vary in strength; but again; who cares? Not enough booze? Drink more! Too much booze? Slow down! Simple.Beach and Pools Beach is amazing. Beautiful; beautiful. Didn't spend too much time at the beach because the kids didnt like it too much; but when there; it's paradise.Pools are great; kids loved it. Brought my 4 year old his own life jacket; he had a blast; my little girl totally loved it. Never thought it was too dirty or over-crowded. When we wanted quiet; we'd go to one section; when we wanted music and noise we moved to that section. Grounds HUGE. Trolley services were quick and convenient; but the wife always wanted to walk! LOTS of walking; but for the amount of food you eat; its probably a good thing! Always people cleaning; watering; painting; fixing. Lovely grounds. Pics don't lie; just take a look at some of the ones posted...Activities and Entertainment Didn't do any 'partying' - it was a family vacation! We saw 1 show; the Lion King; not great; but not bad. The boy loved it.Didnt get to see the club; casino or late shows...Tours Stayed at the resort the whole time; again because we had the kids; otherwise we would have ventured off for sure.Conclusion Overall we had a wonderful time; so relaxing and care-free. Dominicans are the best people; they all knew my kids' names by the end of the week; and always said hi; please; thank you and with pleasure. Again; maybe because we spoke the language we had a bit of an advantage; but when we spoke in english; most of the staff helped adequately. Yes; some dont speak english; but hey; you're in a spanish speaking country!! Hello! However; at the front desk; they spoke perfect english; and all you have to do is ask ask and ask! Pretty easy if you ask me! LOTS of europeans; yes; mainly spaniards. Some americans. No one bugged me too much; except some rude and loud CANADIANS next door. Yes; you're on vacation; but be considerate... if you want to make noise at 1am; go to the bar; disco; or even your balcony! Not the front foyer!!! No need to even leave the resort (we didn't) and the shops are of course overpriced; but not too TOO bad; considering it is in the hotel.Negotiate with the vendors! I bought stuff from the vendors that cost 2 or 3 times more at the airport. And even then I probably got a little ripped off. Bottom line - If you're not a snob; then don't worry about this place; you will have an incredible time. Nothing to really complain about at all; especially for the great price we got. Would definitely go back.Can't understand the bad reviews... all I can guess is that something went wrong; by bad luck; and it just ruined the vacation; or they are simply miserable people!
478252,ReenaK,11/05/2008,Great resort; beautiful grounds; busy beach Here are the positives about this resort.The grounds are beautiful; very lush and green; huge open lobby; nice pools; one large one that is very loud and busy; and then another one that is large and nice and has a few activities.Michael Jackson show is awesome!!Rooms are big and the bathroom and tub are great.The transportation that takes you from your room to the beach and the restaurants you wont wait more than 10 seconds for it.The staff are all very nice and service is good.The breakfast buffet is very good and has lots of selection.The steak house is great...good steak.(garden grill)Here are the cons.Maid didnt come for two days at all one time to our room.you have to have a towel card for your towels..make sure your towel doesnt get stolen.There is alot of upselling at this resort...lots of pricelists for many drinks that arent included; always a note at dinner that the wine recommended isnt included; and they have signs to get you to upgrade your room. plus the safe costs 35.00The beach is ridiculous there are literally about 500 beach chairs all over the place..and the water is really currenty and rough..i was scared to go in...although the beach is nice and the water a nice color and you can take a nice walk at night...this beach looks like Honolulu to me...and the safe isnt included..that is bad for a 5 star resort...you are protecting yourself against the cleaning people having a safe..and they make you pay for it..i have never ever heard of this before..we paid for the Royal Golden section and it still wasnt included..which is a complete burn.at the royal golden you get 15 min on the internet and they dont trust you and have to sign you in...i felt like a school kid.Overall..i enjoyed the food; the resort is gorgeous; the staff nice...oh i forgot to mention how rude and unwelcoming the check instaff in Royal golden were .... one in particular..Rose..oh my god..she never welcomed us....told us the safe costs 35.00; wouldnt help us book restaurants; told us to come back even though we were in the time stated you were allowed to do so; and at the end said...oh here is your welcome drink...and handed us warm orange juice as we were leaving.overall i would recommend this..I would definitely recommend Ambar over royal golden..you get turndown each night but best of all you get a private pool for that section..with no kids!!! they keep advertising it is 15.00 to upgrade...so i am guessing it is 210.00/week extra per couple..i think we paid more to have golden..so we got burned..email me if you like reenak@shaw.ca
478252,Iras,11/05/2008,Great Food; Nice Beach; Cleanliness; Staff everywhere Pool
478252,Jenaboo,11/04/2008,Awesome Vacation!!! My boyfriend and I stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe for 7 days at the end of October. The weather was beautiful everyday - hot and sunny. We experienced two small rainfalls that lasted only minutes; otherwise the weather was perfect. Check-in was fairly quick and since we had spare time before we could get into our room; we were able to relax in the lobby and enjoy some delicious drinks and eat at the buffet. The grounds were BEAUTIFUL and garbage free all week long. Our room (junior suite); was situated in a villa and was quite large and clean. Everyday the mini-fridge was refilled with juice; pop and water. Every room has its own balcony. We chose to eat at the Mexican Restaurant; Garden Grill and Italian Restaurant. The Mexican restaurant was by far the best restaurant. The atmosphere was fun - the staff were extremely friendly and the food was delicious! The Garden Grill was also very good but we found the atmosphere at both the Italian and Garden Grill restuarant to be not as enjoyable as the Mexican restuarant.We also ate at the buffet and snack bar which we found to have good food. The beach was gorgeous - sandy white beaches and torquoise water. There were plenty of lounge chairs for everyone. There is a bar located on the beach and the snack bar is also located near the beach. The pools were also very fun - alot of daily activities and music. The staff; for the most part; were very friendly. Overall; we had a lovely vacation. The weather was fabulous; the food was great; the beach was beautiful. We could not have asked for a better vacation!
478252,sirenisgirl,11/03/2008,Amazing Holiday!!! Would return tomorrow if I could! Resort Map
478252,bmw2000csi,11/01/2008,Extended review of a great holiday Room 15102
478252,ivisalo,10/31/2008,A 5 Star Hotel l!!! Blue Water!!!
478252,Chloerules,10/29/2008,Amazing Resort! My boyfriend and I just returned from a week at The Bahia Principe Bavaro and we had a fantastic experience. From the moment we got onto the bus to the resort everything was very organized. We were given an information package on the resort and the staff checked us into our rooms (arm-bands etc) before we even got off the bus! This saved time in line at the front desk. Our room was large and very clean. The bathroom was lovely with a huge soaker tub. The resort is huge so there are bus stops throughout the property and a trolley that comes every 2 or 3 minutes to bring guests to the lobby or pool/beach. The property itself was immaculate. I鈥檝e traveled many times to the Caribbean and I鈥檝e never experienced such a beautifully maintained resort. The bushes; grass and flowers were kept in perfect condition. We never saw any garbage on the ground the entire week we were there. The main pool by the beach was very large and clean. The beach was one of the nicest I鈥檝e ever experienced. The water was crystal clear and you could tell the beach was maintained on a daily basis. The service at the bars; lobby and restaurants was great. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. Most of the employees spoke English or at least tried and this made us feel right at home. All of the dining we experienced was delicious. The buffet had several options and we were never bored with the food. The Garden Grill and Japanese a la carte restaurants were top notch.We decided to go on a day trip to the Saona Island. The trip was an entire day experience traveling by bus and then on a speed boat and catamaran. The only downfall is the amount of time spent on the bus. We left the hotel at 7:15 am and did not return until 7:30 p.m. and during this time we were on the bus for about 5-6 hours. The sights on the island are beautiful; but just be prepared for a very long day on a bus. Overall; we really enjoyed our experience and would return to this resort in a second. This was our first time to the Dominican Republic and it certainly won鈥檛 be our last. I would definitely recommend this resort when traveling to D.R. you won鈥檛 be disappointed.
478252,kuttersknivesinc,10/27/2008,Easily a 5 star in Canadian standards View from my room
478252,TigermanSparkes,10/16/2008,Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro.. the best holiday for me ever Vacation Bahia Principe October 4 2008 First let me say I had a wonderful vacation here and enjoyed my stay immensely; but there were trials and tribulations to get through. Arrived in the dark of night around 10:00 pm and was escorted to our room in block 37; they all look the same; and was immediately pleasantly surprised when entering as I had a gigantic junior suite (they鈥檙e all junior suites) with a huge king bed; sofa; sitting area etc. Went to the buffet (still open) and was again pleasantly surprised at the extent of selection of dishes. Trials and tribulations:Didn鈥檛 sleep too good as the air conditioner was pumping warm air and the room was not comfortable even with the ceiling fan blowing down on us. Went to reception before breakfast and explained my problem and was assured the problem would be taken care of. Went back after lunch and room was the same. Went to reception again and was told someone would take care of it. After the beach went back to the room and found it the same. Complained again and after dinner a serviceman arrived to check it out. He told us it would be cool in 2 hours. Wasn鈥檛. Went to Reception again next morning and spoke to Josue who promised me it would be fixed immediately and sure enough in the afternoon it was working. Terrific鈥?but; woke up next morning to a warm room again. Went to reception again and spoke with Josue who found us a new room in the same complex and assisted in moving us personally.The good things:All the staff are friendly and well mannered professionals; but these are some that I will personally remember from this vacation.The GroundsNever have I been to such a clean resort; so well maintained; everything in place; lovely gardens and flowers everywhere.The Entertainment.Superb; the best I have encountered on any vacation ever鈥?the house band is fantastic; the disco is great; the theatre and the performances of your dancers and the shows; the best. The Dining experience.The buffet is incredible; always have good selection of great food; the A La Carte restaurants are great too; but somehow I preferred the Buffet selections.The Last DayI thought this would be a tough day; seeing as we had to vacate our room by noon; however; as usual Bahia Principe provides for your comfort to the very end. At checkout I was fortunate to see Josue again who allowed me to keep my towel cards so I could enjoy a day at the pool and have a nice relaxing day. Shower facilities are also provided near the main lobby for those who feel the need to freshen up before departure. Still had time for breakfast; lunch and snacks and all the drinks I would want; except by now all I want is soda and lime. Went to the pool; had lunch; relaxed in the lobby writing this critique. Had a great day. Said my goodbye鈥檚 to all the friends we had made and waited for the bus.Dennis Sparkes53 Port Union RdToronto; OntarioCanadaM1C 5J2
478252,Hottublifeguard,10/15/2008,Diamond Club is the way to go! picture perfect landscaping
478252,Luv2Travel2006,10/08/2008,Our Second Visit to Bahia - this time for our honeymoon - loved it When it was time to pick a destination for our honeymoon we could have chosen anywhere but decided to go back to Bahia Principe. We had a wonderful vacation last year in November 2007 when this hotel was rated #1. We were not disappointed on our first visit and all expectations were met again.We came back for the following reasons1. excellent food. The buffet has so much excellent selection and lots of restuarants to choose from. We booked at four restaurants.2. Beach and lots of ample shade and beach lounge chairs. The same goes for the pool areas. Beautiful surroundings and no nonsense of needing to wake up early at 6am to scounge for decent locations3. service is actually really good. We never had language problems. our room was always replinished with bottled water every morningTake everything in moderation. Too much sun; drinks with coconut cream; or pineapple may make you spend more time in your room recovering vs. having a good time. drink lots of water; bring lots of sunscreenWe had a great time and without hesitation would return again
478252,luggage43,10/07/2008,awsome vacation heli-copter rides
478252,Gingersweets,10/03/2008,BRILLIANT - just go and enjoy ! Absolutely brilliant ! Amazing views and beaches...just go; relax and enjoy ! Definately DEFINATELY recommended !
478252,casinonick,10/03/2008,loved the Principe I have stayed in hundreds of hotels all over the world; and many have been a disappointment; this one was not. The beach was clean and pretty; plenty of things to do (i played beach volleyball); good and diverse restaurants; many pools including a large main pool; lovely reception area with very large bar; live music and very comfortable. Fantastic rooms; large and nicely decorated. I am returning this month; and happy to do so.
478252,AndyLena,09/29/2008,A 5 star place ranked by local standards though You have to keep an open mind that this country is a 3rd world and therefore standards are not the same as we would typically expect back home. Ambar is part of the Gran Bahia complex that has Gran Bahia Bavaro (the biggest complex) and Gran Bahia Punta Cana. There is yet another complex just being finished called Premier. The latter is so far from the beach though. Bavaro has by far the most villas; many certainly not walking distance to the beach. It also caters to families. In fact there are little trains to take one across the complex. The train does come to Ambar also so you can go to the other complexes. Ambar has the villas nearest the beach and walking distance. None really have beach views though you will get a nice pool view and partial beach one if you get to be in villas 67 or 60. Amabr is of course adults only. We stayed here for 2 weeks. The welcome was warm and even though check in is 3pm; we got our room 12.30pm which was nice. The rooms are very clean; spacious and cosy. The bathroom certainly was well laid out also. They give you a mini bar that comes with the all-inclusive. They normally fill it up every day and is free!The maids do start to work outside around 8;30am and they scrub the tilled floors which does make some noise. With night life ending here 11pm every night; you tend to go to bed early; unless you venture over to Bavaro. The latter has a daily show from 9.45pm - 10.45pm. The Michael Jackson show on a Monday night is pretty neat. They also have an OK circus show on Thursdays. This area is a covered; but open theatre with lots of smokers. You can then move to the outside band area that goes until 12am. You also have the disco that goes to 2am. One headache we found is the attire one needs in Ambar. For breakfast and lunch guys HAVE to wear t-shirts or sleeved shirts though can get in with shorts. In the evenings guys HAVE to have full length pants. I tried with capris and was told to change! Women at the pool/beach restaurant must be covered from waist down to eat here. You will need a wrap around or shorts. Guys are OK wandering in with swim shorts only; no top is needed. This gets tiring especially when you are in warm climate. With the buffet in Bavaro and Punta Cana complexes; shorts are OK for guys in the evenings; though no tank tops anywhere any time. All buffets are the same each evening everywhere and have themes; eg Mexican; Oriental; etc. All la cartes can be booked at guest services. Don Pablo was by far the best and you need to be dressed up to get in. El Olivio; their Mediterranean restaurant was terrible; We walked out the food was so bad. Equally as bad in Bavaro was Pescador. Maika; the Japanese place in Bavaro was great. Teppanyaki and the sushi was not all that bad! Buffets had very good variety and quality was pretty good. We never went hungry though its gets tiring for 2 weeks. Good thing is there is no smoking in any restaurant. The lobby bar in Ambar is also no smoking; but elsewhere it is allowed. Nice drinks to try are Coco Loco; a coconut/rum cocktail. Service was mostly pleasant though there is an element of pretentiousness here. The hotel dings you for everything. Make sure you bring enough suncreen or you will need to buy it here for about $33; literally; per bottle. Beach was beautiful with ample chairs to lie down on. September had 35% occupancy. Pool area typically had the chairs occupied under the umbrellas; otherwise lots left to bake in the sun. You get a pillow menu that features scented pillows. We got chamomile pillows which smelled nice at first; though were so strong we had to send them back. They impregnated the room with their smell for a few days later! We had a late checkout as our plane was 9pm Saturday night. They actually charge you $15 US per extra hour that you stay over. That drew a sore thumb. Be cautioned about some of the tours that can be made in the Bavaro side. The dolphin swim one is $110 US each and gives you about 10-15 minutes of interaction with them in a group. This was a rip off. You will really enjoy the sea lion swim at half the price. Some days around the pools you can get your picture taken with parrots and a monkey. $10 per picture.
478252,eldoso,09/28/2008,It's a favorite! We just returned from a one-week stay at the Gran Bahia Principe; Punta Cana; and loved it. We had seen a couple of unfavorable reviews and were a little concerned prior to our arrival. However; we were very happy with the hotel; the staff; the room; the food; the restaurants and the beach was much better than the ones I have seen in Mexico and other parts of the caribbean.Many of the staff do not speak much English; but they do try to understand you. Most of the people at the front desk speak English pretty well; as do guest services. Our maid provided us with various daily towel creations; accented with flowers. The room was very clean with nice furniture; king-size bed; couch; two chairs; table; dresser; small refrigerator with soft drinks; water and beer; bathroom was large; with a great shower and jetted tub; lots of hot water; hair dryer; soap; shampoo etc. lots of towels; changed daily. Also; every room had a big golf umbrella for when it rained; which was very handy since we had some rain while we were there.We ate at three restaurants; the Garden Room (steak which we really enjoyed); the Italian (pretty good) and Seafood (O.K. but nothing special). The rest of the time we ate at the buffet and the food there was very good; lots of variety; every food container labeled; so no surprises. Desserts were excellent - I'm a dessert lover and here they were all good; plus they had icecream available every day.The beach was wonderful - lots of chairs and palapas for shade. Water was of course very warm - sun is hot so bring lots of sunscreen and don't go out without putting it on! The pools looked very nice; with swim-up bars; but we spent most of our time on the beach. The hotel grounds were beautiful and very well-kept. The hotel employs a lot of people too keep the place looking the way it does.Most of the guests were European (probably Spain) but there were English and Canadian plus some American. In talking with guest services; they said the American guests tend to come later in the year; from Nov. on to get out of the cold weather.We loved this hotel - traveled there on an Apple package and were very happy - flight was good; representatives were helpful and we will definitely by back.
478252,mrshappy1,09/28/2008,Great Honeymoon We went there on our Honeymoon and it was great. The staff was very polite and in a good mood. The food was great. The excursions were awesome (you have to try swimming with the sharks and rays at the Marinarium). It does help if you know a little spanish; if not do like we did get an english/spanish dictionary. Bring lots of sun screen and a hat; and if you go to the pueblo principe make sure to bargain until you have to or almost have to walk away. Shampoo; Conditioner; creams and lotions are expensive; try not to forget these at home. Room was beautiful.
478252,staben,09/25/2008,Perfect Vacation !!! I stayed at the Bahia Principe Bavaro from Sept. 12 to the 19 and I Cannot Believe people could find something wrong with this resort鈥?I guess if you REALLY go out of your way to try鈥?but nope; I checked and not even if you try!!!It started out as a last minute vacation. Booked on Thursday afternoon and was leaving with Air Transat from Montreal Friday at 12:30鈥?could not be more last minute鈥?It was a recommendation from my travel agent and he was so right about this hotel!!!After booking; I emailed the hotel to ask for a 3rd floor room. 30 Minutes later; Mrs Laura Vogler; Sales Executive Gran Bah铆a Pr铆ncipe B谩varo-Punta Cana-Ambar was writing back!!! I thought; Hmmmm; I might be in for something good!!! And I was wrong鈥?It was just GREAT from start to finish!!! Reception was done in a flash with extremely nice and friendly staff; Cirillo took me to my room; again; with so much politeness and diligence in offering as much help possible.What can I say鈥?impeccable room and the maid did a great job with a big smile every time I saw her. Food was awesome; buffet had so many choices; fresh fruits; vegetables; salads; many different meals; deserts鈥?Again; very friendly staff to help and serve. I went to the 3 a la carte restaurants; Japanese; Grill and Mexican (My favourite) All were beyond good鈥?presentation; taste; freshness; service; great company made it perfect!!Beach was very clean; walking a lot on the beach from one end to the other I could compare with other resorts and Bahia Principe has top notch workers!!!Enjoying late dinners; I cannot talk much about the shows; but they had a different one every night and people seemed to enjoy them very much. The pools are beautiful!! I enjoy the beach too much to stay at the pool though but people seemed to be having fun!!!I HIGHLY recommend the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana and will DEFINITIVELY be back next year.Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questionBenoit St-Amand
478252,titch4404,09/24/2008,Good; but definitely not a five star I noticed; before I booked the resort; that the posted reviews which were considered most helpful by readers were very positive; and those which were less than glowing were generally considered unhelpful.Now that I've just returned; I find that interesting; because I responded best to the sunny reviews and made my decision based on those who had a great time and loved the place. I guess one finds what one's looking for.If you're bound to have a good time; you certainly will: the Italian food is fantastic; the beach unbeatable. Compared to the few Caribbean all-inclusives in which we've stayed; however; I wouldn't rate the Bavaro a five star: the rooms and their amenities are fine; for example; but not luxurious (the in-room entertainment was (for us); weak; with an old TV; no remote; and certainly no movies; VCR; etc. Since it rained for much of the week; this mattered a bit.) We were bound to have a good time and we did; despite the indifferent service; and the lack of people to meet (most of the guests are Spanish; and we speak the language haltingly). Our view: Go; but don't expect the best facilities; live entertainment; or service. if you want to have a good time; you will (despite the potential disappointments). And bring good reading material as there is none on the resort.BTW; the Bananarama drinks are completely addictive!
478252,3mpoem,09/17/2008,Watch your belongings We are a family of 3 (with a 5 year old) and have spent 8 days in Gran Bahia Principe; Punta Cana part; in August and actually we liked the room; the beach and the friendly staff. But at the end; it was our worst hotel experience ever; as we were treated in a really rude; unprofessional and not exactly guest-friendly way.Our room was comfortable and nice size; however the air-conditioner wasn't working properly. The friendly lady from public relations promised to send a technician to our room. They've never fixed the air conditioner; but something else happened. My husband took his laptop briefcas on vacation with him. He is a busy profesional and has to check his e-mails often. The briefcase had 2 locks with security codes. Laptop was on the desk; and briefcase was closed with both locks; but practically empty; containing just few business related papers; since we deposited all our valuables in a room safe (for a charge of $35). Three days before leaving the hotel; we noticed that someone deliberately opened the briefcase by breaking both security locks.Fortunately nothing has been stolen (there was nothing inside); but the $250 briefcase was useless. We immediately reported it to public relations; and they told us that they will open an investigation and that they have the possibility to check who entered the room. After various phonecalls they offered us free massage; but after beeing told that we just want compensation for the vandalized briefcase; that actually told us; they can't pay for it; because no one entered the room?!!! My husband demanded to talk to a manager and met Mr. Julio Pena; resident manager of Punta Cana Hotel and tried to explain him the situation. He wouldn't listen and told him: -Sir; you are wrong; they must have broken it at the airport. With the other words; he tried to portray us as liars who want to cheat !!! As we returned home; we contacted hotel management once again; who at least ; made an effort in answering our letter and telling us that they were doing all the possible; but at the end kept the same attitude.My advise to you: don't go to this hotel! Or if you go; watch your belongings; because if something happens; there will definitely be no one in this hotel; who will take your side and there will be no one there who would try to help you in that kind of situation. We; for our part; left this hotel; deeply disappointed and outraged and will definitely never go back.
478252,DaniandPaul,09/16/2008,Another great stay at the GBP I went to this hotel for 2 weeks from August 13th til the 29th with my partner and his family (mum; dad; sister and brother in law) and overall the trip was fantastic. I wont put too much in this review as i have an earlier one from may which i explained thoroughly and nothing had changed- i just wanted to let everyone know this is still a fabulous resort; even with a larger group we all found it to be great- my partners mum has a wheat allergy and always found plenty of food. Some of the staff we loved last time had left; but two were still there and seemed as happy to see us as we were to see them. It almost felt wrong to have them serve us instead of sitting with us having fun. All of the staff were great though and we cant wait to go back soon and see them again (it is nice to tip but they dont expect it they will treat you brilliantly either way). Had a lot of fun in the casino; made a bit of money but we have never gambled before so it was all new and fun! (only $10 each visit though) To anyone having doubts about this hotel you should not worry you wont be disappointed; it never fails to exceed my expectations; i would recommend this place to anyone. Any questions feel freeAmazing place and a great time
478252,natandjoey,09/16/2008,Was So Nice! My new Husband and I went along with another couple to this resort! It was beautiful and the rooms were great! When we arrived we had a small but nice fruit basket with a bottle of rum; along with a towel spread with fresh flowers; two shirts and a letter welcoming us to the resort. Our room was very clean; always had clean towels; stocked mini bar. The beach was fantastic and so was the pool side. Every morning when we went to the buffet we were always greeted with an Ola; and the housekeepers; groundskeepers were always in a good mood. The waiters at the buffett were very nice and always remembered what we drank and our glasses were never empty! As for the hurricane; the only time it ever really rained was late at night; the shows were good; and the drinks were strong. The only thing I have to complain about was the last day we were there; we had to be checked out of our room by noon; but our plane didn't leave until 930 at night; so we had to find something to do for the hours we waited; and without a room; it was difficult to stay in the heat all day. The don't give you a complimentary room to use before you leave; they let you go to the bathroom and use the showers in there to get freshned up before you leave for home; they didn't tell you for an extra 10 bucks you can use a room. Even though that happened; it was still a memorable stayI would recommend this resort to anyone!
478252,Chrissy81,09/15/2008,Enjoyed it but not as much as expected .... Lobby
478252,embraertech,09/12/2008,A True 5 Star; be prepared to eat; eat; eat! A huge resort! The train car goes every 5 minutes from one end to the other so don't let the size scare you. Long beach front; plenty of loungers and a great view. Beach is clean; pools are clean; in fact entire resort is spotless. The rooms are fantastic; big comfy beds; clean sheets and pillows. Plenty of towels etc.We brought enough gifts (soaps; creams; panty hose etc.) to give the to the maid each day so no tipping required. We only tipped at the formal dinners. It is not required to tip anywhere else though; but feel free. The staff are polite; as long as you show some them some respect. If you treat them like you own them; don't expect to be treated kindly. Knowing a little spanish goes along way. The only negative point we can make is the fish restaurant was a let down. No lobster; crab or scallops but if you like tuna then go for it! We highly recommend the Garden Grill ( I ordered steak; she had the shrimp; voila ; surf and turf baby) Japanese and Italian. Be sure to go for sea food night at the main buffet; lobster and shrimp was great! We would go back; just not in Sept. Thanks for the 2 days of rain hurricane hanna!
478252,IngridP,09/10/2008,Good but not great Just returned from a week at the Bavaro Club Diamond.All in all; it was fine - glad that we chose Diamond which gave us more dining options and access to the Italian Restaurant for Breakfast and Lunch as well as a separate pool.Check-in was on the bus - good idea saves time especially if you arrive late.Overall the service was fair only - language is not the problem it's attitude and lack of training.Summary:Restaurants: Burger Place - (After hours) - great burger and fries the night we arrived.Buffet - Fair - not much variety; food so-so; service - not great.French - Food was good ; service terrible.Japanese - Service good - food good if you have never had Japanese before.Italian - a favourite - good food and serviceThe Grill - food and service not greatSeafood - did not try.Pool Snack Bar - once was enoughRooms - clean; well kept; spaciousGrounds - immaculate - even after Tropical Storm Hanna came though.Beach - fabulousPools Diamond Club - one quiet and one with activities - clean; well maintained.Have been to Punta Cana twice before and don't think I would return to this hotel. So far the Bavaro Princess was the best - but that was a couple of years ago.
478252,mikedavid00,09/10/2008,Warning - 95% of *guests* do not speak English Isn't it all worth it?
478252,acemiller1,09/08/2008,The worst front desk service i've ever experienced I stayed at this hotel for about three nights in late November in 2007. The hotel had a beautiful beach and really nice beach facilities. In addition; the restaurant staff at the various restaurants were friendly and courteous. However; the front desk services was atrocious. My friend and I had made a reservation for a double bed room for four nights. When we checked in; we were given a room with a single queen bed. We then called the front desk to switch the room to one that we had a reservation for but they said that they were full that night and that we could make the switch the following day when rooms became available. Guess what; the next morning we got the same run around. We spoke to two people at the front desk and the assistant manager and they gave us the same story for the next two days. In addition to the room issue; the air conditioning unit in our room was broken. We had to call five times before a maintenance person showed up. Of course; they showed up when we were gone. Guess what - when we returned to the room; the air conditioner was still broken. We got the runaround from the front desk on this one as well. Our good friend Jerry at the front desk said he was going to help us out and call us back in five minutes. When we called back 15 minutes later because he hadn't called; we were told he went home for the day. This was by far the worst hotel experience i have ever had. It was a real shame because the beach and beach facilities were really nice. I will never stay here or at another Bahia Principe again.
478252,SailTan,09/07/2008,Terrible staff and th eplace is very unorganized I travel South every winter; this was by far the worst vacation spot ever! The management was terrible; they lied to us; the cockroaches were MANY! The food was not good; the grounds were nice; looked clean but we seen 3 Large RATS! Very poor attitude; Tips were everything. You had to tip BIG for everything. They even asked for tips! If you were not a Big Tip person you did not receive attention; esp drinks. The rooms were not cleans unless you called ahead and asked for cleaning; very few towels in the washroom; no facecloths. They never replaced towels daily; you had to call and ask. There were insects in the rooms; we had to spray every night. The door keys kept dying; you had to get them recoded; thus wasting time in the front office; which always had Huge line ups.Drugs; if your looking to buy drugs they sell it on the property in the market. the workers in the flee market area outside the Casino will ask you if your looking to buy smoke....drugs. They have it there! They even asked my 17 year nephew if he wanted to but pot! Not a nice place to spend your vacation!I wrote the hotel management and head office about my concerns and the drugs; they offered me a 3 night stay! My entire 7 night stay was a mess; very unhappy with the staff and managment.
478252,sdothbc,09/04/2008,Absolutely Amazing! The beach
478252,prego19,09/04/2008,If you think it will be a stress free wedding-guess again If you are planning on having your wedding at this hotel be fore warned. I heard good things about the hotel that is why I chose to have my wedding at this hotel. Little did I know that they were not equipped to manage group bookings. My guest were all over the place and some could not eat the same restaurants with me. The resort itself is nice but the wedding department is another story. DO NOT PAY FOR ANYTHING UNTILL THE CEREMONY AND RECEPTION ARE DONE. The wedding coordinator messed up my whole reception. I was embarassed infront of all my guests..which was quite a bit for a destination wedding. I made all the arragments in advance...hired translators...communicated with them on arrival and still they messed up. All I wanted was vegetarian dishes and no pork. How hard is that. But these were not given to me. Everything had meat and prok in it. My guests had to wait two hours before we were served my reception dinner. It is an all inclusive resort; I could have eat for free; but I paid to have a special menu for my reception. Then I had 1 hour to get through the cake; dance with my husband; throw my flowers; hear speeches and celebrate. Oh did I mention the failed sound system and they forgot to bring my wedding CD to play music. When I went to complain they lied and igorned me. I had to spend my last two days at the resort hunting down the wedding co-ordinator. what a way to spend my first days as a married couple. OH; and they do not send your marriage certificate in 3 months like they say. It takes longer and they do not call or e-mail you to inform you of this. I am still waiting for mine. So if you choose to go and get married; please take all this into consideration; and be fore warned.Good Luck
478252,sgtpeppers,08/31/2008,Wonderful Vacation in Punta Cana After reading all the mixed reviews; some petty in my opinion; some just blatantly unfair and not worth considering really. I would like to add my two cents worth (which is 1.5 cents US actually). I just got back from spending a week at the Bahia Principe Hotel in Punta Cana; with my family; (wife and kids 21; 19; and 16.) from August 16-24; 2008. Had a great time; what fault can you find by getting up every morning and spending a day on a beautiful beach with great weather.We left Toronto on Air Canada; flight was great; on time; smooth and the aircraft had the personal; on demand; entertainment console which really helps to pass the time.After we picked up our luggage at Punta Cana airport; we went to the exit; we were swarmed a bit by the porters; but we just firmly said 鈥渘o thanks鈥?and walked toward the hotel transfer buses. This is one part that was kind of confusing; we were told to get bus 22; by the Conquest Agent and we headed toward the bus area; but couldn鈥檛 find the bus; several bus drivers were helpful and directed us but they didn鈥檛 seem to know where the bus was either. I guess all the bus drivers are privately owned and are taking care of their own passengers. After going up and down the lines of buses three times; we found it in the end; and then they changed the bus; it is the Caribbean I suppose; but I think some kind of parking lot number or markers might help. It took about 45 minutes to get to the hotel; it was dark at the time and the roads are pretty bumpy with some major pot holes; first sign that you are not the land of plenty; unless you are going to the hotels. Hotel check in was pretty fast; the lobby is spectacular; we did read previous reviews regarding the safe charge; so we booked the safe at the same time; I read that someone claimed they had money stolen from their room; why take these kind of chances for three dollars a day; not really worth it; is it; crime is everywhere including where I live. The front desk also recommended that we book our ala cart restaurants at guest services the following morning; we had read in the reviews that it was good idea to do it early on; which we did; we got all the times and dates we asked for; it took about five minutes; then we went for breakfast; followed by a visit to the beach; well we were on vacation.We were driven to our room by the baggage guys; they took our cases up to the Rooms; We asked for adjoining rooms; we got it; the rooms were immaculate and spacious; the maids left the place spotless everyday with fresh towels; bottles of water etc. Our AC unit worked better than the kids room; we did get some difficulty with the keys losing their programming and not working; had to go to the desk three times over the vacation to get them reprogrammed.Language: I would say this is the first time in any of my travels where English was not as widely spoken; I found; a lot of the hotel clientele was from South America and Spain; but we did seem to get by with basic Spanish terms; at least we tried and they seemed to appreciate it. The grounds of the complex are beautifully kept and maintained; the resort is pretty big; but it has a tram service which is pretty straight forward and runs frequently every 5-10 minutes or so. The Beach was stunning and the ocean was so refreshing; the weather was hot the pools were massive; I did notice that as the day wore on the pools really warmed up and didn鈥檛 really in We ate at the buffet every morning; wide variety for breakfast service with fresh egg and omelet stations; pancakes; bacon; sausages; fresh fruit; fresh breads. We ate lunch at the buffet and the snack bar on the beach; buffet had better variety bur the snack bar was handy and the pizza was pretty good; weren鈥檛 too fond of the burgers in the Dominican thoughWe ate at the buffet for dinner on three nights and had our ala cart restaurants on the other nights. The buffet has a wide choice with themed nights; i.e. Dominican; Mexican and Oriental; my only complaint about the buffet dinners were that the meat wasn鈥檛 to my taste really and a lot of the dishes were a bit on the bland side for my taste. The ala cart we chose were the Japanese; French and the Steakhouse all of the restaurants were better than I was expecting and a nice change; considering it was included made it even better. Weather was absolutely glorious; seven days of sunshine; one night of rain (torrential) for half an hour that was it. Verdict: I would thoroughly recommend this resort; it certainly was great value for the money. I paid C$1;200.00 pp for this vacation; with flight; accommodation and meals for a week; pretty good I think; it鈥檚 not a five star Ritz Carlton type of hotel; but your not paying those five star prices either. Hope this helps.
478252,batfink25,08/30/2008,Fabulous hotel I have just return back from staying 2 weeks at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana and when I say I have just came back I mean I have only been home a few hours; but I just had to leave a comment about this hotel as before I went on my hols I had looked on trip advisor at this hotel and like you are thinking; I was worried about this hotel because of the mixed reviews. All I can say is what do these people want????? Buckingham Palace to stay at? Unbelievable hotel; we were staying in the Amber part; where the rooms have four posterbeds; wide screen tv's and the pool area is adults only; however I must stress that gentlemen if you want to eat in the buffet area in Amber as well as the other restaurants then you need to bring trousers and if you have tattoo's they need to be covered; this was the only problem we had as my partner did not bring long trousers and has tattoos on his arms; but we would walk to Punta Cana buffet and it was lovely; freshly cooked pasta to your taste and standard in front of you and every night a different theme on the food. I do not have anything bad to say about this hotel; if you are gonna moan about the weather; get a life why are you going to the Caribbean??? if you are going to moan its not a five star and you live in USA or UK then remember you are not staying in a UK or USA standard hotel; Dominican Republic is a third world country!!! If you have booked to go here then trust me; you will have an amazing time; wish I was these still ; (
478252,Ronmarc1,08/28/2008,Hot and Sick My family vacation of four was from 8/11/2008 to 8/18/2008. We had 2 junior suites. One room had a king size bed and the other room had two double beds. It was very hot and humid in Punta Cana. The A/C in the rooms didn鈥檛 do justice for the heat. It was just ok. We needed to ask for extra Towels every day. Getting in and out of the shower was a big step. I got sick with diarrhea from the food at the Mexican Restaurant. I went to the 24 hr medic that is on site. After many complaints they picked up the tab for the doctor bill. Making reservations for the 3 restaurants was not convenient times. The staff was friendly but very little English.
478252,Pasquale1313,08/26/2008,Great Trip! First for those who say it is a 3 star. They are wrong; the only complaint i have for my whole trip was the other tourests that were there; alot were european; and very rude; not all of them but most when they knew that we didnt speak spanish right away they were rude. Besides that eveything was amazing. The food was good; anywhere you go tropical you cant go overboard with alot of exotic food that you are not used to or else you will be in the bathroom....Bahia's food was above normal for these resorts. The grounds are Lush and amazing; every where you look people are keeping them up. The lobby is great marble everywhere; very friendly staff; and the front desk is the only people you can count on to speak 100% english. All the other staff Try very hard to accomidate you. After a few days you will pick up general things; that will help you along the way. The beach and pools were awsome; allways could find a spot; it was quite busy when we were there but there was allways a spot either on the beach or pool area. The resort is quite big so if you dont like to walk; then dont complain; but there is a tram service that runs every 2 mins to and from the front to the back of the resort. All and all great vacation; for my first one to a tropical destination....Will deff recomend to others and will be back sometime.....Jeff at the front desk is a hoot....Also Jose at the front desk....great guy***** golden stars
478252,TravelingMom03,08/20/2008,Give me a Break!!!! Just returned from a week at Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana. Before I left I read many reviews to see what I could learn about the resort and get some tips on traveling with a toddler. I was concerned when people either rated it 3 and under or a 5! The reviews were so mixed.Now that I鈥檝e returned I thought I would address some of the issues people had. For those reviewers who gave it a 3 and under you must be accustomed to dinning with the Queen. You possibly employ a full time chef and maid and therefore yes; the resort would be below your standards. Give me a break. May I suggest that next year you try and take your family to the South of France for $1;200.00 each!!!For those of us who are middle class; work fulltime; don鈥檛 have a chef to cook for us; don鈥檛 have a maid to clean up after us; don鈥檛 employ a chauffer to drive us around then this is definitely a 5+ hotel!Don鈥檛 get me wrong; I have my standards鈥nd they were met! The resort was wonderful! The food was good. The staff was helpful. The service was quick. And the accommodations were excellent! The room included nice touches like slippers; robes and an umbrella in case it rains. The maids would clean the room once during the day and in the evening while you were out for dinner they would exchange the wet towels and turn down the bed.For those of you who are traveling with a toddler for the first time let me give you some tips. * The resort does sell diapers in the lobby gift shop (while I was there they only had pampers small and large) but a previous poster mentioned that guest services was able to get some for her. The prices were obviously more expensive but sometimes you have to pay for the convenience of not having to lug everything with you. They also sold baby shampoo; body wash; cream; pacifiers; teething rings and a few toys.* One of the other things I traveled with was a float; but when it got a slow leak mid week I was able to find one is one of the shops for $10US. They had floats for infants; children and adults. They also sold water shoes; 鈥渃rocs鈥? beach bags; sarongs/wraps etc.I wish I had know this and I would have saved on space in my luggage and not have had to ask others traveling with me to use their space for my stuff!* bring lots of zip lock bags!!! Large; Medium and snack size. They came in handy. I would keep a large one always packed with diaper supplies; another with various snacks for the day. A few in my bag at all times for a sippy cup filled with juice; or a wet bathing suit. I also used the medium size to warm milk in the sink for her morning bottle. I bought milk at the lobby gift shop for $2 and kept it in the mini fridge. Poured the amount I needed into the zip lock bag and put it in a sink of hot water.* Bring a small amount of dish soap to wash bottles; sippy cups and spoons.* bring lots and lots of sunscreen. The sun is really hot and we had to apply 2-3 times throughout the day. We finished a spray pump bottle in 3 days! Its really expensive in the gift shops.* bring disposable change pads. Not every washroom had a change table and it was useful for changing diapers on the counter. * bring disposable diaper bags and disposable bibs. * Bring diaper rash cream and Vaseline. With the change in food my daughter got a really bad diaper rash.* Bring a few jars of baby food or a box of cereal. My daughter enjoyed to food; but it did come in handy sometimes at the beach if your not hungry and she is. They had a few for jars of pureed veggies and no name cans of powdered formula for sale at the lobby shop.* Don鈥檛 bother bringing sand toys 鈥?you can buy them there and save yourself the hassle!* The crib that they place in your room is a playpen. Do bring a few blankets to cover the bottom and cover the baby. * I purchased a few thinks to keep her occupied on the plan and found that stickers were great. A travel size Magna doodle was great (I noticed they also sold a few of these in the lobby gift shop; as well as a couple of barney dolls). The best item was a Travel size Mess Free Go Paint set by Elmer which I got at Toys R Us. I also purchased the finger paint option.* I brought my large Graco stroller and there were pros and cons to having it versus a folding umbrella stroller. The umbrella stroller would have been easier to collapse and carry on the 鈥渂us鈥? however in the evening our large stroller did come in handy when she could lie back and sleep while we continued to have drinks or stroll around. For our next trip I will try and find an umbrella stroller that reclines鈥ol!If anyone has further questions please feel free to email me.
478252,JohnMiltonKeynesUK,08/19/2008,Wish I could have stayed longer We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday here. Beautiful; clean hotel; friendly helpful staff; excellent selection of local and international cuiusine; a wide range of cocktails; nice large pools with ample space at the pool bars and many sun beds; and a large sandy - if slightly busy - beach.The icing on the cake - if you can get it - is an upgrade enabling you to use the Diamond Club pool (quieter and cleaner than the pool next door) and also the Italian restaurant at lunchtime which is next to the Diamond pool (fantastic ambience and very good a la carte service). To summarise:HOTELVery well maintained with big; clean air-conditioned rooms. Mini bars contain soft drinks and beer. We left tips of $2US each day for the cleaner and $2US each day for the mini bar; and written notes with requests for more beer etc were always met. A trolley service takes you from ones side to the other but is actually quite walkable if you are reasonably fit. NB: Watch your step as there are some steep flights of stairs and the odd surprise step here and thereFOOD AND DRINKVery good range and quality. Cocktails were either fruity or creamy (latter at the pool bar - Pina Coladas; banana mamas; Coco locos; Cocolate Monkeys - were pre-mixed but usually still of high quality; but make sure they know you want alcohol with them; as the basic mixture is also available to kids). For the evening a la cartes some of the gourmet dishes might contain nuts so check with restaurant staff if you have any allergies. The Garden Grill is the best a la carte if you like ribs and steaks. NB: book up the evening a la cartes as soon a you can after you arrive.POOLS AND BEACHPools not too deep; but large enough to have a decent swim. Beach is pure sand. Sea is a bit choppy for some and gets deep very quickly but very good for swimmers. Lots of beds at all sites and ample room to move them for more / less shade.ENTERTAINMENT / NIGHT LIFEMore of a hotel for families but still a good range. Theatre show each night. Live music in the lobby bar (shuts at 11pm). House band in the main square (11-12); busy but very well air-conditioned karaoke in the Piano Bar; a disco and a privately-run casino both open till late.OPTIONAL EXCURSIONSWe did the Bavaro Runners trip - which took us up the mountains for lunch; showed us the sites; took us horse-riding; and to a beach. NB: Bring some sweets; clothing and pens/ crayons for the local children if you can. Excellent. Also recoomend the helicopter ride. They fly you over the hotel.OPTIONAL WATER ACTIVITIESA lot of people are booked at once so you might have to wait a while - take your sun cream with you. Also; the harnesses on the parasailing did not feel as secure as one might expect in the EU; so might not be for the faint-hearted.SHOPPINGNot much variation across the island to what is available on main square. Jewellery in Harrisons is VERY expensive. Otherwise there are some cheaper souveniers and ample opportunity to buy cigars and alcohol. Not many sweets though. NB: The market traders in the main square are enthusiastic salesmen but don't forget to haggle equally enthusiastically!Overall; we did not feel there was much to moan about; and any quibbles we had were soon rectified by the friendly and helpful staff (who have a very cheeky sense of humour and a love of life and music). I would thoroughy recommend this resort - and I wish I were still there now.
478252,asiancanadians,08/17/2008,Great Service; Amazing exp. will come back Coming from Young Couple who like to have fun but still experienced travellers Flew with Sky Service - not so fun really cramped seats nothing much to talk about; just don't fly with this airline if you want to sleep without morning crampsBooked with signature vacations- call into the travel agent that way you can haggle the price and request certain ammenities definitly worth the call rather then paying the online priceArrival -fast! flew threw customs baggage claim was quick and checked in on the bus so when we got to the hotel went straight to roomsVacation-got upgraded to the Ambar resort definitly lucked out!! near beach much larger rooms separate shower and jaccuzi and room service plus way better a la carte options and buffet also better worth the price difference if you don't like hearing crying babies more of a couples resort as it is adults only-traveled with boyfriend plus four other couples they all stayed at the bavaro and us at the ambar so was able to really compare the differencesfor example Pool-bavaro's main pool near beach filthy at the end of the day and always full (meaning pee from kids and drunk patrons) while as our ambar's pool see through still at end of day and much quieterFood-just don't eat the salad and you'l be fine the vegetables are more or less steamed or boiled just the lettuce is washed in tap water which is undrinkable-generally good enough to fill you up Alcohol-tip your bartender's remember your waitresses names and you'll be taken care of no problem generally all drinks are over the top sweet but you can always ask for more alcohol like we did and ask for a drink to be made a certain way so you don't have to drink their ultra sweet drinksService-truthfully service was amazing at the bavaro and ambar it didn't matter; you don't have to tip for these hard workers to service you any better and they really seemed genuinely appreciative to recieve anything -all seemed to be in great moods especially if you made time to get their name which is on their name tags! and they always greet you with a smile and a hola they really remember you as long as your friendly - a friendly demeanor goes a long way i wouldn't want to service a snob anywaysBeach-amazing beautiful got lots of beach volleyball in and suntanningbring more then one bottle of sunscreen or you'll be paying 20 us dollars like i did for a small bottle -you don't need to wake up extra early to reserve chairs we went back and forth through out the day always found shade for our group of 10-moist evironment made skin silky smooth no need for make upTours-don't go on jurrasic boogies especially in the triopical storm fay like i did our 4 hrs tour became 8 hrs driving a standard dunebuggy with no ignition (got jump started) no seatbelt broken helmelt with pelting rain and winds at 70 m /hr not so fun; especially when your sitting soaking wet with the tour guides telling us well only be waiting 10 DOMINICAN mins (times by at least 7) and on the horses in the blinding rain isn't fun either especially when your saddle keeps sliding off cuz the poor horse was too skinny Carribean Festival-nurse sharks and sting rays-pretty cool kind of short -snokeling fun but short-if your an experienced snorkellor don't come to punta cana for coral very high near surface more than average dead and doesn't compare to mexico's -crew on board very entertaining and energeticTIPS-bring more than one bottle sun screen-haggle for everything that has a price on it -don't be afraid to walk away from what you think is a good dealthey will chase you down if its not their best price-say the person name that's serving you they will remember you-you do n't need to speak spanish lots of multi lingual individuals there although it wouln't hurt to learn a couple of words or the whole language-bring mosquito repellent if your as prone to bites as i ammy group everyone got only 1 or 2 i got like 20 not cool-ask for another a la carte we did and we got 5 doesn't hurt to try-remember your on vacation put on a smile and have fun -go to the spa refirming package for 130 us soooo worth it my boyfriend even loved it you get exfoliated covered in chocolate and a massage after -flight out sucks line up crazy long line up to get baggage checked in another line up to go through customs and another wait before you get on the plane-if you have some time to kill go wait in terminal two its air conditioned with less bugs soooo much cleaner too (PUNTA CANA AIRPORT)OVERALL-soooo fun great service; friendly people; drinking games; relaxing (alone time) and beautiful memories
478252,PickyPeterToronto,08/17/2008,Picky Peter says AMAZING! The Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro was fabulous! Just to clear any confusion you may have - the resort is large and divided into sections: Punta Cana; Premier; and Ambar (Adults Only). When reading reviews take a look at all sections including Gran Bahia Principe Premier; Gran Bahia Principe Ambar; etc. This will help you formulate a cohesive idea of the resort. My girlfriend and I stayed in the Ambar section but will comment on the resort as a whole or when otherwise stated. Food: Clean and huge variety! The resort caters to both Europeans and North Americans. Thus; you have many choices when it comes to style of cuisine. It impresses us how the staff was able to keep up with so many people throughout the day (at least 300+ at a time in the main buffets for all meals). The moment you left your table your plate was removed and glass filled with water. I have been reading some of the reviews and have been puzzled with their critique regarding food and service. Where do you know a place in our neck of the woods where food is of large quantity; inexpensive; service incredible; buffet; found on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and which caters to thousands of people daily? We stayed at the Ambar and thus were able to eat lunch there. By staying in the Ambar section you are able to eat at all restaurants and snack bars across each section of the resort. We would say that the food at the Ambar was a little better than the main buffet. We found the Premier to be the worse buffet. Rooms: Rooms were clean and spacious. TV is mostly Spanish stations. There are three English stations. Beach: Beautiful! Water is not as clear as Cuba however just as warm. The water is a little wavy (1 foot waves) consistently. Sand is white. There are tall palm trees that cover parts of the beach. As long as you arrive at the beach by 9:30 you will find a nice cover except on Saturdays/Sundays when you should get there for 8:00. General Service: Was above average to great! Food service was excellent as previous stated. The front desk answered all questions. The bell boys were quick to respond. We only had an issue with the swim up bar at the Ambar pool. It seemed they served Spanish speaking people before us...Airport: Wow; more efficient than others. Punta Cana is small but gets your luggage out fast. When leaving it was a little hectic because the previous days flight was delayed due to a tropical storm that went through Dominican Republic. Thus; two flights to Toronto went out at the same time. Pools: Large and spacious. 3 large pools! Language: Mostly SpanishPeople at resort: Spanish speaking/EuropeanStaff: Friendly. Dominicans are very nice people. Tip: We tipped our maid and she appreciated this by providing extra towels; etc. We left tips for servers and bell boy. The service was great regardless of the tips. Other vacationers in the resort were not tipping. Very few tipped. Overall; amazing resort! Great value for the money! Enjoy!
478252,pricklyheat,08/16/2008,Good hotel but needs improving Monster Truck
478252,Qtravel68,08/14/2008,BIG; BIG; BIG Room view
478252,RRivera,08/14/2008,Beware---not for non spanish speaking PEOPLE The hotel premises are beautiful. Very large hotel that is supposed to be a five star but they do not even have irons in the room. We had several problems during our stay and unfortanetly this hotel lacks custumer service. They do not address issues at all. First; check in was fine until we walked to our room. Big no no. Take the trolley. When we got to our room we found one large king bed for my father ; myself and my son. After going backt o the front desk we were told they were completely booked and we would be able to change our room the following day. Despite waiting two hours in the lobby for them to come back and tell us they were booked. Five minutes later we went to make reservations for the three restaurants and our options were extremely limited due to the hotel being full to capacity.They were not flexible with times or dates.While making the third reservation we were told our room had changed even though they had just sad they were sold out. So back to lobby. Room was large but full of mosquitoes .Despite having rom sprayed daily night was spent killing them. Travelled with a three year old and restaurant s re not eqipped to cater to their needs.Hotel does not have any room sevice and restaurants do not allow you to take food out. I hated begging people to give me something to wrap up food for my son that was sleeping in the stroller at dinner. In the buffet they do not have styrofoam trays to accomodate the needs of toddlers. Ad with no 24 hour snack bar this is not a family oriented hotel. Inthe restaurants they wrapped up a pizza one night and the other night they wrapped an entire kids meal. So why can they do it in the restaurants but not int he buffet. At the French restaurant I had the worse lobster ever.It was so bad but my dad loved his rack of lamb. Everything else was ok. Italian was fine except that the red snapper was overcooked and they serve the tiniest piece. Starters were really good at italian. Garden Grill was good. Meat was tasty. I had the filet and I ordered it medium which was served well. Overall not the best place for gourmet food. I hve had much better.I travel alot and have never written a review but am writing this one because so many things are lacking at this hotel. The hotel does not cater to English speaking guests.No one speaks English. NO ONE. This was very frustrating since I was was with my son. Many restaurants lacked ice during breakfast and lunch and I had a huge problem during meals. When you get up from your table they clear your food. Well I would go and get food with my son and then place the frsh plates onthe table. Next we would go get drinks. Well many times I returned to find my fresh plates of food gone. This was so annoying and one day my son yelled at a lady and said stop takling my food. They need some kind of stop/go sign on these tables. This was really bad at the Snack Bar by the beach because they are in such a rush to clear the tables.Room service was fine and they even did a ballon arrangement for my son on one day but never left three bath towels.Soda machine by thte pool never worked. Ramon was great--he really tried to make my son happy and was pretty good in attending to our needs. On Aug 12 we had a very unfortanate experience. The pool /towel guy who does aerobics (the skinny one I think Iskal or soemthing like that) is very loud and gets the crowd going. There was a large crowd from Spain by the bar and the worker kept cheering them on. They were cursing; degrading women and really getting out of hand. He kept giving them hi fives; gave them his microphone; the wigs and his orange whistle. He was allowing for their innapropriate behavior at the pool despite the fact that their were kids. During aerobics he too was fresh and his idea of fun was grabbing his privates and so forth so these guest went to mimic his actions but undid their swim suits and were pulling out their privates. My father told them to stop but this worker told them to keep on. When asked his name so we could report him he refused and covered his name tag. This kept on. An hour later another guest removed his full bottoms right alongside the pool and begain making inappropriate gestures; I immediately told workers to call security and despute security the nonsense continued. They were removed from the pool only to retunr two hours later. I nor my son or anyone there should have been subjected to that. The situation should have been handled after my father reported it the first time but this worker who was also drinking all day everyday kept this going. He encouraged it and to drink and carryon with them. When it happened the second time Ramon assisted in getting security but the hotel did not address this properly. That man should not have been allowed back at the pool.I am trying to contactt the owners of this resort for an immediate response to the issues but have been unsuccessful.
478252,ktina,08/10/2008,Beautiful Beach! Spotless Room! Excellent A la Carte Restaurants! bridge in the middle of the resort
478252,FamilyFun10,08/09/2008,Beautiful! We just returned from a weeks vacation and had a great time! We loved the set-up of the hotel - it had the feel of a village and the landscaping wha beatuiful. The beach was so clean and the bars and restaurants were great. The food was not the best but there was a great variety so there was no problem finding something for everyone. The lobby was spacious and beautiful; pools were very clean; rooms were large and comfortable. We have 3 boys: 21; 19 and 12 and they shared a room and my husband and I had our own room. It worked out perfectly and we felt that we were very safe and secure. There is something for all ages and interests and I would go back right now if I could!!!
478252,nanciee,08/05/2008,Lock up your belonging!! Horrible experience at Bahia Principe. Items and cash were stolen from our room and the hotel staff was absolutely no help whatsoever. We were blamed for not locking the items in the safe; and even accused about lying about the theft itself. I would not expect this kind of treatment at a 5 star hotel.
478252,LauzPT,08/04/2008,Fantastic! one of the Mexican dishes we had
478252,Geeman9,08/01/2008,Brand New Resort Ride from room to front desk
478252,PBHUS,07/31/2008,Loved it!! I'm writing this review late; as I stayed there in April for a wedding!! I felt compelled to write a review because of all the negative ones; which I personally don't understand! I loved absolutely everything about it!!Flight was long and tiring but worth every minute of it!!! Finding our bus was easy; and the workers took our luggage for us. They do expect a tip though; so just be aware!!! On our bus the guys were very friendly and checked us in and explained about the resort quite thoroughly!! The resort is huge; but that is what I loved about it!! We arrived at night so basically we went to bed as soon as we arrived at our villa.We stayed at the Royal Golden and I loved it!! Our room was spacious; and very well cleaned!! The maid was very friendly and always stocked our fridge with extra beer; pop; and water. The room doesn't come with an iron; but I found room service to quite efficient and got one right away. Well air conditioned.People complained how big the resort is but I thought it was great! I enjoyed walking through the grounds and taking in the beauty of the grounds. They were very well kept; clean; and absolutley beautiful. Plenty of shade everywhere. There is a tram that can take you around the resort if you don't feel like walking so I fail to see the big issue. I personally didn't notice the exhaust fumes; but if there was any it was very little. Nothing to complain about.The beach was my favorite part. It was gorgeous; with white sand and blue water. They kept the beach spotless; and there was always plenty of places available to lay down. The Pool were very nice to; though not as refreshing as the ocean. Kept very clean; and we really enjoyed the swim up bar. Bartenders were very nice; and made delicious drinks.I reccomend going snorkeling during your stay. We went and enjoyed every minute of it. We got to swim with nurse sharks and sting rays; and then got served drinks on the boat. The staff were incredible!! Lot's of laughter and dancing with this crew. Food at the resort was mainly good. The main buffet was huge and always rather good. We ate at 4 a la carte's and we enjoyed most of them. The brazilian I didn't like at all. The meat was tough and tasted really smoky and service was a bit slower. The BBQ was not bad; meat still a little tough. I loved the Mexican; the staff were amazing and food was excellent. I also really enjoyed the french Paris; very good service and food. The snack bar by the pool was mediocre at best. Pasta always hard; and didn't care for burgers or hot dogs. Stuck to the fruit. There is also a burger place open at night if you out parting; which is pretty good.Night life was very good. We went to the theater 3 times and all three shows were excellent. I especially enjoyed the Micheal Jackson show. There is also a kareoke bar; and a band that plays every night there. There is a casino; drinks aren't free; and a disco club which I really liked going to. Shopping was very good here also. There is a market square located in the resort where I did most of my bardering. There is one further up the beach but I never got the chance to go see it. We also went into town to a canadian owned store to buy souvineres; but it was a bit pricey. Quite interesting to see though.The wedding itself was breathtaking!! Again the staff were awesome;and the reception was very nice.Overall I thought the resort was excellent; and would definitely reccomend it to anybody.
478252,SandyL54,07/31/2008,One of the worst vacations I have ever been on. I just got back from this so-called 5 star resort. I have never in my life been so disappointed in a hotel and resort. We booked through BP Travel USA and they absolutely did nothing to help us. There was a young lady in Guest Relations that helped more than anyone. We were not told that we had to make reservations for restaurants and that it had to be done by 3:00 p.m. We finally figured this out a couple of days before we left. The all-inclusive does not mean that you can eat at any buffet. There were only certain ones. There was one that was 100 feet from our door that we could not use. The property is huge. The waiters and staff in the restaurants were good and the housekeeping service was good. The property is beautiful and the pools are nice. I would never recommend this resort to anyone; not even my worst enemy.
478252,BlueTeam,07/30/2008,Great Family Vacation on the Punta Cana Side with added Club Golden I booked a trip for the four of us to the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana. The Gran Bahia Principe complex where we stayed is home to the Bavaro; Punta Cana; Premier; and Ambar resorts. With the Club Golden we had 鈥渁ccess鈥?to both the Punta Cana and the Bavaro areas of the complex. (They are mirrors of on another). The Club Golden does come with some extra amenities so you need to determine for yourself if it worth it. Special check in and dinner reservation is included that alone to me was worth the price I paid. For us it worked out along with the other things we did (as you will read below).The trip was through Funjets / VIP travel which made the trip; especially once on property where our representative Amy was extremely helpful in setting up excursions for the family and providing me with a quick an informative introduction to the property.So that I can get this posted before next years vacations I am going to make it more of bullets to help your stay be the most enjoyable.Bring extra cash and tip 鈥?we over tip 鈥?and as long as you鈥檙e discrete; you will be quite pleased that most of the staff will recognize you and go out of their way for YOU.Also; we brought school supplies for the housekeeping staff for our room. Kids in the DR have free school but parents have to pay for supplies. It鈥檚 a little extra weight to haul the notebooks and stuff but I will tell you we hade no problem with the supplies and general keeping of our room. Also keep in mind the evening staff is different from the daily staff 鈥?they change out the towels 鈥?tip them too 鈥?ditto for the mini-bar (we had extras stacked on top to replenish ourselves.Tip the cooks behind the omelet and crape bars 鈥?it鈥檚 hot back there behind the grille.Invest in Bubba Kegs and take them with you 鈥?you can get them @ Wal-Mart or Target 鈥?if I could have had a case of them shipped to me at the resort I could have made quite a profit. Benefit will be in the fact you won鈥檛 be running back to the pool bar for drinks (a lot) and the ice won鈥檛 melt before the drink is gone or you get back into the water.Using VIP for excursions we had the opportunity to have Miguel as our tour rep for a excursion to Soana Island and a second excursion with Bavaro Runners which took us to a Cattle farm and a plantation owned by local families. Both were long days but experiences that the family will never forget. Miguel is an excellent host for his country and has made it tempting to return to DR to stay real soon just to have him as a guide on more excursions.Quick list of bests:Restaurant: Garden GrilleHousekeeping staff member: Idania 鈥?Building 22Bartender: Only female barkeep in the Bavaro side 鈥?sorry for not knowing her name. She uses tequila for medicinal purposes while at work 鈥?cleans the sinuses she claims. See her for your ailments if you know what I mean.Best Palapa at the pool: Located by the hot tub of the main pool; when you stand getting ready to get into the tub and turn around to face the beach it is just off to the right.Overall my family had a great vacation but with any vacation or activity you have to contribute to your own success!
478252,rubio25,07/30/2008,not even a 3 star hotel where is the lobster????There is not hot water after midnight ;wait for next day...Ask first if they are including room service in your package;do not assume you have it.Bring your own MP3 Player.There is not very much to enjoy during the nights.A/C problems in many rooms.
478252,BrunoDias,07/30/2008,Paradise! Thanks Bahia Principe Hello; i sadly returned today to Portugal from bahia principe bavaro.... and really i can't understand the bad reviews!!!! I stayed for 9 days on paradise!Everything is wonderfull; i really mean everything; maybe some turists that think they are smarter than the others and think they are superior to the dominican people (who are simply a great people)... maybe that why are a few bad reviews!Make this quick!Service - great; they never try to cheat u! Fast and nice!Staff - Briliant always smiling; Portuguese people always eard Portugal Bacalau com Batatas the very best!!!!Pool - Always warm and cleanFood - no word! a get more 5 kgA la carte food - excelent experience; if you dont like the food; you can always go to buffet Buganbilia and eat moreBeach - Quiet and very clean... good naps!Excursions - I recomend saona and bavaro runners!I dont remenber anything more!! Everithing excellent... Don't read the bad reviews! I see many turists treating bad the dominican peolple there... offcourse if you treat bad someone you shouldn't expect the best treatment too!!!!!!!!!They love the Portuguese and Spanish people!!!!
478252,wVIPw,07/29/2008,GOOD and BAD Stayed on: 7/13/08 - 7/26/08Family age: 47; 44; 37; 36; 23; 18; 15; 13; 12; 10; 4.p.s. I originally booked DREAMS Resort Punta Cana but after reading all of the reviews and people getting sick and problems with crappy rooms I called my travel agent and changed it to Bahia. GOOD CHOICE.BAD1. Very Big Plain Resort2. Food just OK. Same but in different souse every day.3. Pool/Beach Bra closed at 5pm4. Trolley gives out fumes/pollution.5. Pool very HOT at 97F6. Pool restaurant for lunch only: pasta; hot dogs burgers.7. If your far from beach you need to take a trolley.8. Restaurant service VERY SLOW w/soda/coffee/re-fills.9. No attention/activities for ages 10-1610. Entertainment just OK11. Beach swimming area Very Small. next to all the boats.GOOD1. Very Clean Resort2. Maids do a great job (did tip tho every day)3. Any problems fixed ASAP.4. Rooms much Bigger then standard.5. No problem finding a chair at Pool or beach at any time.6. No huge lines at bars.7. Chek In/Out Very Quick.email LAURA to get your room request.She got us very close to the beach.ventas2_bpc/puntacana/bahia_principe@soltour.esI always stayed in much smaller resorts with much tropical surroundings. exp: Iberostar La Hacienda La Romana or Iberostar Tucan.This resort is OK but I like them much smaller. ENJOY.
478252,bubbles1980,07/29/2008,Good vacation.... My review is late by ha lol. We enjoyed our vacation; but we have stayed at several Gran Bahia hotels befor and found it allitle blaw as we knew what to expect.Flight was long; and there was not much direction as to how to get to the bus.Food was great.Room was excellent; we requested to be close to the beach so we were abit far away from everything else.Service was excellent. Only neg was no one served drinks at the pool.Our friends book at the priemer and had a private pool and resturant. We did not so I would book priemer next time.Beach - We enjoyed it but we like diving and this is not a good beach for this.We went to a shop ran by someone from Montreal; it is free to go.. not a good place to get presents very costly; but nice.The tents at the end of the beach has nice gifts at good prices.We gave the guys at the water taxies pop and water and they gave us free rides......just a tip...Don't go on Jrassic Buggie tour; take the other one; it was a great tour but you will never get your video u pay for...... several people had the same problem......Bar/Disco way to many people at a small space; drinks are free but good luck with this.....Overall this was a great place to stay but we found it to be expensive for gifts ect. I like to buy friends and family gifts and at 20 us dollars a mug; 25 for a t shirt it adds up.Overall I enjoyed it but would not return.have a great trip.
478252,brownskinkimmy,07/29/2008,July 20-27/08 Not The Best Experience! Where do I begin.... I went on a girls vacation with my sister and our friend to relax and unwind. The ride from the airport was fine but finding the bus was rather confusing. I have never had to wait in line to find out what bus is taking me to the resort. A representative is always waiting with a huge sign to direct people; however this was not the case in Punta Cana. We checked into our hotel on the bus which I found very convenient. Everything was ready (wristbands; room keyes and towel cards) so you just had to off load from the bus and go straight to your room. We were unaware however that there was a Punta Cana side and a Bavaro side (no one explained that to us) as we were walking around in circles the first night looking for the main restaurant just to be told to go around the corner. Everyday we had to go to the front desk to have the three keyes reprogrammed as they would deactivate for some reason. We were told that if the key is next to anything electronic such as a camera or cell phone that the key would deactivate. Needless to say this was very annoying and a very uncomfortable experience.The service for the most part was NOT acceptable. The resort is beautiful but some of the workers were not friendly and at times very rude. We found that the Europeans were favoured and everyone else who paid their hard working money to come to the resort were pretty much ignored. We went to watch the House Band a couple of nights and found one of the waiters to be very rude. He didn't want to serve us and walked by us several times without asking us if we wanted something to drink. Apparently we looked to be Dominican and although we do not speak Spanish and the fact that we were wearing our yellow bands didn't seem to matter much.The food was good. There was variety however the menu could have used a shake up on a couple of nights. I did have the runs for a full day while down there. My sister had the runs on our last day on the resort. Thank God for pepto bismal and graval.Didn't like the fact that we had to check out of our room by 12pm and then had to hang out in the unbearably hot lobby for five hours. There were no hospitality suites in this five star hotel!Our housekeeper Isabel was very friendly; kept our room clean and smiled all the time! Eddy Perez our conquest tour operator from Hotelbeds was amazing and made us feel welcomed! He was very friendly; knowledgeable and easy to talk to as he did speak and understood English! I would not come back to this hotel because this is not a five star by any means. There needs to be more English speaking people on staff and I think that the staff need to be trained on what it means and takes to give excellant customer service.KWToronto
478252,moremornari,07/29/2008,Think Twice the boat
478252,bingado,07/28/2008,Are we all talking about the same place? We recently got back from our stay at the Gran Bahia (July 2-16); and I felt compelled to write a review. I am so surprised to see so many negative reviews from others who stayed at the same time. While I have some suggestions for the hotel; I would definately have to say that our stay was wonderful. If you have booked your trip and are reading these negative reviews; don't worry. If you are ready to have a good time you will. We spoke to several people over our stay and everyone was generally pleased. Please forgive the long review; but I want to be as objective and thorough as possible.Reception desk:We arrived at the hotel around 2:30 and were taken to our room right away. There is a fee for the safe... if you are planning to do this; do it when you arrive.; the desk is often tied up with people coming back to activate the safe; and it can be a real hassle to wait on line. Our room:The room was clean; beautiful; spacious and comfortable. The fridge was not consistently cold; but if you stuck a bevarage in ice for a few minutes it would be ready to drink. Mini bar has beer; soda and water. This was stocked everyday and often a few extra beers were thrown in because we had asked for a couple extra the first night. There was also a coffee maker in the room. The service to the room was great. On one occasion we didn't have towels and they brought them over right away. They also provided us with a iron and ironing board immediately upon our request. We didn't have anything taken out of our room. Hotel grounds:The grounds are large and immpecable. Everything was clean and well groomed. They are big; but I found this to be a plus. If you want a small hotel this is not the place for you. They do provide a tram service which runs from the lobby to the beach. The trams run frequently; but we generally walked. Security was all along the path in the evening and we always felt very safe. Be sure to note where your villa is. We became a little disoriented the first night and all the villas look the same.Beach:The beach was clean. There were a ton of chairs and palapas; so we never had difficulty finding a spot. The water was refreshing and there is a shipwreck directly in front of the hotel. Towels were readily available with the card exchange system. We were alwasy able to get a clean dry towel.Pools:The pools were large and they all have swim up bars. The bartenders were extremely friendly; and yes they might call you friend; but I only see this as a positive. They were always friendly and pleasant. The service was excellent and we never waited very long for drinks. Entertainment staff by the pool was excellent as well. Activities were offered; but not forced on anyone. The water aerobics were fun. They must have been effective too because I didn't gain any weight..... which brings me to..Food:The buffet was probably on of the best I've seen at an all inclusive. They did vary the menu daily and there was always something to eat. They were constantly restocking everything. As far as the a la carte we enjoyed.. The Garden Grill (Steakouse); the japanese; the gourmet and the Dominican. The seafood was not our favorite. The snack bar by the beach was convenient; but the variety was much better in the main buffet; so we mostly ate there. Mini-Club:We traveled with my 8 year old and she used the mini-club while we were there several times. They seemed to have plenty for the kids to do and she enjoyed it; but the hours were 9-12:30 and 2:20-4:45; so sometimes it required more effort to coordinate the times. There were also a few days when the hours were shortened and they opened later. They leave the club for activities too; so they might not be at the location when you drop off if it's in the middle of a session. They had a mini-disco every night and on most nights a game. They game was also called off on a few nights when the mc was unavailable. This was not a sign-in service and we would hang out to watch it. They also had a lion king show where the kids are able to participate; which was pretty cool.Staff:They were extremely friendly and were always having a good time. I don't know if they are this way with everyone; but if you are friendly to them they are twice as nice back. We encountered plenty of rude people during our stay. Maybe they are the ones getiing the poor service; but we never had any issues.Entertainment:Shows at night were held at 9:45. We enjoyed the circus and Lion King; but didn't go every night; because we were ready for bed.minor suggestions for the hotel:1. Include the safe in the rate; so people don't feel nickel and dimed. I'd have rather paid the extra up-front. Also it creates congestion at the reception desk.2. Put shower curtains in the bathrooms. We found it difficult to shower without flooding the bathroom3. Post or distribute an activity schedule; so people will know what activities are offered and when.4. Make sure the activities are consistent or note publicly when they will vary. It's frustrating to go all the way to the mini-club to find out that it is closed for an extra hour at lunch time. Also hire people to fill in when the regulars are out; so the activities can continue in their absence. i.e mini disco game.
478252,Nimasoan,07/25/2008,Excellent ***** +++++ Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana Was there from June 21st until June 28th. Regret not to have stayed two full weeks. Incredible hotel room; food; drinks; beach; pool; shows; personnel; waiters; bar and restaurant service. Magnificient weather; of course. Perfect for families.Just don't forget taking your Malaria Pills before trip for a total of six weeks; as well as the recommended shots........and your Best Mosquito Repellent !Have a Great Vacation !
478252,srenzi,07/25/2008,Definitely not a 5 star hotel We have travelled quite a few times to the Caribbean but this was our first time to Punta Cana. We travelled with a fairy large group - 28 people from June 24 - July 1. Ages ranged from 1 to 60 including teenagers. I agree with the other reviewers when they say that there are a lot of children at this resort. This was good for me as I was travelling with my two young sons so I apologize in advance if it was my stroller you tripped over. We flew on Sunwing. The flight was good; getting our luggage at the airport went smoothly but we had to walk across the parking lot to our bus with all of our luggage; a bit of a pain but not really a big deal. For some reason; and I have never seen this before; we did not check in at the hotel but rather on the bus. We had to fill out all kinds of paperwork while the bus was driving over some really bumpy roads; not the easiest thing to do. This meant that once we arrived at the hotel; we went straight to our room. The thing is; we noticed that our room was nowhere near anyone else's room. We did book our trip separately from the rest of the group so we thought it would be easy to switch room; quess again. When we asked the rude person at the front desk if we could be moved closer to my family; he flat out said no. He said that we requested an oceanview room (which does not exist) and that our room was considered an upgrade. We did not ask for an oceanview room and we did not require the upgrade. They would not fulfill our request. They flat out said no; they were filled to capacity. The room was very spacious. When we got there; the cleaning staff had just started cleaning our room. We asked her for four bath towels everyday and 4 bottles of water. We gave her $10. She thanked us for the money but we never saw four towels. Each day we received a different amounts; different sized and forget about the water. Since my youngest son is only 1; we used the bottled water to make his bottles of milk and clean his bottles and sippy cups. I can't believe how many times we had to call and ask for water. On one occasion they even brought us an open bottle. Unbelievable. Our room was clean but for some reason; the maid stopped putting the comforter on our bed. I guess she thought that it was too hot to use; whatever.The beach was alright. I still think Cuba has nicer beaches. Maybe not as much shade but definitely nicer beaches. We really enjoyed the pool and pool entertainment. On one of the days; my older son got treated to a show with Mickey Mouse and Elmo. I felt sorry for the guys in the costumes because it was definitely hot.There have been lots of comments about the food. There definitely was a good variety but after 3 days; I developed the runs. I had to take antibiotics when I returned home. The only thing I can think made me sick was the salad. Out of the 28 people that I travelled with; I got it the worst. One person from our flight had to be hospitalzed because of the food.Ok; the worst part of the trip. The service. I understand that we were a large group; but we never asked to be seated together. You should have seen the look on the person standing at the lobby buffet whenever we showed up. It was like she had to go and construct the tables and chairs herself. Since I did have a baby; I would ask for a high chair. I know they had them but good luck getting one in under 30 minutes. I usually sat holding my son for most of the dinner. It took forever to get a drink and the A/C was never on. We would joke and say that they purposefully would not turn it on so you woudn't stay long.All in all; the resort was very beautiful. The entertainment was good (night and day); although the night entertainment was held in an outside theater that was unbelievably hot. The food was not so good and the service was terrible. Definitely not the 5 star I expected.
478252,TheNewtonian,07/23/2008,A year ago and our girls still asking to go back! the ride to beach
478252,swisstigr,07/23/2008,No way Jose! Well... better I start with the good stuff!The hotel is set in beautiful well kept grounds; the gardening staff headcount must be enormous; since its truely well kept.The room (after tipping the check in clerk $20) was set in the middle of the resort; and for us a family of 2 adults and a 6yr old; was perfectly placed to access the beach area and main area with a 5 min walk to either; or bus ride. It was well maintained; large; clean and kept clean since we tipped the maid $3 per day; so had no problems here at all (comparedto some other reviews). In fact the maids were very smiley.(bear in mind we heard from a former worker who now sells goods on the beach that average pay is $150 per month; so I guess we greatly subsidised her monthly income; and she looked genuinely sad when we left).This is where the good stuff ends!The staff. ALL rude; spanish speaking and unfreindly. Im not snobbish; but dont expect to be called 'my friend by someone pouring water into my glass; nor does my wife like being shouted at by waiters with a 'HEY.... nor do we appreciate them saying where are you from; you are pretty... nor do we like being told to wait for a table; when the main restaurant is only 1/4 full; nor do we like having plates snatched away as soon as you rest the fork on it... service generally was poor.Drinks...well...if you like ultra sweet drinks then this all inclusive resort is for you... I mean sweet... like full sugar fruit concentrate mixed with ice... the best cocktails were at the lobby bar; forget drinking at the beach or pool bar unless you want to gain 10 kilos over 2 weeks; not to mention visit the dentist for tooth rot on your return. Asking for special more sour cocktails only got wierd looks from the barman... and when we managed to get him to make one; I wasnt suprised to see other people start asking for it; so they cunningly ran out of the main ingredients quickly to stop this revolution on the drinks. In the restaurant dont expect to get more than one or two at most glasses of wine per meal... if youre lucky. Service is purposely slow. in the main square where entertainment after 930pm is... dont expect to get more than one cocktail...so if youre looking to go out and get sloshed... it wont happen unless one drink will send you over the edge. Sadly it takes more than that to get me dizzy...so I felt almost as if I spent the holiday on the wagon.Pools... ok theyre big... but bear in mind that they all have pool bars (bars where you sit in the water at the bar)... and people stay at them all day drinking... I have to say I saw few getting out to go to the loo; and it was the impression of many that it was normal to pee in the pool. In fact I saw one latin child standing at the side of the pool; peeing directly into it... no one thought to stop him; and certainly no parent admonished him.twice during our two weeks the main pool was closed due to someone taking a dump in the pool.Beach. clean and tidy generally... but you have to be up and reserving your chosen sunbeds by 0730...or youre going to be left either miles away; or in permanent shade or permanent full sunshine. The last two days we saw oil slicks floating on the sea as the multitude of motor boats dripped oil.... not nice at all. (proper oil slicks ; black ones; not smatterings of sun lotion!)Food... unadventurous; repetative; often off; or rotting; meat chewy and either under cooked or over cooked. Salad often sitting for hours... butter curdled... fruit soft... drinks over sweet water based concentrate mix... we saw several people with food poisoning; luckily my stomach is strong; even though i did have the runs' on the last few days. The other guests were mostly Spanish or Hispanic; and a real mix... clearly the European contingent paid a bit more to get there; and the central American paid less; and it showed in the style and behaviour of the guests... personally I felt a bit uncomfortable sitting next to hollywood stereotypical street gangstas at dinner... tatoos from head to foot; baseball hats; baggy pants; and diamond and gold bling bling jewelry... the only thing they lacked were guns!Trips...the one worth doing was the high sea fishing run by gone fishing... $92 per person for 4 hours...we hooked two marlins and landed a third... enormous.Would I go back? No way Jose!
478252,Chrysanthemum1,07/21/2008,WARNING! Watch what you eat! If you're looking for a 5 star hotel according to Dominican standards this is it BUT it's not the Four Seasons. If you're American; it is not a 5 star according to American standards; but it is very nice. I would have rated this resort excellent HOWEVER...I'm writing this review 4 days after our stay. In my traveling group were myself; my brother and my 15 year old child. For the past 2 days both of them have had to be treated for amoebas that they contracted through the resort food. BE CAREFUL in your choice of what you eat! The food is good and the restaurants look very clean; however our doctor is positive that raw vegetables are what caused my family to have amoebas. I was the only one who chose not to eat any raw vegetables and I'm fine. Unless you want to start taking some serious medications and experience horrible diarhea and vomitting DO NOT eat the raw vegetables. Although you're on vacation keep in mind that this is still the Dominican Republic. The health cleanliness requirements are not the same standards as in the States.The hotel room was excellent facilities great. Staff works hard. The beach is excellent and we loved our trip. It was the after effects that we hated.
478252,johnnyfitness,07/19/2008,Just got back and boy are my lungs tired!!!! WELL...IF YOU ARE A CHAIN SMOKER AND RUN A DAY CARE OUT OF YOUR HOUSE THEN YOU WILL PROBABLY LOVE THIS HOTEL.Otherwise; if you are from North America and looking for a relaxing beach get away to have wonderful meals and conversation with your spouse over cocktails in a quiet setting...LOOK ELSEWHERE!!!!The list of frustrations is quite long and my girlfriend and I have travelled extensively in the Carribean including 3 times to Punta Cana and have never encountered anything as bad as the time spent at the Bahia Principe Bavaro. The telephone did not work and was not fixed for 3 days after we had reported it. The staff was so unfriendly to the point of having miserable faces as if they were being held there against their will. The vibe was negative all over the complex. The staff was only Spanish speaking and seemed to be constantly bitching about something all the time ; in the restauraunt; the stores the waitresses; it was noticeable and quite disturbing. There was no air conditioning in the large buffet restaurant which is unheard of in Punta Cana. The food was good but not very much variety and much was not very appetizing. The buffet was a nightmare of noise and you trying to avoid running kids and strollers all over the place. This is NOT FOR COUPLES!!!! I have never seen so many kids in one place in my life except for a grade school. Eating was more a necessity that you went in; ate as fast as possible and got out to avoid the kids screaming and the parents yelling at them or arguing. The staff.....well to put it mildly ...these are not quality people. The place is huge so there is the need for quantity ...but you lose on quality. The staff do not speak English or French and assume that you speak Spanish because my estimation is that 90% of guests are from Spanish speaking countries. Not sure why that is but if you are like my girlfriend and I; personal trainers who are used to North American standards of healthy environments; there is no where to escape the massive amounts of chain smoking going on in this place. It is absolutely rediculous. Where ever these people are from; they must be getting paid by the number of cigarettes they smoke. It was disgusting and when there is no breeze and it is 40 C and you are in the only evening bar in the place; there is no where to go to escape the cigarette smoke. What 5 star resort charges each room 32$ US for the safe!!!???? we have never seen this before in our lives. We were robbed 50$ US out of our room. We called for room clean up as it was 4h00 PM and the room wasn't done. The maid arrived swearing and yelling in Spanish; kicked the luggage ; gave my girlfriend evil stares; we stayed in the room as the security told us to never leave the room as we had been robbed; she proceeded to slam the door which prompted my girlfriend to say something and they verbally abused her forcing me to step in and forcefully tell them to back off. THIS IS NOT A VACATION. They force you to check out at 12 noon and pick up for airport transport is at 5h00PM. They provide no hospitality room for guests and ask you to leave you luggage in a room of about 100 bags and to shower in the lobby bathroom!!???? Maybe at the YMCA but not a so called 5 star resort. The SIGNATURE vacation rep Julie was not helpful nor empathetic to our situation or the theft in our room only constantly repeating to us that we are alone in our complaints as all she ever hears from people is how great this place is. Speaking to the Signature rep was a complete waste of time.Anyone venturing to the Dominican Republic should avoid this Hotel if at all possible. For us; this was our last time travelling to the Domincan Republic. There are far more places deserving of our hard earned money and who will undoubtedly welcome us with at least a smile which is something I did not see from anyone associated with the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. Over all a very negative and disappointing experience. If it is a 5 star Hotel; it mus be based on a 20 star grading system.JohnMontreal; Quebec
478252,eeveemontreal,07/19/2008,Stay Away! As a single mother of two teenagers; I decided to treat the family to a family vacation. I have travelled previously with my late husband to many destinations and know when a hotel deserves to be considered a 5 star hotel. Everything went smooth with the flight and the check-in. If you love huge resorts than this is the one for you. The resort has a trolley which runs from 7am to 3 am. Personnally I would have liked a smaller; more intimate resort. If you were at either end of the trolley's route than you should consider yourself lucky since it fills up quickly and anyone at other stops in between will have to wait to get a seat. I must say they come quickly. The staff are not friendly. Actually they act as if you are disturbiing them. Not to many smiling faces. I found this a bit unpleasant as it creates a very ackward bad ambiance. What I found very agitating is the fact that the staff didn't speak any English; which makes it hard to ask for things. Only some knew basic words of English.I knew the resort was family oriented but didn't know up to what point. There were babies everywhere. I couldn't move without stumbling on a carriage. The crying and tantrums were very agitating considering I was looking to unwind. So for those of you who are looking for peace and quiet....stay away! The food was edible and there was variety. What I didn't like was that the main dining area was too dark and extremely hot since there was no air condition. As you enter; there is a woman who looks as if she would rather be having her teeth pulled than to take you to your table. When she does show you to the table you are guaranteed the tour of the dining area before she seats you in a dark corner. I always wondered what determined my seating area since I was early and the place was empty. The one time I asked to be seated in a more open area she got upset. I was surprised one morning to find that the hotel ran out of jam and when I asked if there was any they had 5 men running around not knowing what I wanted. Needless to say I finally was told by someone that they ran out and to make do with other stuff. This is not a 5 star resort!!!!!The first couple of days of my stay I got good room service. After that it was all downhill. I had to call to get my room cleaned. One of the days I called I got this big knock on the door. I opened the door to get greeted by this very furious woman who shouted at me Servicio? She then went on to ask if I spoke spanish which I replied No abla espangnol. She stormed in the room ( I am not exagerating) tossed the bed forward to rip the sheets off the bed. Threw them violently on the floor and proceeded to kick my luggage since I imagine must have been in her way and all the while giving me looks that would kill. She then continued in the bathroom as I got on the balcony so not to get in her way. I saw her several times going in and out and I am sure she was swearing in spanish to her coworker who was doing my sons room. At one point she enters the room with a mop and starts going at it like a mad woman; hitting anything in her way instead of lifting or tossing things aside. As she finished by going towards the door she glanced over and slammed the door. At that point I lost it and ran to the door and told her to calm herself. She just stood there with 3 other women laughing and speaking spanish.I am saving the best for last!!!!!!! When I arrived at the hotel; as everyone does; I started putting my combination into the vault. After several tries I informed the front desk that it didnt work only to be told that I had to pay 36.00$ US per week for the safe. I was shocked that a 5 star hotel didnt include it with the package. Since I never before had to pay for it I refused to do so and reasoned that the staff wouldnt take anything since if they did they would lose their jobs. WRONG! They stole 50.00$ from my wallet thinking I wouldnt notice. When I saw that I immediately asked my sons friend; who came along with us to check his wallet. He too was missing money; 20.00$. I reported it to the guest services only to have a night manager come to the room to investigate the area ; jot down some notes and tell me that it took 48 hrs before they get back to me. No one ever came back to me!As I was supposedly at a 5 star hotel; I inquired 2 days before if I can get a hospitality room for the day of departure since I had to check out for noon and I was only leaving the compound at 5PM; They told me that their hotel doesnt provide that service????? I have been to many 4 and 5 star hotels and would definitely not consider this one among them. I am disappointed that I had to pay good money to take my 2 teenage sons on vacation as a single parent. I dont want to sound mushy but this was a way to reconnect with my boys after their dad passed away in 2005 and instead ended up constantly agitated and sad that it was the worst week EVER! The thing that gets me is that I cannot afford to go on another family vacation to make up for the one that past.
478252,muziklv,07/18/2008,not really a 5 star experience Pluses - look of the resort; pool areas. The rest is very questionable. Service is very bad; even rude at times (restaurant La Gourmet was the worst experience in all categories - never go there). Our check-in lasted almost 2 hours; full of mistakes and strange talks. Exhausting! It is true - rooms are musty and our clothes smelled bad even after few washes. Room service was weird - they never got how many towels should be left in the room for 3 people. Sometimes we would have 1; sometimes none; sometimes only bath and none hand; but never all. Even worse - towels were sometimes old; dirty; torn! It was an everyday chase after cleaning person. If you need something (any kind of service) be patient! '5 minutas' means an hour or two. In the restaurants service was almost non - existent. They wouldn't bring drinks; they would grab your plate before you had a chance to eat; there were no tea or coffee during lunch and dinner. At the bar we noticed some interesting rule - they ignore women and respond much faster to men. And don't even attempt to use their tennis courts -they look 20 years old and very slippery; not to mention cracks and holes. Gym is small but has most of what you might need. Spa is OK but message was mediocre and the whole lay-out is not very relaxing. My friend and I booked separate treatments in advance but then to our surprise discovered that they put us in one room because they didn't have empty ones! After I refused to share and waited for 10 min. the second room was found but they didn't act happy and the treatment was cut short. Honestly; that was not at all what I expected from a 5 star place (and I travel a lot). Food was better in quality and selection in a lobby restaurant only. People who ate meat complained it was hard to chew. Fish I ate was good only on a few occasions. But that could be forgiven if the service was at least somewhat present. Overall impression was that they really were not happy to see us there; didn't bother to make things more pleasant and sometimes just ignored English. Will never go back and advised my friends against going there too. We had 9 people in our group and all had similar feelings.
478252,jrodriguez07,07/18/2008,Second Time Around...STILL AMAZING!!! our room
478252,Jalyma,07/17/2008,Wonderful Resort After reading the previous two reviews; I felt compelled to write my own review of the Bahia. I stayed at the Bahia from July 6th to July 13th in the Diamond section.Check In: We arrived in the early afternoon and were directed to the Diamond check in. There were no line ups and we were given a welcome drink with alcohol. Surprisingly; our room was ready and our requests had been followed. Our 4 ala carte dinner reservations had been booked with the times we requested. I had e-mailed the Diamond club with our requests a few days prior to arriving.Room: Our room was clean and comfortable. The only bugs that we saw for the whole week were very tiny; harmless little bugs much smaller than ants.Service: We found everyone who worked at the resort to be friendly and very polite. We had one problem on the second day. Our room had not been serviced until the late afternoon (5:30 pm). I don't know why this happened and it certainly didn't happen again. A concierge came up to us at the Diamond pool and asked us if we had any complaints and we told him about the room not being serviced. After that; we had our room serviced twice a day (morning and evening). New towels were delivered twice a day and chocolates were left on the night table. We received two phone calls during the week from reception asking how we were enjoying our holiday and if we had any complaints. We had towel art and flowers in the room every day. The waiters at the bars and the restaurants were excellent and attentive. Water glasses and wine glasses were refilled without having to ask. Food: We actually found that the food was much better than we were expecting it to be. We ate most breakfasts in the Italian restaurant where there was probably 10 people there at the most. It was very quiet. We ate lunch at the beach but not at the main snack bar. We found another restaurant overlooking the beach that served better food. Half of it was under construction so I don't think that many people knew that if they kept walking a little bit further they would find that the other side was open. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the main buffet was open before 7 in the morning so that we were able to have some breakfast before going on an outing and before going to the airport. Fruit was plentiful and delicious at each meal. There was a wide variety of choices.We enjoyed the restaurants. We ate at the Gourmet; Steak House; Italian and Japanese. We also had the option of eating lunch at the Italian restaurant which we did on one occasion.I did not ever have to ask the bartender to put alcohol in my drinks. I saw the rum being put in each time.The lobby bar was lovely to sit at and enjoy an after dinner cocktail or a cup of tea.Beach and Pools:The beach is beautiful. We went for a walk and a swim before breakfast when the beach was empty. We spent most days on chairs under the shade of the beautiful palm trees. The ocean was much more refreshing than the pools which seemed to be too hot. The Diamond club also has their own pool which was very quiet. I did notice people who were not from the Diamond section were also using the pool but it was never crowded. InternetWe took advantage of the free 20 minutes per day of internet use in the Diamond Room. I would definitely recommend staying in the Diamond section but I should mention that there is presently construction going on close by and you can hear hammering if you are sitting by the Diamond pool.
478252,xiandra,07/16/2008,Extreme! it was soo good starfish
478252,Tumbleweed007,07/15/2008,Very nice; but not perfect I decided to write something helpful for the people who are planning to stay in this hotel as I had killed a lot of time on reading from this site and was shocked at the diversity of opinions. Thus I would try to be as objective and precise as possible.The HOTEL is like a small town; but it is easy to get around (if you are not a complete moran of course) as you are given a map. The transportation system is effective.There are lots of PARTS and CLUBS there: Premier (futherst from the beach; secluded); Bavaro and Punta Cana sides are mirrow reflections of each other; Golden Club (closest to the sea); Ambar (the newest part; close to the see) and so on.My girlfriend and I booked Golden Club; but got upgraded to Ambar; which was very lucky as being in Ambar you can use all the facilities and restaurants of other parts; but no outside can use yours. What a feel of exclusiveness. Besides Ambar is adults only. Othewise there is almost no difference where you live.Now there is a CONSTRUCTION next to Punta Cana reception and along the Bavaro side; mind not to get there - all the other places are ok.Some of the staff speak adequate ENGLISH; at least one person at the reception and head waiters. You should not expect the others to do so.The TERRITORY is beautiful and very clean; the BEACH is great; though there was a bit of sea weed sometimes; but it is safe.The ROOM was ok; NO BUGS seen in ten days. You have to pay for the SAFE 3-4 $ per day.The FOOD is GOOD; if MacDonalds is not the corner stone of your diet. We went to 4 restaurants and found out that our Ambar Buffet was better than any of them as it had more variety. For those who enjoy seafood can recommend Pescador (fisherman). Can't say anything about Bavaro and Punta Cana buffets cause we didn't eat there. Snack bar is OK. Mind that you need to have trousers for dinner and shorts for the snack bar.As for ENTERTAINMENT: there are nightly shows and the corcert hall is always packed (I couldn't make myself to watch them for more than 10 minutes though); there are some watersports; but they are not free (as you have to pay insurance) and some other stuff of no importance.We entertained ouselves.Hope my review will help you to make your decision.
478252,GregCambridgeOntario,07/14/2008,"This is not a 5 star report" My name is Greg and I just returned from the Grand Bahai Principe Bavaro in the Dominican Republic. We did a lot of checking on this resort before hand to ensure we would be satified. My girlfriend and I are very experienced travellers and have been all over the Carribean and have stayed at 3; 4 and 5 star resorts. We left on July 11; 2008 on our trip with Signature vacations and skyservice airlines. Nice flght down and no issues with immigration getting into the country. I was in the dominican about 20 years ago and stayed in Sosua but this was not a 3 star resort. The Bahai was ranked as a 5 star resort and that's what cought our eye when booking. We arrived at the resort around 10:30 at night. Check in service was quick and organized. As you may or may not knwo this resort is huge and they use tram cars to get you from one end to another. We were as far away from the main lobby as you could get which I was happy with. In saying this the porter took our bags up to the third floor and when he swipped the room card in the door; it didn't work; neither of them worked!!!!! The porter spoke not one word of english; he just left and returned about 30 min later; it was black and we had no clue how we ever got to our room so we just waited. Little pissed off and tired at this point but it is what it is. We got in the room and it was beautiful; king size bed; chairs; couch etc.... Nice shower with jet tub and all the fancy tile.We threw our bags on in the room and went to the front lobby for a drink!!! NICE...... It's about 11:10 right now and we get to the bar and the guy is standing there and tell us he is closed and we have to go to the (1) bar that is now open in the outdoor court. All inclusive closing bars at 11:00 pm on a 5 start report????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????So we go the main outdoor court and we sat for 35 min and not one person came to take our order so we left. So you know you can't get you're own drinks here; you have to wait to be served and you have to be sitting at a table.Back to the room to sleep; wake up hit the biffet and meet our signature rep to get the lowdown on the resort. We were told many things by her and then going back to speak to her a few days after she said she never said those things??? For you people looking to book the Amber side fo the resort for the 1 extra al la carte and the privacy; SAVE YOUR MONEY!!We spoke to an english couple with out signature rep who were staying on the Amber side which gives then access to everything this resosrt has; they mentioned that they went to the Bavaro buffet the previous night and they were denied. They asked why becasue they paid extra to have this privilege and the signature rep said sometime they deny people from Amber and sometimes they don't. The man had rage but held it in until we all left....Never seen them after that.FoodI am not the only person who will say this to you and please trust me on this. THE FOOD THAT IS SERVED ON THIS ENTIRE RESORT IS NOT 5 STAR QUALITY; IT IS NOT EVEN 4 STAR QUALITY. AT THE VERY MOST; 3 START QUALITY. I am speaking the truth here.Meat; terrible; fried on a skilletChicken; boneless fried on a skilletPasta; every day for every mealVeg; rice; egg plant and potatoSushi; had at the buffet and you could get the same at any chinese placeThe buffet for breakfast lunch and dinner was a complete free for all everyday; food everywhere on the floors and messy.Al La CarteI hate to say this but again 3 star quality; good service; food terrible.Beach;Best part of the resort; nice waves; lost of chairs on the beach and great to walk up and down the coast to view the other resort there. Lots of boats that gave off a gas smell onthe beach however so if this would bother you; again stay away!!The resort itself was beautifully landscaped and cleaned constantly. On the resort we used an outside provider in the outside court for email to check on things at home. This is you're only option given unless you upgrade to DIAMOND Status. 12 bucks American for one hour. We used it twice; nice clean place with about 8 Dell laptops. Went back on our 3rd; 4th and 5th day and the computers were all down. I said to the guy; call you're owner and tell him that I bought one hour worth of service; I had 30 min remaning and I want 6 dollar back because I am leaving the next day and their service is not acceptable. He called; got off the phone and looked at me and said no refund; I can't help you.I made sure I told him to tell his owner that this is not acceptable and I would ensure to write about this on my review. I found out from another couple that this is VERY common at this place and it is done to save money!!!!!!!!!!So if you use it and it happens to you; don't say I didn'e tell you!!!Drinks/Bars1- beach bar (so busy you could barely get a drink) Opens at 10am and closes at 5pm????2- pool swim up bars (people claim pool stools and don't move) opens at 10am and closes at 5 pm????2 - bars beside the pool. Opens at 10 am and closes at 5pm????1- bar in the main lobby. Opens at 10am and closed at 11pm????After that you have to sit with over a thousand people and fight to wait for a drink in the ourdoor court are; might as well go back to you're room at that stage. Again not 5 star qualityHere is the kicker; all those fun drinks we all get when we are down in the islands and drink like fishes; IF YOU DO NOT ASK FOR BOOZE IN YOUR DRINK THEY WILL GIVE YOU A VIRGIN DRINK. I AM NOT KIDDING!!!!!!!!! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING????????????????????? BRUTAL AND NOT 5 STAR QualityMy overall comments about this place would be to book elsewhere. For me I am never going back to the Dominican again. I gave this a shot becasue of all the negative light that is being shed on Mexico these days. I was hoping to get lucky and I wish I would have went back to the Mayan Riviera at the very least!!!My review is not to slander the resort itself; it's food; it's service; It is only to speak the truth in saying this is very far away from being a 5 star resort on almost all services. Hope this review helps you finding a great vacation desitny.Regards;Greg
478252,chiins,07/13/2008,Definitely not a 5 star I will keep my review short and simple. The beach and resort is beautiful and well maintained-thats about it for the positive. Our room smelled; it had a strong musty odor and when i asked them to do something about it they didn't. Needless to say; all our clothes stink and after washing them all; they still smell like hell. The food is disgusting and the same thing all the time. It doesn't even look appealing to eat and gave us diarrhea everyday. Breakfast was the absolute worst meal of the day. The a la cartes were ok; the Japanese was disappointing. The resort has alot of bugs; cockroaches and beetles. The Drinks are such a disgrace there; they do not put alcohol in them unless you request it...what is the point of that? The alcohol was cheap anyway; they charge you for brand name alcohol. Stick with beer. The staff is rude and their attitude stinks. We found that they only brought us our drinks at the buffets and restaurants when they remembered. The entire experience was horrible; i wanted to come home after the first day. I would never recommend this place to anyone; and I will never go back to DR again. This place; at best is a 3 star hotel; we talked to many people there and they were really disgusted as well. I have been down south many times and stayed at all sorts of 4.5-5 star hotels; by far this is the worst. So glad to be back home; I took a chance going here and I was hoping that the previous poor reviews were exaggerated; but they weren't. This was a vacation from hell.
478252,iflyhigh9,07/13/2008,Best Vacation Ive Ever Had the bed
478252,lide8,07/10/2008,Loved it Hello!I've been to Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro from the 25 th June to 2nd July 2007 and it was funtastic. The bedrooms were hudge; the service was excelent; the great staff; they were so nice; so funny. The buffet was awesome; all activities were really funny specially the Perfect match game. I loved it. And is really as the music says - volver谩s! Si; yo volverei!
478252,Disturbed79,07/09/2008,Amazing This Resort is amazing!The food was great!The people are fantastic!The resort is very clean!The beach is very nice!The rooms are large and well kept!I would return to this anytime; we had a fantastic time!
478252,juanjesus39,07/07/2008,very disappointed!!! we just got back from Gran bAHIA pRINCIPE Punta CAna. we were there for one week. I had a lot expectations about this resort. However i was very disappointed with the experience. I've been 4 times in punta cana in other resorts (RIU; bARCELO'S; ETC) and i have to say that BAhia has the worst food i ever had.the buffet at orquidea is very limited; every day same food. they just change the name an a few things. no seafood; only one type of fish. beef is terrible. they cook terrible. very limited in fruits. drinks are made with cheap licors; NO BRAND NAMES. bREAKFAST is ok; but sometimes you can't even find bAcon!!!! we tried several restaurant and they were low quality. the Japanese was a little better; but far from real Japanese food. they did not have chop stick! hello!Beach it was great; like any resort at BAvaro beach. The pueblo is nice( disco; casino; bar; shopping). we liked to shop there but keep in mind you must negotiate to get good prices. we did.the resort is very nice and rooms are beautiful; but take your own pillow.just one more thing i have to say:NO VOLVERE EH EH; NO VOLVERE EH EH A BAHIA PRINCIPE!
478252,littlemisstravel1978,07/07/2008,2 thumbs up! I know it has been a few years since I was at this resort; but while I was posting another review I thought I would do this too. The hotel grounds were gorgeous! Service was good!Food was great - lots of choice - a la cartes were easy to book and a nice change from the loudness of a buffet settingEvent staff were fabulous - always trying to get you to join in on activities - very friendly and welcomingAlways plenty of activities going on (pool/beach aerobics; darts; dance lessons; Spanish lessons; volleyball etc.)Beach was amazing! Sometimes difficult to find a lounge chair unless you went early though. Would I go back? YES; definitely!
478252,cjap1965,07/07/2008,Worst Experience Ever! Here is an excerpt from the email I sent when I returned from my trip:I am writing to attempt to express my displeasure with my recent stay at your resort. I purposely waited a few days to send this email because I wanted my anger to subside and I needed to get some rest. My accommodations consisted of adjoining rooms in the Royal Golden Principe for 4 nights. My situation is that I am a single dad with twin 8 year old girls and I traveled with my girlfriend and she has a 17 year old son who occupied the adjoining room. It was my first trip away with my girls and my gf and her son and it was very important to me. It must be noted that she has a background in the travel industry and researched the different properties and felt it was important; considering the situation; to spend a little more to ensure a great vacation. Collectively we have traveled to over 15 islands and our only other experience in the Dominican Republic was a great one in May of 2006 at the Secrets Resort. It will not be easy but I will try my best to keep this as brief as possible. On the drive to the resort everyone was excited and the entry was totally disappointing due to the construction in the main lobby. Having been to many of the islands in the Caribbean I was waiting for the warm; friendly greeting and a refreshing cocktail and it didn't happen. We were simply directed to Golden Club and waited for the next available staff member. Immediately I became concerned because the gentleman seemed almost annoyed to check us in and gave us little to no information regarding the resort. We got absolutely no direction regarding the difference of being in the Golden Club versus the rest of the property. Simple questions such as; What hours are you open? How can we get access to the internet? Isn't premium alcohol served here; as advertised? How do we get a drink; there is no bartender? At that point we are told we need to pay to get a safe! Are you kidding me? I then ask about the reservations for the Special restaurants and I am told I need to come back the next day to make them. We are then taken to our rooms; After looking at the map and trying to figure out where the beach and pools are we walk around and try to get situated. After unpacking we head to the buffet. Let me clarify that. We attempt to head to the buffet. We have absolutely no idea where we are going and can't get a straight answer from anyone working for the hotel. After finally getting some dinner we head home to our room and get off at three different places without a clue of where we are before we find the room. At this point the kids are actually scared and just want to go to bed. After falling asleep; I wake up and realize the air conditioning isn't working properly and when I turn on the lights I see two large cockroaches run in front of me. I kill them and convince myself it is a one time thing and that the air is okay and I have a horrible nights sleep. In the morning we; once again; have a hard time finding it back to the Golden Club to complain about the roaches and the air conditioning and to make our dinner reservations. We are told that the problems would be corrected and that there is only two restaurants available on separate nights for dinner. We end up actually making one of the reservations at 9:30 because it is all that is available. Then it just gets worse. We head back to the room and upon entering start to realize that the cockroach problem is real. I kill about 5 in each room in 10 minutes! By the way; the two adults are trying to kill them without the children knowing. At this point; I have absolutely had it and consider getting a flight home. On the third sleepless night I actually had a bug crawl across my head! As I stated earlier; as hard as it is I am trying to keep this short so I am simply going to list some of the other situations we encountered; - Garden Grill; every order wrong and no more churrasco! - Towel service ridiculous; what is the service? - No beach service for drinks. - No proper air conditioning until 11PM on day 3. - Total cockroach infestation that was never corrected! - Japanese restaurant with my 8 year old girls sleeping at the table when the food was served at 10:15 PM. Oh; I have to mention three other specific encounters. I go to return my 5 towels on the last day to get my plastic cards and I am told that they only have 4 cards available. I said I was checking out and I needed the cards and the response was; You will take what I have! Another really crazy situation was the last day when I tried to find out the status of my flight back to New Jersey. After being sent to 4 different people I was told that the hotel does not offer that service! I actually called home to have somebody check for me. Lastly; upon checkout; I ask to see a manager because I have some major issues and I am told I have to wait because he is eating breakfast! I didn't sleep for 5 days and I have to wait for this guy to finish his breakfast? Needless to say; this was the worst trip I have ever been on.
478252,SMP85,07/07/2008,Would recommend this hotel; fantastic!!! We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe; Punta Cana side for 2 weeks. We booked our holiday through Thomson travel agents. When we first arrived to the hotel there were some maintenance works going on at the front which was really annoying because you couldnt hear the receptionist. But the reception is so far away it doesnt effect your stay. We went straight to our rooms on a little cart which was driven by the bell boy and our suitcases were on the back. They even took our suit cases up to the third floor which was handy. The room was nice and big; very clean and the air conditioning was brilliant as it was sooo hot!!! First thing me and my boyfriend did was head to the beach to see what it was like. Amazing; clean and well kept. There are plenty of umberllas on the beach so you will find somewhere to sit as the beach is huge. We used to sit on the beach in the morning and swimming pool in the afternoon. I must say every day you will see staff walking around picking up any litter!! They take pride on keeping that beach clean. Just annoys me when you see people leaving their plastic cups/cigarette buts on the beach...they get picked up very quickly though. And the same goes for the poolside. There are plenty of bins everywhere. Poolside was a bit busier; but still we got there in the afternoon and we still found a lounger every day. We sat at the main pool near the beach. Now down to the food. We went to 4 a la cartes. Mexican; garden grill; japanese and gourmet. The best was Garden Grill and Japanese. The Gourmet was a bit strange but still we tried it. We heard good feed back about the other restaurant el pascardor which is a fish restaurant. Shame we missed that meal due to being back late from an excursion. The buffett is good; ive been to other all inclusives before and this one was by far the best. Breakfast was a selection of everything you can think of. Lunch we always had near the pool and the food isnt kept there for to long; you will always see them replacing the food with freshly cooked food. There pizza is really nice. Ok you will get board of some of the food but hey you got to expect that. I must say i did like the fact that every night in the buffett they will have a themed night; like Italian or Chinese. The room was cleaned every day by our maid which was nice to always come back to after a day out. She done all her little art work with the towels and flowers which was nice. We left her $1 a day. We went on 4 trips:Soana island - amazing; the best trip of the whole holiday...get to go on a paddle boat; then speed boat and after you had lunch on the island you get to go back on a caterman.Monster Truck Safari - really good; got to see different bits of Dominican and how they live. We visited a school and even a vodoo witch doctor which was a bit scary.Ocean World (swimming with dolphins) - we went by aeroplane which was only an 18 seater!!! Swimming with dolphins was amazing. We saw the shark and sea lion show but there wasnt alot else to do there. We did get a bit board.Speed Venture - you get your on speed boat per couple; my boyfriend drove it and thought he was James Bond...was really good fun and you get to stop off and swim with tropical fish which was amazing.The hotel overall was very well kept; you will always see them keeping to very high standards. Staff were brilliant; there were some struggles with the language but us english are used to that going to other european countries. It wasnt a problem. Oh and they will give you a little passport which will tell you about the hotel and will have a map on. You will need this when you arrive as the resort is quite big. And to be honest it doesnt make any difference which side you stay on (Bavaro; or Punta Cana) they are exactly the same!!Also if you are searching to find out what the weather is like out there;ignore the weather forecast's as it is always wrong apparently. Its boiling hot and sunny and you get the occasional storm which clears quickly. If you are going to this hotel; enjoy....me and my boyfriend certainly did and we would recommend it to our friends and family so that must mean something.
478252,ToshSouthampton,07/05/2008,Not all it's made out to be !!!! My wife and I have just returned from Gran Bahia Principe we were ther from 19th June until 3rd July and we went with 1st Choice (from now on to be our LAST choice)Flight overWe upgraded to Premier classas a special treat seeing as I was 60 this year. The brochure says you have priority boarding of the plane; this didn't happen it was a free for all. The plane was parked way out on the tarmac as far from the terminal as you could be and as soon as the doors opened to get on the buses it was a stampede. The brochure also states the meals were desingned by Aldo Zilli; well if thats he's ideas of decent food send him back to Italy. Your also get the choice of 16 movies noway it was only 10. The cabin crew were helpful and polite though.Transfer to resortWe were booked in on the coach to the hotel by one of the reception staff which was helpful. She gives information about the resort which is very misleading. According to the 1st choice brochure you have 3 large pools to use; this is their first lie and it goes on from there don't believe all you read in the brochure.HotelThe hotel is 2 large resorts joined together with 2 smaller parts attached. The large ones are Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro and the other is Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana; in most repects they are mirror imaged but you are not allowed to share each others pools. The brochure states you have all pools to use.The resort is vast it took the wife and I an hour to walk around the perimeter. The grounds and all areas are kept imacculate and the staff work very hard. The beach is lovely but is restricked to a small swimming area. The large pool at the beach end does not have enough sun shades so if you don't get there early enough you miss out on any shade for the day and belive me you won't want to sit in the sun allday.The staff are very friendly and helpful at all times and can't do enough for you. You don't have to tip but a dollar here and there is met with a lot of grattitude.RestrauntsThe main restraunt caters for all tastes and the food is nice. Plenty of fresh salad and hot meals of al sorts.We only tried 3 of the 6 al a carte restraunts as I got a bad belly on the 6th day there and still haven't shaken it of. The garden Grill was very good and the Japanese was excellent. The gourmet is what gave my bad belly as I had Lobster and Chicken fricasse and it didn't taste that good; i've had lobster many a time before and never tasted like that.Other Holiday makersThe resort was full of every nationality you could think of. We met one Canadian couple from Toronto who are from Pakistani origin who were lovely but forgot to get their email address. Also a Canadian couple from Toronto ( Christine and David) with 2 sons (Mathew and Michael) who were lovely people. Christine helped me out with some stomach bug medication again we failed to get email address. If you read this mine is tddavis@btinternet.comThere were a lot of yanks noisy and far over the top as usual. The other Canadians were more reserved as we have found at other resorts in the Caribbean. Airport and flight homeThe Airport was hectic; they were booking in 9 or 10 flights at the same time and our rep did not have a clue what line we should be in. It took over 1 hour to get from checkin to the depature lounge and it was hot and sticky no air con at all.The flight home was ok until we got to Gatwick. We landed at 5:35 and had to park on the hard stand furthest from the terminal. The ground staff who were in charge of manouvering the steps into place didn't have a clue what they were doing; they eventually got the steps in and door open by 6am. We were not allowed to disembark until 6:20 when the one and only bus arrived to take us to the terminal.Once at the terminal everthing went smoothly.We have been on holiday to the North of the Island twice before to Playa Dorada and will go back there again but never to Gran Bahia as it too big.
478252,london86,07/04/2008,Fantastic hotel! Just returned from a lovely holiday with my partner; we could barely find any fault with the hotel. We paid 拢931 each; flying from London Gatwick; and I think the holiday was excellent value for money. I'd urge people to remember how reasonably priced the All Inclusive's in the DR are; and be realistic with their expectations: it's 5* Dominican Republic; not 5* London or New York!I'll split my review into sections to make it easier to follow. And please excuse the length!Travel agent/booking: we booked and traveled with Thomson's. This was the only major downside to our holiday! The rep was useless: she was never available; very patronising when you did corner her; and she didn't even let any guests know about departure details (what time we were being picked up from the resort etc). Absolutely appalling. I would urge anyone going from the UK to avoid Thomson's for this reason.Flights: we traveled on the Thomson Fly airline; and I was very impressed with the flight. There was tons of leg room (don't book extra leg-room seats though as you can't stretch your legs out). Comfort packs were provided; as were earphones; and you had a personal seat-back TV; with a selection of music; games and films. You could upgrade the TV for 拢5 each way; which gave you a wider choice. The flights left pretty much on time both ways.Check-in: a bit noisy; as there is currently some construction work taking place outside the lobby (they're re-doing the entrance). Very quick though. As soon as we'd checked in we hopped on a tram/bus with our cases and were taken to our room. We e-mailed the hotel prior to travel and requested a room away from the construction. We got a good room; third floor as requested; away from the construction; and in a good location; very near the beach and main pool (room 10301).Rooms: lovely. VERY big and spacious; with a massive king-size bed; dressing table with TV and large mirror; and a large separate sitting area with two chairs and a table and a sofa. There was also a balcony with plastic chairs and a table which we rarely used. Wardrobes had plenty of hanging and shelf-space; there were also drawers in the bedside tables and dressing table. An umbrella is provided which came in handy a couple of times!Bathrooms were large and marble; with a jacuzzi tub. There were plenty of towels; as well as face-cloths. I'd advise avoiding showering between 6 and 7; as the water-pressure wasn't very strong at these times; I'm guessing because everyone showers at this time. It was still fine though; just took a little longer!The rooms were spotlessly clean and we only saw one bug (sadly a cockroach :-s) during our entire stay; which was dead (I think they must regularly put down bug killer as we didn't ever see any live ones!). The maid left us some lovely towel art and flowers the first few days; but it petered out by day 5 :-( The mini-bar was generally re-stocked daily; but a few times we didn't get any beers. This would be one of my complaints; it could be slightly irritating as you do pay for it.The safe was $32 dollars per week; well worth it and hotel will not accept liability for any valuables not left in the safe. Warning: the safe was pitch black; I'd recommend bringing a torch if like us you put a lot of stuff in your safe!Pools: if you don't have any upgrade (like Diamond club; Ambar etc) then you have a choice of two pools; the main one at the beach; and a smaller one towards the center of the resort. The pools were immaculate; very clean; and both had swim-up bars; which was cool. We preferred the smaller pool as it was quieter with fewer children. There were pool activities (like aerobics and bingo) throughout the day; but I didn't find it too obtrusive. Loungers could be hard to come by at the main pool; but we always got a lounger under a palapa at the small pool; even if we didn't get there till 11/12. The pools are quite shallow; not for big swimming fans; and could get quite warm as a result (I was struggling to find anything wrong; so this was one of my 'complaints'!)Beach: stunning! White sand; clear turquoise water... Really lovely. It was busy near the pool and beach bar; but you could find quieter spots further away. We only used the beach a few times; but again never had a problem finding loungers and shade. Only complaint is that the swimming area was minuscule; and speed boats etc came FAR too close to swimmers. I've seen some nasty accidents caused by boats so this was a bit of a concern.Grounds and common facilities: immaculate. The hotel really was spotless; marble gleamed; and the grounds were lovely; full of plants and flowers. A real pleasure.Resort size: I really didn't think the resort was that big to be honest; it takes about 10 minutes to stroll from one end to the other. The larger size was a good thing in my opinion as it allowed for more variety; and you didn't feel like you were just stuck in a hotel block. I also don't understand why people find it so complicated; it took us literally 30 seconds to work out the layout! Basically; there's a central road with the reception and buffet restaurant at one end; the beach and pool at the other; and another pool in the middle. A la carte restaurants are spread out; but you're provided with a map; and there are large maps throughout the resort if you get stuck. Trams ran every couple of minutes; we did use these sometimes I'm afraid to say; more because of the heat than anything else; they stopped at bus stops down the main road.Drinks: I thought the selection of drinks was excellent; there was a wide range of cocktails; plus beer; wine; spirits and international soft drinks rather than local ones. Cocktails at the pool bars were ready made (it would be impossible to make them all fresh!) and sometimes didn't have much alcohol. I'm not a big drinker so this was fine by me; I'm sure you could ask for a strong one without any problems! Bring a thermos if you can; bar staff will happily fill them and it saves a trip or two to the bar.There were quite a few bars to choose from: two lobby bars; bars at the beach and pools; and the karaoke bar at the Pueblo Principe.Food: I thought the food was very good; as did my partner. Breakfast was fairly standard: cereals; yoghurts; cheeses; fruit; fresh cooked eggs and pancakes; as well as sausages; potatoes etc etc. There was a wide selection at lunch; and you could eat either at the main buffet (with a larger selection) or the pool snack bar (smaller selection; things like pizza; pasta; chips; burgers etc; but more than enough choice). There was also a big selection at dinner (the desserts were fab!); there really was something for everyone. Food was generally hot and was being constantly replaced and replenished. Oh; and there was Heinz ketchup in packets for Heinz fans!Drinks service in the main buffet could be patchy; sometimes you were waiting a little while. I didn't really find this an issue; and the staff work very hard; they're rushing about non-stop.We tried several a la cartes; and here's my opinions on them:Le Gourmet: nice; but a bit too 'fancy' for my liking; I prefer simple food that speaks for itself. The octopus salad was overpowered by too many herbs; and I wasn't keen on the corn mash; the beef was lovely though; nice and tender.Garden Grill: my personal favourite. Buffet starter and dessert; and I had the tenderloin steak for my main which was DELICIOUS.BBQ: OK; nothing special. Nice change from the buffet though.Italian: awful! Please don't go; it's a waste of a reservation!Japanese: great fun; chef cooks in front of you. The food was tasty and there will several courses which included soup and sushi. Really enjoyed this one. Had fried ice cream for dessert and still don't know what to make of it!Entertainment: there was a good selection of things to do; from mini-golf; aerobics; merengue and water polo in the day; to the band; show and karaoke at night. The Pueblo Principe has a variety of shops; and the disco and casino are here. The vendors on the stalls will try to rip you off; go for 10-20% of what they ask! Drinks are free everywhere apart from the casino. We only made it to the disco once and weren't overly impressed; but then it was early. Most nights we went to bed at about 11; so we didn't see much of the 'nightlife'!Language barrier: we didn't find this an issue. We made an effort where possible and this was always appreciated and met with a smile. Most of the staff had a basic grasp of English; so ordering drinks and food was never a problem; and reception staff and guest relations all spoke very good English. Please remember you are not only in another country; but in a very poor country where few people have access to education. Many of the staff try; and are practicing their English all the time; so be patient!Overall the holiday was brilliant; and I would definitely recommend this hotel. We're already thinking about visiting this chain again next year; but in a different resort.I think I've covered just about everything; but if anyone has any questions; feel free to send me a personal message.
478252,Steelx,07/04/2008,Overbooked!! Let me start by thanking all past guests at this resort for their valuable comments and feedback which; after much research; convinced me to pick this resort for my family vacation.After all that I read about the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro; I never expected to be prepared for what was waiting for us at check-in. Apparently the resort OVERBOOKED their available capacity for the Punta Cana and Bavaro sections of the resort; which led to some inconveniences during our stay.CHECK-IN: Upon arrival; 12:30 PM Sunday June 22; rooms had been oversold and check-in staff had trouble finding a room with two double beds (we're a family of 4; 2 adults; 2 children). The only room available was with one king size bed ! Check-in finally freed-up a room at 15:30 with 2 double beds.A LA CARTE RESTAURANTS: During the time waiting for our room to be ready we decided to book our three a la carte restaurants at customer service. Due to the large number of guests; only one restaurant was available ! Customer Service advised that we should check-in with them every morning at 8:00 AM for cancellations. Well come Tuesday; no cancellations; and my wife decided to take a more direct approach with Customer Service. Speaking fluent spanish; she explained that on the Monday evening; we decided to check out some restaurants directly and discovered that the french restaurant Cafe de Paris (on the Bavaro side of the resort) and the japanese Mikado (on the Punta Cana side) were closed !!Customer Service now admitted that those two restaurants were just closed this week and that suddenly there was a cancellation at the Dominican restaurant located in the Club Premier section of the resort ! We never succeded in getting a third a la carte restaurant and I believe the resort was limiting the amount of people in the restaurants as a measure of cost control. Sending everyone to the buffet is much more profitable for them.The quality of food at the two a la carte's was very good compared to the buffet.BUFFET: Turns out our 2 a la carte were booked for the last two evenings of our stay so the buffet was our feeding grounds for the first 5 dinners. Food was average; I'd rate it a 6 on 10; with Mexico's Grand Occidental Xcaret surpassing the GBP by far.BARS: Popular tropical drinks (Pina Colada's Coco Loco's) are premixed from large commercial drink mixers and taste very artificial. Ask the bartenders for a drink that he has to prepare; like a strawberry daiquiri or margarita; and he'll give you a dirty look! Suffice it to say that I stuck with lots of cerveza's (which is not their local Presidente by the way but more of a watered down draft beer) and cuba libre's while my spanish speaking wife kept asking for the daiquiri's and margarita's.OVERSOLD SITUATIION: Here's how the resort decided to handle the large number of guests booked during this week (June 22-29). Early Monday morning; a flyer was distributed to every room in the resort asking guests if they would be interested in a FREE excursion to visit Isla Saona; Altos de Chavon; stay at the Gran Bahia Principe La Samana for one night; get a free upgrade to Club Diamond (adults only) or Hacienda (with children); and get a free security box on the condition that they pack and leave their room for one night. The excursion would begin Friday 6:30 AM and guests were to return Saturday 6:00 PM. Rooms had to be vacated and luggage would be stored in a special locked luggage room for the duration of the excursion. The value of the excursion was approximately $100 per person and the objective was to get people off the site in order to accomodate other guests. These flyers were everywhere; underneath glass table tops; at the bars; posted on large billboards outside the buffet restaurants; on check-in counter.......you couldn't miss them.On Friday afternoon; a group of approximately 300 guests; all employees of Shell Oil; arrived and took over the pool and beach area. Saturday's regularly scheduled beach activities (morning yoga session; dance lesson) and afternoon pool aerobics; bingo game; and poolside dance lessons were cancelled because all the animators were entertaining the Shell Oil guests; partying on the beach. On Saturday; the beach and main pool was jammed with people.WATER SPORTS: Couldn't get a booking for a free one hour ride on a catamaran the whole week because of two reasons. One; only three of the six catamarans were operational; three were broken; and Two; too many guests. Well; 10 minutes later; here comes my spanish speaking wife again and this time she asked for a one hour lesson at $30 and guess what; suddenly a catamaran was available for that lesson and it would be on the water in 5 minutes ! Was this another example of limiting what is really free to guests so that they could sell a lesson?LOUNGE CHAIRS AT BEACH AND POOL: Forget about trying to find a lounge chair at the beach or the main pool at 8:30 AM on Monday because of; you guessed it; too many guests. Here's another unique trick.......guests were arriving at the pool and beach early morning and instead of reserving a lounge chair by placing one towel lengthwise per chair; they were actually placing their towels across two chairs; widthwise; thereby reserving twice the number of chairs at the beach and at the pool.Guess what we started doing early Tuesday AM !STATUS AT OTHER RESORTS: During the week; my wife and I walked up and down the beach to check out other resorts. The Majestic (5 *); just north of GBP; had 50% of the lounge chairs available at the beach and next to their pool. The RIU; just south of the GBP; had maybe 40% of lounge chairs free and the resort looked much larger than the GBP; in terms of surface area on the beach. Much fewer bathers were spotted at these reorts compared to the crammed pool and beach of the GBP.Overall; the grounds were impeccably clean; every morning the beach was cleaned of the thousands of cigarette butts and plastic drinking glasses left behind by late night beachgoers; the rooms were very clean; the pools clean are beautiful; and the staff did their best given the many guests on site.If it weren't for those few inconveniences and all those people; this trip would have been much more relaxing and would have ranked right up there. I guess this was a situation where BIGGER is NOT NECESSARILY BETTER !!
478252,BhishiB,07/01/2008,Great intro to all-inclusive holiday experience Beautiful bathroom
478252,PHiLiPRoVeR,06/30/2008,Great Vacation; Great Place beach
478252,Photoman069,06/29/2008,TRIP FROM HELL Our family has travelled to many destinations; and this was the worst ever. First of all; since it is a Spanish speaking country; we thought we would be ok since my wife can speak spanish; but the staff often acted like they did not understand her when it came time for them to give us change. Check in was a nightmare. We arrived earlier than check in time and they gave us our keys but told us that we could not get the room until 3. We were fine with that; but the bellhop insisted on taking us to our room and told us that he knows the maid and can get us in early. She was very annoyed that we showed up early and she was literally mopping around our feet in the room. We felt very akward and decided to head back to the main building for lunch. THe buffet was absolutly unedible. THe food was gross. The fruit was spoiled. We knew we were in for trouble. Later we were told to meet for our orientation. We showed up with another family and nobody else was there. We found out later that they decided to move the orientation but nobody bothered to let us know. Anyway the next day my son got food poisoning and was throwing up for the next two days. I got food poisoning the day before I left and have been sick ever since. In the buffett we asked the head waiter if we could take some fruit to our sick son; and he was very rude and told us he would not give us a container and if we wanted something to call room service. I ordered a fruit plate from room service and they were very quick. Less than 5 minutes. But the fruit was all spoiled. They must make up these plates and leave them laying around until people order them. I cannot stress enough how disgusting the food is. They do not follow proper food service procedures. at the outdoor snack bars; food is sitting out for hours and covered in flies. As for the bars. they never make the same drink the same. You can order a pina colada from the same bartender 5 times and each one will be a suprise. One is worse than the next. We met so many people that were also sick. We are not picky people and like to try new things; but this place has the worst food ever. DONT GO; UNLESS YOU ARE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT FAST.
478252,KyKathy,06/28/2008,Big and Beautiful Family Trip with 22; 27; and 28 yr olds. We enjoyed our time there. The resort is certainly gorgeous. We were in the Bavaro side. We found the staff in the Buffet to be quite friendly and personable. I have stayed in all inclusives before and was a little disappointed in the arrival. Normally you are greeted with drinks. We were herded into a meeting room where we had to wait for someone to help us. Once we got to our rooms; we were quite impressed. It took us a while to figure out how everything in the resort was set up; and found ourselves lost on the first night. The beach is outstanding! you can walk out into the water with no fear of stepping on rocks. I expected to see topless women at the beach; but was surprised to see it at the pool. We checked on reservations for ala carte restaurants; but were told everything except the Barb-b-q was booked for the entire week. We went to that and it was nice. We checked the next day on reservatons again and were informed they had opened the prmiere restaurant in Ambar. Unlike one of the other posters; we were not impressed with the this restaurant. The service that evening was very poor. If you have people who are picky eaters; it will be difficult. My son was looking for some type of normal food. I think he lived on watermelon and french fries.We went parasailing and I suggest you pay with credit card. We used the atm to get cash; as we were told we needed cash and it gave us pesos. We checked with the girl at the desk to be certain we had the correct amount. Upon arrival at the parasailing; we were told we were short because they use a different exchange rate. We said we would run and get a credit card and the one guy was very rude; saying it was too late. I wanted to smack him. I was just as stubborn and we got our way. We also went on the caribbean festival and I would hightly reccommend it. I agree with another poster that the pools need to stay open until at least 10; even if they want to stop the alcohol at 6. Six o'clock is way too early!
478252,flavio12,06/28/2008,Ok if you do not mind company We booked a week for our family (2 adults; 2 kids / 69)....We flew to Santo Domingo and drove to Punta Cana (3.5 hours) as it was the cheapest flight available.Once arrived at hotel we found out it was over booked...After initial disappointment we moved to other resort 2 miles down the road (RIU Palace Macau) for 4 days and then came back...In the end it turned out that the RIU resort was significantly better than the Principe Bavaro.The Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro is a very large resort that hosts very many people...I found it very crowded...However our kids liked it; so if they are happy; we are happy!Room was very clean and comfortable...Food was OK...Pools are very nice.We were hoping to snorkel;but the water isn't very clear and the boat trafic makes it dangerous (disappointing).As we had a car we drove north (Playa Limon) following suggestions from Lonely Planet guide...Roads have many holes; so it takes a long time to go anywhere....Drive wasn't worth it in the end.In summary; hotel was OK; beach OK; but all lucked character...For less money and traveling time we could have gone to Cancun.
478252,GottaTravelTheWorld,06/26/2008,Two words...LOVED IT!! I just recently returned from the Gran Bahia Principe with my boyfriend and I think that this must have been the best trip ever!!!Checking in couldn't have been easier...they gave us our room keys on the bus!!Absolutely loved the room!! It was very very clean and much nicer than other all inclusives that I've been to!!The lobby and the grounds were amazing! Most amazing landscaping....beautiful.The resort was huge....but the little shuttle buses came every second to pick you up...so no worries there!The a la carte restaurants are a must!!! Particularly enjoyed the Japanese; French and Seafood ones!The staff were extremely helpful and very kind.The food at the buffet was pretty good. Make sure you make it there for breakfast....definitely the best meal of the day!The beach was beautiful...and we never ever had problems finding empty beach chairs.The entertainment at night was pretty good. The shows were great. The club was alright. We only went twice. The club didn't play that much english music so it got a bit boring after a while (we knew we were in a Spanish speaking country...so we weren't about to complain about the Spanish music!)We went on the Country Adventure tour which was interesting. It gives you a completely different view of the country (I guess the real view!! We all know the resort is not how the Dominicans live!!)Overall...I couldn't have asked for a better vacation...absolutely NO complaints! Loved it!
478252,Alexandra2224,06/26/2008,Absolutely AMAZING Vacation! We wanted to write a long and detailed review to explain just how great of an experience we had and why we will be making plans to go back as soon as we can....My boyfriend and I returned from BP Bavaro a few days ago; and had the most perfect vacation. We literally had ZERO complaints about our stay-- the room; the grounds of the property; the food; the drinks; the staff.. this place was above beyond anything we had ever expected. We truly were treated like royalty. Prior to taking our vacation we read several reviews that had complaints; after a few days at this resort it became clear to both of us that those who had or would complain are those who are totally ignorant of their surroundings. BEACH: The most beautiful we had ever seen. Our main requirement for this vacation was white sand turquoise water-- if you're looking for the same; this is exactly what you will get... it really is paradise (especially considering the beach bar located only steps from the surf). There are several water activities going on throughout the day; mostly at an extra cost-- we spent most of our time swimming in the warm sea and soaking up the sun.POOLS: All of the pools on this resort are well maintained and manned by friendly; accomodating staff. Like anywhere else in the world; they are appreciative of TIPS! One of the things we noticed was that FEW people actually tipped the bartenders; but if you gave a dollar every few drinks--trust me; they take care of you (especially if you ask for MUCHO rum!). The main pool by the beach can get busy; but this is a positive thing-lots of people watching to do and things to experience. NIGHTLIFE: Again; no complaints here!! At the end of our day at the pool/beach we would go for dinner at either the buffet or restaurant then head to the Pueblo Principe (the square located by the reception). This is probably one of the most attractive parts of the entire resort; lavishly decorated with marble floors; grand ceilings; live entertainment; and staff who are at your beck call (literally). Here you can sample several drink choices which can become quite entertaining; there is much to choose to from. This square closes at 11; and most people head to the Principe town; where there is a stage that hosts live shows (comedy; etc--very good!); a karaoke bar; a disco; a casino. This resort is not a huge party place; but if you are looking for a mixture of R R; and a party; you can do it here. FOOD: You have a choice of 3 a la carte restaurants- we chose the steakhouse; the seafood; and the japanese (entertaining). All 3 were really something to talk about. There is something here for everyone. We enjoyed the steakhouse the best; each a la carte has an appetizer buffet prior to your entree. Throughout our stay we ate at both the breakfast; lunch; and dinner buffets. Keeping in mind that this is a resort that accomadates hundreds of patrons; the buffet food is quite good given the volume of people it serves. Many options-- salads; all types of meat; pasta bars; pizza; local dishes; various desserts; gourmet juices... the list goes on. If you are not a picky eater; you will most definitely NOT go hungry here.DRINKS: The drinks served were great; many choices like daquiris; martinis; mixed drinks; fruity cocktails; beer; wine. If you are looking for something tasty; you have many options--the favorite is the BANANA MAMA--certifiably the best drink in the world!! This is not a wine country; so the wine is not amazing; but the beer is good--the domestic liquors (ie rum) are awesome as well... its hard to complain when you are being served whatever you want as if its water! With bars at the beach; the pools; the restaurants; the square.... most of our nights ended excitingly!GROUNDS: You feel like you are part of a little town. This resort is beautifully maintained. Workers are constantly maintaining the cleanliness and appearance of the resort; which has many pretty trees; plants; and flowers. True; this is a large resort; but the size of it does in no way detract from your experience. In fact; we found it a pleasure to walk here and there; from one end to the other. If you are fit; it is not a problem to do so-- on those days where you're feeling lazy; small trolleys arrive every few minutes to take you where you need to go. ROOMS: Beautiful. The bathrooms are all marble; with jacuzzi tub. Very spacious; tropical feel; large beds; cable tv; lots of storage space... beautiful view from balcony... the villas are like quaint little homes! Leave a dollar every day and your room will be cleaned to your liking-- if you wake up early enough!... all in all; this was like staying in paradise; it was really a surreal experience; we couldn't believe what we got for the price we paid. We will DEFINITELY be coming back here again and spreading the words to others so they will do the same!!If you have any questions; please feel free to e-mail me at [-]
478252,darlenes013,06/26/2008,Hope to go back soon! We just recently stayed the Bahia Principe Punta Cana. It was our first all inclusive vacation and first time booking online with a company we heard good things about called Pricebeat.ca Our package was with Sunwing Vacations and went very well. Our week vacation went very well and we absolutely loved this resort. The beach was amazing 鈥?white sand and the water was so warm; clear and turquoise! The food was very good; especially the lobster on Friday nights. Overall we had an exceptional time and really enjoyed the nightly entertainment (Michael Jackson and Musical legend). We鈥檙e definitely planning on going back to the Bahia Principe in the near future!
478252,TravelFun069,06/25/2008,Beautiful Grounds - Service Spotty - Wedding Details Included My husband and I were married in June 2008 at the Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. We had a rather large number (44) of guests attending the wedding and staying at the resort. We stayed for 9 nights and had guests that stayed as short as 3 days and as long as 7 days. Resort:The resort is rather large and parts of it are currently under construction. The lobby driveway was being remodeled and if you tried to use the Punta Cana side of the lobby during the day; it was absolutely horrible. Also; I鈥檓 sure the staff was doing harm to their hearing; and their nerves; as they tried to cope with working in such an environment. Most of the construction is not at all noticeable except for the fact that their numerous clubs (Golden; Diamond; Ambar; etc.) are very confusing with everyone mingled in together due to the construction. I鈥檓 still not 100% sure of what each of the clubs meant except that the Ambar section was adults-only and a little quieter and nicer than the other sections. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and perfectly maintained. The pools and decks are cleaned at night and the pools were always in wonderful condition. The main pool near the beach was always very crowded. The quietest pools were in either the Ambar; or Diamond areas as there were always plenty of umbrellas and chairs at these pools. The rooms were nice with a sitting area; bed and balcony. The bathrooms had jet tubs and were marble and tile. The bathrooms in the Ambar section are a little nicer with a separate walk-in shower; toilet area and tub. The spa was very nice. We had the 鈥渞elaxing鈥?couples massage and it was definitely relaxing. We also used the water therapy area. It was the neatest thing I鈥檝e seen. It had two big pools 鈥?one slightly warmer that the other with all kinds of different bubbles and massaging options. There was also a small and very cold 鈥減ool鈥?or sorts. There were also saunas and steam rooms with different temperatures. It had several types of showers including a rain shower; bucket; and a therapeutic (my favorite)! However; the prices are comparable to the U.S. and aren鈥檛 a really great bargain ($72 USD each for a couples massage.)Restaurants: The service at some of the restaurants was definitely lacking and spotty at times. Sometimes the service was wonderful and sometimes you were begging to get a drink while you sat at you table. We ate at the BBQ restaurant which is on the beach and has made to order steaks; pork chops etc; a salad bar and dessert bar. The service here was quite good both times we ate there and you were able to enjoy the sounds of the ocean. We also ate at the Italian restaurant; which was quite good; and the service wasn鈥檛 at all bad here. There was a salad and appetizer bar including a bruschetta bar; salad bar; tomato bisque; carpaccio; olives; and other 鈥淚talian鈥?appetizers. You then chose a main course. The pizza was quite good at the Italian restaurant. The lobster pasta was relatively good. Some of the seafood options at the Italian restaurant were mediocre. The Seafood restaurant鈥檚 appetizers were wonderful and included fried fish; calamari; steamed shrimp; shrimp cocktail; and a seafood soup. The main dishes were not that good and we saw several other families just having the appetizers and salad for dinner. We also tried out the Garden Grill; which was wonderful both times we ate there. The skirt steak was delicious and the 鈥淟ouisiana Corn Chowder鈥?was outstanding. The dessert bar throughout the restaurants was pretty much the same and relatively good. The bananas drizzled in chocolate; fruit selection; ice cream; and mouse were all quite good. The main buffet was quite good and although it did get a little repetitive; everything was still above average for an all-inclusive resort. Reservations were hard to come by (you have to make them in person at Guest Services; though some of our family said they were able to call to make them) and I recommend getting them as soon as you get to the resort. If they insist that the only thing that鈥檚 available is BBQ or nothing at all; just ask nicely again. You can also come back later; sometimes there are cancellations and you can get squeezed in. The drinks at the bars are very sweet and usually quite weak; however; we often times asked the bartenders to add more alcohol and they always complied. The best mixed drink we had while there was the capirinia. It鈥檚 very similar to a mojito; but; with lots of fresh lime instead of the mint. The margaritas were also quite good. In general; the drinks at the lobby bars were much better; and stronger; than those by the pool area. Maybe the resort is trying to save us from ourselves by making the drinks by the pool and beach a little weaker?! I think that some of the inadequate service was just due to growing pains that the resort is feeling since it is expanding and growing so rapidly. It also definitely has a big resort feel where you just feel like you are just another number. Wedding:Well; the actual events leading up to the wedding were the biggest disappointment of our trip. The actual wedding itself went off just fine. However; everything leading up to it was so unnecessarily stressful. Leading up to the big event; we tried to stay in contact with the resort and understand what we needed to decide in advance; however; it was nearly impossible to get in contact with anyone via email or phone. When we did get in contact with the resort; we were told we need to make a lot of decisions (restaurants; cakes; flowers) as far in advance as possible. However; the follow-up information was never sent to us. At one point we were told to provide our documentation (birth certificates; single affidavit; etc.) in advance; however; it ended up that we were suppose to provide this when we actually arrived at the resort. When we faxed in our deposit for the wedding (9 months in advance) we reserved the restaurants; however; when we got there those weren鈥檛 available and we went with the BBQ for the rehearsal dinner and the Garden Grill for the reception. (Both restaurants turned out fine and the food was delicious.) We went through 鈥淲eDo鈥?wedding documentation to get all of our paperwork in order for the wedding. They were so easy to work; very responsive and had a very quick turn around.We got to the resort; had lunch and then went immediately to check with the wedding coordinator. We were scheduled to meet with her the next evening at 5 (two days before the wedding.) At the meeting we picked flowers; cake (chocolate or vanilla); menus etc. We were told the wedding would be at 11 am instead of 4 pm. This is the hottest time of the day and there is no shade at the wedding gazebo. We were quite insistent that we have the 4 pm time instead since that was what our deposit said that was the best time for us. The coordinator did not admit that there was a scheduling mistake with the judge until we found the form we sent in and pressed the issue. She then said there was a scheduling mistake. She then said she鈥檇 try to schedule a different time with the judge if his schedule allowed. Up until 5:30 the day before the wedding; the time was still up in the air. The most difficult part of this was that the hotel had started telling our guests that the wedding would be at 11 the next day so we had a huge communication problem. Also; we checked with the wedding coordinator 3 times prior to 5:30 on the day before the wedding and kept being told that she would know in the next 30 minutes; hour etc. and never had an idea until early evening. We ended up with a compromise and the judge came at 11 to do the paperwork and we had the service at 5 pm that evening. Which worked out fine for our schedule.The day of the wedding it poured all day long. Which is somewhat ironic since it didn鈥檛 rain any other day during our stay. Oh well; I guess we didn鈥檛 take valuable beach time away from our guests since they couldn鈥檛 be at the beach or pool anyway. The resort was very accommodating with the rain 鈥?although we had to insist on trolleys for our guests. So at 2pm a decision was made on the weather and it was decided that the ceremony would be inside at the Garden Grill terrace. This worked out just fine; however; my maid of honor had to call around to all of the guests and let them know the location had been changes due to the weather. The wedding coordinator had schedule a hair appointment at the spa for the bride at 2 pm the day of the wedding. When we arrived at the spa; apparently they didn鈥檛 have the appointment on the books and just kept telling me that there was no appointment. With time quickly fleeting; I decided to do my own hair and went back to the room. The flowers arrived as scheduled in my room. While they were slightly different from what we had ordered; they were still beautiful. A trolley arrived to take the bride; bridesmaids; and flower girls to the wedding location. We got dressed at the garden grill due to the weather and the ceremony went nicely. The band was a lot of fun! The actual ceremony is very short if you haven鈥檛 written your own vows and don鈥檛 have any readings. There were mimosas and champagne. We took trolleys to the lobby for drinks and pictures. We had lots of guests taking our picture 鈥?a little weird! Afterward; the trolleys took everyone back to the garden grill for dinner. Much to our dismay; the restaurant had lost our seating cards with everyone鈥檚 seating assignments and there were only numbers on the tables. The dinner was nice and the service was quite good 鈥?chicken caesar salad; Louisiana corn chowder; skirt steak with mashed potatoes and eggplant; pineapple 鈥渃obbler鈥?(really just glazed pineapple) with ice cream. The cake was lovely and quite nice. We then moved everyone into the second room of the terrace for dancing and mingling. We brought our own music on an I-pod and the resort provided the speakers and cables. We did bring our own cables just in case we needed them. The turndown service included floral arrangements throughout the room and flowers on the bed. Breakfast arrived in the room late the next morning; however; it did arrive. It included champagne; juice; coffee; rolls croissants; fruit and yogurt. We had a wonderful wedding party that coordinated a lot of things for us and insisted on the trolleys due to the weather and an opportunity for the guests to have happy hour. The wedding party also coordinated the flow of people and straightened out the seating arrangements when our seating cards went missing. Everything wouldn鈥檛 have been as nice had they not taken care of all of these details for us!
478252,NickandKat,06/21/2008,Avoid this place if you are American; 5 stars my ***! I went to this hotel for three nights for a friend's wedding and was rather disappointed. The beach was beautiful and the pools were rather nice; everything else..... not so nice. Check-in: JACKHAMMERS!!!!!!!!!!!! It was insane; I mean like a war zone and it went on all day and for hours on end. It's probably done by now (Pray it is if you made the mistake of coming here soon) but how could you put people through that; this is supposed to be a vacation. You have to come to the lobby for most of your meals; and being hungover and hearing deafening jackhammers (i am not exaggerating; our group just started laughing at how insanely loud it the noise was.) Facilities: Lack of AC in lobby or most hang out areas really was unpleasant in that heat; especially at night when you want to relax and have some drinks. The resort is also way too big; hard to keep a big group together; and who wants to have to ride a tram from one end of the resort to the other. They also have way too many bracelet types and it is extremely confusing. I had a Golden Club bracelet which got me 15 minutes internet access in some random Hut (not kidding) and 24 hour room service (which was so gross; ugh; feeling sick thinking about the food)Staff: This place does not really cater to English speaking people. I understand when visiting a country to speak their language as much as possible but people in key positions such as receptions should speak English fluently. I found the staff to be downright rude and nasty at some points. Other times they were very friendly; a mixed bag I guess.Rooms: Awful beds; like a rock. I know multiple people who had sore backs. AC-does not work very well; took my room almost two days to get somewhat cool. You have to leave a card in a slot when you walk-in (Hint any card will work) to keep the power on and they also make you pay to use the safe in your room which is just silly. Beach/Pools: Really beautiful. Nice water; couple of bars easily accessible; plenty of shade. We were there in June and finding a chair or spot in the shade was fairly easy. Only complaint is the activities people who blast what they are doing on giant loudspeakers so the whole beach can hear them and takes away from relaxing. Didn't really hang out in the pool too much but had swim-up bars and was really nice.Wedding: I felt awful for my friend who had his wedding here. There were so many screw-ups by the staff that were inexcusable; and they didn't seem to care at all about screwing up. I could go into more details; but in general I would strongly recommend that you do not have a wedding here.Food: Disgusting; inedible;....... I could go on and on.....Lunch food makes you long for cafeteria quality food. I really do not know how anyone could like the food here. No one on our trip liked the food. When we left and found a Wendy's at the airport; we were all so excited (I normally hate fast food; but Wendy's kicked [----] compared to the 5 star Bahia Principe).Warning: My friend had his camera stolen from his checked bag; somewhere btw checking in at the United States and when he checked into his room; so keep anything valuable on you.
478252,Rodzesilva,06/20/2008,* Perfect Holidays! * Desert Beach
478252,Cpalm,06/18/2008,Good times at Bahia Principe Stayed at Bahia Principe June 8th - June 15th. I'll start with the Punta Cana airport. Cute and quant and not airconditioned. Seems that they need to work on the schedule of multiple planes arriving at once since it can't handle large crowds. Overall; it still moved along pretty fast. Lines looked overwhelming but moved quickly. Just like in Cancun; baggage handlers try and get your bags for tips. Walk right past them to your travel rep. We booked with Apple Vacations and had a great experience. Buses were clearly marked and easier to find than in Cancun. Check in moved quickly and 2 out of our 3 rooms were ready well before check in time of 3:00pm. Carts take you and luggage directly to your room. Rooms were clean but nothing spectacular. Linens were rather stained but were changed daily. It was sometimes difficult to get a full set of towels for each person in the room. Beware of treacherous entry in and out of tub/shower. My dad fell on his first trip out of the shower. There is only a partial glass wall and the water gets all over. It's a rather steep step out of the tub with no grab bar to hold on to. If any traveler has physical limitations; it would be very difficult to manage. Rooms all come equipped with umbrellas which were really appreciated the day it poured all day and night. The rain also brought out the flying insects and our room was loaded with the wings from these critters. Not the bugs themselves; just the wings everywhere.Grounds are very well kept. The resort is large but easy to learn your way around. It's not really a bad walk however in the heat of the day; it's miserable. Never had a bad wait for the trolley and there were 7 of us. Food was your standard buffet. There are different theme nights in the buffet. Mexican night was our favorite. The ala carte restaurants were OK. Nothing spectacular. Most of these restaurants still have a partial buffet for salads and appetizers. Too many servers waiting on you that all expect a tip. The frozen drinks all tasted the same to me. They come out of a machine so don't expect great drinks. The lobby bar was by far the best. Pools were all very nice. Pool by the beach got very crowded late in the afternoon. Never had a problem finding beach or pool chairs even in the shade. We went down about 8:30am to get our same spot but if you're not picky about where you want to sit; there were plenty chairs in sun or shade. You can't walk out very far into the ocean which was disappointing. It's a fairly quick drop off. We preferred the beaches in the Riviera Maya.We did the banana boats; parasail (overpriced); and sunset cruise. I highly recommend the sunset cruise even though you won't actually see the sunset you'll have a great time. For $35 each; you'll get a 2 hour ride which includes snorkeling and all the rum and cokes you can drink. You'll also stop at an area off shore that is only chest high and party with all the other boats. We all had a great time and the ages ranged from 71 to 18. Don't bother taking a taxi to the shopping in Punta Cana. It was $40 each way for 4 people. Shopping plaza at the hotel has cute little shops. The cart vendors are all very annoying and by the 2nd night; I had enough of them to never want to go back. They won't let up until you buy something from them. The help at the hotel were all very friendly. Most speak only Spanish but heck; that's their native language. A few phrases of Spanish will be helpful. My biggest complaint was the rudeness of the other guests. Smokers everywhere not caring about anyone else. People walking down the paths 3 deep and not moving when approached by people from the other direction. It's as if they think they own the sidewalk. Trolley riders not wanting to move over to share their seats. People watching the evening shows and talking loudly over the music to be heard. If you want conversation; go to the lobby bar so the rest of us can enjoy the shows. The room below me called security on us saying we were too loud. We were sound asleep when someone came knocking on my door at midnight and then called the room because I didn't answer the door. Unless I was dead; I couldn't possibly have been any quieter than sound asleep. When I confronted the man on why he called; he was a total jerk. I will say the worst part of the entire trip was the complete disregard of other people by the guests. Overall; we had a great time and dispite some minor inconveniences; I would recommend this hotel to others. Just don't expect a 5 star hotel. The trip is what you make of it.
478252,flynupe,06/18/2008,A Very Awsome Resort!!!!!!!!! We are hosting a group function in the Dominican Republic in Punta Cana in October of 2008; and we went to visit the Bahia Principe Punta Cana on June 26th. Lets start:1. Upon arrival the lobby of the resort is awsome... We were warmly greeted by one of the staff; and even though there english is slight you were able to understand them; and know they were glad you were there.2. The property is so well maintained; groomed; and beautiful. The swimming pools were all clear; clean ; and just allowing the sun to shine bright on top. The beach was even beautiful. 3. The rooms were nice; and clean. When i arrived in the room the first thing i looked for was bugs; and i didnt see not one as long as i stayed (hooray). Please tip housekeeping because its true if you tip them they continue to bring you new towles; lotion; etc.4. The food; Now some foods were much better than other; but people have different taste buds. My favorite foods were the seafood; japanennese; and the grilled burgers by the beach. The drinks should be another time that you tip the bartender and the drinks were the bomb..I was getting my drink on 4real ...5. The staff; Again you just have to understand they speak total spanish there; and there english is slight; but everyone was we talk to was friendly; they were always trying to make to fill at home ... I just would like them to be able to slow down when there speaking so others can understand. The safe in the rooms is expensive (lower that price is outragious) lol lol 6. nightlife/entertainment; I think they need to get new things to impress the guest; because I wasnt. I didnt let that spoil my visit.overall.. I enjoyed myself; and cant wait to my 50 friends come down to the resort so they can have a awsome time and this awsome resort.
478252,MKmontreal,06/18/2008,If you're looking to loose weight! The beach was beautiful; the hotel was clean... the only problem was the food..... the food was very much terrible; get ready to go on a FORCED DIET for week.... the only thing that tasted relatively good were the cereals in the morning... My mother even got sick from the food.... If you're looking to loose weight; this is the resort to go to!!! Terrible food; and long amazing beaches on which you can walk to burn that extra fat. By the end of the week; I was glad to come home to my fridge!!!
478252,Trexim,06/18/2008,7 glorious days at GBP Punta Cana GBP Bavaro courtyard
478252,LinusMtl,06/16/2008,Great but forget Golden Visited the GB from June 8 to 15. Most people here have it right; the buffet is good but not 5 stars (I never saw good seafood); the beach is beautiful (but nowhere close to Varadero Cuba); the rooms are well-appointed and the grounds beautiful. Some staff is very nice; some don't bother; it's uneven. The drinks are so watered down my 2 year-old stole a taste of the Coco Loco and wanted more!!!! That's how much you don't taste the rum... Too big for me; really; but my toddler loved the mini-train so we learned to live with it.That said; one BIG warning. I don't know what regular booking is like but the Royal Golden was a major disappointment. We went to the Iberostar last year and; in comparison; I did not see any superior service here; certainly not the kind you pay extra for. Sure; we were near the beach (and away from the major construction site next door!); but that's it. Restaurant reservations were hard to get and you had to present yourself at the office; couldn't do it by phone. The safe box is not included. While all Golden buildings are near the beach; the office handling you is at the Club House (as in the other end of the resort); where the Premium Bar sits there among the desk and computers !!! who bothers !!! (Honestly; we're not drinkers so we didn't care but it looked ridiculous and gimmicky.) Basically; if you ask me; the Royal Golden is nothing but an excuse to make you pay for rooms near the beach; anything else attached to it is par for a 4-5 star hotel; not premium service.I would say; get yourself a good travel agent that can book you close to the sea without going Golden; on the side of the property away from construction and you'll enjoy AND save.Would we recommend? Yes. But this is not a 5 star and the swimming is better in Cuba. Have a good one anyways.
478252,diamond223,06/15/2008,Best holiday ever We stayed at the hotel between 23rd May and 6th June. We travelled with our 3 children aged 13; 11 and 9. Overall it was a fantastic holiday that we all enjoyed. This was our first time in the DR and would definetly go back. The hotel is split into two which are mirror images of each other each with its own reception and buffet restaurant. We were in the punta cana side.The hotel is huge but getting about isn't a problem. They have shuttle buses which run from the lobby down to the main pool next to the beach. You will never have to wait more than a couple of minutes to get on one. Even though it is big you never feel as if it is crowded or busy. The hotel is immaculate they have people working constantly keeping it clean and tidy. The grounds are beautiful and very well maintained.We travelled with first choice and on arrival at the airport we were directed to an air conditioned coach. There is a hotel representative on the coach who hands out your wrist bands; room keys and checks you in whilst on the way to the hotel; so when you arrive you can go straight to your room. On arrival there is a welcome drink provided and woman in national dress dancing to the hotels theme music greet you. Your cases are loaded onto a cart and you are taken to your room by the bell boys.We had interconnecting rooms which were on the ground floor. The rooms are big and clean. Our room had a superking size bed and the kids had 2 double beds both rooms had a sofa/bed. The bathrooms are marble with a jacuzzi bath with shower over the bath. There was always plenty of hot water whenever you needed it. There is a mini bar in the room which contains bottled water; pepsi; diet pepsi; 7up; red rock(like fanta) and local beer which is not bad! It is restocked daily by the maid. The maid does a wonderful job. Quite often towel art and even balloons were left. I was a bit worried about bugs as we were on the ground floor. I did put a towel at the door just in case; we saw 3 cockroaches during the whole fortnight. There was a few mosquitoes and we all got bit at some point.The food was good in all the restaurants. Breakfast had the usual fayre of eggs bacon coissants and fresh fruit. Fresh ommlettes with whatever you want on them are cooked in front of you. For lunch we ate at the buffet restaurant most days. There is plenty of food to choose from and we all found something that we liked every day (even the kids who are quite fussy). They have themed nights giving you something different but still offering basic food such as burgers and chicken for the less adventurous pallets. The waiters work hard and bring you your drinks quickly and will bring you a fresh one even if you don't ask. We only ate at the italian and garden grill restaurants both of these were good. They need to be booked in advance in guest services adjacent to the reception desk. The snack bar at the main pool was good but quite basic food on offer.The pools and beach are fantastic. The beach is long with white sand ; palm trees and blue sea what more can you ask for! The pools are big but shallow no need to worry about the kids being out of their depth. There is plenty of sunbeds and we didn't have a problem finding ones with shade. No need to put towels out at the crack of dawn here!We went on a couple of trips. My daughter and i went horseriding on the beach which was excellent i agree with previous comments that the horses were not in good condition. The other trip was too the marinarium where you snorkel on a reef then you are taken to a holding pen where you swim with nurse sharks and rays. This also was excellent and good fun. My husband and older two kids learned two scuba dive and the people who work at the water sports centre are very enthusiastic and they were well looked after. Every day they offer free try outs of scuba in the main pool.The staff don't speak a lot of english but it is a foreign country. They do appreciate it if you have a go at speaking spanish. We did tip during the holiday although it is not compulsary. A dollar or two is much appreciated by the maids; waiters and bar staff. We would suggest you take US Dollars instead of DR Peso's as anything you buy will be offered firstly in US Dollars and as the exchange rate is good against the dollar you should only take them.The only negative of the holiday is we had our camera stolen in the second week. It was taken off the table we were sitting at while watching a show. You can be lulled into thinking nothing like this could happen in such an idillic place.Overall it was an excellent holiday and we will definetly be going back.
478252,kellyTorontoCanada,06/15/2008,Waste of money and time My boyfriend and I heard it was a great place from some friends who gushed how great and amazing it was. We had high expectations and were looking forward to our trip.The hotel resort is HUGE and absolutely beautiful; well-cared for and there's security everywhere.The food is okay; nothing awe-inspiring but we weren't expecting much in the first place; since it is; after all; a third world country. We managed to find food we liked to get us by. But our friends who came with us did get bouts of cramping and diaarhea.The staff were a bit snobby; no one was down-right rude but they weren't very warm either. Alot of them looked quite bored being there. At one point my boyfriend asked three different staff members where the bathroom was and they all gave three entirely different answers. The beach and poolside is beautiful and clean. Except for one thing. The minute you stepped into the ocean all you smelled was gasoline from all the boats passing by. It was sun; water and gasoline all day long. Unlike Cuba; the dominican had no fish in their water. If the fish can't stay in the gasoline-infested ocean neither were we. We discovered on the 4th day of our trip that we were missing some money. My boyfriend and I bring money solely for tips during our stay. We took half of the money out with us and left the remainder in the lining of our suitcase. We didn't want to use the safe because it was $70 a day to rent and if the safe malfunctioned we'd be screwed. Everyday my boyfriend would count the money in our suitcase. On the fourth day we were $130 short. The only person in our room was the maid. Since we had no proof we couldn't accuse her (especially in a country that wasn't ours). But she never looked us in the eye when we would greet her and the day after the money dissapeared a brand new maid came to clean our room. What angers me the most is that we tipped her $10 the first day we got there! This trip was not at all relaxing. If anything I came back even more tense and agitated; and feel really stupid for treating people so nicely when; obviously; they did not feel the same way. The only thing going for this resort is that it looks pretty.
478252,A2008,06/15/2008,Awesome!! AMAZING
478252,FunInTheSun423,06/15/2008,Great Vacation!!! View from our palapa
478252,threesunlovers,06/09/2008,One of the BEST! Great Beach
478252,dubdoll23,06/08/2008,Royal Golden at Gran Bahia Principe pooool
478252,3SPOONFED,06/05/2008,Excellent All The Way OUR NEW FOUND FRIENDS
478252,HappyGoLuckyMontreal,06/04/2008,Dishonest front desk staff WARNING: DISHONEST FRONT DESK STAFF.The resort is beautiful; clean; food is better than expected; some nights were hit or miss. A'la carte: Try the grill can't go wrong with BBQ....request well done ribs unless you like it bloody...Japanese restaurant not the greatest; can't expect good Japanese in DR.....Overall it was a pleasant trip except for the last day when the front desk staff (Julio) tried to rip us off by over charging our phone bill to pocket the money for himself...which resulted in us missing our bus to the Airport...long story...wasn't happy. Very dishonest individual. Bon Voyage
478252,coconut08,06/03/2008,Great Vacation! A cool thing about our buffet was that there was always food sculpture; like this or carved melo
478252,pumpkinOntario,06/02/2008,Awesome!! Sand between your toes.
478252,Cheapcheapy,06/02/2008,Ambar Upgrade; Loved every minute ! We stayed at the resort from the 17 to the 24 of May. Like you I have read many reviews about the resort prior to my stay. I would suggest you stop now if you have already booked at this resort; reading too many reviews can definitely take the wind out of your sails and leave you with tons of useless information. All you need to know is to bring lots of sunscreen; 20 bucks each to get out of the country; under pack your bags; and that the hotel is amazing food; service; facilities etc. Anyways; our stay was excellent! We had requested online prior to arrival an ocean view room; which we received. When we checked in we immediately were upgraded to the Ambar adults section which was awesome. I would suggest this upgrade to any adults traveling without kids; you get your own buffet; restaurants; pool; bars; tram etc. You can also use any of the other sections facilities (bravaro; and punta cana) except the buffets. You have to use your buffet; which is the best of the three anyways. The service was exceptional with only a few minor complaints. Maid; very nice all the staff was very friendly; language barrier an obvious issue but nothing you can鈥檛 manage. Our Sunwing rep was very helpful and made our stay easier; Sunwing in general was very good. Food is good; a lot of selection and some favorites for me. You do need to keep in mind that you are in another country and that the food generally tastes different. Presentation at the restaurants a big wow; which is a good thing but they are not like restaurants back home. Drinks also very good; enjoyed the beer and the red wine for dinner. I tried everything and then some; I suggest you do the same since you鈥檙e a paying for it. Never was sick or any diarrhea which I was surprised considering I ate and drank like a champ for seven days straight. Facilities; lots to do. Beach front is nice however swimming and snorkeling is limited due to boats passing by. Pools; clean and very refreshing. Yes limited shade so do the towel thing before you attend the buffet breakfast. Day trip. Country safari; was okay; slow pace yet very informational. Being our first trip the hotel overall was exceptional; weather was excellent and would not blink an eye if asked to go back.
478252,LadyLiverpudlian,06/02/2008,An English Perspective We stayed as group of 12 including our 4 year old for our wedding from May 9th to May 23rd. We were booked into the Punta Cana side and myself and my partner were automatically upgraded to Diamond. This didnt mean much. Just that we could use the Diamond pool and eat at other restaurants. We didnt use any but settled for what the rest of the wedding party could use. We were told on booking our wedding that we could have a room upgrade but when we asked about it whilst checking in they said all rooms are the same and that no upgrade was available. Maybe without our daughter they may have put us in the Ambar section for adults only?? There were a couple of snags with what we should have had in our room on arrival as bride and groom and 10 days into the holiday and 5 days after the wedding we got our welcome gifts. I noticed people who had paid for the upgrade had their welcome gifts handed to them immediately. But a few visits to reception and speaking with the wedding co-ordinator we finally got them. Not worth waiting for really. A figurine that broke; small bottle of rum and a t.shirt each. We should have had a basket of fruit on arrival but I couldnt be bothered to ask anymore. I'll narrow things down.....Cleanliness / Service: It is spotless and there are constantly people working whether it be in the grounds themselves; maids doing rooms; and a few times we noticed managers looking over everything to make sure everything was up to scratch. We left a tip everynight as a group after meals;breakfast and tipped at the bar. A dollar isn't mush to us compared to what they earn in a month. One waitress in the main lobby said they earn $200 every 30 days which to us could be a days wages. (拢100) This lady in particular worked away from her 3 children to make a living and was due to have a weeks holiday to go and see them. You see the same people working at breakfast and again later that day for evening meals. Our maid wasn't the best compared to what other people in our group had. We had 1 towel sculpture when we arrived and had no more until 4 days later when my partner gave her $10 and asked her to do one as a romantic gesture. We stupidly thought we may have them more regularly as we left more tips. But she didnt. It is petty but maybe we had the moody one? The rooms were clean and we always had towels but I thought the it could be a little more updated. It didnt feel like a 5 star hotel when you were in your room. More like a 3 or 4. Food: There seems to be a debate on this subject but each to their own! I am a fussy eater unlike my husband who will willingly try anything. Breakfast was ok. We are cereal eaters of a morning but I knew the milk would be different so we didnt even attempt to have any. I stuck with toast for most of the time and only missed it a couple of days when we felt a bit worse for wear!! The oddest thing was mashed potato at breakfast??! Lunch / Dinner was ok. Big choice of salad etc and the usual chips;burgers;chicken;pizza;pasta. Again I stuck to these type of foods to be on the safe side but the other half tried most of it. It wasn't very hot but to be honest you had to make do or not eat. I would definately recommend the Japanese. We went twice and it was fab. Especially if you are in a group and get your own chef. The Italian is also nice. We had our wedding meal in the terrace attached to the restaurant and we had a ball!! The others weren't very nice. The Garden Grill is vile; bbq the same sort of food just that its outside and by the beach. Mexican we didnt try because we heard that was horrible and the fish restaurant we couldnt reserve. We didnt reserve as soon as we arrived. Our best man booked a few group meals but when we went to book one we still had our 6 for the 2 weeks left. Evening activities - Although we have a child we still like a bit of variety on the evenings. Once the show had finished it meant all trudging round to the square only to watch the same thing each night. Even if it wasn't the same it sounded it. From there if your in a family its basically home time. The karaoke bar was open til 1am but for the size of the hotel its not very big and very rowdy. Especially when the yanks were there. They are so loud! I think they like the sound of their own voice because even by the pool or restaurants they had the volume turned up a few notches. This does not go for all of them so I am not tarnishing them with the same brush!! The disco til 2am was so-so. Music was ok from time to time but for the variety of nationalities they had to cater for everyone. We didnt meet many English but there are a range of foreigners from Argentinians to Canadians. Overall the evenings were the same. Not very exciting and quite repetitive.Pools - We stayed by our pool most of the time which was one of the smaller ones on the Punta Cana side in the middle of the complex. We did venture down to the beach pool but it was too crowded and noisy (again a lot a shouting and voices raised) so we stayed away. The snack bar down there was awful. Alot of flies which I know are unavoidable but still horrible. The food as usual was cold to warm and seeing poeple walk round in thongs in the eating area didnt exactly help our appetite. If you missed breakfast and were hungry you had no choice but to go to the pool snack bar. It was a bit of a hike and not even worth it. We thought it would have been better if they had a few snacks at the other pools. It is a nice hotel but I dont think I would return. Its big but good enough to not see the same people twice. There are lots of other classy hotels along the same beach so I think I would prefer to try them out. Staff are lovely.Its clean and you can make the holiday what you want it to be.
478252,TravelingMel5,05/30/2008,The only problem... I had to leave! Loved the Bahia! Beautiful beach....
478252,CanadianTraveller14,05/30/2008,food was fantastic from the minute we arrived to 14 days later it was nothing but outstanding. the food was out of this world; the rooms were very clean and roomy. the pools very clean and never crowded. the beach was AMAZING!!!!! the ocean was always warm and never any seaweed or yuck.the best meal was our lobster supper in a small outdoor restaurant in the premier section never got the name; but the dinner was superb. try the lobster domincan style. would definetely go back. also the nightly entertainment was wonderful especilly michael Jackson night on monday
478252,MDEVO,05/29/2008,Nice Place.....but Very Large...... Well; it was a very nice place; and the service was very good. Best check in/check out we've ever had! We made a few requests prior to arriving; and all were provided. The kids club is excellent; our friends had twin 5yr olds with them and they utilized it all week. Food was OK. With our package (Bavaro) we had to eat at the buffet alot; so it became a bit bland after a few days. We could only get 3 reservations; Japaneese; French; and BBQ Grill; in my opinion they were all better than the buffet. You wont go hungry; as there is alot of variety.You can not go wrong with the beach; it is busy but fantastic. Use the water taxis; it is a great way to explore. We also enjoyed the sunset tour; it was well worth the money.Only problem I had was the size. Too big for me. My wife loved it; and the size was not an issue for her. She wants to return; I dont. But she will probably win that battle!Simply put......We had a great vacation.
478252,johnhereford,05/29/2008,brill holiday alan we spent 2 weeks at the bahia principe and we we could not fault any thing . when we arrived we had a welcome reception with D/M /R dancing girls plus a musical trio.and a welcome drink.our room was spotless and the maid ama was very good.the gardens where very tidy and well kept and the gardeners work very hard indeed . all in all it rates as one of the best holidays we have had.
478252,carolatthame,05/27/2008,Holiday from hell Gran Bahi Principe BavaroMay 27th 2008member Thame OxonHoliday From HellJust got back Bavaro never had a holiday like this ever and whish not to go throught this again. The Buffett food was cold uncooked and tasteless went to the garden grill for a meal 1st time meal came out cold called the waiter which he exchanged for me waited 10 mins for it to re apear yet again cold had a word with the resterant manager no joy didnt understand me; so i went to reception was told no manager about after a few heated words the night manager apeared from nowhere; he then got us in to the Italian resturant ordered our meal which was the pork loin cut straight in to check and blood come running out no joy again with the resteraunt manager all intal we did not eat evening meals for 6 night out of the 14 because the food was so bad. The reception staff are so ruid and will not let you speak to any managers at all unless you realy get irated.There is plenty of building work going on there and we sat in the diamond swimming pool everyday and all you could hear or seeis the builders working which is a 12 hour day. We paid extra to upgrade on this holiday and was not told that the Diamond was close also due to renovations plenty of building work going on there to. The only thing that this hotel as got going for them is the clean room and the hardworking maids.As some of you already pointed out the drinks taste watered down and when you ask for premuim drinks they give you local ones. I defentley think this hotel is the worst ive ever visited in the DR and will never go back there again and it is not a 5 star hotel more like 3star. I will be posting photos of the lovely building sites later.
478252,DorsetPoppet,05/27/2008,A sea that will leave you breathless. A stroll on the beach.
478252,worldtraveller0202,05/27/2008,Loved it! But upgrade to Diamond View from our room
478252,rcassup,05/26/2008,Hotel Service and Food are less than acceptable We just returned from the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. It was the worst vacation I have ever had! The hotel itself is beautiful; the grounds are very well kept and clean; there are many things to do on the complex and the beach is AMAZING! Even with all these things going for it; the service and the food made this trip absolutly undesireable. We had a party of 30 and were there for a wedding. We were forced to eat buffect EVERY night as reservations for more than 2 people were unavailable at any of the a la carte restaurants. the buffet was the same bland food night after night. Breakfast often consited of the nights leftovers. The challenge was trying to eat as a group. There are 3 hotels on the complex; if y ou are staying in the punta cana section you can not eat at the bavaro buffet and so on... We arrived at 10:30am; we got the room key at 4:45pm and when we finaly got to the room; it had not been cleaned from the previous occupant!!! the AC was broken and took 2 days to fix; the fridge was broken and took 2 days to fix. We had to call each day for face clothes and the ironing board.When I approched the Mnager to expalin that we were unsatisfied he said that there was a HUGE pile of complaints and there was nothing that he could do for us.Thank God the wedding turned out beautiful....that was a perfect day..however we were stuck with food poisening the next day.I will never go back and do not reccomend this hotel.The kids clud is also not very entertaining for kids up to 6 years old. ( oitherwise they will be bored).
478252,tammyopera,05/25/2008,The best yet! Wonderful Beautiful
478252,alfgirl,05/23/2008,Nice; Clean; We were 8 Adults with no kids traveling together.Grounds very well kept;Rooms; nice suite with large bath.Housekeeping they did a great job.Buffet; (lobster on Friday nights was really good) Food was hot and large selection; but seemed a bit repetiveRestarants; Not that great. Would rather have buffet. We tried 4If you want some peace and Quite good luck trying to find a spot. (maybe in your room if there wern't people trying to cross your balcony; did I mention we were on the 3rd floor.. .idiots) Not the hotels fault.If you want to tip that's great; but don't tip to get better service chances are you wont see them again. (Place is too big)Too many people. Too many kids. Tram(train) . There was 4 going most of the day. some where full.we couldn't relax... I know next time smaller resort . I think the Amber would've been a better choice. People from Bavaro side and the Punta Cana side are not allow at the Amber. Yes would've been better..
478252,Scout07,05/21/2008,Good Time except..... why on earth the Hotel continues to book rooms facing a major construction site is beyond me. Especially; when the resort is only half full??? We booked through Signature Vacations; and despite our prior request of NOT WANTING TO OVERLOOK A CONSTRUCTION SITE; we ended up facing a construction site. We managed to change rooms; but it was a major inconvenience. Our experience with the front desk staff; who were rude and condescending while requesting our room change; was almost enough to ruin the entire image of this Hotel. However; we got another room and all was exceptionally good for the rest of the week. Here is our summary:THE VERY GOOD: Beach and Ocean. Clean; white sand; and clear blue water....very nice. Pool and Pool bar. Japanese A la Carte. Lobby and piano Bar; awesome drinks and atmosphere.The GOOD: Our 2nd Room; very clean; no bugs; great service; although we tipped the maid $2/day; which helped. French A La Carte. Activites; Volleyball; Watersports; Aerobics; etc....Michael Jackson and Musical legends shows. The staff; except front desk staff.The Fair: Buffet; kinda repetitive and bland but pretty much what one expects from Buffet food. Drinks; aside from piano bar. Watered down later in the day; typically stronger before noon and at the pool bar.The Nasty: The village with shops within the resort; and the mall via free shuttle; big freakin rip off! The disgusting beach BBQ restaurant; which has a guy cutting fresh fruit all day but no cook for cooking fresh hamburgers and hot dogs??? Precooked beef sitting out in the heat attracting fies all day????..real appetizing. The bread; mostly tasted like it was baked a year and a half ago... The nightime entertainment other than the shows listed above.The Ugly: The front desk staff and the Italian A La CarteIn summary; we'd go back but do beware; it is a big big resort so be prepared for lots of walking; although they do have a trolley if you wish to not walk. Also; calling cards bought in Canada dont appear to work down there.
478252,hali2cuba2008,05/20/2008,Beautiful Resort - Just Not for Me My Fiance I traveled to the Bahia on a one week vacation from May 3 to the 10th. I want to start by saying that we were very apprehensive about the size of this resort. It is indeed very large. I will suggest if you are a person who likes a smaller resort and a more intimate feel this isn't for you. HOWEVER - If you want a small feeling resort in the midst of a huge resort then book the Premiere section. A little hidden gem at the resort. However; the beach is still a tram ride away and you will have to go through the resort to get there.Now this being said the trams run all the time and are very functional. I was well aware of the lay out of the resort after 1 day. It isn't a hard resort to get around - it is just large. I am a small resort person so not getting that personal touch of knowing all the people at the resort and them remembering you. You definately aren't going to have this feeling at this resort. Now on to the positive aspects of this resort. Well that is everything. The resort is beautiful; the grounds are beautiful and the al la cartes that I went to ( Medetarian; Japanese Italian) are all very good. The buffet was good - by far the best is the Saturday night gala buffet - I much prefer the beach restaurant for breakfast. The eggs at the buffet were undercooked everytime I asked for an omelet. My own fault - I should have insisted on it being cooked longer.Service - well everytime I asked for something it was brought right away. Now this being said we had to call front desk everyday to have our fridge filled up. But in all honesty it didn't matter. I called and would speak to the most friendliest person on the resort by far and he had housekeeping at our door within 5 mins. NOW - they do have some issues with organizational skills - keep this in mind. Our first night they called our room at 1 am to see if we were in it. Obviously they just didn't know who was in what room. This I think needs work but in all honesty if you saw the people coming and going everyday you would be like me and cut them a break.Beach - The beach is nice. The water is warm and has all the beautiful colors you see in the magazines. I will state that I much prefer the beaches of Cuba. Just mostly personal preference and the lack of the huge crowds. Chairs - as this seems to be a huge thing with tourists. We never had an issue finding them. I will state if you are looking for shade you might want to hit the beach before 10 am. But if you can tolerate sitting in the sun for an hour or so they do become available in the shade as the early risers are ready to retreat around 1 pm when the sun is the highest.People - I found in all circumstances that the men were friendly. I however didn't meet one woman who smiled or acted in one bit happy to see you. I know I hate putting on negative comments so don't blast me. I wanted to give a very truthful review and this is it. Excursion - Buggy tourIf you are a person up for a muddy adventure this is for you. 65.00 a person and you are gone for about 6 hrs. You spend roundly 3.5 hrs in your buggy. then you stop at a cave for a swim and do some very un orthodox horseback riding. I say this as it isn't your usual trail ride. I was able to have my horse go full tilt and run back and forth to my fiance when he was trailing behind. Airport - uneventful coming in - and the best entrance to any country I ever had - zero security hagglesLeaving - OMG what a terrible experience. I will leave it at that.Will I go back? Not likely. It is way too Americanized for me. Saying this I mean it has lost its identity as a seperate country. The people are very aggressive and don't mind asking you to tip them for selling you things. Too pushy for my liking and I don't like the whole bartering aspect and unmarked items. Just a personal preference.Therefore - If you are a person who wants to stay on the resort and not move - GO it is great.
478252,dwarfs,05/19/2008,LOVED IT!! We stayed from May 9th -16th 2008. There are 2 hotels that are just alike gran bahia principe punta cana and the Bavaro.Thw weather there was excellent. Nice and warm and the humidity wasnt bad at all. We always use Apple Vacations for our travel they have always done a excellent job. We have been to Mexico 5 times and decided to try a new area and very glad we did. We traveled with a group of 8. No one got sick.O.k. I could go on and on.Food:buffets were good could find something to always eat. But after a week it seems to get old. Al A Carte we booked the BBQ it was average; Gormet (french rest) was very good. The Italian it was very good as well. We were not able to book the steak house due to lack of space. Beach Pools:THere are very nice. Pools are keeped very clean. Swim up Bars are excellent!!!!Rooms:We seen no bugs in our room. The rooms are very nice and kept very clean. We stayed in 20112. Ceck in was very fast and easy My friend was put in the 2nd floor and due to a recent hip replacement needed to change her room to a first level floor. Was not a problem they fixed the problem in 10 minutes.Staff: Was very friendly and kind. We never had to wait for nothing the service was very good. Iris in the main buffet is the BEST!Tours:We went to Santo damingo was nice but a 4 hour bus ride there plus the 4 hour trip back was not worth the trip.Saona Island- very nice and fun!Safari Outback- our tour guide was Eddie. Very nice trip got to see how the people live there.buffet they severed was the best food we ate on the trip! And they served lots of drinks!!!!!I have read many Bad reviews on this hotel that were getting me worried before we went on vacaction. But some people would complain if they were hung with a new rope. Remember you are on VACATION ENJOY IT!!!!
478252,Gary1326,05/19/2008,Great Resort - Did'nt Want to Leave Beach Looking South
478252,PaulNicki,05/19/2008,Excellent Just got back from a 2 week stay at the Bahia what can I say!! The holiday was fantastic as was the hotel all of the staff. Me my partner stayed in Amber which is adults only; this complex had it's own pool our apartment was a stones throw from the pool/beach lobby bar. The beach was out of this world; plenty of beds but get out early if you want shade. Many different restaurants to choose from; you had a choice of 3 A La Carte restaurants a week; Mexican; seafood; Italian; Gourmet plus many more. ALL DELICIOUS!! The hotel was beautiful enormous but there was a tram that ran continually throughout the day. In the room we had a lovelly four poster bed; large bathroom with a seperate shower jacuzzi bath; a mini bar that was always topped up by the maid a coffee perculator so you could have fresh coffee when u woke up. All of the staff did a blinding job were very friendly; happy all of the time very appreciative with the odd tip here there. Do not believe any of the bad comments; because honestly our only problem was with the tour operator; Thomsons. Me my partner paid extra to fly premium; and we were not sat together for a whole 8/9 hrs which was very upsetting towards the end of the holiday we spent around an hour trying to find out what time the coach was picking us up on our departure; this was of no fault of the hotel purely Thomsons. TIPS TO OFFER - Buy Some insect repellant as I got bitten quite a few times.Try the Coco loco banana mama cocktails - LUSHKeep applying sunscreen as gets very hot during the dayIf it rains; don't panic; it only lasts a short whileENJOY; ENJOY; ENJOY
478252,kcup,05/19/2008,Better tha fine Hi; I've been in BP May first week; its pretty much as most of the comments you can read here; (good food; nice place; etc) so I just wanna talk about what I didnt find in the reviews.Have read before comments saying Dominicans were rude; but I found you just have to smile; they don't wanna like you just because you tip them; of course that could be a plus; but if you dont smile them SINCE the beginning forget about it; it doesn't matter how much tip you them; they will be rude or ignore you; for me it looks kind of a pride issue; wich is fine and positive; doesnt matter you have more money than them; they just wanna see you smile; as they do.The show at the Pueblo Principe was pretty fun and amusing; if you don't have a dance partner you can sit near the dance floor; there are entertainers who'll invite you to dance; don't be shy; they are very nice and quite good dancers. After an hour the show is done; so every body heads to the disco; and that's another story.The disco pretty sucks (did somebody say it before?) it smells; is small; they just open for 2 and a half hours and try along to fulfill all ages dance music tastes; they start with some Bee Gees and 70's; go through 80's; (miss the 90's;) and finish with lots of regaeton; no salsa at all; a bit of merengue and a bit of bachata; so here's a tip for the women traveling alone: don't stay in this resort; I felt kind of trap here; if you wanna go outside and try other discos it must to be taking a cab ($15 each way); I didn't feel safe to go by my own; so I went with a couple of guys I met; we didn't became friends; so it was kind of uncomfortable all the way back. The discos Outside; I just try Mangu; if you are in your 20ies it could be fun; I'm not so it wasnt; that's also why I recommend to go to the resorts wich are closer to the bavaro town; you'll be able to try other discos outside more than once; you can see in this map:http://i31.tinypic.com/oq93px.jpgstay til the Punta Cana Princess to the south side; indeed into the Punta Cana Princess is located Areito; another disco I have heard positive comments but didn't try this time; so THAT'S ONLY if you are traveling alone and are interested into the night life; if not; it doesn't really matter.As you should read before; the beach is just amazing; no towel game at the time I was there; guess it depends of the season; have been told at the main pool it wasn't the same; but in the others ones I found a place anytime.For Watter sports I highly recommend Scuba Caribe; they are not longer in Bahia Principe beach side; so you can find them at Riu's wich is just aside (see the map again please). I did scuba diving and even I got terrible sick once in open water (Tip: take dramamine half hour before) they were so much kind (thanks Hamlet!); I'll defiantly repeat the scuba next time.Hope this can help you; have a nice trip!
478252,Muriel803,05/18/2008,Great trip! My husband and I stayed for 1 week in May - and we loved it!We went with Sunwing (booked through Expedia) and they couldn't have been more organized. The plane was a half hour early leaving Toronto. When we arrived we were immediately met by a Sunwing representative and put on a bus. We were given our room assignments and keys on the bus - so no waiting to check in at the hotel lobby. The staff were all very helpful and polite. Initially we were placed in a room facing the construction area - in the morning we went to the front desk and requested a move which was done right away.The rooms are quite large with a king size bed; sitting area and balcony. The bathrooms are modern and lots of hot water.Everything was extremely clean and well organized. We had a room overlooking the pool. The beach is amazing; and we could always find 2 chairs and shade (both on the beach and by the pool). Our check out was later in the day; so we stored our luggage and they have complementary showers in one of the main washrooms to freshen up before the flight.The resort is large (as people have commented on) but walking it is perfectly fine - even from one end to the other - for healthy people. For others (and us sometimes when we were tired) the little bus comes very frequently. I had read there were issues with bugs; but we didn't find that.We went out on the hobie cat about four times; which was fun.The food was okay - not fantastic - but not terrible - I think average. Certainly plentiful; presented nicely and very clean areas. I think it is difficult to serve great food for so many people anywhere. We loved the Grill a la carte restaurant. Don't get me wrong - there were good items at the buffet - but I wouldn't say outstanding.Overall; we had a fantastic time and were sad to leave.
478252,AreWeThereYet2008,05/14/2008,Not a Worry Free Vacation I am a mother of a 7 year old and 13 year old boys. My 13 year old is in the International Hospital in Bavaro with my husband. My son has gotten a bacterial infection from the hotel and is on an IV as I type and is receiving treatment. I am here at the resort with my 7 year old son waiting for them to come back to the resort; after 2 sleepless nights. I had plans to call my husband at 9 o'clock in the evening to find out how our son is doing and hopped on one of the resorts shuttle buses to make it back to our room. I informed the driver that I would like him to stop at villa 26. He responded si. Even though I sat right behind him he did not stop but proceeded to travel to the end of the long road. He went to the end of the road and stopped. It was my 7 yr old and I with this driver. I asked him why he did not stop and he motioned he would on the way back. I assumed he forgot. He ducked down; as not to be seen; and ate and drank. We were there for what seemed to be an eternity. I HAD MISSED MY WINDOW TO CALL ABOUT MY SON!!! I was upset and my 7 yr old looked worried. Another bus finally arrived and he began to move again. I asked him to stop at villa 26 and he replied no comprende. I was now very worried. I asked him to STOP; he replied no comprende. He did not stop till he was back at the front of the hotel. We are talking about a 15 minute trip. I went to talk to the manager on call and he did not seem concerned till I was visually upset and the other vacationers noticed. Then they became eager to accomodate. BUT... the bus with driver continued. I asked them to call the driver back....they DID NOT. The angrier I got and the more frustrated I got...only then did they begin to listen. I waited till his bus came by again and took a picture of him with my digital camera. I WILL BE POSTING IT WHEN I RETURN HOME!!! No upgrade or special treatment will take away a mothers worry for her son she was with and the other one in the hospital. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE for anyone traveling with young children for many reasons. Since this whole ordeal I have also found out that the police will not come to the hotel. Problems are to be resolved on the hotel. I asked 6 different employees for the telephone number and none new the number of the police. Maybe I should have tried 911. Thank you for listening and this has been a way for me to gather my thoughts and vent. While writting my review I have discovered what I will ask this hotel to do. I will ask them to drive me to the hospital. it's about 35 minutes away. I wonder how accomodating they will be when it does not involve a suite upgrade. When they really have to go out of their way. Please feel free to contact me if you would like more details.
478252,travelbugz2006,05/13/2008,The Good; The Bad and The Minor Inconveniences Walkway towards Theater
478252,Howsitgoin,05/13/2008,Do not listen to the negative reviews !!! I am really disappointed with all the negative reviews and for those people who maybe didn't go to this resort as a result. Please remember that these are the same people who walk around nit-picking at anything and everything throughout their entire life. A holiday is what you make of it and this resort is fantastic. The rooms are very clean; the grounds are immaculate; the people are very friendly and a heartfelt buenos dias or hola is appreciated. The buffet food is basic; yes; but there is plenty of variety and there is something for everyone. The a-la-carte restaurants are actually really good and the staff is very attentive. The people who complain about the staff are the ones who treat them as servants. Give respect; get respect. We talked to a lot of the staff and they are the warmest and nicest in the Carribean. Please consider this resort; you won't regret it !!! Shame on the negative reviewers !!! HINTS: bring little gifts; not only for the maids; but random acts of kindness to the gardeners and pool staff will be very appreciated and will make you feel good too. Bring an insulated mug; it keeps your drink cooler longer and you are saving the environment from all those plastic cups. Wear your sunscreen at all times during the day !!! Finally ... Relax; grab a cocktail and HAVE FUN !!!!!
478252,domtra,05/11/2008,Best Trip EVER! Beach
478252,vouzoukos,05/09/2008,absolutely recommend it! My husband and I arrived a few hours ago from a one week's stay at the Bahia Principe Bavaro. (May 2 - 9;2008)The service; facilities and staff were excellent.We highly recommend it. The buffet had an abundance of various foods which would cater to a number of food restricted individuals (I am vegetarian andmy husband has gluten restrictions). There a re several a la carte retaurants (Japanese; French;Brasilian; Gril Cafe;Mediterranean) which is a nice change from going tothe buffet ever day. The beach is endless.Overall; a fantastic vacation getaway!
478252,canblue,05/08/2008,Best Holiday Yet! The Main Lobby
478252,Samie8,05/07/2008,Lovely place but... Really Big My Fiance and I - age 31 26 just returned fromteh Gran Bahia Principe - Bavaro. Our stay was from April 24 - May 1st.Over all we had a fantastic time. But this resort if huge. We stayed in RM 24105 which is close to the beach and I was still having a hard time finding my room on the last day of our vacation. It isn't the kind of resort that you can run back to your room to grab something you need. Running back to your rooms means jumping on a tram and going for a 15 -20 minutes ride.Check in - Fast and Easy.Golden vs Normal - we purchased the golden package. What that truly means is 4 a la carte dinners vs 3; tons of beach towels vs. Towel Card; a room close to the beach vs close to the main lobbies and buffet; access to 3 pool vs 2; Housecoats and slippers. If I were to do it again it wouldn't purchase the Golden package. Being closer to the beach means further away from the buffet. Food - Good enough. We always foudn something yummy.Beach - really nice. Busy - but you can always find a chair.Pool - well kept. There is 3 pools so your should always be able to find a chair.Shopping - Pueblo Principe is the shopping area. My advice - go into the stores and check out the pricing on items. You can't bargain with the stores. Then if you want to go bargain with the vendors go ahead. The vendors start their pricing 3 x what the stores are asking. So it might be cheaper just to purchase what you are looking for from the store if the vendor won't lower their price.Rooms - really nice. Maid service was great. Needed an iron and that arrived in 5 mins. Had an Alarm clock in our room. It didn't work and I asked for a replacement that never arrived. No bugs or anything. We did have a ground floor room.Entertainment - Okay. The shows were kinda boring so we didn't attend many.Activites - their wasn't much to do on the resort so we went and did a bunch of excursions.Swimming with the dolphins - a lot of fun but you only get to swin with the Dolphin for 10 minutes. That is located in a zoo. So after you can go see all the Animals.Half Day.Dunbugee - Boring. They just drive around the streets. I wouldn't do that again. Half day.Bavaro Runner Tour - great tour. You go horseback riding; then to a ranch farm; then lunch; then cigar factory then sugar cane field then a different beach. Its a full day tour but you get to learn a lot about the Domincan.Speed Boats and snokeling - this was the best one. You drive a speed boat about 15 mintues to a platform in the middle of the ocean to go snorkeling on a coral reef for an hour then you drive the the boat back. Half day but great experience.I would go back to Punta Cana again but I look for a smaller resort. This resort was really busy and big. I prefer something a little smaller.
478252,milehitraveller,05/07/2008,Punta Cana is beautiful! My husband; kids (13 and 11 yrs.) and myself stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe for a week at the end of April. We chose to upgrade to the Golden package; hoping to get an ocean view room. We were in building 6 on the Punta Cana side. There are very few ocean view rooms at this resort; the buildings are basically one behind another鈥e could not see or hear the ocean from our room. The beach is very beautiful with soft; white sand. The waves are fun and manageable. My kids loved the boogie boards and parasailing. We didn鈥檛 have any trouble finding shade on the beach regardless of the time of day. We were disappointed that the beach bar closed at 5:00 PM each day. The pool bar closes at 5:30 PM. If you want a drink after 5:30 you have to go to the lobby bar which is a 10-minute walk. Not very convenient for all-inclusive. The bartenders are fun but the drinks are a little light; not a problem if you tell them mucho tequila!Rooms are nice; not luxurious but comfortable. The showers are interesting. There is a glass wall from the top of the tub to the ceiling; but it only goes about a third of the way down the length of the tub. After my daughter stepped out onto a very wet floor and slipped; we put a wash cloth at the end of the glass partition and also on the wall side to trap the water. We found the beds to be OK; but there is definitely not a pillow top mattress as the web site promises. Our room was cleaned thoroughly each day; furniture is moved away from the walls and the floors were scrubbed. Please remember to be generous with the housekeeping staff; they work extremely hard to keep the rooms looking nice. We loved the fresh flowers and towel art. We were on the ground floor and didn鈥檛 see any unwanted visitors (ants; roaches鈥?.Food is good鈥ach day we ate at the buffet for breakfast and lunch. The main buffet near the lobby offers many more breakfast and lunch choices than the other buffets that are more convenient to the beach. We ate at the Caf茅 French; the Grill; the Japanese; and the Mediterranean. Our Golden representative told us the buffet; the French and the Japanese restaurants on the Punta Cana and the Bavaro sides were the same. All of our meals we tasty; but I do have to warn you鈥t the Japanese restaurant; as the chef was preparing our meal in front of us; a roach scurried around the counter top. He pretended not to notice; but the 10 of us around the table noticed! I couldn鈥檛 help but think where there is one there are many! Each of the restaurants we went to were nearly empty; I鈥檓 not sure why it is difficult to get a 7:00 reservation as opposed to an 8:30. We had both; arrived early for the 8:30 and were seated right away with many tables available. Be prepared for a leisurely dinner at the ala cartes; it takes about 2 hours from start to finish.We went to 3 shows; The Lion King; Michael Jackson and Sexes vs. each other. The Lion King was good; younger kids would enjoy this show. Michael Jackson show was fun to watch. The Men vs. Women show was pretty lame. I was sorry to miss the international show; but do to our ala carte reservation time; we couldn鈥檛 make it.We golfed at the Punta Cana golf course; which is next door. It is very expensive and the course is not in very good shape. We made our tee time through the Golden Club and were told it would be $145. per adult; $45 for kids. When were arrived at the golf course; the kids were each $75. Ouch! If I had it to do again; I would look into a different course.One last note; this is a very poor area. We took toys and school supplies for the children. If you choose to do this; get in touch with Mike at mike@mikesmarina.info or [--]. Mike came by the resort to pick up our donations. Very simple and very worthwhile.We enjoyed our first visit to the Dominican Republic. Punta Cana is a beautiful place; I would love to go back some day鈥ut not to the Gran Bahia Principe. Next time we will try a different resort.
478252,cljms,05/06/2008,Good resort but watch your belongings My husband and I just came back from the Gran Bahia Principe. This was our 6th time in the caribbean. Been to Cuba 3 times; Punta Cana twice and the Mayan Riviera once. In a nutshell; good resort. Beautiful!! Beach is far from resort; however; the tram is always available to take you. For a 5 star hotel; I was suprised that some of the things like safety deposit box; and the banana boat were not included. We had to pay $35 for the box. Not a big deal deal but at 3 and 4 star hotels we have been to had the box included.Don't leave your belongings on the beach or by the pool. My husband had his sandals taken; his prescription sunglasses taken and I had a beach towel from home taken; on 3 separate occasions.The food is excellent; the service was good too. Good variety.The beach is....heavenly!!!! Miles of white sand and turquoise water. You can't ask for better.Pools are nice too. Kept very clean.There are vendors on the beach; about 45 min walk on the beach or you can take a boat taxi for about $5 per person. You must barter with them cause they will try and get more form you. The vendors are very aggresive so be prepared. They also want a lot of money for their goods so you really have to be firm and bring them down to what you are willing to pay. A neat experience though!! There are plenty of vendors right on the hotel property also in the courtyard so you really don't have to leave the resort if you prefer not to.The rooms were kept very clean. The maids really like little gifts from us. Things like cosmetics; toothbrushes and paste; and candy. They like anything really.Overall; a great time!! Beautiful place!! Aside from having our things taken; we had a good time; ate well; had great beach time. We would go back.
478252,Constable82,05/06/2008,Great hotel.. ideal for gorup travel I traveled with a group of approximatley 35 people from Toronto through Sunwing Vacations from April 26-May 3 2008 for a wedding.We arrived at the airport and found our bus. Check in was done on the bus to speed things up. First order of business once we got there; purchase the safe! It's very easy to use; and unlike many resorts doesn't require a physical key but rather a combination you pick.The resort itself is beautiful. The grounds are in immaculate condition. The lobby is spotless; as are the restaurants. The rooms are great. We had one queen size plus one full size couch; that didn't pull out but still by all accounts; was very comfortable. Maid service was excellent. One day I requested mucho cerveza por favor; which I didn't get- a quick call to room service rectified that. The pools were spectacular. 3 swim up bars in total. One for regular guests; one for diamond and club hacienda principe guests; plus one party pool located right at the beach. All three seemed to be very clean and fun places to be. This is VERY important. If you are getting a slushie drink ( daiquiri; margarita or the like) not all bar tenders automatically put rum in them at the pool and beach bars. Some do; some don't. Just ask for a daiquiri with rum and you're golden. John; my favourite bar tender for the week would actually just give the bottle for you to mix your own and then reply I love you my friend.The beach was very good; but not great. It's very weedy. I'd rather take weeds than rocks and what not; but it's still very weedy. The sand is gorgeous;clean; and white.The restaurants were very good as well. I ate at a mix of the A'La Cartes and the buffet. I ate at the Mexico restaurant and while I didn't find it as good as the Bahia Prinicpe San Jaun's Mexican restraint; it was still quite good.The french restaurant was very good as well. I had the steak. It was a good cut of meat and cooked to my liking.The buffet was also good. Good selection; 2 cooking stations; a full pasta bar with a variety of sauce. The omelette's although I only saw breakfast twice as I'm not really a morning fan were incredible.My only issue was the bacon seemed to be a bit of a rarity. There is definitely something for everyone; even the pickiest eaters.The beach snackbar was where I ate many meals. Good food; good selection; great location. The pizza is great and can only be found at the snack bar and lunch; although is available on the buffet at dinner.At 11pm; Puelbo Principe ( Principe Town) is where all the of the festivities relocate too. The karaokee bar was a ton of fun and the disco is good; but the music is the same night in; night out. At the karaokee bar the musical seleciton isn't the best and one night we were there they gave us a book that many; many songs that weren't in the computer.The burger point is where the 24 hour all inclusive comes into play. I had a cheese burger; ham sandwhich; and hot dog at various points throughout the week; they were all quite good.To those people who complain about being on the Bavaro side as opposed to the Punta Cana side- grow up. They are the same. A mirror image of one and other.I was there for a wedding which seemed to go off without a hitch from my vantage point. The wedding planners there seem to take care of most things.Also; to the people who complain about the distance from the lobby to the beach- it's an 8 minute lesiurly stroll. Exercise would do a lot of people good down there. I was in the furtherest vila from the beach; #39 and found it an enjoyable walk. For those who are not well enough to walk; there is regular tram service right up until 3am.All in all; I highly recomend this resort to others. It's good for a wedding; get away with friends; a week away for a couple and it seemed like a great place for families.I'll be back to the Gran Bahia Principe eventually; but I plan on trying the Riu ( located next door; first)
478252,Leforge,05/05/2008,A good time! Just got back from an excellent week with friends at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. The purpose of the trip was a wedding and some fun in the sun and the Gran Bahia delivered on both counts. We travelled with SunWing out of Toronto and I was impressed with both SunWing flights (if not the flight times). The Gran Bahia itself is a large resort (as mentioned in previous reviews) but the transit system is very efficient and moving around from place to place was never a problem. Our villa was quite nice although it overlooked a construction site. The beach area and pools were very good as well and kept clean which was nice. The all inclusive drinks were pretty good and some familiar brands ARE included; you just have to ask (Tanqueray Gin; Smirnoff Vodka etc.). The beer supplied in the villa mini bar was Brahma and it was pretty good; the beer on tap (Presidente??) wasn't the best and perhaps some beer variety would be nice; especially for Canadians beer connoisseurs! The Heineken I had at the airport was my favorite of the trip. The food was simply OK but really can't be classified as 5 star on any scale. The French restaurant came the closest to a fine dining experience and even then there were inefficiencies... very small shrimp in the shrimp cocktail and an OK but not great steak. The house wine included; contrary to previous reviews; is actually not too bad and is certainly drinkable. If you want; bring a bottle of your favourite wine with you and they will cork it and serve it to you!! I also visited the Mexican and Beach BBQ a la carte's and they were both fine. The buffet was pretty good as well but the beach snack bar was a bit sketchy; ditto the overnight snack bar. The wedding itself went off with out a hitch; and by all accounts the bride and groom were pleased with the service. I also took in an optional snorkeling expedition which was well worth the money spent. The service from the maids; wait staff and bartenders was superb throughout the trip. The karaoke bar and the disco were both enjoyed by our group. I enjoyed the karaoke bar in particular but was annoyed when several songs I chose out of their book were not available. If you say you have a song; then you should have it! Instead I heard several repeat songs throughout the week that I strongly believe were dictated by the hosts personal taste (Billy Jean for instance!... yuck). The casino was small but those in our group that visited seemed to enjoy it. I was also impressed with the internet cafe and was happy to check in on the hockey scores etc. back home. One more little rant; with the number of Canadians visiting the resort the Gran Bahia should have at least ONE Canadian Television channel available on the dial. It was nearly impossible to get hockey scores without going online (ESPN's Spanish feed gives every score in the world except NHL). Obviously; no one comes to the DR to watch TV but including CBC or CTV would allow Canadian guests to get a quick update and then get out to the beach!! All in all; I had a wonderful week at The Gran Bahia Bavaro with an awesome group of friends and would recommend it as a very good all-inclusive option in Punta Cana.
478252,steve0158,05/05/2008,For the price....................PERFECT!!! I will start by saying i was born; raised and live in NYC and i travel at least once a year. The reason i am saying this is because living here i know food that is good...People kept telling me i would drive myself crazy reading other people's reviews; and i should of listened; i went to this place with a knot in my stomach waiting for the aweful to start; and guess what? It never did!!!This place is truly amazing; any picture i found of this place on the internet does not do it justice in comparison to seeing it in person. The grounds are immaculate and BIG; very big. There are 3 pools; the 1 by the beach seemed to be most crowded and have the most kids as it was by the beach ; the one in the middle seemed the most quite and the one furthest from the beach seemed to house the drinkers and partiers. one day during the trip their was about 8 drunken Canadian messes screaming and pouring drinks in the pool; but they were at the other pool the next day so it was no big deal. All in all the grounds are spectacular.The room was great; the bathroom all marble and the balcony had a view of the quiet pool and the garden. The maids do get annoying with the fresh flowers; every day when they clean the room you get flowers on your bed and in the bathroom; obviously it's not that big of a deal. Also; none of the bathrooms throughout the resort had exhaust fans; strange. Obviously when taking a shower it got rather steamy. The mini bar was great; beer; soda and water everyday; even if we didn't drink it we'd hide it so the fridge would get restocked; we wound up leaving 6 beers and a bunch of sodas; but they were there if we wanted them.The food at the buffets was better than the sit down dinners. Although the sit down dinners offer a nice ambiance; the food is better at the buffets. We chose French; the garden grill and japanese. At the grill i had the mixed grill; it was good; no fireworks went off but it was good. At the french i had some shrimp rice dish also good and the japanese place although had the best view it was the saltiest food i've ever eating; but the experience was cool as it is a very nice place...There were so many complaints i was concerned about that i read on reviews that i would like to address some of them. The food stinks; it's a buffet; the food is as good as it is going to get which i think was very good. Each morning they had an omelette; pancake and crepe station making them fresh; plus a variety of fresh fruits; breads; cakes; cereals etc etc... what more can you ask for? For lunch you had so many choices of different buffets to eat at; italian; grill; fish; whatever you wanted was available.The free wine stinks...i thought the red was good; it was dry and nice tasting; i didn't try the white though.workers are nasty ; in the 7 days there; i did not meet one rude person and i talk to everyone; even the groundskeepers offered a friendly HOLA!no one speaks english - YOU ARE IN A SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRY; WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? actually surprisingly with my limited spanish and their limited english we got along quite well.With that being said; i highly recommend this resort; i really don't have anything bad to say about it...ONE MORE PIECE OF ADVICE...................TIP!!! These people work their butts off and to see people walking away from the table without leaving so much as a red cent is a shame regardless of tips being included... a couple of bucks goes a long way..i left $3 for breakfast ; $5 for lunch and buffets and $10 for sit down dinners....go out with some singles...
478252,lboyle8,05/04/2008,Not a dissappointment/But not the best I've had. WARNING: AIRPORT IS A RIP OFF! Travelled the week of April 25th to May 2nd. Please be advised that if I seem picky on some issues; I've travelled to a Sandals resort; and nothing compares so far.The Good: Italian; Mexican; and Japanese Restaurants AMAZING! Refilled glasses before they were empty; allowed my husband and father to both try cooking on the big grills; showing them how to do it. Quiet/Nice rooms; nice buildings. The beach is amazing; all the pools are amazing. Lobby is very nice and a good place to sit and relax. Trolley service is amazing; as it is a big resort. Drinks were good. Service from the people who spoke english was amazing. We travelled with our son who is 7 months old and got the best service and treatment for him. Everyone awknowledged he was around; and at every restaurant there was a high chair waiting for him.The So-So: Main buffet was good; however very repeatative. Service from those who spoke NO english. The maids and some of the restaurant servers spoke no english and it was hard to understand and sometimes frusterating for both parties. The snack bar at the beach was okay; but again variety of food was just so so. Entertainment was so so; put it this way I was tired while watching one of the shows and we left; if it was a good show I would have stayed and watched it. Becareful tipping the maid too much; as they will expect it every day; and if you choose to not do it one day you may get no re fill for the mini bar....haha!The Bad: The Brazillian; and the Dominican restaurants. The food was good; however; the service was not. Again the lack of english speaking servers was terrible. They took our drinks while we were still drinking them. Awful service at these places. Other than that it was a great holiday. We took many tours and they were all great. We got asked questions mid week about out stay and if there was anything they could do to help; we asked for some things and they were granted right away. We complained about a restuarant and given another a la carte.I would have to say that the language barrier was most of the problem; and we made a suggestion that those not being able to speak english should be offered either a french or english spekaing course; this would be easier for both parties.We also travelled with 22 people; 17 adults; 3 kids; and 2 infants. Occomodations were very good; and we were well looked after; my aunt with her 1 child was in a separte building from her other 2 children (in their own room); when asked to move they accomodated us.Would I go again to Dominican = NO......Would I go again to a Gran Bahia Principe = YES......Oh and 1 last thing; watch that at the airport check in they don't stand on the scale when weighing you're luggage. I caught the man standing on my scale. Apparently I was 8 kg. over....20lbs. I wasn't over going down with all the water and infant food I had to bring but I was 20 pounds over coming back with no baby food; or water. I think NOT! I asked them to re check and made sure that the luggage bags were turned to that I could see his legs as well..........and behold I wasn't over any longer....HAHA!I WILL BE SPEAKING WITH AIR TRANSAT/NOLITOURS REGARDING THIS MATTER. THEY SHOULD HAVE A CANADIAN REPRESENTATIVE THERE AT ALL TIMES.
478252,enigmari,05/04/2008,Good value; but mediocre Am a seasoned Caribbean traveler; so please keep that in mind when reading my review. Was disappointed when our luggage was delivered to the Bavaro lobby and was told we had to check in at the smaller one. Also was embarrassed when refused entry to certain restaurants and events because we were not Bavaro guests; but Principe guests. We were not aware there was a distinction. In fact; there are three classes of service. ROOMS were great; they are all-suites; and for the most part; were kept exceptionally clean. FOOD was disappointing. A big problem we found was that when eating at the buffets; the food was not hot enough for us. By the time you sat down to eat; everything was lukewarm. The themed restaurants were another disappointment; other than the Gourmet restaurant -- it was excellent! POOL area was beautiful; had to get chairs very early however. Although; there were three other pools that were not as crowded; so I guess it depends on the villa you were staying in. BEACH was beautiful; but packed every day. SAND was gorgeous - and you never even needed beach shoes. Distinctive shipwreck off the coast; plenty of beach activity. STAFF could have been more courteous and attentive. Did not get the feel that they were happy to serve us; although there were a few exceptions. SHUTTLES were fun; although we were apprehensive at first. It is a large property and the shuttles run often; so you are rarely waiting for a ride to the beach (we were in a villa closer to the lobby and pool area). ROACHES - several were spotted in the lobby one morning. Again; keep in mind that we are seasoned travelers. The members of our group that had never been to the Caribbean were very happy with almost everything - the temperature of the food being the exception. There is definite value here; just go with an open mind.
478252,Tiffany1982,05/03/2008,Wonderful week at the Gran Bahia My boyfriend and I stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe April 17-24th 2008. We have traveled to Mexico the last 3 years in a row and wanted to try something new.... After reading many reviews I must admit I had mixed signals as to what to expect at this hotel as I always check trip advisor before I travel - This hotel seemed to have many disappointed people. . . NOT US!We flew through AIR TRANSAT.. I would not recommend this airline! Seats are crowded; not many TV's and food is beyond lacking!!! Try and book through West Jet if you can.Check in was smooth and painless... I think my only complaint was having to pay $32 dollars US for the use of a safe in our room. We have never had to pay to use a safe.. (only if we ruined/lost the keys or access to it.) The room was spotless .. we had a great location too - right in front of the Diamond Pool. We tipped our maid a couple American dollars a day and she always made sure we had fresh towels; fresh flowers; and one day a bathtub full of bubbles with colored balloons and flowers!Resort is very large.. as many others have mentioned; and they seem to get lost very easily. What you have to understand is that when having other sections/rankings to this hotel; there are only certain pools/buffets and restaurants you may use. IF you can read a map and can make the information session with your travel rep you should not have any problems understanding what you may or may not access... It took me less then 1 day to understand that there is 1 road that runs through the middle of the resort .. if you go one way you hit the Punta Cana/Bavaro lobbies; this is where you would find your buffet dinners.. if you went the other way you would eventually hit the beach... Furthermore the trams/buses that run through the resort are very speedy and fast way to get to one end or another. Please note that many people say that they have nearly been run over by these buses... this is because they were walking on the roadway for the buses... WHAT these people need to realize is there is a pedestrian walk way running parallel to this road AND if you take the pedestrian walk way you will not have to fight with the buses.Food is not bad at all... a lot of selections. Also it seems better then anything we've ever experienced in Mexico. We ate at 4 ala carte restaurants while here. The first was the French/Paris restaurant - we ate the steak and lobster.. my boyfriend enjoyed this; I however don't like Caribean lobster and foreign meat so it didn't work so well for me. The second was the Japanese restaurant - I eat alot of sushi at home in Canada and am always weary about eating this type of food out of the country but I would recommend this 100%. It is an experience; where you sit in front of a big grill and a sous chief cooks different meats; rice; and veggies in front of you. The food was filling and very good. The third was the Dominican; I would tell you not to waist your time here; not a very big selection; bugs are bitting at you; and it was plain empty when we went! The fourth was the Garden Grill... I read previous reviews saying they didn't care for this .. I enjoyed it! The meat (beef) seemed to be the best here.Beach is amazing...water is warm; very blue/green; a little rough at times; but I enjoy a little wave here and there. Only complaints I have is people do go out at the crack of dawn to reserve seats.. There were mornings that I made it out at 6am or 6:30 and some of the prime locations were already taken!!! What time are these people getting up at? The only other thing I noticed here was that there seemed to be an awful lot of people on the beach during the day. Way more then I can remember in Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. . AS many ALWAYS say a trip is what you make of it... if your looking for faults you will find them; like any other place. No where is perfect unless you are spending a hefty amount of money. We never had any issues with overbooking (thank god); and luckily we were upgraded to the Diamond club at no extra fee. This includes the use of a private pool in the middle of the resort and 20 minutes daily of free internet use. Lastly the drinks are good; and plentiful.. my favorite was Mimosas.. This is champange with orange juice.. My boyfriend enjoyed the pina colada's and dark rum....Also remember to BARGIN when you are purchasing things.. you can always get what you want for ATLEAST 50% off.. everything is inflated.. for instance I bought a carved stone of a naked woman.. the man asked for $65 originally .. WE GOT HIM DOWN to $15.00! WHAT A SAVINGS; don't be afraid to stand firm on what you want to pay.. they will give in..
478252,EddieLondonEngland,05/02/2008,Not Good This was our fourth trip to the Dom Rep; having previously stayed in Riu and Iberostar hotels which we consider to be much better. This hotel is vast; some might say too big and is still expanding. The apartments are set out in attractive gardens giving the impression of a town rather then a hotel. Our apartment was about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the reception/bar areas. Cars pulling tailers ferry people to and from the reception area from other parts of the complex. Beware; if it rains during the evening you will get very wet when going to eat or drink. We found the food to be below the standard you would expect and the choice very limited. It was often served up cold. The snack bars around the beach area had a very limited menu and did not change thoughout our two week stay. The main buffets were situated on the other side of the complex in the reception; if you were on the beach this involved a lot of hassle so people mainly eat in the snack bars during the day. The room was ok but not as clean as we would expect; often when we returned in the late afternoon we found the towels had not been replaced we would then phone and wait anything up to an hour for clean ones. During the evenings entertainment consided of a singer/pianist in the lobby bars; again the same music every night. Each night they had a show in the theatre which ran for an hour. These were put on by the entertaiment team and consisted mainly of dance routines. The big downside for us was the seating. Most of the chairs were set out like a cinema; very few tables; the drinks were served in small plastic throw away cups. Not conducive to a social evening out. The beach is great;; flat white sand and very long. The European habit of saving sun beds with towels has caught on and if you arrive on the beach later then 8am you may have problems finding one. Compared to other hotels we have been to in the Dominican Republic the overall consensus of our party of four was one of disapointment..
478252,dwacomp,05/01/2008,A roll of the dice... Like many others; I have a long story rife with problems; but I will keep this short.The place is beautiful; big and clean. But the problem is the service. We got bumped to another hotel for our first night. That was a huge hassle of course. Despite our protests; we had no say in the matter.The a-la-carte restaurants are supposedly always all booked up. DON'T BELIEVE IT. I never saw any of those restaurants more than 50% full. The resort management just wants to steer you to the buffet because it is cheaper for them. For example; we showed up to Le Gourmet about 30 minutes prior to our reservation. The place was mostly empty. The maitre'd pointed out that we we early and actually said our table may not be ready yet (we were a party of 4). Like I said; the place was empty! She sat us down of course; but I hope you get the idea.If you don't have the problems I had; and you may not; I think you will enjoy your vacation. However; beware that it is a roll of the dice...
478252,springrusher,04/30/2008,Stayed from April 19-26 our room villa 33
478252,Southy69,04/30/2008,The Beer really sucked The Good:Clean rooms (but see below)Nice beachNice PoolAwesome Service -Very friendly helpfulNice CasinoNice landscapeSmoker friendlyCans of average beer stocked in the rooms (but see below)24 hour food serviceUsed filter water in all food preparationGreat fruitsAwesome TomatoesThe Bad:CrowdedCockroach or similar bugs in the roomGenerally bad food (disgusting hamburgers greasy meats)Lots of depressing europeans (most of them smoke non-stop)Horrible beer served in flimsy leeching plastic cups. The excellent El Presidente is $4 U.S. but you can get it for $1.50 off the resort.Toxic hard liquor (whiskey flavored vodka made in D.R.)Loud music ruins the beachTransport diesel smell wafts into you roomReally stupid showsToo far away from a town to buy stuff at regular prices or get a bite to eat
478252,Grigri35,04/30/2008,Best Vacation Ever! Food; service; location; activities; room service; etc. everything was so perfect! We had a gorgious time. It is like a little town; but nothing is very far. There is a little trolley that brings you to any restaurants you wish. It is a paradise!
478252,SLB38,04/29/2008,Warning My freind got married at this hotel and whilst the wedding went well; I was bumped to another hotel three days prior to my arrival even though I was best man at the wedding. To add insult; my wife and I had to pay a day fee of US$75 each to attend my friends wedding where I was best man!The hotel grossly overbook their hotel and we were told by a member of staff that the priority is for clients who booked through First Choice; anyone booking by expedia were effectively second class citizens and automatically tansfered elsewhere; and in most cases to three star accomodation.We also met other couples who were bumped into other hotels and at our reckoning in the week we were there over 100 people had been transfered to other locations. This included another wedding party. The situation was so bad that there were posters at the venue asking people if they wanted to move into other hotels; with offers of up to $300 for people to do this.I would seriously consider staying somewhere else and would strongly urge you to plan your wedding elsewhere.
478252,houchie,04/28/2008,Five Star - Not!! Returned on April 27; 2008Not very impressed. This was not a five star hotel. The ocean at the beach had lots of seaweed floating around. We had cockroaches in our room. The entertainment was pretty sad. Bacon was only available 2 mornings out of the 7 (what 5 star runs out of bacon?) There are alot better places than this; and I don't understand why it is rated so high. Save your money and go to a different hotel.Cockroach hater.
478252,martinsjt,04/28/2008,Great entertainment Beach Pool - Pinacolada!!!
478252,49ersrule,04/27/2008,Wonderful Experience the beach
478252,Katya125,04/25/2008,great trip lobby bar
478252,RoamstheWorld,04/24/2008,Punta Cana's OK but we won't go back Off-shore shipwreck
478252,sillytwilley,04/24/2008,Great hotel.Just what we expected. Shops on the beach
478252,mtklein,04/23/2008,Absolutely breathtaking This is a very late review. I just want to say it has been one of the best memories of my life. The ocean was fabulous; clear and blue. The hotel was very clean; rooms were large and nicely kept. Pools were well maintained and amazing. I would recommend and have recommended this hotel to everyone I know. Food and drinks are abundant and there were many things to choose. The sand was something I have never seen before; it was so soft like powder. Entertainment was pretty good.My one and only complaint was that there was broken glass burried beneath the sand at the volleyball net. Two people were sent for stitches on different occasions. This was not the fault of the hotel and they made sure to block of the area and four big wigs came to check it out. After that it was routinely checked.I would still go back tomorrow if I could; don't hesitate to stay here; you'll never regret it.
478252,DanielFrancisco,04/22/2008,Just Bad Luck??? I was on vacation with my wife in bahia principle between November 12 and November 20; 2007 and can say that was one of the worst experiences we had as tourists. The beach is spectacular; and food 5 *; but for the rest; without words. It all started in the evening when we reached to the room; the employee left the bag in the room and not accepted 1 euro tip; claiming that it had no value (i only had notes of 100 dollares). On the same night the first sign appeared; a cockroach in the bathroom; which i killed without saying anything to my wife. On the following morning appears a new cockroach on top of one of the bags with about 5 cm that i kill. After these events; i talk with reception and tehy informed us that they were spraying the room; but this has not happened. The day passed with a spectacular beach and a pool very pleasant. When reached the night before our trip to the island saona (which I have only one word-spectacular); new adventure; as were 4 of the morning when my wife went to the bathroom and suddenly appears one more cockroach on the wall with some 7 cm; yjat i tried to kill it but not succeed. I drag the closet; when appears another cockroach near of the wardrobe. This was limit; i think to myself that i took vacation with my wife and not with a family of cockroaches. i call to the reception but no one appears after 1 hour; then i walk throught the reception about 6am and explain the situation to the boy that told me there is nothing he could do because the manager is found just at 8am;i want to leave a comment but he said that they dont have paper and pen???? that was the limit. After one amazing day on isla saona; we arrived to the hotel; and a new adventure; as I go directly to the reception and talks with the manager which was very attentive. after i explain the situation he told us that couldn麓t do anything because the hotel was full and asked why not ask before. Man; on this time i was DINAMITE and i explained that the employee who attended us in the morning says that haven麓t paper or pens to wrote a message . After this explanation and my wife in panic bagging to change; the manager give us a new room. Without knowing what would be happening in the following days; when we wnt into the new room there are no towells in the bath and no ropes but as knew that the room was not yet ready its ok. The day after we went to one more day at the beach but for our surprise; when we reached by 5pm we had no towels in the bathroom again. i Talk with the housekeeper and she explained to us that the service in this room was lower (the other room has golden serv) as such these rooms were the latest to receive towels. I dont believe in that i have heard. there are 6pm when we receive only 2 of towels. The day after new episode; they had put towels in the bathroom were old and were torn.On next day we had left by mistake ou mobile phone on the table of the room and it was stolen. i TALK with the housekeeper but she swore that she had not seen anything. To worse the situation; we went into the room about 5 pm; and there are no towels again.Was the limit; i went directly to the carrier SOLTOUR (travel agency for which hire the holidays); i explain the situation to the lady but shewas very rude ; thats reach my nerves; i exploded and i spoke everything that i had to talk; five minutes later i have 6 towels on my room. i tried to talk about the stolen mobile but tthe lady ignores me.Because me and my wife are people with heart; after thinking in the housekeeper dropping tears all over her face when i confrontated her about the stolen phone and telling us that she would be target of a crime process; we decided not presenting any complaint.This was not the end of the story lol ( not so funny one those days); because the day after during the night we went to gift shop and we were poorly attended by the lady and gave us sacks with holes;lol; unbelieveble.lol. in the same night were 10.50 pm and in the lobby bar they refused to serve us a drink saying that the bar was closed when closes only at 11pm. It is incredible what happened and the way it happened.. After this experience ;Bahia Principe has been excluded from my list; FOR EVER...
478252,mcoco,04/21/2008,loved the Bahia Principe Bavero:) I just want to start off by saying i have been to dominican 6 times to punta cana and 1 to puerto Plata and i do not wanna go anywhere else but Punta Cana i went to bahia from april 13 to the 20 leaving from toronto with sky service the plane ride was a bit tight but managed for 4 hours.ARRIVE- we arrived in Punta Cana at 10:30am and its perfect clear blue sky day i was a little worried because before i left i was checking the weather on the internet and its said rain so do not believe what that says.When we arrived at the bahia principe we where welcomed by a dominican lady with a cold drink and the theme bahia song check in was done on the bus so that was good we didn't have to check in at the lobby ROOMS- the rooms where big and spacious its was a perfect room to spend a week in the bed was comfortable and always had the maid do i good job with bringing us what we needed.we did tip the maid $1 a day so that also comes a long way FOOD- breakfast was always good with eggs; toast; crepes; pancakes; doughnuts fresh fruit mmmmmmmmm its was great;-lunch i skipped i ate to much for breakfest but everyone else who came enjoyed it - For Dinner we where only suppose to book 3 a la carte but managed to get 6 just go to guest services and ask that doesn't hurti enjoyed the Italian; le gourmet; garden grill; mediterraneo and japanese loved those all i also went to the brazilian and didn't care for that one because i am not much of a meat lover so i found there was to much meat but if you like meat go there.ENTERTAINMENT- the entertainment staff was great every time i got to dominican i never have a problem with the staff there always so friendly and nice and always want you to have a great time they try to get you so involved with them.GROUNDS- The grounds are always kept so clean and nice and they really take care of it.POOL- the pool is so beautiful and big i just lied there all day and dipped myself in the water to get cooled off BEACH- the beach is beautiful clear blue water white sandy beaches what more can you ask for.WEATHER- Blue clear sky and so hot and sunny durning the dayand night very humid and hot OVERALL- my experience at Bahia was a perfect vacation for all 6 of us i would highly recommend this resort to everyone.Who ever complains about this resort should not go on vacation dominican people work very hard to make your stay a good one and if you let the little things bother you stay home. ENJOY :)
478252,proudnewf,04/21/2008,punta canada;newfies pool
478252,virginia1683,04/20/2008,very dissapointed; got bumped to another hotel! My husband and I booked a package through expedia for air and hotel. Our flight there through delta was a 4 hour delay . we were supposed to arrive in punta cana at 12:30 and didn't arive at the hotel until 5:30 p.m. We were tired and anxious to get our room and start our vacation. upon check-in we were approached by the manager who told us to have a seat in the chair in the lobby. As we went to sit down I noticed that someone had vommited in the ashtray and on the chairs and floor where she told us to sit;Gross! we stepped in it and had to smell it for hours. So she asked us to take a seat at another chair and I told her we had along delay and was sick of sitting. She insisted that we needed to take a seat . I asked If she had bad news.She proceeded to tell us that they overbooked and did not have a room for us.I told her that we booked our room through expedia 8 months ago and we had a confirmed reservation. I asked why they gave our room away. No answer. she said that we could stay at another hotel for 2 days which was over 30 min. away; then come back for the rest of our stay; or we could stay at the other hotel for the week. I told her that we had stayed at the other hotel before and if we wanted to stay there again we would have booked it. I told her we did not like the hotel they were offering and asked if there was any other hotel we could stay at? they said no; that is your only choice.I said basically your telling us we have no choice right? We ended up transferring to the other resort. after the long and aggravating trip we decided we did not want to go back and have to repack and deal with their incompetant staff . so we decided to stay and make the best our our stay. We had a problem with the first room at the resort so we had to change rooms; we did not get our second room until 10:00 p.m. We were up from 4:00 a.m. quite exausted . Gran bahia said they would comp us $50 a day if we stayed at the other resort. They sent somebody from their resort to meet all of the other couples that also got bumped . there were about 6 other couples that also booked through expedia; coincidence? NOT. He pulled out a wad of $100's and then told us that we had to sign a waiver stating that we agreed to everything and bahia or expedia were not responsible. What a scam they have going. We stayed for the week at the Excellence with some issues Food was not good . and my husband got sick with a realay bad stomache for a couple days . Don't know if it was the bad food or water or the vommit we stepped in at the gran bahia. all in all we were not happy campers.
478252,TravelerColumbusOH,04/20/2008,About what we expected We had a group of 4 adults who traveled to the resort from April 11-18. We had preveiously booked at the Eden H but changed to this resort at the last minute due to all the bad reviews about Eden H. We stayed at the Palladium in Riveria Maya twice and knew generally what to expect from a large all-inclusive resort. I also confess to being a compulsive Trip Advisor reader; and that helped me know what to expect about the size of the resort and the accomodations. I would say that it was what we expected- the hotel is beautiful - I liked all the Dominican art in the lobbies and resturants. The grounds are absolutely perfect and there are workers working all hours pruning and watering. Our room was better than what we had at the Palladium - all rooms are junior suites and very large and nicely appointed. We were in building 8 top floor - no bugs and no noise. Very pleasant. Our room was cleaned well every day. My only complaint was that they did not always stock our fridge with beer - one day I even left a note in Spanish requesting more; but no beer. We knew about paying for the safe in advance; so that was not a shock. We did have an ongoing issue with our room keys not working and had to have them re-programmed a few times. I did not find that it was difficult to get around - the trams ran constantly; but mostly we walked. The beach was amazing. We got there between 7- 9 am and were always able to find 4 chairs in the shade. We spent one day at the pool but preferred the beach becasue the breeze was so much more comfortable there. We liked the beach very much as you could walk forever down it - in Mexico you were hindered by rocks or other barriers. We were able to walk down to the vendor area on the beach. They are very pushy. We also thought that the food was decent and sometimes quite good. It was not as good as at the other all-inclusive but it is hard to know if that is this resort or just the DR in general. However; we always found something that we liked to eat. There are a lot of Europeans at the resort and again - we were sure that they were not trying to appeal to just Americans. We ate breakfast many days at the sit-down resutrant by the beach because that was closest to our room. The breakfast at the main buffet had a lot more; but we mostly ate light in the morning anyway. We ate lunch at the beach resturant every day. Once you knew what to get; it was great. The chicken is great and so I had chicken; rice and beans and fruit and salad every day there. All delicious. Plus they have Heinz catsup there in packets if you cannot stand whatever catsup they serve there. French fries and pizza very good as well (skip the tuna pizza).We drank mostly beer but also had some margaritas and rum and coke. All fine. The DR beer is very good. Don't be afraid of it. We booked the a la carte resturants when we got there - Italian; Japanese and The Garden Grille. Those were the ones that seemed to get the best reviews. Actually; I thought that the Grille would be the best but that was my least favorite. I think that the beef there is just so much below the quality that we are used to in the US that no matter what they do to it - it will seem poor. We had steaks; and they were not good and very overcooked. We also ordered some kind of cheesecake and other cake at the Grille and they were horrible. Had the griled tuna at the Italian restaurant and again - very overcooked but better than steak. I also loved the selection of appetizers at the Italian resturant. The Japanese was our favorite - we liked the chicken the best (the chef cooks you everything at the table - rice; veggies; chicken; beef; fish and shirmp - beef was very tough). We thought that the red wine (tinto) was good but agree that the white wine was not what we are used to. Tasted very bad but after I drank three glasses one night - it started to taste better. Service at the a la cartes was good. Also; the atmosphere at all resturants was very nice. We went on one trip - the Outback Safari- which was recomended by our Apple tour guide. It was well worth it. We got to see the real DR and visited a house; coffee plantation; cigar maker; etc. Our tour guide Franklin was fantastic - had to speak both English and French to our bus and did a great job. We learned a lot. They do not want you to bring things to hand out to the kids; but look at the Outback Safari website in advance about how you can help. You can bring things and they will hand them out. Try the Dominican champagne- sprite and rum that they mix on the bus. We also had to go to the hospital because my husband got an ear infection. That was an experience. The resort only has some mild antibiotics; so if you need something more when you get sick - bring them with you or you will have to go to the hospital. However; they did fix him up with an iv of something that we had never heard of here but it did help. The doctors at the resort spoke English well; but the people at the hospital did not. We did not go to any shows except for the Michael Jackson show - it was fun but corny. We also had an occassional issue with all the smoking in the lobby - we were on the Punta Cana side- maybe it was worse becaue more Euopeans there? We did not try the Bravaro side. However; the lobby is open air so most of the time it is not noticeable. We had a good trip and would recomend this resort to others. I would give it a 4.5 but there is not a box for that. I think they try to make the trip as pleasant as possible; but they are not perfect. I did witness people making a fuss over nothing. There are apparently different cultural norms in the DR and Europe. Recognize that and go with the flow. Enjoy.
478252,Beach4Us,04/18/2008,Excellent Value My wife; daughter and I (30;1 36) stayed at the Punta Cana side from April 1-9. This was our 6th trip to the Dominican Republic and 3rd trip to Punta Cana. We also have traveled extensively throughout the Caribeen so we have a lot of resorts to compare. Previously in Punta Cana we stayed at the Paradisus and RIU Palace. We e-mailed in advance for a room request and to inform them that we are repeating guests (we stayed at BP Tulum in Mexico last year). In short; this resort exceeded all our expectations after reading all the negative reviews lately. We booked with Apple Vacations while in the U.S. We met our Apple Rep right outside customs and he took us directly to our mini-bus. We were the only ones on board and it took us approximately 1/2 hour to get to the resort. Check in was a breeze and we got upgraded to Club Royal Golden room 7312 (building 7 floor 3 room 12) because we were repeat customers. The room was on the top floor and very close to the beach. We requested a top floor room with a crib near the beach and pool and that is exactly what we got. If you don鈥檛 like your room; got to the reception and they will change your room the following morning when somebody else checks out. The room was very clean; the bed was comfortable and the maid cleaned the room 2 times daily. She provided excellent service so we tipped her $2 a day and never had to ask her to restock the fridge or towels. She kept the room very neat and always left us a present like rum; fresh fruits; coffee and turn down service every night. We also had slippers; robes; beach towels and a free safe thanks to the upgrade. The grounds are very clean and well maintained with manicured lawns and clean sidewalks. There are numerous people who are employed just to clean and keep the lobby pristine. There are 3 pools; the main one near the beach; a smaller quite pool half way to the lobby and club Diamond pool for members only. All of them are nice but the towel game is in full effect here. Because we traveled with a baby we opted to spend more time near the smaller pool in the middle of the resort. You have to claim your space by 7 AM to get a spot under a palapa or in the share; if you are a late sleeper you will have a very difficult time finding some good real estate. There were always chairs available on the beach at any time of the day.Many people complained about the food how bad it was or inedible. I found the buffet to be above average and always found something good to eat for breakfast; lunch or dinner. Service was great; we were always escorted to a table then greeted by a friendly waiter. We never had to wait long for coffee or a drink. Yes sometimes it took a couple of minutes but relax your on vacation. The waiters worked long hours and make approximately $300 a month. I am thankful that I鈥檓 not in their shoes and always tipped for good service which was practically all the time. You will not go hungry here unless you are very picky. If you are very picky then you don鈥檛 belong at this resort. Pay three to five times more and stay at the Ritz. For the money we paid (less than $100 per person per day) the buffet was more than sufficient. Right after we checked in; we headed over to guest services to make our specialty restaurant reservations. If you stay a week you鈥檙e only supposed to get 3 reservations but we got lucky and received 4 with a smile. BBQ 鈥?Just average; right next to the beach and food is all off the BBQ.Italian 鈥?Average; the food way just OK and small portions; you can order more than one dish.Gourmet 鈥?Excellent; the filet mignon was very tasty and cooked to perfection.Japanese 鈥?Excellent; you go into a room with 10 other people and the chef cooks right in front of you your selection. Great service and order the deep fried ice cream for desert. The lobby had good alcohol included in the package. If you wanted super premium drinks then you had to pay extra. All the bars for that matter poured as much as you liked no questions asked. Great bartenders everywhere. Bring an insulated mug it will keep your drink cool during the day. The Pueblo Principe was right door which is a complex containing shops; the casino; disco; karaoke bar; vendors and outdoor stage.We didn鈥檛 go to any shows because the baby would go to sleep at the time they began. From what I heard; we didn鈥檛 miss much. There is tram service that runs most of the time from the lobby to the beach if you didn鈥檛 feel like walking.Unfortunately; my wife got an ear infection on the fifth day and we had to go to the medical clinic on site. BE WARNED; a visit was $90; a follow-up visit $60 and with medication we got a bill for over $400. So ask what the prices are before you go. We were lucky to have travel insurance so we will get reimbursed.In general; for the money this was an excellent resort. I really don鈥檛 understand all the negative complaints. Somebody falls into a gully because they aren鈥檛 looking or some other complainer whining about helicopters and it鈥檚 not the resorts fault! Some people love to complain about the smallest things.. We saw maybe 5 helicopters passing above for all of about 15 seconds each. DON鈥橳 stay at the Bavaro side; there is construction going on all day and I can why some people would have a bad experience from having a bad view and a lot of noise.Here you get more than what you pay for. We paid more than double at the Paradisus and didn鈥檛 receive the kind of service that we received here. The greatest asset of this resort is its staff; genuinely smiling and warm employees who care about your stay and try hard to please. I brought $100 in one dollar bills to tip for good service; do the same; you won鈥檛 miss it and the difference you鈥檒l make in the lives of the hard working employees will be great. I would definitely recommend this resort for a great vacation. I hope this helps鈥?
478252,wedgewoodPei,04/18/2008,Wonderful vacation We have just returned from this resort yesterday and had a one week stay (April 9-16/08). I had concerns with some of the negative reviews and was worried that maybe we had made a mistake booking this resort but was pleasantly surprised. Our entire trip was a fantastic experience and would definately recommend this resort to anyone and would return again with absolutely no hesitation.The resort is immaculate and the staff work very hard to maintain such an appearance. From the perfectly manicured property to the super clean rooms and everything in between; we were very pleased with our stay. We travelled with our 2 children (ages 11 15) and their only real complaint was that they would have enjoyed bringing a friend to hang out with. The resort is very; very large but you can take the little shuttle buses which come in very handy; esp. in the extreme heat.Take lots of sunblock with a high SPF; (such as 60 and up). We wore 45 thinking that we would be saved from sunburn; but were sadly mistaken when we had blisters by sundown on our first day.We had done 2 excursions; The Marinarium ( half day of snorkelling with stingrays sharks and sailing in catamaran) and The Outback Safari (which was a full day of travelling out in the country seeing real dominican life which was a real eye opener for our children). We thoroughly enjoyed both but the kids really loved the marinarium and our tour rep suggested it would be the most fun for our family. Thanks Ryan!!!! If anyone has any questions regarding this resort; please do not hesitate to contact me. I will give you any info that I can or any tips. Like I said; our trip was just fantastic all the way around. Enjoy!!!!!
478252,PingDrv00,04/18/2008,Gran Bahia Big Is Not Always Better We just returned from the Gran Bahia and I rarely do this but I wanted to add my thougths about the resort. When we arrived the hotel was quite Grand; and we were supposed to be booked at the Bavaro side; but once when we arrived to inquire about our room they shipped us back to the Punta Cana side of the resort with little explanation. As others have said and we found out too this resort consistently overbooks and we were close to getting shipped to another hotel. Our receptionist for a moment found us an upgrade room at the new section the Ambar. We thought that we were finally taken care of; but in a matter of moments we were told that room was busy and were now going to the Club Hacienda Diamond. This also has it's own pool and dining area; but if it was an upgrade were never explained what it offered. Overall the service in the restaurants was impeccable; and the food was the not as good as others such as the Rius. I did try to get a Diet Pepsi one morning though at one of the lobby bars and the bartender said no. Which is the first time that had ever happened at this type of resort. He said we don't open till 10am and on our watch it was clearly 10am but he pointed at his computer and said 6 minutes. I thought that was strange not like I was asking for the an alcoholic beverage. We also found that compared to other resorts that we have stayed at the facility is almost so large it is a chore to navigate. I myself would prefer a bit smaller hotel as others haved stated. Also the a la carte restaurants were booked so that we had very little selection of where we would be able to eat. We were unable to eat at the Japanese restuarant which everyone said was great. This is a nice resort; but based on some of the others that we have been to I think you could do better.
478252,Brenda41,04/17/2008,Paradise The Beach
478252,apauldds,04/16/2008,great getaway If you're planning a trip to this resort the first thing to keep in mind is that this is not a five star facility. Five star resorts don't have marble tiled bathrooms with cheap plastic tubs sunk in. Five star resorts don't introduce you to the maid at check in only to change them daily without notice. etc; etc. Five star resorts are also never this affordable. That being said; this is one of the best 3-31/2 star resorts I've ever stayed at and the price was fantastic. My wife and I and our 4 year old daughter stayed here 4/5-4/12 and had a wonderful vacation. Most of the negatives we experienced had to do with other guests. The place was full of French Canadians and Russians; many of whom seemed to have a total disregard for simple manners. I can't tell you how many times my daughter was almost trampled by people pushing and cutting into the buffet; tram; lobby; etc. Oh well; I guess this winter made these people miserable.The resort itself is beatiful and clean. The staff for the most part was friendly and helpful. Some advice:Like others have said; make restaurant reservations early.The club golden upgrade is well worth the extra couple of hundred bucks to be near the pools and beach.Learn a little Spanish. Bring as many supplies like sunscreen with you as the shops are a complete ripoff.The buffets have great food if you look for it. Be adventurous and try something new.Remember that life in the Caribbean moves at a leisurely pace. Don't get upset if your coffee doesn't arrive immediately when you sit down. Take a deep breath; remind yourself that you are on vacation; and enjoy the fabulous sunshine; soft breezes; immaculate pools and beaches; hilarious bartenders and the smug satisfaction that your friends are back home hating life.
478252,FRAVIV,04/15/2008,the markham family This is the bus that takes you around
478252,crazy4beaches0417,04/14/2008,Great Resort; just loved it! The beach
478252,NANCY08822,04/13/2008,OK; Vacation... Ok; so weeks before traveling; I did the same as you; I logged onto trip advisor to see what other travelers had to say. Just like you will; I read lots of good bad things; some of which concerned me and some of which did not. My family I travel quite often so we are very familiar with what to expect at these resorts; food; drinks; rooms; towels; service; etc...You鈥檒l always find something to complain about; so traveling with an open mind is key to having a Great time. Here is the short of it:1) Check in; we arrived around 4:30pm; check in was done in minutes; no waiting; no long lines. I must warn you; everyone gets a colored bracelet which id's the area in which you are staying what facilities you are allowed to use. This includes pools; bars; buffets; etc. Suggestion; avoid the hassle of being turned down; hang around the big pool by the beach; no one seems to care what color bracelet you have.2) Reservations; Upon check in; head directly to Public Relations book your reservations; you are only allowed 3 restaurants in total no matter what section you stay in or length of stay. A must try: Italian; Japanese Rodizio (most popular amongst travelers our favorites). Tip: if having difficulty with bookings; check daily cancellations; they don鈥檛 tell you this.3) Rooms; if you are given a suite near the high 30鈥檚; Beware! this in the heart of a very noisy construction zone (mountains of rocks; dirt; debris; dump trucks; sweaty men; dust covered patio table chairs you can literally taste the dust in the air) not pleasant at all.If you find that your room has a slight musty odor; don鈥檛 worry; this is mainly because the power in the room is off until you insert a key in the slot near the door which activates both the lights and air-conditioning. The odor will be gone before you know. Suggestion; bring a plug-in room air-freshner it helps.4) Food; ample; you will always find plenty; not always the best selections; but keep in mind you are not home. Food is always fresh and selections vary. Tip for those late sleepers; don鈥檛 expect bacon or sausage with your breakfast if you arrive past 10am; you will have to settle for cut-up hotdogs instead. Drinks; are mediocre; most stick with the beer.5) Pool/Beach Lounges; if you want to nice spot in the hot sun; no need to rush; if you want a combination of sun and shade; prepare to wake up at least by no later than 6am to reserve your spot.6) Daily activities: lots are held by the main pool; if you prefer it quieter and low-key I suggest you use one of the smaller pools located in the center of the resort. A handful of the play makers are very out-going fun; although most lacked personality and the friendly quality we鈥檝e grown accustomed to. Most importantly; they are not pushy which is nice if you are not in the mood.7) Night Life; this one is rather long. All in all; this was the worst entertainment I鈥檝e experienced in all my travels; definitely lacking structure. Let鈥檚 start with the shows; don鈥檛 get too upset if you miss a few or arrive late; shows definitely need work; they are somewhat entertaining; but lack audience participation and the high-energy you might have experienced at other resorts. Definitely catch the Lion King; it was one of their best. The kids show at the theatre runs 8:30 鈥?9pm; the main shows runs 9pm-11pm; simultaneously; there is a pianist or some type of musician at the lobby bar. At eleven both the Theatre and lobby shut down. Why they shut the lobby down; I have no idea; 11pm is way too early. So if you just want to hang out; talk and enjoy drinks; you can鈥檛 do it here; you鈥檒l have to head to the Pueblo Principe where they have Shops; Vendors; a Karaoke bar; a Casino; a show which runs until 12am a Nightclub that open at 12am. Vendors tend to be pushy; so browsing can be annoying stressful. The Pueblo Principe show just like the Theatre show is just ok; nothing special. Mostly; a band playing and some dancing nothing more. Beware; if you order drinks in the casino; you must pay cash as they are not included in the all-inclusive. The Karaoke bar is full of loud drunk teens; if that鈥檚 your thing; then you鈥檒l have a blast. As for the casino; not a gambler so can鈥檛 share much. Now for the Club which opens at midnight; if you are traveling with teens; ages 13 鈥?18; be prepared to have this damper your night life. There is absolutely nothing which caters to this age group. Young teens are not allowed in the club at all whatsoever. Some girls may make it in; but most do not; Boys; not a chance. If you are 18 bring along your passport; even if you are of age; you may be turned away just because you look too young. A license although it displays your picture and birthdate won鈥檛 cut it. If your thinking of paying your way in; forget it!!; it won鈥檛 happen. For those Adults traveling without children or teens; the liquor is flowing; so expect to see drunk; loud; abnoxious teens all over the resort to the wee hours of the morning. All in all this was a nice vacation; other than the night-life issue for our 15 year old son; we had a great time.
478252,ersoccermom,04/13/2008,Good Resort We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe from 4/1 - 4/8. We booked through BPUSA which is the resort's website. I had no problems booking; although I was booking two rooms and requested they be in same villa and they were not. This posed no problems however. I read reviews on Trip Advisor and was a bit concerned. If you have booked a trip and are worried based on reviews; don鈥檛 be. This is a huge resort and you are not going to get individualized attention but you should lack for nothing. We had to have a ground floor room due to my husband's recent ankle injury and I was worried about bugs; there were a few but not many and I have been to multiple Caribbean resorts and have had many more. The rooms are spacious and clean; maids did a nice job but you might want to leave a few dollars every day to get that extra attention.You will not go hungry. There are two buffets with decent food and quite a few of a la carts restaurants. Book your a la carts right away; they are the way to go. We dined at the Mexican; Mediterranean; Japanese and the Steakhouse and all were wonderful. The only problem I had with it is the time regulations involved in the restaurants. They open and close promptly at the stated times and when you are on vacation it is nice to have flexibility. Once you understand there are no variations on time you will do fine.The entertainment is fine. I enjoy participating in all the resorts have to offer and think this resort is a little slow paced for my very active family; albeit there may have been more going on and we were not aware of it due to the size of the resort.If you are thinking of booking this resort and have any difficulties with mobility I would suggest you look elsewhere. While I thought this resort was great; it is hard for those with any disabilities to move about. My husband broke his ankle a few weeks before our trip and thank heavens I rented him a knee scooter to get around; otherwise we would have been in a world of trouble. I hope this review is helpful to those who are booking or have already booked. It really is a lovely resort to stay.
478252,mt0r0nt0,04/12/2008,fantastic vacation even during the worst time of year Me and My boyfriend went to the bahia principe in Oct 2007. It was my first time going to the dominican and it won't be my last.This place blew me away! It was absolutly spotless. The hotel was beautiful. The check in went smooth. We were planning to upgrade to club dimond when we got there; but to our surprise they had already done that for us at no charge. We were thrilled; we had a room close to the beach. It was a little overwhelming at how big the resort was; but they have these buses that take you up and down the resort. Honestly we never had to wait more then a minute for one they're constantly going back and forth. The food was fantastic. The buffet was different every night; which was good cause you never got tired of the same stuff. We never got sick or even felt sick the whole time we were there. The staff was sooo nice. Given the language barrier they did their best to try and understand and help you. It rained a few days we were there but that didn't stop the entertainment at the beach or by the pools. The kept on dncing and singing and totally made us forget the rain. The beach is the best part. AMAZING!!!! that's all I can say. If your thinking about going to this resort go.... you won't be dissappointed no matter what anybody says. I'm definately going back there.
478252,cheribeth,04/10/2008,Great Resort our bath
478252,TheBrideH,04/10/2008,Fantastic Wedding We got married on 5th April; and the day was fantastic. Lots of champagne; beautiful flowers and glorious weather.In the main; we were very pleased with our holiday. However; just a few gripes.We were given the runaround with our wedding photos; service in the photo shop was atrocious. They were dishonest; rude and very mocking. No one took responsiblity for the mistakes; leading to us spending 5 hours in total over the last 48 hours returning to the shop to see if the photos had arrived! Very stressful.Despite booking the wedding party together on one booking; rooms were not together and two families did not have enough beds for their children for the entire two weeks; despite numerous attempts to resolve.As others have said; English language is pretty lacking at the resort and you sometimes have to let things go as you could be wasting your time being understood.Reception very slow and tried to double charge my father-in-law.Pool bar staff excellent and entertaining.Caribbean Festival trip was superb; sharks were amazing and we didn't lose any fingers or toes!Beach was stunning and the sea was warm and turquoise blue.
478252,MaureenSteve,04/10/2008,Great time!! Arrived in La Romana from Saint John NB. Long drive to the resort; about 2 hours. The roads were horrible and drivers were crazy. They took you through a few little towns on the way. Sad to see how the people live. Check in was easy and quick. We were repeat guest so we were upgraded to Club Diamond VIP. All that means is we got a free safe for the week. Rooms were fine. We had a king size bed. Jacuzzi tub. No bugs; no problems.We ate at the Mexican; restaurant not a fan. Not mch of a selection. And the food wasn't very good. Next was the Italian; not bad; but not as good as last year. Then the Brazillian; it was really good if you are a carnivor. Meat. meat and then some more meat; it was my favorite. And the last was the Garden Grill; it was really good too; for carnivores. Beach and Pools were great. Pool was always busy. We only went there is rinse the salt water off ourselves. Beach was clean; lots of chairs. But there were lots of ignorant people who would save chairs in the prime spots then not use them all day. ( I wanted to throw their towles in the pool or ocean.)Grounds were perfect. You would see the workers out all day fixing up the flower beds and tending to the lawns.Activities and Entertainment. We didn't watch any shows or participate in any of the stuff they were doing.Tours. We didn't do any of the overpriced tours that the Airline reps push on you this year. (we did the Marinarium last year and that was really good.). We did a snorkel excursion with the scuba rental place on the beach. (www.scubacaribe.com ) It was 31.00US; nothing fancy; nothing to eat or drink. No safety instructions. The boat operator stopped the boat over some reef; threw the anchor over and said Go. The water was rough; the current was strong; and the fish bit me when I gave them a roll that I stole from breakfast. My boyfriend had to rescue a lady that wasn't a strong swimmer and help her back to the boat. But I would do that trip again next year. It was cheap; you didn't have to drive for 2 hours to get to it; and didn't have to spend hours on a boat drinking and dancing like some of the other tours. All we wanted was to snorkel and that's all we did. It was great.Departure and Check Out were easy with no problems; had to pay for 2 phone calls. It cost 5.00 for about 4 mins to call from the room using the hotel operator. Conclusion it was a great trip; hopefully we will be back again next year
478252,slackmandu,04/10/2008,maybe 5 star; but service knocks it down a few stars Overall; its a nice hotel. Not a 5 star; but the food was better than average for a Carribean destination. The service leaves A LOT to be desired. They don't know; want to know; or CARE about any issues you have. When you approach anyone; they seem not to understand English. Don't get me wrong; I realize that I am in a foreign country and that they speak English better than I speak Spanish so I'm not knocking their intelligence. All I am saying is that if you cater to mostly English speaking tourists; have someone at the front desk that speaks English. Also; I called head office in Miami and they were of NO HELP WHATSOEVER.Bottom line; with this company; take what you get 'cause you are on your own.Some notes I wrote while I was there. People come to clean the beach regularly.Main (lobby) restaurant smells of sewage at all meals..Staff at the hotel are worst I've experienced on vacation (except maybe Mexico). They have no desire to be helpful. Pretend to not understand until you say the words in Spanish; then; they repeat what you want in perfect English. Exception; the Bartenders are pleasant. Strange; as I rarely saw them get tipped. for example:Waiter got our order screwed up at lunch one day (which is bound to happen; we were in a group of 16) and he made it seem like we were the ones who made the mistake. Instead of just fixing our order and getting what we wanted; he remained there trying to convince us it wasn't his fault (not that we made an issue of him getting it wrong; as I said; these things happen). We finally had to firmly tell him to just get our new order.Also; on checking in; we (all 16 of us) were given wrist bands. I noticed that 12 of us got one colour and 4 of us (my family) got a different colour. When I inquired as to why; we were given a confusing explanation as to why (to this day; I'm still not entirely sure what the colours mean) they led me to believe that certain colours can't go to certain pools(Again; it would be nice to have someone at the front desk that spoke english). Well; when we explained that we all needed to be together; and what was the use of all of us coming to the same resort at the same time if we couldn't stay together; this seemed like an issue. When it was clear that we would not back down; they FINALLY gave us the same colour wristband. But not before one of the staff at the desk insulted my wife by asking her well; what hotels have you worked at (implying that unless you work in the biz; you don't know anything....Also; funny how he was able to communicate that insult; but no other information; coherently).Drinks are INCREDIBLY WATERED DOWN!!! Very little alcohol content. You want real booze; buy it at duty free and bring it with you to the hotel.Head office is no help. Basically this whole company is geared to taking as much money from you as possible.One of the small but incredibly brilliant ideas is the use of towel cards. At the end of the day; you hand in your dirty towels and instead of getting clean towels (like I had to do at other resorts) and carrying them back to my room; they give out towel cards (like credit cards). Saves you from lugging towels around the resort.If your flight leaves after 12pm (noon) you can shower in the courtesy room before you leave . This is essentially a communal washroom with a shower.You could ask them for an extension to you checkout and they let you stay in your room (if available). This cost us $20 per hour. May seem petty; but they blare the music at the beachside restaurant and it sounds like the station is not tuned properly. Try hearing that for and hour every day while you're trying to eat.Maintenance leaves a lot to be desired. There is always something not working properly. A light in the restaurant here; a juice machine at this bar or that one; a clogged drain there. And the staff make no effort to get it fixed right away; but it does get fixed; so maybe they are busy/short staffed. It is a BIG resort.Safe is available; but for $35 a week. Can't remember when a 5 star hotel charged for use of a safe.The rooms were large and always clean. In our group; there was an 18 and an 17 year old and the cleaning staff even did a little organizing for them. The shower had a removable shower head (a Godsend when you have small kids) with good pressure and lots of hot water.That's it. All in all a nice holiday; but far from the perfect 5 star experience.
478252,Lori2808,04/09/2008,They make you wait 10 minutes hoping you will go away! We stayed at the Gran Bahia with a wedding party of 50. We found out after we checked into our room that we were upgraded because the hotel was overbooked. Sounds great....BUT; because of this upgrade we could not eat with any of our friends OR even sit at the same pool. The purpose of us being there was to be WITH friends at the wedding. The front desk absolutely refused to help us. When we asked to speak to a supervisor; they made us wait 10 minutes (on 3 separate occasions); only to tell us that they were following their supervisors instructions. They just wanted us to go away. Finally after the bride and groom joined us in our efforts to get put with the group; they relented however very rudely instructed us to move to another room. That is ALL we wanted in the first place and I don't know why it was so difficult. In the end; the weather was great and the facility was clean but we often felt like cattle being herded. They cater to the masses; not to individuals. I would not stay there again.
478252,chicam,04/08/2008,Trying to keep up with the crowd The resort is huge and there are obvious signs of problems caused by the size of the property and the number of people. When we were checking in (2 adults and 2 kids) the clerk at the reception told us that there are about 5000 people staying at the resort at the time !Obviously the management is failing to keep up with such crowd and there is definite lack of facilities. This was the first resort whenI see people turned down from making reservation at the spa because there were no availability. Our room which was requested in advance to be quite was instead right at the rear end of the theater and there were no way to change it to something quieter because resort was constantly overbooked. If you really into spending vacation at the very busy place then this place might be up to your taste. My wife said about the lobby that it looks more like a Chicago Union Station some years ago with howling noise; smoke everywhere; swarms of people with piles of luggage. But please be warned that this resort is not going to give you promised an expected to 5 or even 4 star service. For example try to enjoy your desert with the coffee or tea at the dinner and you will see that its quite impossible to accomplish.Apperantly; coffee and tee are only served for breakfast and desert is only served for dinner and of course you cant take any food from the buffet to the lobby and you cant take any drink from the lobby to the buffet !? And yeah; try to get some food from the beach snack shop 2 minutes before official opening time evenif the shop is open and some food is already there . Its not allowed by the rules of resort - this phrase was something new to me to hear at the all-inclusive in Dominican. Other than that; enjoy your vacation; dont mix a lot of mamajuana and sun and use spf50 sun lotion. Last thing; try to avoid first floor - tiny ants are little buggers.
478252,CanadaNeed2relax,04/08/2008,Return Visit--gets better each time I am a bit late in writing this review. It seems life hasn't slowed down long enough since our return to get it done.I have appreciated all the reviews I have read; and whether good or bad have learned something from everyones opinions. Here are my opinions of the resort; as well as my experiences.We were a group of nine that travelled in mid to late Feb. There were 4 adults; and 5 kids ranging in age from 9 to 17. For my husband; myself and our 3 kids aged 9-14 this was our second trip to this resort in just under a year. We were there at Easter in 2007. We loved it so much the first time that we jumped at an opportunity to go back with my brother and his wife and 2 kids. AIRPORT-- although the airport itself has nothing to do with the resort; the transfers do; so I thought I would give you a few quick observations. Our luggage was the last to come off the carousel; (thats what you get for being first at the airport in your departure city I guess) so by the time we got all our bags the airport was pretty empty. We opted to carry our bags out to our tourbus ourselves since we had them so nicely stacked on the carts. We were not bombarded by the guys asking to take our bags because we were so far behind everyone; so we just said no thank-you to the 1 or 2 guys that did try to help. That was a big mistake. We were unaware that you are not alowed to take the luggage carts out to the parking lot; so at the last second; as our bus was getting ready to take off; we were scrambling to carry our numerous bags out to the lot. A piece of advice--if you have more bags than you can comfortably handle; just let the guys take them for you and pay them a few bucks. It simplifies things so much. When we fianally got to the bus with our bags; it was like a feeding frenzy of people grabbing our bags and throwing them under into the storage compartment that we lost sight of our carry-ons; which then got thrown up onto a different truck to be transported to the resort because the storage compartment on the bus was full. We were scared we would never see them again; and the hotel rep on the bus warned us that we should never let our small bags like carry-ons be stored like that because they can go missing too easily. It was not our intention to ever let them out of our hands; but in the confusion stuff happens. I am happy to say though that all items made it safe and sound to our rooms.TRIP TO RESORT-- CHECK IN-- The ride went smoothly. It seemed like a much smoother ride than lastyear. Our check-in was done there on the bus. Be sure you have your passports; and confirmation letter with you on the ride; as you will need these things for the check-in procedure. A pen is helpful too. When we were given our package we were informed that we had been upgraded to Diamond becuase we were returning guests. We were given Diamond bracelets; but my brother and his family were given the golden bracelets. It didn't really make any difference as far as we could tell; because we were still in the golden villas; which is where we preferred to be. At this point we noticed that; although we were all put in the same villa; our rooms were not on the same floor. I had written the resort earlier and requested connecting rooms because of the kids. I understand it is not guaranteed; and is nothing more than a request. Lastyear we got exactly what we asked for; this year we did not get connecting rooms; and furthermore the rooms were not even on the same floor. A bit of a problem since I had only packed one of everything (like toothpaste; shampoo; contact solution etc) and because; quite frankly I was looking forward to spending some time with my husband on this trip........ Once we got to the resort; the moms headed straight to the golden reception to tried to work out the room situation and the dads and kids went to the rooms. The golden rep was extremely helpful. He wasn't able to get us the connecting rooms; but juggled around some people that had not yet arrived and managed to get us in rooms beside each other. It still wasn't ideal; but my husband stayed in one room with the boys; and my daughter and I stayed in the other room. It actually turned out ok; cuz I didn't have to listen to the old guy snore all night after having too much to drink...hahah. The golden rep also gave us our safe rental for free because we were returning guests. A nice perk again. At this time I tried to book our a'la cartes; but they only do bookings until 8 at night; and it was after this time. Then he informed me that they had made reservations for us already; and if they were not suitable then we coud come back in the morning and change them. I found this to be a nice added touch; and all but 1 of the reservations turned out to be just what we wanted. --- A side note regarding checking in and making reservations-- While we were in the DR my son celebrated a birthday. I mentioned this when I went to change the reservation for that night; and they took down his name and age etc. When we went to supper on the evening of his b-day they had a cake for him; and a bottle of champaign for the adults. The staff all came and sang to him in spanish. It was a lot of fun; and made the day very memorable. Later in the lobby bar; they announced his b-day and the piano guy sang to him again. Lots of fun and laughs were had that night. ROOMS-- The rooms were good. I don't find them overly nice. The usual wear and tear; but it is to be expected in a resort that is as busy as this one. We were on the main floor. Last time we had no problems with this; but this year we had a lot of bugs in the room. I would guess it is because it was a different time of year; but whatever the reason it was a quick fix. I just stuffed a towel under the door at bedtime. The centipedes in the bathroom were numerous; and all we could figure was they were coming out of the wall under the sink. They werent too bothersome as they liked to stay where it was damp; like against the shower on the floor; or up against the toilet. If I wasn't so afraid of insects I probably wouldn't have noticed them at all. But I quickly realized that if I just left them alone; they would do the same. The maid we had was not nearly as efficient as the made we had lastyear. She was slower; and did just the bare minimum.(hence the pile of dead centipedes that never got cleaned up once). The maid my brother and his wife had on the second floor however was great; and left nothing undone. We all had the nice towel art daily. If we never had Jessica the year before; that did an amazing job; right down to filing our tub with water and roses; I probably wouldn't have thought this maid was sub-par.....we just got spoiled the first time around. Yes we did have an issue with getting face cloths. LOL...I have now determined it is not a resort issue; but possibly an issue with the particular maid. Maybe if she doesn't use face coths herself she just doesn't think about it. My brother had face cloths everyday; and they were just upstairs.....we got them only once; and that was on request. Not a big deal though; we just used a hand towel. It worked fine. Certainly nothing that is going to change my life. The rooms in the golden section offer 24 hr room service. I did not personally order anything besides the nachos this year; (brought our own salsa and had a pre dinner snack several nights) but I did notice the menu has expanded by a few items. Thats always a plus.THE GROUNDS-- Okay I just have to say; I think my biggest pet peeve is when I read in reviews that people complain about how big the resort is. Did these people not research this resort at all??The resort has several hundred rooms...what did you expect??So if you are just reading reviews to see if you want to go to this resort be fore- warned --IT IS A BIG RESORT ! Now having said that...I really don't think it is that big...lol. If you take the time to look at the map you will find that it is easy to navigate; and although it is big; 90% of places that you will ever need to go are right off the main central pathway. Also; another point is that when you go to a destination where there isn't a lot to do off the resort ; isn't it nice to have places to go and explore or walk around on the resort?? Just a thought... We were nearest the beach; and the lobby is at the opposite end of the resort. We walked back and forth all the time; and it never took more than 10 mins..probably less. There is a tram that runs down the main pathway. You never wait more that a minute or 2 for one to come by. If you want to walk there are sidewalks (please use them!!) When the trams pass by each other on the road; there are mere inches between the cars. The roadway is made for the trams..not pedestrians. More times than you can imagine the trams have to poke along because someone has decided to stroll along the road instead of the sidewalk...haha. The grounds themselves are beautifully kept; and they are being manicured constantly. It is amazing to me that these people seem to work through the night to keep things nice. I have even witnessed them painting the outside of buildings or fences in the dark.BEACH--POOL-- ok the main reason we went back!! It is gorgeous. Not much else to say. This year I found it to be less crowded; even though the resort was sold out. I'm not sure if it is because people now stretch down all the way to the Ambar section; but we never had a problem finding seats. The first day we went out early to play the towel game like we did the year before. We soon realized there wasn't really a need. I'm not sure if it was just a different crowd or what the story was; but finding a good seat at the beach; even for 9 of us just wasn't a problem this time. The pool was a bit different; but seriously even at 9 am we could find seats there too. You may not have found the ideal spot; but if you waited people did seem to move from beach to pool and back. (and surprisingly they didn't hoard seats) The staff on the beach seemed to work endlessy. They walk back and forth all day in long pants cleaning up cups and cig. butts. These were the guys that we tipped most frequently; and were most appreciative of the tips. They were always smiling; and would go out of their way to help you with moving chairs; or finding buckets to use in the sand etc. The rental shop seemed better organised this year; and we were glad to see new boogie boards. Last year; they were in horrible shape; and were falling apart; with sharp edges exposed. The ladies that work there still seem to have some odd way of determinig who they want to wait on. Seems if you are friendly they figure they can ignore you....the squeaky wheel gets the grease I guess. One could stand there for half an hour and be looked over for the guy behind you that yells out his requirements........still baffles me. The staff at the pool bars is by far the most lively and fun. They are great at taking cues from you. If you are looking to have fun they can make the day a constant laugh fest; and even with the language barrier they make you feel like long lost family. But if you just want quiet and relaxation; they are more than happy to accomodate that too. I really want to go back with a person that can translate; because I find the people so much fun and interesting I wish we could understand each other better. We copied the translation lists off another travel website; and took them with us everywhere. When they see that you are trying to make an effort to communicate; they go out of their way to try to help you learn the language.FOOD-- I left this for the last for a reason. I just don't think the food is all that great. If you are going on a holiday for awesome food; then honestly this place is not for you. If you are a light eater; or an adventerous eater; you will have a better time here. Breakfasts are ok. Bacon is not done all that well; sausages are pretty much raw....or at least raw looking; I never actually ate one so it is hard for me to judge. Eggs are scrambled mostly and wet. If you go to the main buffet for breakfast you can go to the omlete bar; and it is much better. If all you want for breakfast is toast; pancakes fruit; muffins and juice; then you will enjoy it. Honestly I can't complain too much...that is what I eat at home.Lunches I enjoyed at the pool bbq. There was always something to eat. Chicken is aways A good bet. Their chicken is good and plentiful. I thouroughly enjoy the fresh made pizzas; and again lots of fruit. Try the fresh fuit cocktail that is at the pool bbq; it is the best you will have. It was deffinitely not as good this time around; but I am guessing it is because the fruit was not in season.Suppers at the buffet are hit and miss; but you can always find something; if not; there is always the pasta bar. I know some people don't feel they should have to settle for finding something that is good..it should all be good. However remember you are in a different country and they have different recipes. Even the ketchup tastes different to us; and it is impotrted from USA. The heinz here in Canada tastes different. The a'la cartes were better this time than lastyear. We went to the japanese; Italian; steak house and mexican and honestly enjoyed each of them; where as lastyear they were just ok.All in all I think that the resort has improved from one year to the next; however it didn't seem as spectacular to us the second time around. I think it is because nothing was left as a surprise. When we first got back I thought that even though it was nice; I wouldn't want to go back. It was a nice place; but at the time it seemed as though it had gone down hill. But now; 2 months later; and after reliving it through this review; I realize it actually had more to offer overall the second time.If you are booked into this resort I honestly think you will have an awesome time. Do your homework. Learn your way around; and don't look for things to complain about; those can be found anywhere. If given the chance; I would return here without hesitation.Can2
478252,MichiganSquirrel,04/07/2008,Had a great trip! We stayed from Friday March 27th through April 4th; 2008. Our group of eight from Michigan; USA had no idea what to expect from this resort. We read reviews; of course; but opinions are just opinions. We started off on the wrong foot with the front desk sending us to the Bavarro side; and then the Bavarro side sending us back; but all was worked out in the end. My wife and I had a main floor suite in building 29. We liked the location as we were a little closer to the beach etc... but still near the middle of the resort. We would recommend a room on one of the upper floors as tile floors make for added noise from above and the humidity did seem to be an issue more for us than other members of our party.The resort is large; but the walk to the main lobby or the beach is a few minutes at best either way. Much like a cruise ship; it takes a day or two to find your way around. The tram that runs every few minutes was used a few times; more for the novelty. We read reviews about obnoxious odors from the tram; but found that to be false. Odors from a gas combustion engine???? My goodness. There are seperate walkways for pedestrian traffic and the trams on the main concourse. We never felt threatened by the tram. There are lots of people; but spread out over a pretty large area. Knowing a bit of Spanish would not hurt; as most of the staff do not speak English (or any other language from what we could tell).The beach and pools are a bit crowded; but we never found it impossible to find a place to sit. We were told the resort was full but still room was not an issue. If you are looking for a quiet getwaway with you; your significant other and two palm trees; this is not it. We enjoyed meeting some people; people watching and a great; beautiful beach. My wife and others wished for more restrooms closer to beach and the pools.The staff was great! Most gave it their all even when we could not understand them; or them us. A few of the bartenders are characters and we enjoyed them throughout the week. Our maid granted every request. We were told to get a safe; and did; and kept our valuables locked up. One of our party left a bag at the beach which was turned into the bar by the pool. It contained cash; a video camera; a digital camera and assorted other items. We asked at the lost and found several times; but located the bag the next day at the bar; under the counter; with the bartender shouting Yes Bolsa!!! (bag) and returning it without an item missing. This is not what we heard we could expect of the staff. We were very pleased about the honesty of staff.There is internet service for a fee. We emailed home daily to check in on our family. $12 for 60 minutes that could be used anytime over 5 days. We found that my cell phone was useless but others in our party had service. Changing in currency was not a problem; just find the front desk during the day; and you are OK. Bring an insulated mug; as the plastic cups get warm fast in the heat. They will fill any size at any bar; with anything you'd like.The electricity in the room is activated by sliding a card (its supposed to be your room card) in a slot as you enter the room. The AC does not work if the card is not in the slot. We brought a old gift card with a magnetic strip to get around that issue. Bugs were not an issue; although we did see a few mosquitos. We brought plenty of singles for tipping; but saw people who weren't tipping and being treated the same; tip or no tip.Dining was interesting. I wouldn't call the buffet five star. I think the cruise ships have this beat; easily. But; there was variety and no one went hungry. The service at the buffet was fast and courteous. The ala carte restaurants varied greatly. We were told that the French restaurant was The One. We spent nearly 3 hours trying to get our party fed at Le Gourmet! The service that night was horrid and the food voted mediocre by most of the party. We also ate at the Japanese and Italian restaurants and found the food and service much better and worth the visit.All in all; it was a great time. We sang at the Karoke bar; we watched a few shows; got a tan and had an experience that we have never had before. I think that some of the negative reviews were a bit scary; but unfounded. There is no place that is perfect. If high class dining is first on your list; you might make another choice. If a great beach; friendly people; great weather; and clean beautiful grounds are a priority; then you will have a great time here.
478252,lgg311,04/07/2008,Won't recommend or go again. Front of main lobby
478252,Slugg0,04/06/2008,Generally Great - Some issues Stayed with wife (we are in 50's) and 2 daughters (20 and 16) at end of March 2008 in Principe side (Bavaro side is a mirror image). We have travelled Caribbean and Mexico every year for last 25 yrs or so; generally at all-inclusives. This is not 5 star in US sense; but pretty close for a Caribbean. It was pretty crowded; tho only an issue at peak beach time (in which case pools were less so) and at prime mealtime - don't get in way of a hungry tourist! Airport busy - attached by luggage guys (there are more than tourists - they try to rip the luggage out of your hand) but for a few bucks they get you to the right transport; so probably worth it. Stand in line to pay $10/pp tourist card (in lieu of visa) charge - only cash.Plusses are: beautiful property (very well manicured); rooms large and clean (tho the usual Caribbean handiwork in tile; etc); room frig stocked daily (more stuff added if ask and tip); easy navigation on property (tho large; timely transport plentiful); huge buffet (decent for Crib; tho can get boring after a week - and any meat besides chicken is tough); good bar service; generally pleasant staff (as long as no complications of even the smallest kind - that throws them - and customer service in a US sense is inconceivable to tem; no animosity; they just don't get it).Negatives: reservation system for non-buffet is awful (no phone calls; place is emplty; won't let you in anyway without reservation); reservation for water sports (same poor practice - in person only; then stuff sits there while you watch when those reserving don't show); tennis courts poor shape and very far from rooms; nightly entertainment packed early so no room to go (some may be too risque for kids - typical european taste in dance...I have seen strippers with more clothes); people mark chairs at pool by 7 am; so none left by 9 am (against the rules; but no enforcement) tho the beach was a little better supplied with chairs; no elevators in 3 story buildings; vendors at mall in front of hotel severely harass shoppers; local and european men guests harassed my young daughters (they are beautiful; and somewhat used to stares in the US also; but would not go to beach or shop without me to help them fend off catcalls and followers; I did feel that all staff had the hand out for tips (I am not complaining; as they are poor; but its a fact).Other things noted on this site and true - there is a little topless on beach; but not much; the non-serving staff (cleaning ladies; maintenance; grounds) do not speak english tho servers at desk; bar and dining do fine; bar tenders will pay more attention if you tip a dollar every couple of drinks (take a roll of 50 $1.00); maids stock better with a few dollars tip a day; take an extra credit card as the room A/C and all electrical power only works if you put your room key (or the credit type card you substitute in its place) in a slot by the room door; negotiate for trinket purchases (at least a third off asking price) at mall and beach vendors (not at the lobby stores - can get the same stuff at half price outside); bring lots of sunscreen (its very burning; tho not hot due to breeze).Other things seen on this site that were not true for our visit: not much cigarette smoking; food plentiful and decent; no crime (felt very safe - tho did lock valuables up in the $32/week safe); lower number villas are farther from beach; not closer; no difference in regular room and Diamond; the fun staff do try to get activity going (bingo; aerobics; ping pong tournament; etc) despite the fact that many tourists (like me) have no interest - if you want to do something; you can; no bugs or mosquitos.Flight home (United) - mobbed by luggage guys again; but they helped get us to correct airline (very poor airport layout - could stand in wrong line for hours!); security slow and caribbean inefficient (they forgot to charge the $20 departure tax tho - yeah!); allow 2 hours at peak time.I will not go back; as there are other places in the world (I have only gone to one place 2x - Aruba!). Despite some wrinkles with checkin and a couple of small; stupid and frustrating service problems; its worth the trip for the price.
478252,FSUE,04/06/2008,Great Vacation!!! beach
478252,farmlady1958,04/06/2008,Doesn't Get Better Than This!!!! Beautifully kept grounds
478252,mpp6,04/05/2008,Bahia - Boo Hoo Arrived at the Bahia Principe March 29; 2008 - the rooms we were originally booked into were facing a construction site!!! My intention was to be at a resort not a construction zone - be aware buildings 36 and 30 have rooms facing this construction that i am sure will continue for the next many months.Found the registration person - Hector to be arrogant and not helpful. Dining staff in all areas were great - especially the Grill House.Had Diamond Club access so we were able to eat at the Italian Restaurant for Breakfast and Lunch - so avoided the cattle call at the larger dining room buffet.There was almost nonexistent service around the Diamond Pool.The number of children roaming the hotel til late into the night was disturbing; especially at the Karaokee bar after midnight. We were a group of four women - I would definitely not recommend this resort if you are trying to relax. Next time we will go to an adults only resort!!
478252,mlatek,04/05/2008,Fun at the Bahia Principe! We just returned from our stay at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana - stayed there from March 21-28; 2008. Since we are a family of four with our children ages 13 and 15; we were required to book two rooms. Our only other experience at an all-inclusive resort was last year at the Grand Palladium Riviera Maya; which we loved. I'll start out by saying that we had a wonderful week at the Bahia; we would go back again; and we will recommend it to others.ARRIVAL/ROOMS:Our flights were uneventful; and when we arrived at the Punta Cana airport; we were greeted by the locals and had our picture taken. We did need to purchase the $10 visitor's card for each of us at one desk; then walked a bit further on and handed it to another person. We did not have to pay the $20 departure tax as it was included in our package. We used Silva's Dominican Transfers and enjoyed their service. It was great to be wisked directly to our resort and not have to wait for a bus to fill up and stop at a lot of other resorts on the way to the Bahia. We booked the Bavaro side of the resort; since this is the side offered through FunJet; but we were given rooms on the Punta Cana side. Although we requested connecting rooms; we were given two rooms in Villa 9; one on the second floor; and one on the third. The next day I visited the Reception desk several times and they were able to switch us to two connecting rooms in the same villa after someone checked out (it was a Saturday; so I knew there would be lots of people leaving). Our friends and my husband's parents were put in the same villa as us; which was convenient. We did not purchase any special upgrades to Golden; Diamond; etc. The resort was full during this spring break week; but there were no signs indicating that they were voluntarily moving people to other resorts. After checking in; I went straight to Guest Services to book our ala carte dinners. The Guest Services rep I got was somewhat unfriendly; and it was difficult to get the choices we wanted at any early times. We asked for the steakhouse and couldn't get it until the last night of our stay at 9:15 at night. We got the Gourmet for an 8:30 reservation one night; and the Japanese with a 7:30 reservation. The Italian restaurant was only available the last night of our stay as well. It seems that the prime reservation times must all be given to the guests with the upgraded rooms (Golden; Diamond; Premier; Ambar). The service for the rest of our stay was just outstanding everywhere we went!After making our reservations; we were taken to our rooms by the bellhop; and then we wandered the resort. The junior suites were nice - spacious; clean; and the maid service was wonderful. Refrigerator restocked every day. No; we were not overtaken by bugs; ants; or mosquitos! STAFF/SERVICE:We found the service to be outstanding at this resort; with lots of smiling faces. We also felt in general that the employees here didn't expect tips as much as those in Mexico. Yes; the staff here has poorer English skills than the resort employees in Mexico; but it was not a problem. They tried hard to speak English; and we tried to use Spanish. They always appreciate when you try! Our son knows a little Spanish; so that definitely helped us in a couple of cases. This seems to bother so many people; and I don't really understand how they weren't aware of that before they went there. Because the guests were from the U.S.; Canada; and Europe; the staff was not only trying to learn English; but also French and many other languages. FOOD:Overall; we felt the food here was really good. When we went to the Palladium in Mexico; we thought their food was awesome; but we all agreed that we thought it was maybe even a little better overall at the Bahia Punta Cana. This surprised us since we always heard the food in Punta Cana was not very good. Yes; some things were different; but it is a foreign country. My son thought the day-to-day variety was better at the Bahia's evening buffet. We don't feel we are picky people; but we thought than anyone ought to be able to find something they like. If they can't; then they shouldn't be staying at all-inclusive resorts. The buffet was really good; especially the omelets; pasta cooking station; and fresh cooked meat/seafood. The fresh fruit was perfect every day; and the juices at breakfast - yum! The only thing I missed was a variety of dressings to choose from to make fresh salads - maybe this is an American thing. Even their pizza choices at the evening buffet were very good - lots of variety. There were many choices of Dominican food on the buffet for those looking for some local culture. I liked the house white wine here better than that at the Palladium in Mexico (a Spanish wine). Here are the theme nights that were listed for the buffet:Mon-Spanish; Tues-Italian; Wed-Caribbean; Thurs-Mexican; Fri-Dominican; Sat-Gala; Sun-AmericanOur experiences at the ala cartes were wonderful. The atmosphere in all three (Japanese; Gourmet; and Grill) was really nice. Service was outstanding. Wonderful food at the Japanese! At the Gourmet; we all had either SurfTurf (with lobster) or steak - excellent! At the Grill; we all had a steak that was very good; but probably not excellent. Their appetizers and soups were wonderful. The snack bars by the pool served lunch every day - burgers; fries; chicken; pizza; hot dogs; etc. Food was okay; got us through the day when we were too lazy to leave the beach area! A couple of us did have some stomach issues. We had Cipro antibiotic from our doctor; Pepto; and Immodium; so it didn't get too severe. I wonder if we would have been better off to just take a couple of Peptos every morning. DRINKS:We are not big drinkers; but we like to have our share of fun frozen drinks! Dirty monkeys; Miami Vice's; and Adelita's were very popular with us. Adelita is like an orange dreamsicle. My kids liked having the alcohol-free versions of the drinks too. Just be careful - with my 15-year-old; it wasn't uncommon for them to give him a drink with alcohol in it once in awhile; and I don't think he looks like he's 18 yet! The best surprise of the week was the flaming coffee drink the prepared in the lobby after dinner several nights. I don't even like coffee; but this one was yummy - must have been the alcohol in it! I know it had rum; cream; and maybe kahlua. The best drinks by far are served at the lobby bar; because the frozen drinks are blended fresh; rather than being made from a mix in a machine. The bar tenders at the lobby bar and the pool bars were lots of fun! Happy! Happy! The beach bar was not in use while we were there; because it was ruined in the tidal wave from the week before. They were just getting it up and running the day we left. Poor us - we had to walk all the way to the pool bar from the beach to get a drink! It's amazing that we survived! POOLS/BEACH:There is a huge pool right at the beach - great location; but very busy. We prefer the beach; as we like the sand; the waves; and the cooling breeze. Plus it's not so loud and crowded. There were always loungers to be found at the beach; but the pool was more difficult to find loungers. We were there during a very busy spring break week though. The sand is so fine and soft - one of the nicest beaches I've seen! There are also two pools halfway between the beach and the lobby; one for diamond guests only; the other for anyone. We never used that pool; but it was much more quiet and easier to find loungers there. The Premier section and the Ambar also have their own pools. There were always lots of pool aerobics; dancing; and games going on. Dancing; aerobics; and yoga on the beach as well. Restrooms at the pool are few and far between. They could use more women's restrooms; especially. There always seemed to be a wait.Our kids played lots of beach volleyball and rode the banana boats (for a fee). Scuba Caribe offers a lot of watersports; but we found it difficult to reserve the kayaks or sailboats - never did get to use either due to the wind being too strong the day we had kayaks reserved. There's no snorkeling from the beach; but you can take a snorkel trip by boat with Scuba Caribe to a reef for $31 per person. Although we had our gear with us; we never got around to doing this. The beach is a public beach; so you can walk forever in either direction; past all of the other resorts. Our kids even played beach volleyball at the Riu Palace the first couple of days because the Bahia's volleyball net was down for a couple of days due to the high winds the days before we arrived. THE GROUNDS:This is a beautifully maintained resort that we felt was very easy to navigate even though it was large. It is not even close to as large as the Grand Palladium in Mexico! There were a lot of workers always tending to the grounds - we stopped several times and chatted with some of them; gave them a tip; and thanked them for their hard work. They were so surprised and greatful that someone recognized their work. The tram that goes back and forth between the beach pool and the lobby was very convenient and one stopped every couple of minutes at each stop. It does get very busy during peak periods with people going to the lobby for dinner or to the beach. Even so; it's not that long of a walk to get back and forth on foot. ACTIVITIES:The only evening show we went to was the Michael Jackson show; and it was really good. There was almost always action in the Punta Cana lobby bar in the evenings - there was often an entertainer with his keyboard playing and singing. We go to bed fairly early so we can get up and enjoy our days at the beach.The Pueblo Principe was a neat area; with shops; the disco; casino; karaoke bar; photo shop; and internet cafe. I used the Internet cafe ($12 for one hour) to check email a couple of times. Sports Center - It is way out in front of the lobby; a long walk. We went there the first evening to play mini golf; which was fun; but never went back because it was so far away from everything. There were tennis courts; a basketball court; and a soccer field there. The Spa was out there too - never used that. Did get a couple of massages on the beach; which were reasonably priced. The only tour we did was the Zip-lining tour with Bavaro Runners - booked this with FunJet at the resort. This was our first time ziplining; and it was fun. My husband and youngest son don't like heights and were a bit nervous about it; but they enjoyed it. I know it is nothing like the ziplining in Costa Rica or Puerto Vallarta; so if you've done that; you probably would not be impressed with this. For us it was perfect though.LEAVING PUNTA CANA:We again used Silva's service to take us to the airport - great service. Yes; baggage handlers at the airport took our bags out of the back of the van before we got out; but they waited for us; and took the bags to the security table. We tipped them - figured they're just trying to make a living. We kept a close eye on our bags while they were inspected and had no problems. Locked our bags after the inspection; waited in line to check in; then went through security with no problems. CONCLUSION:I would recommend this resort; and Punta Cana in general; to anyone who loves a beach vacation; and I would go back in a heartbeat!
478252,julieBrough,04/05/2008,Fabulous time We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana from 20th March until the 3rd of April. There were five of us ages 48;41;24;17 and 10. We all loved it!We were there over the busy easter period and it never once felt crowded. HOTEL: The grounds are immaculately kept and the hotel itself is spotless. Lots of reviews go on about the size of the hotel but we could not see what the problem was. The trams run constantly but its only a few minutes walk anywhere. Why people stand waiting for a tram I have no idea but looking at the size of some people perhaps some walking would do them the world of good.ROOMS: We were in villa 9 and our house keeper was Jaquelyn.She kept our rooms beatifully clean and the mini bar stocked. We did not have any issues with bugs or mosquitos. The rooms are spacious and well furnished.FOOD: The food is varied and we all enjoyed what we ate. We ate at the Japanese; Mexican; steak house and italian. All were good and the buffet has something for evrybody. STAFF: All without exception work hard to make sure guests enjoy their stay. We thought they were all friendly and helpful. SUN LOUNGERS: We went to the beach every day and we were alwas able to find sun loungers and shade without feeling crowded. The large pool near the beach is where the activities are and people get up very early to reserve loungers with their towels.And thats ok if thats how you want to spend your holiday! OVERALL: In our experience the is a great hotel and we have stayed at other hotels in the area in previous years but we believe we had the best time here. We intend to go back next year.Some people will complain about anything and in general I think its a state of mind and attitude to life. IF YOU HAVE BOOKED YOUR HOLIDAY HERE: Great! go and have funIF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A HOTEL: We can highly reccommend the Gran Bahia Principe
478252,luvpuntacana45,04/04/2008,Amazing Amazing Amazing!!! I came back from the Bahai Principe a week a go! It was the most amazing holiday ever. I went with my husband and an other couple; we couldn't ask for more. When we got there we were all upgraded to the Ambar; (it was a nice surprise) we felt spoiled! The staff was amazing; food was amazing; beach was beautiful; entertainment was awesome. I don't know how another trip will compare. This was our seconed time to Punta Cana; last time we stayed at the Bavaro Princess. We thought that was great; but the Bahai was a step up! Don't hesitate to go to this resort. Our stay was from March 20th - 27th.
478252,smitty007,04/02/2008,Not so Bad Travelled to Bahia Principe March 18 and returned April 1. Travelled with my wife and two kids; 13 and 11.RoomsOur first week we stayed in villa 17 near the two lobbies in a ground floor room. The rooms are nice; we had two double beds and a sleeper sofa. Beds were comfortable yet small and we had no issues with room. We were upgraded to Golden the second week ; villa 22 (near the beach) and while the room was very close to beach; all the other extras are a bit of a scam. ComplexBIG is the first impression. The trolley is good but it only takes about 5 minutes to walk from either lobby to the beach. No matter what villa or what upgrade you have; you will be going from one end of the resort to the other. The buffets; restaurants; lobbies; shops; pools are all spread out so get use to it.Grounds are immaculate; people always working. The construction for those who backed onto the site looks like it would have been annoying especially considering the service road there is really busy.PoolsThree pools available to those unless you are Ambar or Premier. The main pool is nice but very busy and the chairs go fast. There are two pools in the middle of the resort; one for regular guests and another for Diamond/Club Hacienda. These two pools are smaller and fill quickly. Problem I noticed especially at the two smaller pools was that Ambar and Premier guests were taking up the limited number of seats. This causes a few problems as regular guests are not allowed at the Ambar or Premier pool.FoodBuffets - There are two buffets; one in each lobby. There is alot of selection. Yes we did get cold food; food that was over-cooked and the taste was different but food was not problematic. I did notice Ambar guests were being turned away from these buffets.A la CartesWe ate at (7) of them:1) French - service and food excellent. Order the filet mignon; it was incredible.2) Mexican - service and food excellent. Buffet style appy's that were usually enough. We ate twice here.3) Garden Grill - steakhouse; good service and the food was very good.4) Japanese - excellent food; service ok. The cook we had was a rookie so we did not get a show like other guests.5) Italian - food was ok but service was horrible. Appy's not good if you have kids6) Mediteranean - food horrible (cold) and service was absolutely brutal7) Brazilian BBQ - service was ok; alittle pushy but the food was brutal. They totally over-cooked all the meat to the point it was burnt. If you like well;well done; this ones for you.Snack Bar At the main pool; it was ok for salad; burgers; hotdogs; pasta and we ate lunch there most days only because the buffets are at the other end of the resort.ServiceSlow is the first thing that comes to mind. We asked for a cot the 2nd or 3rd day and were first told the hotel did not have any. we went to guest services and they called the housekeeping manager directly but one never showed up.Be careful what you leave out in your room. We took down some snacks for the kids and some of those were chocolate bars. The bars were inside a drawer and went missing. We thought no big deal and didn't mention it. But then we were tired one night and came back early from the show. At about 1030 pm; we heard someone entering our room. My wife confronted an employee entering our room. When she saw my wife; she pretended to talk on a cell phone and left. Later that night; at 0300 am; we hear a knock on the door. Answer the door and another employee is standing there and claims she is looking for her 17 year old daughter!! Not sure why she checked our room but something fishy here. We complained in the morning and were quickly escorted to Guest Services. we told them what happened and they were not happy. There was no reason for the first employee to be entering our room. We were not Golden at the time and were not getting turn down or towels replaced. We ended up getting T-shirts; flowers; fruit tray and a letter of apology from the manager. So beware; they can enter your room at anytime and chocolate is like gold there.ShoppingPueblo Principe at the front of the resort is ok. The cheapy cheapy huts are about 20-30 minute walk down the beach to the right. Everything is expensive so take lots. We ran out of sunscreen; very hot there; and it was $15-20 US for a bottle that would normally cost $8. Make sure you bargain; there first price is usually so bad it is insulting. Divide it by half then do it again and that it the price you should pay. Our last night; we bought a wooden gecko and a bamboo wind chime for gifts. The guys first price was $140 US!! I could buy it at Wal-Mart for $30 probably. At the end; I took out $35 US and said that's it; and after much groaning and whining I walked away with the stuff.BeachBest part of the resort. Lots of chairs and palapas. Beautiful sand and water though it is rough (wavy). The beach was closed for one day; they actually had security to keep people out of the water as the waves were large and the current was strong. You will not be disappointed by the beach.ActivitiesAnimation crew tries really hard and are entertaining. We watched the Lion King and most of Michael Jackson; very good shows. There is mini-gold; tennis; basketball; tennis and lots of games at the beach and pool. If you want to do something; there is lots to do. If you have kids; try the mini-golf; its a bit of a joke but the kids loved it!UpgradesWe were upgraded to Golden club for the second week of our stay. The Golden club is closer to beach but the extras IMO are not worth the extra cash. Room service is a joke. All you get is left-overs from the buffet. I ordered chicken nuggets and fries and they were absolutely cold and had been sitting around for hours. You get 15 minutes internet per day but the computers are tragically slow and the 15 minutes is over before you get started. We never did get the turn down service. The alarm clock did not work (we requested a new one); coffee maker and hair dryer. You do get 1 extra a la carte which is nice.Excursions1) Caribbean Festival - Awesome; must do!! Boat ride; snorkel with sting-rays and sharks then stop at a small reef and snorkel with various colorful fish that will eat right out of your hand. Staff on board very entertaining. 2) Saona Island - Was really looking forward to this one but was disappointed. Bus trip about 1.5 hrs one way. Our speed boat broke down. When we arrived at the Natural Piscine; it is alittle disappointing. We then arrived at Saona Island for a BBQ lunch. The beach it nice but no different than what you get at the hotel. Thank God we didn't pay for this one.3) Altos de Chavon - don't waste your time!4) Dune Buggies (Rancho Llando) - Horseback riding; swimming in a cave; local farm; beach and then dune buggie. All was fun except the dune buggy part. You are not allowed to do another other than follow the lead employee in line. Never made it out of 2nd gear; it was a 4 speed!! Jurassic Buggy is the same thing.Overall; we all enjoyed our two weeks at the resort but would not return. The problems were minor and we really tried to overlook them. That area of the beach I guess is known to be wavy and there is no snorkelling. Having been to the Dominican before; we expected the food difference and different pace but I was expecting alittle more from the resort especially after being upgraded. I also really noticed a big problem with the amount of English spoken and understood by staff. I understand it is the Dominican and English isjust one language but interacting with staff was difficult. Our family speaks French and as many of the employees are Haitian; that helped alot but other than guest services and certain restaurant staff; Spanish is it and even if you find one that cliams they understand English but count on it.I
478252,SpammySr,04/02/2008,Best All Inclusive Everything! We've been to all inclusive resorts before in the Caribbean and Mexico - we're 2 adults and one teenager. We didn't expect much in terms of food; but boy were we happily surprised! The food in most of the restaurants we ate in from the buffets to the a la cartes were excellent (except for some frozen flan we were disappointed in). The service was fantastic except for the French restaurant. The property is beautiful; and we were upgraded to the Premier section which we were thrilled about. It's great if you don't want to be in the hussle and bussle of waiting on lines for food and drink in the main section of the property. We thought we would mind the fact that 3 hotels are together; but being in the Premier section was being in your own little oasis. We can't wait to go back with other families. The only suggestion --- bring your own pillows - their's are rock hard!
478252,katChicagoil,04/01/2008,only good things to say... We just returned from our trip to punta cana's Gran Bahia Principe; and I can't say enough wonderful things about it! I had done a lot of research before we went on this trip; and I must say that all of the negative comments about bugs; malaria; poor service and bad food were wrong! The people there were wonderful; the grounds and rooms were immaculate; service was excellent; as was the food. They thought of everything before I could think of it myself. We upgraded to Golden Club; and there were fresh beach towels brought to our room every night; we got to eat in four specialty restaurants; which they booked for us and handed to us when we checked in; and check in was fast and easy. Our rooms were right by the beach and pool; and the trolleys ran constantly if we didn't feel like walking up to the lobby or restaurants. Truly; don't believe anything negative that you read. Take lots of sunscreen; a good appetite and enjoy this beautiful place and it's people.
478252,WJR041,03/29/2008,A very good resort for the most part (complete review) Our family of three (ages 41; 38 and 10) stayed here (Club Diamond area) from March 8th to March 22nd; 2008. We read all the reviews for three months before going ... this review is a bit long (I noted things each day) but should answer most of your questions.Our first week (March 8-15) it was Punta Cana-da; since it was the Ontario March Break . Week two (March 15 to 22) it was a nice mix of Americans; Canadians; Brits and other Europeans with a few folks from Venezuela and Mexico; from what I could tell of the languages being spoken.THE PROPERTY-- Yes it is big; but the shuttles run every 2 to 3 minutes. The property from the highway entrance to the beach is about 1.6 km (1 mile) long. The actual length of the resort from the Pueblo Principe (the shopping area) to the beach is about 800m (half a mile).-- Yes it is immaculately kept. They are always cleaning or painting or repairing stuff or watering. The grounds are immaculate.-- No it is not confusing. Take 10 minutes to look at the map; orient yourself and you will be fine. Those who think it is complicated probably live in a town with one street.-- This resort is actually four resorts in one: -- Premier is a quaint section closest to the shopping area; spa and gym (it's dinky for a 1;900 room resort) and main reception lobbies; yes lobbies .. but farthest from the beach. -- Ambar is down on the left (when looking toward the beach) and is adults only (they have two separate a la carte restaurants; separate check-in and their own gym). -- Bavaro is on the left hand side and includes Club Diamond and some Gold club and the private Hacienda/Club Diamond pool. -- Punta Cana is on the right hand side with the all access pools.THE FOOD RESTAURANTS: -- The buffets (on both sides; Punta Cana and Bavaro) in the main lobbies are standard. Breakfast is the best meal (get your omelettes extra cooked; trust me); lunch is not bad and dinners are usually themed ... Mexican; Caribbean; International; Seafood ... but there is always a pasta bar; kids section and flatbread pizzas. There is a good selection but it is a buffet; food is hardly ever steaming hot at a buffet. Here's a hint; go to the middle of the serving dishing (lasagna; fries; prepared meats ... whatever ... are warmest in the middle). For one week it is not repetitive; for two weeks; it's a touch repetitive.Note: The buffet from 8pm on is a zoo ... go earlier if you want better selection and something that doesn't resemble your high school days. -- The pool snack bar and beach snack bars are okay for midday snacks (burgers; dogs; a pasta; nice fruits; bread section; a chicken and/or fish selection; etc.). Buffet is good for lunch. Club diamond and gold club members can also do lunch at the Italian; which is nice.-- We did Steak house (twice); Mexican; Mediterranean; French and Japanese for our a la cartes over the two weeks. Steak house and Japanese were quite good; the others so so. Depending on the night they may rush you or service may be slow ... it is all a function of volume. If you are Hacienda; Diamond or Gold Club; you can email public relations at the hotel in advance to get your reservations pre-booked; if not; you have to blow two hours your first full day making reservations. But there are 10 restaurants to chose from (not including the two in Ambar if you are staying in this section). -- Breakfast near the pool in the mornings (restaurant or snack bars) is okay; but not as nice as the buffet.-- The bars are fine; but for a five star resort; you would think that premium brands (Crown Royal; Johnny Walker etc.) would be included as opposed to extra charges.ANIMATION TEAM SHOWS:-- Animation folks are outgoing but not aggressive in terms of beach and pool games. The Michael Jackson show on Monday nights is good; the others; so so ... but they try hard. The theatre each night is pretty packed ... get there at least 30 mins before for a good seat. Go to the theatre bar for drinks; the service is somewhat slow.-- Lobby bar on the Bavaro side has a singer/piano guy most nights who is gawd awful ... I wish I would have tipped him not to sing and play.BEACH POOLS:-- Beach is nice buy crowded. Similar to stretches of the Mayan in Mexico or Veradero in Cuba ... hotel after hotel; people galore. But it is nice white sand and a good 40 m (44 yards) at low tide. The water is warm and swimming areas never go over your head. -- Pools are clean (except for beach area pool) but can get busy like a cruise ship on a sea day at times.-- Chairs .. if you put your towels down between 7 and 8am at the pools you are okay; 6:30 ish or so for prime spots under a palapas at the beach.iSERVICE:-- This is basically good in terms of serving staff; but the resort is so huge; you never get seated in the same buffet section twice; the bar staff is respectful or warm but usually not superfriendly. Tipping does not seem to influence service.-- Maids are quite and quick cleaners. Technicians (just call front desk) for any problems; were johnny on the spot in 5 minutes. Same thing for bellboys on checkout.PET PEEVES:-- Capuccino's ... specifically order them hot or the cold whipped cream makes them taste like a frapuccino from Starbuck's or iced Cap from Tim Horton's.-- Folks who are noisy in the early AM or late at night ... people; it's a resort; shut up and keep your voices down when coming back up the stairs to your room.-- European kids ... apparently it's a cultural norm for little munchkins to run all over a buffet or a la carte restaurant during dinner. If you want to avoid kids at the restaurants specifically; book a time after 8pm.-- If your boy is 10 or over; when you go to an a la carte restaurant; make him wear some pants as opposed to shorts and especially for the North Americans; take off your baseball caps when eating at an indoor restaurant ... kids and adults alike.SUMMARY:-- This is a very nice resort; but the Dominican (like Cuba) is still a third world country. If you want pure five star; 100% attentive and flawless service; then please stay in your cushy Europoean city; U.S suburb or Canadian locale ... minor stuff will happen hear; roll with it ... and remember a vacation should be like the old motto when it comes to golf ... your worst day on the greens is still better than your best day at the office.If you have other questions re: rooms; excursions; tipping; exchange rates; bugs (there weren't any); just drop me a line; I will try to answer them.
478252,scottieColorado,03/28/2008,Beautiful Beach! Average Service Our family of five just returned from a Spring Break vacation at the Bahia Principe. Our party included two teenage boys and a 10-year-old. We were a little worried about the vacation after reading some of the reviews from travelers in February. Fortunately; some of the problems they encountered such as mosquitoes and other insects were not present in March.Overall; we had a good experience! When we travel to the Caribbean we know to expect a more casual and beachy feel at the hotel. Also; even though we are not laid back people; we try to enjoy our vacation and deal with whatever sitaution may present itself. Below I will discuss the hotel in more detail:Grounds and Beach: The grounds are well kept and beautiful. Flowers; plants; hummingbirds and well-kept pools. The sand is white and soft. The ocean warm and blue. Just what you should expect in a tropical setting!!! It is a very large resort and is easy to get around by walking or shuttle. Even though it was a very busy time of year; we never had trouble getting lounge chairs at the beach or pool.Food: We were able to go to six specialty restaurants during our ten day stay. The Italian and French were our favorite. The fish restaurant was terrible; mostly because of substandard service. The buffets are quite good for an all-inclusive. We have some picky eaters in our family including: a vegeterian; non-cheese eater; nut and fish allergy. We were always able to find a variety of items. There was always a huge selection of delicious fresh tropical fruits!Check the CDC website before traveling. We were advised to take malaria pills as there was a confirmed case of malaria in February. These must be started a week before travel. Rooms: We decided to upgrade to the Golden Club. Most of our time is spent at the beach and these accomodations are very close to both the beach and pool. The rooms were fine; kept clean; and the mini bar well stocked. Service: We did have a problem at check-in. Our travel company had given us vouchers with the wrong information. Our teenage boys were categorized as children rather than adults. We had paid the adult price; but the form was wrong. The clerk was not helpful with the problem. Although it was not the resorts mistake (or ours);we were having problems getting through to the United States to have the issue resolved. No one seemed to care or to want to help us with the situation. It took 2 1/2 hours and a more helpful clerk to finally get it resolved. They would not let us check in to even one of our rooms(which was fully paid). It was very upsetting and should not have taken so long!! Often; during our stay we had trouble getting service. I assume this is the case because there are a lot of guests and not always enough staff.Dive Center: Teenage son received his scuba certification and traveled to Catalina Island. Great service and fun!!!Overall; we enjoyed our vacation. There were people of all ages and from many different countries. Even though there were some problems; various issues can occur anywhere. We would definitely go back to this resort.
478252,FieldFamilyUK,03/26/2008,Punta Cana 5* but NOT this complex After all the years using this site I thought it鈥檚 about time I contributed.1 adult and 2 children in a party of 18 for a wedding.We only went for 2nd week (rest of party were there for 2 weeks)Check In:-Completed on transfer to hotel; key cards worked and room in same block as party that had travelled out the previous week.The Room:-Clean and nicely furnished.I had requested 2 beds but got 1 double plus sofa bed.By time I would have had to wait to get sorted I didn鈥檛 take any further. Grounds:-Very clean and tidy. Beware of Tram ( car pulling trailers with seats ) ; these run all day up central path and do not observe pedestrians ; especially if you have young children.Staff:-All staff that we came in to contact with were extremely happy; especially waiters in main restaurant and bar staff in pool bar (Non Diamond pool).Manager in guest services was very unhelpful; Other members of party had pre booked a few of the additional restaurants and were told that it would be no problem adding my party of 3 to these bookings once we had checked in; when we tried to do this we were advised restaurants were full. Food:-Basic in main restaurant and a bit repetitive (even though we were there for 1 week)Italian Garden Grill nice but Japanese (Mikado) was out of this world.Pools:-4 pools in total ; depending on level of Guest (Gold ; Diamond ; Ordinary)1 pool for Gold ; 1 for Gold and Diamond ; 2 for all.Main pool by beach for all guests was very busy. Sun beds around smaller pool for all guests got reserved by about 09:00am so be prepared to join in.Sun beds around Diamond pool were available all day. The Beach:-Having stayed in Punta Cana before (RUI Bambu) the beach was one of the main reasons for coming back to this region. The area in front of the Gran Bahia Principe has been ruined by the sheer volume of Straw Beach umbrellas that are now in place.2 years ago it was just palm trees; but now 200 plus people all occupy a small space with the usual reservation of sun beds starting from either the previous evening or from 07:00am Entertainment:-All shows very good apart from Man v Women night. Use waitresses for drinks as quicker than waiting at bars.To Summarise:-Having been to Punta Cana before I would defiantly come back but NOT to this hotel.It would have to be to one of the smaller RUI hotels just along from this hotel; I felt like I was on holiday here and truly a guest of the country.This Complex is too big and as such feels very in personal. It is made up of 4 hotels; the main 2 being Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro (Punta Cana for European鈥檚 and Bavaro for Americans Canadians) then the Club Diamond Guest鈥檚 and the Adults only part.There is too many different types of guest鈥檚 for the complex to function as a true 5* resort. Surely if 5* then this should be for all. The food in the main buffet restaurant caters for the volume of users; rather than focusing on quality. Defiantly recommend the Italian Japanese (Mikado)
478252,telykv,03/25/2008,Beautiful Resort Everything went very smooth. Beautiful resort and we received excellent treatment. When we arrived at 1:00 pm we were sent to Diamond check-in were able to get in room right away. When I initially booked room for 2 adults and 2 teenagers; I was told by travel rep it was cheaper to book 1 room with 2 double beds. When we got there; we found out they had booked up 2 rooms; side by side; with a king in each. This was a bonus for us and the kids liked having their own room. The manager of the Diamond Service greeted us and followed us out to get our bags. After asking us if we had been to the Dominican before; we told here we had stayed at a Bahia resort last November in Samana and she was thrilled to hear it so she made sure that we received our safety deposit box for free. That was a real plus!Rooms were kept clean and always decorated with towels and flowers. Towels were sometimes late in day; but always there and we could always get more if we needed. By end of trip; we had more blue beach towels than we knew what to do with. Staff was very friendly and my 14 year old loved the drink that the one waitress gave him to try (Chocolate Monkey). Does anyone know the recipe for this?? We were all drinking them during the week. Daily calls were made to us asking if everything was okay with our room and if we needed anything; we usually received it. I called for an iron and ironing board one day and it was there within 5 minutes. Yes even on Dominican Time. My husband needed computer access and the 20 min a day wouldn't cut it; so when we found out that we could rent a computer with wireless access; he went for it. Only $100.00 for 5 days. Thought that was pretty cheap. Waves on the beach for 2 days caused the resort to close beach which was a bummer; but safety was more important. Only one problem that I would complain about and that was the 1 tour we booked was cancelled due to strong water currents and no one called us to tell us. The tour operator was suppose to call us; but she missed our name; so we sat around waiting for an hour for nothing. Not the resorts fault but the tour operators.Also; we did notice the sewer smell by the buffet. The resort should work on fixing that problem.
478252,gordandcath,03/24/2008,Spectacular We just got back on Saturday; and I am suffering from withdrawals.I have traveled extensively in the Caribbean; and have never found a resort as wonderful as this one.Firstly; we were upgraded to the Ambar resort when we arrived. This is the new adults only area. What a pleasant surprise! From the moment we arrived we encountered nothing but smiles and laughter. Between our pathetic Spanish and the staff's English we got along just fine. Truly; I cannot express just how wonderful the staff were. From Ruddy; one of the waiters in the Ambar buffet restaurant who never ceased to greet us in his friendly and pleasant manner to our maid Felicita who always made our room sparkle; we encountered nothing but courtesy and kindness.The facilities are beautiful; restaurants fantastic and the beach is simply divine.We will be going back again and again.
478252,MoxieLondonOntario,03/23/2008,Rummy Fun at Gran Bahia: Boats; Beaches; Bars and just one funny smell We were trying not to panic after booking the Edenh Real back in January. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure it鈥檒l be fine鈥hose people are probably just picky鈥?yeah; that鈥檚 it鈥lass on the beach? No problem鈥istfights over the beach chairs? (panic rising)鈥ure; well鈥ey! Who doesn鈥檛 love a good brawl?鈥?br/>So when Sears travel called to tell us the resort was overbooked; the call went something like this:Sears: The Edenh is overbooked. We were wondering鈥?br/>Us: YesYES a thousand times yes.We were mentally prepared for our Air Canada Vacations super-annoying three-flight deal (London-Toronto-Montreal-Punta Cana). We were not prepared for our London flight to be cancelled due to weather. We left the London airport at 8; and hoped that in the weather that barred planes from taking off; we鈥檇 be able to get to Toronto on time. We arrived at 11:10 for our 11:45 flight; and frightfully added a $160 parking fee onto our trip. Luckily for us; our Toronto flight was delayed; and we ended up at the Montreal airport at 2 am. The Punta Cana airport is delightful. With the thatched roof; the local musicians playing as you enter; the winsome locals costumed for your ($8) photo opportunity; it鈥檚 all very fun. Air Canada gave us a card that covered our $10 entrance fee to the country. The last time we were in Punta Cana; we had a $25 departure tax; so we were prepared for that as we left; but it was never charged. Air Canada must have swung some sweet deal. Or they saw us coming with our over-sized; thermal (HELLO! Environmentally friendly!) travel mugs and figured us loud; soon-to-be-drunken Neanderthals weren鈥檛 worth the bother.With polite direction from an Air Canada rep; we made our way to our quickly departing coach bus; where Wendel; a tri-lingual (French; English and Spanish) customer service representative from the resort distributed our bracelets; room keys; and maps on the bus. As soon as we arrived at the resort; I made a quick right into the guest services room to book our a la cartes; while my husband was immediately whisked with our bags to our rooms. I spoke with Jean; and immediately booked The Garden Grill and Mikado; the two we had decided on previously. After I expressed some (charming) indecision between the Dominican and the Brazilian; Jean offered to seat us for both. We also had friends that greased the Guest Services people with a 20 for an extra dinner; and ones that got an extra one by showing up a little early to one of the a la cartes.Our room (17105) was on the ground floor of the 3rd building away from the lobby; and one building away from the centre pool鈥攁 great location; we decided; for going to dinner in high heels; stumbling home after karaoke; running for more sunblock from the pool; and a nice walk to beach to work off some of those calories. The room was cool; and not musty at all. We especially loved the marble bathroom with Jacuzzi tub (which I tried; and was very relaxing). A few(completely minor) annoyances: the tv has no channel listing; and no numbers to press on the remote to go to a specific channel. There is no clock or iron in the room (although we borrowed one from guest services that came immediately; and was followed up by 2 phone calls to be sure that we had it and enjoyed it!)My first impression of the main buffet: Yum! No; sorry that was my second impression. My first impression was:Why does the lobby smell like a bathroom? Even the (very well-appointed) lobby bathroom doesn鈥檛 smell like a bathroom! While waiting in the lobby; I heard a little kid ask his mom why the lobby of the buffet smelled so bad.Mom: That鈥檚 just the smell of every food in the buffet blending together!Really? Because I鈥檝e never walked into the kitchen while my husband鈥檚 making a stir-fry and thought; 鈥淥ooh; garbage water and sewage!鈥?br/>I enjoyed the buffet: I really liked the stewed meat (very tender鈥he average piece of beef in DR is tough鈥攑robably because it鈥檚 not kept in a tiny pen like in NA鈥攂ut not if it鈥檚 been stewed); rice and beans鈥攁uthentic Dominican food. I had a hot dog; which was also perfectly good.I thought the service in the main buffet was consistent. All servers made an attempt to speak the language of their guests (whether it been English; French or German); and appreciated your massacring of their romantic language. I never waited for agua or caf茅 con leche; which I appreciated. We explored the resort; and quickly found a spot under a palapa at the pool (at 3 pm). The pool bar service was quick; although we found the bartender Fernando a lot friendlier and faster than Feliciano. While they don鈥檛 have Strawberry Daquiris (my favourite); they had 6 different kinds of slushie mixes: Pina Colada; Lemon; Coco Loco (straight coconut); a Chocolateish one; Blue Hawaii (Coconut and Blue Curacao) and sometimes an orangey one as well. Yum!The walk to the beach is not bad at all. Yes; the resort is big; but we often beat the tram walking down to the beach. From the lobby; it is about 8-10 minutes at a brisk pace; but there are plenty of stops along the way if you want to jump on a tram part-way. The pool right by the beach is very big (although not as expansive as other resorts I鈥檝e seen); and seemed to be really busy; especially with kids. The other pools were not available to us; and didn鈥檛 seem to be busy at all.The beach is gorgeous. The sand is not hot; and is very light and soft. The water is a beautiful green. We absolutely loved the waves; and got some 鈥渂ody boards鈥?from the sports centre (located at the right end of the beach if you鈥檙e facing the water). You can borrow them for an hour with a 20 dollar deposit (each). We found that you could 鈥渞ide the waves鈥?by timing a jump right just as well. The water has no rocks at all along the shore; but we found when the water was calm; there was more 鈥渟tuff鈥?(seaweed and other natural debris) swirling around your legs. We got up at 7:30 everyday to get a good spot on the beach: under a palapa; with a table and chairs; right in front of the bar. Our friends got up at 9:30; and had no problem finding chairs in the sun.The first night we went to the Garden Grille. The service was wonderful: empty glasses; plates and warm towels were swept away by the many servers immediately after use. The Caesar salad bar was a bit of a disappointment: iceberg lettuce; and a strange-tasting dressing. I actually found that most salad dressings throughout the resort had a bitter taste to me: almost like a sour vinegar. My husband had the steak (cooked medium rare) and also the shrimp brioche; and I had the beef ribs; both were 鈥済ood鈥?and served with crispy onions and a plantain wrap and potato. For dessert; I had a pineapple crisp with ice cream that was super; super sweet. The pineapple there is so sweet naturally that glazing it makes it almost inedible! The restaurant had very nice ambiance and friendly service.The Dominican Restaurant was a little tough to find: it鈥檚 in the Premiere section; past the lobby (toward the road) on the 鈥淏avaro side鈥?of the resort (the left if you鈥檙e facing the water). The restaurant is open air; and they served a nice welcome drink. This restaurant also had a small buffet for appetizers; and I enjoyed the Dominican soup. They serve plaintain and sweet potato chips and shrimp appetizer which was good. I had the bass with coconut sauce (nice); and my husband had lobster (half) with creole sauce that he said was cooked well. The Brazilian Restaurant is in the open air Restaurant on the beach that is the snack bar during the day. A buffet is offered for appetizers as usual; then the waiters circulate the restaurant with skewered pieces of meat on 3-foot-long metal stakes. The 鈥渞ib鈥?was a dry; cured; thick piece of bacon; which was weird. We were then served a tough piece of beef wrapped in a nearly raw piece of bacon. We didn鈥檛 despise it; but we were full enough by that point; so we left. They do circulate with 8 different kinds of meat; and sitting on the beach at night is really relaxing.The Mikado was our favourite of all the restaurants. As I said to my husband later: Me: That鈥檚 the only meal I had the whole time were here that I ate every part of; and everything I put on my plate!(I often felt so wasteful when trying things at the buffet; but you never know what you might like! I tried it all!)11 people were seated in a private room at a table around the grill. Our cook was Jhonny; who called himself 鈥淛honny Kamikaze from Japanee!鈥?He was sweet; and the food cooked quickly and was delicious. We moved to a smaller table in the middle of the restaurant; and had some fried ice cream for dessert. They also served the 鈥渕oonshine鈥?drink they call something that sounds like 鈥渕arijuana鈥? They serve it in a shot glass; and the waiter told my husband and I to drink it if we 鈥渨anted babies.鈥?br/>We heard it tasted terrible. 鈽?br/>OK; I was positive about the buffet at the beginning of the week; but by Friday; I was pretty tired of rice and beans. Breakfast was my favourite meal; because I loved the omelettes and crepes. But that changed Friday night at the Mexican buffet. I loved all of it: fresh corn tortillas; tortillas chips with chili; cheese sauce; and all the nacho fixings; enchiladas; quesadillas. It was my favourite meal over all for the whole week.The shows were; for the most part; fun and funny: our favourites were the Michael Jackson show; the Hollywood legends show (I鈥檝e always thought of the 鈥淢en in Black鈥?as legends) and the Lion King show. They weren鈥檛 really; um; 鈥渜uality鈥? but they were amusing to watch; and the cast danced well; had good costumes and some cast members demonstrated some charisma and spirit. Later in the week; we spent a couple of evenings in the karaoke bar; which had a good list of songs to sing; but the books of selections were all in pieces. With papers floating around the bar; finding the song you want to sing may prove to be a challenge. I found it easy to go up and ask the DJ; as he鈥檚 searching it in Windows Media Player anyway. The karaoke bar seemed to be a popular hangout for the underagers; and seeing a couple of them seemingly intoxicated (and singing the guitar part to 鈥淐razy on You鈥濃€攐bviously fans of Guitar Hero!) was a little disconcerting. They had bingo a few afternoons in the pool; a ping-pong tournament every day; and we organized our own pool volleyball game one day. They didn鈥檛 have any games or cards at the Anamacion hut; so I would suggest bringing cards or trivia or something if you like that stuff like me.Overall; we had a wonderful time. The resort was pretty; clean; the beach was gorgeous; and we got the vitamin D and liquor we so desperately desired. Sing the ubiquitous Gran Bahia theme song with me; everyone!Believe me; when you go; you鈥檒l understand!
478252,ellen0818,03/23/2008,We loved gran bahia Principe! We just returned home last night from a seven night stay at Gran Bahia Principe. My husband and I travelled with our nine year old daughter and can't say enough wonderful things about this resort and the people who work there! Let me start by saying that we have travelled throught the Carribbean and Mexico extensively and have stayed at 10 different top of the line all-inclusives sometimes staying at a property more than once. Therefore; I feel we have experienced some of the finest properties out there. Five years ago we stayed at the Iberostar Bavaro in Punta Cana and disliked it very much; which was a great disappointment since we like the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo in Mexico very much. Needless to say; I was not so sure about returning to Punta Cana. What a pleasant surprise we had when we arrived at Gran Bahia Principe! We stayed on the Punta Cana side which is a mirror image of the Bavaro side. Our room was in building 14 on the second floor facing the Diamond Pool.Check In: Check in went very smoothly. Our room was ready when we arrived and we were quickly given a ride on a cart to the room. Compared to other resorts; this process was very quick and painless.The Room: Our room was wonderful. It was clean and well appointed (plenty of towels; drinks in the fridge; robes and slippers). The balcony faced the Diamond pool which was nice to look at. We had a King size bed and a sofa bed for our daughter.Grounds: The grounds are immaculate! The employees are always trimming; cutting and grooming the grounds to keep them so perfect. The landscaping is lush and green. It is a very large property but there are tram cars running every few minutes that can take you from end to end.Employees: The employees are very friendly and enjoyed when we would try to speak Spanish. I can't understand why other people have complained that NO ONE speaks English...this is simply untrue! Yes; they can speak Spanish better than English but they tried to speak English and if they had trouble would find someone who could. Overall; we felt they were some of the nicest workers we ever dealt with on vacation.Food: We had the opportunity to eat at 4 ala carte restaurants. Mikado- Japanese Restaurant- Great food; beautiful atmosphere. We had fish; shrimp; steak and chicken cooked in front of us. Everyone loved the meal!Mexican- Again; everyone loved the meal. I had steak fajitas that were very tasty!Dominican- Dining is outdoors in the Premier section. Again; everyone enjoyed the meal.Gourmet- The most elegant atmosphere and delicious food. My entire family enjoyed Surf and Turf and superb service.Buffet- We ate dinner at the buffet 3 nights. I am not much of a buffet fan; however I was pleasantly surprised. There was a wide variety of food with great flavor. Some dishes could have been kept a little bit hotter; but overall it was pretty good.Pools- We went to the Diamond pool a few days. It was nice because it was less crowded than the main pool and also had a nice swim up bar. The other days we went to the main pool by the beach. Much more was going on there. From yoga to bingo to water aerobics.The Beach-The beach was great the first few days we were there. However; after that the waves got crazy and they had to close the beach for a day. It was wild...the worst they saw in eight years. Parts of the shipwreck were breaking off and washing up on shore; palapas were falling over and the beach bar got destroyed. Pretty crazy! It is a great beach for walking; you can walk and walk and walk!Entertainment-We went to the show nightly. They were good; we especially liked the Michael Jackson show and what they called the circus. It was entertaining and gave us something to do each night. There is also a casino; karaoke bar and disco.Overall; I would say it was a fabulous trip. We would highly recommend this hotel and are looking forward to visiting again!
478252,GenXDad,03/21/2008,Great Resort; But Needs More for the Kids! Kiddie Pool
478252,PUNTACANALOVER49,03/21/2008,punta cana's beach lover my 7th trips to punta cana; first time in bahia principe-punta canaa-addtional charge for the safety deposit box in the room-$4.00/per day; which is total shock ; ive been travel to many places(international) ; this is the first time; n not to mentioned i booked with upgrade package calledclub hacienda;still get charged;and we only found out when we check in; which is really not a good and happy surprise for our vacation'b-room cleaning-very poor; foundhair in the bathtub; when i chk in the room; and never enough towels in the bathroom; few night i found no towel in the room after return a long hot day by the beach and pool. and wait for the clean towels before you could shower.. club hacienda-the pool towel wl be delivery into the room; it only found the pool towel first day; check in; usually i left the room very early to the pool and beach (towel station still no open yet); so i have to carry out the used pool towel n wait until the towel station open n exchange the clean towel)coffee maker with out coffee pot; for 6 days of my stayed ; and finally i contact the club hacienda AGAIN; FINALLY they delivery the coffee pot and pool towel into my room; which only leave me one day to enjoy it; before my check out date.c-odor of sewage-very badd-quality of the food in international buffet or a la -carte-could need more improvementfoods- its very important for my family and group; not to mentioned; 8 days trip; 3 meals/day; snacks in betweene-fresh juice and frozen drink-way too sweetf-size of this resort-its huge-first fews days-kind of confused and frustrated(even try to follow the map) to find your way around and by the time you are familiar with the resort ; and its time to leaveg-casino-'DRINK-NOT INCLUDED in your 'ALL INCLUSIVE PACKAGE????!!!!!!overall; its huge and beartiful resort; and unfortunately; my family and friends wont go back ; due to above mentioned. hopefully it will be helpful reference and consideration for your future vacation selection
478252,dawninmontreal,03/21/2008,Screwed up from the beginning Feb 8;2008 I will start off by saying;I was not going to be one who was going to find things to cry about; as i was going to have a good time. we were booked to go in Bavaro .But ended up in Punta Cana side. Well to start things off; this is my story.We were a group of eight.We had asked to be all together;Then we asked that 2 couples have a king bed.And 2 other rooms to have 2 beds in each room .We asked not to be on the ground floor;We asked to be near the beach.we did not get what we wanted.First off when we arrived ;the room that was supposed to have 2 beds in each;only had king size beds.We went to complain; and were told to use it for the night and tomorrow they will change it.Well tomorrow came in the morning; and we were told to come back later.We tried to go for breakfast and we were told we did not have the proper bracelet. But our friends were in there eating; which we did not know. Finally back to try and find our rep for signature travel; and at 12:30 she went to try and straighten it out.She did move us;But not with our friends.And Finally at 1:30pm we were on our way to our new room.I guess the frustration got to me; when we were leaving the desk that I was not paying attention and fell into this gully on the side of the sidewalk and the street.I went down so hard that my arm had a blood clot the size of a tennis ball; This is no lie; my foot was swollen on one side and my knee on the other leg was swollen.So off to the Doctors they took me.I was there 1/2 hour before they looked at me an suggested i go to there hospital about for some anti inflamatory needle.No Ice was giving and they seemed that they did not want to look after me at the clinic on there grounds.May I say that when i was there; there was an lady of 75 years of age who had stitches over her eye and black eye and a cracked rib; She was there for her grandaughters wedding;and fell into one of the gullys also . I decided to go back to our room which we had not moved out of yet and ice it and take anti inflamatory pills.By the time we did get moved it was 3:30. And we were still not with our friends. They were a another building farther away;We also got moved to the end of the resort;Where construction was going on.We were not told this. .The construction started at 7 am and went till 6pm daily.Except Saturday;The day we were leaving.Every 10 minutes a truck would come with sand and every 10 minutes a truck would go out empty .We did have a guard near our building As the construction site was only a few feet away. By the next day; my arm was black and blue from the rist to the elbow;My foot was swollen; and so was the knee.I had to get help getting around from my friends and setting things up for me to manage.I had tried numerous times to get ahold of the signature rep;but she was always somewhere and not in her office.Finally I gave up .My friends had noticed that these drain gullys are very dangerous.Other that this mishap;and not getting what we wanted.The resort itself;is the most beautiful place i;ve been to.It is so clean and friendly .Food was quite good; and if you did not like something there was always something else you can always eat.We had seafood one night; some friends did not like it but it was not a problem; and asked for a steak instead.Japenese food was mouth watering.We did not like the BBQ restaurant.It was just blaah. Upon returning back home ; of course we were told that we should of complained louder and stuck to our guns;as to what we were promised.As for the arm it has finally come down to the size of a grape and it is seven weeks later.And Yes I did write to the signature vacation; and have yet to have received a letter showing any wrong doing on there part.I believe this accident would not have happened had we got what we were expecting; as I would not have been in that area.All in all I would say that this; Yes is a 5 star resort. and I would go back in a heartbeat.
478252,imac9019,03/20/2008,Perfect!!! Just got back from a week with our 3 teenagers. This was a return visit for my wife and we enjoyed it even better the second time probably because there was no learning curve figuring the place out plus we had all our kids with us. The resort itself is huge but is organized in a way that you really don't notice crowds. It's always spotless and the landscaping is beautiful. The pools and beach are the best I've ever been at and the food is great. We will be back.
478252,joherb,03/20/2008,No need to fear.. Bahia Principe is great!! flying over resorts on our way home
478252,TorontoTravelbob,03/20/2008,Beautiful resort!!!........but.... Just returned from the Gran Bahia Principe over March Break. We took our three kids down (15; 17; 21) for our last big family trip and it was beyond what we expected. Service was outstanding. The staff tried very hard to please but the Spanish/English language barrier was often a problem. The resort is one of the most beautifully landscaped we have ever seen and my wife and I have been to many including 5 Sandals. Food was good but got just a bit predictable by the end of the week. Originally we were told we could book only 3 ala carte restaurants but we returned and booked 2 more. They were never full anyways. The resort is HUGE but there are constant shuttles to ease your tired feet. Our room was beautiful and spacious and the maid service was very good. We did however; have to go find towels once as she forgot to leave us some. The in-room fridge was dead when we arrived but we called and had a repairman within the hour to fix it. The pools are beautiful and clean with lots of chaise lounges to lie in. We did go down in the morning to stake some out and this is when our only problem occurred. We had left a beach bag; on one lounge with our towels books etc. then went to breakfast. When we returned; it was gone. We lost a watch; inexpensive camera; an ipod and all of our suntan stuff. We didn't think before we left as everyone did the same but somehow we got nailed. A security guard went with me while we scoured the beach; garbage cans; foliage etc. but no dice. Oh well; lesson learned so be cautious about what you leave unguarded. This was the first time we have ever encountered this situation. I went scuba diving and it was great. The whole family went snorkelling and enjoyed it very much. We were a little concerned our three kids would be a bit bored but it was not the case. They had a ball and now LOVE the Caribbean!! The shopping is not good and very expensive on site. Don't expect to buy any suntan lotions as they are a ripoff. We; unfortunately; had to replace ours that was stolen so take lots with you! All in all a very nice and much-enjoyed vacation. I would recommend it for families; couples and friends travelling together. Not too sure about really young kids though.
478252,brewerdave,03/20/2008,Good ... but wouldn't go back in February Going to split this review into 2 parts; first ; general comments about the whole holiday; then specific comments about bars;restaurants; beach; pools etc.Flew out to Punta Cana February 20th for two weeks.On arrival at the airport we were pleasantly surprised by the speed we got thru' Immigration altho' we had quite a long wait for our suitcases.First moan; the usual problem with porters - we found a trolley but were prevented from taking it out of the airport to the carpark by a group of porters with their own trollies.I refused to be blackmailed on principle and was proved right when we only had about 50m to walk to the coach.Once on the coach we had a relatively painless journey to the GBP Bavaro (actually Punta Cana section) with check in being carried out on the bus (there was however a confusion over another party with the same surname which came back to haunt us later).No issues on arrival; porter was ready and waiting to transport us and our suitcases straight to our room - 12301 - located conveniently near to the pool; with a balcony looking out over the widerness area between GBP the neighbouring RUI complex.The following morning we had a pleasant walk back to the reception area for breakfast and our Reps meeting (the Rep for First Choice was really on the ball and the meeting was much snappier and entertaining than normal!)I then organised a room safe - bit surprised that I had to pay up front (GBP Mayan only wanted paying at the end of the holiday) - but well worth having at $63 for 2 weeks.Whilst at Reception noticed loads of offers to upgrade to another hotel for free for periods of up to 5 days - we decided to investigate further with a view to maybe looking at another part of the DR but (unfortunately) we decided to sleep on it! The following day we went back to try to arrange an upgrade with Guest Services but unfortunately the only offers still available were for 1 night only - however as the upgrade to GBP Cayo Levantado included a free whale watching trip we decided to go for it! We actually had to check out and put any luggage that we didn't want to take into a secure storage area; which wasn't ;as anyone could walk in when the porters had it open!I will review this trip under the GBP Cayo Levantado review section.On our return to Punta Cana we were given a complimentary upgrade to the Ambar section - again the porter was on the ball getting us and our luggage across to our new room - 62201; nicely positioned between the beach and the main bar/buffet areas.The room was a little musty due to a problem they had obviously had with water leaking from the balcony above which had resulted in some of the ceiling paint peeling off but we decided we could live with it.I went to use the complimentary room safe but couldn't get it to work.Now; my second moan; it apparently needed a small key to activate the touch pad electronics which we should have been given on our second check in but hadn't .I spent about 3 hours and several journeys on the site trams travelling between the Ambar reception and the main reception at Punta Cana trying to get this key; both sets of Reception staff denying responsibility and fobbing me off.They even wanted a second lot of money!Finally got it sorted when a manager got involved.At the end of the first week we got back from the beach to find that our room keys weren't working - the maid had to let us in.Went to reception who looked puzzled but just reactivated the keys for our actual leaving date. The following morning we found a note pushed under our door asking me to contact the Reception manager urgently about our departure arrangements - again a couple of tram rides ensued before I saw the Main Reception manager who explained that the confusion over surnames on the original bus ride from the airport; had led to us only being booked in for a WEEK! but he quickly resolved the issue.At the end of the two weeks departure was painless - porters were well organised and got us back to the pick up point and the coach journey and check in were smooth prior to a good flight back to the UK; Only issues were a long wait on the tarmac due to a couple of passengers arguing about overweight luggage and a non working toilet on our side of the aircraft which meant a long detour from our seats.Now to specifics:FOOD - Buffet at Punta Cana was OK but the buffet at the Ambar was distinctly better particularly the freshly cooked fish and meats area and the sweets were to die for!A LA CARTE - We visited 5 a la cartes over the 2 weeks.Best we tried was the fish restaurant;El Pescador; my wife really enjoyed that one.Excellent food and service.El Charro (Mexican) was also very good with some excellent fajitas; and entertaining staff.The Italian; Porto Fino; was also very good although we felt that we were rushed thru a bit.The other Italian; whose name escapes me; was also very good with a more relaxed atmosphere.The worst of the a la cartes we visited was the Garden Grill; simply because the steak I had was very tough; although the presentation/service was excellent and my wife was happy with her Shrimp kebab.We missed out on our visit to the Ambar gourmet restaurant; Don Pablo; due to a touch of too much Sun but others we talked with; said it was very good.SNACK BARS - Generally OK for breakfast/lunch - very crowded before 1:30pm but much better after 2:00pm-the usual fare of salads; chicken; burgers and hot dogs.BARS - We found generally excellent service at all the bars;whether you waved a $$ bill or not; The main bar at the Punta Cana was our favourite.You sometimes had to wait at the pool bars particularly the second week when it was extremely busy.Definitely worth taking insulated mugs as it reduced the number or trips needed to the bar! Very useful if you spent most of the holiday on the beach as we did.POOLS - Clean but extremely crowded - the second week people were reserving sunbeds with shades before it was even light - we didn't spend much time by the pools usually only after 4:00pm.The adults only pool at the Ambar seemed to be the most crowded of all.BEACH - Beautiful golden sand BUT very crowded - all sun loungers with shade gone by 10:00am and very difficult to get beds after 11:00am.For UK readers imagine Blackpool on a Bank Holiday Walking North of the property seemed to be the best bet to find some spaceSEA - Clean - some weed made worse by the wind we experienced most of the 2 weeks; lovely to swim in; shelving quite rapidly; snorkelling from the beach non-existent - apparently anything of a decent size is taken by the spear fishermen.WEATHER - Rained quite heavily the first two days in the morning but otherwise not too much rain.Wind was blowing quite strongly some days which kept you cool on the beach but made the danger of sunburn very real.Also had some cloudy days;particularly a couple of afternoons; and; disappointingly; our last day.In conclusion; had a good holiday but wouldn't go back to this hotel/region because of the sheer number of people at the time of year.
478252,realisticplease,03/19/2008,Great Resort for Kids jellyfish washed up on beach
478252,chez2008,03/19/2008,What a fabulous place My husband and I have just returned from this hotel and have had a wonderful holiday. Given the numerous negative reviews prior to departure we were seriously starting to wonder if we had made a bad choice and were considering trying to change the hotel. Thank goodness we did not. We would have mised out on one of the best holidays in the DR.This hotel is spotless. There is an army of staff constantly cleaning and tidying all day long. We saw maids at 8pm cleaning sunbeds around the pools in the dark. At other hotels we have been woken by scraping beds being moved around and jet washers at 6am. The toilets are kept immaculate; even those at the poolside beach and snack bars are well tended and kept clean and these get plenty of hammer all day long.We had a lovely room in block 29. We initially had asked for a top floor room and were told to go back after the weekend as the hotel was full. But did not bother to move as we were very comfortable there.The maid service was excellent. Always fresh towels and flower/towel art on the bed. The lobby bar is fantastic. Lovely decor and very comfortable.The drinks are top quaility and lots of choice. There are some drinks which are not all inclusive. This worried me to start with becasue I expected the included drinks to be poor and have to pay for anything decent. How wrong could I be. There was a good enough range of international drinks on the inclusive list and the house wines were extremely good. My only complaint - I did not like the beer. But I enjoyed trying other drinks such as spritzers and probably saved myself putting on an extra couple of pounds.The buffetts are excellent - plenty of variety from salads to pizza to carved meats and fish. You could have something as simple as a ham sandwich up to a 4 course meal for breakfat lunch or dinner. Anyone who cant find something to make a meal of here ought to stay home.The dining room service was the best we have experienced in our 6 visits to the DR. You are guided to a table at every sitting - no more stumbling around half awake at breakfast trying to find a free table. As soon as we were seated a waiter arrived within seconds. We never waited any notable length of time for anything here. Our drinks were always poured ready for us returing from the buffett and we never managed to empty or glass/cup before a refill was offered.The staff are very friendly and polite and happy to help. Finished plates were cleared away very quickly and we were constantly being offerred coffee/brandy etc.We never experienced any language problems. It does help to try a little spanish - lets face it it is not difficult and it goes a long way and seems to be appreciated by the staff. I am no expert and cant even try to hold a conversation but how hard it is to say hola ? Just learn your drink order - vino tinto is so simple if you want red wine or blanco if you want white.We had no trouble whatsoever making reservations for the speciality restaraunts but there was only 2 of us and we were flexible for days and times. Larger groups who all want to sit together at specific times will obviously be more difficult to accomodate wherever you go.The beach was absolutely beautiful. It was busy but this is peak season. If you want total seclusion and quiet go out of season or try a beach hut on the maldives.The helicopters fly over probably 12 times a day and we enjoyed watching the water sports. We did not find either annoying as some have reported.We always managed to get beds where we wanted them but it is annoying when people reserve them then disappear for hours on end - perhaps they should start charging by the hour.There was plenty of 'barrel sized' thermos flasks around this year - but what the heck if you can take it have it! I actually think these are a good idea. It cuts down on the waste. The hotel uses disposable cups which are only good for 1 use. These are much better than the scratched and batterred plastic beakers at other hotels but not very environmentally friendly. So I support the use of flasks - make sure you take one.Some people complain at the most trivial of things. If the negative reviewers honestly get better service; quality and value for money elsewhere then I need to know where that is so I can go live there. It is not fair to compare resorts in DR with other countries. For a start it costs much more to go to Mexico or Cuba and what more do you get for your money The DR is exceptional value has beautiful beaches and lovely people.We should have infact stayed at the Iberostar Bavaro but moved after being advised of building work. That would have been our 4th stay there. I am so glad that we chose this hotel instead. It was a breath of fresh air and we were very impressed not believing the Iberostar could be bettered. The service here was definitely better in our experience.Can't wait to go back next year.
478252,norwichboy,03/18/2008,What a Holiday! Read all the reviews and get an insight into this wonderful Hotel!As a Brit i can tell you that my wife and i and our 13 year old son had a wonderful week celebrating our Silver Wedding Anniversary at the most fantastiv venue we have been to.The Hotel is fantastic; nothing is too much trouble for the staff; rooms; food; bars; pools; beach our all excellent.Trips to take are the catamaran trip to Saone; Reef Explorer and the Megatrucks and if you are a fisherman then take the half day deep sea fishing trip for Dorado to 30lbs!It is a well known fact that the North American customers are used to and expect high levels of service etc at 5 star venues.We spoke to a number of Canadian and American holidaymakers who could not fault the facilities.In fact one Canadian family rated it as the best Hotel they had stayed in in the Caribbean.One for the ladies; UK hair straighteners DO NOT work ; if you cannot survive without them; take gas operated ones.Eating in the restaraunts; book on your day of arrival otherwise you may not get in when you want to.Can reccomend the Japanese; Italian and Mexican.If you can afford it pay the extra for Premier or extra legroom.Tip little and often and you will find that the staff remember you; particularly when the bars are busy!We are now formulating plans to go back again in 2010.All in all a brilliant holiday and if i could go back today i would go!
478252,tarveldog,03/18/2008,Great Vacation My Wife and kids and myself stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. We were there from the 4-11 March. When we arrived at the hotel entrance there were some girls dressed in traditional cloths dancing and welcoming us. Our stay there was and excellent beginning to travelling. The people were friendly and the cleaning staff really kept our rooms imacculate. I was very impressed.For my kids this was a first for two of them and apparrently they were awed. Had a great time; the food was good.
478252,mangolovers,03/17/2008,can't wait to go back!! We just got back a couple of days ago and we are still dreaming of our wonderful vacation. This resort is beautiful and all the staff were wonderful. This was our first time to Punta Cana and when we do return; I can't imagine going to any other resort. The food was very good considering how many people they serve on a daily basis. We went to 6 of the a-la-carte restaurants...Italian was the best. The entertainment staff were wonderful. The evening entertainment was amazing..very professional. Our rooms were very clean. My main advice about the rooms; try to avoid the rooms near the environmental area. There is standing water in the bushes which can get very smelly at times. The pool is very clean and the beaches were amazing...you can walk for miles. We did have one bad experience which had nothing to do with the resort. My son and I booked a sun-set snorkeling tour with the company that operates all the water sports on the beaches. It was our last day of vacation and we wanted to do something special. After waiting an hour and getting fitted for our snorkeling equipment...which didn't seem very hygenic; we were told that the boat was full and we had to re-schedule. Apparantely the sales agent sold the entire boat to a large family so we were bumped off. I had spoken to him the day before about this tour and he told me it was available. We purchased the tickets that morning and when it was time to leave for the excursion he lied to me by saying that the family had reserved it 3 days earlier...obviously a boat full of passengers(15 people) pays more commision than 2 people so we were bumped along with another family of 5. Although we did receive a refund; it wasted about 2 hous of our time on our last day when we could have maybe arranged some other tour. My 12 year old son was very dissapointed. I would not recommend booking anything with scuba caribe. They seem very disorganized and these would be the people you would be trusting with your life on the waters.
478252,love2travel03,03/16/2008,All You Need to Know Having just returned from a weeks vacation at the Grand Bahia (March 7-14); I decided to answer some of the questions in QA format that previous reviews did not address and of course give you my throughts on the resort as a whole. Q1: Which area/rooms should I request?The resort has 4 sections; the front section is for Club Golden - villa 1- 10 and 20-29 is up by the beach; pool; a restaurant that serves both lunch and breakfast; and a few snack bars. Villas 1; 2; 4; 23; 21; 20 are the closest; with villa 1 and 20 likely providing some views of the ocean if you are ocean side. Villas 3; 5; 6; 25; 24; 22 would also be good. The buildings are 2 and 3 storey high. We stayed here and found easy navigating during the day but took the trolley at night to the shows and lobby bar.The middle section runs from 11-19; and 30 to 39. I would not want to stay in units 33; 35; 37; 39 as they back on to constuction. These units are half way between beach and the lobby.They also have a Club Premier section quite a way from the beach but I suspect overlooks the golf course which is up at the entrance of the resort. The final section is the Ambar; which is down by the beach beside the Golden section but is for adults only. Villas number 60-70. The best villas would be 60; 64; and 67; closest to the beach and pool.Q2: Should I pay a premium for Club Golden?Location was definitely better - easy walking to the beach and only used the trolley's a night to get to the lobby and show. Daily towel service meant we didn't have to go to the hut to sign out towels. Extra dinner reservation was also nice. I guess it depends on the extra cost ... If you got the best villa's noted above; it would be well worth it.Q3: What are the Spa prices like?I enjoyed a 1 hour massage on the beach - $66 US and well worth it. You can also go to their spa location for a more private session. Did not appear to be any trouble getting an appointment. In fact my session was walk inQ4: What about wine?If you like wine; I would try to bring some to enjoy in your room while you are there. They stock pop and beer but no wine. Also the house wine a u brew; not bad but not good either. I wish I had brought a couple of bottles to have enjoyed a glass while getting ready for dinner at night. Also; at the a la carte you can order a bottle - very reasonably priced; including a 2 glass Spanish vintage for about $10US. Q5: Kids Club?Kids club was a disappointment. Staff member was nice but only one person for about 10 kids. Everyday 9-10 welcome; 10-11 and 11-12 would be 2 activities (usually; beach games; minigolf; and pool) and then 12-1 movies; and lunch 1-2. We didn't use the service in the afternoon. I just would have expected more structured activities - interesting crafts; learning the language; etc. If you are picky; you won't be impressed; but it was okay if you were just looking for a means to have a few hours to walk the beach or read quietly on the beach. Q5: What restaurants should you go to?We really liked (in this order) he Garden Grill; the Gourmet; and the Japanese restaurant. Our friends also liked the Italian and the Mexican. I did not enjoy the Fish or the Dominican Restaurant. Q6: Overall assessment?In reading all the previous reviews. I would agree with the consensus that the beach and surf are great - white sand; turquoise waters; lots of activities; great for long walks. I should also note many topless ladies. I would also agree with the postive reviews about the property - well maintained and quite beautiful. Rooms are good; quite spacious. Food is average; but acceptable as a whole (as Torontians we are used to pretty good restaurants and these would not compare). We certainly did not gain any weight like we have on previous cruises with Celebrity where I would rate the food as above average. Two of us in our group spent a day or so with churning stomachs Service was also better than previous reviews shared - we experienced no issues; or waits; or problems. Overall good trip - but for the money ~$8500 (for family of 4); I would book my own flight and go a bit more upscale next time. Don't worry if you have booked this however; I think you will enjoy it but likely won't rave about it. Hope this helps.
478252,MinnesotaFifi,03/14/2008,Our Attitudes Determined Our Outcome! We were at the GBPB March 1 - 8. Having read everything posted on TA; and asked members many questions; we were well-armed with information. It was important for us to know what we may be facing; as it was our first trip to the DR; and we are very appreciative of all the help that TA members gave us; so THANK YOU; everyone!The resort is clearly a beautiful sight! There is no denying that it is one of the most beautiful resorts in the area. We checked out several; and were pleased with our choice. I will agree with what everyone has already said; the place is HUGE. That is a fact! It is well manicured; clean; and aesthetically perfect. Actually; though; we found our way around fairly easily. It took a couple of days; but we were all over the place in no time at all. One time I got turned around; but I think it may have been the rum....We were booked in the Golden section; and when we arrived; we were told that they had upgraded us to Ambar. How nice! Check in was quick; pleasant; and we were served cocktails while checking in. We were taken soon after to the Ambar section; and to bldg. 68; room #68208. Immediately upon opening the door; we could smell the most musty; unpleasant aroma. The bellman also noticed it; as did the maid; who was at our door. Fortunately; I had brought the air fresheners; as suggested by TA members :) However; this was more than any Glade Solid was going to fix! We went into the room; and nearly slipped in a puddle of water. The maid was confused; and mopped it up; but did not know what was causing it. She sprayed the room; opened up the patio doors to air it out; and we agreed to see if it got better. The next day; we were out all day. When we arrived back to the room; more water. We contacted the concierge; and they sent maintenance staff who didn't have a clue where the water was coming from. My husband is a pretty bright guy; and can fix nearly anything; so decided to help the maintenance man. He tapped the wall; and noticed that the baseboard was very wet. All of the wood was wet! He helped the guy remove a ceiling panel; and found a serious leak in a water pipe; which obviously had been leaking into the hollow wall; and soaking into the wood. About that time; we noticed other leaks in the bathroom; near the light fixture above the toilet; the shower; etc. My husband spoke with the concierge again; and insisted on moving; as this was clearly going to take some time; and the wood was moldy. They pleaded with us for patience; as they had NO rooms left that night; but would move us first thing in the morning. Fine; we were not going to let it impact our trip. The next morning; they came right away to move us to bldg. 65; room # 65208. PERFECT room!! Everything about it was wonderful. The view was actually better; and we loved it. Our maid; Quiskella; was the sweetest girl ever!!!!During the issue with the water; however; every single person we worked with; was absolutely wonderful. They were helpful; apologetic; and worked hard to stay in communication as to the progress. One other thing that happened; was while we were in a hurry to move to the new room; my husband emptied out the safe quickly; and mistakenly left my small jewelry box with ALL OF MYJEWELRY; wedding rings; diamond necklace; everything; inside the safe; behind the door jam. When I was getting ready the next night for dinner; and realized it was gone; I was distraught; and so upset that I vomited!!! My husband was beside himself trying to help me stay calm; and immediately contacted the Ambar Concierge. The very helpful man; Victor; called us back shortly afterward to let us know that the amazingly wonderful young Canadian couple who were in our old room; (#68208) had found my jewelry; and contacted Security right away!! They had my jewelry locked in the vault; and we could claim it in the morning!!! We did so; and went directly to their room to thank them personally! This was all on day 2 of our vacation...Needless to say; after that experience; there was NOTHING that was going to spoil our vacation! We decided that we were amongst incredible people; who were honest and kind; and we would not let any little incidental get in the way of that. Fortunately for us; we truly enjoyed everything about our trip. Certainly; there were things that we did like more than others; but we simply made a different choice if we didn't like something. The Ambar Pool Beach area: Very nice place to relax; if you want quiet; with no activity; or music. We sat around there at times; but usally went over to the volleyball area; Golden pool area; or Beach bars. Lots to do; entertainment; activity; etc.The Ala Carte Restaurants: We ate at Don Pablos; which we really liked; LeGourmet; ...not so much for us...; Portofino; definately not for us; but we're kind of fussy eaters; the Garden Grill; which was good; but not something we wanted twice. Everyone has different tastes; so it's tough to say if a place is Good or Not Good. Very subjective. However; we really enjoyed the Buffet off the Ambar lobby!! It was always fantastic; and the food was hot! I had grilled shrimp; and/or grilled lobster nearly every day!The Animacion Team: Wonderful group!!! They work so hard; and really try to include anyone who looks like they want to have fun! Good people. My husband and I are Volleyball enthusiasts; and we were watching a large group of Europeans form teams for a tournament. One of the Animacion staff saw us watching; and included us in the game. The other players spoke little or NO English; and we speak NO French; but we ALL spoke Volleyball!!! By the way; our team took 1st place :) We received medals; and bottles of rum.Entertainment: In general; we enjoyed it. They work hard; and really are trying to please everyone. We appreciated their work.We enjoyed some incredible excursions; and we found a friend in Wilkins; from the VIP Tour Service! He was great; and helpful no matter what. One thing that I have to say; is that some very nice people on TA; like Brenda Lee-Alberta; John Brooklin; Punta Cana Mike; and many; many others gave some of the BEST advice of all: Go down there with a positive attitude; and a plan to have a great time; and it will be a wonderful trip! We did; and it was!!!!!!Thank you all for helping to make our vacation special.....
478252,canj,03/14/2008,Helicopters flying overhead ! Stayed from MARCH 3rd the 10th.Golden club section near the beach.Food at restos not bad to good.....Buffet just ok..always found something to eat and enjoyed.Never had problems finding chairs at pool or beach.Friendly staff...easy check in and check out.Some good shows at night.MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT;those helicopters continously flying overhead at the beach and pool.They fly too low and too close and too often ! I'm from a big noisy polluted city and when on vacation; I want to hear the wind thru the palm trees and the waves crashing on the sand.At times I felt like I was lying on a beach bed in the middle of an airport !The banana boat with its noisy motor and stinky gaz also comes in too close to where we swim in the ocean.They are several other caribbean destinations where such noise polluting activities are not allowed so close to the resorts.I dont mind the music and/or the organized pool activities at the resort..because they are of short duration and you can always find a quieter spot around the pool or go to the beach.But ;you cannot get away from the noise flying over you nor that stupid banana boat going back and forth....if only it go further outwards in the ocean like at many other resorts in the caribbean ;then it would be more tolerable.Would I go back ? Probably not...much easier to find an equivalent 5 star resort in the caribbean or Mexico without the air traffic and polluting banana boats.
478252,gerapau,03/12/2008,A bit too full Parasailing looking towards Iberostars
478252,smwOntario,03/12/2008,all in all a good holiday Although we were at the Gran Bahia Principe end Jan for two weeks and did not intend to write a review; after reading some of the reviews below; I think the following would be helpful to anyone going there:Firstly; check-in was irritating as the person was distracted by colleagues and other guests; but that may have been because we were tired. Secondly; if you are going to hire the safe be sure you get the receipt for reasons listed later.We did not spend the day at any of the pools so cannot comment on finding a spot but we didn't have any problem finding loungers on the beach; it was busy close to the ocean but further back was quiet.We took advantage of an offer to go to another hotel for two; five or six nights for $100.00 a day and went to Samana so came home with $400.00 US. I guess Bavaro gets overbooked and we were apprehensive about the return from Samana but there were absolutely no problems re-booking in; so I would recommend it if you have the time. Samana is very quiet and after the bustle of Bavaro; we found it more to our liking. It was this trip that caused the problem with the safe. We were reimbursed three days cost of the safe ($18.00) because it is free at Samana. Our relatives from England did not get a receipt for the cost of the safe when they checked in ($64.00 for two weeks) and were not on the list to get the $18.00 rebate. Only a small amount but they were practically accused of lying about paying for the safe and they did not have a receipt. We think someone pocketed the original payment which would never have been discovered if we had not gone to Samana.They did get the $18.00 after we returned and the person in charge of that department said they were going to have to launch an investigation. Another thing I have to mention is when on the coach to Samana I realised I had left my purse underneath the table at the Restaurant while having breakfast.. i'm getting old. The courier on the bus (from Venezuela but i've forgotten his name) called the Bavaro and my purse had been found and handed in and we were reunited upon return; so there are certainly honest workers there. I have to recommend Carla who was very helpful in this regard and who is very professional. I would also like to mention Laura who answered my email requesting rooms close to our relatives within 24 hours; and we were booked into the same building.This is a very nice hotel but I don't think we would return because it is too big and noisy for us.
478252,OilerfanSunseeker,03/11/2008,Had a great visit! Good value for a nice resort! We just got back from a week from Punta Cana; and we had a nice relaxing time. I was worried from all the negative reviews; but in the end; it was all great! We flew on Air Canada Vacations non stop from Edmonton; and it was a little disorganized at the airport; but if you read the suggestions of other travelers here; then you should have no problem. After customs; grab your bag and head right out the airport; and there will be a rep to tell you which bus to go to. If you let the baggage guys take your luggage; you should expect to tip them for the 100 ft walk to your transit.The Hotel was large; but pretty well organized. Check in took about 10 minutes; and we were wisked off to our room which was very nice. Lots of towels; firm bed; but the room had 4 pillows; so no issue there. Mini bar had pop and beer and was re-stocked everyday.Restaurants - (buffets) 7 out of 10; lots of selection; and usually something for everyone; but the quality was average. I had the fresh pasta for lunch for most days; as it was prepared fresh and piping hot! The Seafood Paella they had on the buffet was very good as well. As for meats; it would appear Chicken is the way to go as the beef and pork on the buffet are average. Drinks were very good; Mojitos; Fruit Drinks; Drink of the day at the lobby bar were all good. Drinks at the Karoake bar at the shopping area is inclusive; and it is a good warm-up for the night club which opens at midnight. This was were the size of the resort was good; because in previous resorts; there were never enough people for an active nightlife; but this place had it. If you wanted a more mellow evening; you could drink at the lobby bar till 11 pm. The a la cartes were enjoyable; and the food was definitely better. All I can say about the service is 95% of the staff try really hard; and without expectation. When you arrive; do meet with your Vacation Rep to book tours as we witnessed several couples who bought tours on the beach and were fleeced for $80-100 per person. The resort has no control on the beach; as it is gov't property and anyone can roam the beach. Buy your tour from the Vacation rep and there should be no issues. We went on a half day snorkling tour with the rays and nurse sharks. It was fun; but nothing special. There is more to see in Mexico; and other parts of the Caribean; but it was a great trip for fun and sun!For $1500 all in for a nice; clean resort I would recommend this to other people. Get the safe when you check in or the next morning; and bring a small lock for your luggage if you are concerned about your valuables; but at no time did I feel uneasy with the people at the resort. You could get a nice chair by the pools or beach until around 9:00 am; and even then you could find one; but just have to look a little longer. Snack bar open all day; with mainly kid snacks like hot dogs; hamburgers; etc. but the fruit in the DR was very good. Relax; and you will have a good time!
478252,Jonathan1410,03/11/2008,Its 5 Star; but Caribbean 5 star 2 week stay2 adults + 1 3 year oldWe had a lovely holiday at this resort and I would recommend it to anybody - families; couples (young and old). The main point I would like to make in trying to give an impartial review is that this is Caribbean 5 star - its an above average hotel for the Dominican Republic but you wont get the treatment here that you would wish to get at the Dorchester; London - if thats what your after then you will need to spend a a couple more thousand dollars! Be realistic!The Hotel--------------The resort is pretty big - about 1500 rooms - for this reason Bahia Principe have divided the resort into 2 hotels (Punta Cana and Bavaro). The main stumbling block this causes is that if you are booked in under Punta Cana you cannot eat in the Bavaro buffet; and vice versa. Once you have sorted this out your ok - but you dont get much information on arrival and I saw a few people a bit angry/confused being turned away from the wrong buffet. I think the reason they have done this is to make the resort seem smaller and more personal - and I think it works as long as you are informed.The hotel reception areas are ajoined; are very grand; and are a mirror image of each other. This is as far as the segregation goes for most people since the accommodation is spread about the resort in blocks of around 18 rooms. There are around 10 a la carte restaurants spread about the resort which you need to book for (3 bookings per room per week - but if you check with guest services each day they generally have cancellations that they will give out as extras). The general buffet area has a very good range of food however.The other thing that may confuse some is that there are several different clubs you can be checked in under (depending on how much you have paid) eg. Premier club (a bit more expensive but is set in its own area with its own pool); Amber (adults only accomodation - has its own area also); Diamond club (has its own pool). These give different entitlements to facilities it seems but the a la carte restaurants are open to all as long as you have a booking.There are several swimming pools and the beach is really nice.The grounds are the best I have seen in the Caribbean and are kept very well.We were hoping to be located in a room near the beach but ended up near the reception area. This worked out fine however; since we were right beside one of the pools which our little boy loved and the transport runs up and down the resort all day very frequently so getting about is fine.Watersports-----------------I went diving a few times and this was pretty good - the wreck has a big Barracuda living in it!There are Katamarans to hire (1 hour per day for each room) - but there are only 6 available so you need to be down at the watersports center (on beach) early to book a day or two in advance otherwise they will all be booked up.If you like snorkelling then you will have problems here since the speed boats race up and down just meters away from swimmers - making it pretty dangerous. This is a shame since the corel; only 100 yards out; has alot of nice fish on it. The only thing you can do is get down there before 9 am - the boats dont generally start up until this time.The Service----------------The staff are generally very good and are very friendly and polite. But be aware that this is the Caribbean - they are used to taking there time here - if you expect prompt treatment all the time then you may get a bit impatient here. Saw a few people getting upset since they were not being served when they snapped there fingers - simple solution; dont holiday here!For Kids------------There is a kids club which do different things each day (but they habitually end up in the pool). Its not really a creche though; and generally with just one carer available; you wont want to leave your reluctant 2 year old there.The pools are great and are nice and warm; but there arent alot of activites for kids in this resort - no games room; no water slides; no play park. If your kids like to swim; or like the kids club then fine; but if they want theme parks; water slides etc then you will be disappointed.Liked-------hotel; accomodation; food; beach; sea (very warm)Didnt Like--------------not really being able to swim in the sea for fear of being hit by a spead boatnot much information on arrivalthere is a habit for people to get up early and reserve sunbeds here (like everywhere else I suppose)Tips------------------Have $10 US for each person at the airport - they dont seem to like Pesos. This will avoid having to wait at the exchange counter for half an hour like I did!They drive like the Italians but their roads are worse so I wouldnt hire a car here unless you are really adventurous. It also takes ages to get anywhere cause the roads are pretty poor.Taxis are quite expensive.Learn a little spanish if you can sometimes goes a long way
478252,Finney2008,03/10/2008,Fabulous Wedding We went down with a group of 25. Let me start off by saying that many of us have been to all inclusive resorts before and found this resort by far the BEST!!!!.I've heard people complain about how large the resort was.It was a very nice walk every morning for breakfast. It was not that large at all. They had trams that ran every second....we never had to wait for one. And for the other people that complained about the speed of the trams....you could honestly walk faster than they travelled. And most times we did walk from the beach to the lobby bar. Maybe 5 minutes. The food was fabulous; yes not always the hottest; but fabulous. We ate at the Japanese 10/10 an amazing show; Le Gourmet 10/10 best steak and lobster around; Brazilian 4/10; The Garden Grill 7/10; Mediterranean 7/10. I would recommend the first two. Check out the menus that are posted outside of the restaurants prior to booking. Especially if you have children. Just a note that all of the restaurants on the 5* side have a dress code. No shorts for men / womenWe paid the little extra to be gold club; well worth the money. We were checked in on the bus....everything was taken care of. And we all had rooms close to the beach. Well worth it!!!!The shows that are offered every night are great. We had a blast at the karaoke bar most nights. Tons of fun. All ages are permitted in the club. So this was great for our younger guests. Beach chairs were never a problem for us. At anytime of the day we could head down to the beach and manage to round up enough chairs for our entire group. We NEVER went down bright and early to reserve chairs...this wasn't needed. Our tours were great. The Bavaro Runners was an amazing family tour. The only downfall is that almost no one speaks English. Not usually a big deal; but this makes things a little difficult when you're there for a wedding. Our wedding co-ordinator Gabby was amazing and translated most of our requests. Our wedding was truly the most amazing day. The flowers were incredible!! I did get my hair done at the resort. I do agree with another member...my hair was not the greatest and she did it many times. But I have to say that it was probably better than I could have done. Just not the same as what you would get here in Canada.I had the tram let me off prior to the gazebo and we walked up the path....everything was perfect. Try and remember that you are in another country and that maybe you should learn a little Spanish prior to leaving. This would have helped a lot.All in all I would recommend this resort to everyone. We all had a great time and have all commented that there will never be another holiday like this one
478252,MartinezNB,03/10/2008,Must read for Review Readers Beautiful beach
478252,4Canucks4,03/09/2008,Awsome We have just returned from the Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana on March 6 th after staying there a week with our kids 10 and 13.I'm a first time writer here and have decided to give a review to help others to become informed...Pros: Just about everything was awesome.We chose a resort using the Air Canada travel magazine and relied on their rating system from 1 to 5 quality of different things to look for in a resort.This hotel was a BEST SELLER which in itself is worth something.The sand on the beach was velvety;it was cleaned every night;the water was warm enough you did not freeze if there was a wind...It was perfect.I could list all the things that are pros but honestly it was a 9.5 out of 10 from every single member of the family so ill move on.Cons: When we arrived to our room the first night at midnight;we had to wait a half hour for the bellboy to go back to the front desk twice so that the reception could give him a room key that was programmed to OPEN the door.We had to laugh after because we had read about that experience here...Not a big deal...People would reserve the long chairs at the main pool and on the beach with there towels really early in the morning...that sucked! I'm on vacation and do not like to have to be rushed to do something;i run around all year;but of course i had to do the same to get a good spot;so get ready to run to the beach b4 breakfast...The vendors at the Pueblo village were a little to rambunctions for my liking;I'm Canadian and do not like to be shouted at to be someones friend;so a firm NO GRACIAS is all it takes to sake them off you. It was humurous standing back and watching the approaching prey be corraled by the first vendors as they walked into the open village;be ready folks;remember NO GRACIAS...lolThere are mosquitos;bring a fly swatter for your room;bring Watkins bug reppelent and be patient to find the mosquito you saw fly by in ur room because they are tiny...We have beefy mosquitos in Canada.Last but not least;when you arrive by bus at the airport to depart the bus driver says on the speakers to wait a second for the bags to be unloaded off the bus before he lets you get out...Get ready...there are a bunch of guys there holding your bags and will not let them go;they ask you what airline and want you to follow them for 50 feet to stand in the line up and then they wait for you to tip them;what a scam...I was trapped to tip them 5 bucks because i had no dollard bills and the guy had change to break a 20...I laugh now because i told my wife that in my single days i would have told them to take a hike with no tip but being a compliant husband that i am i listened to my wife and broke the 20...grrrrr!!! So you must grab hold of your stuff and say one thing NO GRACIAS;NO GRACIAS;NO GRACIAS...Have a great trip and laugh about the mishaps;its part of travelling..
478252,milesfromewood,03/09/2008,Money well spent First of all let me assure everyone that the Gran Bahia Principe (Punta Cana) is a fabulous resort. My wife myself have just returned home to the UK from a superb two week vacation staying in the Punta Cana section of the resort.Weeks prior to our departure reviews on Tripadvisor were constantly criticizing giving negative comments about the resort (mainly N. American clients; I might add-other nationality reviews were consistently good) Days before our trip it got to a point I wished I鈥檇 not booked the resort because of all the negativity being shown .We stayed the night before our flight at the Sofitel hotel (fabulous hotel) which is connected directly to the north Terminal at Gatwick which makes for an easy transfer . The holiday didn鈥檛 get off to the best of starts -we were stuck on the runway for 1 hour before we could take off (missed our slot!) Once airborne the journey was comfortable -we travelled with First choice we upgraded to premier class which was well worth the extra cost - the crew were constantly offering drinks- the service food was good also.Even with the delay we arrived in Punta Cana only a few minutes late -the airport is amazing -different. We had to pay an entrance tax of $10 pp no one told us this!! Eventually after finding our bus (would have been nice if a First choice rep could have directed us!!) We began our short Journey to the resort. -onboard the bus was a Gran Bahia Principe member of staff (spoke great English) who gave us our details -key cards; towel cards; wristbands fitted. Etc. On entering the resort we were given a welcome drink then straight away (no wait) we where transferred to our room along with our baggage-5minutes after arriving I was having a shower whilst my wife was unpacking. First priority was to get the safe sorted; so I wandered over to reception after getting directions an escort from a nice drunk Canadian guy (first impressions all that!!) People at the reception seemed a little standoffish but they were fine helpful -Luckily I took $64 cash with me because they would not let me charge the safe fee to the room-everything else we spent on resort-wine-hairdresser -massage was the complete opposite they always charged it to the room would not take cash-you figure!!!We had made our mind up that if on first impression the room/resort was not up to scratch like recent reviews had indicated we鈥檇 try to up-grade to the adults only Ambar section of the resort - in our opinion this was not necessary would have been a waste of money. The only benefit we could see for upgrading to the Ambar would be a pool without kids more a la carte restaurants. Our room was beautiful; located in villa 15 with a pool view which in our opinion was in the best location within the resort. The beach being more important to us than a pool was of concern before arrival - the beach near the centre of the resort was packed but to the right of the resort near the water sports centre it was very quiet virtually unused some days; unbelievable really considering the resort was at full capacity for most of our stay; this area of the beach looked quieter closer to the ocean than the Ambar beach. The first few days we were being offered $200 per day to move to other resorts which included the Excellences resort. These offers reduced to only one day exchange which was more trouble than it was worth -then the offers stopped -I was told the hotel was no longer at full Capacity that was the reason no other resorts were now being offered- the girl I spoke to said the offers will resume next year -how she knew this baffled me! Rooms鈥?I was surprised when we entered the room - I was expecting a rundown dingy room after having read some other trip reviews -What we got was a large beautifully presented immaculate room throughout Our room was in Villa 15 on the second floor overlooking a pool. IMO in the best location within the resort. The service of the room was generally very good with a few exceptions nothing major no need to phone reception - I just found the maid asked for extra towels-beer -milk etc no big deal. Beach鈥? Having been to Bavaro some 15 years ago I knew what to expect -A beautiful white long beach -The Bahia beach was crowded (like sardines) in sections mainly in the centre of the resort; at the extremities of the resort it was less crowded like I say near the water sports it was deserted (maybe an exaggeration) well it was quiet. IMO what makes Bavaro beach special are all the tall palm/coconut trees that surround the beach.Grounds鈥?Are amazing; they are constantly being worked on by a battalion of dedicated workers who produce beautiful results - the grounds are far superior to any other resort we stayed at previously -top end resorts we鈥檝e stayed at include El Dorado Royale on the Mayan Riviera Paradisius in Cuba.Bars鈥?Without hesitation I would say we received the best service we鈥檝e experienced in an all inclusive resort; maybe we鈥檝e had better quality of drinks in other resorts (more expensive resorts!) overall the bars are well run with friendly helpful staff.Restaurants鈥?br/> Because we were in the Punta Cana section our a la carte quota was three per week giving us a grand total of six for our entire holiday; which IMO was adequate; especially because of the high standard of the buffet - I had no trouble booking any restaurant whatsoever -a little flexibility will help -the people who say they have trouble booking restaurants must not have heard of the word 鈥渇lexibility鈥?what鈥檚 it matter if you have to eat at 21.00h when at home you usually eat at 19.00h ! The six restaurants booked were鈥?.Il Charro-Mexican This restaurant was our least favourite -first course buffet style which was good -main course dessert chosen of a menu- both of our main meals were average at best- poor really! The restaurant lacked in atmosphere looked a little spartan; a little soft music would have been nice.Garden Grill Steakhouse Our room was near this restaurant the aromas every night coming from the kitchen enticed us to change the originally booked Dominican restaurant - we were glad we did as it was a great night with some superb steaks. The Grill had the same set up as the Mexican-buffet then menu service. The buffet wasn鈥檛 that great so we had soup/chowder which was fantastic .We both had steak for our mains; wifey had Tenderloin I had a T-bone -glad we order a bottle of decent wine ($20) to go with the food. We had to laugh when the waiter brought my main meal; as he was serving it a fancy thingy stuck in the potatoes went flying across the room; then the same waiter delivered my dessert; a scoop of Ice cream from the plate went flying in the same direction -we saw the funny side!French/gourmet This was the most formal restaurant on the resort - food was very good the service staff were superb we left a $10 tip which was the most we tipped-the general ambiance of the place was nice -a great night out.El Pescadore- Seafood The same concept with buffet first course -mains dessert waiter service The buffet here was superb I enjoyed this course the most -My wife鈥檚 main meal was really nice; she had King Prawn Fish Brochette -I had Lobster which was okay although it was beautifully presented. Breakfast lunch is also available here we never ate breakfast here -though we had many a lunch (buffet) it being near to the beach which we frequented.Mikado -AsianA great experience -this is a group restaurant so you鈥檙e dependent on the people who are at your table we had some nice American folk from Iowa a nice young couple from Edmonton Canada- BUT- also the most miserable Italian couple you could imagine who never smiled/acknowledged/spoke to anyone. We really liked the format of the Mikado -everyone sits in a small room around a grill then you鈥檙e served Sushi - Tempura -soup with the waiter constantly filling your wine/water glass up The grill chef then cooks your main meal which was very good after that everyone is taken into the main restaurant were you鈥檙e seated at individual tables for your dessert coffee is served. Romano -Italian The best restaurant for atmosphere we could have been in southern Italy -format buffet first course menu others -the food was of a very good quality all the course being wonderful. The service staff were superb had great personalities singing whist serving our course.Punta Cana Buffet This is the best buffet restaurant we鈥檝e been in- the food was good to very good the service was from very good to excellent -Food was replenished consistently- Drinks were always offered re- offered. Finished/empty plates were taken; never left on the table. The management have some great systems in place -filling one area of the restaurant first thus making full use of all resources -staff -waiters- clearing etc. A very well run establishment. Spa鈥?Most treatments are reasonably priced I used the spa twice -a haircut-$18 Massage $66 for 50 minutes - first massage I鈥檝e had it was wonderful.Entertainment鈥?br/> Like most all-inclusive resorts this area IMO is their weakest the Bahia was no exception I suppose you could say it was adequate but nothing special.Animation鈥? This was very poor -a lack of organisation; no information anywhere throughout the resort for times or activities. A complete lack of facilities (or I didn鈥檛 see them) at other resorts we鈥檝e stayed there鈥檚 been archery; rifle shooting etc- here there was nothing; considering the size of the resort I was disappointed that more wasn鈥檛 offered.Dislikes鈥?br/>All the different wristbands colours -we counted at least eight different colours -Why the need for all the colours - in my view the resort needs three different wristbands -Adults only resort-rest of the resort- children - because the service throughout the resort were very similar. Our pet hate- Folks drinking out of large flasks a few feet from the bars (cups at the bar are adequate) it gave a negative feel because most of the drinkers of these flask were usually the loud drunk for some reason unbeknown to me it was a certain nationality that used these flasks! We heard lots of disparaging remarks about this nationality mainly due to their loudness drunkenness at the resort -do yourselves a favour leave your flasks in the snow!!Likes鈥?Management of the Restaurants; bars; communal areas especially the great management of the bell boy service-no wait when we arrived straight to the room on departure a courtesy early call to check on departure we would like then the prompt pick up of our bags.Overalll鈥?br/>We had great holiday overall I would rate this a 4.5-this rating not being possible on trip advisor because of the recent bad reviews the resort has received I鈥檒l mark it 5 for balance!
478252,avucko,03/08/2008,Big Resort--Great Beach view from our room
478252,KevandJo,03/08/2008,Fabulous Just back from two fantastic weeks at the Bahia Principe Punta Cana. There are now four hotels within the one complex. Bavaro and Punta Cana are mirror images of each other while there is the ambar and premier to the side. There is also some building work going on so probably more to come! (but did not affect us in the slightest).The hotel is immaculate. Theres a lot of people staying but it covers a very large area so it doesn't feel too busy.Restaurants were great - especially Japanese and French ones but all were very good except the Brazillian - may have just been an off night but service was pretty appalling. Staff very friendly and helpful.The beach is beautiful and there are about 4 lovely pools - we were allowed in two of them - one by the beach and one in the centre of the complex. When we arrived they had overbooked the hotel so we took up the opportunity to receive $200 for our troubles and go by bus to another hotel for a night (Cayo Laventado near Samana) which was fantastic too - and we went whale watching there (for free!).Weather was great too - around 28-30 degrees each day with only a few short rain showers (where the heavens opened!) and a couple of days of cloud - but still hot and a nice break from the sizzling sun.
478252,toyguard,03/08/2008,Don't sweat the small stuff I have been to Punta Cana six times; each a different resort. All of these previous resorts had had mixed reviews; but I found each of the places I had stayed...Great!!Just got back; 1st week in March.The Bahia Principe is a great resort; awesome villas; beautiful grounds; great beach area with lots of beach chairs and plenty of shade from the sun (if you so choose). The staff was great (mostly).I had plenty of reasons to have a negative review; be angry and I could have done a lot of complaining while at the resort. But; really it's all about the attitude. I had; unlike all my previous stays in Punta Cana; problems with checking in; with the restaurants; towels; and with food. But I chose to have a good time; and I did. The problems are trivial; and if you focus your energy on the negative; then you'll be miserable; just move on and you'll have great time. The best I found was the beach; plenty of shaded resting spots; also the live band and stage were great; the Japanese restaurant--don't miss it. Least liked... ... nothing really; for the money; I got way more than my money's worth regardless of the little incidentals. Though; I would not reccomend it to my friends; only because I found it too big--it's like 5 resorts combined in 1; and there are way more people (depending on timing of course) than there are facilities. But; overall; the resort is a great place to visit.
478252,TonyB08,03/08/2008,This Resort Explained There is a lot to learn about this place before you go; and I would really like to explain this as best I can.Most important of all to make absolutely clear to anyone looking at a brochure - the Gran Bahia Punta Cana Gran Bahia Bavaro is one and the same hotel; it also now includes the GBP (Gran Bahia Principe) Premier and the new GBP Ambar (new adults only hotel adjacent) all in the same complex. So if you look for a certain size of hotel from the brochure be very careful as you need to add up the following; GBP Punta Cana 708 junior suites; GBP Bavaro 540 junior suites; GBP Amber 528 rooms and 188 Premier. Therefore; you need to understand that you are going to a resort with approximately 1;900 guest rooms; the different names are in effect different receptions in the same resort. When you arrive; you will be aiming for one of these receptions depending where you have booked - our booking said Bavaro. You drive into the complex and follow the road to a roundabout - one side is the GBP Punta Cana; the other; the GBP Bavaro. The front of the hotel is therefore effectively symmetrical - one reception each side; then one buffet restaurant each side; one Japanese restaurant each side and one gourmet restaurant each side - if you can imagine the kitchen would run down the spine between both sides of the restaurants culminating with the theatre that sits between both sides. This then leads out into the grounds housing all the villas; pools; restaurants and public areas all the way down to the beach.We got dropped off at Bavaro and after queuing up; were told that our booking was in Punta Cana - even though our paperwork said otherwise. Never mind; we waited for a bell boy to come along in a little bus that took us round to Punta Cana reception and queued again. When I enquired if our room had two double beds instead of one king double (we were with 2 children) they realised it didn't. To their credit they changed us immediately and gave us our key; a green wrist band and a map!!We got back onto a bus with another bell boy and took us to villa block 28 on the second floor (each villa has 3 floors only - Dominican law states that no building can be built higher than the king palm tree which is good) Our room was more than adequate - clean; roomy; two double beds; table and chairs. sofa bed; bathroom with whirlpool bath and shower. Only downside was it smelt of cigarettes; but not bad enough that it was unbearable.WRISTBANDSComing from the UK; I believe I am right when I say that none of our tour operators get involved with offering the different levels of clubs at this resort; i.e. Diamond Club; Premier Club and Hacienda Club. Even after being to this resort; I am still unclear what each gives you - it certainly wasn't explained or offered at check in. What is clear is that different colour wristbands give differing privileges around the resort. With our green one; we could only eat in the Punta Cana side buffet restaurants and not any of the a La Carte at lunchtimes; i.e. Italian. But not a problem at all.FOODYou are only supposed to be allowed to book 3 A L Carte Restaurants per week. With a few dollars; you could book more if you wanted.The buffet restaurants are beautiful and immaculate; they really are quite special dining rooms. There is a very wide spread of food; good choices and grill chefs to cook to order. However; we did find like many other reviewers that by and large the experience was seemingly unnecessarily spoilt by the food being lukewarm sometimes even cold. Even when they brought out fresh trays they could still be cold- this was really quite mysterious and something they must sort out.They have the following A La Carte restaurants - Brazilian; BBQ; Steak House; Mexican; Gourmet; Japanese; Mediterranean; Fish. We ate in all of them and had mixed experiences throughout. This was either due to poor service one night good the next; cold food one night great cooking the next - this was the overall experience and very frustrating. The worst was the Japanese. The 5 course set meal was Sushi; then cold tempura; then miso soup and then prawns; fish; beef chicken with rice cooked on the Hibachi grill followed by dessert at a neighbouring table. The grill chef began to cook our main meal as we were eating the sushi!!! When we were ready to eat the main 30 minutes later he had managed to murder all the food as it was waiting on the grill or it was cold on platesit. I really don't think I've ever been so cross in a restaurant (I didn't complain to him as it wouldn't have changed anything) We witnessed someone ruin perfectly good ingredients in front of our eyes and spoilt what should or could have been a very good meal - Benihanas it wasn't!Drinks were always very slow in coming at meal times - except water - and the white wine is undrinkable - really. We ordered a la carte Chilean Sauvignon which was about 拢8 a bottle and worth the money - you wouldn't drink rubbish wine at home so why when you're on holiday regardless if its included??!!POOLS BEACHWe stayed by the two middle pools as they were quieter and more relaxing - easily got beds and umbrellas. The pool adjacent to the beach was mobbed. The beach was beautiful but again; during the day it looked like the D-Day landings it was so busy!! Swim Up Pool bars were great although the resort seemed to be packed with adults from Canada who even though they were in their forties or above were so loud and raucous later in the day it was difficult to get near the bar; certainly not with children. They all bring their own mugs (which obviously manage to hold more beer than the plastic cups on offer) and one even fell asleep on the bar at 4pm for over an hour having been there since about 10.30am! I found myself being embarrassed for them. Maybe they all don't get out much? There were so many it should be renamed PUNTA CANADA!! (I used to think Americans were loud; but the Canadians are right up there!) ;-)ENTERTAINMENTEvening entertainment in the theatre was ok although I got fed up drinking drinks out of plastic cups. Understandable for around the pool; but why in the evening in the theatre. Only the reception bar had glasses. Lots of dance shows primarily but the children liked it all.Later on in the Principe square out front; there is a karaoke bar; small casino; burger joint; disco and outside seating and a band. Only went once but was ok; great for younger people and night owls!TRIPSLots of trips to do. We went on the Caribbean Festival which was fun on a boat and the snorkelling and swimming with sharks Stingrays. A truly great trip; and fabulous fun; with dancing and entertainment on the boat. A very professionally run trip; on a beautiful new catamaran with top facilities. Highly recommended. (Didn't do anymore as we transferred to Cayo Levantodo - see below)OVERALLFacilities were great; public areas were immaculate and staff were very friendly. But the service was very erratic and you are just as likely to have a great meal as a poor meal in any restaurant on any night. Subsequently; you really can't take anyone鈥檚 review as gospel as it could change from table to table; in the same restaurant on the same night. Just try and be lucky!For us; our conclusion was that we loved the Dominican Republic but this resort is just too big. A beautiful place but lacks any feeling of intimacy; seclusion; exclusivity and good consistent service. For people with teenagers I am sure they will love it but it鈥檚 not for us. We have learnt a lot again this holiday; and even though we had a great time; we would choose a smaller resort next time.THE ICING ON THE CAKEThe hotel had overbooked. Apparently; they do this often; especially this time of year. They were advertising for volunteers to go to another property for a few nights. As my wife wanted to see the humpback whales spawn; (this happens every Feb March in Samana Bay) and it was too far for a day trip with the kids; we decided to take up their offer of 3 nights in this area.So after 3 days in Punta Cana; we packed; took 1 suitcase and left the others with guest services took a 3 hour coach trip (which was fascinating going thorugh the country and towns) and a 30 minute catamaran to their brand new hotel on Cayo Levantado (Bacardi Island)Suffice it to say; this was the best decision we have ever made on any holiday.The hotel only has 196 bedrooms; our room over looked the bay and was enormous; the facilities are first glass; service excellent and we got to know everyone. Beautiful beaches; beautiful pools and restaurants and great staff. I could go on for ages about this hotel; but just look it up for yourself. We immediately prolonged our stay for another 2 nights. They took us whale watching for free and that was fantastic watching them rise out of the water right next to you. And the really unbelievable part about all of this? They paid us $200 per night as we had moved! So; 6 magical days later and $1000 better off; we returned for our final 6 nights back at Punta Cana.IF you are ever in GBP Punta Cana and you see this deal advertised TAKE IT WITHOUT HESITATION and you will email me to thank me for the advice 鈥?that鈥檚 a promise!!!
478252,irishsiren74,03/07/2008,Never been anywhere hot before drove up the mountain in the back
478252,Tanlines58,03/07/2008,The Tale of Two Resorts Let me preface my review by saying that this was the sixth all-inclusive vacation for my wife and me in the last 10 years.It was our second trip to the Dominican Republic and our second stay at a Gran Bahia Principe property.Trip Outline:We were part of a group of eight that booked for two weeks at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. Six of us had stayed at the GBP San Juan together four years ago; and it was that experience that prompted us to book at GBP Bavaro.As a group we are firm believers that a vacation is what you make it. Life is too short to be whining and complaining about nitpicky things.Due to overbooking at GBP Bavaro during our second week; we took advantage of an excursion offered by the resort and spent two days (one night) at the Gran Bahia Principe Cayacoa at Samana. Upon our return we were 鈥渦pgraded鈥?to the Ambar section at Punta Cana.Travel to and from the DR:We travelled by Air Transat out of Vancouver and the flight was pretty much what we expected. We were through customs and on the bus in less than an hour upon arrival at Punta Cana. There was some confusion once we reached the resort; as resort officials spent an hour shuffling us to three different registration desks before we could actually register. Things went quite smoothly on the trip to Samana and back; and on our return trip to Canada.Resort in General:As mentioned by previous posters; the resort is quite large 鈥?something like 1;800 rooms in a series of (mostly) three-storey buildings. Having said that; we didn鈥檛 have too much trouble getting around; although we did use the trolleys on occasion. Our suite was in the middle of the resort; about 5-minute walk to the beach and about a 5-minute walk to the main lobby. The Diamond club pool was right out our front door and we spent most of our afternoons there. A very beautiful resort and well maintained.Beaches and Pools:During our 鈥渓eisure days鈥?we tended to spend the mornings at the beach and the afternoons at the pool. The beach is very nice; with soft sand and plenty of palapas. Even though we were a group of eight; we rarely had trouble finding a suitable spot to park ourselves 鈥?close to both sun and shade; near the water and (most importantly) close to a bar. The only pool we went to on the Bavaro side was the Diamond Cub pool; which was smaller; but a whole lot quieter than the main pool. Once again; there was a good mix of sun and shade and we never seemed to have trouble finding a spot.Even thought the resort has rules prohibiting the 鈥渟aving鈥?of loungers with beach towels; it is a very common occurrence. If you find a spot you like; it is wise to get there early and save your spaces.Buffet Restaurants:We had breakfast at the main buffet restaurant twice and supper there three times. It is very large and can be quite noisy at times. The food is good and there is a good selection. Service is also very good. One draw-back to the main buffet is the lack of an outdoor seating area.We ate breakfast at the Italian restaurant several times; primarily because we were able to sit outside. The selection was good; but quite a bit more restricted than the main restaurant.We had a lot of our lunches at the beach-side grill. Lots of seats and a small but tasty selection (excellent roast chicken).A la Carte Restaurants:We e-mailed ahead and received pre-booking of the a la carte restaurants. Upon arrival; we already had reservations at the French; Japanese; Argentinean (beach-side grill); Garden Grill (steakhouse); seafood; Italian and Mediterranean restaurants.Most followed the same system with an appetizer buffet and a la carte ordering for the main course and dessert. The French and Mediterranean restaurants were a la carte appies and main course. The Japanese had a set menu that was prepared in front of you.In all cases the food was flavourful and well-presented; although the portions were quite small in the French restaurant (I had steak and lobster; the steak was about 2 oz. and the lobster tail wasn鈥檛 much larger).Our preferences (in order from favourite to least favourite) were the Garden Grill; Mediterranean; Japanese; Italian; seafood; French and Argentinean.Excursions:We took a one-day guided tour into Santo Domingo. It was a long day ; but well worth it. We got to visit the tomb of Christopher Columbus; the Columbus museum and the oldest cathedral in the Americas; as well as a walking tour through part of the old section of town and a stop at the presidential palace. There was also time set aside for shopping at La Romana 鈥?on the trip in to Santo Domingo 鈥?and then again in S.D.The cost was just under $70 per person; which included all applicable entrance fees and lunch.We took a cab into downtown Bavaro for a beer at Steve鈥檚 Corner bar and lunch at Capitan Cooks Seafood Restaurant. The beer at Steve鈥檚 was great 鈥?good atmosphere on a busy street corner; so there鈥檚 lots to see. Lunch at Capitan Cooks was (in my opinion) a waste of time. Prices were high; the quality of food was not very good and the service was average at best. Ten of us went there. Two didn鈥檛 want to order after looking at the prices and one other sent her food back because she couldn鈥檛 eat it (rubbery calamari). I ordered ceviche and calamari; but I can鈥檛 tell you what it was like; because I never did get my order. Maybe I should have hassled one of the servers to get my meal; but after seeing the quality of the calamari that what one of the other members of the group got; I decided to keep quite and save $25.The hotel also offers free shuttle service to Plaza Palma Real; a high-end mall in Bavaro. There is a cigar and rum shop at the mall that we found a good place to pick up smokes and rum. Good quality and selection and competitive prices. Here is also a Hard Rock Caf茅 there if you have a hankering for a $20 burger and fries.GBP Bavaro Experience: Overall; we had a very enjoyable stay on the Bavaro side of the complex. There were a few minor problems; but nothing that impacted our stay. The staff was courteous and professional.Ambar Experience: The only real 鈥渄owner鈥?on our trip was our upgrade to the Ambar section. The Ambar resort itself is beautiful; with a large; bright lobby and excellent food at the buffet and a la carte restaurants. There is also a cigar lounge near the main lobby that is supposed to be open daily from 11 a.m to 11 p.m. It looks to have a good selection of cigars; but the two times I went to check it out 鈥?once just after noon and once at about 5 p.m. 鈥?it was closed.We had a few problems with our room when we checked in 鈥?an in-room safe that didn鈥檛 work and a leaky toilet -- but both were fixed within the first day.Restaurant and bar service at the Ambar was very disappointing. More than a few times the term 鈥渁trocious鈥?came up to describe the quality of service at the various restaurants and bars we visited.At first we thought it was because we had upgraded to the Ambar section and thus had different coloured bracelets than those that had booked in. After talking to a few other people; we quickly learned the colour of the bracelet didn鈥檛 matter; service was still poor.It鈥檚 pretty poor business for a group of eight to sit through three meals at the buffet restaurants and not have a single server ask us if we鈥檇 like a drink or a glass of wine with dinner; or have no one bother to ask us if we wanted a cup of coffee with our breakfast.In the resort鈥檚 defence; they are still in their infancy and it appears they are still quite short of staff in general and short of well-trained staff in particular. However; having said that; our group paid over $28;000 for these two weeks in paradise. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 too much to ask for a cup of coffee with breakfast without having to go to the servers' station and pour it ourselves.GBP Cayacoa Experience: We really enjoyed the overnight excursion. The four-hour bus trip really gives you a glimpse into Dominican life; as you travel through a number of small and not-so-small communities. The GBP Cayacoa is a small resort built into the rocks overlooking Samana Bay. There is a six-storey elevator that takes you from the resort down to a semi-private beach. There is one main buffet and several a l carte restaurants. We had all of our meals at the buffet and were very satisfied with the taste and selection.Closing thoughts:This was our second trip to the Dominican Republic and probably our last. We enjoyed ourselves; but there are too many other places for us to see.We would certainly recommend the GBP Bavaro to anyone. In all honesty; we could not recommend the Ambar at this time.
478252,pj836,03/06/2008,Great Drinks; Beautiful Beach... Isn't that all you really need? I stayed at the Gran Bahia for a week over Valentine's Day. I traveled with my boyfriend and a couple that we are close friends with. Overall; we had a terrific time! Since we relied upon the Trip Advisor reviews in booking our trip; I wanted to leave feedback about our experience.We booked our stay through cheapcaribbean.com; which provided our hotel transfers; flight; and hotel reservations. It turned out to be a good value for the quality of the trip. Cheap Caribbean was very easy to deal with and would definitely recommend using them.The hotel is near the airport (~20 min.) so transfers are a breeze.The hotel itself is beautiful; as many others have mentioned. But; it is so large and the layout is kind of confusing. It helped us to ride around on the trolley just to get a sense of where things were. In fact; by riding around; we found a pool on the punta cana side (?); near the villas in the 40鈥檚; that was open to everyone. That pool had teak chairs with pads and was quieter; so we preferred that to the large pool. Of course; the only drawback is that it was not near the beach. I put a question mark near the comment about the Punta Cana side because it is literally impossible to tell/remember which side is which. I鈥檓 not sure why they designed the property that way but really its fine; we hung out in both lobbies at different times.The check in process was okay; but definitely a little frustrating. Although we requested so; we weren鈥檛 given a room in the same villa as our friends. We asked to be reassigned but the front desk said that wasn鈥檛 possible. When we were taken to our rooms; our room was on the ground floor with two double beds and theirs was not ready for them. Unbeknownst to each other we both complained and asked to be reassigned. By chance; we were placed in rooms next to each other鈥攚e found out later in the day! So we were very happy about our room assignment but actually we only got it by pure chance. We had gold bands which meant nothing except for we were in the villa closest to the beach. That was the perfect place to be because you could roll out of bed; go eat right there at Pescatore (seafood restaurant which had breakfast buffet) and then go lay on the beach. We wouldn鈥檛 have to take the tram until the evening when we鈥檇 go to the lobby to eat or to have drinks.The drinks at the Bahia were amazing! I think they were the best of any all inclusive that we鈥檝e been to and we鈥檝e been to a lot! The different options were great; there was always something to try and really everything was good.The food was good鈥攏ot great. The a la carte dinners were so much better than the buffet. In fact; we didn鈥檛 eat dinner at the buffet again after we had it once. One of the most important things is to get dinner reservations set up with guest services. It is a horrible procedure鈥攜ou have to go; wait; they act like there鈥檚 not space; you get annoyed; and finally鈥?You get a reservation鈥?for 9:00/9:30pm. But take it! Its worth waiting for. If they say you can only have 3 reservations per week; don鈥檛 take no for an answer! Go back and talk to someone else. Or; if you鈥檙e traveling with others; make you reservations for 4 people all under your room number; and then have your friends make some for 4 people under their room number. If you can鈥檛 get reservations by any means; get creative! For example; one night; we tipped the host at the Japanese restaurant $20 and got in. Trust me; this is so worth it. Although it is annoying to spend time on reservations during your vacation; the food there is a lot better and getting into the a la cartes made our trip.Just to elaborate on the dinner options: Japanese was really awesome. The food was good; and the service was really good too. We also loved the Mexican restaurant. It is so hilarious they have a waiter who walks around with a holster of shot glasses and a bottle of tequila to give you shots. After our dinner he broke out in song and had us all laughing and dancing around with him! Valentine鈥檚 day was really fun at the hotel as well. They had a whole special display set up with different drinks (champagne; special martinis; etc.). They even had a man dressed up as cupid walking around and shooting everyone with arrows. It was great!We took an ATV tour鈥攂ooked with people on the beach who work the water sports. It was a great time and I鈥檇 highly recommend it. The only thing is they take you around the country side and you visit a school. That is tons of fun; I鈥檓 just saying it because we didn鈥檛 know; other people in our group did; and they had brought supplies. I鈥檓 trying to get the address to send them things; and I鈥檝e emailed to the hotel several times without hearing back. That is frustrating because we took a picture with the kids that I鈥檇 love to send them along with some school supplies. Hopefully we鈥檒l hear back about that. I just think that is something good to know in advance; so you are prepared for it! All in all; we had a really great time on this trip. The beach is so relaxing and; honestly; every member of the staff goes out of their way to make sure that you have fun. All of the bartenders; wait staff; and housekeepers do the very best they can. There are some things that do cause stress; and they are caused by the size of the resort and the number of guests. But; whenever you feel yourself getting stressed; just stop whatever it is that you鈥檙e doing and head over to the bar for a dirty monkey; capparinia; or presedente. Then it鈥檒l all be better!! :-P If the price is right; go here! You鈥檒l have a great vacation.
478252,stugots16,03/06/2008,AMAZING!!!!!!! We just got back from the Bahia Principle or group of 5 adults and 4 boys the ages of 22 to 26 we had a fantastic time the hotel is very large but never a problem getting to were you want to go..the food was very good not always hot but when your producing large volume of food for such a large restort that to be expected...the rooms are a nice size and very clean...the hotel grounds are amazing and very well keep..the beach is paradise there is a lot of loungers..we never had a problem finding chairs for our group but if you want a shaded area I suggest reserving one early morning those are the first to to go...the plaza at night is very lively lots to do and see never boring our boys really really enjoyed the night life..(a little to much) ..the diso was very lively all age groups were in there which was nice to see even the oldies in our group enjoyed it...the entertainment was okay..before we left we were worried with all the reviews of being bumped crowed etc etc...we did not find that at all the resort is very large never feels crowded..we always felt safe walking late at night very well lite lots of security...We had a fantastic time and would go back in a heart beat all age groups would enjoy this resort...Im glad we chose this resort ...a vacation is what you make of it.. so go have fun savory every moment ...and make the best of everyday because before you know it your on a plane coming home...If you have any questions feel free to message me
478252,HappyVacationLife,03/05/2008,Great Vacation We just returned from Bahia Principe Punta Cana; we stayed there for a week and it was the second time for us to go there. Overall everything was amazing; hotel was soo clean; excellent service; food was not bad; beach was really good; entertainment was not bad at all. We were 3 couples; it was so much fun to the point that i didn't wanna come back.What surprised me the most that so many people were complaing just for the sake of it; they just feel good when they complain about anything and everything.I have read so many reviews before we go; and most of them were just complaing about how the service was slow; rooms not clean; food is not good; but when i went there i found that all these reviews is a big lie. The whole resort was amazing; i am sure you may/may not like the food because its different than the food in canada; just different ways of cooking and preparing food.My Advise for anyone who will decide to go to bahia principie one day; is that you go enjoy your time there; enjoy the beach and the sun; have fun as much as you can and don't waste your vacation trying to find small stuff that makes you angry.
478252,newlywed0537,03/04/2008,Wedding at Bahia Principe First I would like to say that this resort has absolutely stunning grouds; is very clean and the rooms are very beautiful. We had a great vacation all together; but I would like to write this review for people who are thinking of getting married here. The review is very long but could be beneficial to some :Me and my husband just got married at the Bahia Principe Feb 1st 2008; and I though it would be very important to write this review for couples thinking about getting married there.We were a group of 50 travelling together for the wedding. The plane ride was very smooth from TO to DR. Everything went well at the airport and the bus ride to the Bahia; they even stopped at a little shop so we could purchase a few drinks for the ride! Very nice! For those who don't know; the resort is divided in two mirror sections; with two different receptions (Bavaro and Punta Cana). When we arrived at the resort; the bus dropped us off at the wrong reception (50 ppl with luggage) The Bavaro side arranged for little trolleys to come and pick us up with our luggage; so no big deal. When we got to the Punta Cana side; we were told that my Grandmother (which is 78 yrs old) did not have a room because the resort was overbooked. They offered to send her at another resort for a few nights; which we declined since we didn't want her to be all alone at a different resort. So my parents took her into their room; hoping the problem would be corrected the next day. It wasn't...When we got to our room; we were expecting a welcome fruit basket and a letter from the wedding coordinator (as mentionned in the wedding package we purchased) It wasn't there; but we though it wasn't a big deal : we were there to have a good time with our friends and family and to get married! We were already on cloud 9! lol... So we didn't mind not having a fruit basket. The next day; we tried to book some a la carte restaurants and some tours for people in our group; it took 1 1/2 hours for a girl in our group to manage to book our reservations. We understand we are a big group (we were booking for 10 ppl) but we still think 1 1/2 hrs is a long time... By then; my grandmother and my dad go to the reception to see if she has a room yet; they tell her she has to deal with the other reception because she was booked with Bavaro instead of Punta Cana. When she gets to Bavaro; they tell her she has to go to Punta Cana...it was like that for all the room troubles we had that week. Nobody was willing to help; and they would always refer us to the other reception; which you could imagine; got quite a bit frustrating.I was able to find Marianna (the wedding planner) and she tells me we should've had a letter from her in our room; and we missed our appointment with her. She asks that we meet with her later that day. Before the trip; I had also sent letters to Marianna by e-mail; that contained all the information and scedule for the day of the wedding;and I asked for her to put it in every room (I gave her names for each rooms) she told me she would do it. That morning; the letters were not sent; I asked her several times that week and it never got done.Later that day (Tuesday); we met with Gaby (her assistant) and we confirmed everything we wanted for the wedding (the restaurant; flowers; cake; music; decorations etc...) We give her the legal documents we need to get married and the payment of 2000.00$ for the wedding package. Everything goes very well and we are very excited.We were getting married on Friday; and on Thursday night (around 7h30) Marianna calls my room to let me know they will be changing the location of the reception to a different restaurant. Now; I'm not very happy with this; because we had to let 50 people know about the location; and I don't have time (on my wedding day) to call everybody's room and let them know about the change... So I ask her why she changed us (I had confirmation for the Garden Grill for more that 4 months ago) she tells me there is a group of 150 people and they need the big room at the Garden Grill. To make a long story short; it took us 3 hours to 'discuss' with her to make arrangements for a new location; and to find out why we were 'bumped' from our location. It was very frustrating the night before the wedding; and put a bit of a damper on our week. ( The next day; after we were married; we got back to our room for a bit before the reception; and we saw that the Garden Grill had a wedding for about 50 ppl; not a meeting with 150 ppl....)Finally we got the Italian restaurant (the food was ok; but not great...) for our reception. The next day (wedding day); I had a hair and nail appointment at 1:00; my nails were perfect! But my hair was a mess... She was done by 3:00 and I was getting married at 4:00; so you can imagine my panic! lol... I still had to get my make up done; my hair redone and my dress on... Finally (Thanks to my wonderfull sisters and bridesmaids!) everything turned out perfect...The rest of the wedding day was wonderfull. The photographer is absolutely amazing (Ernesto); the ceremony went without a hitch; the reception was great (except for the waiters getting drunk by trying to put up a show; more annoying than anything) All in all we had a great wedding day!If you are looking to get married at this resort; you be the judge for yourself; after reading this review. Would I recommend this resort for a wedding? Absolutely not. I would not recommend this resort for any organized events. More than once; we felt like numbers...This resort is great for a couple alone who would like to spend a week to relax and enjoy the beach. But nothing that would involve dealing closely with the staff.
478252,amjkToronto,03/04/2008,Fantastic! We were very surprised as this is a true 5 star. Just got back; we were there from Feb. 23 to March 1st. We loved it! It was a FANTASTIC vacation.This resort is truly a 5 star. I had my doubts because of reading such bad reviews that I wonder if these people stayed at the same place. This is truly paradise. When you first arrive take time to familiarize yourself with the resort; using your map. There are many activities and many stage shows to watch. As we found time would go by very fast and we did not get to do everything we wantd.We took the Diamond Club package and do not regret paying the little extra that it cost us. There were 7 of us; two kids and two seniors and we all had a great time. Lots to do and see that one week was not enough.The staff was supper; sometimes we had a language barrier but not a problem we still got what we needed. The people there work very hard so that you can have a great holiday. The staff in the lobby; the bars; the gardens; the maids and the restaurant servers as well as the cooks are very accommodating. The food may not be what you are used to at home. Remember you are not at home you are in a different country and these people do things a little different. This is part of the experience of traveling. I have traveled to many places and every time I go the food is different. When I travel down to the US; I can hardly wait to get back for a home cooked meal. So what! When in Rome do what the Romans do鈥?.All in all we were always able to find something that appealed to our pallet at the buffet; for breakfast; lunch or dinner. And I鈥檓 a fussy eater. The a-la-carts were really good. Some better then others; but we always found something we liked to eat. We loved all five a-la-carts that we had. With the Diamond Club we were entitled to four and then we were given an extra one where we celebrated the Anniversary and Birthday. This was all set up by the resort management for us. This was a very nice surprise.Rooms were very clean the maids work very hard and always leave a decoration in your room. The towel art is amazing; the balloon decoration that all three rooms received because we were celebrating my parents 50th Anniversary and my sisters 50th Birthday was a nice surprise. The mini-fridge was always stocked and we always had plenty of bottled water. Having the Diamond Club we had our beach towels in our room and had the maid come in a few time a day to make sure the room was always in order. The bathrooms were cleaned after our showers and the beds ready for us at night.The beach was the best; the white sand the turquoise water was so inviting. The waves were a lot of fun for the kids and us adults as well. The use of the Kayaks and the paddle boats and the sail boats was great. Lots to do at the beach and it鈥檚 very clean as the workers are always raking up the debris coming from the ocean. Not an easy task.Pools are all great and each has a swim up bar. We chose to stay at the Diamond Club pool as it was less busy. We did go for a swim to each of them. The pool down by the beach is the busiest; because everyone wants to stay by the beach. Your choice.The grounds are beautiful and the gardeners are always working to keep them that way.Just enjoy your stay in paradise; the week will go by fast.
478252,Pedro1177,03/04/2008,Beautiful Grounds but Resort could be better Organized Last Year we stayed are the Riu Macao and absolutely loved it. Staff was great; food; activities etc. We opted to go back to Punta Cana this year and stay at the Bahia Principe. We traveled with 2 other couples and an infant...so here is my unbiased review:Pros:- Beautiful Grounds- Frequent Tram/Trolley service throughout resort- Clean Rooms- Stocked Refrigerator- Quick Check-out Cons:- Resort is Huge which I think makes it hard for hotel staff to manage the constant inflow and outflow of guests- Horrible Check-in process (3pm check in time...NO WAY...more like 5 or 6 pm)- Buffet food was mediocre and repetitive- Took all day for them to get us a Crib in the room for our baby. I had requested it when I booked the trip directly through the Hotel- If you dont have the right color bracelet; then you are in for a tough time. Hotel staff seems to focus on what kind of wristband you have and that basically determines what you have access to. There are probably 10 or so different colors for bands and I am not sure what each one meant. Make sure that when you check in you ask what the wristband means and what you can and can't do...Some Advice- We avoided the large pool down by the beach and stuck to the 2 pools by the Italian restaurant IL Cappricio. Quiet pools with swim up bar and activites. - Forgo the buffet for lunches and breakfast and eat at the Italian Restaurant (Il Cappricio) for Lunch and Breakfast. (No reservations required)- Make your reservations for the formal dinners/restaurants when you check in (We liked the Japanese Hibachi and the Italian Restaurant)Final ThoughtsOverall the resort is nice but I think its problems stem from the size of the resort. There are many guests and the staff is not organized enough to handle such a crowd.
478252,juliepulie,03/02/2008,Absolutely Amazing! First off; this resort is absolutely amazing. I travelled with my husband and brother from Feb 21-28th. We had a perfect time. We had absolutely no complaints whatsoever. Premier Section: We arrived and didn't even realize we were upgraded to the Premier section. What a great surprise! We had rooms right next to each other as requested. The Premier section has some advantages. While it is quite far from the beach (15 min walk to beach; 5 to main lobby); I loved it. It has it's own lobby; with it's own bar and seating areas. We hung out here every day. The lobby bar makes any drink you want. It has it's own lobby to make reservations for the a la cartes (rarely a wait or lineup) which was a huge advantage as the main lobby always seemed to have many people waiting. Plus the Premier section has it's own pool; swim up bar/pool bar and entertainment. It also has it's own buffet (breakfast and dinner) and snack bar. The Premier section also allows for 4 a la carte reservations. We only ended up using 3.Food: It was great. We loved everything. Lots of selection and always very tasty. Everything was always hot. *Main Buffet: Breakfast; lunch; dinnerBreakfast was fairly similar each day - pancakes; crepes; french toast; fruit; cheese; bread; cold cuts; make your own omlette; bacon; sausage; potatoes; scrambled eggs ect. There's also cereal; yogurt; toast; muffins; croissants; pastries. There's usually a few assorted dishes also; different chicken/beef combinations.Lunch was burgers; hot dogs; sandwiches; salads; grilled meats and then lots of hot dishes. Always different.Dinner was excellent. There are theme nights (American; Mexican; Spanish; Gala; Italian; Dominican; Caribbean). We chose the nights for our a la cartes based on the themes.There was always make your own pasta; then some assorted pastas; pizza; grilled meats and then random hot dishes. We LOVED the Mexican night. *Premier Buffet: Breakfast; DinnerBreakfast was the same as the main buffet; but less selection as it's smaller. We ate here most days. Lots to choose from. Everything was great.We only ate there for dinner once; we usually went to the main buffet or the restaurants. *Premier Snack Bar: choice of hamburger; hotdog; sandwiches; ice cream; cake; pastas; salads ect.*Beach Snack Bar: We went here for lunch a lot. Hot dogs; hamburgers; pastas; french fries; salads; pizza ect. Very busy; hard to get a table.*Mexican a la carte: We loved it. Appetizer consisted of buffet with nachos; enchiladas; soup; tacos; salads. Main entrees were good; dessert was very good as well. This was one of my faves.*Italian a la carte: Good. Not my fave; but my fellow travellers enjoyed it. Again; a mini buffet for appetizers; then entree and dessert. THere were pasta dishes; meats or pizza. *Japanese a la carte: Excellent. You sit around a table with a group and are served sushi; tempura veggies/shrimp; soup and then you watch the chef grill up your dinner! He grills veggies; fries rice (very tasty) and then chicken; beef; shrimp and fish. You can choose one or all of the meats. You then go sit at a table for dessert.Drinks: Lots of selection. There is a menu; but don't feel restricted. THey will make you whatever you want. I had many chocolate monkey's not on the menu; so so good. I really enjoyed the drinks. The colada's and banana mama's were my favourite. Pools: We had our own Premier pool with swim up/pool bar. It was beautiful. Busy though. People staked their claim to chairs pretty early. We were rarely at the pool though because we are beach people.Main pool by beach was full of entertainment. It had swim up/pool bar as well and tons of noise; music; activities ect. Lots of kids. Beach: Amazing. Breath taking. The Principe has a huge stretch of beach; both wide and long. There are tons of chairs so no need to go early to claim. We got to the beach around 10; 10:30 each day and never had a problem finding shade. Honestly there seems to be thousands of chairs.THere was entertainment on the beach but it's so huge you didn't have to be near it if you didn't want it. There's a beach bar; very nice drinks.Resort/Grounds: Everything was perfect. We often saw people buffing the floors every day; polishing the marble; painting. It was stunning. Lots of flowers and benches all over. Beautiful.Rooms: The rooms were great. Very spacious and well kept. No bugs; no humidity and great air conditioning. Our bar fridge was always stocked. THere were no face cloths; I don't see this as a reason to complain. Use a towel instead. Not a big deal. There were alarm clocks; hair dryers; coffee makers; everything you'd need. We paid extra for the safe which is well worth it for security and comfort.Service: Great. Everyone was friendly and happy to please. Drinks were served immediately at the buffets; beer; wine; whatever you wanted. We never waited. THe restaurants were the same. The lobby people were very helpful; as was the people making the a la carte reservations. The bar tenders were always friendly and quick. There was a server at a few of the bars and they were quite attentive. Dishes were cleared quickly from buffet; no worries at all with service.Entertainment: We didn't go to any of the nighly shows; so I can't comment. We mostly spent our evenings in the lobby bar. We did make it to the Pueblo Principe a few times. There's a kareoke/piano bar with drinks at 11 (lobby's shut down at 11) and then a disco at 12. They ask for your room number; but you don't get charged. Not sure what the point is; but not a big deal. There's a snack bar here as well for the late night munchies. There's also a band here at night if you dont' want to go to the show.During the day the Pueblo has lots of shops and vendors. Beware. The vendors are like vultures. Very uncomfortable process. We ended up paying half the original quote price; which I still believe was too much. Honestly; it was a truly impeccable resort. We loved every minute of it. There are so many things that people can complain about but we truly didn't see them. It really is about your attitude. Yes the tram smells a bit like gas. If it bothers you; walk. Yes there were no face cloths. Use a hand towel instead. We had an amazing week and wish we were still there. We will be going back; absolutely. I recommend it whole heartedly. A vacation is what you make of it. We went expecting a good time and we were blown away by the resort. It was perfect.
478252,jesric,03/02/2008,Perfect wedding; Super Resort The Wedding Party
478252,MontrealMe,03/02/2008,WOW!..I want to go back! I flew in this morning and I had such a great time; I'm already on trip advisor to reminisce and pass along stories of my experience there.A)Before we left: We verified prices online but ended up booking through an agent because we were a group of 7 people and wanted to make sure that everything we be booked smoothly and error-free. We booked 2 weeks before departure and when I checked a week before leaving; the price had dropped by 150 /person...oh well!We were advised to take malaria pills - chloroquineYou take it once a day for 6 weeks starting the week before you leave..i think it cost us 15 dollars or something. B) In Punta Cana:Our flight left Montreal at 9:00 pm and arrived at 12:45 am (montreal time). After customs; there are stalls with all the tour operator names...we went to ours; picked up the enveloppe and headed to the designated bus. Bahia Principe is about 30 minutes away..1)The Resort:The resort is divided into two major sections and then smaller subsections within it.If you're facing the beach; the left side is the 'Bavaro' side and the right side is the 'Punta Cana'. The reason for this is that different tour operators purchase different sides..but at the end of the day; both sides share the same main pool; the same beach; the same disco; theatre and 'principal square'.We stayed on the Bavaro side and our side had the - Premier section-- it's the furthest from the beach; and you have access to your own pool; your own lobby and 20 free minutes of internet/day- Ambar -- adults only; private lobby;access to ALL pools and ALL restaurants and situated close to beach- Golden club-- closest to beach- Royal Hacienda- no idea; but this section was near the golden clubEach section has it's advantages and pseudo-disadvantages; but it doesn't really matter where you stay... our villa was the FURTHEST away from the beach...(we stayed in villa 47) but we were closer to the disco and the square than those in the Ambar; for example...Some sections are given their own private pools and an extra a-la-carte dinner...but I personally think that just being in Punta Cana is enough! :)PLUS; there's a trolley/shuttle that runs literally every 2 minutes :)2) Restaurants/Foodi.The only other all-inclusive I have been to was in Varadero;Cuba...and i must admit that the food at this hotel was ten times better! There is a buffet in a restaurant in the main lobby; by the pool bar and depending on which bracelet you have ( i.e we were in the premier section) you have access to smaller buffets near your section/villas.The main lobby has an assortment of food - but they always had fresh fruit; omlette station where you choose the ingredients and they'll make it for you; a bread station; and a cold-cuts section...then they would modify the meals to coincide with the theme of the day....so; when it was themed italian; they offered mozarella sticks with breakfast .... same goes for lunch..they'll always have fruit;bread...etc... and tailor the rest to meet the requirements of the theme.The buffet in the main lobby is open from 8-10 am ( i think)lunch: 11:30-3 ( i think)dinner (7-10) ...(i think)...but if you're hungry outside those hours; there's the poolside buffet that's always being refreshed and and then there's a snack bar in the 'main town' or 'pueblo principe' that offers hamburgers; hotdogs and sandwiches for the late-night munchies.The servers are really kind and sometimes get caught up in juggling so many tables that it may seem as though they've forgotten about you...but they really haven't...if you asked for a glass of red wine; you may get it 6-7 minutes later...but you'll get it with a smile!ii. A-la-carteMAKE SURE you reserve a-la-carte restos when you arrive because they book very easily!We ate at the italian;japanese; and garden grill(steakhouse)..ALL VERY good...and very nice restaurants.3) PoolsThe pools are all VERY clean. In fact; we were shocked at how well-maintained they are! Given the number of children and sunscreen soaked individuals who go swimming; the pool was ALWAYS clean- no film/residue and no smell of chlorine.4) The beachWhen I read through the postings before leaving; I was worried that we'd all be crammed like sardines; and that i'd never find a chair on the beach... even with 6 other people; we were ALWAYS able to find chairs for all of us. It never felt packed or too crowded....I also found it to be quite safe.. I left my beach towel and beach bag ( containing my camera) on my chair; went for a swim and returned to the exact same chair with nothing touched or stolen....but then again; i would recommend always keeping an eye on your belongings :)There's a flea market 3 or 4 hotels down to the right ( if you're facing the beach) that's worth checking out..but there; the vendors are a bit pushy..5) The staff-animation teamone word: AMAZING!they're all so fun and outgoing! Don't be surprised if they ask you to join them to dance..! it's the only way you'll practice! ;) The animation team are hard workers...they're the people who wake up in the morning to hold stretching and aerobics classes by the beach and pools; the ones who'll entertain you throughout the various games that they have scheduled during the day ( olympics; bingo; dance lessons..etc).the ones who'll offer to play tennis or ping-pong with you if you haven't gotten a partner...and then they perform for you on stage after dinner; dance some more; and then go to the club ( discoteca) to dance some more and wake up and do it all over again with a huge smile on their face!The animators spoke english;french;spanish;german; and italian! Some spoke better than others; and I was never in a situation where something could not be communicated properly...6) Pueblo PrincipeThis is the square or 'town' behind the lobby that is used by both sides of the resort. It has huts/stalls during the day with people who sell necklaces; and other souvenirs.. a rule of thumb is to ALWAYS bargain the price down to at least 50 percent off the initial asking price. They're not too pushy and will leave you alone if you walk away or jokingly tell them you have no money.The ' club' or 'discoteca' called Congo Bachata is in the square as well as an internet cafe; a kareoke bar and some shops to buy souvenirs from.7) We visited 'MANGU' It's a two-floor club with techno upstairs and salsa/merengue/bachata and hiphop downstairs.. entrance was 8 US dollars and included a drink! the demographics are 50 percent local and 50 percent tourists---it was lots of fun and a 13 dollar cab ride to the club from the hotel( and 13 back of course)8) The conversion We purchased everything in US dollars but they also accept Pesos ( 33 pesos = 1 US dollar)9) TippingWe tipped a dollar everyday to the maid by leaving it on the pillowcase. The maid would always make shapes and creatures from the towels like a swan; a heart; a fan; some unidentifiable yet cute looking creature and place flowers on them. As pretty as the flowers are ; they do have little harmless ants crawling out of them...no biggie; but I thought i'd mention it ;)10) The roomVERY spacious. Nice marble bathroom; a safe ( that you need to pay 32 US dollars for upon check-in) a tv with many channels; a table with chairs in the room; a table with chairs on your balcony/patio. Unlike the other all-inclusive I've stayed at; the bed sheets were not humid and they smelled fresh :)This vacation was absolutely amazing and they really did try to accomodate us the best they could. Although the resort is HUGE with approximately 3000 guests and 2000 workers; you're still able to feel that sense of coziness you would at a smaller resort.Enjoy your trip!:)
478252,MattA35,03/01/2008,Good choice; especially for families I went to this resort last month with my pregnant wife and my 4-year old daughter. We were looking for a nice place to relax in the sun at a reasonable price. We were happy with our choice.The rooms were clean and in good shape (and hopefully you won't be spending all your time in your room). Service was uneven; but generally good. There were not a lot of fluent English speakers on staff; but if you were polite and patient it was not a problem.The grounds were beautiful. The beach was the nicest I've seen at this type of resort. The best feature; bar none; was that this was the first resort I've been to where you didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to claim pool chairs. The food was o.k. The buffet was fine; the reservation restuarants were not terrible; but were somewhat disappointing.For a large all-inclusive resort catering to package tourists; they do a good job. It is a very good choice for a low-key family vacation.
478252,ward5612,03/01/2008,Not The Greatest Experience Stayed there for 2 weeks Feb 3 to 17 in the Royal Golden area; building 21.Would rate the experience a 5 out of 10.Airport was a zoo. Really crowded and seemed disorganized. We managed to survive and found our bus to the resort in time.On arrival we were directed to the Golden Club Guest Service Salon (A small 4 desk room with 4 customer service people and about 20 guests waiting in line so talk to them) to arrange for our dinner reservations and a safe in our room.The vacation started of on sort of a negative note as we were there just when theft of a purse from one of the guests occurred. The lady had her purse sitting right beside her on a table when her purse was snatched. It happened so fast!I sympathize with that lady because it happened in an area which was supposed to be secure.I read an earlier guest comment where it was said this wasn't the hotel's fault. I disagree; and I think it is wrong to marginalize this person's shocking experience because it should not have happened in such a place.We found out that such things are common in this area; and it was surprising that more isn't being said about it by travel agencies.After that shocker; we went to our assigned room; a second floor unit;and waited for our baggage to be brought by the porter as instructed. It never arrived; and after waiting 6 hours we went back to the arrival area and our baggage was still sitting on the driveway in front.We took it to our room on our own rather than leave it there any longer. It's a long way with two large suitcases!Our room was a little shopworn but adequate. There were some things missing that we were told would be there such as a coffeemaker; bottled water; and facecloths in the bathroom we called about this but only got the water. Never did see a coffeemaker; and facecloths seemed to be in short supply the whole time we were there. The bathtub plug never worked; but shower was used mainly anyway so that was'nt a big deal.Maid service was not bad; although the room was left unmade until late afternoon most days.Grounds and buildings look really nice; and there seems to be a lot of attention given to them by work crews which are always there.The pool was really clean; and there were lots of lounge chairs available around the pool. It gets crowded after about 10:30 AM; and getting a shaded area isn't easy because they are usually all taken early on. It also gets pretty noisy after 3:00PM when the loud music gets turned on; but that's probably a good time to head to the beach anyway.The beach is expansive; with beautiful soft sand; and lots of shaded huts to use; although the whole area is just a sea of blue chaise lounges row on row. Really a lot of people there.We ate at both buffet and a la carte restaurants and had few complaints. lots of variety and mostly good quality food. One or two exceptions where a steak was unchewable or had a fossilized coating of hollandaise sauce pasted to it.Servers were really friendly and seemed to be trying hard to please everyone.Once in a while there was a really strong sewer smell in the main buffet restaurant at breakfast time. Don't know what that was all about; but it didn't happen often.Getting around is not too difficult because there are shuttles running every few minutes; so it saves walking the kilometer or so from one side of the place to the other.There are some really nice things about this resort. There are also some not so nice things. The worst situation when we were there had to do with the place being overbooked. people were arriving with nowhere to put them; or putting them in a part of the resort they hadn't expected to be put. They were offering people incentives to relocate to another resort all the time we were there.In retrospect; the place is just too big and too crowded for our taste; and if we had to do it over again we wouldn't have chosen this one.In fairness to the hotel; it was definitely overbooked; and I think staff were just overwhelmed because of that. Now as to why it was so severely overbooked; that's another story. This shouldn't be happening.
478252,OhioEd1,02/29/2008,Huge doesn't begin to describe.... Before deciding on this resort; I must have read a hundred reviews on this site. A vast majority of the reviews gave this resort the big thumbs up. So will mine. We have been to Punta Cana 7 times staying mostly at the Barcelo Bavaro Palace. I mention this because of the size difference between the 2 places. When people say the Bahia Principe is big; that's an understatement. This place is a city; maybe a city and suburb all to itself. I am not into big places which is why I mentioned the Palace. No shuttles needed within the resort. Everything is a max 5 min walk. Not at the Bahia Principe. The shuttles did run often; but you never really know where you will end up when you take one. The only thing that made this resort managable was staying in Ambar. Do it. Spend the extra if you have it and upgrade to the Gold Club. That suburb I was talking about; it's Ambar. You can walk to the beach; buffet; and a couple of the restaurants. Pools and bars along with the beach grill are all right there. It has it's own lobby area; where you can book golf; trips; water sports; ect. It even has it's own little shop. It is adults only so if you are taking kids; and why would you want too; you can't stay there. Food: all in all pretty good. The Ambar buffet was smaller but seemed to have a better variety of food for all meals. At breakfast; you can get a Mamosa or Bloody Mary when you walk in. I do admit; the service could have been better; seemed to be understaffed and was hard to get drinks at the table. Not all the time but often enough. We ate at the specialty restaurants finding the Japanese and Gourmet the best. We didn't rush to make reservations when we got there and generally didn't have a problem changing things around as needed during the week. I'm not a fan of scheduling dinners but I guess alot of places are going that route. If you go here; that's what you have to do. And men; take the long pants. You cannot eat at night; even the buffet; without long pants. However; if you forgot them; they did offer room service all day; but the menu was mainly hamburgers and the like.Drinks: this is where this place blows the doors off the Palace. Lower to Mid level liquor available everywhere. Stoli on the rocks seemed to be the drink of the week for us. After a couple of days; the bartenders remember you and have a drink ready to go; as long as there is not a line of people waiting. Champaign everywhere; mamajuana everywere; good scotch; good gin; forget the local stuff; they have real booze. Again; table service in the bars was a little slow. They offered a drink of the day which was usually some fruity or chocolate thing. All the bars closed at 11:00 pm. Rooms: I don't know anything about the rooms up front; but in Ambar; outstanding. Big rooms; huge bathroom; jacuzzi bath tub and separate shower stall; marble floors; really nice. The beds were comfortable and; get this; you can order different pillows depending on what you are used to. Everything from hard to feather pillows; didn't find that out until the end. The pillows in the room were a bit hard for me so I guess I should have taken the time to read all the propaganda in the room first thing. And don't think you can open the balcony doors and get a nice breeze along with the A/C. When you open the sliding doors; the A/C goes off until you close them. So don't leave the doors open even a little or the room will be a sauna in no time. Get to know your housekeeper as well. She was great about making sure you had enough supplies (beer) in your room. The first day we stayed on the beach all day. I took a small cooler on the beach for beer. I asked my housekeeper if she could get me some Presidente for the beach and before I knew it I had 20 cans of beer in my cooler. I never had less then a six pack in my room the rest of the trip.Shuttles: Yes they were all over the place but no they didn't always take you where you wanted to go. If you don't want to walk that much and you are staying in Ambar; make sure your shuttle says Ambar in the front. Otherwise you will ride all over the place and not get were you want to be. There are two main entrances to the resort. The Punta Cana side and the Bavaro side. All shuttle end at the Bavaro side. Only the Ambar shuttles go to the Punta Cana side. That is where we checked in along with the Gold Club Check in Room and the Casino is on that side too. We did walk alot. Casino: really really small. 6 tables; maybe 40 slots. Get there early if you want to play anything. Seats fill up fast. Drinks are not included there as the casino is separate from the resort.Beach: just as you would think; it's huge. Plenty of places for sun; shade; or to hide away. We saw 2 weddings on the beach and they do a great job of decorating for it. People do walk around offering you excursions but a simple no thanks sends them on their way. If you plan on spending the entire day on the beach and want shade; yes you will have to get up a little early and grab a spot. But if you are on and off the beach any other times; you can always find a place to sit your tired bones.If you can handle the size of the place then I highly recomend this resort. It is a first class facility; with a few bug still needed to be worked out. I'll go back; maybe one more time.
478252,bostonterp,02/29/2008,Bahia Principe Bavaro is a beautiful place! I was just at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro Punta Cana from Feb 20 - Feb 26; 2008. It is an absolutely gorgeous place. I picked this hotel because of the high ratings here on Tripadvisor and because of the charming colonial style of the buildings.The pools are sparkling blue.....the ocean is a beautiful aqua. It is so nice to relax by the water. There were always lounge chairs available at the pools and beach and we always found a shady spot to drag our chairs to. I went with my boyfriend and my parents. This was a family vacation for my mom's 80th birthday. We booked our vacation thru Bookit.com and they were great. The rooms we had wereclean and spotless. The food in the buffets was very good. I was worried after reading some negative reviews; but we always found delicious things to eat at every meal. The only thing I would not recommend is the beef. It was quite tough no matter the form it took....steak; stew; etc. My favorite food was the rice and beans and the fresh fruit. There were always vegetable dishes at lunch and dinner that I found to be delicious. There is a buffet at the lobby area and a snack bar near the beach and pools. They were both very good. As other reviews mentioned; it is a good idea to make reservations at the a la carte restaurants when you first arrive. We ate at the French; Mexican; and Italian restaurants. They were just ok. I actually liked the buffets better but it was a nice change to be in a restaurant. Be sure to let them know in advance if it is a birthday celebration; the restaurant waiters will sing happy birthday in Spanish and English at your table.There is a trolly that runs every two minutes so you can get from one end of the resort to the other very easily. We found the staff to be very kind and friendly and helpful. Knowing a few words in spanish is helpful. They come and clear your plate right away so knowing the phase I am not finished [no soy terminado] is a very good one to memorize. We brought a bunch of single bills to be able to tip the staff at each meal and our room maids. You don't have to; but I felt it was a good thing to do. Renting the room safe is definately worth it ...it cost us $24 for the week. We didn't go to the evening shows. I popped in to see part of one show; and we saw one rehearsal during the day which was interesting. I was exhausted and usually went to bed fairly early. Some guests were noisy coming in at night and that woke me up a few times. I called the front desk [they speak english] and they sent security to ask them to quiet down. I didn't enjoy the loud music that was sometimes on the beach and at one of the pools [this was for dance and exercise classes]. The only down point of the whole vacation was knowing how dirt poor the people of the Dominican Republic are. It is a strange and sad thing to be in such opulence while knowing that there is terrible poverty in this country. Overall; this is a fabulous place for a luxurious and relaxing vacation. I highly recommend this resort!
478252,camelmania,02/29/2008,Not for the American traveller I read nearly every review before booking this trip and understood the good and not-so-good about this place. As an American traveler who has been to a lot of destinations; I have to say that this trip was average and I would not return. I guess I was hoping that our experience would be like the great reviews and not like the bad ones. Bottom line is; this is a HUGE resort and the nice touches that many experienced travelers expect are just not going to be met. As everyone agrees; the grounds; pool and beach are stunningly beautiful and well-maintained. The accommodations are very nice and the maids were fantastic. We did tip $3/day and also brought chocolate and clothes to give to them.The food was average; at best. We did enjoy our diner at the Japanese and Mediterranean restaurant and the French was decent (but took forever to get our food). The regular lunch and dinner buffets were well below the average American meal--my food in college was better! I am not at all a picky eater and found that the chicken was the only decent food. The breakfast each morning was the only good meal of the day--but we ate at the Italian restaurant which is only available to Club Diamond guests.In conclusion; if you don't mind big crowds; fair food and some disappointment; then book this resort. But; if you have certain expectations and want more than an average vacation; look elsewhere. Again; we didn't have a bad vacation; but it wasn't great either.
478252,jaybaz,02/29/2008,ok Hotel is masive staff are great but i wouldnt go again;;It`s clean and well looked after the grounds are immaculate; the rooms are standard could do with a refirb but on the whole lets face it you only shower and sleep there so they are ok; the problem i had with the resort is i`v done a lot of the carribean and this to me was teneriff lots of crowds/drunken canadians/very loud/lots of children; not that i`v got anythink against kids (i`v got my own) but i expect them to behave; so all in all if you want a relaxing holiday which i expect from the carribean dont go here; pay a bit extra and go to another island or go that bit extra and go to the Maldives;( now that is paradise) but thats another story. If you want fun and games this is the place if you want to relax then go elsewhere;
478252,beachbum6d9,02/28/2008,LOVED IT room
478252,A2theK,02/27/2008,We LOVED it! Would return anytime.... Beach
478252,tannedcanuck,02/27/2008,So Perfect We were there from Feb 14 - 21; 2008. Not only were we married there; we also took 28 of our closest friends and family ( young children included) . Not one glitch; not one sickness; not one disaster. The staff is amazing and the resort is so beautiful and user friendly which was much appreciated considering how big the resort is. We travel yearly and will be back there again.
478252,LovetheCaymans,02/26/2008,Gran Bahia Just returned from a short four days w/my daughter. A girl trip that both of us really enjoyed overall. The resort is beautiful and immaculate. But beware; as all other postings advise; it is VERY large and spread out. This was not a problem for us; but could see how it would be for some - elderly or those with small children. There is a tram that runs non-stop until 3 am and you never have to wait more than a minute or two for their arrival. We never used the tram and enjoyed the walk to and from the beach everyday. But a lot of people do use the tram. The food is well; for lack of a better word; pretty disgusting. I have never had so much grease in my life; but if you are not into the weird looking concoctions with American names (like lasagna with brown marinara sauce) then that is what you have - endless burgers; fries and hotdogs. Nothing really tastes good. The fresh fruit was amazing! Especially the pineapple!Scrambled eggs at breakfast were runny and undercooked; etc. Just not good food and no way to put this nicely. For the price; you would expect more. We were only there for 4 days; so they told us that would only entitle us to have one reservation at the four gourmet restaurants. Hey; I didn't think this was fair - I paid my money like everyone else! Drinks were good and not watered down. No service at the beach for drinks; but a lot of peddlers.Rooms were ok - nothing fancy - a little buggy and very; very humid - no shower doors or curtain - just open air shower in bathroom; which made for even more humidity. But you have these problems at most Caribbean locations. Pillows were completely flat - I had more of a pillow by folding up my towel and using it for a pillow. The entertainment was your usual cheesy; but fun shows. There was a good reggae; Caribbean type house band that played every night in the town square.The employees worked hard - but the Domenicans almost seemed to be very shy - they don't offer conversation and you have to really engage them in order to get a word out of their mouths. But their hard work is evident in the cleanliness of the place. We didn't find the service to be bad at all. We did get interaction when we said we were from St. Louis - they all know Albert Pujols! The beach and pools were beautiful; clean and relaxing. That is all we came for anyway; so the other shortcomings didn't really bother us. If you like the sun and the sand; this resort was perfect - one of the prettiest beaches I have been to next to Beaches in Negril. Beach chairs at pool and beach are plentiful. There are a good deal of shady areas on the beach that are shielded by palm trees; yet you still feel like you're on the beach.Skip the trip to the shopping market - overpriced stores that sell nothing but overpriced clothes and jewelry. We had to go because of Hard Rock and collecting their shot glasses; otherwise the trip would have been useless. There are nice little shops in the resort town square area that we felt were pretty reasonable. The shuttle from the resort to the mall is free; but you have to sit through pick up and drop off at other resorts. It was interesting to see the other resorts and the town itself. There is nothing to do off resort besides this or golf. Of all the resorts we drove through; this one was by far the nicest and most-well kept.All in all; I think you would enjoy this resort; but it is very big.
478252,amc5512,02/26/2008,Great Resort After using Trip advisor several times for previous trips; I know to take a lot of the reviews with a grain of salt With our trip to Punta Cana; it was no different. I think some will complain about anything and everything. We went to the Gran Bahia Principe for 4 nights and stayed on the Punta Cana side. I took the advice of others and learned the layout of the resort quickly- Without this it is easy to get lost and confused a bit- since the hotel is two hotels in one. The reception was wonderful and our room was ready when we got there. We took a cab from the airport for 33$ and did not have to wait on a bus to fill up. The room was great; very clean and perfect for us. The beach here is beautiful!!! The weather was great and the food was perfect. With so many choices I don't know how someone can not find something they like. We did leave a couple of bucks for our maid for extra stocking of the fridge and then worked great. Overall the trip was exactly what we were looking for- A getaway from the drab and dreary weather of Feb- for some sunshine and relaxation. Okay; now with the negative- the language barrier is frustrating- I will admit- We travel often to the islands and I guess we expect at least the main staff to speak English- This was the most difficult for our little knowledge of spanish- We were able to get by; but a lot of questions about the island and it's culture went unanswered do to lack of understanding- I am thankful there were no emergencies; b/c I could see that being a big problem- In Punta Cana- Americans actually seem to be the minority vacationers- We noticed many French; Russian and German families- who also had difficulty with the language of the staff- That was the only downside- but all the drinks and plenty of sunshine- made up for the lack of communication with the resort staff and we had a great time!!
478252,erg999,02/25/2008,Huge place..great pools...but bugs The place is beautiful to look at. It is absolutely huge so if you have little children be prepared to take the trolley that the hotel provides to get people from the reception area to their rooms. It is at least a 10 minutes walk from reception to the beach area. Food was good. I actually liked the buffet restaurant the best because that gave a great selection of local Dominican cuisine. Beach is gorgeous and goes on for miles in both directions. The problems of the resort are as follows: 1) Smell of sewage around the outdoor theater 2) Construction going on from very early morning right next to the bungalows. 3) Bugs in the rooms - not just mosquitoes - but small roaches and ants. Rooms are clean so maybe it is just from the humid climate. 4) Rooms were not made up till between 5 and 6 pm even though we had left the room at 9 am every morning. 5) Because the resort is so huge there is constant small diesel truck traffic going on inside the resort on the walkways. These trucks are a constant source of annoyance if you are trying to walk and the diesel fumes are gag-producing. They also drive very fast and if you have small children; I would make sure that that they stay near to you when walking. 6) Very limited activities going on and if there was stuff going on; it either started late or not at all. 7) There is one internet cafe where they ask you to buy a code that entitles you to one hour of internet that is usable for a 5-day period. It cost $12 US. The internet connection is extremely slow so it takes 10-15 minutes just to get your mail. After the 3rd day; I still had 20 minutes left on my account but was told that they had reset all the parameters the day before so I had lost my 20 minutes. After complaining the gentlemen told me I could have 20 minutes back but that I had to use it RIGHT now. Other people complained as well. I thought this very cheap and annoying. I don't think that we will go back to the Gran Bahia Punta Cana but we love the Dominican Republic and will probably go back to the Club Med instead.
478252,guppydiver,02/25/2008,Overall Very Good We arrived home today from a week long stay at the Gran Bahia Principe. First of all when we booked our vacation in October the reviews for this hotel were very good but as our trip approached reviews went downhill. This made me nervous and I really didn't know what to expect but lets just say this resort is great. This was the first trip for my husband and I to the Carribean and we went along with close friends of ours who were on their fifth trip. First things first we booked with a local Sell Off Vacations office in St. John's Newfoundland... after much research we picked the resort; decided we really wanted the Diamond Club upgrade and all they had to do was book the trip. I stressed to the agent we wanted Club Diamond; we went over the features many times and it appeared to be a done deal. 3 weeks before my holiday I emailed the resort to confirm our honeymoon upgrade and mentioned Club Diamond only to receive an email back saying honeymoon upgrade was fine but they had no record of Club Diamond upgrade. I called Sell Off and they again confirmed our upgrade but I was told she would get the agent we were dealing with to look into it. It took over a week for us to hear back only to find out she had made a mistake booking our trip and did not include the upgrade and because it was HER fault there was nothing they could do (not sure where that logic comes from). My husband called and was very upset as we would not have booked at such a large resort if not for the upgrade.. anyway after many emails and phone calls we get an email from Laura at the resort that everything was sorted out. We found out a week before our departure that our flight times had changed and we were now departing St. John's at 9:20 pm.. this was a huge pain as we now did not arrive at our hotel until after 4 am on Tuesday thus losing an entire day and night (which we paid for). Upon check-in our friends ended up having their upgraded bracelets available and for some reason we had regular bracelets (even though we had been the ones complaining) when I mentioned my email with Laura no one had any idea who I was talking about and I never did get to meet her (even though I had brought her a little present for her assistance). The upgrade was settled the next day although the guy at the desk made it seem like he was doing us a huge favor by fixing everything and reminded us that it would normally cost an extra $200 per bracelet (which we had already paid). None of us had Diamond Club rooms upon arrival but were ok with it was we were happy to be in villa 39 next to the lobby and fairly close to the Diamond pool where we practically lived for the week.After things were sorted out our first real day everything was fabulous staff were friendly; our maid was great (money goes a long way at this resort); one day we tipped her $10 and got a dozen beer in our fridge and a bottle of rum. Like I said we spend most of our days at the Diamond pool as it was a little less busy and very close to the Italian restaurant which you can go to breakfast and lunch with the Diamond upgrade and it is 100 times better than the buffett. We found the al la carte decent and our friends raved it was the best of any resorts they had been to. Italian is good; Grill was awesome; Mexican and BBQ were decent. As for other complaints yes the review is huge but you know this when you book it.. the maps are fairly straight forward and there is no reason you should get lost. The beach is far from the lobby and Diamond areas but the trams only take a minute and they may stink but come on it does the job. As for a purse getting stolen I don't think this is the fault of the resort and no matter where you are if you leave your purse unattended there is a good chance some dishonest person is gonna steal it. I actually felt quite fine leaving my beach bag at the pool with a few dollars tip money; our cameras; clothes; room keys etc in them and we never had anyone go through them and nothing was ever missing. Several times we left money around the room and it was always there after the maid left.We did 2 extra outtings during the trip.. the first was parasailing which was so much fun and not the least bit as scary as I thought it would be.. and the second was renting buggies with a ranch type tour business (Rancho something was the name) this was fun although not the fast pace buggying we have done in the past. First of all it was pretty slow and the machines were not in the greatest shape but then they brought us to a deserted beach for a swim and break then we did and tour of a cave and actually got to swim in it which was awesome and that alone was worth the $65 per person. I would recommend this but be warned you aren't gonna go crazy it is more of a slow relaxing site seeing tour; The guide from this tour had the best english of the whole trip and had a great sense of humor. It was though heart breaking to see the kids chasing the buggies and the bus looking for a dollar or even just a high five. I wish I had brought some candies to throw to them but will definately know next time);Overall the vacation was amazing and we would definately go to Gran Bahia again.. next time we discussed upgrading to Amber as it is adults only and actually the same resort which we did not know when booking. We found there were usually a few kids around in the morning although they would usually disappear in the afternoons (not sure why). I will never book with Sell Off Vacations again as I can not even tell you how unnecessarily complicated they made the whole experience.As an added note this morning as we picked up the travellers from the other resorts we heard some real horror stories.. some of these resorts are NOT what they claim to be and I honestly got shivers just stopping outside to pick people up.. one group were overcharged on their hotel bill and they hotel made the sign them visa slip or were told they would not give them the slip they needed to get the bus to the airport.
478252,SimSimmaVancity,02/25/2008,Sets the Bar Really High! Let me start by saying that I've been on a few beach holidays before (once to Australia and Hawaii for my honeymoon) but this was my first All-Inclusive vacation; and WOW; I'm confident saying that this experience is going to be near impossible to beat!A group of 50 of us; yes 5-0 booked from all over the world - Portsmouth (UK); Vancouver (CA); Edmonton (CA) and Niagara Falls(CA) end of January/beginning of February for a destination wedding. Now you can imagine with a group this size that we had every type of experience you can imagine so I apologize in advance for the long review; but the overall consensus was: FANTASTIC!!! I'm going to mention things that happened to both myself and members of the group; some had more of an impact on the group than others; some were minor and easy to resolve; in fact most are not worth even mentioning; but since others on trip advisor mention similar things; I thought why not mention them and state that they were actually a very small deal...you're on vacation! Smile and make the most of it!Airport- Arrival:The airport is open air and you get your pic taken when you enter; which you can purchase on your way out. It took a little while to get our bags since so many flights arrived at the same time. We didn't have to pay anything to enter the airport; I believe there is a $20 fee pp when you depart but this was already paid by Air Transat and therefore we knew not to pay it if asked; which we never were. The baggage handlers can be quite aggressive to 'assist' you with your bags when you arrive; but seriously; avoid them as the buses are like 30 feet from the airport exit and there help isn't necessary (tip them if they do assist as they are trying really hard to be helpful). Our tour operator told us what bus to go to and while on it; many of us got our bracelets and room cards. Some of us (the Vancouver group) did not; and were told to go to the Royal Golden reception when we arrived to the hotel.Hotel Check-InThe group had all booked to be in the Royal Golden section; giving us access to many extras such as an massive additional pool; 3 al a carte restaurants and free 15 min internet access each day. We were all given welcome drinks and greeted by some festive dancers. The people who had their room keys distributed on the bus got off and their bags were placed on a trolley. We found out later that some of them had to wait hours for their bags to arrive -I'm not surprised since logistically. I couldn't understand how they would know where to take them. We proceeded to the Royal Golden Reception and were given our bracelets and room info - to our delight; we discovered that we had been upgraded to the new Ambar section! Meaning access to everything the Royal Golden had + more. The only downside was that weren't in the same buildings and the group from England had a child that wasn't allowed in Ambar - which was ok; we just planned to meet at different places each day.Here are the Pros:Overall: The resort is huge but it鈥檚 easy enough to navigate; just study the map and go to your Tour group's orientation. Believe it or not; I figured out most of the layout at night. We love the fact that the resort is so big; it made for a huge variety of places to go and things to do. There's a wide variety of people from all over the world here (I guess the word's out as to how good it is: England; Canada; US; Argentina; Italy; Spain; Mexico...*The locals call the place Punta Canada because of all the Canadians; whom they love for our friendliness and openness (unlike the Yanks :). The place is very clean and well kept. Pools:The pools are massive and finding lounge chairs isn't too difficult. There are pool bars at most of the pools and the service is fast and friendly. There are activities at the main pool and the rest are generally quiet - unless of course our group was there and we took over with our iPod and speakers :D Food:There were many food/buffet choices with a great variety - nobody ever left hungry or disappointed. *The Italian restaurant on the Ambar beach serves breakfast and is among the quietest with the best view ;) We went to 4 a la cartes; (3 because of the Ambar upgrade + 1 for the wedding guests) and they were all great: Le Gourmet PC; Brazilian BBQ; Garden Grill and Mediterranean. They were booked in advance by our concierge (there was a letter in our room when we arrived - very convenient).ServiceI'll miss the excellent service from the servers whose genuine effort to keep busy and serve you is world class. The Domicans are a fun and sincere people; always singing to themselves and smiling at guests :) Entertainment:Nightly shows were pretty good overall. MJ show was excellent. The place shuts down at 11 in order to encourage people to go to Pueblo Principe 鈥?a 鈥榥ight-life鈥?square with shops; a house band; karaoke; casino; 24 hour burger joint; and disco that opens at midnight. Fun; fun; fun! Also; this separation keeps the rest of the resort nice and quiet.Rooms:They are big; bright and quite spacious. You need your room key to operate the lights etc. Most in our group had nothing to complain about; but I鈥檝e described some issues we came across further below. No towel art in Ambar section but those staying in Royal Golden were treated to lovely swans; dolls; balloons etc.Wedding:On the beach with a live band and the bride looked lovely. What more could you ask for? 飦?I believe the bride and groom hired the hotel photographer and we were all pleased as he made the most of the beautiful backdrop with all the family and friends. The wedding coordination (judge鈥檚 arrival etc) all went smooth. The photographer鈥檚 pics also arrived very soon after the wedding.Beach: (I saved the best for last)Phenomenal! Soft sand; clear; warm water; the photogenic ship wreck in the distance; nice sized waves; lots of lounge chairs = Welcome to Paradise!!!! I can't understand how people can complain after having access to that beach for an entire week. An early riser in our group even witnessed them with a big loaders clearing up the seaweed from the beach each morning. Beachside; there鈥檚 plenty to do: a beachside bar with some really friendly staff; volleyball; aerobics; dances contests and non-motorized water crafts that you have to reserve in advance in order to use.Now for the Cons:Getting Around:Some people found the place large and confusing since its 5 resorts together; and they're essentially mirrored. Since there were so many of us spread around the resort; it was kind of fun doing our own thing and then randomly running into people we knew.There are trams that come around often and take you from one end to the other (I never smelt exhaust fumes). There are even little bus stops everywhere to pick people up.Rooms:We were spread throughout the resort when we should have been altogether; I think they did the best they could as there were 20+ rooms booked in our group. Some people had room mixups: some couples were given 2 double beds in their rooms and some singles guys sharing a room were given one king size bed. The couples with 2 queens merely left it as is; while the 2 single guys got there's changed the next day; with a $20 bill to the front desk staff. The only real complaint I had was that a slightly elderly couple in our group couldn't get their room changed from the 3rd floor to the ground floor even after requesting it for 2 days. They made do in the end but sadly may have gotten the change with some palm greasing. We had a mosquito problem in our room (so bring your bug spray just in case) as it was on the ground floor. The Ambar rooms have a 4-poster bed but the mosquito net is purely decorative and doesn't wrap around the whole bed; so we got bitten while we slept - very aggravating. We noticed that the maids left the room door wide open while cleaning. We left a note for them to please close the door but they didn鈥檛 seem to get the message (maybe because the cart doesn鈥檛 fit through the doorway). We tipped the cleaning staff generously as they kept our room very neat; and fixed issues with our shower door and stopper when requested. However; no towel art 飦?br/>Also; you can鈥檛 hear the ocean from your room; since they鈥檙e so far back. By law in DR all the buildings must be shorter than the palm trees; so that makes the resorts more spread out. The place is apparently overbooked and they offer you to stay at other 5-star resorts; plus they pay you $150 and an excursion. Very tempting but what鈥檚 the guarantee your return will go smoothly? ServiceLanguage is a bit of a barrier. The staff is all Spanish speaking and sometimes has no idea what you鈥檙e saying; but you can tell that they really wish they could understand in order to help. Keep in mind you are in a foreign country; so the question to ask is: Should they speak more English (to cater to the tourists); or should the tourists learn a little Spanish? (afterall we are the visitors). Overall the service was excellent; but a couple times we requested something and they never came back; or once they poured milk into our coffee instead of refilling it with coffee 飦?br/>If you want to; go ahead and tip; the locals earn next to nothing (in comparison to the guests) so it really does go a long way. You鈥檙e by no means felt like you have to; in order to get great service. If you need anything for your room; we found the easiest way is to ask your maid; she will hopefully understand you and help or direct you to a manager; who will help track down a maintenance guy; who will then get what you want down right away. (Trust me; way faster then calling the front desk 3 times and waiting).Restaurants:Yes; the A la Cartes are half empty and that鈥檚 probably because people just don鈥檛 bother to show up to their reservations (men can only wear trousers so some probably just skip the hassle of going back to their room and changing). Because of that; make sure to ask for a table exactly where you want to sit. A big group of us showed up to an a la carte and they placed us by the washrooms; when the nice middle section was completely empty. We complained and got moved to a better section.PoolsCan get a little crowded there. Dem der also coulda had used more activities by 鈥榚m. :PExcursionsWe took a snorkeling excursion and; well; let鈥檚 just say you get what you pay for. It cost $25 and they drop you off at a little reef in the middle of the ocean with no instructions or anything (no food; booze; hot chicks) not even a headcount at the end). It was pretty much a gong show and although I did see some cool fish; I would have rather skipped the whole thing. Some people who have never snorkeled before didn鈥檛 even leave the boat and I don鈥檛 blame them. I went back to the boat and put on a life jacket because the waves were so big and the boat kept drifting away! There are other excursions but we skipped them to hang out at the beach instead. There鈥檚 really not much to see in Punta Cana (shopping malls; tourist traps etc) other than the resorts themselves.Would I recommend Bahia Principe? Absolutely! This holiday made plenty of memories to last a life time.
478252,drdkc,02/25/2008,All that Glitters is Not Gold!! First of all; let me say that I am an avid Tripadvisor user and for the most part; in spite of the fact that people can complain about things that are not that important to me; usually the overall feeling about a place is captured when you look at what people are saying repeatedly. The mixed reviewers in my book were pretty much on target and I really should have listened and stayed somewhere else! Things that are important to me are food; service; and ambience. The food at this resort is not very good at all. We could always find something to eat; such as fresh fruit; bread yogurt etc. but for $600 a day for a family of four; you don't want to have to scrounge around for something that is palatable. We never sat down and said; Yum. When we sat down for lunch or dinner; we were done with our meal often before someone brought us our drinks. Service here was far from stellar. There was never anyone down at the beach asking if you would like something to drink like at other all inclusives we have been to. This place definitely is HUGE and deep; so it kind of felt like a development; with a beach at the end. Really hard to describe the feeling unless you experienced it. Another PET PEEVE.... you had to pay $28.00 a day!!! to use the spa which is a sauna; steam; some showers and cold whirlpools. That can really add up for a family of 4. The gym is very small ( 3 treadmills; 1 eliptical; 1 rower and some weights) for a resort of 3000 or so people. My son (17) really likes to go to the gym on vacation; because like many 17 years olds; he gets bored easily and the word relax is not often in his vocabulary. Which brings me to another point. The place is so HUGE you rarely see the same face more than twice. They do not do a good job in bringing people together; so if you have teens; there is no program where they can meet each other. There is no teen disco or teen night. This resort is geared more for older singles who like to consume copious amounts of alcohol and party till the wee hours and then go around singing and waking people up at 4 in the morning. (no joke; that happened to us 2 nights in a row) The resort is also probably more tolerable for families with small children who have to watch their kids... and better to watch them in a pool then running around the house up north in February. Also; kids can eat hot dogs; chicken fingers and french fries (one of the only consistently good things at the buffet..LOL) and think they are in Disney World. Also kids like to get on and off trolleys and believe me; you are doing that all the time. Forget this place if your back hurts; or have foot problems or don't like to walk in the heat. Its nice to get some exercise when you are on vacation; escpecially if you need to walk off your wonderful meals; but if this is not the case; then this HUGE resort can get sooo tedious. Also there are no elevators so if you are infirm; you are stuck between a rock and a hard place; because the upper floors are the better rooms; less humid and probably less buggy; but you have to walk up three flights of stairs to your room. This place is about quantity; not quality. If you are from Europe; and you are not in any of the categories that I mentioned that would have a problem with this type of place; and your Euro goes really far here; this place might make you happy. But for us; we would never come back here again. The DR in itself; as other reviewers have mentioned is a place where your resort is everything because you don't go outside the resort. So when you enter into paradise it had better meet your expectations otherwise you feel like you are at summer camp when all you want to do is go home; no matter how nice the weather. The rooms were fine; our maid was lovely and kept our room clean. The front desk was helpful when called upon and the resort itself is kept very clean. It's funny; because the place is clean and somewhat new; it takes more than your first impressions to realize that all that glitters certainly is NOT Gold at this resort.
478252,BrendaLeeAlberta,02/24/2008,Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! water is great but rough
478252,bearaaron,02/24/2008,Couldn't of ask for a better place!! We fell in love with this resort for many reasons. If you are traveling without children; DEFINETELY upgrade to the Ambar section for adults only; it is well worth it. We planned our trip away from U.S. spring break purposefully however; Canada's spring break was the week we were there so lots of kids. The resort is huge with several different sections for use by Ambar guests. Shuttles run about every 5 minutes that take you to the different sections; very convenient! The grounds and rooms are immaculately kept. Reservations are hard to come by for the restaurants but we felt the dinner buffet was better anyway. We are avid cruisers and the food does not meet cruising standard but there was a huge variety of food for all tastes. We read lots of reviews before we went and we were concerned about the food but had no problem at all finding things we all liked. The snack bar beach buffet on the Ambar side is much better than the other snack bars so locate it first. We found it on the last day!! The bartenders are very generous with the drinks and very friendly. I don't drink beer so I was a little concerned about finding something I would like but the variety is huge. They even have champagne at every bar we visited!! They will put as much or as little alcohol in mixed drinks as you want. We tipped a dollar each time we ordered a round and I think this helped. The last day we found the staff members that had been especially helpful and gave them each five bucks; they were thrilled. Topless women abound at the beach but not typically at the pool area. The beach is very nice; they clean it up every morning; even rake the seaweed. My advice is get up early and reserve a spot; my first morning I got to the beach at 8 am and alot of the prime spots were taken. The few complaints we did have included: no beach waiters so sit close to the bars if you are a drinker and; some communication difficulties with the staff ( but they would have to speak at least 6 languages fluently ; we heard everything from French to German!) Overall a great vacation and would definetely recommend this resort- by the way we saw several other resorts on our shuttle to and from the airport and this was by far the prettiest one. LisaDallas; Texas
478252,tatnjoe,02/24/2008,Loved it!!! The pathway from the lobby to our villa; love the plants!
478252,pappajoe,02/24/2008,Fantastic.....I want to go back!!! Let me first start off by saying WOW!!This resort was beautiful.Check In:As soon as our group arrived we were given our bracelets and rooms on the bus. We were given a welcome drink upon arrival at the resort and bellboy took our luggage to our rooms. They offered us and another group 2;4;6;8;10 day stay at a different resort but we politely declined and our vacation started.Room:The room was clean and always done for us by noon everyday. Towel art everyday and spotless! The only issue was we had a ground floor room (Villa 9) and there were issues with bugs...no big deal as we took care of them as we saw them. Did have a visit from a small gecko one morning in our room and it was an adventure getting it out as we did not want to harm it. Place a towel by the door and it takes care of it.Food:As stated in other reviews book your A La Cartes when you arrive as it books up fast.Buffet...plenty of choices for breakfast; lunch and dinner with different theme nights for dinner. I am a picky eater and had no problem finding something...I never left hungry! Ask for waiters Francis or Eliezer as these two guys are amazing!A La Cartes and how we rated them:#1 Cafe De Paris/Le Gourmet. Very good food and service. We went here twice. Celebrated my wife's 40th birthday here! #2 Garden Grill. Portions are very big and great. Service good!#3 Italian. Kids loved the pizza; we had steak and lobster. Service good.#4 Mexican. Good fajitas and service was ok.#5 Steakhouse. We did not enjoy this restaurant as the portions and service were very poor. We actually went back to the main buffet to top up!Beach: One word...amazing! White sand and clear water. We spent a few afternoons on the beach and never had problems finding beach chairs.Pools: We spent most of our time at the Punta Cana pool. Quiet with some activities. No problem getting chairs. The pool by the beach does get pretty crowded and there are alot of activities happening there. If you want action; the pool by the beach is the place to be. If you want something more peaceful try the other pools!Entertainment:Everynight a different show. The Michael Jackson show is the best. Animation team do a pre-show to warm up the crowd.Overall:I would definitley recommend this resort to anyone. It is big and it takes about a couple of hours to get your bearings as to where everything is. Tram service is great. If you walk it takes about 5-7 minutes to get from Lobby to the beach.One recommendation:Buy the In-Room Safe! We had an incident where $50 dollars was taken from our room. We reported it to front desk and a report was filed and security investigated by tracking key card activity in our room. It didn't ruin our vacation but lesson learned by us.Already planning our next vacation!!! Pappajoe!
478252,Vraifrancais,02/24/2008,Guard Your Belongings!! We spent two weeks Feb 3--17 at this resort. We booked first week with our two daughters and their families at Golden; second week at Ambar. We paid for the entire family as a gift to them--over $20K in total.Things got nasty two hours after arrival when we were attempting to get our room in the same building as the rest of our family. (We had specifically asked for this well in advance of our trip there)While in the Golden Concierge office arranging the room switch; my purse was snatched from a table right beside me! Both passports; all my personal ID; credit cards; and a large sum of cash------GONE !! What a frightening situation for us.At first; neither the Hotel Concierges nor our tour representative(Apple Tours) believed us. We were quickly brushed off with comments like Your fault; not ours; the Hotel never has this problem; plus You should not expect any help from us; etc; etc.It was like they just wanted us to go away!!It took two days to get someone's attention---after considerable pleading; the next day we were assigned a Concierge to help us.The Hotel finally helped us get to a Policia Nationale station to make a report; and arranged to get us to the Canadian Embassy in Santo Domingo to get temporary passports; otherwise we would not have been able to leave the country!! Just the trip to Santo Domingo required one entire day because it's 4 hours away!!By the 5th day of our vacation; we managed to get the temporary passports; have money wired to us; etc; so almost half of or vacation was ruined making all these arrangements.The final week at Ambar wasn't without its problems either! (Seems like we were jinxed!)When we transferred to our Ambar suite; the patio door couldn't be opened or closed because it was broken; the air conditioner didn't work because it is linked electrically with the patio door; the safe was broken and had to be taken apart to be repaired; and last but not least; one evening some pipes burst in the bathroom ceiling and there was an incredible flood. (We had to wait until thaty midnight while the ceiling was being dismantled and pipes were fixed!!So our vacation turned out to be just one disaster after another!We did learn; however; that this Hotel and most others have a serious theft problem; but they don't make it known and won't admit it when it happens---and we learned from a good many others who had things stolen---cameras; Ipods; clothing; money; etc. The airport is apparently particularly bad because baggage handling is quite hapahazard; and it's not uncommon to learn that baggage has been opened either on arrival or on departure.Other than a systemic problem with theft; and the issues we had with ours; the resort has its good and bad points just like other similar resorts.Grounds; beach; and pools are well kept; restaurants are quite nice; rooms are accommodatiing; and many staff really do make an effort to provide good service. There is an abundent food choice; and the food is reasonably good in most restaurants.On the downside; this resort is huge; and with about 6000 guests on site at any given time; lineups and crowding are typical situations.Getting a shady spot at pools or at the beach can be challenging because people reserve them early. We actually witnessed a few heated confrontations over shady spots!All in all; the sheer size of this resort is; in our opinion; its weakest point. We liken it to what we call Mass produced vacationism.If you don't mind the crowds; lineups; and lack of quiet/privacy; and just nice weather and sun is your thing; go for it.That said; if you are looking for a safe and relaxing vacation; with a more personal and intimate environment; this kind of resort isn't for you!
478252,BBreton,02/23/2008,Beautiful but disappointing overall Just spent a week there and I am coming back thinking that one week was definitely enough. Let's start with was is great with the Bahia Principe. This is a big resort with nearly 2000 rooms in total and spread over a very large area (which for some is not a positive) with beautiful gardens; architecture; bars (particular the one in the Ambar section); pools and beach and probably 20 restaurants in total (I did not actually count them but for sure there is a lot of restaurants). It is worth noting that the resort is actually multiple resorts. Book at the Ambar if you are going there as a couple as it is for adults only and it offers slightly more upscale buffet.Now with the less than positive: the food is really not outstanding. While there is grat diversity with the restaurants; in reality there is little since most of the food taste the same. Actually; the a-la-carte restaurants are just not good for most. Secondly; the service in the restaurants and at the hotel in general is pretty bad. Finally; there is little do to outside of the resort (which is true for all of th resorts in Punta Cana and not something related to this resort). Finally; the rooms are very humid. I suspect this is due to the limited exchange of air in the rooms but the rooms (actually; the bed) smell rotten as a result. This is rather unpleasant. If you go there during the warmer months were air-conditioning is used more heavily; this problem is less likely to be as bad as it was for us. Also; try select an upper-floor room which is inherently be dryer.Therefore; if you like good food in your vacation; avoid this hotel.If you like to relax; spent time at the bars or you are with kids or do not care about food or service; this is a good option.As for us; we will definitely not go back.
478252,ZoeyInOttawa,02/23/2008,Fantastic but Beware of the Mosquitoes We traveled to this resort from 9-17 February 2008 and absolutely loved it. We want to go back next year for 2 weeks. Hope this review helps you make your decision.Resort: The resort is basically 3 hotel-resorts in 1. There鈥檚 the BP Ambar on the left which is adults only and then there鈥檚 2 exact resorts which are mirror images of themselves: the BP Bavaro and the BP Punta Cana to the right of the Ambar. The resort compound is huge and you can walk freely between the 3 resorts. There鈥檚 also a trolley that takes you from the reception of each of the 3 hotel to the beach and back. It鈥檚 about a 10 min. walk from either reception lobby to the beach. The grounds are maintained beautifully.Beach: The beach is stunning. We loved the fact that it was really wide and long with lots of mature palm trees on the beach and lots of palapas (the huts for shading). There are enough palapas to go around that you don鈥檛 have to play cut-throat and leave your towel at night to reserve one. We would get to the beach around 8-10am and there were always available palapas to choose from.Food: The food was amazing. We both put on 5 lbs during our 1-week stay and that鈥檚 despite being active (we ran/walked 40 km during the week!). Each hotel resort has it鈥檚 own buffet restaurant so you are not over crowded at the restaurant. Every night is a different food theme and there are many types of meat; fish; vegetables and starches to choose from. The salad; cold-cuts and cheese table is very good with fresh produce to choose from. They even had sushi rolls on a few evenings and it was delicious! (watch out for the wasabi鈥?it is very spicy!). You can also make up to 3 reservations at the a la carte restaurants. Because it鈥檚 such a huge complex; you have about 10 restaurants to choose from. We went to the seafood restaurant 鈥淓l Pescador鈥?(lobster is extra if you want it 鈥?20$ US) which was good; the French restaurant 鈥淟e Gourmet鈥?which was outstanding (best fillet mignon with 5 pepper sauce I ever had!) and the Japanese restaurant 鈥淢aiko鈥?which was really good and an enjoyable culinary experience as the chef cooks the food in front of you on the hot plate. The nice thing about the a la carte restaurants is that you don鈥檛 have to stand in line everyday to reserve it鈥?you can make all your reservations (all 3 of them) at one time so you are done for the week.Service: We found the service to be very good. We typically left $1 US to the maid every day on the pillow; $1 US at the buffet restaurants (at breakfast; lunch and dinner); and on those nights that we went to the a la carte; we left $5 US. We also always had courteous and speedy service at the numerous bars on the resorts.Accommodations: We stayed in villa 28 and it was beautiful. The room was always well cleaned and turned over by the maid who left us daily works of art made out of towels. The room was well ventilated and there was not that typical 鈥渉umid smell鈥?you often experience in rooms when you travel to the Caribbean. Granite bathroom counter tops and a whirlpool bathtub completed the ensuite.Entertainment: We can鈥檛 really comment as we did not partake in the beach activities nor attend the evening shows. The nice thing is though; the animation crew doesn鈥檛 come and bug people on the beach to participate in their activities.Mosquitoes: Beware; there are lots of mosquitoes in the evening! Punta Cana is also identified as a location prone to Malaria so make sure you get your shots before you leave鈥? We didn鈥檛 and are hoping we didn鈥檛 get infected by those damn stingers!Miscellaneous: There is construction going on at the far end of the resort behind the Ambar. The cost of the safe is $30 US for the week and reading other reviews; it is highly recommended that you get it. We didn鈥檛 have any incidents with stolen articles. There鈥檚 an internet caf茅 in the 鈥淧ueblo Principe鈥?where you鈥檒l get 60 minutes for $12 US (good for 5 days and expires at noon on the 5th day.). The resort is overbooked (but we didn鈥檛 have issues) and they are promoting other BP resorts in La Samana area (the Cayo Levantado and the Cayacoa). They say they will give $200 US per room per night for people who will agree to leave Punta Cana and go try their other resorts.
478252,rajan87,02/23/2008,loved it..... tram
478252,wishIwasback,02/22/2008,wish I was back We were at the resort from 2/9/08 - 2/16/08. There were four adults and one child. First of all Punta Cana is a beautiful place very plush and green with flowers every where. The resort was clean and the rooms and grounds were wonderful. The food was ok. We did get tired of the buffet food and would have preferred more choices for places to eat. For the most part the people working at the resort were friendly and helpful. We ran into a couple that were rude but that as the minority. As the resort is so large it took us a couple of days to figure it all out. We stayed in #5 which was a great location - short walk to large pool; beach ; El Pescador restaurant; and shuttle bus.It was a little confusing at first because the shuttle bus that brought us to our room with our luggage was not the shuttle we used during the rest of the week. That shuttle you pick up by the Tropicana Theatre on the other side of the lobby. Once we figured that out it was easy and the shuttles ran continiously. A couple of other tips; bring lots of $1.00 bills for tips for maids; bartenders; etc. Also we learned the El Pescador and El charro restaurants serve a buffet breakfast and lunch - they are located right in front of large pool/beach. It turned out to be much easier to not always have to go the buffets by lobby. Also the snack areas by large pools is also a good stop of lunch. Bring your own lotion as the hotel does not provide. We had shampoo and shower gel but no lotions. We also went to the two pools in the ctr of compex for a change. If you go to the large pool we found it easier to go to the right when you came to pool - that end is a little quieter; has a shallow end for little kids; plus a swim up bar and they also serve you drinks at you chairs there. The exit to the beach is also right there. We would take our beach towels and save chairs on the way to breakfast and then have good places (in the shade) for as much of the day as we wanted. The rum is very good. Sorry we didn't buy some to bring home. Thought we would pick it up at airport but it turned out to be $5.00 higher then hotel. All in all we had a great week. The weather was perfect every day. They do have showers (3 nights) for maybe an hour or so. But every day was sunny and warm.
478252,wylandfan,02/22/2008,Rough Start.....Good Finish! My good friend and I decided to travel to the DR from the east and west coasts in the US for a birthday/girls weekend. After tons of research we landed on the Gran Bahia and were very excited about our vacation. A few days prior to our departure my friend emailed the hotel for a confirmation in which they did validate our stay. Upon arrival (after almost 17 hours of travel for my friend); we were told the hotel overbooked and we were going to be spending our first night at a neighboring resort. Then the next afternoon we are supposed to pack back up; leave the new resort right in the middle of afternoon sun activities and travel back to the Gran Bahia to re-check in for the last 2 nights of our stay. This was all VERY frustrating since we were only staying for a short vacation. We tried staying at the new hotel; The Majestic; for the remainder of the weekend but they wouldn't allow us. We weren't the only guests this happened to. A handfull of couples had to interupt their stays as well due to this incredible inconvenience. For our compensation they gave us $150 per room; a small bottle of rum and 2 tshirts. Through all of the headache we were lucky enough to befriend a wonderfull couple from South Carolina who helped us prove that misery truly does love company. Once we returned back to the Gran Bahia to officially begin our relaxation we were upgraded to the Adults Only section of the resort and were treated very well. The room was beautiful and the maids took good care of us. The grounds were immaculate and the staff all very friendly. The drinks were a bit dissapointing and inconsistent. The food had it's good and bad moments. Breakfast buffetts were our favorites. The mexican restaurant had delicious margaritas and fantastic tortilla soup. For 2 girls who grew up in California its hard to please us when it comes to good mexican. Our last night we chose to try the Meditteranean restaurant which was a true dissapointment. Nothing resembled the theme whatsoever. My steak was good but other than that we wish we'd have chosen a different restaurant for our last evening. Overall; asside from them causing major headaches and unnecessary stress; we did enjoy our stay once we were able to put it all behind us and relax.
478252,AgnesPierre,02/21/2008,Amazing Beach We stayed at the Bahia Principe Bavaro from Feb. 8-15; 2008. To be honest; we were quite concerned about the negative reviews we read on tripadivsor.com and almost changed our destination. We're glad we didn't. The resort is absolutely beautiful! Perfectly manicured grounds; impeccably clean; large rooms with private balcony; fabulous pools but its best feature is; by far; the gorgeous; wide beach with white sand and plenty of lounge chairs and palapas. Upon arrival; we were upgraded to the Diamond Club (Villa 26). We were located relatively close to the beach; were entitled to four 脿 la carte dinners for the week and had maid service twice a day. All good perks.In general; we thought the food was very good. We enjoyed all four dinners at the restaurants. Our favourites were the French and Mediterrean. The quality; presentation and service were delightful. The buffet was terrific! Food was abundant; there were numerous choices (including a low fat menu) although I must agree that the food and coffee were not always piping hot. In our opinion; the wine was not very good but we were able to purchase respectable wines (i.e. Robert Mondavi) at a reasonable price.Other than the maids; the staff REALLY make an effort to please the guests. They are friendly; courteous and efficient. At the Diamond Club (not sure if it is available in all rooms) there is an Express Line where one can call with any request. Not only do they provide the service quickly; they also follow up with a phone call to make sure the guest's needs were met.Of course when compared to five star hotels in North America; it may appear as if the Bahia Principe falls a little short. But please bear in mind that the Dominican Republic is a developing country; yet in tourism it strives to be first rate. It provides one of the most exquisite beaches; warm weather and sunny skies. Make the best of it! Enjoy! Once the vacation is over; you may be back to frigid temperatures; like we are here in Montreal.
478252,Zabka,02/21/2008,Mostly great buffet
478252,nice8,02/21/2008,was AWESOME!!!! Hello all. This was our first caribbean vacation.I was very nervous at first because we were travellin with our kids ages 11 and 4. Our room was nice and clean. Food was good except our 4 year old son was looking for chicken nuggets for the entire week. Service was friendly. Beach was awesome. Night shows were good. our kids enjoyed them more then we did. We also had a chance to go to thier island called Cayo leventado. i would definately recommend that island for people who are looking for quiet; beautiful and romantic gateaways. We allll loved that place. it was like a heaven on the earth. The only thing I didnt like was; people including the locals and the visitors; staring at my husband due to his long beard and turban. Please; he was just another guy who was trying to have fun with his family. People stared at him; called him bin laden.... for all you people who are plannin to go there; if you happen to see another beard guy with turban ; please do not stare; let him enjoy his vacation. he is just another guy trying to have fun. other then that; it was all good. go ahead; have fun; enjoy; see the other parts of the world; thier cultures. oh yeah little bit of spanish lessons would also help. you have a safe and wonderful holidays. God bless you all. Adlos!!
478252,dtrip1,02/20/2008,Dissapointing start! The hotel was overbooked and they moved us to another hotel for one night. which cut a large chunk of fun out of our 3 day vacation! We tried to talk to them about this but they really didnt seem to care. As mentioned by previous reviews; the management at this hotel is completely indifferent to whether their guests are being taken care of.When we came back; they upgraded us to the ambar section; and I'm not sure what that really got us; since it seemed that there was really nothing to prevent you from eating; drinking; or swimming wherever you wanted.Food was decent; breakfast was the best. I thought the hotel was very clean. Its definitely a large resort; but you can walk easily from one end to the other in about 5 minutes. The only need for the shuttle is if you are elderly; have kids; or need to get your suitcase to a lobby in another part of the resort.
478252,Peter16,02/20/2008,Great Time Stayed here from Feb 3-17 and had a great time. The staff was very friendly and helpful whenever we needed them for something. The Buffet was great.. lots of choices for breakfast lunch and dinner. Also the a la carte restaurants were fantastic .. really fancy dishes. If you are not into seafood then I would recommend the buffet especially when travelling with children.The grounds were kept very clean and the pool was huge and warm especially in the afternoon.The beach was also great.. pure white side and turquoise waters. I am used to the beaches in Cancun so I was not disappointed.I took advantage of the kayaks and catamaran everyday for 1 hour. The tennis courts and mini golf weren't in the best shape but we still had fun. Also with the ping pong tables there were times were the tables were free but there were no ping pong balls. So if you like ping pong maybe bring a ball just in case !!We travelled with our daughter who is 7 and she had a BLAST !!The nightly shows were also very well done especially the Lion King and Michael Jackson shows. There were always dance lessons or activities for the kids before the show started. We had a great vacation !!
478252,HOLA2008,02/20/2008,"Hola" from Oakville Having fun in the sky
478252,keriminnesota,02/20/2008,AMAZING! We stayed here for a week; February 9th-16th. This resort is amazing! It is paradise!!!! It is huge; which we liked because we like to walk and the grounds where gorgeous and well maintained. They also have trolleys running all the time; so if you do not feel like walking you can jump on those. The rooms are beautiful; comfortable and spotless. The service all around the resort was excellent and the workers where very helpful and friendly.The food was awesome. The Ala Carte Restaurants where wonderful. We did not have a bad meal. The beach is very nice and clean. And the ocean was gorgeous. We where always able to find chairs even if we did not get down there until noon. The pools are very nice as well; and chairs where a little harder to find there; but you just needed to get there earlier in the morning.There is so many things to do at this resort. Tennis; beach and pool volleyball; soccer; basketball; mini golf; massages on the beach or in the spa; horseshoes and boogie boarding. There is also banana boat rides and parasailing for a extra cost. The entertainment staff has activities going on all day. There are different animals that you can get your pictures with...monkey; parrots; lizard; etc. There is a shopping area at the front of the resort. It has shopping; karaoke bar; disco; and casino. The lobby bar definitely had the best drinks. And the atmosphere was very fun and relaxing.Make sure to email you room requests and Ala Carte restaurant requests before you go on your trip. They are very good at accommodating these requests. Also; we found tipping the bartenders and maids is a good idea. And they are hard workers...they deserve it!I would return to this resort again and again! Enjoy your trip!!!!
478252,semery,02/19/2008,Great Vacation Beach at the Bahia Principe Bavaro
478252,petechris,02/18/2008,Almost Perfect!! My wife and I read all the reviews and talked to alot of people who had visited this resort before booking; needless to say we were very satisfied. The grounds were well maintained; the staff for the most part were excellent (more on that in a moment). The food was better than anticipated and our room was great.The only snag to the whole thing was when we booked in. Juan was the fellow who booked us in and explained most of what we needed to know; but also mislead us. By this I mean we were told we could go anywhere in the resort except for the Ambar area which we said okay. We were ataying in one of the Hacienda villas but did not have the correct bracelet; which we were told we could obtain for an extra 210 dollars.....NOT!!!Other than this everything was great. In every resort you take the good and the bad; this resort is a 5 star; perhaps on the low end of the 5 star but still a 5 star.Oh yeah; the beach is amazing!!
478252,HockeyMom31,02/18/2008,Great Time!! Lobster at the Italian Restaurant
478252,cwmcin,02/18/2008,Fabulous Trip! Going Back! I sit at my computer listening to my CD of music purchased at the Grand Bahia Principe Punta Cana after just having returned last night from a fabulous 2 week vacation in Punta Cana.Prior to leaving; we had read many many reviews about the hotel and being seasoned travellers had been a little leary about going to the Dominican. We had read good and bad about the size of the hotel; the food; the service etc. Well; we travelled with another couple - total 4 adults and 5 children. I must say; what a fabulous time we had!!!!!!! Our biggest choice of the day was what bathing suit to wear and where we would eat each night? How can you go wrong???As for the hotel; yes it is big; but please keep in mind that they have shuttle buses that go back and forth every 2 minutes and it really is fun riding on them! We stayed in building #2 closest to the beach and would go back and forth everyday. Also; think about it; if you are really not leaving the hotel to tour alot; you want to have a variety of choices and places to go. We found the size to be great and a lot of choices of areas to go to.The beach was one of the most beautiful we've been to. The sand is fabulous and we could swim out into the ocean and never touch a rock. Great for all the walkers too! Weather was fantastic - mucho caliente (very HOT); but we love hot.We have travelled with children (now 9 and 11) to Mexico (5 times); St. Lucia; Antigua; Barbadoes; Jamaica; and now the Dominican. We found it to be top notch. THE best beach since Negril in Jamaica. Our husbands got up early (7:00 a.m) and would go and find a spot on the beach or one by the pool - no problem. Even if you couldn't find a spot under a palapa; there are lots of palm trees to create shade. There is banana boats for fun and you can book the sailboats in advance also. There were bars at the beach as well as pool area (not that we drink that much alcohol) but an endless supply of soda and coco loco's - no alcoholThe entertainment in the evening was fantastic! Michael Jackson; The Lion King (our kids were actually in the show - with the kids club); and the Circus Show. Took every one in and was never disappointed with any. Kids stayed to the end of every one. As far as the food goes; I'm the FIRST one to get sick.....nothing. Many choices to take in. I truly must say the variety was fabulous and the buffet ended up being the favourite. Lots of variety from the salads to pasta; and the deserts are to die for.......... In the evening after dinner there is a fabulous main lobby to relax in and have a drink or coffee. They play music and we enjoyed it immensely.There is also a shopping market attached to the property to browse around in. Nothing above average; but just enough to get souvenirs; play pool; or try your luck at casino.Service we found was definitely above average. I know the hotel was overbooked but we managed to get a great room with no issues. There is always activities going on if you want to participate (aerobics; bingo; fun games; music).We took advantage of an excursion to Manati Park (terrific); swam with the dolphins; did some more shopping; saw a parrot show and a horse show). The kids and husbands did a resort scuba dive and loved it (first for the kids). We also took a glass bottom boat ride but didn't get to see many fish.After reading the bad reviews; I just don't get it. You have to understand the you are in a foreign country and on vacation I might add. Relax and enjoy the beauty of where you are. People who complain must really have had the misfortune of having a bad experience and it tainted their opinion of the hotel. We as a group can't find anything to complain about. If you enjoy being with other people; exercise a little patience if needed; there is not much to complain about when you're in paradise. We'll be going back next year for another fun filled vacation in the tropics.
478252,capoNYC,02/18/2008,Gran Bahia Principe; Punta Cana The room was nice accept after the first day; we were left with 1/2 roll of toilet paper no tissues; and she took away our pool towels never gave them back. Which was ridiculous. There was a card in the room that said we would have bathrobes towels for the pool we would be charged if we kept them. (never had the robes as I said before she never replaced the pool towels) We had to pay $36. for 8 days for using the room safe. We have been all over the Caribbean Italy never were we charged to use the safe. This should be a courtesy.The wine was lousy I had a Pina Colada that was terrible for the caribbean. Also; the gym was so tiny (3 treadmills; 1 eliptical; 3 bikes no room to walk between any of the weights other machines). With all the money they make on the safes alone they can have a two story gym. Never got to ride the bikes; we were always told there were none left but only saw 2 on the property we got there when it opened). The biggest problem was everytime the room was cleaned we went back to a room full of mosquitos. We would kill close to 30 a night before going to sleep. We had a ground floor room; maybe this is why. But they should spray the grounds. I would try another resort if we go back to Punta Cana. The airport was another nightmare; with long lines when leaving. They open bags and look in them then you got to immigration it's all a very long process.
478252,bestcvb,02/18/2008,Terrible experience I would like to shear with all readers the Terrible experience we went through in this resort. We arrived to the Gran Bahia Principe Ambar section at approximately 1.30 AM on February 07/08. Unfortunately; we were not too impressed with the initial greeting that we received at this resort. We were told to go to the biding 鈥?Villa鈥?64 on the second floor and look for room 64206 and 64204 ( we were two couples and traveled together )To our big surprise only two doors on the floor had the number tug .....in order to found the right door we had to play a guessing game: trying 鈥渙ur door card鈥?in different doors ( At 1.30 AM ......).We were told that 鈥渂ecause we arrived so late 鈥?the restaurants are close..... and if we like to get something to eat; we will need to call and order room service. We called room service; ordered some food for 4 persons 鈥?and after waiting 2;5 hours the food finally arrived ....... The order was mixed up ! We received not the food we ordered .... But for 4 persons we received only one fork and one knife ......was late and we went to sleep. In the morning we started to unpack the luggage - another surprise: the safe was loose and not attached to the wall ....... I called to the express service: the answer was 鈥渨ait in five minutes the person will be to fix this problem鈥?鈥?this repair took to resolve all day long ! When I complained to the customer service they told 鈥?you did not had to wait in the room鈥?.....Next day after our day on the beach my wife told me that her make-up is missing. After double checking all our belongings; we went to the customer service desk and informed the clerk Victor about this incident. Victor told as not to worry and he will get back to us next morning..... Next morning and during all day 鈥?nobody contacted us! My wife went again to the customer service desk; this time she spoke to Erika. Erika specked to Victor and told to my wife that by next morning action will be taken and reported back to her...... The next day is over 鈥?no further responses! My wife was pretty really upset; went to the customer service and requested to speak to the manager of the customer service. The lady that called herself manager; told my wife that we need to fill-out a special report; go to the room with security guards 鈥?then she will resolve the problem..... We did all what she requested and next day she approached us in the lobby and told as that the investigation did not bring any results: they searched the locker of the cleaning lady and could not found any-thing...... ( after 3 days ......? ) She advised to proceed with our travel insurance....By this our poor experience was not over : next day TV stopped working 鈥?took two day to fix it ....One day after; when we wanted to get in to the room 鈥?the card did not open the door 鈥?we forced to walk to the lobby; wait in line for 45 min. ( there was a line of not happy gests ! ).Completely upset 鈥?I went to the manager of the customer service and told about all what happened 鈥?she promised to contact us in the morning (before our departure) 鈥?nobody did !I am disappointed with the customers are treated in a five star hotel and strongly would advise to stay away from Bahia Principe Ambar !
478252,Tripper93,02/18/2008,A Wonderful Time Thank you for a wonderful; relaxing holiday. We were treated royally and our room was close to pool and the ocean. The food was excellent and presented so well. No complaints at all.
478252,llcoolal,02/17/2008,Could work for you; depends on your expectation and perspective. Was going to write a whole long review here...but read b0neman_66 review; it's spot on and I agree on his points (right down to the comment on chasing down maids to get towels...I laughed reading this b/c it just happened to me and my g/f 3 days ago!).This is NOT a 4 or 5; so please do not put much weight into those reviews. It's a HUGE all-inclusive that caters to the masses. Service and food are below average...don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.If you're on a budget and actually like the whole all-inclusive thing; you might be fine with this place. Otherwise; rethink it and shop around. Personally; looking back I'd rather have spent some extra $$ and gone to Aruba; but we did get a nice beach; pools and sunshine out of the deal so I can't complain too much.
478252,Maltesemom2,02/17/2008,A very relaxing and stress free vacation Beach shot
478252,ialwani,02/17/2008,Great escape Everything was great- good service-clean-maybe they should try hard a bit for vegetarians by introducing tofu or soya dishes- also soya milk for those who are lactose intolerant- I only have complaint about travelocity who were useless in follow up after we came back suggest book directly-Expedia is equally bad-
478252,mexitony,02/16/2008,paradise desert area at buffet
478252,b0neman66,02/16/2008,Believe what you read - both Good and Bad Just got back from the Gran Bahia Principe (Feb. 2- 8) and here is the deal:In general:鈥?Problems: Most of the *problems* are a result of the resort being 鈥榦verbooked鈥? This is pretty inexcusable and due to either incompetence or greed on the part of the resort. We were traveling with two other parties and had made reservations/requests 9 months ago to have our rooms together (two families with toddlers and their grandmother). We were able to get in the same building; but on different floors. Out of 1;700 rooms; we could NOT get 3 rooms together despite several requests and greasing the front desk clerk $10. In fact; while we were there they were offering people $200 a day and/or free excursions for guests who were willing to relocate to another resort. I鈥檓 not sure how the other resort(s) compare to this one as we did not want to chance moving all three parties. The sense that I got was that most of the staff try to be friendly and helpful but they are just so overwhelmed that many/most requests just fall through the cracks. Whenever we needed something (cribs for the babies; bell hops for luggage; more water or beer for the room etc.) we generally had to ask 3-4 different people and even then it was 50/50 whether or not you鈥檇 get it.鈥?Layout: The place is huge and somewhat confusing due to its 鈥榯win鈥?layout. The Gran Bahia Principe has a 鈥淏avaro鈥?side and a 鈥淧unta Cana鈥?side which mirror each other and have separate lobbies; restaurants etc. In addition; they鈥檝e recently added an adults-only section called 鈥淎mbar鈥?which further confuses the newly arrived. We checked in on the Punta Cana side but due to overbooking; were placed in a building on the 鈥淏avaro鈥?side. No big deal as far as I can tell; the location was actually very close to the beach 鈥?it just took us a couple of days to figure out the whole layout.鈥?Getting around: The resort is organized with the lobby/main buffet on one end and the beach/main pool on the other end. There are trolleys (mini trucks with passenger trailers in tow) that operate throughout the day; but you can walk the entire distance in about 10-15 minutes.Pros鈥?As most people have said; the grounds are extremely well kept and clean. To the point that you can鈥檛 help but wish that they would spend less on the grounds crew and more on things like guest services staff etc.鈥?The beach and pool areas are very nice. Getting chairs/towels is no problem; although if you are traveling with children and want key areas with shade you need to get out there by 8 or so and reserve some chairs.鈥?The staff; while overwhelmed; is mostly very friendly. Yes there is a language barrier and you should brush up on your Spanish; but generally they are friendly (especially the buffet staff with children 鈥?they were super nice to our toddlers).鈥?The weather. Let鈥檚 face it 鈥?you鈥檙e going there for sun and warmth and that鈥檚 what you鈥檙e going to get. Even the couple of days where it rained; it鈥檚 usually just a short rain shower (or several) and then back to blue skies. During our stay it was in the low 80鈥檚 during the day and low 70鈥檚 at night.鈥?Alcohol. Generally you didn鈥檛 have to wait long to get a drink pretty much everywhere. There are bars in the lobby; a couple by the pool; at the pool snack bar and in the theatre if there is an event going on there. You can also get alcoholic drinks in the main buffet. The busiest bar seems to be pool bar; and often it was quicker to duck into the one in the snack bar close by.鈥?The lobby. The lobby is huge and a great place to hang out before or after meals or just to have coffee or a drink at night.Cons鈥?Buffet. As many have noted; the food is really not that good. The main buffet is in the lobby and has pretty much the same thing for breakfast and lunch and a different theme every night for dinner. There is a pretty wide selection and you can *generally* find something to fill you up; but you won鈥檛 find yourself looking forward to meal times. You鈥檒l find that breakfast is your favorite meal as it鈥檚 hard to screw up an omelet or a bowl of cereal or a pancake etc. Many people go to the snack bar near the pool/beach for lunch; which is also a buffet and has the same mediocre stuff every day (chicken; French fries; hot dogs; hamburgers; cold cuts; small pasta bar and some fruit). I felt guilty for letting so much food go to waste; but you have to get/try about 10 things to find the one or two that are actually edible.鈥?Ala Carte Restaurants. Scheduling your 3 meals at the ala carte restaurants is a nightmare. From the minute the guest services office is open it is swamped with people trying to make a reservation. You鈥檒l most likely not get to eat at the time you want or at the restaurants that you want; which is unfortunate as the food in the two restaurants that we were able to get into (Italian and French) were much better than the buffet. Certainly not the same as 鈥榝ine dining鈥?in the States; but pretty good. 鈥?Noise. If you have a toddler that requires a nap; try not to get a room on the ground floor. The maids always come in the afternoon and are very noisy 鈥?yelling at each other and perpetually moving furniture around in the rooms above you. Asking them to try to be quiet or to come back later will not get you very far. In addition; you鈥檒l hear the trolleys; vans and scooters outside of your room for the better part of the day and night.鈥?Maid service. Traveling with two other parties it was interesting to see the difference in maid service. We left money out ($2-$5) every day and would occasionally ask for extra water or more beer for the mini bar in the room. Generally we didn鈥檛 find much of a correlation between leaving a tip and getting any special treatment. Usually we wouldn鈥檛 get what we requested and one day we came home to find that the maid had taken all of our old towels (which we had left hanging which means 鈥榙on鈥檛 take鈥? and had not left us any new ones. After asking 2-3 times for some towels I had to locate a maid cart and 鈥榖orrow鈥?some myself. My sister and brother in law on the other hand were getting extra beer and water; bubble baths drawn with flower petals; balloons in the room etc. In sum; it really comes down to who you get for a maid and how much they want to take care of you.Helpful Hints鈥?Bring an insulated mug! This tip absolutely saved my vacation. Otherwise; all your drinks (alcoholic or otherwise) come in thimble size plastic cups which you can drink while you鈥檙e waiting for your NEXT drink. It will also keep your drink cold while you hang on the beach or by the pool.鈥?Ask for the room safe when you check in (about $25 for the week). We were not asked if we wanted one when we checked in and had to go back the next day and wait in the considerable check-in line to get one. It is simple to use and good peace of mind for your valuables.鈥?Bring $25-$50 in singles for tips for waiters; bartenders and maids. They are generally not expected and won鈥檛 get you much if any special treatment; but they are appreciated.鈥?Spend time early on to walk the entire complex and figure out the layout. This will make the rest of your stay more enjoyable.鈥?Watch out for the airport vultures. They will accost you as you鈥檙e leaving the airport and insist on carrying your luggage; even though your trip representative (VIP or whoever) is waiting just a few steps away from them. Feel free to use them if you have a lot of luggage and need a hand; but mostly they are just trying to extort some coin from you.鈥?Similarly; if you don鈥檛 like being hounded watch out for the vendors on the inside of the 鈥榲illage square鈥? There is a group of shops on the outside of the square with mostly fixed priced goods; but all the goods sold by the individual vendors on the inside can be had for 30-50% of the asking price.* As many have suggested; bring an old gift card and anything you don't care about with a magnetic strip - otherwise you have to leave one of your room keys in the room to operate the electricity while you are out.ConclusionIf you鈥檙e not high maintenance and are really there to enjoy the sun; water and booze you will have a good time. If you get hung up on the little to no-so-little things then this shouldn鈥檛 be your first choice as it鈥檚 a bit of a 鈥榗attle car鈥?
478252,jnll11,02/16/2008,Fantastic Resort Just got back from the Bahia Principe Punta Cana and to sum it up in a word it was Fantastic. My wife and I got spooked by some of the negative reviews but we were so pleasantly surprised when we got there. We were a group of 9 people; 5 adults and 4 kids and all of us had a great time. Overall the resort was great; we would definitely go back. Some of the down sides to keep in mind are that this is a large resort so it takes time to get to see everything; if you prefer smaller; more intimate places on the beach this is not the place for you. Our room was a bit humid/damp and when I asked to change to another room they accommodated me the same day and it was better. There are mosquitoes so remember to bring the bug spray for everyone. Here is a quick recap of our experience there:Resort 鈥?5 Star 鈥?The grounds are incredible; lush; tropical landscape that is professionally designed and maintained. The resort is very large but it has more that enough room and facilities for everyone; a grand lobby; 6 huge pools that are great for kids; it鈥檚 spotless and the service is friendly.Food 鈥?5 Star 鈥?The buffets are large; fresh; kid friendly with lots of variety. The a la carte restaurants are great; my favorite was the Italian because of the antipasto and the lobster.Beach 鈥?Beautiful for miles; the water is a bit rough for small kids so we put their life jackets on; no problems. Weather 鈥?Incredible; 28 everyday with 10 minutes of rain on 3 of the 7 nights. There is a constant breeze that keeps you cool.Hope you enjoy your stay there as much as we did!
478252,edheatseeker,02/15/2008,Thanks Gran Bahia Just got back from the Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. We were part of a large wedding; and we were part of the Club Golden package. With having read recent poor reviews of the Gran Bahia; my wife and I thought we should come to the defense of this awesome resort. The rooms; the grounds; and the facilities are immaculate and clean. We were very pleased not only with the a la carte restaurants; but the buffets as well. But above all; the staff made our stay truly memorable. They were friendly and willing to go the extra mile to make our stay enjoyable. On our first day; we found the safe was inoperable. A technician was at our room within 10 minutes of our phone call being placed and fixed it within minutes. Great service.While we were there; we did see some folks upset about the smallest thing. The poor staff were shouted at and verbally abused. Please people; relax; you are not in your home country; things may not go as well as things back home; but your stay will be better if you relax.An example; we overheard staff getting reamed out from the smell from the storm drainage area (aka swamp). My gawd people; you are in the tropics. Relax!Our favourite a la carte was the Mediterranean; with a close 2nd the Brazilian.This is a very large resort; so if you want quaint and private this is not the resort for you. On the other hand the size offers; great restaurant selection; many pools; a large beach area; and lots of choices.The Dominican people are wonderful; friendly and obviously enjoy there work. Their pride shined thru!
478252,LouPotato,02/15/2008,Well Run and Beautiful Waiing for the Bahia beach shuttle
478252,lianavacca,02/14/2008,Stole my camera!!!!!!!!!!! This was an awful experience staying at this hotel. The first day there and they stole my camera inside my room; Seeing that the safe was not ready for 24 hours; they asked us to come back in the morning for the safe. in the morning left my camera to go and register the key and wow went back to the room the cleaning lady had already folded all our clothes neatly and room was clean however the camera was gone but the battery was still being recharged. It was a canon digital camera made a complain and it took them 7 days to answer me back sayign that it is not their fault.Whatever!!!!!!!!!!!! if you do not want to get your stuff looked through or stolen don't stay at this resort. the service was awful the dinner was never ready the restaurants are always booked in 7 days couldn't get anything else except chinese 1 night. pillows in the room are so skinny asked for more pillows got them the 2nd day because my husband went to pick them up...kids club they do the same dance over and over that week; my firend stayed 2 weeks and they repeated the same dance and activity for the kids even the kids thought it was boring the Kids club....In total words for the price you could get better elsewhere. Very disappointed.
478252,westond,02/14/2008,Loved every minute at the Gran Bahia Principe in Bavaro After reading some good and bad reviews we had an absolutely fantastic time - no complaints whatsoever. I think some people complain just for the sake ot it. We were greeted by Adreina from Customer Services whom I had contacted before we arrived as I wanted to have some flowers placed in a room for some friends who were arriving before us. Adreina was wonderful. We had a fantastic room overlooking the Diamond Pool. The food at the hotel was brilliant - so much variation. The hotel is kept spotlessly clean by staff who work very hard round the clock. The entertainment is okay; not brilliant; but you can't have everything. We would certainly recommend this hotel to anyone and we will definitely be going back.
478252,Moonbeam720,02/14/2008,Five-Star Resort is Lovely; Large; and Immaculate鈥ould Stay Here Again The Bed
478252,Charliemanitoba,02/13/2008,Fun in the sun Beautiful resort ;very friendly people ;very clean ;excellent food ; lots to drink . the beach was wonderful lots of people ; but that is what makes it fun ;entertainment all around you!!! You never knew what you where going to see !!!We where there for are daughters wedding and could not of ask for better service ; they bent over backwards for us to make sure everything was good . One person wrote about tips we never had any trouble with the servers wanting tips ; we where courteous and always gave them one for they do work hard for there $$. I do recall being in Toronto before we left and in the restaurant the waiter chased one of the girls out wanting to know why she did not leave a tip ???? Maybe the service was poor ??All in all i would go back to this place like i said very beautiful a 5 star in my eyes ;
478252,Elwoofer,02/12/2008,I've read previous reviews...and realize people love to complain Feb 12...we just got back from our trip to this great resort. I did not do any research prior to booking. My wife; 20 month child and I surprised my twin sister; her husband and 5 year-old son. They had done all the research and booked at this resort...we decided to join them.Soon after I had booked our trip; I started looking at reviews on the resort. I must admit; most were positive; and some were negative. I was going there with a balanced but mixed views of the resort. I'm glad I got to hear about the negative parts of the trip; cause when we got there; my wife and I chuckled about those negative reviews all week long. Some of the things people complained about; BUGS- well afterall it is a humid climate...perfect place for bugs. I wonder if these people have flies in their homes in the summer??? nothing here; a few small bugs here and there.SMELLS-garbage...you think that eventually they do have to pick up the garbage once in a while.....they are picked so frequently; you are bound to see someone picking garbage bags and putting them in these mini garbage trucks (you wouldn't even know its a garbage truck)....this place is so big and you are there all week long; you are bound to see/smell someone pick up garbage eventually...its all math....bet you that if you stay at your yard all week you will eventually smell a garbage truck come your way.SMELLS-gas.....depending on where your room is on the resort; you will likely travel on the trolley....which....beleive it or not is powered by gas.....you will eventually get a few wiffs.....our perspective...just walk or go elsewhereNOISE-construction....there is construction going on the site next door......our room was right beside this activity....big deal....we spent most of day time at the beach or pool...and the constructon is during the day time....no big concern...we have a 20 month old that needs her naps in the day....this noise was not an issue. TIPS...people made a big deal about tipping vs not tipping.....no big deal hear; most of the time we tipped; a dollar here and there; it happened that we had no money on us.....no change in service....the staff is very friendly; and of you get off your royal throne and try to talk to them; you will be able to communicate with most of them. Helpfull to learn a few key wordsSIZE.....the resort is huge. I still have a hard time imaging the size and can't describe it well enough to give it justice.....let's just say if you want a romatic getaway in a solitude of a location....you might want to book elsewhere. This is a mix of a club med atmosphere; with a lot of people. The way the resort is set up is pretty smart; limits access to people to some parts of the resort; basically they are controlling the flow of people for the pools; and food services. Do to the size; we felt anonymous which we liked. The size is a compromise; the bigger the resort the more people but also the more activities available. We've been to smaller resorts; but you have fewer food and activity selections. FOOD.....we enjoyed the food; and were able to eat almost all our meals at the a la carte restaurants (French; Brazilian; Mexican; Japanese; etc)...they were all excellent. Go to the Guest Services daily around 2pm and you should be able to get into a restaurant. The first and last night we ate at the buffet....it was very good....if you can't find something to youe liking....stay home and cook yourself something that suites your own palette.CHAIRS.......never was an issue all trip long.....we could get chairs at the beach and pool all day long....we actually ended up having the same chairs at the beach all 7 days without leaving out towels back to reserve our spot. This is actually a non issue.......of course if you are still on your royal throne and want to have the chair right next to the bar...well you might be surprised that everybody else wants to be there. There was plenty of shade for all....the kids played all day long at the beach in the shade. Also a kids section to most pools.CLEANLINESS....this place is so clean; it's scary....there are people working all day long cleaning this place up...sometimes you wonder if they are cleaning just for show.....everywhere you turn; someone is cleaning; sweeping; waterpressuring; trimming trees; etc.SUMMARY: just relax; sit back; don't take things too seriously....please don't complain....my dad was in the travel business for several years...he always told me you can't please everybody; you can try; but you won't succeed....some people love to complain. If you feel you are a complaining type; well thank you for setting my expectations lower than they should have been; cause we had an excellent vacation...better than expected. We miss it already. This is a 5-star resort island style...not the Ritz Carleton.Gentleman; if you are reading this and your lady is the princess-type don't bring her here; the site is too big; you will never get the room you want; you will have to walk occasionally to the beach....go elsewhere and spend the bid bucks to please her. Fortunately; my wife and I enjoy the same type of trips; we're both quite easy to please......we've been on several cruises; Club Med; etc......just remember you're on vacation.
478252,nancys2935,02/12/2008,Mixed feelings about Bahia Just returned from two weeks at Bahia Principe Bavaro Jan 27-Feb 10I read several reviews from TripAdvisor prior to booking. We stayed in the Diamond Club section of the resort; our room was located adjacent to the construction currently on site and we asked to be moved. We lived from our suitcases until our room was relocated 2 days later. We were welcomed into our new room with towel art; T-shirts; a bottle of rum and were very pleased. It was spacious and very clean. During the first few days we had encountered a bit of rain in the evening and after unpacking in our new room I left a pair of (expensive) white capri pants hanging in the bathroom to dry- adhering to the hotel policy of not placing any items on the railing outside. The capris disappeared the next day. I can only assume that the cleaning staff picked them up with the towels by mistake even though I placed all the dirty items in the tub. I reported this to the Diamond Club staff immediately but they did not seem alarmed by this occurrance and the pants were never located. I left a tip and asked for extra pillows- the tip disappeared but it was only when I saw a maid a few days later and asked again that I finally recieved a pillow. There were several different maids; no planned time that the room was cleaned and we were awoken early a few days; a maid knocking on the door; other days the room would not be cleaned until late in the afternoon. Late one night we were in bed when the maid knocked on our door delivering the beach towels .I accepted each day that something was missing- no face cloths for a few days; then minus a few bath towels; a bath robe; gel; shampoo. Two nights out of 14; we got the clean beach towels delivered to our room and turn down service with chocolates. On the good days I would leave a tip but that did not seem to encourage the service. It was a hit and miss most days. I would also recommend that you pay for the room safe as there were a few days that we arrived back to our room in the afteroon and the door was wide open as the maid was taking care of several rooms at once. The grounds are beautifully kept and immaculate. The food at the buffet had lots of selection but it was lukewarm; and the meat was often undercooked. The buffet is extremely busy but I felt rushed and often ignored -very poor service. We made use of the a la carte restaurants; found them to be run well and the waiters very friendly. Overall; from previous reviews I thought tipping would get you some extras but that is not necessarily the case. I suppose my expectations were a little high. Good and bad at this hotel; a little daunting with the size but after a few days you can find your way around without a problem. I would recommend that you upgrade to the Diamond or Gold Club; I would not want to risk the service being a 'regular'. Also; learning some basic Spanish would be helpful as there is little to no English spoken by the staff. I would still recommend this resort to others but beware of what service you will actually recieve and lower your expectations.
478252,slfamilyiowa,02/12/2008,Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana - Excellent! We just returned from a GREAT vacation at the Gran Bahia Principe; Punta Cana. (Feb 3 - 9) A group of 8 of us and we had a wonderful time. Weather was wonderful - mid 80's daytime; and mid to high 70's at night. The beach is awesome! The best sand I have ever seen. Lots of chairs at the beach and the pool. We never had a problem gathering enough chairs for our entire group and we did not reserve them in the early a.m. like some travelers do. If you are intersted in the catamaran; wind surfing; etc make your reservations early. You can't just go to the Beach Shack and ask to take out a catamaran as they are reserved ahead of time. Restaurants - The Ala Carte's are excellent. Make your reservations right away at Guest Services. We had the Japanese - our groups favorite; Italian (Veal was excellent; so was the Lobster); French Gourmet (Filet Mignon and the Lobster again very good); Garden Grill Steak House - was fine. Recommend the Tenderloin as it had good flavor and was thicker; other steaks were pretty thin. Loved the desserts at the restaurants. Don't be afraid to try more than one.Guest Services - they will help you with anything they can. We worked with Jean and he did an excellent job! He was always making sure we had what we needed and that we were having a wonderful vacation!Tropicana Theatre - We only went to one show. Michael Jackson - the group thought it was ok. We did not go to any of the other shows; although each night the seating was fullPueble Principe - Great square of shopping and entertainment. The Karaoke Bar was fun. It did depend on the crowd though as many languages of songs. Obviously it was better when people were singing in your own language. Great Bartenders - gave their own rendition of Tom Cruise in Cocktail! The House Band on the center stage was very good as well. We enjoyed just listening to them. There is a group of workers who perform and get audience members to dance. It was fun.Bars - all were good. We hung out in the Lobby Bar. Piano player during the evening; and waitresses. Fun and relaxing. The swim up bar was always nice. Try the Drink of the Day. Don't count on wait staff at the pool. Beach Bar - nice as well. Fun bartenders!Take a walk down the beach to the market. Lots of vendors selling their items. We were told pay between 30 - 50% of what their first price is. Lots of paintings!Fitness Center - We used it everyday. It does not open until 8:00 so it is really busy at 8:00 a.m. If you can wait until 9:00 or after it is not as busy. The equipment is old and worn; but you can make it work. There are 3 treadmills; 1 elliptical; 6 bikes; 2 row machines; and then a weight machines; benches; and free weights. We made it work; but it was not state of the art by any means. Could use some updating.Snack bar - This is a buffet service near the pool. We were hoping for a made to order type place. Mainly burgers; chicken; fries; make your own deli sandwich; fruit. It was fine; but by the end of the week we got tired of the same thing. The buffet in the main lobby is fine. If you stick to the made to order stuff (omelets in the a.m. and chicken; burgers at lunch) you were guaranteed it would be hot. Lots of great fruit. Buffets near the beach for lunch were only ok. Take the trip to the main lobby buffet for better food and service.Rooms are nice and big. Very clean. We asked for extra water and had no problems getting more. Room safe is $32 for the week. Bring a travel alarm clock; no clock in the room. No extra plug in either. If you are looking for a room with an ocean view; I am not sure that the Gran Bahia can meet those requests. All the rooms are further back from the beach. I don't think you could see the beach from any of the buildings. Only upgrade for the room services; restaurants; private pool. We did not upgrade at all. Not sure we would next time or not. Maybe to the new Amber area for adults only.Excursions - We did two excursions through VIP - onsite in the Tour Operator office. Bavaro Runner - excellent. Loved all the stops and Mimi and Orlando our guides did a great job. Mimi is extremely knowledgeable and very funny. We had a great day with them. I would recommend it as we learned so much about the area and the culture. Bring stuff to give the children along the way. I brought over 40 pencils and gave all of them out. Other gave candy; and the children asked for books. If you can bring any kind of toys; books; etc. the kids will love it and it will make a great excursion. We also did the Caribbean Festival. This was a catamaran ride out in the ocean. We stopped by a roped off area with docks to swim with the Nurse Sharks; and hold a Sting Ray. No personal photos of your holding the Sting Ray as they take one and want to sell it to you. You also go to another area roped off by the reef to snorkel. Water was clear and the maximum was about 12 feet deep. Entertainment on the Catamaran was fun too. Lots of dancing. Bar did not open thought until over half way done with the excursion. They also make a DVD which you can buy for $35 at the end. The DVD is not edited so it is all the footage shot and it is put to its own music; not the sound and music from the boat ride. Fine to do this once; but I would probably pass on this excursion next time.The hotel complex is large; but very easy to get around. The tram system takes you from one end to the other. They are always running so not much of a wait.Check out the sunrise on the beach! It is beautiful.There are lots of activities that the staff provides near the pool and the beach. There is not a schedule posted though that I could find so if you are interested in this check with Guest Services to see if they could give you a schedule. Otherwise; check around by the pool. The pool near the beach had many more activities then the smaller pool. Our group preferred the smaller pool as it was not as busy; less kids; and just as much fun at the swim up bar. Bring an insulated travel mug. It is much easier to keep your drinks cold. Have the bartender make your drink right in your mug. Wished we would have brought them. The sun is very hot; so bring lots of sunscreen. Apply often; we saw many sunburned people.Overall we had an excellent trip. We loved Punta Cana and would definitely go back. The flight from Minneapolis was long; but pretty smooth. If you fly Sun Country airlines ask about upgrading to first class for $99 per person. Well worth it!
478252,aawwaa,02/12/2008,loved the pool and food the hotel was clean the pool and beach was beautiful the food was goodthe service was average the workers were not friendly; never smiled or said good morning first; if you didn't say it first; there is no greeting at all.the shows were average except for the micheal jackson show; that was a great show to watch; you will love it.the pool we stayed at was better than the other ones because the other pools were very crowdedover all this trip was above average
478252,julietravel,02/11/2008,Top Notch Resort; food; shows; servive Beautiful resort. We checked in at the Golden Club area. There was (bartender) an open bar with snacks. We made sure to get the room safe and also to find out what all is included with the Golden Club Rooms. We had villa 22 (22112) a corner room with a beautiful view. Bananas growing right out our door; palm trees; flowers; etc. Two double beds in the room; nice sized bathroom with seperate area for the toilet. Plenty of closet space with shelves and a desk with 4 drawers that our girls used. Fresh fruit on the table in room and t-shirts for each of us from the resort. Another table with chairs on the lanai. Our maid stocked our fridge with our requested beverages; we had fresh pool towels every evening and turn down service. She decorated our room with balloons several times; towel art with fresh flowers; slippers; special toiletry items for our girls; candy; etc. Very attentive. They also have rules (in their passport book) about not hanging clothes/towels on the lanai; being quiet at night; etc. which was really nice. Everyone there had mannerly bahavior - no drunks or loud guests. You get what you pay for. The food was wonderful. Not too spicy or sweet. So much on the buffets and beautifully displayed; ice sculptures; carved (artistic)melons; all kinds of entrees; fruits; desserts; etc. The ala carte restaurants were all fantastic. From the atmosphere; service; menu; plate display; and entertainment. We also ordered room service after the nightly shows (45-60 minute wait) and the food was good and fun as well. Bars - Lobby bars;pool bars; and beach bar all had great service and very accomodating to both adults and kids. We always tipped to start off. Even after the lobby bar closed our group was able to get waters from them. They always were in a good mood. Made us feel very welcome. We tried all the pools and no complaints at all. The music was never too loud; pools were clean; never had trouble securing lounge chairs (not always where we wanted but there wasn't a bad location). The pool had more activity with volleyball; games; dance lessons; aerobics; etc. Grounds and beach were kept clean. Ocean water is crystal clear and sand is soft; never got hot to walk on. Nice beach - no rocks or shells in the water; or little fish. Grounds - Everything was clean and manicured. Beautiful resort with lush landscape. The workers kept up on everything; hedges were perfectly trimmed; untouched areas by the bridge were a nice touch. The birds liked to hang out there so when you pass by in the tram (or walk) you could hear them chirping. Peepers (frogs) at night. Activities - The nightly shows were professionally done with dancers and actors. Best we have ever seen without paying a big ticket price. They really worked hard and it shows. Sunday night show is more of an audience participation. Before the shows (1 hour or so) they get the crowd involved and pull people from the audience to learn the Bahia theme song/dance and do an elimination game. Very nice open air theatre. There is also the Pueblo Principe Town that is open at 0900 for shopping and stays open until 4 a.m. with live music; a disco; karaoke bar; casino; etc. We thought this was a beautiful resort and everything was top notch. The service was excellent from arrival to depature. The Golden Club Rooms had some nice perks that we really appreciated (private pools; private restaurants for breakfast/lunch; 4 ala carte dinners; pool towels; 24 hour room service;etc.) It will be hard to top the Bahia so if we go to a different destination; we will look for the Bahia properties.
478252,DDinPA,02/10/2008,Great Hotel - A Few Downsides OK...this may seem a bit conflicted; but I will do my best to keep it simple. My trip was from Feb 4 - 9; 2008. My party consisted of 14 women between the ages of 35 and 65. It was a trip away from husbands; work and responsibility. Our primary goal was to party and relax....in that order. First of all; a smaller group of us had been to another resort in PC the year before and had a blast...the Caribe Club Princess. So; we were basing a lot of our opinions comparitively. The Gran Bahia is far superior with regard to amenities; food and drink quality. It is also HUGE. We booked through Apple; in my opinion; the ONLY way to go. We seemed to get upgraded; though I don't know how. We were in villas 21 and 22 which are closest to the pool and beach. That was great because if we were further back; it would be a hike to either.The rooms are clean; spacious and very nice. Though we had requested all doubles and most of us ended up with kings. No big deal as we were told we had been upgraded and that was part of the deal. Rooms on the first floor did have water bug or roaches...none for me on the second floor.The Italian Restaurant - the one you make a reservation for - was some of the best food I have ever had in my life. We should have booked it twice and skipped the Brazilian.Huge; insanely clean pools. The beach is very crowded and the guy yapping on the loud speaker was driving us insane. However; watching the Russian contingent's volley ball match was worth it. The lobby is gorgeous; but we would have preferred the DJ that ththe Caribe Club had instead of the guy on the Casio. Uh; that was lame. Also; for an all-inclusive; the bars close very early...what is with that?The Karoake was a lot of fun; but isn't open on Mondays and only opens at 10 and goes to 1:00. Also; it is more like a giant sing along instead of Karaoke as the words are flashed on a huge screen and the entire bar sings louder than the one with the mic.There is a whole network of shops that is convenient. The lobby gift shop is grossly overpriced...just walk around the corner to the shopping center and get the stuff at half the price.The bottom line is that we loved the rooms; the food and cleanliness. However; for a group looking to party; I wouldn't recommend this hotel. I plan on taking my husband and two teenagers to this resort next year; but for the girl's trip; we just need a little bit more action.
478252,crazycanucks94,02/10/2008,Wedding was beautiful After ceremony
478252,timbucto,02/09/2008,Amazing holiday...best ever! I just returned from the AMBAR club of the Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. What a georgeous spot to vacation! The hotel is very large and confusing the first day; but once you get on to it you do OK. The food was amazing! We had 4 al la carte meals and all were fabulous; The Grill and the Mediterranian were by far the best food. The buffets were always interesting and delicious! The whole resort; including common areas; rooms; dining; beach; grounds etc were the cleanest I have ever come across. The floors shined and the rooms were large and looked after. Our villa opened December 18 2007 so it was new. We were in number 65 right by the beach. No noise hassles at all. Spa was fabulous and reasonable. Entertainment was good as well. We went on two excursions; zip line and swimming with sharks and sting rays. Well worth the money. Had pics taken with monkeys and parrots for 7 American each. Tipped maids each day and a few of the wait and bar staff. They were always appreciative. Found if we attempted Spanish they would attempt English. Lots of fun and terrific memories. Highly reccomended.Problems-check in was confusing; we got batted around a few times but once through it was OK. Room key stopped working as did my safe but they come up to your room immediately and fix these small annoyances quickly.
478252,flyingspur,02/09/2008,Great! Would like to return certainly! Bahia Principe Map
478252,travellover1981,02/09/2008,Love at first sight My boyfriend and I decided it was time to take our first trip together and chose Punta Cana as the place to go. After talking to a friend of our travel agents we settled on the Bahia Principe! She gave it a 10/10 and promised us we would love it for our first time out of Canada. She was right! We booked through Air Transat so we were in the Royal Golden section of the resort which is right by the beach. We were a 20 ft walk from our large pool which connects to the huge strip of beach that is just gorgeous.Our Transat rep. was amazing; she helped us book our a la cartes and our activities outside the resort we wanted to do. We booked the shopping tour (which we loved); the Marinariam (which was the most fun) and a trip to Manati Park to swim with the dolphins. It was this last activity where I got to fulfill a dream of geting up close and personal with a dolphin. All of our activities were amazing and went off without a hitch. The resort is large; spacious and just a beautiful place to be. They have shuttle buses (which personally I never smelt anything bad as some ppl on here claim) that take you throughout the resort and we went on all of them many times just to see all the beauty this resort had to offer. The food was great; we never had to much problem with temperature of the food; all I know is there was a large variety of foods and the wait staff was very helpful *though we only speak English and clearly were in teh minority*. We had four a la cartes and I highly reccommend the Seafood and the italian (though the Mexican and the steak house are great choices as well)We had this guy John serve us at the main lobby bar and the pool bar and let me tell you - this guy made our trip! He was always singing and laughing and talking to everyone. His English was great; and he made us feel right at home! If you ever see him; you will fall in love with him and want to take him home with you!Our room was on the first floor villa 21 and we had one cockroach once on a night it rained particulary hard; other then that we did not see one bug our entire trip so i am not sure why other ppl on here on the first floor complained of it.If you want to know anything else contact me; cause I will boast about this resort forever!
478252,SeaSandSunSeekers,02/08/2008,Great hotel but........ Poolside
478252,sillyguy,02/08/2008,beautiful vacation Just got bach; was there from jan. 31 2008; to the 7th of feb.Punta Cana airportas soon as you get your bag; you are surrounded by people who want to take your bag to your bus; for the $2 I gave; well worth it; they know where the buses are; and I just followed.HOTELThe goodBeautiful; clean; well kept.The badAlittle confusing getting around the first couple of days; every night would have someone asking how to get where; alot of people get lost the first couple of days.ROOMSThe goodBeautiful; clean; and large.The badyou need 2 or 3 of there pillows to make 1 just ask your housekeeper and they will give them to you; we had 2 each to begin. also you can here everything outside your room.FOODthe goodgood choice of food; we enjoyed the restaurants buy the beach for lunch and breakfast; the badreservations at the a la cartes are hard to come buyBEACH; the goodbeautiful beach; beautiful ocean; JUST BEAUTIFUL!!! no problems for chairs; no problems!!!!the badNOTHING!!!!POOLThe goodmain pool is huge and right buy the beach; we had access to Diamond pools; enjoyed them late afternoon; less people.The badPeople who think this is there private pool; sit there being loud; drinking booze for hours; and not getting out of the pool to go to the bathroom; discustingSTAFFThe goodstaff were great friendly; they really do not like to say no to anything and try hard to help; love the staff at this hotel the badnot many speak english; but the reception gives you a Bahia passport; and is has english to spanish translations of words you may need (like housekeeper;water; towels etc) if you keep this book and use it it is helpfull even has a mini map inside. we always found a way to communicate what we needed. and if we were missing anything we would just call reception and they would send what we needed (if mini fridge was not filled; or any towels missing etc)Overall we loved this resort; it is a little big and takes some time getting used to it but it is beautiful and staff are great. Keep your small issues small and you will enjoy; our rule was not to let anything ruin our trip; and keep positive; and we had a great timePlease feel free to PM me if you have any questions; and if you are going to this resort have fun and realize how lucky we are to be able to go; there are alot of people that will never have a trip like this in ther lives.p.s. try the spanish coffee or irish coffee and a mama wana in the evening; your significat other will be happy; lol
478252,FatcatGatineau,02/07/2008,Loved it!!! Miss it already. Room
478252,judie938,02/07/2008,great time at bahia Just returned from the Bahia and overall our trip was great. As with other reviews grounds excellent; pools excelent; rooms excellent; food pretty good. We were a group of 9 . 4 couples and one of our best buddies. We had requested to be booked in the same villa but recieved different villas. They were pretty close together though so no big deal.Our room was great. villa 29 gardenview. We had e-mailed the resort in advance to book an a la carte for our friends birthday and promptly recieved a reply with our reservation. Our other two a la carte were very late as the resturants book up quite fast. Comunnication is a big issue here. Be prepared with as much spanish as you can learn. Our only real dislike was that the main labby closes at 11:00pm. At 11:pm they promptly turn out the light and close the bar dispite how full this area is; and it is busy. We never had touble finding 9 chairs and a couple tables . You also pay for premium liquor like bailey's; or kaluha... They have an included menu and a not included menu; on each table. Do try the mamajuana just once.
478252,SquirrelAda,02/06/2008,Loved the whole experience We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana from 1/19 - 2/2/08 and were very impressed with the whole resort. The people were wonderful; very helpful. The food was very good (we have stayed at 3 other resorts on Punta Cana; thought they were good; but this was by far the best). We loved the choices of specialty restaurants. It was difficult getting booked for an evening; unless you planned ahead (the first day you arrive). This wasn't on our list of things to do yet; so we missed out on a few. However; since we had 2 weeks it worked out. The food and service was excellent. The buffets were great - so many choices and such a variety each and every time we were there. The staff was so helpful - the grounds are beautiful; and they were being worked on constantly. Very appreciated and noticed by us. The pools were beautiful; and to have them as well as the beach was a great bonus. My husband loved the drinks - he would have liked to have a minibar in our room with alcohol (The Punta Cana side); but he didn't lack for thirst quenchers.We needed some things in our room a couple of times; and I called the front desk - we were provided with our needs almost immediately; with a follow-up call to make certain we got what we needed. Our biggest thumbs down was the noise in our complex. The rooms apparently were not insulated for noise. We were on the 1st floor; and we heard every little move; every step; shower running; etc. If the people were having a late night out; it of course disturbed us during our sleep. We retire early; cannot fault those who like night life; but it would have been nice not to have been awakened each night by the noise above us. Our last 2 nights there were especially bad - there were some very unruly young men and they didn't go to bed until early morning hours. It sounded like they were tearing up the complex. You have that any place; we just really noticed that there was no noise barrier.I had a terrific massage at poolside. WONDERFUL!! This cost extra; but it was worth it.Overall; we can hardly wait to return for another wonderful vacation. Bring on the hot sunshine; warm breezes and cool shade - that and the surroundings of a beautiful resort make it a dream to look forward to.
478252,peanut9199,02/06/2008,Not Great Main Buildings
478252,ColinSarnia,02/05/2008,Great; huge resort My family stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe from January 24-31; 2008. We were in the Royal Golden section through Air Transat. Overall; the vacation and resort was excellent; if not for a few minor hitches.Check-In - My family flew in from all over Canada; myself from Toronto; the others from BC and Alberta. The others arrived ahead of me; and had no problems checking in. Mine did no go quite as smoothly; as there was some confusion on the bus going to the hotel as to who got what. People who had the normal package got checked in on the bus as we went to the resort; while the rest of us did not (Ambarh; Premium and Royal Golden were the others on the bus). Upon arriving at the first stop; they neglected to mention for the Royal Golden passengers that it was our stop as well; but we eventually figured that part out on our own. The premium Royal Golden lobby was closed by the time we arrived; so I checked in through the normal front desk area without a problem.The rooms - Rooms were in very good shape; and overall well cleaned. General cleaning and room towel replacement took place during the day; and because we were in the Royal Golden section; our beach towels were replaced during the night. Very convenient; and chocolates were left as well each night. A nice touch. Sound was not an issue; I did not hear any of our neighbors once at night. The TV was rather small; but rarely got watched other than in the early evening. A suprising number of movie channels; though many were spanish.The Pool - Being with the Royal Golden section; you get a private pool (Premier; Ambarh; and Diamond also get private pools). This was EXCELLENT. We had no issue getting seats; the pool was never too busy; and the swim/walk up bar was great. This was far and away the best reason for being Royal Golden; as the main pool was always packed and very noisy. The Beach - I only spent a little time on the beach; but overall the sand was very soft on the feet; there was ample shade available; and the water was great. Sizable waves; and looking out at the distant shipwreck is really something. The games announcer/cheerleader/MC or something that was on the beach had a megaphone that was very annoying though; it sounded like he was yelling at people most the time.The Food - Buffet - I certainly did not go hungry here; and this is where a 5* place earns it's stars. The food at the main buffet in the Lobby was extremely good; and very fresh. They change the menu nightly; and there was probably a good 25 different hot items to choose from each night; with lots of fresh fruit and cold food available as well. From breakfast to dinner; food was uniformly tasty and filling. The buffet at the main pool was also very good; though it had more standard fare (ie hot dogs; hamburgers); and not as much selection.The Food - A'la Carte - We went to 4 restaurants during our stay. Japanese Restaurant - Made as you watch; this was an entertaining way to eat. We started with a few small pieces of sushi; though it was nothing to write home about for quality. Then came several pieces of tempura shrimp and veggies; which were very tasty and fresh. Finally; the main course consisted of you choice of Chicken; Beef; Prawns; and veggies; in any combination. I had all 4; and while the chicken was a bit on the dry side; the other 3 were well cooked. For dessert you are moved to the middle sitting area; where everyone had very good deep-fried icecream. Overall; very good; but I was a little saddened by the sub-par sushi.French Restaurant (La Cuisine) - An elegant and quiet evening. For starters I had a pasta dish; everyone else tried the soups. The soups were very sad looking; and barely a couple sips worth; while my pasta was hearty and delicious. I would strongly recommend anything other than a soup to start here. Next came the Filet Mignon; which was outstanding. I was honestly amazed at the quality of beef (and size). It was a very filling meal. There were two different chocolate desserts that my table tried; I had the Chocolate truffle; which was very rich and like a big piece of fudge; and the others had a chocolate mousse style dessert which was very tasty as well. This was my favourite of the 4 we visited; but the other 3 were a bit disappointed with their soup starters.Italian Restaurant - This was a much different atmosphere than the French Restaurant; as there seemed to be much more bustle and noise (not bad; just different). Appetizers were buffet style; and were extremely tasty. Several of us went back for seconds; they were so good. For the main course I had the chef's special that night; pasta + lobster. Overall; pretty good; but not great. I don't remember the dessert; but I believe it was very good again. This was still very good; but probably #4 of the 4 I visited.Mediterranean Restaurant - This place had a bit of everything on the menu. I started with another pasta; this one was a unique garlic sauce which was very light. For the main course; I had a massive piece of salmon; very close to the filet mignon of the French Restaurant in quality. It was outstanding; and filling. The others had pork and lamb; and both of those were great as well. Dessert was a lighter caramel pasty; which was good; but not great. The main course was so outstanding though; that this and the Japanese were probably tied for 2nd /3rd best; with the French being the best place I visited.Night Activities - We saw several shows; and the Michael Jackson show was the most entertaining. The volume was a bit on the loud side for all shows though. After the shows; we enjoyed listening to the house band quite a bit later into the night. There was also Kareoke and a dance club; though the club was only about 1/3 full the times I went; so not a lot of time was spent there. Other - The fitness facilities were rather small; and not overly impressive for a resort this size and quality. Considering the immense size of the resort; there are constant shuttles running back and forth all over the place. I would still recommend walking everywhere; it was much more enjoyable to me and probably took 10 minutes to walk one end to the other. I'm not sure if it was exclusive to Royal Golden members; but we got to use 15 minutes a day of internet at a public spot; which I found handy to keep up to date on news. In the Royal Golden reception area they also had printouts of Canadian; American; and other country news articles for you to read.Check-Out - Checkout was a bit more time consuming than it should have been. The Royal Golden reception area was open; but took about 20 minutes to check out; due to having to wait for others for so long. This was because; they also do all the restaurant bookings at the same place; and the bookings can take some time to find. A simple way to fix that would have to either have a seperate line/room for people booking restaurants; or only take reservations for restaurants after 12pm; the latest checkout time. Silly that we pay for a premium area service; but it was much slower checking in and out than the normal area.Overall - All in all; I was very impressed by the Gran Bahia Principe. The size can be a bit daunting at first; but after the first day; you hardly notice it; and I rather enjoyed all the different choices you get. The people were extremely friendly; food was excellent; the Royal Golden pool was great; and the facilities were well kept. I would recommend it; and would also recommend getting a package that has a more private pool if you enjoy a bit more piece and quiet during the day; it really was a noticable difference. And finally; if you made it all this way to the end; thanks for reading and hope this helps!
478252,mayasmummy,02/04/2008,Would DEFINITELY go back again! I apologize for writing this review a little late; but I had to comment on my experience at this wonderful resort!My husband and I took our 23 month old daugher (yep; got her a free vacation just in time) and my parents to this resort and from the beginning; everything was wonderful. SkySerivce--We flew with skyservice and had booked our seats ahead of time. The flights were on time both ways and we were lucky enough; on both legs of the trip to have an extra seat in our row for our daughter. The flight attendants were helpful and a pleasure to deal with. Arrival--the bus ride to GBP is not too long and there is a tour guide who gives you lots of info. As soon as we got to the resort; there were drinks waiting for us with our welcome packages. We noticed that our room and my parent's room were far apart; so we had to talk to the front desk about getting us rooms together. They were extremely helpful and put us in the same complex; with our room just above theirs.Room--The room was super clean and big. We had a king bed; and both rooms had a sitting area. The bathrooms had a tub and shower together; which was great for bathing the little one. The mini bar was stocked daily. There is an in room safe; which you have to pay $20 for the week; but I think it's worth the peace of mind. The maids were very thorough and nice to deal with. I had made up cosmetic bags full of makeup and skin care products (most of them were from bonuses and gifts with purchase) for them; and they were very appreciative of this. We also offered our maid a cold drink from our fridge on a really hot day; and she was surprised and apprehensive; but my husband reassured her that it was from us and we wanted her to have it. She was very grateful. Our room complex was next to a construction zone (an extention is being built) but to be honest; we didn't hear anything in our rooms; so it didn't bother us at all.Resort--the Grounds were immaculate. We noticed that as soon as anyone droped a glass; etc; someone would get on their walkie talkies immediately and someone from the cleaning crew would be there in seconds to clean it up. There is a tram system in place because the resort is so big; so you have to wait at designated stops for the trams. We always walked to and from the beach; unless the tram was right there. Even walking to the buffet was fine; but if the little one was with us; then we would hop on the tram. Beach--The beach was beautiful! The water was warm; and there was always enough chairs. We were lucky to have 30 degrees plus; for the entire length of our stay; with not a drop of rain. One day they ran out of towels; but other than that; we never had an issue.Pools-- The pools were huge and very well maintained. The pool bars were wonderful; always serving drinks with a smile. Please remember to say thank you! The kiddie pool was great too; shallow enough for our little one to walk around on her own. We got her floaters from the market and she was so comfortable on her own. Resteraunts--There are many a la carte resteraunts; and you get three reservations with your stay. We went to the Mediterranean which we really enjoyed and the Italian; which was just okay. We had another reservation at Japanese; but decided to skip it and go to back to the buffet because it was easier to find options for the litle one. I heard the Japanese was great; as was the grill; but we always found something at the buffet. We had lunch at the outdoor grill on the beach. There was burgers; pasta; etc. There was a resteraunt beside it; which did serve nicer food; but you had to be in clothes to go. We started brining our cover ups and going there after we got tired of the beach buffet. They are super accomodating at this resorts. Our daughter is a very picky eater; and one night she wouldn't eat anything; so we asked a waiter if it was possible to get a sunnyside up egg. Sure enough; he went to the kitchen and they fried up an egg for her. They have one night which is crepe night for dessert--don't miss it!Entertainment--Their shows are really great. At 8pm; they have a clown for the children. All the kids sing songs and dance--my daughter loved this. After this; we would go have supper; and come back for the animation. They have a Lion King show (very good--if you are travelling with children; they can actually participate in this production); a Micheal Jackson show (very good); a Moulin Rouge (didn't go); a circus show (didn't go; but heard it was excellent); and I dont' remember the others. The shows are always packed. Excursions--We didn't go on any--we were quite content on the beach and pool areas (we spent a lot of time at the pool only because our daughter was more comfortable there.)Tips--we always tipped at dinner. They are very appreciative of whatever you can give. We usually sat in the same areas so we got the same waiters all the time. Many of them are from Puerto Plata or Santo Domingo. The ones who are from Santo Domingo get to go home every 24 days to see their families. We tipped at lunch if the service was good. The other thing we did was give beer; pop and soda from our mini bar to the gardeners and maintenance staff--they were so happy! We were talking to one of the managers who was from Montreal and she was telling us that they all get paid the same base pay; but the waiters; bar tenders and maids get a lot more money becuase of tips. She said; it's the maintenance staff; the waiters; etc that would really appreciate anything--a hat; tee shirt; whatever you can give. We also left some stuff back for waiters with little ones; like our daughers markers; crayons; hair pins; etc..If anyone is wondering about milk for children; you just have to ask the waiters or waitresses for milk for the baby; and they will bring you a tetrapak which is one litre of 2% milk. The milk is completely safe (pasteurized/sterilized) and is creamier and sweeter than our milk. Our daughter loved it.To sum it up--We would absolutely go back here and recommend this resort to anyone; especially families. There were a lot of young children here; and I know our daugher liked playing with the other kids in the pool and also the children's entertainment. The staff are very nice--the waiters were wonderful to our daughter. This place is definitely a five star resort. If you have any questions; please message me...
478252,mymko,02/04/2008,A few problems; but it is what you make it We were a group of six; two couples and two single ladies sharing a room; flew Sunwing out of Winnipeg Jan 26. Arrived around 5pm; off to building 28; only to arrive and the ladies have a king bed. They say there are no rooms available with two beds; and after two days upgrade the whole group to Ambar to accomodate the need for a room with two beds. We didn't know it at the time; but it was the best thing that could have happened. The Bavaro side is sooooo busy; restaraunts; beach; pools; everyone is on top of each other; pushing in front at the omlette station etc.The Ambar section is much quieter; and you can always go hang out where the action is if you like.Some of our group had Pringles and small bottles of liquor supplied in their room daily; others recieved them after leaving a note; no towel art on the Ambar side. Quite a few problems with key cards not working.Went to the casino; you do have to pay for drinks there. Michael Jackson show is good; but packed in like sardines.
478252,nivek90,02/03/2008,Chronic Overbookers We came from Toronto Canada; once we got on the bus we were given a letter stating that they were overbooked and that we would be taken to the GB Romano. I could go on but so many things went wrong I am still in disbelief. Definately my last time doing a Bahia. Last year had an amazing Trip to the one in Rio San Juan; but this one was was horrible.
478252,karmeit,02/03/2008,Incredible Stay I just came back from a week at the bahia principe and I wish I could have stayed longer! The hotel was absolutely incredible. The service was excellent. It was one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed at. The food was pretty good and the staff couldn't have been more welcoming. The rooms and grounds exceeded our expectabtions and were kept very clean. The whether was also very good. This is a hotel I would definately recommend and would book again in a heartbeat.
478252,yoga1,02/03/2008,been there done it would not do it again just returned last night. there were good things and bad. the arrival was awful you would think they had never had people arriving late saturday night.room key did not work; no food available; disorganized we did get upgraded to Ambar which was much better; patience is needed small things were annoying like trying to sleep in and the maids outside the rooms yelling to each other food was better at ambar but the resturants were empty went we did a reservation the grounds were clean and most staff were very pleasant the beach was great but too crowded and the weather for the week was not very good. i would not go to this place again too big;you should take a walkie talkie if you are travelling with friends.some places after ten oclock charged for drinks that was weird some nights they charged and sometimes they didnt patience is needed. read the reviews and you will get a sense of the place
478252,activeedge,02/02/2008,Never Again!!! We came back on the 31st Jan after a 2 week stay; and we were more than ready to! Firstly; they were massively overbooked! ( How does this happen? ) However; this is not an unusual occurence evidently!Our first night then; was spent in a different hotel altogether! They said they would pick us up at 12; to take us to the Bahia. They arrived at 2. It took over 3 hours to go 20 miles; because the bus was breaking down they said. It wasnt; we found out later; the hotel had told the driver to go slow because the rooms werent ready for us. That was the start of the lies; it went down hill for the rest of the 2 weeks! ie; The restaurants are too full; you cant book there LIES. We promise to fumigate your room (as we had been so badly bitten; the doctor insisted on it) LIES......after much complaining and arguing with the horrible man in charge on reception; they brought us a can of fly spray to our room! The food in the buffet was constantly cold; and all the meats either underdone; or inedible they were so tough! The speciality restaurants were the best; if not fantastic; I would say the Gourmet and the Meditteranean were the best. We asked if we could have a bottle of tonic water; to take to the room; No Sir; it is not allowed WHAT?! Funny; we watched while 3 lovely looking young Canadian girls were given three! The beach is lovely AWAY from the hotel. It was like an 18/30 holiday every day. The main Lagoon style pools; were ok but much too busy. You were almost laying on top of each other! The Diamond pool; (to which we had been upgraded as an apology) was nothing special...just full of loud mouthed swearing drunks; dropping their swimming trunks; regardless of the fact that there were children there too. The girl whos job it is; to get rid of the people who shouldnt be there; said nothing at all to these yobs; but we watched whils twice she asked young couples with a baby to leave; even though there were on both occasions; about 30 free beds...just because they were wearing the wrong coloured band! What a joke. The main Lobby bar was the only one that anyone over 30 wanted to use; and it was so BORING! It shuts at 11; and then they hovver round you waiting for you to give them your glass. If you dont; they take it from you; and pour it in to aplastic cup; then all the lights are switched off! Very welcoming! DO NOT pay for an upgrade!!! Its the biggest rip off ever!!The cleaners were lovely (the poorest paid usually are!)The bar staff were rude; and arrogant; with the exeption of a couple of the girls.The waiters were ok but slow to bring your drinks; if you got them at all! However they were so quick to take your plates away; that twice they whipped mine from under my nose; and I was still eating!The reception staff; and the customer service staff; are among the rudest I have ever come accross anywhere in the world!!! And dont bother asking for anything; because theyll promise; but you wont get it. They are a dreadful bunch of people; and I cant think of one of them that I would keep in my employ; if I wanted to give a good impression.There is a kids club; but we saw no evidence of anything going on for the kids what ever.The meals as I said; were very second rate; breakfast was terrible! Scrambled eggs that were slimy; and cold. Jelly ..no tomatoes; unless you went to the BBQ on the beach; toasters that dont work; cold coffee EVERY morning; etc etc...Good points? The grounds are fantastic! Beautifully kept; and very pretty. The train service (which you cant manage without) is brilliant.I wouldnt go back to this hotel; if I won it in a prize draw!No disrespect whatever to the Canadians (we made friends with quite a few) but the hotel; is far more friendly towards them; than to us Brits! All in all; it was a terrible let down. I wouldnt recommend it to anyone; and if you are booked to go ...well; Id say change your booking; and go somewhere else; youll be very disappointed if you dont!
478252,shelieg34,01/30/2008,First Time at an All Inclusive Resort The Main Pool Area
478252,Pattio2,01/29/2008,Very relaxing vacation Just returned from a week at this resort 鈥?Jan. 17 鈥?24. We stayed here before in January 2005 in building 2 which is right on the beach and had a wonderful vacation. This year when we booked we asked for an upper room close to the beach and got a ground floor in Bavaro Primier which is about as far from the beach as possible. I was a bit disappointed but I鈥檓 not one to make a big fuss over things. As it turned out; the Primier area is very nice. It is like a mini resort. It has it鈥檚 own pool; large and very quiet with swim up bar; it鈥檚 own buffet restaurant and snack bar; 2 of the a la carte restaurants and it鈥檚 own small lobby. Since we went on this vacation to rest; we actually enjoyed the area very much. It was just a 5 minute tram ride to the beach.The weather was cloudy and rainy for the first few days so we just sat around the pool and relaxed. When we finally got to the beach; we found it very overcrowded down by the water. There were always enough lounge chairs on the beach but we liked to stay back under a palapa and the beautiful palm trees. My husband enjoyed the volleyball which seemed to go on continuously all day. The only place I ever felt crowded was on the beach next to the water and at the beach snack bar. I found absolutely no problem with the service although we only ever tipped our maid and the waiters in the a la cartes. We found that everyone bent over backwards to serve us no matter if at the bar or buffet or even the tram drivers and all tried to use a little English. You must remember that there are a lot of Europeans staying there so it is not just English these waiters have to learn but German; French; Italian; Russian etc.We went to 3 restaurants and had no trouble booking for 7 pm. We first went to the Dominican restaurant. It is actually an open air snack bar through the day just around the corner from our room. The food was amazing. I had a white fish cooked in coconut milk that just melted in my mouth. I should have asked for another serving!The Mediteranian was also good. It was more 鈥済ourmet鈥?type and the food was again excellent. My husband had 鈥渢he best steak he has ever eaten鈥?and my chicken was amazing as well.Our third choice was the Japanese. I was slightly disappointed in it. At the Japanese restaurant we went to last year in Mexico; the cook put on a wonderful show and we were even offered saki to drink Not so here. The cook just stood there and cooked 鈥?very little 鈥渟how鈥? the vegetables were over cooked and everything had way too much salt on it. But the sushi and soup were very good. The bed was hard but we liked it that way. We got both thin and plump pillows so we had a choice. The rooms were cleaned to my satisfaction and the sheets were changed twice through the week. One day the maid forgot to leave towels and another day she forgot to leave water. A quick call to our lobby got both items in under 10 minutes. We got a few bites. I鈥檓 pretty sure these bugs are called 鈥渘o see-ums鈥?because you don鈥檛 see them but you sure feel them. But I only got about 4 bites. One year in the Bahamas my legs were absolutely covered with bites so this wasn鈥檛 really bad in comparison.Any other problems we had were airport related and these bothered us far more than any little problems at the resort.If you like a small intimate resort; do not go to Bahia Principe. This might not be a 5 star if you are comparing it to Hawaii but it is's one of the best in D.R. We have travelled extensively in the Carabean and from our experience we always say if you could take a 5 star resort from Mexico and put it on the beach in Punta Cana you would probably have a close to perfect resort.
478252,shielaandtrevor,01/29/2008,well we just got home Well we just got home from a 1 week stay . We traveled with a group of 10 friends. I found this resort way to big ;we have traveled some where differerent each year for the past 6/7 years .The resort was very well looked after; very nice rooms ;grounds were nice ;beach was awesome ;lots of bars where you got good service.Food was probably the worst food of any resort we have been to other than the japeneseand the paris which were awesome food.Our friends were spread out through the different 4 resorts in this complex ;our fault probably as we should have e-mailed and requested rooms close together ;seem to have spent alot of time trying to meet somewhere. Shows were good; overall it was a very good trip first holiday we have been on with our close friends although i iwould not return to this resort because of the food and size. We prefer to go somewhere different each time we travel.The world is big! We went on a tour of the countryside it was very good for us we got to see how the dominican people live. Started out bought candy to give to the kids (fun at first then i felt disgusted that we were letting very young children run for a km to dig candy out of the bush as we just throw it from the truck ;stop and the kids swam the truck to get candy )Well time to go hope this helps. Oh and watch the people at the buffet it can get pretty rough in the stampede for food (Busy) please contact me for more info if you wish
478252,cherryblaster1,01/29/2008,immaculate this is the rainforest beside our villa
478252,medic911,01/28/2008,24 Hours was too long We were booked to stay at the Grand Bahia Principe Jan 17-25; 2008. We would like to start off by saying that this is not our first time at an all inclusive and we have been travelling many years from Hawaii; Mexico; Cuba; etc. and have not had a bad experience until this year.To start off we read the reviews daily on the Grand Bahia and ignored the negatives; bad mistake. We had requested as close to the ocean as possible with our travel agent as well as emailing the resort. When we booked in we soon realized that we had been placed into the Premier section. After informing the front desk attendant we had requested close to the beach; we were told they were overbooked and that was the only room available. So after telling him for an hour that I was not taking that section; all of a sudden a room became available. So our holiday starts. Tried to book our a la cartes immediately; to no avail unless you want to eat at 9:00 and not the restaurants we requested as they were full. So off to the beach. The beach was overcrowded; but it was a beach. Went to find food; my husband bit into the burger to find it blood red and not even slightly cooked. Went to go back to the room; room keys are not working now. So back we went; all the way back to the front desk to get new keys. All the way back to our room and wanted to have a nice relaxing jacuzzi bath. Nope; no luck. The plug does not work and will not hold water. Frustrated and mad. Go for supper and all we heard was a young baby crying; kids spilling their drinks and parents yelling at the kids. We had to ask three times for a simple diet coke; and still never received it. We found staff to be outright rude and demanding in tips. Not our idea of a holiday. All of this in a matter of four hours. Next morning we accept the bumping and move to the Excellence. Now the holiday started.We were nothing but impressed by the Excellence. They had been told what a horrible start to our holiday and instantly upgraded us to the oceanview suite. This resort is nothing but A1 in customer service; food and cleanliness. The could teach the staff at Grand Bahia many things about customer service. For more information on the Excellence; please see our post on there!
478252,London550,01/28/2008,Absolutely adored it I really am amazed at people when they go on holiday to a different country; who have different culture; different languages.Why dont you people get a life!!This hotel is wonderful; we have been back two years running and will be going again this December. The staff cannot do enough for you to make your holiday perfect.OK; so some of the restaurants are not as we are use to in London; but for goodness sake you are on HOLIDAY - chill out!This year when we went back; we were upgraded purely because we had been before and it was wonderful. We love DR; the people; the weather and especially the beach;We certainly cannot wait for December to come round again.
478252,Traveler2082,01/28/2008,Not the Best We went to the Gran Bahia; Punta Cana on a work trip. The reosrt is huge; over 1;700 rooms. You have to take trams to get around. When we first got there the tram was driving around for over 1/2 hr trying to find our room and we finally had to get out and just walk around and find it ourselves. Beach is beautiful but VERY crowded and noisy. Pool area is nice too but also very noisy. Adult pool area is quiet. Food was pretty good. Main compaint is that about 3 days into the trip I woke up with extremley itchy bites all over my legs. Still not sure exaclty what the cause was...spiders; bed bugs; but definitely not pleasant. About 5 other people from our group experienced the same thing. They definitely did not change the sheets during the stay. Not what you would expect of a 4 star. Also lots of people in our group who requested doube beds got a king bed and those who requested kings got twin beds. They would not let you switch either. Claimed they were full; all 1700 rooms. Overall; the trip was still fun but could have done without the bites!
478252,Teecee13,01/27/2008,Feedback from Canada Gran Bahia Principe BavaroEight peopleJan 7-14 I know how much I read these reviews and appreciate the good; the bad and the ugly about a resort that I'm about to visit. To begin with I am a well seasoned travellor of the Carribean. We have been on 13 trips to various all inclusives and cruises. We arrived at the hotel around 11am. We were greeted with drinks at the lobby and we were on our way of a week of relaxation!! When you check in make sure you pay for your safe and receive your pool towel cards so you don't have to go back to the front desk. We booked our ala carte restaurants as well so we had that taken care of with no disappontments. We booked the Steakhouse; Seafood and the Japanese restaurants. They all had good service and great food. Its a nice break from the buffet; though the food is very good there as well.Our room was great. Do not be afraid of the size of this hotel. I have been to smaller resorts that were busier than this one. We never once waited in line for anything. The hotel was at full capacity while we were there. There were 8 in our party and we were down to the beach by 9am. and always had chairs. Many smaller resorts we have been to you had to be up by 7am. if you wanted a chair!! There is plenty of shade on the beach which is nice. The restaurants by the beach are nicely located so you can have breakfast down there as well as lunch. The shows were fabulous the Michael Jackson show was something else don't miss it.We did two excursions; The Caribean Festival and the Sunset cruise. Loved both and really worth the money. Don't forget the bread for snorkelling. the sunset cruise;book on the beach through the hotel. It leaves right from the beach at 3pm; so get to see the whole coast line; go snorkelling and then to a private beach for a swim and lots of rum on a floating bar. A very good time for 36 dollars!!!Our only complaint would be with our tour represenative; who never seemed to be around when you needed her. I also think that she should be at the the airport to guide you to the right bus. They do have a booth at the airport that you can ask where to go but I like to see my Rep. there with the sign in the air; to point me in the right directions.Final note if you are travelling with Sky service beware of your weight of suit cases. In thirteen trips this is the first time we have ever been charged for a few kilograms over.Would go back which I have never said about any resort before. While there we met a couple who have been going there for five years; that has to tell you something!!!
478252,hondacouple,01/27/2008,Loved it Stayed at this resort Jan 17-24; 2008. Upon arrival at the Punta Cana airport; get ready for people asking you for tips. The welcome band was kicking a bucket around for tips and a maid was in the bathroom looking for tips; etc. There were various buses waiting to transport us to the resort. Don't get confused. There are tour operator desks on your right hand side. Just go up to them and look for your specific tour company. Ours was Sunquest and they will inform you which numbered bus to get on to take you to your resort. The drive to the resort was about 20 minutes. The Bahia Principe is absolutely beautiful and the grounds are well kept and amazing. There are 2 identical sides to the hotel. The Punta Cana side and the Bavaro side. The resort seems huge when you first arrive; but after a day; you know your way around. The are trolly cars that take you from one end of the resort to the other continually from 6:00 am-3:00 am. There are little bus stops everywhere; and you do not have to wait long at all. We stayed on the Bavaro side of the resort. We paid the extra money to be a part of the Diamond Club. Glad we did. Private check in and check out. Our room was close to the semi-private pool and the italian a la carte restaurant where we enjoyed breakfast and lunch. Must ask for the bathrobes and slippers though. I am a fussy eater and the food was amazing!! There were so many choices at the buffet and we enjoyed the French (filet mignon and lobster was the best we ever tasted); BBQ and Steakhouse a la cartes. We did not like the Mexican restaurant. Just was not enough dishes to choose from. (I did not like any-but I am a fussy eater) The service was impeccable. Your wine glass never went empty and the coffee is nice and strong. As soon as you were done with your plate; it was whisked away. The staff are pleasant and friendly. Most spoke English and French as well. The mini-fridge in our room was not stocked with water and we were advised not to drink the water so we communicated with our cleaning lady and water was restocked everyday. Unfortunately; they only have the big 1 Litre bottles of water; not regular bottles so buy some small bottles if you are traveling on any excursions. Bring your own facecloths too. People were complaining about not being provided facecloths in their rooms; but we were prepared as we read the reviews on tripadvisor before leaving. There is a store just off the lobby. Very expensive; chocolate bars and chips; $3.00 each. So make sure to stock up on snacks before you arrive at the resort.The lobby bar was fantastic; they mixed good drinks. The pools; snack bars and beach bars were great. We brought travel mugs; better than the little plastic cups that they give you. The beach was extremely clean; there were always loungers available; no matter what time of day you went. White sand and warm turquoise water. It was lovely. There is a shipwreck off shore in front of the beach; very cool. The beach was usually windy. Parasailing is offered for $65.00 each or $85.00 for two. We doubled and it was a blast. Bring your Gravol though. Banana boating was $10.00/ person. Loved it. Beware of no price tags in the fleamarkets. You can walk to the fleamarket. Its 25 min walk on the beach. Expect to pay 50-60% of the asking price. Bartering is a must. They won't tell you the price; they tell you what are you willing to pay and go from there. Bring your calculator too as everything is in pesos. The vendors are aggressive; if you are not interested; keep repeating No; gracias! and walk away We took the free shuttle to the Palma Real Mall. Its a 45 min ride one way and a waste of time for us. It was all high end stores; extremely expensive. We did the Bavaro Runners Punta Cana/ Bavaro Day trip. Highly recommend. We traveled in an 18 person jeep to a sugar cane plantation; a typical home; a school (Sat; it was closed); tobacco place; went horseback riding; had lunch and swam at a private beach. Do not give money to the children. If you do give money; the children will not go to school as it is easier to beg. Bring pencils or crayons for them instead. There are people trying to sell you stuff at every stop though; from coffee to cigars to Taino Art. The drivers are crazy; there seems to be no rules of the road. The tour was well worth the money. At the end of each day we enjoyed relaxing in the lobby bar. Good drinks and a nice place to chat; read a book or play cards. It closes at 11:00 pm and then we found not much to do. It should stay open until midnight and then you could head out to the Pueblo Principe. Pueblo Principe is just on the outskirt of the lobby. There is a karaoke bar and casino; vendors and stores. The house band starts playing at 11:00pm and the disco opens at 12:00pm. Did not go. There are also nightly shows starting at 9:45 pm. Kind of lame; what can you expect; not our thing. Overall; the rooms are nice; not like our 5* but clean. We stayed on the 3rd floor. Not any bugs. Very few mosquitoes; I did not get bit but my husband did a few times. Lots of fellow Canadians and Europeans. Watch out for the speedos! and there were a few topless women. About 50% of the people smoked. Better than Mexico! Would we go back; yes; in a heartbeat.
478252,Clay3,01/26/2008,Great Vacation We stayed the week of Jan 19 to Jan 26/08. Wow! The resort is huge but yet easy enough to get around with the trams. We never had to wait more than 2 mins for a tram either. The beach was incredible. The white sand and warm water is everything we had hoped for. We were always able to find chairs at both the beach and pool side no matter what time of day we showed up. The buffet was more than plentiful. A lot of selection even for picky eaters. Each night there was a theme for the food being served whether it be Italian; Mexican; Dominican; Carribean; etc. The ala cartes were absolutely amazing. We dined tat he Garden Grill where we had rib eye steaks. The steaks were soooo good that my husband asked for seconds. We also went Le Gourmet; the French restaurant and had filet mignon. Increditble! The steak melted in your mouth and the mashed potatoes are the best we've ever had. Our 3rd ala carte was at the Japanese restaurant Maiko. This too was incredible. I recommend everything on the menu. Each night there is entertainment in the theater which is close to lobby. We highly recommend the Michael Jackson show even though all the other shows were good too. I only have a couple of complaints about the resort. The first being the Guest Services. Whenever we contacted them with a request it took 2 to 3 days and several phone calls before we actually received what we needed. We found it was just easier to ask the maid and we would receive it the next day. The pillows are awfully thin; so don't be afraid to ask the maid for more. And my last complaint is in regards to some of the wait staff. Although they were eager to please; sometimes it was difficult to communicate with them. In a few instances my waiter would have to get another waiter to come and translate my request. Now I realize we were in a country where English is not normally spoken but I believe the staff that have direct contact with the guests should have basic English as we did our best to communicate in spanish. Overall we had an excellent vacation and would highly recommend this resort and most certainly return again in the future.
478252,1sunfiend,01/25/2008,Even Better Than the First Stay! Having stayed at this resort last winter for one week and having enjoyed it so much; we decided to return again this year; but for two weeks this time (January 4-18). We were treated like royalty!A few weeks before arriving; I emailed the resort with a few requests; and we were accommodated in every way - including the ocean view from the balcony. We were placed in villa 25.Since we booked Club Diamond; we had a separate reception area. Martin was extremely knowledgeable and helpful and always went out of his way to accommodate us with any requests we had. To start us off; he had already made five dinner reservations for us for the first week and he informed us that the in-room safe in both rooms were free. As returning guests; the bracelets we were given allowed us access to everything in the Bavaro; Punta Cana; and Premier sections of the resort.When we arrived in our rooms; we found it had been decorated with towel art and rose petals; and there were bath robes; slippers; a plate of fruit and a letter welcoming us back. The following day we returned from the beach to find t-shirts and a bottle of rum in each of our rooms. Our maid Wencesla always kept our rooms very clean and tidy; as well as the fridge well stocked. I can't forget to mention the beautiful towel art - something different everyday. While out for dinner; our beach towels for the next day were delivered; our beds turned down; and the rooms tidied up again.The gardens throughout the resort are beautiful and maintained perfectly. We did a lot of walking in order to enjoy the lush vegetation and we were always amazed by how clean the property was kept. If however you didn't feel like walking; buses were constantly traveling from one end of the resort to the other. The beach is absolutely beautiful! Even though we were there during high season; at every hour of the day we could always spot empty chairs and palapas. If you're an early riser; make sure you watch a sunrise on the beach; you won't regret it! The restaurants and buffets were so good that even picky eaters would surely find something they liked.Because the resort was overbooked during our stay; free excursions to various tourist sites in the DR were being offered; including one or more nights at other five star resorts. The amazing thing was that the minimum they'd pay you to go was $100 US per room; per night. Yes; I said free; and paid even on top before boarding the bus! We were a bit skeptical about this at first thinking it was too good to be true; but we eventually signed up for the excursion to Saona Island on day one; overnight stay at the recently opened GBP La Romana; and Altos de Chavon tour plus the Basilica in Higuey on day two. Everything was taken care of for us; (including beach towels) and we had a fantastic time. Rafael (hotel rep who came with us); Jerry (from the DR department of tourism); and Fermin (our amazing bus driver) took such good care of us. I can't possibly think of anything that could have been improved on. We were with a really nice group of people and we had a wonderful time. The actual locations we visited were amazing; especially Saona Island (the Catamaran and then speed boat for the return trip were so much fun!); and Altos de Chavon was certainly unique. Both absolutely worth visiting.Our two weeks at the GBP Bavaro were nothing but excellent. We will continue to recommend this resort; and are looking forward to returning.If you choose this resort; you will not be disappointed!!!
478252,bev2869,01/25/2008,Over Rated Hotel We just arrived back in Canada this morning. Air Trasat was the caarrier. There is such a lack of communication with the tour operater there. Our plane was late and there was no one at the airport to adise us.The hotel is very clean; the building are set in a very lush setting with many plants e and flowers. The beach and pool chairs are always covered with towels with no one setting in them.The beach has white sand but very over crowded. The food is satisfing but definately not 5 star. Rooms are cleaned; but need new pillows ; facecloths; and a major cleanThe Transat tour person made it very clear when we had our arrival talk to make sure we tip and tip wellI thought that we were ALL INCLUSIVE; meaning no tipping unless super service.The hotel was over booked and most customer service people were always at you to go to a new location. I am glad we went to see the place; but with the 2000 rooms there and on a very narrow property it was just too busy; not space to breath.
478252,troymich,01/23/2008,awesome beautiful beach
478252,rickandiannefoster,01/23/2008,Great Beach My wife and I were among a group of fifteen who stayed at this resort from Jan.5 to Jan.12/08. We had requested a ground floor room close to the beach because I have mobility problems but were placed in section #39 that was about as far from the beach as you can be. After many trips to the front desk we were able to get a ground floor room in building nine (which was about half way to the beach) a couple of days later. They seemed to be overbooked and had trouble making a change to accomodate my disability. We settled in finally and enjoyed the beach and pools for the rest of the week. The main buffet was just fine and we found the specialty dining to be even better. The staff in both were very helpful; friendly and eager to please. The beer was cold and the daily special drinks were a refreshing change from day to day. The room was adequate although the king size bed was a bit too hard for my liking and the pillows were the worst I have ever had to try to get used to. They were very thin and two each just didn't do it for us. The maid service was fine but a little inconsistant although we did leave a tip for them every day. One day we got all the fancy swans; etc and the next they must have been in a hurry as we got none of the little extras or even clean towels. We never did see any washcloths the whole week but just assumed that maybe no-one in the Dominican Republic uses them! So in reality we didn't find very much to complain about. We went there for the beach; the sun and the sea and this resort certainly didn't dissapoint us. We would likely try to find a resort that was not quite so big next time. We have stayed at the Colonial Majestic in Punta Cana and would probably pick it again over the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro.
478252,lilbit56,01/23/2008,Paradise...a wonderful escape! sunrise!
478252,Neil38,01/22/2008,Papaya Fan beach
478252,pickyPeople,01/22/2008,great beach Just got back Jan 13/08This is our 2nd stay at a bahia property. We had such a good time at their Mexican resort we thought we would try one in the D.R.. Food: still very good; a la carte restaurants very goodBeach: as wonderful as everyone said it would be; soft sand; lots of palapas[beach umbrellas]; and very long; not a lot of topless women so no one should really be offended.Service: not bad; there is a language barrier; when they do finally understand what you want there is no problem.Resort: Diamond club members; when you get off the bus; turn right and go down the hallway to the last room; this is your check in. We had trouble finding this and almost missed out on the ala carte restaurants. From reading other reviews we thought this resort would be huge. Not so; from the front desk to the beach was only about an 8 minute walk; nothing to complain about though many did. You can always take the tram which comes by every 2 minutes or so.Rooms: large and cool; beds a little firm; shower water pressure is very strong.Tipping: always; gets you better service and more smiles; especially at the bars and does not really cost that much more.Water: refreshing with lots of waves if you go out a little bit. Not much to see for snorkling.Go: yes GO
478252,HappyGnome,01/21/2008,Can't Wait to go Back! The Natural Pool
478252,BurntPrune,01/21/2008,Fantastic Resort and Great Value The Resort - overall; the resort was beautiful. Not beyond compare but very nice and VERY well maintained. The resort has a plaza with a stores surrounding a central courtyard. It was fantastic. Pools were excellent. Grounds very expansive so be prepared to walk or catch the bus. There were actually little bus stops; LOL.Rooms - nice. Nothing extraordinary but everything that I expected.Food and Beverage - the buffet was above average. Avoid the beef. But otherwise; fresh and good. Not mindblowing; but certainly nothing to complain about. Japanese Restaurant - surprisingly good. All six of us enjoyed it immensely. Service was excellent and they bent over backwards to cater to our requests.BBQ - average at best. I would avoid.Mexican - average in my opinion but others in our group felt it was very good.Overall; there was very little to complain about regarding the food and I was very satisfied.Service - here is where the resort shone. The service was outstanding. Can't say enough about the service. Very few problems communicating. One of us had an infection (not related to the resort) and the staff was of great assistance in getting a prescription from the pharamicist. Housekeeping was excellent and attentive to our requests. Check-in was very smooth and quick. Same as check out.Cleanliness. Excellent. Very commendable.Overall; the resort was very well run. Not as posh as a few resorts but still highly satisfactory. I'd take a resort that is this well run and this enjoyable over something posh that has pitfalls anyday.
478252,smelliott,01/21/2008,Magical wedding; amazing resort!! Oh my where do I start鈥verall the trip was FANTASTIC!! Couldn鈥檛 have been better and the wedding was a dream come true!We went with Air Transat and since we booked 26 people on our flight they gave us (wedding couple) an upgrade to Club Class - highly recommended!!!! You get twice as much luggage weight and space to store your wedding dress.The bus was waiting for us when we got off the plane and they gave us all of our documents and things on the bus (bracelets etc.) My husband and I were upgraded to Club Diamond from Gold which was a nice touch. Also on the bus they told us that they pre-booked ALL of our A La Carte dinners including the wedding dinner so we ended up with 5 A la Cartes for the week - incredible!! Even the couple that didn鈥檛 have the upgraded package got to enjoy this. One flaw though was we got our sheet with the reservations on it and it said that the reservations were for 鈥?0 people鈥?and we had 32 people so our dads had a meeting with the General Manager of the hotel and they fixed the problem to accommodate everyone. When we got off the bus one of the wedding coordinators greeted me and introduced herself which made me feel very comforted and welcomed. In our room we had a letter saying that our meeting with Janette was scheduled for the next day.At the meeting she will give you a book to pick your bouquet; cake and location. It is extra money for flowers for anyone else or for decorating the cake so we chose to just go with what was free. We had picked our wedding to be on the beach at 3pm and that was changed to 12pm for whatever reason but that didn鈥檛 really bother me at all. I had emailed before I left and said I wanted to get my hair and nails done at the salon and that was all booked for me at 9am of the wedding day. My hair was stunning and I got a french manicure - takes forever to dry so be careful!I was finished at the salon at 11am and headed back to the room to get ready. At about 11:50 they dropped off my bouquet. No one had called yet to say whether or not the Judge was late (which I already knew happened frequently) so we had to send 2 of the bridesmaids to the beach to check and see if he was there; finally we got ahold of Janette and she said she was sending a cart over to pick us up. So by the time all this happened I think it was about 12:45pm when I actually reached the beach. All the people on the beach had turned their chairs to face the wedding and they do the best they can to get people to keep their distance. The set up was gorgeous with the flowers and the water in the background; like I said; dream come true seriously. I would definitely pick the beach over the gazebo; the train goes right by the gazebo (not very romantic). The judge speaks in Spanish and there is a translator that repeats everything he says. We had Ernesto as our photographer and he was super nice and took some amazing shots. My advice would be to write down certain shots that you want to have because it feels very rushed and I ended up not getting any professional pics of me and my family. Also; the 24 free pictures DO NOT include the beach shots - only the ceremony shots!After the ceremony we all got undressed and headed to the pool - trying to keep our hair out of the water lol. Our reception dinner was at the Garden Grill on the separated terrace - it was private and just the perfect setting. All the tables are decorated soooo beautifully you do not need to bring anything else; trust me. For dinner we had caesar salad (ok); corn chowder (sooo sooooo good) and steak (good). The cake came out at the end and everyone was so full from dinner that no one even touched it so it didn鈥檛 matter that it came out white when I asked for it to be blue haha. We had asked for the Ipod hook up and played Jack Johnson and Michael Buble throughout dinner. Next to where the tables were there was a big space for dancing and they let us stay there until almost midnight. The best part was your drink NEVER goes empty - they were so on the ball it was incredible! Afterwards we headed to the disco to keep the party goin - it was soo much fun!!So that鈥檚 about it for the wedding; the resort is gorgeous and it is big but since you鈥檙e sticking to your own side either Bavaro or Principe it really isn鈥檛 as big as it looks. I think the best A la carte was the Italian but they are all unique in their own way. Don鈥檛 forget to bring mosquito repellant and a lot of sunscreen - the sun was so strong and everyone ended up running out of sunscreen and its like $20 at the shops. Enjoy your trip!
478252,Irochka111,01/21/2008,Good place for the value Pros: great a la carte restaurants; compared to what we have seen in other comparable Punta Cana hotels; the best in my opinion was the french restaurant; japanese was not bad; but we felt a little rushed in there and the rice was overcooked; the italian one is not bad; but really overrated. We had heard so much about it and had to wait till our last night there to eat in it; but it was not all that; the service; for example; was so much better at the french and mediterranean restaurants. The beach was really nice; as is typical for Punta Cana resorts. Since we do not really like the shows in Punta Cana; such as The Michael Jackson or other Cabaret style shows due to their poor quality; we really liked the fact that this hotel had a piano player in the hotel lobby every night; who sang really well; and we just sat there relaxed; drinking mama juana; which is what they call a vitamin drink or local viagara. The rooms were absolutely wonderful; but the walls are kind of thin. No problem with beach chairs like in Riu Bambu; for example; where you had to wake up at 6 A.M. and reserve the beach chairs by putting towels on them. Here; there are more than enough of them. Cons: huge property; cannot walk from one end to another without taking a ride in one of the cars; which emit a very unpleasant odor from diesel fuel. I had to hold my breath in order not to enhale the toxins. Water bugs in the buffet and in the first floor hotel rooms. I guess this is OK for a tropical island; but you kind of don't want to see it there anyway (we've seen them in Riu Bambu too). We also saw mice running near the hotel lobby; not a pretty sight. They don't know how to make drinks very well in D.R.; so I suggest to drink cognac; wine; or something that comes straight out of the bottle with no mixing involved. Big inconvinience are the card keys to get into your hotel room. Although they give you 2; one doesn't work almost right away and the other on the second day; so you can't get into your room when you need to and must wait for some one to come and let you in. There was no TV remote control in one of my relative's rooms. Stone and marble floors in the hotel rooms are very slippery; so be careful. No protective screen on the balcony door; so you can't keep the balcony door open while you sleep; because all the bugs are going to fly in. I have never seen a caribbean hotel room with no screen.All in all; it was nice; much better than Riu Bambu; where the food is terrible. For people who have never been to the D.R.; but have been to Aruba; Hawaii and other nicer islands; don't expect a 5 star hotel to be really a 5 star hotel. Don't forget that you are paying 3 times less to vacation there; so it is not that bad for the price.
478252,whatawasteofmoney,01/20/2008,Stay at the Rui instead I've travelled to dozens of resortsGoodThe beach; clean but no serviceThe groundsThe room itself; if you don't want a lock or a safe that worksFood; better in the buffetsBadService is horrific- might as well be one of 4000 other guests; thats right you are...Staying in the AMBAR doesn't mean adults only....trust me.Upgrading early means you paid for something others got for free; half of our guests got upgrades for nothing but only the room; no services that go with the hotel.4 different pick up spots; be sure to check where you depart from.Cockroaches - check your bed at night.Weddings routinely start 2.5 hours late so if your wedding is at 4 it will start at 6ish so go ahead and get married by the wedding planner and sign the book for legalities whenever the JP shows up usually 2 hours late. (Hope it's legal) If you don't do this you miss your beach pictures. Having spoken to 6 brides; he was at least 2 hours late for each ceremony.Tips don't get you anything so don't bother - save yourself a couple hundred dollars....seriouslyStaff is not friendly; in fact they look at the table before you leave to see if you've left a tipNo hot waterShowers don't workCautionMarble is slippery when wet; especially if your ceiling caves in.Ground floor patio doors don't lockNight Security trying to sell you drugs off your patio at nightThey will charge you 10 dollars a kilo (2.2 pounds) for your luggage overwheight. Group of 30 paid about 3000.00 US at the airport. Pack light; humidity adds about 20 pounds. Just eat at a different buffet and wear the same clothes twice.
478252,MontrealTravelbug,01/20/2008,Just "OK" - Nothing to write home about! We were at the Bahia Principe from Jan 3rd to 10th. Didn't start off on the right foot with a 9 hour delay out of Montreal on our way down there! Didn't matter too much since the first day it rained in sheets the entire day - it allowed us to sleep in - so that wasn't too bad! We met up with our friends; 3 other families who were there during the Chritmas/New Years celebrations - they raved about the fireworks. This is not our first time in the Dominican - the first time we stayed at the Paradisus (MUCH better; more of a 5 ** than this place). However; this hotel was so overbooked that they upgraded us to the Ambar - which was very nice. Didn't have 2 rooms together the first night (we were 3 buildings away from the teens) and we had to really be persistant the next day to get adjoining rooms for our son and his friend - we only tipped the man at the desk after he arranged the rooms for us - he was lovely.Like everyone else said - this place is SO big - if you don't mind taking the little shuttle bus or walking - it's not bad. We probably wouldn't go back because we found it just too big for our taste. Most nights we opted not to go and see the shows if we were at the other end of the hotel - just not worth the hassle of getting there. Although; the Michael Jackson Show was entertaining... (that's the only one we made the effort to see). FOOD: The Ambar buffet was the best restaurant we ate at - too bad it was our last night! All the others were just mediocre to lousy! But food is such a subjective thing - you may find that you like it??!! House wines were not good at all. We were able to order an OK bottle of French wine at the Ambar on our last night.AIR CONDITIONING: Worked wellCLEANLINESS: Our room and bathroom was clean and spacious. Bed was comfortable.BEACH: The real reason to go to Punta Cana is for the beach! It is really long with soft white sand. If you like to walk along the beach it's great - you can go on for miles! There are palm trees on the beach and little palapas too so if you'd like to have shade; you can find it. After the first day when it rained the water cleared up and didn't have any seaweed or algae. it was refreshing and warm. Didn't have many problems finding chairs - however one of the members of our group would go down in the early AM to set aside chairs for us....WEATHER: The weather was rather pleasant - there was always a breeze - I think it must've been in the high 70's F to low 80's (somewhere in the mid to high 20's C). Our first trip was in March and there is quite a difference in weather from Jan to March...The only unpleasant incident we had was when I tried to get 2 beach towels from the Ambar towel attendant at the pool. Our maid had mistakenly taken our beach towels to be dirty and didn't/couldn't replace them. In order for me to get 2 clean towels I would have had to put in a complaint with Guest Sevices against our maid (which I would never have done; she was wonderful!); go back to our room; and wait for 2 clean towels to be delivered!!!!!! Long story short (I decided to erase all the unnecessary details) even after speaking with the manager by phone there was no way I was going to get those towels!!!!!!!!!! A nice gentleman with a walkie-talkie who I assume was either a Manager or Superintendant asked me to wait a moment - he somehow retrieved 2 dirtly towels for me which allowed me to exchange them for 2 clean towels!!! Gheesh; one would expect to have better customer service when tourism is the biggest industry in the country - well; anyway..... The only reason we went here was because we were joining friends - I probably wouldn't choose to go back here if it were just our immediate family.
478252,ermaka,01/20/2008,Luxury and Relaxation The ship wreck in front of the hotel
478252,siggyOntario,01/20/2008,ok we arrived at our room to find out the 2 keys not working bellboy got maid to let us in ;told us to go to lobby to .get new keys .we asked for a room with double beds for our 22 and 18 yr old daughters they got 1 bed. went to lobby to get new keys ;only one worked ;they did tell me to come back and they would find a room with double beds which they did .went back to room to find a leak in bathroom ceiling rm 25101. went back to lobby ;said they would fix ;2 days later it stopped .we have stayed at many resorts ;the food was always good;food here is just ok .resort has 5000 people staying here people on top of each other at pool by ocean and on the beach .to top it all off my wife had gold chain and cross stolen from make up case . I read the reviews before we booked and did not believe the negative ones saying these people must be wrong after staying here I am not so sure ;buyer beware
478252,alexaustin,01/20/2008,Going Back Again ! Pool 1
478252,Lillikinz,01/20/2008,Loved the Bahia! Ceremony
478252,fesque,01/19/2008,quest services poor /some design features poor This is a beautiful resort and location. We arrived about 2:30pm; the check in time was 3:00pm; our rooms were not ready until 4:30pm. We were a party of six booking 2 adults and one child per room. When we finally got to our rooms they were not set up for the child. The suites have a king size bed and a single day bed. After the day bed was made up; there was no cover for the child only a sheet. The king bed also did not have a blanket; only a bed spread. I called the reception for the blankets and extra pillows; It took 2 days before we got them. We called three times to have our bags picked up on our last day. The beds were too hard; especially if you have hip problems. The bathtub is dangerous to get out of ; a very large step from the tub to the floor with no bars to help. My husband who is fairly fit ; almost fell getting out because the floor was wet and very sippery; he managed to catch himself before he fell. I could not have caught myself and could have injured myself badly.This resort is wheelchair accessible it has ramps in the lobby and all restaurant are accessible. Although I am not in a wheelchair my mobility is poor; and I noticed things that are design flaws for disabled persons. The washrooms for wheelchairs appear to be to narrow to turn a wheelchair around have no bars; the toilets are low; it would be difficult to transfer from wheelchair to toilet. I spoke with a woman who had her mother in a wheelchair and she was generally disappointed in the hotel; because they had not provided her with a room with two beds which are for the disabled and caregiver; explaining there are four suites altogether in the resort; and even though they had booked for a room were not able to get one during there stay.
478252,olgazhilaev,01/18/2008,Just OK We stayed at this resort for 6 nights in January and I would rate it a 3.5. I am actually the biggest fan of Tripadvisor; so I read most of the reviews before our trip and I wanted to address a few issues...Good parts:Like everyone else said; the beach is absolutely beautiful. The sand is very soft: no rocks; no sea grass; etc. My husband and I went to the beach every day at 8 am to reserve the beach chairs we wanted but at the end we didn't think it was absolutely necessary - there were plenty of empty chairs even at 10-11 am. Grounds are amazing - there are flowers everywhere; everything is very clean; and the rooms are nice. Note: rooms are not cleaned on a regular schedule. We were woken up at 7 am on our first day by the cleaning staff; however; the room was not cleaned until 3 pm the following day... But that's ok. Activities - very easy to reserve; but see my note below on service. We did catamaran twice; parasailing; kayaking; snorkeling; etc. No problem with reservations; just make sure you reserve your activities one day ahead. Catamaran was awesome; although you have to pay $25 for a lesson; and parasailing was amazing as well! Overall; we enjoyed our trip very much. However; I would not recommend this resort to anyone and I wouldn't go back. Bad parts: Service was absolutely terrible. The language barrier is definitely a problem; and I really thought that the staff had these negative feelings towards guests staying at the resort. Our first bad experience was during check-in: we arrived at 2:30 pm and had to talk to the front desk for 45 minutes to get our room assignments). No champagne; no wet towels; no I am sorry about the wait. Bartenders are not friendly; waiters at restaurants didn't care about good service; etc. We left many tips; but mostly for people who actually did a good job as opposed to just people who expected tips.We also were upset that the resort is not all-inclusive; as advertised. There is no room service; and it is very hard to get reservations for restaurants. We ended up eating at the main buffet 3 days in a row; followed by 3 days of restaurants. Even little things like bathrobes were not incuded. Bars closed at 11 pm. Finally; the worst part is the food. We reserved our restaurants the day we arrived and we were very disappointed. The food was TERRIBLE. Seafood is simply an extension of the main buffet; and Brazilian BBQ is also a buffet. French restaurant served undercooked food and the most disgusting wine I've ever tasted. I really didn't think the food would be a problem; since no one in my family is a picky eater; but please don't think that people who complain about food are just unhappy people - the food is really terrible. Other minor notes:Entertainment was very bad - poorly organized and immature.No activities for kids - the two girls in the mini-club (for kids) had colds when we got there and they weren't even remotely interested in playing with the kids.
478252,Joanne030,01/17/2008,Great Family Bonding Time We had a GREAT time at Grand Bahia Principe. We left Toronto on Dec. 27/07 and returned on Jan. 3/08. We took our three kids; ages 25; 23 and 19 and our two son's girl friends. The resort was perfect for our group. The food was very good. Even in the buffets; I felt the selection and quality was very good and I like good food. The rooms were very nice and the grounds were beautiful. The beach was great and our kids loved playing volleyball with all the other guests. Our kids really enjoyed the disco too.If I was going back; I would stay at the Ambar; which is the newest part of the resort. It was not offered to us as it just opened three weeks before Christmas. We saw one of the rooms and it was nicer than ours and brand new. Also; if you stay at Ambar you can eat at all the restaurants in the resort. We found the staff very nice but it does help to know a little Spanish. The staff at the front desk are good but they don't always do what they say they will do; so you have to be patient.I would not go on the Country Adventure Trip. We booked it with Sunwing and we were told that it was great but we did not find it to be great and the food was not good at all and it made me sick. We did go on another tour that Sunwing recommended. It was the tour where we went snorkeling and swimming with the sharks; it was amazing and the food was great. Our kids went horseback riding on the beach and they loved that tour too.We have been to many all inclusive resorts and this one was one of the best. We would highly recommend it. I was worried about getting sick and I would have been fine if I had not eaten on the Country Adventure. We did take malaria pills and I was glad as there were bugs at night and we did get bitten. None of us had any reaction to the malaria pills. If you are thinking of going to this resort; rest assured that you will have a great time.
478252,MGSteve,01/17/2008,Fantastic Resort The general pool area
478252,donna000,01/15/2008,Had a Blast!!! My husband and I just spent a week at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro and we had the time of our lives! I am actually kinda picky and I thought the resort was breathtaking! Our room was large and we had a nice bathroom with a jetted tub. The view from our room was lovely. It was quiet- this resort is not for partiers.There were many pools to swim at and the beach was the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen. The resort is large but easy to navigate- with trolleys that run all the time to take you anywhere. The food was good but I must admit I got kinda sick of the main dining hall after awhile. Everything was good- but I just wanted simple food after awhile. The alcarte restaurants were okay- but the french restaurant was outstanding. My advice is to book the alcarte restaurants right when you arrive so you can get in.The service was spectacular- there were workers everywhere and the place was super clean. My advice is to go on the day trip called outback safari where you learn about rural life in the Dominican. It was educational and makes you grateful.The most important thing is to not drink the water(they put water bottles in your room) and lock up your valuables in your room(they supply you with a safe in your room that you pay to use). Have fun and relax!!
478252,Fungirl46,01/15/2008,Brilliant holiday water aerobics
478252,A38,01/13/2008,Loved the Copa de Cava.... I travelled to Dominican Republic as a Solo traveller for a week relaxing in the sun.Upon arriving at Bahia Principe Punta Cana which is the sister hotel to Bahia Principe Bavaro same layout etc I was greeted with a local drink... My room was not ready so I headed for a drink at the main lobby bar which was very lively to say it was only 3.30 pm. My first impression of the hotel was very good; everything seemed very well organised and the floors were spotless. I was soon given the all clear to head to my room; a porter took me there in a trolley bus and carried my heavy case up three flights of stairs... My room was very spacioius had queen sized bed and lovely view; I was very pleased. Mini bar was not plugged in but that was the only oversight by the cleaner.The place has such a happy laid back feel to it; nothing never too much trouble. When it rained on the next day I still seemed to enjoy myself; think this was to do with the many tequila sunrise's. Weather was fab for rest of holiday; soon got my barings around the village. Beach very clean; can walk for miles. Lots of watersports...Food: Buffet had wide selection which you have to use 4 nights out of the 7. I also used this at lunch times... Always seemed very busy at main pool near beach so used the pool in middle of resort which was less busy. I liked the French restuarant was very nice Gormet food and service was good too... Went to the Mexican; lacked a bit of atmosphere... Fish restuarant good; nice lobster... Went on Outback safari trip was excellent day out... gives you chance to see how the locals live; visit coffee; cocoa. sugar plantation before boogie boarding on a local beach; well worth getting out and about to see the gorgeous green landscapes. Also worth visiting Spa in resort and having a massage... before heading back home....In all great solo experience met many nice people; felt safe and was happy place to be for a week in my life... Would go back to Dominican again one day and would not have a problem staying here again...
478252,rsslltylr,01/12/2008,Best Hol So Far outside the room
478252,smalltownontgirl,01/10/2008,Overall; it was wonderful...... I just returned January 8th; 2007 from a 6 day stay. The rooms were beautiful; the restaurants were outstanding and the resort was kept in immaculate shape. The service could be a little slow; but as long as you keep the mindset that you are on vacation and that the workers on Dominican time; then it will make it a lot less stressful. We had a mixup with our room; which took quite awhile to straighten around and one of the a la carte restaurants was very slow; but overall it was great.There were couples and families there; so would recommend it to all ages.
478252,beachl0ver,01/09/2008,Great New Years Eve At Bahia Prinicipe!! Travelled to Gran Bahia Principe Dec 27- Jan 3; 2008. Had been there previously February 2007. This time we brought our three daughters 20;17;9. It was a great time to travel with the family; and I could see that there were many people who felt the same way. The hotel was decorated nicely for the Christmas holidays. New Years Eve had a special menu- and it was awesome. Party included a dance show and fireworks. The hotel had hats and noise makers for all. The disco was quite busy that night. I had requested ajoining rooms; as I was incontact with Albania Batista by email prior to arrival; and this was granted. As we were returning guests; there were T-shirts; rum and fruit baskets awaiting our arrival. As previously; the grounds were beautiful; the staff friendly; hotel clean and well kept. The only beef I have is that booking the ala carte restaurants the seating times were either nonexistent or very late. We booked as soon as we arrived!! Two seatings were for 9:45 pm. Who eats that late??I spoke with the guest services manager and he assured us he would change things; but never heard back. Both times we arrived at the restaurants at about 7:oo pm and asked if there was a possibility of being seated earlier; and both times they took as right away!! The restaurants were not booked to capacity; so I don't know why it couldn't have been booked that way to begin with. I started to wonder if the people staying in the Ambar section had priority bookings for the restaurants. Regardless; of that; the ala cartes were enjoyed by all; the buffet restaurant- not so much. Quantity not quality at buffet. I would still return again; however; not for a while; time to try something new.. Punta Cana is a fabulous destination; wonderful people and lovely beach.
478252,silvert,01/09/2008,Great Getaway- We loved it! My husband and I just returned from The Gran Bahia Principe. We were there from Dec. 27 th to Jan. 3rd; 2008.The Grounds- were gorgeous and very clean.The Pool- was a little cold but it was nice to lounge by the pool all day.The food- We ate at the Garden Grill on New Year's Eve. They had a special menu for that night. It was incredible. A lot of food and very delicious.The Cafe de Paris- We had the filet. We thought it was great.The italian restaurant - the food was good but be careful. On the antipasto bar we saw some bugs. So we stayed away from that. We ordered off the menu and it was good.Overall; we had a great vacation. The service was awesome. Everything was clean. We met a lot of nice people. I would like to go back there when it is not so busy.
478252,AustinTex,01/08/2008,Girls Annual Retreat was a blast! Loved the grounds and beach Our group outside of the Grill restaurant
478252,jeli88,01/07/2008,the walmart of all inclusives Stayed at this resort December 20-27; 2007. We are from Toronto; family of 3 with a 9 year old boy. Have mostly stayed at Paradisus Resorts in Cuba and Mexico. Let me start by saying that for the majority of Americans and Canadians this resort would be fine. For our family it was too big and impersonal for our liking. We also had a bad start as flight delayed 4 hrs got into the hotel at 2 or 3 in the a.m. Preferred Paradisus Resorts which are closer to 5 star in quality of food and amenities. We were in building 37; third floor; about two buildings away from the lobby. Ate at four restos: French/Gourmet; Seafood; Italian and Japanese.Pros: Short ride from airport (30mins); fantastic beach (soft sand turquoise water; clean good size rooms; good air conditioning and block out drapes; baked goods such as sugared donuts and corn bread; some fish; pizza hamburgers ok at beach grill; roast turkey at xmas; scrambled eggs if cooked fresh; some desserts; no probs with fridge not being stocked and when I phoned down for more pillows; beer and water it came in about 20 mins. (left small tip for maid most days); no prob finding a beach chair at any time but might have to drag one to where you want to beCons: resort is so huge you need to take a shuttle do go from one end of the resort to the other; runs frequently but who needs the hassle. no coffee at the dinner buffet and no coke at the morning buffet; no hair conditioner; no clock in the room; most food is fried in palm oil; grilled does not mean grilled its fried on a flat grill; have to ask the waiter if you like your coffee hot as their carafes they run around with do not hold the heat; the food is good if you like Applebees or Kelseys at the best (which for about 80% of North Americans is fine); first of all it is a virtual porkfest (slim pickings if you are jewish) and gross if you don't like pork e.g. one selection was called pig pizza; the a la cartes are mediocore at best (like most of the all inclusives they try hard but they could do better); lobster is plentiful but the small carribbean ones which are mostly over cooked and dry; the filet was ok for Applebees; Japanese set up is better at other resorts we've been to (miso soup was vegetable soup); omelets are all ingredients mixed together and not folded over; lack of flora and fauna (not so many trees and the odd lizard running around; no coral nearby for snorkeling; no outside jacuzzi's hot pools; occasional whiff of sewage in the air when standing on balconyto upgrade or not to upgrade?we originally were going to upgrade and backed off when we felt it really wasn't worth it for us. if you want to be nearby the beach (no guarantee of view and it is not oceanfront; only side view )then you should upgrade; you may also get into a two story unit (most of the complex has 3 story units); but remember if you are by the beach you have to take a shuttle all the time to access the main area (buffett; lobby; nightly entertainment and shopping square) and the beach area is noisy; the rooms are all the same size so no benefit there; private pool area is a joke as it it right beside the quieter resort pool and had the same number of people; extra a la carte (no big deal you can usually negotiate extra a la cartes without upgrading); if you like to have your own private lounge and internet cafe so you feel like a special person go for it; oh and you also get room service (which is the only thing we regretted as other 5 stars such as the paradisus chain; room service is standard)tips: stay away from Manati Park; its like a third world zoo with more vendors and peddlars than animals. variety of animals was sparse and boringtry and use a little spanish (polite and useful)bring small bills for tips; conditioner; moisturizer and bug spraycan buy all of this stuff and more at the lobby store so no big deal if you forgetbox of pringles (4$ and change); pack of Marlboro lights (5$ and change)when at guest services ask for extra a la cartes (get them to check cancellations)drinks better if ask for better brands and throw in the odd tip;hang out at the quieter resort pool instead of the main over crowded and noisy onedon't ask for third floor if you don't like climbing stairs or elderlywhen negotiating late check out be firm and creative (we got free checkout till 3p.m. and paid $60.00 to stay until 6:00 p.m. (well worth it)no smoking in restaurants except outdoor beach grillsprobably want rooms closer to main area if elderly or kids otherwise shuttling all the timetry to get rooms away from the main shuttle lines (they go by every 5 mins and emit exhaust fumes)resort is divided into two mirror images (Bavaro a Punta Cana) separated by main shuttle line with their own separate lobbys and restaurantsso paris and gourmet restaurants both japanese restos are mirror images that share the same kitchens and offer the same foodits hard to say which a la carte is best due to personal preference(you may like seafood better than filet but may find both at both the Seafood and French/Gourmet)brasilian resto is outside and prone to bugs
478252,steffie77,01/07/2008,came home with a nasty Parasite but still a good trip We stayed over Christmas and had a great time. The food was great and the rooms were very clean. The resort was beautiful aswell. My only complaint was that I received a Parasite called shigella from the resort. I became extreemely sick the last two days. When I came home and received treatment Health Canada notified me that people that come home sick with a parasite from the Bahia Principe generally have the shigella parasite. This would mean that a worker at the resort has the parasite and is passing it on(through food; drinks; etc). Other then finding the worker that has the parasite it is going to continue. I did not know anyone else that was sick; however; I did not go with a group.
478252,WindshearDon,01/07/2008,Beach Lovers' Paradise We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana which is a twin property of the Bavaro and shares most of the same facilities. There is no difference between the two. Our group of seven had two sets of parents and three young adults (20+). We chose this facility based on Trip Advisor reviews; and we were not dissapointed for the most part. The property is huge but is exceptionally well-laid out so you do not have the sense of being crowded. The main buffet has many selections with familiar offerings and local recipies. You will find something that you'll like and also find other things that you may not care for. It seems that most of the food is sourced locally; and generally the beef is tough but the chicken and pork were very good. The seafood is variable with the lobster being mushy. The good news is that no one had any stomach upsets and we all ate well. The Los Olas lunch buffets near the beach are highly recommended.We also ate at three specialty restaurants - Japanese; Brasilian and Meditteranean. The Japanese was a poor rendition of the real thing but had good presentation but mediocre results. The Brasilian was OK; but the service was very uneven. The Mediterranean was very nice but the portions (except the Prime Rib) were small.The rooms are excellent with good air-conditioning and superior appointments. The villas are very quiet and our neighbours were never heard even though all units were occupied. The room safe is $32 for the week and is highly recommended. We were situated by the main pool which was fine for us. None of the villas are poorly located in my opinion.We love to play and looked forward to the sailing; tennis and kayaking...so were a lot of other people. Be warned that the common recreational facilities are by reservation and book up VERY quickly. You have to be there first thing to have a chance at reserving for the next day (or two days ahead for boats). It is advisable to pay $20 for a week's insurance as the waters are quite shallow. Our Hobie Wave catamaran hit rocks on several occasions. The three tennis courts have seen better days but served our purpose adequately.The beach and pools are unbeatable. Lots of room and no need to rush down to reserve a place. Everyone can enjoy shade if they want and the beach chairs seem endless. The pools feature lots of child-friendly areas. The beach vendors do not hassle you.The drinks in this all-inclusive resort are good with friendly service. They will provide a decent shot if encouraged to do so. Otherwise; you will enjoy a sweet; fruity concoction which won't lead to inebriation. The wine with dinner is Spanish and VERY light-bodied with less than 10% alcohol. It probably is a second squeezing as it lacks character and body. The rum is the drink here but the beer is good as well. Don't expect a great GT.The nightlife is varied and starts with a show at 9:45pm. The Michael Jackson show was entertaining and the others were spirited and colourful. Most lasted 45 minutes and had good dancing as the core element. Other entertainment consisted of a Karaoke bar; Disco and Casino which came to life later. There was also entertainment in the plaza that varied nightly.The grounds are kept in outstanding condition and service was always friendly and helpful. Provide a few tips to those who offer superior service and you'll get even better service!There are numerous excursions in the local area; but we preferred to do the beach thing. All in all it was an enjoyable holiday that was worth the expense.
478252,OntarioLuLu,01/06/2008,Good but not a 5. My husband I along with our family (which included our three year old grandson) just returned from the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. The resort was lovely and well kept. The rooms were all junior suites and very clean but the beds were very uncomfortable so getting a good nights sleep was a little difficult.Even so we ; for the most part ; enjoyed our stay very much.At one point or another all of us; with the exception of one; had gastrointestinal problems. For some of our group a dose of immodium took care of it but I personally suffered with it until after I got back home.We were allowed to reserve four of the several a la carte restruants. The Brazillian was the first of our reservations.Stay away from it. The food was not very good at all. Everyone at the table had something different and all found the meat very tough and over done. I; a vegetarian; had nothing because everything on the menu contained meat.Our next night out was Mexican. A little better but not by much.Again; nothing on the menu for a vegetarian.Our third night was French. Everyone at the table enjoyed their meal but some left the table hungry went to the main buffet dining room to fill the empty spots. I; again; found nothing on the menu suitable for a vegetarian.Our last reservation was at the Italien resturant. Everyone enjoyed their meal I was able to order a veggie pizza. Horray! I was finally able to eat enjoy a meal with the family.Our meals at the main buffet style dinning room offered a great variety of food and there was always plenty of it but it was often cold. Breakfast wasn't to bad if you had an omlet te made up for you on the spot but everything else could have been a little warmer. Not a problem for me as I usually ate fruit a bit of toast but a problem for everyone else.The Resort is very big; almost a village it's self; but there were open air cars to transport people from one end of the resort to the other.Service at the resort was pretty good and the staff friendly. Try to learn at least a few phrases in spanish because you will definitley find them useful.If you looking for something smaller and more intimate this is not the place for you. In a week we didn't see the whole resort.The beaches were great and if the beach is not your thing there were several pools with swim up bars on the property.Would I go back again? Maybe. Would I give it 5 stars? No.A definite 4 but not a 5.
478252,cheeky411,01/06/2008,loved it we have just spent Christmas and New Years here; had a great time! we are a family of 4; kids are aged 7 and 8; they never even made it to the kids club as the were so occupied with the pools or beach;We found most staff very friendly esp the pool bar workers; food was good found the garden grill and gourmet the best ; buffet was plentiful;Maids were friendly and left petals etc in the room. Extremely clean resort!On the whole had a great time;
478252,ACMC75,01/06/2008,Excellent vacation - highly recommend We stayed at the Gran Bahia for 4 nights - a quick vacation from NYC but totally worth it. I read reports on TripAdvisor on so many hotels; and all the rave reviews of this hotel were right on.I would describe this resort as classy. We did not go to the disco or shows so I can't report on those. But I was glad that it was not somewhere with a party atmosphere. It was relaxing and elegant. We walked around to neighboring resorts and we felt that the Gran Bahia was the prettiest of all of them.Highlights:1) Incredible Grounds - landscaping was beautiful. And spotlessly clean all the time. Even after a rain; people were there picking leaves off the sidewalk. Spotless.2) Pools - the pools were perfect place to relax with a good book; get some sun and a nice swim up bar.3) Lobby - a beautiful place to relax in the evening with a drink.4) Beach - long; white; sandy; safe. The beach here is better than neighboring hotels because it is very large. The sand part extends far back into the palm trees; so there is plenty of beach to sit on; even if you are not right next to the water. Other hotel beaches were much more narrow.5) Spa - had several treatments and loved it.6) Restaurant choices and decor - loved the decor in all the restaurants. The food was very good - not incredible though.We went to Japanese; Italian and French. Book as soon as you get there as reservations fill up fast.4) Rooms: Every room has a balcony. The marble bathrooms with jacuzzi tub are amazing. Very nice rooms; I was impressed.Other things to note:1) They did not have well organized fitness classes or activities; which I missed. Never knew what was going on and when unless you stumbled upon it. They could use information boards or something like that.2) They do not serve premium alcohol as part of all inclusive. Must pay extra. THey do have a fun drink of the day and one night there was a special bartending show set up in the lobby with flaming drinks.3) I would recommend paying the extra Money to upgrade to Club Diamond (or Gold Club). You get to use a private pool and you get lunch in a private restaurant. We thought these lunches were some of the best food we had. I think this was $30 a day?4) In some posts people talked about how large this hotel is. We did not find this to be a problem at all. When we were there it was not crowded at all. And walking from your room to the lobby or beach is great exercise in a beautiful setting. From one end to the other is probably a 10 min walk.This is a wonderful resort - especially for the price!!!If you have a little more money to spend I recommend checking out the Gran Bahia Amber which was newly built next door. It is adult only; has premium restaurant and other amenities and personal service.
478252,efke,01/06/2008,Too Large for Personalized Service. Terrible Food; terrible service We stayed at this resort over the Christmas holidays from December 21 to December 28; 2007 鈥?room 65109. The hotel lobby was very nice and clean - check in went very smoothly with no hitches. Staff was polite at check in. We were given a map and that was it. No schedule of activities; no information on booking reservations in restaurants. The extra things that you paid for as part of your package. For us; thank God we had trip advisor. We had done our research.This hotel has several sections and not all packages are not allowed to enjoy all of the amenities. You just wander into a pool area and someone comes up to you and tells you to leave. I saw it happen to several guests. Some instructions at check in can prevent this.Ok - good things then. Property - The property is quite nice. Landscaping is good (not breathtaking) and the resort is kept very clean. This is a big plus given that there are almost 70 buildings at this resort; each with about 18 rooms each. We did a back of the napkin calculation and came up with about 7;000 people at this resort at full occupancy over the Christmas period. They kept people waiting to eat on Christmas dinner night and had to send folks to the upgraded Premier area just to accommodate them; a real nuisance for those who actually paid for the upgrade.Beach - The beach and ocean are just beautiful. The ocean is beautiful and very nice to swim in - no shells; no rocks - just beautiful miles of white sand. This was the biggest plus on this vacation. There is plenty of shade on the beach BUT to get a lounge chair; you had to be out there to reserve one with your towel by 8am in the morning. A real downer for vacationers. The beach also allowed topless so there was a lot of that.Rooms - The rooms were comfortable and very clean. We stayed in the AMBAR section as an upgrade. Bed was average (no Westin beds here) but comfortable. Air conditioner worked great. Bathroom was nice and clean with rain head showers. Lighting was terrible in the rooms. I would say the rooms and furnishings are about 3 Star level.Now for the areas needing improvement (lots of it)Food - At about 7;000 people; the place starts to feel like a campus instead of a resort and the food takes on a cafeteria quality. The food was terrible and often cold. The cooks were very sloppy in preparing your meals (e.g.; omelettes etc). You could not trust the salads; they always had lots of water at the bottom of the pan. We found that the food at the beach was much much better and was at least warm. We had roast chicken; burgers; and fries on most days. Those were the only hot items. You have to love pork to enjoy the DR. There is lots of it and not too bad either. We wished they had more local food - maybe it would have been better prepared. The cooks (not chefs) did not seem to have a clue. If food is important on your vacation - rule out this resort. That said; we did get sent over to the premier section for Christmas dinner due to the overflow. The food was ok there - so I guess if you pay the big bucks; you can get ok food - even if it is not great. We did visit the reserved restaurants and found that they just had a set menu. Everything is pre-made and just brought out from the fridge to the table - cold plate and all. None of the restaurants were great but the French - The Gourmet was better than the others we tried.Service 鈥?There is no personalized service here. You get the sense that the employees here are not happy (or treated well) and it comes through in the service. No one really stretches themselves to provide good service. They are polite but not necessarily pleasant. Here are some examples; when our family and friends tried to call us; they were transferred around for 5-15 minutes before connecting them to our room. While sleeping one night; we heard what sounded like running water. It was our ceiling leaking from the floor above. We called the front desk and after being transferred around at 4am because each person we spoke to said 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not my job鈥? no one ever came to check out the leak. The employees would easily tell you it's not their job to get something done and point you to someone else who says the same. I get the sense the employees are not really empowered here. We were a black family traveling and we also found that we received discriminatory service from the staff; e.g.; skipping us in line and taking the white folks behind us or having to call waiters to come and serve our table. There were four of us and we all experienced this at different points of our stay. Apparently; there is some history with dark skinned black people in the DR. There seemed to be less than 20 black people at this resort of about 7000 people 鈥?rather strange. Anyway; we did not let that spoil our holiday but we will not go back there.Getting around the resort - you have to take a shuttle if you don't want to walk (about 5-10 minute walk) to get around the resort especially from the beach to the main dining areas. The great thing is that once you get a hang of getting around the resort; it does not seem so huge anymore.Nightly shows and entertainment - They had the staged shows (as all resorts do) which were very very average and below. They tried to put on French Cabaret and other western shows e.g.; Lion King- of course - oddly interpreted. This is like making dinner for a bunch of chefs since most of the guests there were Europeans or Americans. They had a mini-circus one night; which was very good. They would have been better off showing off the Latin culture; which is very rich; vibrant and fun. They also have a nightly live band that does a mix of imitating western ballads etc 鈥?very poorly 鈥?the singers were reading the words while performing 飦?You see; the same set of staff organize the daytime events 鈥?volleyball etc and dance at the show; then sing in the live band; and then dance with guests at the nightclub. Something鈥檚 got to give and it鈥檚 the quality that goes. The nightclub was excellent 鈥?really good music 鈥?meringue; salsa; hip hop; pop; and techno 鈥?something for everyone. We never tried the casino. We missed a lot of the daytime events like beach volleyball and other games because we did not have a schedule until 3 days into our vacation. All in all; we will not return to this resort and probably not go back to the DR. I don鈥檛 recommend Gran Bahia Principe 鈥?not enough value for the money. Of course; this is only one review of many on Trip Advisor and individual experiences do differ.
478252,TRAVELBUG028,01/06/2008,A great stay at the Gran Bahia Principe My husband and I booked a last minute deal to the Bahia Principe. We had read good reviews about the place; and honestly; we weren't let down.We were quite amazed at how clean the place is kept. There are always staff cleaning the place in the morning. In general; we found the staff to be very hardworking; and willing to help out however they could.The maid cleaning our room was fabulous. She left little flowers for us in the room; and decorated our room with towel art. We left little gifts and small tips for her everyday to thank her.In terms of the food; we advise signing up for your a la carte dinners as soon as you arrive. Our favorite was the Japanese restaurant. However; the Italian was also very good (we usually ate lunch there).We were also very pleased with our stay because; when we asked to get a room closer to the beach; we were upgraded at no extra cost to us; which allowed us to use the exclusive pool; and gave us free internet (10 minutes each) per day. That was great.Also; when one of the staff found out my birthday was coming up; he gave me a free bottle of rum; and a t-shirt. I thought that was really quite nice.In terms of the beach; it was gorgeous! White sands; turquoise water; exactly what we were hoping for.The hotel also put on entertainment in the evening which; although sometimes amateurish; was still delivered with zeal.All in all; we would definitely recommend this hotel. The only negative we would warn you about is that; if you want to buy something like an art piece; do NOT wait until the end of your stay; or; if possible; do NOT buy from the store at the hotel. We had a salesperson try to rip us off which left us really mad. We told our tour rep about the salesperson and he agreed that the people in that store are horrible. They had even tried to rip off our tour guide at some earlier point. They think; because you are leaving the next day; they can hike up the prices to unreasonable rates; and you will pay because you're desperate. How frustrating!In summary; this is a clean; well-rounded hotel. A very nice place to stay.
478252,Torontotraveller,01/05/2008,Nice hotel bath
478252,HipHopper,01/05/2008,Ringing in new year at Gran Bahia Principe was great! My wife (50); me (56); daughter (18) and son (15) arrived in DR on Dec 28/07 and just returned to Toronto; Canada; Jan 4/08.Stayed in Villa 8; 3rd floor. We had two of the junior suites - left the teens on their own just across the floor from us. Each villa has 2 entrances (some have 2 floors; but most have 3); and on each floor there are 6 suites opening into a square hall. Balconies had small table and 2 chairs. Bathrooms large. AC worked fine; with ceiling fan over bed; and water pressure in shower very good. King bed firm; but comfortable.A very clean; well-manicured resort with lots of garden variety; spacious; modern suites; bar fridge. And considering size and being at full capacity; very quiet for sleeping at night.The theatre had a show in lobby area each night - fun. Our kids went to disco a couple of nights.We were 3 min. walk from large pool; and a few feet beyond it; the beach. We stuck to beach - it had beautiful; clean sand; and no shortage of loungers. Lots of palapas (RIU; next door; had none). My wife saved our loungers with towels by 8:30 ; but besides palapas; there were also palm trees for shade. But; anytime; you could get shade; and you can always get sun. Punta Cana is on windward side of DR; and days were always breezy; so lying in the sun didn't raise beads of sweat. Water was nice and warm once you got in; step by step. But; I didn't see many people swimming; me included - just hopping around in the waves to cool off. Waves weren't gentle; except for one day. My wife; a strong swimmer; swam out a bit. Lots of boat action; sailing; kayaking. Boats also went out with scuba divers.Eating - for us; is something we want to enjoy. For the most part; we did.Book a la cartes on first day; the following morning could be too late. We got 2 @ 7 pm reservations; and one at 8. We ate at buffet first 4 nights - including New Year's; which was a special feast; including lobster - but; my wife; a lobster lover; found it a bit too well done. Lots of great seafood at New Year's - and fireworks display in the Pueblo stage area was impressive!Buffets were fine and full of variety; and picky eaters (like our daughter) always found something - but buffets anywhere get a bit monotonous. Ate breakfast at main lobby buffet - for egg and pancake station. But seafood restaurant; by pool and beach; also had buffet - but no egg station.We were happy for the a la carte restaurants the last 3 nights of our stay. Mexican was ok - we had fajitas and burrito. Japanese was very tasty and fun. There are 6 tepanyaki stations; each with a chef; and 11 chairs around the cooking area. You get samples of sushi and tempura; and then; chef sizzled chicken; beef; shrimp; fish fillet and rice in front of you. For dessert; we were moved to other tables; and a new bunch of folks came in for the cooking.But Cafe de Paris was best. Filet mignon was done as requested; my son gave thumbs up. My wife got surf and turf; but again; was disappointed with lobster - too well done equals too mushy. My daughter and I had salmon; which was very good. And for our last night; we ordered a bottle of Mouton Cadet wine - which ran $30. For our other meals; we drank house wine. White didn't appeal to us; but red was mellow; and light-bodied.When booking Japanese and French a la carte reservations with Guest Services (main lobby area) check to make sure whether you're eating in Punta Cana side of resort; or Bavaro. Each side has its own of those restaurants and they are located in both the Punta Cana and Bavaro lobby areas;on either side of the buffet restaurant. Those restaurants share kitchens.The Cafe is in Bavaro side; while Le Gourmet is in Punta Cana side of hotel. We ended up at Japanese in Bavaro side - but didn't realize that until we stepped into the one in Punta Cana side; at which point; we were redirected. Each Japanese restuarant has its own name; but we hadn't noticed that on slip of paper that Guest Services had given us.The resort is designed with a boulevard down the middle running from lobby to beach - with Punta Cana part of the resort on one side; the Bavaro on the other. Down the boulevard run trams picking you up at 5 bus stops. It's only a 10 minute walk from beach to lobby - which; I; and lots of others enjoyed. Lots of folks took trams - which ran frequently. But wide sidewalk next to tram roadway; had lots of walker traffic; as well.The resort is like a village - with lots of people out and about. But; it never felt crowded.Lots of Canadians (English and French; Toronto and Montreal). Some Americans. Heard Italians; Germans; Spanish. Tip: an Air Miles card; or some such card; will work the electricity box; just inside door of suite - if you don't want to leave your door card. But; AC works to cool down room quite fast. Also; door cards don't always open locks with one swipe - it might take 3-4 very quick up and downs in the door lock.Tip: safe (approx $30) has separate card to set 4-digit code; but then you don't use the card anymore. You just enter code; and enter key; and mechanism works. We were confused...No traveller's sickness in our family. I took probiotic tablets - I bought some that didn't need refrigeration - you just took one a day. Purified water was available at soft drink dispensers - at Las Olas snack bars (roast chicken; grilled fish; seafood paella; pasta; fruit and pastry); and pool snack bar by the beach. The seafood restaurant; down by beach pool area (there's also a smaller pool midway to lobby) has larger buffet.Tipping wasn't obvious. We left $3 or $2 for maid; and up to $3 most nights at restaurants (incl buffets) but more on New Year's. Rarely tipped bartenders; but always got good service.Staff was friendly; and spoke enough English words that we were able to communicate. I speak no Spanish. My wife and daughter speak a little Spanish.Tennis courts were well-used; and basketball court; as well. Even soccer field. Gym had about 20 machines (treadmills; bikes; eliptical; rower; some barbells) - good enough; while on holiday. There were joggers out on boulevards; or beach.A fine time. A classy resort.
478252,KasashVictoria,01/05/2008,Great Resort Gran Bahia lobby
478252,mycocaine,01/05/2008,Paid for 5 Star; received about a 1/2 Star We arrived on Nov 28th; a beautiful sunset; expecting the most becausewe were there for a wedding.Went to the front desk; nope; go to the Golden desk; found it with minimal difficulty; but found it strange that it is tucked away.The first morning; I attended the orientation briefing and proceeded immediately after to get my reservations for the 4 restaurants. I got the key for the safe; but had to track down a maintenance person to put in fresh batteries; after about 20 minutes; he tells me that only the 1; 2; and 3 numbers on the safe work; 6-9 do not. We went with 3321 as a code; no biggie.SO; the first day came and went; minimal difficulty (trust me); merelymissing artwork on the wall of our room; and a broken shower head.Then it started to fall apart on the second day. We went to our first reservation and they didn't have us on the list despite a receipt withmy name on it. They managed to fit us in... with almost 20 empty tables. That night; we returned to the room; set the wakeup alarm; andchecked to see no new refreshments in the fridge. The air conditioningbroke during the night and we realized we needed a remote.The third morning; I traveled (853 metres; according to my GPS) to theGolden desk; asked for a remote; asked for the A/C to be fixed; and asked for a phone to be fixed. We had a day at Catalina Island and returned to find that the phone did not work again. we soon learned that the cleaning lady was leaving the rear door to our room unlocked every day. There was construction in the Amber area and people could have walked into our room and taken our unlocked items easily. So; we had a daily inspection of our rear door for the rest of the week. We also found that the soap dish in our shower mysteriously disappeared???The fourth morning was supposed to be the wedding reception; but the bride wasn't up to it. We decided to try and cancel our restaurant reservations for the 6th night and get a reservation for this night; as well as complain the phone was still not working. They pulled up our room and found that we had no reservations even though we had booked them; and we had receipts with our name on it. Essentially theytold us we were not booked and there was no room in the restaurants; we would have to return daily to get a canceled reservation. So be it;10 minutes to travel to the lobby area and get something better than the buffet food. That night; the phone still did not work.The fifth day; I made my way to the reception AGAIN to complain about the phone. They told me that they were going to move us finally.Well; that wasn't exactly possible. We had our daily outing to attend again; wishing we had some room service so that we didn't have to run into the Buffet at 7 am; fill our ziplocs up with food and run to catch our bus ten minutes later. On top of this; we had the wedding and all the festivities the next day so we couldn't afford the hours it would take to pack up; move; and unpack. They assured us that the external phone company was coming to fix our lines.The sixth day; wedding day. Returned home; and found drinks were miraculously restocked; no air conditioning possibly because the sensor on the rear door shorted and caught fire (I have pictures); ourtoilet exploded (my girlfriend thought I had put the jets on in the bathtub without any water in the tub); and to top it all off; you guessed it; no phone.The seventh day; we packed our things and vacated the room at lunch. Essentially; you are supposed to call for the busboy service; but thiswas impossible for us. We carried our bags to the tram; threw them on;climbed off and carried our bags to the lobby. I tossed them down in front of the desk to the amazement of the employees who asked why we didn't call for the busboy. I didn't even comment. We cleared out without issue believe it or not; but we did pass by about 20 or so employees on our trip inbound to the lobby without any offer of assistance.So; paid for 24 hour room service; had no phone; therefore couldn't access it. Had to tram it in and out a number of times to complain; toilet exploded; air conditioning broke twice; missing artwork; rear door unlocked every day; lost reservations despite our names on them (I had no problem going to the restaurants as Mr. Sawatsky; Mr. Gibson; and Mr. I can't even spell it; three times); 3 numbers workingon the safe; in a construction area (during the day; we weren't there so didn't mind the noise in our absence); and not to mention the cat calls towards my girlfriend; it was a nice touch.But believe it or not; the beach was awesome and really clean with a great surf; there is a beautiful shipwreck about a mile offshore; and Mimosa's... you can't go wrong with those. Comments; criticisms; critiques; or questions are welcome.P.S. I did everything that my resort representative asked of me and made sure that I documented everything that happened to us. Oh; and on our return home; the doors to plane froze shut; it was a beautiful ending to the worst resort experience of my life.
478252,kristenandleona,01/05/2008,Brilliant Honeymoon We have just returned from a brilliant 15 night honeymoon at this excellent resort. We looked at some of the reviews on trip advisor before we left; and were a little unsure of going as their were alot of negative reviews writtenand after experiencing this place I can not believe that someone could write a negative review about this place. We did however come across your usual ignorant; cheeky; up their own [--] travellers. I will let you guess their nationality but it is not hard to guess were they are from.Well back to the hotel; we arrived the day hurricane Noel was leaving; and didn't even realise it had been until the following day.We didn't see any damage; and that was because the hurricane had hit the north of the island around puerto plata. On arrival to the hotel the rain was pouring; but this did not stop the waiters coming out to great us with our cocktails. We got taken to our hotel room; by one of th little hotel taxis and the staff took our bags up to the room;; and believe me my wifes luggage was not light. I will try and review the amenities point by point.Room- was large; queen size bed; cable t.v; 50 metres from the reception; and 20 metes from the pool; the maid was cleaning it daliy; and re-stocking the mini fridge everyday; brilliant.Food- was excellent overall; we ate in 6 different restaurants; BBQ ( was ok ) French(excellent) steak house(excellent);italian(excellent); japanese(unbelievable); mexican(excellent). The buffet was great; breakfast was good and all the fruit and salad was fresh; lunch was good for snacks and salads; and the evening meal was always something different every night. Entertainment- The hotel has a 2 threatre with 2 different shows running each night; we went and seen the Michael Jackson(twice it was that good); and also caught the circus show; with was also very good. Now you have to remember that the cast in the shows are all hotel employees; pool attendants; waiters; etc. The karaoke bar was very good and there was always a crowd in it blasting out all the golden oldie tunesThe disco was good as well; only down side was that the music was about 70% salsa; but all women love it; so as long as they are happy.The casino was a bit small; and crowded between 9 - 12 pm so best time to go would be any time after midnight; and it stay opened to 4 am. The slot machines are all in spanish; so not good if you don't speak the language. I had a bit of success on the black jack tables by doubling my money; so not bad for a beginner.We only ventured to the beach twice as we both hate sand( dont ask) from what we saw the beach was clean and no vultures hanging about( men trying to sell you over priced goods). We did notice hotel security on the beach; who were patrolling the beach so this may be the reason for not vultures.Where spent most of our trip was by the pool outside our room; the drink was always flowing;the pool attendant had hourly activities; like ( water aerobics; table tennis competitions; bingo) now this doesn't sound like fun; but when you are drunk on pina coladas; cervesa; dirty monkeys; they craic is good. They bar man at the pool bar was named Francisco and after about 5 days we were called his family. He would bring out the MAMAJUANA( everybody has to sample this dominican local drink) they say it cures anything that ends in ache eg headache; backache etc. When you sample this you will understand why. I gave it to my friends at X-Mas ( Messy).Trips- We did 3 trips on our honeymoon; we decided to splash out and spent $700 dollars to go and swim with dolphins at Ocean World in Puerto Plata which was in the north of the Island; we got picked up at 7am and had to get a flight to the north; we arrived at Ocean World at about 11am so it was a long journey there; but the experience was brilliant; the dolphins were amazing and so friendly; we got pick up from Ocean World; and then got a tour of Puerto Plata; this is were we seen the destruction of hurricane Noel; houses ripped apart; people huts flatten; this is when it really hit home; and made you feel lucky for what you got; we were then taken back to airport and flew back to Punta Cana and got back to the hotel at about 10.30p.m. This trip I highly recommended but be aware it is a really long day. A few days later we went on the full day out back safari. This was brilliant we got to see the real Dominican; we drank rum all day along; smoked Dominican cigars and boogie boarded in crystal blue water; I highly recommend this trip. We also went to Samona Island this was brilliant and so relaxing also highly recommendedStaff - The staff at this complex were in one word EXCELLENT. Nothing was to much bother for them. I got to know a couple of the staff while I was away some speak 4 or 5 languages and are really intelligent people; and how some of the tourist treat these people is disgusting. Snapping their fingers; talking down to them; shouting at them; and it is probably these guests that are writing negative reviews; these staff earn approx $300 per month; they work at least 12 hours per day for 14 days then they get 4 days off; then back to work again for 14 days. Now put yourself in their shoes; could you smile at customer's if it was you under them conditions and on that type of pay?; I know for sure I couldn't. So give the staff a break and tip them they will treat you like royality. Tip try and learn sum Spanish before you go; it will help a lot and the staff really appreciate; they also like teaching you some Spanish so don't be shy.UNA CERVESA POUR FAVOR( SPELLING IS PROB WRONG LOL)ONE BEER PLEASE It goes a long way THIS COMPLEX WAS BRILLIANT AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
478252,DiscoOne,01/03/2008,A lesson in mismanagement We booked our trip directly through Bahia Principe; we stayed in the Golden rooms and paid about $460 a night per room;4 rooms times 5 nights. All of the places charge top dollar the last two weeks of Dec.; not a big deal.The first thing we did upon arriving was to wait in line for the reservations. Then they told us that we have golden rooms so that we need to go to the golden check-in; they gave me some directions that I did not completely understand but we find it. Then wait in line and were asked to fill out tons of paper work. They already had all of our info: addresses; numbers; why was I doing this on my vacation? Have they ever heard of a computer? Just to get this out of the way; I do not need my ass kissed. I am laid back; like to dance and have fun partying. The check-in was a small inconvenience. But this was the start of 5 days of puzzlement. The rooms; pools and grounds are nice; the beach is awesome; you can walk for miles. Everything else especially the food is awful.We had 9 family members; we were all in disbelief in how a resort could be so mismanaged. The place is huge; almost 2 thousand rooms; figure 5000-7000 people staying at the resort; and who knows how many working there. It is amusing how little communication there is among the employees. They must have 20 different color bands on peoples wrists; luckily we are golden (we paid $$) with a clear band. At first we are told that we can go anywhere; then we are told we have to make dinner reservations but we cannot make them because it is too late for tonight. It is only 3pm and we just checked in; sorry the deadline is 3pm. I try to call from my room and to get reservations for the next night; I will not waste your time; it took 40 minutes I did not have reservations. I was told to visit the golden office in the morning. The golden rooms are near the beach; the golden office is about a mile away inland. You have to take a tram to get there; what are they thinking? I do not want to come across as a snob; but is this how a guy who just booked a $9;300 hotel visit wants to spend his morning; taking a tram to stand in line at an office to argue about reservations. I send my sister; they play a shell game for an hour and finally get some dinner reservations.By now we know why it is difficult to get reservations; they do not want anyone to eat in there restaurants. The food at the buffet is simply awful; they have many choices of awful. Everything is over cooked; all of the deserts look fine; but they all taste the same; just sugar. I am not some kind of food critic; just plain and simple awful food. All around us are people that want coffee or tea after dinner and are told they do not offer any. Why can't they have a couple of pots up at the buffet? All I want is some simple dish that I can stomach. Speaking of the stomach; most of the 9 people in our family spent at least a day or two confined to their room with diarrhea and throwing up. My digestive track was effected but maybe due to the fact that I stuck primarily to the fruit I did not have any bad symptoms. They have signs posted that the water in the room is not potable. I am not a doctor and do not know the reason for so many problems. I have never seen this during previous stays in Punta Cana at other resorts. My brother-in law was the worst; he spent the last two days of our Bahia visit in the bathroom. We flew to Miami after our stay; he was treated at Mt Sinai Medical Center. They put him on an anti-biotic and gave him 7 liters of fluid intravenously. We all lost weight; they should advertise this place as a weight loss clinic. I am sitting on my beach chair and want a diet coke. I would find that the first 3 bars all would have a broken diet coke dispenser; at the forth I wait in line and someone behind the counter pours me a diet coke. I want one the next day and go straight for the place that served me yesterday and they tell me they only serve beer. Want a diet coke after 5pm after a walk on the beach now that the sun is not so hot? You will not get one at the beach bar; over to the pool bar? No; remember they told me only beer. You have to just laugh it off. After a few days you start to feel like a rat being tested in a maze; but you figure out that if you specify exactly the Rum and the mixer you have a better chance of getting a drink that you do not just throw out in the nearest trash (if you can find a trash can). We also found that even with the golden band there were places we could not go; but were told that the Diamond and Ambar band could not use some of our stuff. It was really just ridicules; you have to laugh; they could not even explain all of the differences if asked.I could go on for 25 more pages; I could have walked around the resort every day with a tape recorder and recorded how mismanaged this place is. The real estate itself was built and maintained like a nice hotel in the states; the hotel is obviously run by someone with little or no hotel expertise. This place should be studied by hotel analysis but should be avoided if you are a hotel guest.
478252,cumbriancouple,01/03/2008,A happy new year Chose this location because we couldn't get flights to any other Carribean location. We arrived feeling a little sceptical having been spoilt by a previous stay at Sandals Dunns River in Jamaica. On arrival we were hugely surprised by the impressive beauty of the complex and the standard of cleanliness. The complex is vast and has all the amenities expected in a hotel of this class; the food in the buffet restaurant was ok and the breakfasts were above average. Be warned book the al a carte options as soon as possible as the tables go quickly. We ate at 4; The BBQ (not that good); the mexican (Ok); the Steak house (Very Good) and finally the Gourmet which was outstanding both in terms of the food and the service.We ventured to the beach on a few occasions and we were amazed at how crowded it was; the sea was choppy but still had that lovely turquoise colour the sand was white and soft (cleaned rigorously every day by hotel staff). The new year celebrations were brilliant this despite a heavy rain shower which threatend to but a damper on it all(15 minutes of fantastic fire works and 3000 people all getting in the mood)All in all this is a nice hotel; staff are friendly and the climate unbeatable. No stomach upsets which was nice.A brief note about Dolphin Island in Punta Cana; we couldn't book through our own tour operator as they has concerns about the safety. We went and have to agree it was but nothing like other swims we have experienced. The Dolphins were nervous and seemed poorly trained; we were butted several times and our kids felt uncomfortable as did we. Our advice dont go!.Would we go back? we are not sure but that is not a reflection on the hotel just our own personal taste which for our sins will always be coloured by The Sandals experience.
478252,RickK,01/02/2008,Doesn't compare to the RIU resorts Let me preface this by saying...this is not my first time to an all inclusive resort in the Dominican or other countries. So; I have experience and know what one should expect.20 December - 27 December 2007 - booked thru Funjet. Weather was terrific with lots of sun and temps in the 80s(f) with heat indexes near 90(f); only a couple of showers...so the weather was just about perfect. The resort is huge and the rooms were very; very nice (all Jr Suites).Sadly; I have said everything nice I can really say about Gran Bahia. I found out very quickly that uno momento; 1 minute; or 5 minutes basically means I can't help you; will not help you; and will not be back. First day; checked into the room with 2 adults and 1 almost teenager having been up from 2:30AM to make a flight until arriving in Punta Cana around 4PM in the afternoon. Total of 2 towels in the room; no hand towels; no face towels. Called the front desk; called guest services and reported. 5 minutes sir was the reply. It took until noon the next day (4 phone calls; trip to the front desk and trip to Guest Services). Would be fine if this was the only time we could not get towels but it was just the first time. There were several others. There is a mini-bar (actually just a in-room mini-fridge) that is supposed to be restocked daily. Don't hold your breath. It will not be stocked daily. They tell you in the info in the room; and everywhere else for that matter; to not drink the tap water. Nice...but how about restocking the bottle water daily...that would be a really nice touch. I found that the only way I could keep water and sodas in the room was to walk around the complex looking for a housekeeping cart that had those items visible on the cart and take them. Otherwise; I was continually told; uno momento and then later...sorry; could not find any. What? Are you kidding me? Complained to Guest Services...whose famous phrase was Not a problem; we will take care of it! No; it is a BIG problem. Others have mentioned that this is not a 24 hour resort. This is also very disappointing. We have been to other resorts where you can get food that is included in your package up until the wee hours of the AM. Not here. A big difference we found between this resort and what we have experienced elsewhere (mostly RIU resorts) is that the people who work at the resort are just not friendly. At other resorts; it is almost like everyone is there to entertain you and is very friendly. Even when you pass someone who is clipping trees; bushes; etc...they would acknowledge the fact you were there. Here...very few people have a smile on their faces. Tipping - I understand it is they way these folks make their money. Bartenders...they don't get it. They could probably make twice what they do in tips if they would just loosen up and be a bit more entertaining. They just pour you a drink and look at you with the look of Where is my tip?. If you drink rum - it is included in your all inclusive. If you want something besides rum...be ready to pay for it. What a joke. Oh and there is no liquor dispensers in the room. If you want a drink late at night..you gotta get up and go out to get it.The food was substandard even for buffet food. The bacon was almost raw. If you just wanted scrambled eggs...they were undercooked. The food had almost no variation from night to night (something we have found different at other resorts). About the only variation was the desserts. If something was supposed to be sweet...it was over sweet. Oh and if you want coffee with dessert...too bad...can't get it. As a matter of fact...try finding coffee anywhere other than at breakfast. Pretty much does not exist. But; you have a coffee maker in your room...right? Yep; just can't get them to leave you bottle water to make coffee with.You could get burgers and hotdogs out by the pool near the beach and there was a soda dispenser there also. Wasn't working the day we got there...still wasn't the day we left. The burgers were cooked unmercifully hard and the hot dogs were barely warmed; much less cooked. Again; have done all inclusives during the holidays for a number of years now. This was by far the worst experience we have had. Like I said...beautiful resort and great weather. Too bad the little things that should make the holiday pleasant were just missing. In a nutshell...there is a beautiful RIU resort right next door to the Gran Bahia...you might want to consider staying there. The people are friendly and they really do appreciate the fact you are staying at their resort. Sorry for the long post but wanted to state the facts as we found them.
478252,LivetoTravelLdn,01/02/2008,Fantastic resort and wonderful people My wife; baby son and I have just returned from a week at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana - booked with First Choice. Overall the trip was truly excellent.The room was large and well located (about 2 mins walk from main buffet restaurant and 2 mins from one of the pools). THe resort is huge but don't let that deter you; the staff are extremely friendly - especially with the children.The beach can get crowded but not overly so and the west side of the beach has calmer water than the east.The food was excellent - especially the bufett. THe hotel went all out on Xmas eve to include ice sciptures and a real live nativity scene complete with donkey+goats.With a young baby I would stay away form the a la carte restaurants excpet for the Brazillian Beach BBQ restaurant which is more suited to children (open air and noisier)..There was never a time when we couldn't get food or drinks and the staff were really lovely and very friendly.The pueblo shopping square owned by the hotel was pretty good and stall number 11 did us some great deals (run by a chap from Haiti).Overall I would not hesitate in returning to this resort. It provided excellent value for money and did not disappoint us at all.Book the catamarans early - they're popular and make sure you don't miss the Brazillian Beach BBQ restaurant - this was the highlight of our stay.Also bear in mind that in the Carribean life is slower than in London and you'll enjoy it.Thouroughly recommended.... do tip the staff; there is a big gap between locals and tourists and they appreciate it given the hours some of them work (7am - 11pm).
478252,Vacation20071219,01/02/2008,Highly Recommended We traveled with 3 adults and 4 children over Christmas of 2007. I can't say enough good things about this resort. The people working at the resort were so helpful and accommodating. We never had to ask 2 for anything.The rooms were excellent. Very clean!!!!! Beds were comfortable.Restaurants were excellent. The buffet always had a wide variety of fresh foods. The kids absolutely loved it. The individual restaurants were good. We went to the French Restaurant and Brazilian Barbeque.There were always lots of activities for the children and adults during the day and evening. The people that worked on staff to run these activities were very entertaining and did a great job.There is nothing that I can say badly about this resort. We really had a good time and I would highly recommend this resort.
478252,XMurphy,01/01/2008,Great time at Gran Bahia! We had a great vacation at the Gran Bahia Principe in early December. The resort was gorgeous... beautiful landscaping great pools and beach; relaxing open lobby for drinks at night. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We had a wonderful time relaxing at this great resort. The beach/water was beautiful; although we spent more time enjoying the pools and swim-up bars. Rooms were clean; bathrooms were nice with a large tub complete with jets. We mostly ate at the buffet because we didn't want to have to bother with reservations or going to dinner at a certain time. We did eat at the seafood restaurant one night and enjoyed the dinner (the calamari to start was great and we both had lobster enchiladas). Overall; we had a great vacation and would return to this resort.
478252,dougnjules,01/01/2008,Anniversary Paradise The Japanese Restaurant; my husband became chef for 5 mins.
478252,Blondie031,01/01/2008,Feel Deceived To say the least we were very disappointed in this resort for our 25thAnniversary. What we experienced was very misleading according to our agent brochure.24 hour all-inclusive does not mean 24 hours. Pool bar close at 6 pmat the latest; all bars restaurants throughtout the resort open close at all different times; therefore again no 24 hour all-inclusive.Upon arrival we changed rooms twice from our original room; due to having paid for an upgraded room which was supposed to be close to thebeach; but nowhere close overlooked a beautiful construction sight with constant traffic. Brochure does not mention formal dining dress code. We were turned away from one alacarte rest. for only having a pair of dress shorts; but did see ratty holey frayed blue jeans sweat pants entering with no problem. If you are looking for a fine dining experience; this might appeal to you; but I would still question the quality of food service. Although the servers appear to be helpful understand; very few could comprehend or understand; or speak English; our Spanish islimited; so therefore very frustrating for both parties. Although not our problem; if you must have knowledge of what you are eating or how it is prepared for any medical/allergy reason DO NOT EAT HERE! Chef waitors do not understand; even when translated. If this is fine dining I want no part of it.In celebrating our 25th our agent told us we would have 5 alacartes. We tried booking them at time of check-in; we had absolutely no choices whatsoever as rest. - told almost all booked solid. Diamond Club rep was able to squeeze us in at French; Italian; Steakhouse Seafood. French was a huge disappointment - horrible; cold food; Italian - looked at menu cancelled; Steakhouse - the steak was just okay; but potato; veg; tomato; onions were all cold. People all aroundus said exactly the same of their food - mostly cold. Butter would not even melt on the potato. Dessert was excellent; particularily the bread pudding WITHOUT whiskey; but with cream - delicious. Seafood -was supposed to receive a special dish of lobster tail; BUT the lobster had the you-know-what boiled out of it - so tasteless tough; absolutely no flavour whatsoever - terrible. We were surprised disappointed; misled that the lobster crab would be served in abundance; when actually I don't think they even had crab; lobster unless a special order or in a tiny bit in a salad. When we were booking the alacartes we were told there were no reservations available; but we observed that ALL alacartes rest. were NEVER more than half full at any time. 100% of people we met said exactly the same thing. Therefore in upgrading to Diamond; paying for Diamond in advance which includes 3 or 5 alacartes; you do not neccesarily get them ! Nor can you repeat in any of the rest. during your stay. The resorts policies seem to change from guest to guest; depending on how well they understand what you are trying to explain to them; whatever your situation happens to be at that particular time.We found the safes are rented for anywhere from 21 to 35 US dollars. If they do not work; you have to sign your life away with proof of your idenity apparently no less than three staff managers must sign the refund requisition in order to get your money back; which could take the duration of your stay.A non smoking room is NOT available at this resort; although we requested this our agent did not tell us that; nor does it state this in the brochure.The main lobby we found to be extremely smokey of cigarettes cigars;most every evening. Unbearable at times.The well stocked mini bar in an upgraded Diamond Club consists of 4 bottles of pop; 1 water bottle; two cans of beer daily. This is ALL-INCLUSIVE WELL STOCKED?? We were unsuccessful in obtaining any more or different varieties. We were not short on giving out tips; which were usually anywhere from2 - 5 US dollars for bars; along with cash non monetary gifts to housekeeping ( baseball cap toiletries; school supplies; each every day of our 7 day/night stay).Seems face cloths are in short supply at this resort; as one day it took us more that 12 hours to get one facecloth.As for the all inclusive activities; they are very limited due to the size of the resort; with 1824 rooms; about 4000 guests we were told; therefore access reservations unworkable.You have to request most of the upgrades; as they don't seem to be offered; like the towels; bathrobes; alarm clock.We were led to believe that the upgrade to the Diamond Club was the top ungrade; when in actuality there is higher; the Premier Golden.We found the atmosphere is be rather drab; as there was very little music during the day; other than lobby washrooms (Christmas music up to New Years eve). We observed many buses being greeted with a beverage; dancers; with pre-arranged keys bellhop. We experienced non of these.We think we are a pretty easy going couple having travelled many timesbefore to all inclusive resorts; but we found this resort displaying incompetent management with friendly but NOT a full comprehension of the English language. The most common reply to any issue seemed to bewe are fully booked that's all we have from our rep; take it orleave it.Needless to say will will not recommend this resort to anyone; nor will we ever be back; especially when there are so many other beautiful; well managed resorts available in the Caribean where you GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR; isn't that what is all about; for with no hassles.I should mention this; we were told by Punta Cana airport staff on departure because we were 14 lbs over the weight limit we had to pay $130 US when checking in. They weighed our check-in baggage carry-on. Our carry-on bags were not checked on departure from Canada. After much Spanish between 4 people; in the end we had to pay $100 US; received no receipt. The five $20; bills were hurriedly grabbed frommy hand; as if trying to hide this transaction. Fishy - I certainly think so !
478252,bmarr,01/01/2008,see review in forum see my review in punta cana forum
478252,JulieRochesterNY,12/31/2007,Language barrier Resort was great. HUGE! When I asked for an iron though they sent me two bottle of Brugal Rum instead. So much for ironing!
478252,jcspecial,12/31/2007,Straight shooting review on the Bahia Principe We have just returned from the Gran Bahia on December 30th.My wife and I are 47 and 52 and my daughters are 21 and 19. Although from Thunder Bay ON CAN; we flew from Minneapolis with Sun Country due to the fact that it was much cheaper. Flight was uneventful; brand new aircraft;friendly staff. We have been going for Xmas holidays the last 5 years and have been to Puerto Plata;Aruba;Cancun;and Mexican Riviera.Airport was quick with the luggage.The drive to the hotel was quick and drove through small little towns. Checkin was fast and no problem.The rooms were fantastic; we were in the adults only section.The buffets were great with lots of variety and friendly staff.The restaurants were good with some better than the other; just like the restaurants in your home town.The beach was great with lots of chairs although there were lots of people.Weather was fantastic and only rained for a few minutes one day.You didn't get harassed like you did in Puerto Plata by the venfors.Shows were entertaining;bars were aplenty with friendly staff;room service was great.Checkout and ride back were no problem. Overall; I would go back and recommend this resort.Bring a cheap DVD player-there are hookups on the TVs-buy the upgrade to Golden or Diamond (worth every cent)-if you're buying from the vendors; never pay more than 35%-50% of asking.Learn some Spanish-it won't kill you to learn words like coffee;thank you;please;hello etc.Just think if you were working in a restaurant in Anytown; USA and someone was ordering coffee in Spanish-you would say can't they even learn the basics!! Same thing here. Email me anytime for staight forward answers.
478252,tcook052,12/29/2007,A wonderful winter week at Gran Bahia Principe Modern art sculture fountain in main lobby
478252,Wildhogs,12/28/2007,Kids Travelled with Sunwing to Punta Cana. Great charter. Half decent food served on the plane. Liked it better than Air Canada. We travelled from Dec. 7-22/07.Arrival was fine. BEWARE- we got charged $20 upon entry into Punta Cana by a customs officer. We knew we were getting taken by the customs person but what can you do? Do NOT pay $20 to enter the Dominican. The ride to the hotel was fine. A nice air-conditioned bus with seatbelts and curtains to close if you wanted to nap. It was about a 30 or 40 mins. ride to the Gran Bahia. Once you arrived you were greeted with a fruit punch and escorted off the bus. We arrived about 3 hours prior to check-in and our room was not ready but that was OK as we and our two children (aged 7 3) walked around the complex to see what was there. It was warm hot and the kids only wanted to go into a pool.Our room was ready by 3;30pm and we were promptly taken to it in the little bell-hop tram. We stayed in villa 34 with two double beds. I must say the double beds were extremely hard and we asked for a different room the next day. We were moved to a room with a king size bed instead in villa 6. The boys slept on the couch it all worked out fine.The rooms were always clean and made up while we were at the pool/beach. We were very impressed with how clean everyting was. The restaurants were clean and we never noticed any smell that some people refer to. My husband can smell something nasty a mile away and he never said anything about a moldy smell in the resort or rour hotel oom.Buffet was half decent and the a la carte restaurants were fine. Our favourites were the Garden Grill; and the two French restaurants by the lobby.The entertainment at night was great. The Michael Jackson show was quite impressive. Our kids were in the mini-club and were on stage for the Lion King show. The animation team did a great job of working with our 7 4 year old and they had great make-up costumes for the show too.As for pool chairs; my husband went out around 8:30am or 9:00am to hold our two favourite chairs and we were usually there by 10:00am to sit by the pool. We never saw people running for chairs and saw empty chairs around the main pool even at 11am and 12pm. We couldn't figure out what people were getting so upset about pool chairs. There were always some around us that were empty all day long. We sat at the far end of the pool where the kids pool was and we never had issues. Nor did we have issues with chairs on the beach. We could always find one or two to sit on while the kids played in the ocean.Our children loved the mini club. They begged us to let them go every day and we had to beg them to stay with us for some family time too. The kids they met were great. I would highly recommend this hotel to anybody and even my children said they would tell people to come here. They especially loved going on the tram. I don't think there is anything bad we could say about this hotel. All staff of this hotel; including the grounds keepers; were friendly; courteous and nice. A simple hola made people smile and respond positively. If you can take a few Spanish words with you they appreciate it very much.The Animation Team did a great job and if you didn't want to be bother a simple; no; gracias; would send them off to somebody else.The staff at the Front Desk or Guest Services were always happy to make sure we were happy if we had any issues; Tipping at the buffet and bars are recommended. Not that anybody expects to be tipped but it is always nice. Our bartenders by the kids pool section was always willing to get our orders right away even for $2 or $3 each day. I would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to anybody and we are already looking at going back again next year.
478252,Hp8989,12/28/2007,A Paradise Resort !!!!! Excellent loved it one of the pathways
478252,Switzercat,12/28/2007,Travelling with a toddler At the beach
478252,kenandpaul,12/28/2007,The Staff Made us Feel Like We Were Returning home!!! We are a couple in our late 30s and 40s who travel extensively in the carribean 3 to 4 times a year. We are however very partial to the Punta Cana area and its people.PLANNING THE TRIP: We are very pleased with the personalized service that we recieve when we book with itravel2000. We have our own travel agent --Robyn who is extremely knowledgeable about the industry and is always on the lookout for great deals for us in our prefered travel destinations and resorts. We recommend her to all of our friends and work associates and think that she is a super asset to the company!SKYSERVICE: Wow! The expereience with Skyservice can not be described as anything short of nightmarish! You start by being squished into very small seats that leaves a 5'11 person's knees impelled into the seat in front of you. You are served a tinfoiled wrapped sandwich along with a snackbar and a tiny cup of water ---not even the trays are being used any longer. The accomadations left you feeling like cargo or cattle at best. I must howver recognize the attendants as being very personable and pleasant.One major problem we encountered with SKYSERVICE was during our departure to Punta Cana. We arrived at our gate 3 hours early and were pleased to see our plane was already at or gate ---no problem leaving on time. Well never assume anything. We boarded our plane 15 minutes late because one of the flight team was late arriving. But what is 15 minutes we thought. Onto the plane we went and wedged ourselves into the seats preparing for 4 and half hours of discomfort. As the plane started to backout of the spot we suddenly stopped. When we hear an announcement that we were expereienceing a small mechanical error ---only ten minutes folks. The ten minute problem was fixed in 1/2 an hour the paper work however took another hour and a half. Argh. I wonder why since the plane was there 3 hours prior to departure that the mechanics were not checked out? Why do passengers have to arrive so much earlier than crew? THE RESORT: This was our third trip to this amazing resort and we will be returning again in March for another 2 weeks. Prior to writing this review I was trying to pinpoint what makes this resort as expectional as it is and I have decided that the aspect that makes the Gran Bahia exceptional is the staff.Since we arrived almost three hours late it was the wee hours of the morning and we did not recieve check in on the bus as normal. However Miguel was there to greet us when we arrived at the front desk with all of our paperwork and club diamond information. Check in was quick efficient and professional. Unaware to him we had made special room requests prior to arrival ---that being a kingsize bed. When seeing two men arrive he did check his bed accomadation chart to see what type of bedding was being offered and quite politely asked what type of bed we prefered. We told him king and he simply smiled and said that was arranged perfectly for us. This was handled in such a professional manner ---better tahn it is handled in some North American 5 star hotels.The staff at Club Diamond are exceptional and they are lead by an extremely professional Martin Veron. He leads his team with grace and confidence. His English Langguage skills are perfect. He and hi team do everything in their power to make your stay in the Club Diamond section everything that you would hope that it could be.The staff at the Italian Restaurant are like family to us. We ate breafast there everyday as well as lunch. We really like the club diamond section because of having this restaurant for breakfast and the alacarte lunches. We were greet on the first day with big hugs and kisses from all of the staff. Then throughout our stay they simply could not do enough for us and they gave us big hugs when it was time for us to leave. Certain names that standout were Isias; Leanarda; Claudia; Juddy and Ramon.This special ad welcoming treatment was not just at the Italian and Club Diamnd office but it was also available in all sections of the resort. Waitsaff and bartenders remembered us and would greet us with big smiles and I remember you!As I said this service is what makes returning to a hotel exceptional.The rooms were comfortable and kept very clean. We always had a fresh supply of towels avaiable and facecloths! Our room was made up most morning as requested. Our only complaint about housekeeping was our evening service was not a great as normal. Sometimes when we arrived back after 11pm our bed was not turned down or fresh beach towels were not always left. However this is something that I can overlook occasionally.The food was incredible. We loved the food at all of the alacartes. We found that te cook to order meats were cooked perfectly. We eat our food medium rare and always found it prepared that way. We found the lobster exceptional. Our only disappointment was that the italian restaurant has a new head chef that has removed the truffle oil pasta and replaced it with a mixed seafood pasta special ---we ordered it but it was not to our taste ---it was not bad just not to our taste. Claudia seeing that we did not finish our pasta would not accept that we would leave without ordering something different. We hhad the lassanga split in to and were very happy. On nother evening we had the lobster served on pasta ---amazing!I must address some of the comments made by others and express my opinions. The resort is huge but divided into sections. We stay in the club diamond section and feel as if we get very personalized service. If you read the reviews on this site and do your research prior to booking you should know ahead of time that the resort is huge. Smoking---yes smoking is permitted but we never encountered a problem with it. The rooms do not have a smoky smell. There never was a problem with smoke in restaurants and in the lobby bar there is a non-smoking section.Beach Chairs. We were there December 15th to December 22nd and were impressed with the number of chairs available. We found that to the left of the resort walking towards the Majesticthat pappalas(spelling??) were available well aftern 11:00aM IN THE MORNING. Furthermore; we are the type of couple that enjoys baking in the sun and sleeping. We were asked once by th animation team if we would like to join in and replied with a polite no thank you and were neverbothered again. Mold--we have stay in three different room and have not encountered any mold. We request a third floor room.The smell in the buffet. The smell i not sewage. The smell is caused by the indoor garden and the heat that mixes with the soil. If you visit a greenhouse such as Edwards Garden in Toronto you will expereience the same scent. Don't sit close to the indoor gardens.Lack of English. It is a Spanish speaking country. Most waitstaff and bartenders can speak english. Front desk staff and management are fluent. Housekeeping and grounds keepers are not.The grounds are lush and continue to grow. The resort is kept impeccibleFinally; this resort has their routine down pat. It is a place where you can go and eat well; spend many hours baking in the sun and bobbing in the beautiful ocean.This resort is amazing and we would not hesitaie to reccomend it to even our pickiest friends.
478252,justbeachy07,12/27/2007,Four Thumbs Down - Unless... One of two lobby bars
478252,packedbags,12/27/2007,Reasonably Satisfied Just returned from a one-week stay. Our family of four takes all-inclusive vacations often (usually twice per year) in PV; Mazatlan; Cancun; Mayan Riviera and Puerta Plata and so we had a number of properties to use as comparisons. We had two other join us on this trip and they were all inclusive newbies. Most things about this property are very good:1. The grounds are beautiful and the rooms are clean and spacious (Yes - there was a musty odor at times but we have found this to the be case in almost all tropical locations.)2. The beach is absolutely wonderful. There are many palapas and palm trees to provide shade and lots of beach chairs. You do have to get up early to find a palapa but it was usually possible to find a spot with some shade from palm trees if you arrive later. The water is warm and rock free. If you head left (when facing the ocean); just past the end of the hotel property there are a few spots for snorkeling that are quite close shore. We were able to see many colourful fish.4. The food at the main buffet is quite good and there is lots of variety. One of the people in our party is a fairly picky eater but was always able to find a variety of things to eat. Typically we have found desserts at the all-inclusives to be quite poor but this wasn't the case here.5. The resort is very large. There are many options for food and drink throughout the resort. The main buffet is open for all meals. The seafood restaurant (close to the beach) serves a smaller buffet for breakfast and lunch and there is also a snack bar. There are many a la cartes. The lobby bar is a beautiful spot and they serve pretty drinks. There is a square just outside the main entrance (this is still hotel property) and there is an outdoor stage with a live band from 10 - midnight (with bar service); a karoke bar; a casino; a disco and some shops and vendors.But there were a few things we didn't like about the resort.1. The resort is very large. Although there are many restaurants and bars the hours of operation are quite staggered so depending on the time of day you may find yourself having to go quite a ways for a drink. The pool bars close at around 5:00 and often our dinner reservations were quite late (9:00 pm) so if we wanted to have an early drink; we would have to go all the way to the lobby. This was a little inconvenient as often we just wanted to grab a drink and enjoy it in our room before heading out to dinner. The lobby bar closes at 11:00 so if we wanted to sit outside and have a coffee/drink after our dinner; we would have to head out the square. On the positive side the shuttle bus comes frequently so there was rarely much of a wait.2. We were most disappointed in the quality of the food in the a la carte restaurants. We had four reservations Cafe de Paris Le Gourmet (same menu); the Japanese and the Seafood. My son and his girlfriend also tried the Mexican. With the exception of the filet mignon at the Gourmet restaurants all of the meat was very overcooked. This was especially true of the Seafood restaurant. Having been to many all inclusives; we understand that the quality and variety of meat of other food may vary and we do not expect to have five star quality however; this was probably the worst a la carte experience that we have had. This was surprising given all of the positive reviews that we had read prior to our trip. Also we ate breakfast in the seafood restaurant once and everything was ice cold. This did not seem to be a problem during lunch so I'm not sure if this is typical.Overall the experience was positive but we likely won't return because dining in the a la cartes is something we really value and we know that you can expect better from an all-inclusive. On the other hand; our two newbies loved the experience so I don't want to be too harsh in this review.One last thing - I hardly saw anyone tipping at this resort which was quite sad. These people work very hard - our favorite bartenders were there every single day of our seven day vacation and this included Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You will probably get the same great service whether you tip or not because it doesn't seem to be expected but I'm sure it improves the quality of life for these people.
478252,Sylvain27,12/27/2007,Great but the magic is gone for returning travellers We are back from a 2 week vacation at the Gran Bahia Punta Cana from December 8th to 22nd. We went there last year on the same period and since the birth of my second daughter two month ago; we choose to go back again into a known territory. Everything went super well even with a 2-month old baby and a 5 years old little girl.The GBP is an excellent choice and a very clean resort. Even after the tropical storm OLGA; the staff worked like crazy to cleanup the water and small debries every where. The storm took part of the first week; but the second one was sunny every day.As a second time traveller; there is no more excitement or discoveries to be made. There is not really anything new; it look like they stick to their formula; nothing more or else. This may applied to other resort also... this was probably our first and last returning trip to a same place.Otherwise; this is an excellent choice for a great vacation.
478252,albraed,12/25/2007,It Stinks This hotel has major smell problem.Firstly; mold problem is very bad. Our room was on the ground floor and mold was visible everywhere; especially in the bathroom and it smelled pretty foul. Our clothes smelled very badly even after 2 weeks that we came home; so that I had to wash every piece of it. Room was pretty ;so.Secondly; their trams spewed so much fumes that we had to use back alleys in order to breathe and don't think that you can avoid those trams. Hotel claims to be ECO FRIENDLY - right and I visited the moon.Pool is good. Food is OK; except japanese restaurant - its beyond bad.All and all its a 2+ star place and not a quarter star more. If you don't believe; try it and I'll welcome you to the growing number of suckers. I believed the other perfect reviews and was cheated of pleasurable vacation.
478252,essexholidays,12/25/2007,great holiday fantastic place we spent two weeks at this resort and it was a lovely place booked through first choice;flight over we found that the cabin crew were not very helpful.we had transport from the airport which took only 20-30 mins;your rooom is already allocated for you on the coach so no waiting around at the resort to get booked in.the room was very nice very clean;tidy;with clean towels every day our maid was very nice and made our stay even more better.the buffet was very good with plenty of choice;meats;fruit;etc something for everyone. the lobby was a really nice place to sit and have a nice drink and all staff were very helpful.you dont have to wait long for your drinks.the pools were beautiful;clean and well kept;with a swim up bar so you order your drink and just sit there and take in the lovely surroundings.we did find that you had to get your towels out by your sunbeds by 7.30-8.00 as these went very quickly.you also need to book your al lecarte meals when you first arrive as these tend to get booked up quickly to.we watched a few shows at night the michael jackson is very good;plus the lion king as well.after 11 you have the karake bar;piano bar;disco and even a casino so plenty to keep you going till the early hours.we ate at the mexican which didnt think much of;grill house was very nice;gourmet was my favorite tho;italian wasnt up to much either. the rsort is big but after a few days you get use to it the map of the resort comes in very handy ;you get trains that pick you up from one end of the resort to the other and we only had to wait a few mins for it.all in all this resort gets top marks from us we had a fantastic time.
478252,Wilcur,12/25/2007,Like Paradise! Gorgeous Water!
478252,BinDereDoneThat,12/25/2007,Nice resort 31/2 stars We just returned from a week vacation; December 16 to 23; 2007. We chose this hotel because it offers facilities for handicapped traveler and is targeted to families. My boyfriend and I were traveling with my mom (age 72). Nice resort. Huge (more than 1600 rooms) divided in small sections. Lots of people especially in the main sections. We stayed in the Club Premier section because they were no available handicapped rooms (even if we reserved one with travel agent). After an hour running around to make sure the rooms were OK (the give stairs access to a low mobility person!!!); we agreed to stay in the Club Premier section which was the best compromise. There are ramps almost everywhere but a lot of walking in involved even if there is a very efficient system of trolly trains.Service was OK. Since there is a lot of people; there deal with volume rather than quality. The first night at the BBQ restaurant; the staff was continuously coming to the table to pour some wine. It was anowing. Food and wine (which tastes like vinegar) were OK. Shrimps were good and beer too. The employees work a lot of hours for small money. The appreciate tip.Rooms were very clean and so is the resort. So clean.My mom had a hair styling and she was happy with it. As for the gym; very smal for the size of the resort.
478252,Cityview,12/24/2007,Loved the Gran Bahia My partner and I stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe; Bavaro and it was an experience we will never forget. The hotel; the grounds; the cleanliness; the hospitality; the food; the staff; our suite was a 5 star hotel all the way. We didn't want for anything. The hotel was absolutely beautiful; the lobby was decorated for christmas and there was a holiday feeling all around. We didn't encounter one rude staff member anywhere and the service was fantastic. The beach was beautiful; but then Punta Cana is the place to go in the DR for the beaches. We would definitely vacation there again. I give it a 6 star rating if there was one!!!!!
478252,Brooklin,12/23/2007,Perfection Once Again outside the main lobby
478252,KaYoRee,12/22/2007,Es Bahia Principe! Loved it! Just returned this morning from a great week with my boyfriend at Bahia Principe! Their theme song is still stuck in my head! This is my bf's 3rd time at an all-inclusive and my 2nd so I now have one previous experience to compare to. Considering just the resort itself; Bahia Principe was much better than Breezes Jibacoa in Cuba; which I would now re-rate as 3 out of 5 stars! I do have a lot to say so please bare with me.We booked online through Sunwing Vacations. My impression of Sunwing is not that great after this trip. The beginning and end of the trip was horrible because neither the travel agent nor Sunwing told us when we booked the trip that Santo Domingo; where we landed; is a 3+ hours drive to Punta Cana! Beware of this! When we complained to our Sunwing rep at the resort; he told us that it should have been the travel agent's responsibility. Anyway; we probably ended up travelling 8 hours total from the airport to the resort and back. Returning to Santo Domingo wasn't too bad because it was afternoon and there were things to see and businesses were open. But on the way there; we landed in the evening around 8:30pm and so the 4-hour drive was in complete darkness as the streets were pitch black. Our guide did not seem friendly and was clear that he did not like speaking English. He said 2 hours to Santo Domingo and kept quiet pretty much the rest of the trip; so after 2 hours we weren't sure where he was taking us! Anyway; it was a horrible start to a vacation.In General:IMO; Punta Cana is a place to go for sun; beach; and relaxing. It is not your best choice for sightseeing. In contrast; Cuba (Havana) had plenty of culture and sightseeing.Bahia Principe is a big resort! Like previous reviews have mentioned; the trains that take you around are efficient and I never had to wait more than a few minutes.Room:We were upgraded for free to the Club Premier which is as far as it gets from the beach; but quite close to the central area of the resort with the lobby and Pueblo Principe. Perks included our own buffet restaurant for breakfast and dinner (smaller than the main buffet); our own pool with swim-up bar; and our own snack bar which had different and better food than any other snack bar.Because we were on the 2nd floor; we had no bug and ant problems. Our friends on the ground floor did have bugs in their room. Everything in the room was clean and quite well-kept. Bedsheets; bathroom and shower were all clean and white. But I do agree with a previous review that for some reason; they seemed to ignore the bathroom mirror. The shower had no curtain but a piece of glass that covers only half the tub and does not slide - this caused a slight flooding in the bathroom because no matter how careful I was; water would always spray all over the floor. Amenities included toiletries; hair dryer; mini-bar; coffee; a big umbrella (which came into good use on our first day). There was no iron or ironing board. The safe is $32 US for the week but a definite must-have. Our TV cable was broken and ripped when we arrived but a quick call and it was fixed promptly. There were a few good English channels on TV. Nice sitting area and balcony; though our balcony view was barren land because we were on the edge of the resort. Unlike a previous review that said $2 a day was not enough; we tipped $2 US per day and everyday our maid decorated the bathroom with flowers and made us towel animals.Service:Top-notch! Everyone was so polite and did everything with a smile. Reception; Guest Services; servers; bartenders; housekeeping; everyone I can remember tried to make our experience enjoyable. A simple hola and smile from you will always be followed with an hola and smile.My only negative experience was in the Club Premier lobby. The man at the reception charged me incorrectly for my safe rental. When I returned to point it out to him; he was not apologetic and returned my money with an angry demeanor and without a word.Buffet a la Carte:Keep in mind you are in the Dominican Republic. They don't get the food we get fresh in Canada or in whatever country you're from. Considering that; I found their food to be decent - definitely better than edible; which was my description for the food at Breezes Jibacoa in Cuba. The buffet is quite repetitive but the made-to-order omelettes at breakfast; made-to-order pastas at lunch; and dessert waffles at dinner were always delicious! You'll find your favourite dishes for the week.We went to 4 a la cartes (instead of 3 because we were upgraded) - Le Gourmet (Punta Cana side); Japanese (Bavaro side); BBQ (at beach outdoors); Seafood (close to beach).Le Gourmet was successfully French-styled. But again it is food in the DR; so my filet mignon was more like a rib eye and the souffle was really a brownie. However the presentation was beautiful!I was not as impressed with the Japanese as many others seemed to be in these reviews. There was no teppanyaki show - he simply cooked the food in front of us with some banging of his tools and the grill. Everything was dry and overcooked except the shrimp which was fabulous! Deep fried ice cream was OK.Do not go to BBQ!!! This is nothing more than buffet with a few BBQ features - which you might find at regular lunch or dinner buffet anyway.Seafood was my favourite of the 4. There was an appetizer buffet which had an excellent selection. My boyfriend had a 1/2 lobster for his entr茅e; which actually had some texture (unlike the mushy lobster in the paella); and I had some decent salmon filets. Public Areas:The lobbys of both the Bavaro and Punta Cana sides were beautiful. There is plenty of comfortable seating to enjoy a drink and lots of lounge chairs too where I saw many ppl take naps. The gardens and grounds are so well-kept and well-groomed. I think they cover every detail of cleanliness that you can think of - I saw workers waxing the marble floor in the lobby; polishing railings; cleaning chair cushions; scrubbing beach chairs. I was very impressed with this.Pueblo Principe:This little town has something for everybody. Plenty of shops for beach stuff; cigar and alcohol; jewellery; casino (penny; nickel; quarter slots; some table games and 1 texas holdem table); pool tables; internet; piano/karaoke bar; disco (12-2am); nighttime burger joint (10pm-6/7am); and vendors - hahah these guys are good. If you really don't want to talk to them; just politely say no and walk away! One guy tried every trick in the book to try to get my boyfriend to buy some jewellery for me and my boyfriend was trying to be polite and not walk away. He said the original price was $105 but would give it to us for $50 - we ended up talking him down to $18 but we still didn't buy it because we didn't think it would be real larimar from a vendor like that. It was good entertainment though hahah! All food and drink is included except for casino.PoolsThe water is very clear all the time. Of course there will be some dirt and sand with all the ppl that go in and out. There are missing tiles here and there and maintenance of the pool physically is so-so. There are always plenty of pool chairs. The big fountain and the bridges at the beach pool add a nice touch. The Club Premier pool was a nice perk for the free upgrade because it was much quieter than the main pools and has a swim-up bar.BeachWow sooo awesome! Beautiful finest grain sand without any rocks or shells. Nice waves to play and swim in. I didn't snorkel - didn't think it would be great snorkelling because of the waves. Again; plenty of beach chairs and no need to save one. Lots in the shade and lots in the sun. There are beach workers picking up and collecting garbage so the beach is kept clean. You can also walk down Bavaro Beach to other resorts on the strip - it's a beautiful walk in the soft sand. The only downside that my boyfriend pointed out is that the beach faces east so the sun goes down behind the resort; and so there is no chance of seeing sunset. In Cuba at Breezes Jibacoa; we saw sunrise and sunset everyday.Activities EntertainmentWe didn't really participate in the daily activities run by the animation team but there was always something going on at the beach or near a pool - volleyball; aquafit; aerobics; darts; mini-golf; so on.Nightly entertainment starts at 9:45pm with the Tropicana Theatre show. I saw only Michael Jackson and Boogie Nights which were both great! They put in a lot of hard work! Our friend saw the circus one which is Cirque du Soleil style. They did not have Lion King the week we were there. Then at 11:00pm there is a show at the Pueblo Principe stage - most nights I was there it was just the house band playing. Some nights they had game shows.ExcursionsWe did Jurassic buggies and my boyfriend absolutely loved it! Make sure you wear clothes that you are prepared to trash because we were both completed covered in mud from head to toe - but this was because my bf went straight through every mud puddle he saw. You can choose to avoid them but you will still get splashed. And don鈥檛 listen to the Sunwing rep about sandals with straps only and no flip flops. I only had flip flops so I wore runners - they were completely soaked in mud as well. I then wore flip flops for other half of the ride and it was fine. The excursion also included a swim at beautiful Macao Beach; a freshwater cave; and a short horseback ride at a ranch. Highly recommended!!!!Thanks for reading! Feel free to ask questions!
478252,sunscreen19,12/18/2007,Great Time - Minus Tropical Storm OLGA Typical villa
478252,ChaCha7,12/18/2007,this Bahia Principe not the same as Mexico We stayed from Dec. 10 - 17th. The first 2 days that tropical storm Olga was going thru. Nothing too bad except heavy rain and winds...unfortuntately there were fatalities elsewhere in the country and my family was worried for us while we were away.I found the food so-so. The same stuff over and over. The Mexican and Italian restaurants were good tho.We left $2 in our room everyday for our maid...but I guess thats considered cheap! We got a glimpse of our maid cleaning the room next door and they got flowers and towels formed into swans ....I guess it takes a fiver nowadays to get the little extras that you take for granted in Mexico.I had to take a trip to the medical ctr and be warned that they charge $90US for a consultation. I made it perfectly clear I didn't want or need a consultation and only needed to rent some equipment to help me get around cause I hurt my leg. So for $10 a day I rented the equipment and that was fine.I spoke with some one else in line and they spent $200 US by the time they had a consultation and got some cream for the bites on their legs.They have good prizes if you win at the dart games...a little bottle of rum or a teeshirt. The activity team do try but its hard to understand their english.I've stayed at the Bahia Principe in the Mayian Riveria and was a bit disappointed that this one in Dominican is not to the same standard. I found you had to tip the bar staff to get any kind of feedback. It was so obvious who tipped and who didn't the way some guests got treated. I've got nothing against tipping and I certainly do it but not for every single drink!!!!! Its like the staff have a short memory unless you've got a bill in your hand everytime.The lobby was a great grand place to relax and play cards or read or whatever. There are definately certain places in the hotel that are off limits to some without the upgrades....I think they should advertise this better at the entrance of some pools so there is no misunderstandings.There were mosquitos out. This is my 5th trip to D.Rep. and I've never been bitten so much...not sure if its the time of year or not.Anyway have a great time but don't expect this to be a true 5 star because its not. Its got a great beach and lobby but the rooms have bad workmanship like the tiling being off centre etc....little things but never noticed stuff like this before while I've been soaking in the tub at other resorts. Also the mirror was very dirty and hadn't been cleaned in ages.Don't think I'll be going back.. Probably head back to Mexico where they know how to treat you right even if you don't tip every single time.
478252,SimonKitchen,12/17/2007,Basic Breakdown On Resort My wife and I stayed at Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana from Dec.6-15th. Here is a basic breakdown if you are planning on staying here.- The place is not 4 or 5 stars - 3; maybe 4 at best. It is a beautiful resort but other things are considered for star ratings. We live in Vegas - we have 2 - 5 star resorts.- The food was mediocre at best. Any $7.99 buffet in Vegas is better. Poor selection and temperature of most foods were not safe. Maybe if you are from a small town in Canada or from France you may think you have died and gone to heaven. If you have a discriminating palate; sorry you will be disappointed.Drinks - bring your favorite bottle with you - no middle or top shelf alcohol is included. Expect to shell out $10- Service - Sure the staff are smiling and friendly; but give me a break - I don't shell out big money on a vacation to keep the locals happy by accepting sub-par service. We had fun with most of the staff; but the service around the main pool was horrible unless you showed them some $5 bills. One exception was the staff at the lobby bar - they were much better. If you want better service - go to Mexico. From experience the Mexicans know hospitality at their all-inclusives. They provide the same service whether you tip them or not. - Rooms - A cross between a Super-8 and a Marriott. Nice enough for your stay but the bed was hard as well as the pillows. Housekeeping came after 4 or 5 PM and our room was not cleaned at all one day. Beach - beautiful beach; clear water; easy getting a palapa on the beach.Pool - almost impossible getting a palapa by the main pool. The practice was for people to place only a towel on chairs; then take off for 2-7 hours; come back to the pool and say that those were their chairs. This was done mostly by frenchmen and other europeans. People - A TON of Canadians which is OK. At least they have manners. Way too many french speaking people for enjoying your vacation - a lot of the French people there are rude; loud; touch food in the buffet; push their way in line - and yes smell bad. A couple crazy russians there as well.Guest Services - Bad all the way around. They should all come to Vegas to learn what hospitality means. The guest services office do nothing more than book your dinners - they are a joke and do not care about helping you. These people love to pass the buck. Our shuttle to the airport (PRIETO TOURS_DO NOT USE THEM!!!) was supposed to pick us up at 1:40pm. At 1:50pm I asked guest services if they could call to see if they were coming and they told us not to worry - They are on Dominican Time was their response. NO ONE would call. Finally I paid the security guard $3 to call - all of a sudden they found the number to prieto tours. So by now it is 2:30pm - I said screw it - call us a cab ! Cab ride to airport was $35. This fiasco at the end of our trip was real nice ! This is why this resort will never even be a 4 star hotel.If you want to visit Punta Cana - stay at Secrets Excellence - a little more $ but I'll tell you it will definitely be worth it.
478252,ellamacs,12/15/2007,鈥楢ll 28 guests had a good time...quite the achievement鈥?#x201d; We vacationed at this resort back in December 2005 and had such a great time then that we decided to return here for our wedding this year. We have split this into 2 reviews 鈥?see the wedding details under the review titled 鈥楢 brilliant wedding enjoyed by all鈥︹€?br/>Please remember a 5 star in the DR is not directly comparable to a 5 star in North America or in Europe and this review takes that into consideration. We should also let you know that we read all the reviews for this hotel (yes every one of them) prior to our wedding and we鈥檝e tried to combine the helpful hints and tips at the end of this review.We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe from Nov 29th 鈥?Dec 13th 2007 with 25 other family and friends who travelled from Canada; UK Holland. Adult ages ranged from 27 to 60 plus and kids from 10 months to 6 years old. Our poll showed that everyone had a great time; though there were some minor complaints which we鈥檒l cover below.Resort Overview: The resort is in fact very large and can be divided into 4 main areas. There are 2 premium resorts (Ambar Golden Club) complete with exclusive facilities and the 2 main resorts (Bahia Principe Punta Cana Bahia Principe Bavaro) which are mirror images of each other with shared facilities. Each resort is marketed to specific countries/tour operators but standards are pretty much consistent throughout.Check-in: no-one in our group had problems at check-in and most people were actually checked in prior to boarding the bus at the airport. When you arrive; shuttles are ready to transport you and your luggage to your room. Make sure that you ride on the same shuttle as your luggage otherwise there may be up to 1hr delay before it arrives in your room which can be inconvenient if you want to go straight out (happened to one of our guests).Rooms: We emailed the resort our group room requests in advance and they were able to accommodate most of them. Everyone thought the rooms were a good size and in general people were happy with their location. Three of our guests did request to change rooms immediately upon arrival: one because of ants in the room; another because they didn鈥檛 want a ground floor room and a third because they were on the service road side on the ground floor (guests on the top floor next to the service road said they didn鈥檛 hear any noise). All room changes were dealt with very quickly and professionally by the resort. A fourth guest had problems with their keycard / door lock and a fifth needed a light bulb replacing. Both requests were fixed within an hour of being reported. Pools: People in our group thought the main pool near the beach was a little too busy and noisy and as all of our guests were able to use the Diamond/Hacienda pool in the middle of the resort no-one really ventured too far from here. The pool was cleaned each morning and there were always plenty of beds and palapas available to accommodate our whole group. The kids cried at the end of each day when they had to leave the pool because 10 hours was just not enough time to play. The adults cried when they had to leave the pool because they were enjoying the swim up bar so much!Buffet: There was plenty of variety to choose from and the food was generally good quality given the number of guests the resort is trying to accommodate. We had a very fussy vegetarian and even she managed to eat a wide variety of food.Restaurants: We submitted our requests in advance of our stay and all of them were accommodated to the best of the restaurants availability. Collectively we ate at every restaurant except the Brazilian. All the restaurants had good reviews; but the guests from Vancouver who have some of the best sushi in Canada on their doorstep said the Japanese restaurant didn鈥檛 really wow them but guests from the UK really enjoyed it. Anytime a meal was not too the diner鈥檚 satisfaction; they were offered an immediate replacement without fuss or delay.Bars: we tended to get together as a group at the lobby bar on the Bavaro side on an evening until 11pm followed by the Karaoke bar in the Pueblo. The service in the lobby bar is pretty quick most of the time and the drinks were fine for an all inclusive. They were out of Bailey鈥檚 on the last night but apparently that鈥檚 because one of our guests drank it all! Everyone loved the Flamboyan bar at the Diamond pool and there is also a pool side waitress service.Beach: We all found the beach to be a little windy to spend all day there and the sea too choppy for real swimming but everyone did go there for a walk; to take pictures (fantastic to watch the sunrise around 7am); play beach football; jump around in the waves; etc. Resort Activities: Contrary to some reviews we read; people in our group who used the gym thought it was actually very good. There was quite a range of machines and you never had to wait for any equipment. The spa accommodated 10 massages within a day鈥檚 notice and everyone enjoyed them. The kid鈥檚 played mini-golf and also really liked the kids club because participants got a part in the Lion King production. The night time entertainment is great on some nights but leaves a little to be desired on others but you can see that the dancers and the animacion team work really hard to put on the productions. We all loved the nightclub disco 鈥?as long as you are prepared for a cheesy mix of dance tunes rather than an ultra cool lounge bar then we鈥檙e sure you鈥檒l have fun. There were some winners and some losers in our group when they went to the casino but everyone enjoyed the roulette; blackjack and the Texas hold鈥檈m table (house takes 5% of every pot).Out of resort activities: Most guests only stayed for one week and so they were happy to stay within the resort and 鈥渃hillax鈥? Five of the guys did golf at Punta Blanca next to the resort but despite having the entire course to themselves; they considered it very expensive as are most of the courses in the DR. It ended up being about $200 including club rental/ball purchase for course that would normally be about $50 in Canada. No alcohol was included or available outside of the clubhouse but they did provide ice buckets (for you to bring your own) and free soft drinks. One guest booked the Tropical Storm trip but ironically; it was cancelled due to the arrival of Tropical Storm Olga the day after our wedding.Shopping: Some of the group went to the Palma Real Shopping Village which sends a free shuttle to all the hotels. It was about a 30 minute ride away. Though there aren鈥檛 many shops they do have some nice clothes boutiques and a good cigar shop which is cheaper than the resort; and they also have a great wine bar (where we bought all of our wine for the wedding 鈥?try the Pinot Noir; it鈥檚 very good). Some people wandered along the beach to the local market and did some good haggling and others haggled in the Pueblo at the resort. The stall owners can be funny but sometimes aggressive-sellers so just keep walking or say no; if you feel uncomfortable. Most times we found they accepted 50-60% less than any price you are initially offered.Tipping: Most people in the group tipped the maid about $3 a day and left a note asking for extra beers; water; etc and the requests were always fulfilled. We also left dollar/pound store presents for kids along with a money tip. As for the bars and restaurants; in the UK and North America its tradition to tip for good service after you have received that service. In the DR some of our group felt like they were expected to tip in advance in order to get a great service; however the vast majority of the staff work very hard and are not visibly upset if you don鈥檛 tip them every time. We always left a tip in the a-la-carte restaurants but it was pretty much impossible in the buffet as there were so many staff helping you. We tipped the servers at the swim up bar at the start of each day and they were always super responsive whenever we needed a refill.Staff: with the exception of one report of a rude staff member on the Punta Cana side reception on the last day; the staff were very friendly and very responsive (though one of the guys in our group did say that he thought they male staff members in restaurants were not very responsive to female guests). We did not expect the staff to speak fluent English as we are in a Spanish speaking country but this can sometimes mean signing and drawing is needed to communicate! All of the staff in the Diamond club guest services and the wedding coordinating team spoke excellent English we found. Most of the staff at the general guest service and the animacion team spoke passable English; but the majority of the staff in the restaurants; the maids and grounds staff have limited understanding of other languages. Children: We were worried about travelling to the DR with a 10 month old baby but we wouldn鈥檛 be so concerned the next time around. Without exception the staff at the resort loved the babies/kids in our group and they were constantly being kissed; cuddled and tickled. Though this may not be the norm in some places and cultures it was here so go with the flow. None of the children in the group got sick (some of the adults had a funny tummy for a day or so but it was hard to tell if this was food or alcohol induced). There was plenty of shade by the pool and we took a paddling/wading pool with us filled it with water and placed it in the shade for the babies to play in. The 4 and 6 year old in our group had a fantastic holiday; and the 6 year old went on stage in a fashion show and had a minor role in the Lion King mini-musical which runs every Thursday.Check-out: some of our UK guests in our group were given beach towel cards even though they were upgraded to the Diamond club (through our wedding) and they were sent back to their rooms to find them. They were actually still in their welcome packs but they had never needed to use them as one of the perks of being in the Diamond club are that the maid brings new beach towels every night. This was the only issue at check out and unfortunately the guest services desk was quite rude and insistent that return of these cards was absolutely required before checkout.Hints and tips:鈥?If you are booking from Canada we recommend you get the Diamond/Hacienda club package as the pool is superior; you get an extra restaurant night and the Italian is fantastic for lunch and breakfast. 鈥?Only take US dollars and take lots of USD $1 bills for tipping鈥?Take dollar/pound store gifts (pencils; paper; make up; hair ties and clips; toothbrush; toothpaste; stickers; keychains/keyrings; candy/sweets) to leave as tips and to give out on any trips鈥?Take an old airmiles/store card to use to keep your air-con working while you are out of your room鈥?Take thermal cups to keep your poolside drinks cool鈥?Take laundry dryer sheets to put between your clothes so they don鈥檛 get a musty smell from all the humidity鈥?Take board games and cards 鈥?night time entertainment becomes limited if you are staying for 14 nights 鈥?Take English/Canadian snacks for those who must have them - chocolate and candy are very expensive in the lobby store鈥?Take lots more sunscreen than you think you will need and at least factor 30 鈥?even people who usually tan no problem seemed to burn very fast鈥?Don鈥檛 take a hairdryer; iron or beach towels as they are provided鈥?The baggage handlers at the airport are very pushy so just be firm but polite if you don鈥檛 want their help and they will let you pass鈥?The marble floors are very slippery at the resort particularly after it has rained so watch your footing鈥?Safe costs extra and is optional but recommended 鈥?we all paid $28 per week but based on reviews we have read this varies from $25-35USD per week. As an all inclusive this should be included in the cost but it isn鈥檛鈥?Ask for the 鈥渋nclusive鈥?premium brands (Johnnie Walker; Brugal; Smirnoff; Tanquery) as they do have them and usually there is no extra charge; but they usually bring the unbranded drinks unless you specifically ask鈥?You have to sign for drinks in pueblo principe and disco but they will not be a charged to your room 鈥?it鈥檚 for control? You do however have to pay for drinks at the casino as this is run by a private company鈥?You can buy wine outside the resort and take into the restaurants with you or they do have decent bottles to buy in the a-la-carte鈥檚鈥?Book all your a-la-carte reservations as soon as you get there (or e-mail in advance to make bookings). Look at buffet themes and choose a la carte nights based on that. Garden Grill and Italian are hardest to get reservations for as there is only one of each. 鈥?Consider booking a-la-carte reservations for days you are not doing excursions in case you get back late and miss reservations. 鈥?You can also try to get a-la-carte reservations by turning up and asking if there is any space 鈥?a $5 bill to the hostess might just help!鈥?Walk onto the beach and turn left for the Las Olas snack bar 鈥?it鈥檚 much better than the Piscis main snack bar by the pool and much quieter鈥?Eat breakfast in the Mexican or the Seafood restaurant 鈥?they are much quieter and have fresher food than the main buffet but the selection is more limited. You can鈥檛 wear a bathing suit 鈥?you need shorts and t-shirt鈥?For watersports take out the insurance at $20 p/wk as besides covering damage to the boat or other boats it also enables you to book the Catamaran/Pedalos etc. up to a week in advance which otherwise you can only do daily. 鈥?Though water-sports are free some require you to do a 鈥榣esson鈥?before you can use the equipment and the lesson costs $25 USD e.g. catamarans鈥?There are a lot of swings and slides located inside the kids club but none outside of the club鈥?Bike rental is available near the tennis courts鈥?Bulletin board by the main pool tells you what is going on each day鈥?On departure at the airport get one person to get in line for the check in while the other gets the bags off the bus as it takes a long time to check in鈥?On the return flight at the airport walk past the pizza shop and into the new section (zone 2) of the airport which is air conditioned while waiting for return flightWe hope this review helps convince you that you absolutely chose the right resort to vacation in. Have a great time.
478252,kingawysocki,12/15/2007,Bahia Princpie Ambar - AMAZING!! Pool area
478252,MapleG,12/15/2007,Enjoyed the visit This was our 2nd visit to the DR in a 12 month period; and the first at this resort.Without repeating what others have written here; I will give the following scores out of 5.Rooms - 4.5 out of 5Grounds 5 out of 5Entertainment -4.5 out of 5Beach 5 out of 5Staff 5 out of 5Pools 4.5 out of 5-they are beautiful; but for some reason the water temp is a little too cool. I also wish they would stay open past 6pm (at least 1 of them)Value for money 4.5 out of 5Food--this is the one area that disappointed; and I am comparing this specifically to the Iberostar chain. If you read carefully the other posts many will say that if you can't find something you like at the buffet; then you must be too fussy. I will say I am not fussy; and I can and do eat many varieties of food. The problem was not whether or not I could find something I would like---I could. The problem was the quality of the food--it reminded me of those all you can eat cheap buffets with names like Country Kitchen or like food in University Residences. The variety was there--the quality was not. Quite frankly a Ponderosa Steakhouse buffet is just as good . A pasta bar and omelette bar is nice; but it does not override the previous concerns. Just 2 comparison points to illustrate this. Cheese Selection-3 varieties at Bahia. The Iberostar had a minimum of 8. Desserts-most at Bahia were of a decidely low quality standard--jello based; cheap cakes etc. Nothing of substantial quality.I would recommend they add a drink station so you can get your own soft drink; beer or similar. The waiters were relatively slow to come over and offer wine; soft drink etc. Plus strangely enough getting a coffee (other than at breakfast) was not really possible. Apparently the coffee comes from the bar area. How much easier would it be if they just had a coffee station.The 3 a la cartes we visited were the Brazilian; French and Japanese. They were a nice change from the buffet; but again quality was not the best. For example a ginger cake at the Japanese was actually a cupcake. The Brazilian desserts were again unremarkable. Funnily enough on the first day we were told reservations were impossible for the steakhouse--the entire week was unavailable.Would I recommend--yes; with the one caveat about the food. I quality. Would I go back-no; but that is only because I am not a repeat visitor to any resort...I like to try new resort each time.
478252,jamurray49,12/14/2007,Absolutely amazing time! The BEST!!!! Departure:We flew West Jet out of Ottawa and were in Punta Cana from December 1 to 8; 2007.Reception:We were greeted by the most wonderful people on earth. The Dominicans are such beautiful; happy people. We were a group of women on a Girls Getaway. We had been to the resort on previous occasions; and we were treated like queens.We were upgraded to VIP and stayed in Building #62. There was also no charge for our safes.Rooms:We were minutes from the beach. The rooms were spacious and had lots of cupboard space and drawers were sufficient. There was some water staining and flaking on the ceiling of the living area. I think this must have been from Tropical Storm Noel.My sister and I were in a corner unit which had a bigger room and bigger balcony. We also had an adjoining door and our aunt and cousin were right next door. Our other 2 aunts were in the same building.Having adjoining rooms was a lot of fun. We didn鈥檛 spend much time in the rooms 鈥?only to shower and sleep!Buffets:The Main buffet was by far the best for breakfast. As most of you know; having the Omlette station is a real bonus. There was so much food to choose from. I still can鈥檛 believe that other reviewers complained about the food. There is a problem with keeping some of the food hot; but it never bothered us.The wait-staff were attentive and we never had to wait for a cup of fresh coffee or a drink order or for our plates to be cleared away. It was done immediately.The buffet at the beach was good as well. It didn鈥檛 have the variety of the Main buffet; but if we were too lazy to jump on the train; we always filled our bellies with no problems.A la Cartes:We enjoyed all the a la cartes we ate at. We were at the Japanese; the Italian; The Garden Grill; and the Gourmet (Caf茅 de Paris). Our favourite was the Gourmet. We enjoyed the filet mignons. Our steaks were always cooked to perfection. We found the portion to be ample; and managed to squeeze in a dessert every time. Of course; service was impeccable.Drinks:As mentioned in other reviews; the Lobby Bar was by far the best bar. The Beach bar was great for filling up our Bubba mugs. We drank mostly Strawberry Daquiris; Pina Coladas; Banana Mamas; etc. and enjoyed every one. We did have Spanish Coffee at the Lobby Bar a few nights and it was pretty good. They also serve you at the Lobby Bar; and; after sitting all day in the sun; drinking and eating; the last thing you want to do is to have to get up and get your own drink!!!!Beach:The beach was great. There was some debris; probably from Tropical Storm Noel. We did pick up some glass from the sand; so we had to be very careful walking. Strolling along the beach and water was no problem.Grounds:As usual; the grounds were impeccable. So much lush greenery and beautiful flowers. Activities:We did not do any activities. This was strictly a relaxation vacation; at the beach; with nothing else to do except watch the waves roll in.Conclusion:I would highly recommend this resort to anyone. We have been to the Dominican Republic 12 times and this resort four times. We will definitely be returning. I don鈥檛 understand the negative reviews that the GBP has been receiving. We never had a language problem 鈥?the Reception staff spoke perfect English and the wait staff spoke perfect English. They were kind enough to give us some Spanish lessons along the way.If you are going to the GBP in the near future; go with peace of mind. You will absolutely love it.
478252,pellnag,12/13/2007,beautiful resort had lots of fun! foodThe food was alright. You've got to remember that it's buffets. A buffet is never great wherever you go; even in 5 star restaurants right here in canada or the states. There is a wide variety and themes every night (italian; american; gala etc...). We went to the gourmet restaurant (had filet mignon was excellent; do not order the souffl茅 for dessert; it's a brownie. The other desserts are excellent though) ;the italian (was o.k.) and the japanese (was good except for the desserts-cupcakes with sauce or fried ice cream- fried in same oil as main courses); the decor is magnificient and the service impeccable. Don't be afraid to eat the food even if it's lukewarm (as is sometimes)you will not get sick. We didn't and ate everthing even the hot dogs on the beach. I saw them replace food with new batches so they follow guidelines.BUGSWelcome to paradise! During our whole trip saw 5 mosquitos (was bitten once-take your malaria tablets if your paranoid like me or have your kids take them); a few flies (amazing considering all the food that is served outdoors). Since it is very humid you will see a few millepedes on walkways and in your room- if you're on the first floor. Remember though you don't attain bug free paradise without lots of pesticide. Would not want to stay there too long.BEACHfabulous beach! The water is blue and the waves are not strong (if you like 'em like that) . For some unknown reason there is no seaweed if you swim on the bavaro side (where the volleyball net is). Lots of chairs and places in the shade. If you're concerned about boobs on the beach (for your kids); didn't see much ( ratio of 1 per 50). The interesting thing was that 9 out 10 going topless were over 50yrs old-go figure! SERVICENever seen better service in my life! Everyone is polite; smiling and will get you what you need in a flash. The maids and some of the people clearing dishes speak only spanish but if you ask them something they actually go get someone who speaks english.ENTERTAINMENTThe shows are alright. They dance really well! Contrary to everybody else didn't like the Michael Jackson show the best (no one can really compare to the original). The entertainment at the beach/pool was fun. Warm up exercises; dance lessons; bingo; sexy guy competitions etc... . It's fun if you participate!DECOR AND CLEANLINESSThe resort is beautiful. The decor is fabulous. Decor is very important to me -don't like to see anything shabby; this place did not dissapoint. As for the cleanliness everything is spotless even the beach (they clean the glasses and cigarette butts off the beach- so if you smoke please feel sorry for the guy who cleans and put your butts in the garbage before you leave).DRINKSBest drinks are at the lobby bar. They serve you in real glasses(they serve plastic on the beach-for obvious reasons) and the drinks are not watered down (as is the case at the beach/pool-again for obvious reasons). The wine is o.k. no different than the house wine you'd order over here.FUNFun is what you make of it. If you have a crappy vacation don't blame the resort. I had a fabulous time and the resort did it's part by meeting our expectations.
478252,K20A2,12/11/2007,Awesome resort! Internet Cafe and Buffet near the beach
478252,adebelov1,12/10/2007,Don't Stay At This Hotel DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL! The staff is horrible and this is complete scam. Below is what happened to me:11/24 - booked this hotel 11/25 - money withdrawn for 2 week stay11/30 - tried to get another room; but was told that hotel is overbooked; however my room is confirmed and hotel is waiting for my arrival12/01 - provided hotel with my flight information 12/05 - received phone call that hotel is overbooked and my reservation is no longer true. 12/06 - my money is returned. The hotel staff pretends to be clueless about what happened. My vacation is ruined; I have my flights; my whole family is traveling to this destination; however I do not have a hotel room because of GRAN BAHIA PRINCIPE.DO NOT STAY AT THIS PROPERTY; the hotel management is horrible!
478252,coolcanada,12/10/2007,Kids will love it here Second time in two years to Punta CanaJust returned from Gran Bahia and was very happy with our stay but we have stayed at the Paradisus in Punta Cana and am basing my comparison on th at resort.We have an 8 and 5 year oldNow; we were extremely happy with the Bahia but it is not a 5 star resort.We stayed in the diamond club which offered private check in; private pool; beach towels to the room etc. Nice perk; but you can go with out. the private pool is very very quiet; no activities; dull actually. The benefit was private restaurant for b/f and lunch; quite nice. The rooms are average; neat clean ; well kept. you have to pay for the room safe which i found odd as you are paying a good buck and they penny pinch you for $40. Room safe was included at the paradisus.B/f and lunch buffet in the main restaurant; simply awsome; HUGE selection; dont bother with the snack bar by the pool.Al'carte resaturants; extremely disappointing; portions were very small and only one choice from each catagory. wine by the glass only; unless you wanted to purchase a bottle. Dont get me wrong; the food was excellent; but this is supposed to be all inclusive. French; mexican were the best for us. Paradisus you could order 12 of the same entree and they were happy to accomadate; and wine by the bottle to your table. Gran Bahia; one entree; one appetizer. Of the nine al'cartes at the paradisus; you had to reserve only 3; all other six plus the buffet were walk in. You could eat at 6 different al'cartes in one night. Gran Bahia we were only allowed 4 al'cartes. Thumbs way up to paradisus. Service at this resort was the best; kind and friendly people; better service at th Bahia; by far. The beach bar was great; no waiters on the beach like the Paradisus; no big deal. No room service; only two cans of beer in the mini fridge per day ; unless you wanted to pay for extra beer. that was annoying. Paradisus was alcohol to the room; beer; bottles of wine; whatever; all included. We always ordered cheese and wine before dinner at the paradisus (to our room) which was awsome. It was nice to get dressed up and chill with a glass of wine on the balcony at the paradisus but were disappointed that we werent offered the same at the bahiaThe pool was good; shallow entry for babies and very young kids; attached 18 inch deep pool for kids to frolic in; very nice. Lots of action by the pool; can get a little tedious by the end of the week; but the pool bar was at the extreme other end of the pool. if you look at pics of the pool; it is in three sections; the section with the swim up bar is at the east end of the pool which is closed off from the main and west end of the pool; ???? no big deal for us; but may be for you. The pool at the paradisus was huge and tropical; huge palm trees and lush. paradisus pool was better for us.Didnt use the kids club at all; Would you leave your children in a strange country with strange people? I think notBeaches were both awsome; we walked down by the Riu Palace which was next door; seemed like dullsville. Bahia had music dancing etc it was awsomeShuttle service was unbelieveable; a tram every two minutesall in all it was a great vacation; but I have stayed with sol melia (paradisus) and they are truely a 5 star chain. Now if you have gone 3-4 star and then come here to the bahia; it seems like wow 5 star; its really not; its a 4; maybe a 4 +but it does lack in important areas to deem it a true 5 star. For the money I will spend the extra to stay with Sol Melia as they make the vacation truely unbelievable.I am not trying to come accross as a high roller cause I am not; but I want and need value for my money and have tried to be as objective as possibleWould I come again; yes (for around $3000-3500 for my family of four); would my expectations be as high; no wayAgain it is a great place; but it is not all the hypeIF YOU HAVE KIDS; GO HERE; THEY WILL LOVE ITHope this helped and go enjoy Mucho gusto
478252,KLPOttawa,12/09/2007,Fabulous Resort Rare Water Tornado
478252,16shelley,12/08/2007,good times we stayed in the club premier ; which is a private section of this huge resort. It was great because we could get away from the big crowds; it has its own pool area with daily activities and own buffet and snack resturants which means no wait times and nice and quiet. you still get access to all the other main restrurants and bars and pools; but it was nice to come back to our area when we wanted a litttle more quiet time. The people in the dominican are the best; so if you have never been here; you will be suprised on how happy they are. Tip them well; they deserve every penny. Entertainment at night; not really for children though. so if you have children ages 1-12 with you I would skip it. The food was good as it can get at another country; enjoy it not many people even get the chance to travel. so why complain.Shopping was available on site; lots of shops. We also found out the last day of our trip that you can take a water taxi from the beach in front of fhe resort to a shopping village; about $ 7 per person with return. LOOK for the boats that have banana boats; or tubes they are the ones that will take you. Great shoppiing deals there; and fun ride !HAVE FUN AND ENJOY THE AMAZING WEATHER!!!
478252,Danielle73,12/07/2007,Incredible weather; food; and overall holiday experience. We just got home from this incredible resort and I thought I would write a review; as it was important to me to read the reviews before we went. The four of us (hubby; myself and kids; 11 8) stayed Nov. 29-Dec. 6/07. The food was fabulous.(trust me; we went to Mexico last year (Grand Oasis) and have never had such bad food) The buffet had numerous choices available being club diamond we also had access to the Italian restaurant for breakfast and lunch; as well as four alacarte choices. We tried the Cafe de Paris; Brazilian; Italian and Le Gourmet restaurants. Cafe de Paris and Le Gourmet are virtually the same; including menu if I had to choose one it would be Le Gourmet (a little more fancy). Brazilian was located outside which made for an interesting dinner as it was EXTREMELY windy the night we went.Italian was pretty good too; I had the lasagna.Actually some of my favorite meals were from the main buffet (bavaro side).Pool- was great; spent most of our time here with the kids; we were always able to find somewhere on a beach chair in the sun.Ocean-clean white soft sand; numerous beach chairs and palapas;always really wavy so we didn't snorkel at the resort.Excursion- We did the Carribean Festival ($79 Adults $39 Kids) It was fun; about 30-40 min. snorkeling; then off to the nurse shark area to snorkel with the sharks and finally the sting ray interaction area; where you can touch and eventually hold them while the photographer takes your picture ($10) to buy them when your done. Weather-had a couple nights of rain; but it was late and we were already in our room for the night. Had hot sunny weather the entire week about 29 or higher each day. Only had a couple afternoon showers; but they literally last for only a few minutes and the sun comes out again.Staff-So friendly; and accomodating; really good with kids; very pleasant people.Tipping-We tipped at the alacarte's and a couple times at the main buffet. We tipped for pool side drink service and at the swim up bar.We tipped our maid $3/day and $5 the last day. The room was always very clean with new towel creations each day; lots of fresh towels and bottled water. They don't expect; or require tips; and actually the service was the same whether we tipped or didn't tip; but do tip well; they work so hard.Extras-Daughter had her hair braided for $50; we had it done at the Pueblo market area in one of the shops as the pool side braiding wanted $69; or more. Also; do barter with the market vendors; or just get souveniers at the stores at the pueblo; because they start out with crazy prices like $45 for cheap necklaces that we eventually paid $10 for. Hamburger restaurant at the Pueblo is quite good; (opens after 10:00pm;included in all inclusive price).Gym- Visited on 3 occasions; watch the equipment; most is in pretty rough shape; use the first treadmill closest to the entrance and the one and only eliptical; or the bikes; as the other treadmills are broken (loose belts; or don't go fast enough) good free weight area; with two benches; a decline ab bench and a few universal machines available.Busses-Yes this resort is huge; (two resorts in one); but we never waited longer than 2-3min for a bus. They go all over the resort quickly; good walking paths if you happen to miss the bus; or wait a few minutes longer for the next one.That's all I can think of; I would not hesitate to return to this resort; we had an excellent time. Enjoy!!
478252,JustBeachyNovember,12/07/2007,Loved it...Wish I was still there! Japanese Restaurant
478252,getmetothesun,12/07/2007,Paradise!! Shipwreck
478252,bestfunescapescom,12/07/2007,WOW! My husband and I were a little nervous because traveling from the airport to get to the resort there was a lot of construction; a lot of poverty; and it look like a hurrican or war had happened in some parts; but when we got to the resort...It was beautiful. They have about 5 or six pools. Places to eats all around. There was a great variety of food at the buffets. The spa was great. We enjoyed every minute of our vacation. We were treated like royalty. We especially enjoyed the shows at night. After 6 days we came back to the States singing the Bahia Principe theme song and doing the dance. I will never forget this experience and I wish that I was there right now!
478252,millbank7,12/07/2007,Great Time!!! Just returned from The Bahia Dec 7th and Had a fantastic time...The Hotel was great the alla carts were awsome.Hotel was immaculate there was always somone cleaning..Gardens were gorgeousI would highly recommend this Hotel... For the Price you pay at this resort There is no way you should be complaining about anything..We did the Diamond club.. It was nice but not nessicary.. we heard that if you are not happy with something when you check in they will usually upgrade you to Diamond club anyway.. So Save your money and try for the upgrade..Beachs here must be the best around .. You can walk for miles and miles and feel safe..One small piont .. I like to Snorkel on the beach and the water was just too rough for that..Don't think twice about going here ..
478252,bahialover1,12/06/2007,Immaculate Paradise Stayed from November 24 to December 2;2007 and had a fantastic time. A good mix of party crowd and scenic serenity. Nice a'la'carte and decent buffet. Beach was beautiful and activities were pretty good too. Room very nice and spacious however bed was a little hard and pillows a bit flat. Notes and tips help for maid if you want extra beer and water. Overall very nice pools and swim-up bars. Great shopping within resort but be prepared to barter if you shop outside the stores. Staff was very friendly and nightly shows were entertaining. Ok I'm taking over for my hubby now as he seems to think the above paragraph is a very helpful review!!Not sure if it worth upgrading as it didn't seem to make a huge difference; for example - even though our towels (for the pool) were to be placed in our room when the room was cleaned; this only happened one day. We were able to make two additional a la carte reservations however; and the Diamond Club also includes 20 minutes of free internet use daily. Diamond Club also includes access to a private pool which we loved on those mornings we weren't feeling so well! The difference in the room and service between the Diamond Club and other guests was minimal; therefore it would depend on whether an additionl night's reservation ;private pool; and internet access are worth the additional cost. We upgraded when we arrived and for a week it cost us $200. We booked through Sunwing and had a orientation on our first morning. This we found was really useful. Krisha and Ryan went out of there way to help us with questions; offer suggestions when bartering with the locals and recommended the Marinarium day excursion. The Marimarium was great; just a half day which was nice and the snorkeling; swimming with rays and sharks was really fun.A lot of people have written the resort is too big for their liking. I found the resort to be large but not overwheling. We ran in to the same people over and over again and I don't know that would happen if the resort was as huge as people claim. The trolley service was great and they ran all the time; if you miss one another one will be right around the corner. It is only about a 10 minute walk from the beach to the main lobby and the walk really lovely and worth the time. It's important to remeber the resort is split down the middle and is a mirror image of itself. The Punta Cana side has more rooms but a smaller lobby and the Bavaro side has less rooms and a large lobby. Each side has a Japanese and French retaurant; while there are only one of some of the other restaurants. Just use the map - it is useful and easy to read. Try to have all of your money exchanged before you get there. US works best. We had a lot of DR Pesos and tried to get the hotel staff to exchange it to US and they wouldn't. then some shady bellboys asked my husband and our friend to step into the bathroom and offered them a private deal at a terrible rate. Also some of the hotel's shops claimed not to have change after we bought items. Lesson: take a lot of singles so that you lose $.30 rather than $4.30.Remeber to save $20 US each (cash 0 they will not accept credit or debit) for the tourisim tax at the airport for the way home and keep your suitcase BELOW weight. We were overweight when we left Calgary and didn't think anything of it. When it was time to go; you will be charged $10 US for every Kilo you are over. For a couple you are allowed 40 kilos (total) or your checked bags and 10 kilos (total) for carry on items. We had to pay $50. Someone else had to pay $70. All in all we had such a great time. Beach was so beautiful. Volleyball and beach aerobics were great. Lots of topless women which made the men either really happy or really grossed out! Buffet was good in the lobby and also at the beach. Make it to the buffet in the lobby for breakfst before 10:30 or you're s.o.l. until 12:30; however the beacj buffet is always open. Service was fantastic and everyone had a great time. Bahia has many resorts all over the world and we would definitly go back to either Punta Cana or another one of their resorts. Enjoy your stay!
478252,torontoglobetraveler,12/05/2007,not impressed The beach
478252,Yain,12/05/2007,Okay but not great We stayed at the Bahia Principe Punta Cana at the end of November. This is a huge resort - bigger than I thought it would be; but it is beautiful. The rooms are nice; the pool is huge and the beach is beautiful. We upgraded to the Royal Golden package but I don't really think it was worth it. It was nice to be closer to the beach but our room faced the outside of the resort so it seemed a bit isolated. We were travelling with an 18 month old child which made the trip a bit more challenging at times. My main problem with this resort was the food and I'm not usually very picky. I always found something to eat but I found the buffets really tiring; it seemed like the same thing over and over - especially for lunch. Since we had the Royal Golden package we were entitled to 4 a la carte dinners; however we only got 2 and we had to fight for that. Since we were travelling with a child; we wanted early meal times. We got to the resort on Saturday afternoon and tried to arrange meals on Sunday morning. They told us there was nothing left; the only spots available were at 8:30pm (which doesn't work with a small child). My husband complained to our tour operater - Air Transat but they didn't do anything and they didn't seem to care. The next morning he complained to the hotel again and we got 2 a la cartes for 6:30. We met people who booked the same day and they had no issues; they got early bookings! We also met people who were not Golden club who had 5 a la cartes. When we went for our a la cartes the restaurants were not full at all - weird. Anyway it was disappointing to have to fight for something we were entitled to.They people who worked at the resort were very friendly for the most part and very good with my son. There was definitely a language barrier though. Our toilet backed up 3 times and we had problems trying to get someone to deal with it.Overall a nice resort but I don't think it is worthy of a 5 star rating. We wouldn't go back.
478252,bramalea,12/04/2007,Wedding at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana Wedding Gazebo - Set up for 54
478252,tljungha,12/03/2007,Fantastic Pool side at the main ocean side pool. That is the swim-up bar.
478252,jt7dreamz,12/03/2007,Absolutely perfect We spent 4 days at the GBP-Punta Cana and here's what we thought:Airport Arrival: We booked our trip through Travelocity so we took a cab. $33 bucks right to the hotel. 30 minutes. Zero Stress. Check-in- Quick and easy. Give you a fruit punch welcome drink. We paid for the safe $5 bucks a day or something small like that and had NO problems with anythnig at all. We made our reservations asap and booked the bbq restaurant (pls see below)Room: Perfectly clean (and ready when we chkd in at 230 pm). The bathroom is beautiful (all marble) great shower; good water pressure; large vanity. The bed was very comfortable and the room was spacious. No complaints whatsoever. Maid service- was great. We left her a few bucks a day and left a note to stack the fridge w diet soda and water and it was done no problem. Restaurants- Now I read ALL the reviews for the past yr so I was a bit nervous. Food was great. I grew up in the Dom Rep so I am a bit biased but the Dominican food was excellent. Even my picky eater bf found something to eat at ALL meals. There was a variety. We ate in the main lobby restaurant the most (just becuase it had the most selection). We ate snacks by the pool bar (mainly salad and french fries!) and we ate at the BBQ place which was quite good. Drinks- couldnt be easier. We tipped and got a few at a time. In terms of the lobby bar it was the best. Tip Ramon and you'll get great service. We had a blast. Casino- kinda cheesey but we won on blackjack so we were happy. Drinks are not included here. (we're not sure why). Pool- I read countless reviews about how people couldnt get chairs etc. Well I don't get it. We didnt upgrade to the Diamond club or any other for that matter and had NO problems at all. I didn't think the upgrade was worth it AT ALL.Beach- absolutely gorgeous. was a bit windy when we went but it was stormy (still sunny and nice- rains a bit but its 15 min so don't get down about it). the chairs were reserved early. i wake up early so by 9 i had ours and there were plenty more. the premium chairs (meaning the ones w umbrellas etc) would be taken by say 10 but there are ALWAYS chairs from what i could tell. Entertainment- My bf and i entertained ourselves with walks; talks; casino etc. we weren't lokoing for nightlife so we didnt have a problem. There is a disco (we didnt even walk in); shows (which we didnt see) and pueblo principe which has shops etc (not too much variety). outside the resort- since we were there for such a short pd we didnt venture. I know there is a town and suggest buying rum and presents BEFORE the airport (whcih is a complete tourist trap (pls see below). Chk-out- Completely uneventful in a good way. Took 3 minutes. Airport (at Punta Cana)- CRAP. Spent $17 on two pieces of pizza and 2 bottled waters. I live in NYC and wouldnt pay this at JFK. Rum is overpriced- duty free is a crock; BUY BUY BUY BEFORE you get here. Also double chk your flights. ours was 4 hrs delays (weather/snow in NYC/Chicago). I would 100% recommend this to others and 100% would come here again.
478252,nataliewyatt,12/02/2007,Highly Reccommended We had a vow renewal ceremony there and it was amazing!! The staff were unbelievably helpful; and knowledgeable. They all spoke atlease 3 languages - English; Spanish and French. Easy to get around in. Great food. Very Clean. Plethora of options for excursions. If i was to say something negative it would be that our room chambermaid stole / threw out some of my personal toiletries that were left out on the TV dresser. I'm not sure if it's a cultural expectation where they think gifts are left out for them....?? Or if it was theivary. Anyways it's minor and can all be replaced. Family friendly. lots of children/young families . you should go!
478252,finnyHamilton,12/01/2007,great service Just spent a week at this resort Nov. 23 through 30; 2007. This resort has truly great service. Overall; great rooms; beautiful grounds; excellent pools and beautiful beach. The resort is large and takes a little while to find where everything is. I found the food to be fairly good at the buffets; was hit and miss though. The snack bars I found were not very good; poor quality and not very good selection. I found the ala cartes to be fairly good; especially the gourmet restaraunt. I found the premaid drinks at the bar were very sweet; almost to a sickening point. The beer was fine. The lobby bar made some good drinks; try the mohito's.The grounds are immaculate; the service is great; best I've had yet; compared to Riu's or Palladiums. Other than the food issues; drinks I could manage with; this resort is well worth trying. Would recommend.
478252,TimminsOntario,11/30/2007,Wonderfull resort Eddy and Celine Nov 15 to 22/07 Ontario Everything at this resort is a positive ; great food; great service and staff .These people go out of their way to please their guests.Of course the best beach ever ;white sand for miles and miles.You can walk the beach forever . The grounds are imaculate and the rooms are top notch . The one thing i was disapointed in was that i saw very few people giving tips to these wonderful hard working people.We set a budget of $15 dollars a day for tipping ; i sure if you can afford the trip a little extra is not going to break the bank. We would and will return to this resort.
478252,harvey16,11/28/2007,Great Resort! Wonderful People! The Beach
478252,CTPAHHIK,11/28/2007,Spend your money elsewhere A great looking hotel with excellent beaches and amenities; complemented by rude and incompetent staff; disgusting food; cheap and lousy drinks and inadequate service. We had a group of 21 people stay at this hotel. Upon arrival; we were greeted by hotel staff who managed to unload our luggage and leave it in the rain. The front desk attendants did not have a clue as to what they were doing and managed to give everyone incorrect room assignments. Many members of our group were young adults who requested rooms with two beds; however; every single room we were assigned had a king size bed. Also; several of the people in the group were elderly; and despite the fact that our travel agent requested first-floor rooms for them; they were inconveniently assigned rooms on the third floor. The resort; meanwhile; does not have elevators. It took us another 3 hours of arguing to get all room assignments corrected for the group; and as a result; all of the rooms were scattered throughout the resort premises; making it difficult to stay as a group.After being assigned rooms; several of our group members had to endure waiting for an hour until their maid cleaned their room. This should have been done prior to the handing out of room keys as it is the customary assumption that once the room key is given to the occupant; the room should be ready for habitation. Other group members鈥?rooms had wet floors; causing one of the people to slip and fall; hitting his back; head and arm. Upon filing of an official report with the hotel; we did not hear from any management; and were in fact told that management was too busy to address the injury.On the first night; the entire hotel was without air conditioning; making rooms feel like saunas because of the humidity and the heat. The air conditioning was fixed on the second day of our stay; however; no apologies were offered to us for this horrible inconvenience. Eating choices were very limited at best. All buffets had the same food options and I can鈥檛 qualify any of these items even as mediocre 鈥?just plain crap. Badly prepared meat; no fruits; liquid ice cream; etc. Soft drinks are handed out by staff only; making the wait for a simple coca cola upwards of a half hour. We visited three restaurants Italian; Japanese and French. Italian venue was so amazing that we decided to hit buffet afterwards. Japanese had a tolerable hibachi-style show with decent food. The service was superior to that of any other place we visited until then. The restaurant highlight was the fact that they had sake. On the third try (French); our group finished a bottle of vodka before they served us; so food did not taste that bad. Hint: The only way to enjoy food in this hotel is to get drunk beforehand (Strongly recommend to stock up in duty-free before boarding as hotel lacks anything even remotely drinkable). I have to agree beach is excellent. Sand; water; weather 鈥?everything. The pools were nice. The club was okay on the first night; however; arriving there on the second and third nights; and hearing the same exact music and CD playing got annoying very quickly. Since there were no other entertainment options other than the club; our group could basically recite all the words to every song by day four of our stay.
478252,travel2dive,11/27/2007,Great time Our family (2 girls 4 7) split our 2-week vacation between the 2 top-rated all inclusive hotels for families in Punta Cana; the Sunscape The Beach and the Gran Bahia.The Gran Bahia is located on the Bavaro beach which is MUCH nicer than Uvero Alto where the Sunscape is.I did some scuba diving with ScubaCaribe right out of the hotel but the surf was too strong and they canceled 2 days.When we were allowed to get out the dives were nice but unimpressive. I took the Catalina island dives which are off of La Romana on the Carribean side and it was much better. It's a day trip for 2 dives though. The diving staff was very professional.I still prefer Cancun/Cozumel in Mexico for diving.Overall we liked the food and drinks slightly more at the Sunscape; except for the house wine which was good. The french restaurant was really nice. I also loved the fried ice-cream at the Japanese.At the buffet we always had to hunt down the waiters to bring us drinks. They worked hard; but it seemed like there weren't enough of them.The best part of the hotel were the rooms and grounds. They were amazing. The best we've had in our All Inclusive trips. Nearly twice the size of the rooms at the Sunscape and in tip-top condition.The maid worked like crazy and left it spotless and nicely decorated.The shuttle to go from the lobby to the beach was much needed and very frequent. We never waited more than 2 minutes.Our girls loved the evening entertainment. The kids club was nice and had ice-cream and clown parties but opened only from 9 to 5; compared to 9-10 in the Sunscape.Overall it was a great vacation. I can't wait to try their other hotel in Tulum Mexico.
478252,Tanda2001,11/27/2007,No Go!!!!!!!! No Wedding There!!!! I was so disappointed with my stay at the Gran Bahia that I would strongly advise any travellers considering it to think again. Because me and my husband decided to get married in the Dominican I did research for 13 months before the wedding; read the reviews and made sure we were 110% ready and organized when we got there. Unfortunately my organization and thoroughness did nothing. When we arrived at the Bahia we were blown away by the sheer size of this resort. It is HUGE. We had a bottle of Rum; and a Fruit basket along with 2 T-Shirts and 2 Ball caps waiting for us in the room as a wedding present from the resort. As we started to meet up with the 39 other people that joined us we all took tours of each others rooms. Me and my Husband had the smallest room out of the whole party. (Not a big deal considering your never in your room) but you would think that the Bride and Groom would get a little more? We then noticed that the Air-Conditioning was not working. After speaking to the front desk they said it was the whole resort. We had friends in another section of the resort who had AC upon arrival??? So why would they lie? After 2 days of no Air Conditioning a girl that came with us with her 15 month old baby called the front desk and told them she had a baby in the room; when is the AC going to be fixed? Literally 3 minutes later we all had AC? That was very strange. We received a letter from the wedding coordinator Janette telling us to meet her at 10:30 on the Sunday. Well the wedding was set for the next day at 2pm. We went on Sunday to meet Janette; and we ended up with a lady named Mage. Janette was to busy planning other weddings. Mage was very nice; great English and just genuinely sweet. The first thing we were told was that our ceremony was going to be moved from 2pm to noon. We said no; we had reserved the 2pm time 13 months ago. Mage ran to confirm and we got a 3pm time instead.We picked everything we wanted; 4 bouquets; 4 boutonni猫res (Which was a separate charge!!); a square cake; a projector; a photographer; arranged to have place cards at the table stating where the family would sit etc鈥?br/>The day of the wedding myself and my 3 bridesmaids were getting our hair done at the SPA. I was told by Mage that a bus would come pick us up at our room鈥檚 t 11:20. The bus never showed!!! We had to scramble down to the spa to make sure we got there on time! Ok so no problems! Ramona who did our hair is FABULOUS!!!! I highly recommend her! When it was time to do the ceremony Mage came to the door with a guy named Danny to deliver our bouquets. They were short a bouquet!! They finished delivering the boutonni猫res to the guys; and she said we will get it fixed. By now it is 3pm. 35 minutes later Mage and Danny come back with a 鈥渕ake shift鈥?bouquet that did not match the others. Ok I am thinking; no worries!! I am getting married today!!! I then find out that the boutonni猫res are too heavy for the guy鈥檚 shirts!!! Why did no one mention that to us???FINALLY on our way to the ceremony; our poor guests sitting in the heat waiting for over an hour for the ceremony to start!! The driver took us girls the back way; through sprinklers and driving like a mad man!!! We all almost fell out of the cart and we all got sprayed by the sprinklers!!!!! We had asked MANY times that 鈥淰ow Renewal鈥?Not be mentioned a whole bunch through the ceremony. 10 times in a 10 minute ceremony 鈥淒anny鈥?Yes the bus driver married us; mentioned it. We get through the ceremony and get all the pictures and items finished. That went very smooth. The photographer was just great!!Reception time was supposed to be 6:30 at the Italian A La Carte. We go for 6:30 and they are just starting to set it up. At 7:15 they finally had the terrace set up for us. No printed menus; no place settings. The group was not allowed to go into the restaurant until the workers say myself and my husband. As we were walking up we got bombarded by staff asking about our other A La Carte reservations? (Was this really the time???) After speaking with them for 10 minutes we finally managed to get in to start enjoying our reception! The waiters were great!!! So funny!!! About 10 minutes into the reception we were approached by Mage. She had told me 鈥淵ou are getting a round cake鈥?I told her that I thought we ordered a square cake? She said you did; but we made a mistake so you get a round cake. My Husband at this point was so upset. Not only had there been so many problems; but the fact that the staff would not speak to him about anything; only me and he could see I was clearly upset. He pulled her aside. I do not know what he said to them; he still has not told me within 30 minutes we had our square cake. During the whole speeches the staff were loud; talking; yelling at each other from across the room singing; my guests were very upset. Near the end of the night Mage came up to me and said you don鈥檛 get your breakfast in bed in the morning??? Apparently because we did a vow renewal we were not entitled to it. My husband proceeded to remind them that this was part of our package and we will get breakfast in bed. Needless to say if the setting for the wedding was not so beautiful I am sure we would have had a worse time. Yes these things seem like small problems to a lot of people; but considering how rude Janette was (After we finally got to meet her) and how un-organized the resort was I feel we are entitled to share our experience. Not at one point did we feel like the resort cared about the wedding. They were more concerned about their money. Which they still charged us full price for the flowers even though we were missing a bouquet; they charged us extra for 1 bottle of Champagne to serve to the guests (All Inclusive???) They charged my whole group for safes that did not work; and no one except me and my husband got our money back. And we were even told that it was complimentary because of the construction right next to our rooms. They charged us extra for a projector; originally $50.00 charge turned into $180.00. They charged us for music to walk down the isle to; which we never even got to choose. We were suppose to get 24 free photos but because we did a vow renewal that was withdrawn at the last moment. DO NOT GET MARRIED HERE!!!! You will not feel important; nor do they even really care about your wants. Whatever is easier for them. Our second week we stayed at the Majestic Colonial! Go there to get married!!! They treat you 110 times better!!!! All in all; the front desk staff is rude!! The bartenders in the lobby bar are rude. The cleaners take your tip money and mop the floor! The resort/rooms were infested with cockroaches; the construction next door was loud; the A La Cartes were not good at all (Except the Italian! VERY YUMMY)The wedding coordinators were un organized. The bar tenders by the pools however were great; and the waitresses in the Lobby bars were equally great.2 people in our group were drugged at the Disco! Another couple lost a whole day because the resort asked them to stay in their room and wait for the maintenance people to come by and fix the leaky ceiling!!I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESORT!!!!
478252,musumekiller,11/27/2007,huge hotel; I had a great time This hotel is divided into 3 sub hotels. There is 1500 rooms; 8 a la carte; 4 buffet (almost the same food); 3 snack bar and 5 pools. Let talk about the good things first. Excellent service everywhere you go. Anyone will say hi to you. Lots of choice on drinks and make sure you try the snack bar near the beach where they have bbq ribs all the time. Thats the only place you will find ribs. They have 8 a la carte and you are only allow 3 if you stay in regular suite. I stay at the club premier where we are allow 4. The french a la carte is the best. Steak house sucks; mexican is okay and japanese is not really japanese food (all they have is teriyaki sauce on every meat). The buffet just okay. However; there is lobster on sat nite. Most of the time; I just eat at the 2 snack bar near the beach for lunch. Breakfast is the usual stuff. Due the size of this hotel; there isn't much entertainment on site. There is activities every hour in the beach and pool area . The tennis; soccor and mini golf is far from the main lobby. There is an area specially for shopping; clubing and live band. There is a pool table there but is cost you 1 dollar per game. You also can find late night snack here if you arrive there at night time.Before you buy anything from the vender; visit the shop for price. I find most shop offer better deal then the vendor.If you are interested in the national stone; Larimar stone. You can get a good deal on the beach. I pay 9 dollar for a 10 stone neckness and 2 dollar for earrings. However; the quality is just okay via beach vendor. There is a shop with in that small town which they sell high quality Larimar.Overall; I enjoy the my stay at this hotel. I recommand this hotel if you like 5 star service at a low price. There is a 5 star plus hotel next door; Paradisus Punta Cana Resort ; lobster everyday but the price is double.
478252,kmk7899,11/27/2007,2nd Time at the Bahia Principe...Loved it again! Beach area---you can see beach bar in the background
478252,Bella41,11/25/2007,Great Stay at the Gran Bahia Pool
478252,niarcos,11/23/2007,Simply the best soana island-paradise
478252,F1FanMississauga,11/21/2007,Excellent resort First time in DR; I read a lot here so here's my contribution:Great hotel! Landscaping/grounds; pools; staff response; restaurants are all excellent. As an almost-vegan; I always found something reasonable to eat. The desserts are great. Here's a few facts/opinions overall:- Room keys/paperwork all given to us on the bus from the airport. Get to the hotel; collect your luggage and off to your room.- Room in safe is about $4 US per day. Well worth it.- Currency rate was $1US = $29 RD(?) from the hotel reception.- Maid service was great!- Express service (dial 0 on phone) was great. We called several times for miscellaneous things and the average response time for someone to come to the room was about 20 mins. They always followed up later too; to make sure everything was ok.- They use long golf cart type vehicles to ferry people around the resort and to the beach. They run almost 24 hours a day and you wait no more than 2 or 3 mins max.- We booked two excursions through Sunwing (onsite). The Country Adventure was $75 US for a full day. Visit a school; house; plantation; horse riding; cave. The ONLY bad thing was the long and uncomfortable ride in the truck along the pot-holed roads. Other than that; a real eye-opening visit that shows you the real life in DR. The other excursion was called Jurrasic Buggies for $65 US for about 4/5 hours. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! Basically; these are roll-cage cars with a decent engine. You go through mud trails; rocky roads; stop at Macau (sp?) beach; then to a cave. Switch the buggy for a horse and take a short horseride around the ranch. A really great day and well worth the money. If you can only pick one; take the buggies rather than the Country Adventure.- Beach was very good; but I'd probably pick Varadero (Cuba) over Punta Cana. Nothing bad though; clean water; clean sand etc. and you could always find a hut/lounger at anytime. The free equipment (kayak; paddle boats etc.) have to be reserved.Consider staying here and enjoy your trip!
478252,TravelChica079,11/21/2007,Ciao Ciao Ciao - Bye bye bye.....A true 5 star Room
478252,AndrewandSue,11/21/2007,Absolutely fabulous hotel I stayed at this hotel from the end of October into November with my husband and 5 year old daughter. We booked with the internet company on the beach who we would definitely book with again. We had emailed the hotel direct prior to travelling and requested a ground floor room in a quiet location with a pool view; we were given block 15 room 105 which met all our requests. When we entered our room we had been left a bottle of rum; three Gran Bahia Principe t-shirts and a large basket of fruit. There were flowers everywhere and a towel on the bed made up in a heart shape and other towels made up like swans we also received a lovely welcoming letter.The room was spotlessly clean; the bathroom was absolutely beautiful all in marble with a large Jacuzzi which I recommend you try; we did several times. Our room location was lovely we overlooked lots of banana trees and one of the central pools which had recently been renovated but opened up again whilst we were there. Our maid Ramana was fantastic the room was decorated every day with flowers; towels made into swans and hearts and one day she even put lots of balloons in our room and left colouring pictures and sweets for our daughter; which was really lovely. The mini bar was always well stocked and she always replaced what we had used with the same drink.The Bahia Principe is a large resort which houses two hotels Punta Cana Bavaro but we really liked that and managed to look around almost everywhere during our stay and wow it is so pretty. During your stay you are given three speciality restaurant choices per week but we only ended up using two of these. It is recommended you book these as soon as possible because they quickly book up. We went to the Italian which was absolutely brilliant; we eat out a lot at home and mostly go to Italian restaurants and this was one of the best lasagne鈥檚 I have ever tasted it was gorgeous. We also went to the Garden grill Steakhouse which was again excellent; I highly recommend the soup it was lovely. We mostly ate in the main buffet restaurant 鈥橭rquidea鈥?which we really enjoyed and always found lots of choice and many things we liked. The breakfasts are very good especially the made to order omelettes yummy. We was there on Halloween night and in the main restaurant the food was all made up in a Halloween theme and looked really cool we took lots of pictures. We usually went to the pool right outside our room which was much quieter than the main pool near the beach and I think it was better for small children. We arrived during half term week in the UK so it was busy but we never struggled for sunbeds or queued at meal times. The beach is absolutely beautiful just like a postcard and very clean like the resort the workers are always cleaning; gardening and doing things to make this place great. The entertainment was very good we watched most of the shows; the Michael Jackson show was excellent as was Lion King and the Circus show. The children鈥檚 Club also was very good we went and stayed with our daughter during a storm we had and she really enjoyed it there; the staff again was excellent. My daughter was asked to take part in a fashion show which was nice and she loved doing it. Take a look around the market place 鈥檖rincipe village鈥?they have some lovely local crafts and if you can barter you will get a good price plus you always get a free necklace and gift for the children. Say hello to Pedro one of the stall holders he is a great guy and gives you a good deal鈥ou can find him outside the photo shop. Also the photos they take are very good quality we had some fantastic photos taken of our daughter. If you are going to the Dominican I recommend you take plenty of $ bills for tipping; we tipped our maid $2 /$3 a day believe me she really deserved it and we tipped the waiters at Dinner who always topped up our drinks for us; the wine and the cocktails are superb. We also tipped the bellboys be careful at the airport though they literally fight each other to get your cases!If like us you are travelling with young children I recommend you take with you beach toys; lilo鈥檚 etc鈥ecause these are quite expensive to buy. We took lots with us as well as toys; colouring stuff etc鈥o keep her occupied. We also took sweets with us but didn't eat them because we were too full from the fantastic food. If you are thinking of going to the Caribbean we would definitely recommend the Dominican Republic and especially this hotel it is just like it shows in the travel books and so much more. We would give it ***** without a doubt. No one in our party was ill and we didn鈥檛 speak to anybody who had been ill and a lot of people who travel to the Dominican often are. Everything about this place is superb; we met some lovely people out there and our daughter always had someone to play with it is a very child friendly resort. We will definitely be going back; in fact we intend to take family friends back with us and renew our wedding vows there. Thank you to all at Gran Bahia Principe for a wonderful dream holiday.
478252,pironic,11/20/2007,Wedding at Bahia Bavaro Sunset; Towards the Diamond Club lobby
478252,thisishard,11/19/2007,Great time at the Bahia Dune Buggies on the Jurassic Buggies excursion
478252,vinnysgirl01,11/19/2007,Absolutly Amazing the brigde over the pool and to the beach.
478252,ranissima,11/19/2007,Great Great Bahia ! My husband and i flew from Montreal through Air Canada from Oct. 28 till Nov. 4th to Bahia Principe Punta Cana.For the first 3 days we hit Hurricane Noel; it rained non-stop for 3 full days. And then.... spectacular sun and we got to explore the resort. It is huge and extremely clean. Although we did not get our room before 4pm (we arrived at the resort around 11 am) the room was perfect and clean. The resort itself is amazing; the pools are always clean. The staff did a great job at cleaning the beach after the storm and it was awesome. One down side; the animation team ! They bug you all day long with their activity program and they want you to participate but a simple no will do. I know I know; they are only doing their job. The night entertainment was really good. Every night a different show. The food was good; the buffet was a bit repetitive after one week; but we had the chance to eat at the japanese restaurant; the garden grill (excellent steak!) and the fish restaurant! all of the them serve excellent food. The village next door to the hotel is a plus; you can buy souvernirs for everyone. We left our maid Ramona tips everyday on the pillow and we got great great service from her. The reception staff got a little slow at times; but they are all friendly.Overall; the experience was good; eventhough we missed 3 days of sun; but i would recommend it to families and couples. Great Great Bahia!
478252,ZelOntario,11/18/2007,Beware of parasites Beware travellers. I have just returned after spending the last three days and two nites in the Punta Cana Hospital. I have a parasite from the water confirmed by the Punta Cana hospital. Take your worst illness and muliply it by 10;000. I am not exaggerating. Although the hotel told us no one else became ill we spoke to another guest in our complex that was ill with similar symtoms at the same hospital. We ate daily at the same restaurants by the beach. Neither of us left the complex. My hospital roomate was from another resort with similar symptoms . We met an emergency Dr. who says she has travelled the world and was in the Donimican last year with a wedding party 48 of the 51 people became violently ill. This is the only place in her world travels she has become sick. The clinic - that is independent of the hotel provided excellent care. The care at the hospital was excellent as well. Very thorough. The tour contacts were very attentive and called numerous time to inquire how I was doing; as well as the hotel medical clinic. I wil never return to the Dominican.
478252,Vic12,11/14/2007,You will never want to leave The Food and Beverage staff and the housekeeping staff were above and beyond polite and helpful. The food in the Meditteraneanrestaurant was incredible- as was the ambiance.Was there with a wedding and there was always something to do for everyone -no matter the age. The wedding was on a beautiful beach setting and the wedding planner was helpful.My only constructive criticism was the reception was soooo not helpful on departure day. We were with a large group and the flight time was late. They would not extend stays or assist with alternate options. As well; there was another family (not part of our group) in the same situation with 2 small children. Again; they recieved a similar response.Overall; a great experience until the end. I would recommend this resort; just with the knowledge of flights times etc. taken into consideration.
478252,MJVL,11/13/2007,Quality Resort but HUGE!! My family spent one week at the Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. Overall; this is a very nice all-inclusive resort and we were pleased with our stay there. The grounds and the landscaping are immaculate. The rooms; the pools; the 脿 la carte restaurants and the beach are definitely better than most other all-inclusive resorts we've been to. The staff was very cordial.My wife and I wanted a resort with nice paths so that we could take stroller walks with our baby. This resort definitely has nice paths but we really didn't fully appreciate the sheer size of this place before booking our trip. The size factor was a bit of a negative for us and the likely reason why we probably wouldn't go back. Tour operators (and trip advisor for that matter) advertise this hotel as 700-900 rooms (which; to my mind; is already pretty big) but it's actually two hotels (the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro and the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana) that are located side-by-side; each with 700-900 rooms. Add to that; the specialty higher end clubs (Club Premier; Diamond Club; Hacienda Club; etc.). So; you really have one big; huge resort with approximately 2;000 rooms. This may suit some as you can really spend your stay in complete anonymity but; in our case; taking the trolley from our room to the beach; to restaurants; etc. (with a baby and stroller in tow) was a bit of a negative.The only other negative (and addressed mainly to fitness enthusiasts); for such a big resort; the fitness centre is seriously lacking. Very small with a few machines; and opens late.So; a very nice and enjoyable trip and a quality resort but be prepared to walk or take trolley rides...
478252,HammerWhammer,11/13/2007,Great Place gorgeous palm trees
478252,Mel3737,11/13/2007,Maybe I'm just too sensitive? We stayed at the Bahia principe from Nov 1/07-Nov 8/07. I have been to Mexico; Cancun Puerto Vallarta as well as Bahamas and Aruba. The Bahia Principe itselft was a nice hotel; a 5 star in the Dominican though; is not comparable to a 5 star elsewhere from what I could see. Very large hotel; which is good; but difficult to coordinate with a large group; as the week goes on you get used to the trolly's so its not so bad. Pool was very nice; Food was okay; not bad; not really that great; I would have to say average; the breakfast buffet was probably the best part; though they did run out of bacon if you go there later than 9pm. The beach was the best part about this vacation; it is definitley beautiful; soft white sand; not alot of shells and beautiful water. The only other complaint would be that communication is hard as most of the staff could not speak english; we taught our cleaning lady a few words; she was very thankful. You can't blame the staff as they always made the effort; I feel the hotel should spend a little money and give their staff some english lessons; somehow I think they would be grateful. That all being said; my main issue was not with the resort but with leaving the resort. If you are a sensitive person; I highly suggest not leaving the resort. The poverty in areas was hard to bear witness to; I know there is poverty all over the world; but I just cant relax and party when I know there are starving people and animals just ouside the resort. I took some comfort in knowing that the resort was providing jobs; but the whole week I just kept feeling helpless at not knowing how to help those people. Also; being a huge animal lover; even harder were the stray dogs; on the beach; by the market and all over town. If you are not an animal lover you many not even notice them; but for me it was heartbreaking. There is one beautiful female dog; blind in one eye who visits the beach by the Bahia; if you see her...she really likes chicken and if very friendly; but wont let you touch her as she is somewhat timid and afraid; but will take food water from you. If you walk down the beach to the right of the boat (in the water) about 30 minutes down is a local market; there are also quite a few dogs and puppies down that way; the locals dont really seem to acknowldge them; however i did notice that the tourists (some kind hearted one's anyways) do feed them scraps. It is a beautiful island... but for me the poor shacks and destitute looking stray animals in the reality outside of the resort; took most of that beauty away. If I do go back to the Dominican Republic it will be to do something more active to help the people and the animals; not to sip daquiri's on the beach.
478252,cathydee,11/10/2007,wonderful; dont bother with the rest OK let me tell you I am doing you a favour; I never wrote on these sites until i had the worst experience at an unfinished hotel in the same family - the Bahia in Jamaica - It wasnt finished and we had a terrible experience... we were compensated with this place. I am 49 years old and to be honest have traveled maybe 3 to 4 times a year for all of my life.... I have done 3* 4* 5* - We all know that if you go to Punta Cana you need to go 5* - However you go 5* in London or Vancouver it's gonna be top top notch.... THIS place is as close to 5* your gonna get in a HUGE beach type punta cana; all inclusive hotel. I have been to 4 other hotels in Punta Cana; all 5* - THIS ONE is THE BEST. It's clean; the food is fantastic and the beach is WELL ITS PUNTA CANA - it's one of the best beaches i have been to and i have been to a lot. IT's busy but just great to walk off those huge dinners. LIVE AND LEARN... EAT LUNCH AT THE RESTUARANT NEAR THE BEACH DONT EAT THOSE BURGERS IN THE OPEN BEACH RESTUARANT. A lot of people dont realize for a few days that they are missing out on the best food. The main restuarant is fantastic but hardly anyone goes there for lunch as it's a walk - GET on the buggy; get out of the sun and enjoy!!!! FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER I WAS ABLE TO DRINK THE WINE AT AN ALL INCLUSIVE. It wasnt great but it was light and ok...... not for a wine expert but definately the best i have tried at an all inclusive - I have done maybe 15 all inclusive and they have been great for kids. Personally; when my kids dont come with me anymore i will probably not bother about all inclusives as we arent big drinkers or eaters anymore so we propably dont get value for money; not like some people. YOU WONT GO WRONG AND WE ARE GOING BACK.... SAVE A SPACE FOR ME ON THAT GREAT BREEZY BEACH........ Just to let you know that it's big and busy but they cope really well; it's well run. I'm getting old and so I would prefer less noise on the beach; we did managed to get away from the speakers and those annoying entertainment people.... (thats just my opinion; some people like that stuff)
478252,marqblink,11/09/2007,Perfect Honeymoon At the French Restaurant
478252,Trooper44,11/09/2007,Top Notch Hotel Just returned from the Bahia (Nov 1/07-Nov 8/07); and it was an excellent vacation. We booked the Club Diamond and definitely worth every penny. You have your own pool which is not as crowded as the others; as well your own lunch restaurant. The lunch is at the Italian Restaurant; and it's not a buffet. You have an actual menu you can order from and only diamond members are allowed. For me it was a nice touch as I am not too big on buffets day in and day out. If you go; you have to try their calzone!! The service was amazing and the people are great! The ala cartes were great.Excursions: We did 3 excursions and I was happy with all of them. The first one we did was snorkel with the nurse sharks and sting rays. Completely safe for all ages and worth checking out. 2nd one was the Deep Sea Fishing. Helpfull tip.... bring gravol! I have never got sick on a boat until this trip. The waves and the heat don't mix well and needless to say I had my head over the boat a couple of times. Would go again but a little more prepared. We had 6 of us on our boat and 4 of us caught fish. 3 mahi mahi's and 1 barracuda! Pretty cool! 3rd excursion was the safari trip. You can choose either the 1/2 day or full day. We went on the full day and it was wonderful. The only negative thing about our trip was Captain Cook's aka Captain Crooks! I had read mixed reviews about this trip; and I figured I would check it out myself. Big Mistake! The meal was okay. My husband and I shared the meal ($60 US per person). They brought a huge plate of lobster; shrimp; crab and mussels. The lobster was good until we had a piece that wasn't cooked all the way. The crab was disgusting. We cracked it open and it was green and black inside. I never tried it as it was too scary! We went with another couple which they had the same feelings. My husband went to use their washrooms and came out and said the bathrooms did not have running water. How do the cooks/waiters wash their hands after they go to the washroom? Made me sick to my stomach as I watched the workers use the washrooms! After our meal we paid and tipped the server. We just gave the wad of cash to the server and left to get a cab. We were just about to take off when the manager came running out and said we stiffed them $10. I guess we should have watched him count it; but with the tip we gave we knew there was more than enough. We were not going to argue; at that point I just wanted to get out of there. Bahia is definitely worth the money. We had no tummy problems and the food was great. The workers were always happy to see you and we were always greeted with a hola. The beach was awesome. They had it cleaned every day and plenty of lounge chairs to sit at. The time of year we went was perfect. There were never any big crowds. The day we left we noticed the resort starting to pick up. If anyone has any questions or comments let me know! Would be more than happy to help out!
478252,sunnybottom,11/08/2007,Exceptional Resort!!! awesome appitizers
478252,corona81,11/08/2007,I got BED BUGS my trip was from oct 25 - nov 1. And heres my lil story. the hotel was very nice and big.beyond that heres what went wrong.1. nobody spoke any english not even mangement level.so this was very very frustrating.i got a bill the first night for 4700. and they took 30mins and about 10 different ppl to realize it was not me who went to the spa. 2. the food was disgusting to say the least. we managed on pizza and pasta. 3. the entertament at night was kinda boring. by the third night you dont care to see them.4. I GOT BED BUGS. urrrrrrggghhhhh let me tell you how [-]i am about this. i did tell the maid to change the sheets everynight but i kinda had a feeling she didnt.considering she did not know any english. i am so so beyond frustrated about this. i emailed the hotel about this and they didnt seem to care. the usual i hope you enjoy your next stay with us.5. And our ride to the airport from our hotel was hell. the truck would not close and driver said its ok. we finally told him no its not thats our luggage. so we waited on the side of the road for another van. and let me tell you i thought i was going to get robbed. thats how scary it was.I would never go back to punta cana or reccommed it to anybody. i had a terrible time. and ive been to jamica and cancun. so its not like im anti-all-inclusive.good luck to all those who chose to travel to punta cana.beware of this hotel and room 27310.
478252,MariaandSameh,11/08/2007,I will be back - Yo Volvere - 3 storey villa with 12 rooms
478252,jules6719,11/06/2007,Loved It We have just returned from the bahia principe on the 2nd November 2007. I thought i would write a review about this hotel.We travelled with First Choice and we upgraded to premium on the flight which was well worth it. The cabin crew going out were fantastic and could not do enough for you.We arrived at Punta Cana airport which i must say is very nice.Little thatched huts which look lovely. One word of warning keep hold of your suitcases when you get them as there a alot of bell-boys waiting to take your cases off you and take them to your coach for you.I know this is a very nice touch but if i wanted them to take my cases i would of asked them.We were checked in on our coach on the way to the resort.We were given alot of information and also our wrist bands. When we drove throught the gates of the hotel i could not believe how magnificent the place was. Lucy the first choice rep come onto the coach to say a quick and very loud hello. We were then given a wonderful fruit punch and a welcome dance. We were then put onto a tram system and taken directly to our room with our luggage. We were in Villa 15 room 15304 which was fantastic. I have never been to such a clean resort. The staff there have always got a smile on there faces and nothing is to much trouble.The service is incredible.The whole resort is clean and tidy and the staff are working all day on the gardens to cleaning and polishing the floors in the lobby which i must say takes your breath away.It was my Daughters and my Mothers Birthdays while we were on holiday. I went and spoke to Guest Services and they decorated both room on the day of their birthdays. In the eve they were both given birthday cakes a wished happy birthday the domincan way which was fab.This hotel is fantastic the only down side really was there was not enough going on for my daughter who is 10. The mini disco never ran unless you can call a clown giving out sweets every-nite.I would not hesitate in returning to this hotel but maybe when my daughter is off doing her own thing in a few years.The weather is extremley hot.Factor 50 and still got burnt.
478252,rew345,11/05/2007,Nice place but not luxurious Resort: 4/5It is a nice; modern and clean place. It was built to resist Hurricanes. Garden is beautiful. Buildings are well maintained. It is very family oriented resorts. It is definitely not for romantic couples. The resort is not as big as it appears. It is easy to walk from the beach to the main building in 8min. Bus service is effective. I have seen many larger resorts without bus service.We found the resort not as exotic as other hotels that we have visited. Though the look of this hotel is well above other hotels' look in Punta Cana. A lot of issue to speak English with the staff. They only speak Spanish... If you are a BBQ lover you will not like Bahia because you won't eat anything good from the grill.Pools: 4/5The pools have a nice design. It is easy for children; elderly and drunk persons to get in and out. The water is warm but not as clean as we would expect. The ocean pool is definitely dirty inside and outside. I have the impression that it doesn't get cleaned every day. The pools in middle of the resort are clean and you can see the staff washing the pool side at 9PM.The resort doesn't have enough pool area compared to its size. When we were there the hotel had 50% occupancy and we had to battle for chair and towels (yes they ran out of towels).Bars and drinks: 3/5One of the most effective bar services that I have ever seen. There are a lot of waiters everywhere. You can get a drink easily there is no line up at noon or in the evening at the reception bars. The drinks have good size and taste. If you want to get drunk you can get a lot of drinks very fast. If you need more rum in your cocktail just ask for a glass of rum on ice and add it to your drink. One of the troubles is the quality of the alcohol that they serve. They use a kind of Dollar type very cheap alcohol. Basically there is no difference between the taste of the rum/whisky/Cognac/Tequila. House wine is above average. Beer is just as it. Music at the lobby bars can't get worst. They play a kind of retirement home music. Food: (5/5)Buffet (5/5) Applies to breakfast/lunch/dinnerThe buffet is one of the best that we have tasted in the South. Everything that they make tasts very good. They cook very similar things day after day but so what. There are about 40 plates to taste. I prefer a resort that makes 40 good plates instead of 100 bad ones. Though; there is no prime cut meat or fish. Chicken/fish strudels are great. Soups are very tasty. They have gourmet pizza. Wide selection of real bread. A lot of great local meals adapted to North American taste. First time in many years that I didn't eat a single egg for the breakfast during 2 weeks !!! They had so many good things to taste. Just be open minded and taste !!!Steakhouse: 0/5Entries are really good. The soup is a must. Try the home made chili and the potato skins they are best in their kind. Eat as much as appetizers you can because what comes after is disgusting ....After having had all the appetizers we thought that some bad guys wrote some bad review about this restaurant. So we were eager to have our main dish ... I had the lamb. It was just bones and fat. When I managed to find a little meat and tasted it; I nearly throw up. It tasted between sand and coal. I think the BBQ grill was never cleaned in many months or years. My wife had the mixed grill. The shrimps were just eatable. The Steak was poor quality. Fortunately there was some chicken but tasted very bad. I was so upset that I nearly jumped onto the head waiter. My wife told me you waste your time... so I didn't.Italian (5/5)Nice restaurant good ambiance. Great appetizers. Good main dishes. A lot of food selection. Meals have the right size. Don't miss their soup.Gourmet (4/5)Beautiful place. You have to choose to have either salad or soup. I complained that it is ridiculous and they gave me a free soup ... Soups are delicious. I have tasted 3 of them. Main dishes are a little small. If you have the chance to go several times to this restaurant taste different dishes. Filet mignon is a real filet mignon. Lamb chops are 100% perfect. I also loved the liver. Desserts are not the same quality every day. Sometimes they are good; sometimes they are bad and when they are bad all of them are bad. I presume they have different cooks for dessert.Fish: 4/5Ugly place. Smell like henhouse. (Same as Mexican restaurant). Bad music: they play some retirement home music. Appetizers are very good. I had a great tuna fish (Don't forget to ask for rare tuna). Steak is not so bad. Desserts are average.Mexican: 3/5(I love mexican food). Ugly place. Smell like henhouse. (Same as fisher restaurant).Bad music (Who wants to eat Mexican with a piano music). Appetizers are very good. Mixed grill is so so; burritos are very bad. Try chicken. Desserts are average.Garden grills (4/5)Good salads and gourmet pizza. You can prepare tasty sandwiches. They have the best Smoked Ribs at the Brazilian grill. Bad BBQ food: Hot dog sausage is so so. Hamburgers come from China ...Rooms: 4/5Are clean and spacious. Air conditioning is not effective and it makes a lot of noise. TV channels are poor quality (but who cares). Only 5 English channels out of 70 ! A lot of cheap materials were used for the flooring in the rooms. No night room preparation ... = your rum and chocolates are going home with the house keepers at 9:30PM :) Took our beach towels but never gave us new ones. Don't forget to rent your safe. It is a must.Diving: School: 5/5 Diving spots: 3/5They have a very good diving school. If you want to start diving It is a perfect and safe place. You can't get a better diving school in the South that the one at Bahia and Riu. (Operated by Caribe diving...) Max depth is 40ft. If you have more than 20 dives it is a boring place ... Pay 2 dives but don't waste your money and time for the 5 dives package.Animation: 3/5They only speak Spanish ... Some guys on the animation team are heavy drinkers ...Tours: We didn't take any of them. They try to sell very hard the Samoa island tour. It is at least 3 hours ride. Many groups came back at 9PM !!!! And you leave at 7AM ... Rather pickup a taxi outside the hotel and visit Bavaro shopping center.Practical advises:- Gold or Diamond clubs worth max $50 per week per person- Have 2-3$ in your pocket to tip transporters at the airport- When you arrive take a 2000 pesos from the ATM machine at the reception. It gives the best rate and service fee is only $3.- At the main lobby change right away the 1000 bills into 50 pesos bills for tips.- When you arrive head right away to the (Gold or Diamond) lobby to book your restaurants and pay for the safe. Let the other battle for the languages.- Tip only when there are a few guests at the bar and stay there a little so the bar men will remember your face- Useless to tip at the restaurants. In two weeks we never had the same person serving us. Though a good service deserves a tip.- I have 2000 pesos for tipping and I only gave away 1200 pesos. - Waiters at the restaurant never remembered that I gave them 300 pesos a day before .... so we just stopped tipping.- Go outside for shopping. Take a taxi to Bavaro shopping center (10min ride).- Rum and cafe are good quality and are not too expensive at Pueblo Principe (If you just shop at hotel).- Nicole's jewelry in Punta Cana is a waste of time (even if free). That's a fishing place for naive tourists. Home made cigars are bad quality.- Have a walk to Riu beside Bahia. They have several great shopping areas and a beautiful board walk. (Outside guests are welcome ...) We loved to walk there from 4PM to 5PM.- Be open minded and taste the food at the restaurant everything is good (except BBQ)- Airport is VERY expensive. A bottle of water is 3-8$ !!! Eat and drink before you cross the security (Though there is no place to buy anything). Zone 2 has air conditioning at the airport.- Duty-free at Zone 2 has good prices for alcohol and cigars
478252,abbieEngland,11/03/2007,great experience first day 6.12am
478252,monkey1972,11/03/2007,Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro Punta Cana spectacular!!!! towel decorations all over rooms..
478252,NellieToronto,10/29/2007,Beautiful Resort Lovely resort. Just got back. We were there for a week. Weather was fab. I have never been to a resort that is so clean. Rooms; lobby; public washrooms restaurants are spotless. There appeared to be more staff than guests. The beach is beautiful. Very clean. Never had a problem getting sun chairs at both the beach and pool. Food was great. Plenty of variety. The desserts were to die for! We ran into 2 minor problems. Very few of the staff speak English so this can get frustrating at times. If you venture into the shopping square that is attached to the hotel beware of the men that have the stalls as they will keep harassing you to take a look at their goods. We found the lobby shops very expensive. These are only minor complaints. It would not deter me in the slightest from going back. We are planning our next trip back already! We tried 3 restaurants while we were there: Italian; Japanese Gourmet. All were great. Would go back anytime.
478252,alexandria786,10/28/2007,Great for all ages!!! BAHIA in Dominican republic is a Great resort for all ages; beautiful grounds; casino; disco; shopping; beach; restaurants; entertainment; all in one place. The best is the SPA!!! A must!!! Worth every penny. Diverse crowd; all ages; all nationalities; great service. The best vacation we had. Lena Stekol10.27.2007
478252,ves2309,10/26/2007,Fabulous First Class Experience We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana for two weeks from 2 Oct 2007. It was just a fabulous experience; The hotel is truly superb from the immaculate lobby right down to the wonderful white beach.Our room was just perfect made even more so by Cecilia our maid;The food at the Gran Bahia was amazing so much choice that even the most picky person would have been impressed. All the A La Carte restaurants were brilliant especially Le Gourmet just off the lobby bar; and the bars and bar staff could not be bettered especially Martina in the lobby bar her happy smiling face was a pleasure every evening.We would recommend this hotel to anyone families and couples alike just a wonderful five star experienceP.S don't miss the shows every night; thw Michael Jackson spectacular was just that spectacular.
478252,mannyram,10/25/2007,Bahia Principe Resort We highly recommend this resort to anyone travelling to Punta Cana. The beach is beautiful; accommodations are great; staff is very friendly; and food is excellent. Be sure to get a drink from Alejandro; the bartender in the Bavaro lobby bar. He mixes excellent drinks!
478252,paul123z,10/25/2007,Very nice place Out Side
478252,joenjulwhite,10/23/2007,totally satisfied; excellent resort; awesome anniversary... beautiful veiw
478252,Tannedscot,10/22/2007,It doesn't get better than this for the money. View of Club Diamond / Hacienda Pool from our balcony.
478252,cocktail85,10/20/2007,Absolutely Stunning and Amazing Experience!!!! On to the way to Saona Island
478252,Canado79,10/20/2007,Excellent dessert - bread pudding
478252,sunshineMontreal7,10/20/2007,fantastic holiday Arrangement from the maid
478252,bakski,10/17/2007,GREAT EXPERIENCE! We stayed at the Bahia Princip for 9 days. It was absolutely wonderful. We read reviews about some who complained about a whole bunch of stuff; but we had absolutely nothing to complain about; the only thing we said wasn't necessary was the turn down service at night because they got there so late in the evenings. Here is a quick breakdown of the resort. I would highly reccommend you book your stay directly through Bahia-Principe which is actually BP tours. Also; there are two resorts basically in one-it is the Gran Bahia Principa and you have the Punta Cana Side and the Bavaro side-request the Punta Cana side and request a nicer room. We stayed in one of the villa's closer to the beach (number 2 villa; absolutely PERFECT location) in the Golden Club. It is SOOO worth it. The room is bigger (not that you spend much time there) and so much closer to the beach-it would be such a hassel to stay in one of those villas near the lobby. Okay-one complaint about the food the Garden Grill is horrible!! Not because the service is horrible because beef is a rarity down there; it is definately not worth it. Italian place was great as was the seafood; hands down. Wasn't much into the French place as they had calf brains on the menu (yuck). We tipped like $3 a day between the AM and PM maids. We also occasionally tipped the bartenders as we felt bad because we kept getting drinks; and well I just felt bad. I also felt bad realizing that these people make only around $200 US a month. None own cars and most employees live 2 hours away; ride a bus to a from work and work 7 days in a row-you get my point just wanted to give them something extra. The International buffet is by far the best buffet! If you like hot weather; beautiful beaches wonderful pools you will love this place. It is so incredibly clean it isn't funny. I saw one little itty bitty ant the whole time no bugs outside nothing. The snorkeling trip is well worth the $30!!Enjoy yourself; here are a few extra tips!Take lots of $1 billsBeware that the Peso to American Dollar rate changes dailyBraids are very expensive-$100 for my whole headThe men selling things-oh man they will rip you off!Do not try to reserve beach chairs early in the AM; your towels will disappear!Get to the beach early if you want a shady spotLOTS of sunscreen; I am fair and used spf 70 the whole time and came home extremely tanMake sure you reserve your room to not check in until after 3PM
478252,cakmph,10/17/2007,A Restful Vacation We arrived at the resort not knowing how enormous the resort truly was. We were quickly checked in; and then dropped off at our room that was still being cleaned by the maid. We read through the hotel material; and realized that we did not have a copy of a map. (I encourage everyone to ask for a map when you check-in). So we stumbled our way around until we met with our travel representative the next day. He advised us off all of the hotel amenities and locations. The resort provides a shuttle service from one end of the property to the other. The beach itself was a long beautiful white sand beach; it truly was a tropical paradise. The grounds of the property are well kept and very clean with beautiful lush tropical foliage and palm trees. The pool was beautiful with the added touch of a swim up bar at each of its pools. Our room was nice; we had a king size bed; balcony; and Jacuzzi tub. We tipped our maid. She ensured that our mini fridge was kept well stocked with an ample amount of water and beverages. The room itself was well maintained and kept very clean. However we are non-smokers and at nights we constantly awoke to a strong smoke smell in the room. The food was wonderful; we ate at the buffet every morning for breakfast and for four evenings. We were pleased with the food and it quality. We ate an ample amount of Seafood; fruit; and a large array of other foods. We believe that there is something for the pickiest eater. The waiters were very very attentive so much so that I always felt like I was being watched. As soon I ate the last morsel on my plate my plate was then quickly whisked away. We ate at three of the a la carte restaurants (Seafood; Grill; and Japanese) my personal preference was the seafood hands down. It was absolutely exceptional. There is much to do at this resort I went to the spa; my husband and I played mini gulfed; walked extensively; we also went on an excursion to the countryside. We would highly recommend this as it gives you a true reflection of the culture and the people of the Dominican. Our only concern with this resort was the excessive amount of smoking and smokers at this resort. There was smoking everywhere; people lit up at the drop of a hat with no regards for their fellow vacationers. Our room was on the third floor and the smoke from the other rooms would come into our room through the vents.
478252,joejoevancouver,10/16/2007,Love and sweet We just return from a week at the Bahia Principe Resort. It's very beautiful. The Beach was nice and we always able to find a nice seat. The food was fantastic and Fresh.If the last minute price was right; you must stay and select the Diamond Club. Diamond Club give us an extra night of fine dining. Also If you just want to stay at the pool and Diamond club have their private pool which was never crowd. Also We can choose to have Lunch at the Italian Dining which was locate at the Diamond section (shot walk).As soon as you arrived; you need to book and reserve all your Night dinning. Some restaurant only open on the select day.We booked the following Restaurant : Janpanes Dining - It was Good and fun.Sea food Dining - It was Good the Fresh.Paris Dining - It was Good but they only let you choose 1 appetizeItalian Dinning - It's Ok but I would rather try the Steak House which was Full (Unable to book it).My wife was very Clean person. The Hotel was very neat and Clean but sometime we do find some small ant.The bath room was spotless.The Hotel people was very Friendly and alway smile. Only problems was they do not speak much English. Due to our Return Flight was at 21:30; After we cheked out; we found out they did not have secure storeage. They only have a store room for everyone to put the luggage in. So we have to keep our valueable things with us all time. Overall; it's Good Resort; worth while to stay there.
478252,sarah2607,10/15/2007,relaxing holiday we went to this hotel between 1st and 9th october; and it was great; very big place but everyone is really freindly.the place is so clean.on arrivng we had to go to diamomd check in; which took ages to sort out and it was really hot and we had just got off a 8 hour flight!!!!! you get 4 la carte meals but book asap as they get booked up really quick and some aren't even open. buffa food isn;t great but its something; best to eat when its fresh; 12 and 7pm.rooms are great;massive beds; bathroom and clearness. air con bit noisy. towels changed in afternoon and you have to remember to leave on floor or they don;t change.mini bar is meant to be re filled every day with soft drinks; there rum and water but all we got was water and when left tip or note they took money but did't re fill; bit cheeky!!!!!!!Lobby area is great; nice place to go during day and evening and the cocktails are lovely over there as every were else there in plastic cups and small.did;t see any entainment but there was show on.beach was THE BEST and so clean; there clearing it all day long and you don;t get no hassal either which is good; a striaght NO is normally good enough if do though;pool is nice and clear but nosiy with all the games going on.all in all great holiday but i;ve done it now and would't go back.
478252,Cateyes1,10/14/2007,Amazing Vacation I just got back from a wonderful vacation at Bahia Principe. We stayed from October 6th to 13th and everything was great. There was a group of 6 of us in 3 separate rooms; and accommodations were great. Check in was complete on the bus ride to the resort which was fast and easy. When we arrived at the resort one of the rooms were ready; but the other two were done in a few hours. Two of the rooms meet our accommodations; but the third room was not. When we existed the bus; one of the resort reps asked if everything was okay with the room selection; and at this time we notified her that one of the rooms was located on the other side of the resort. They said no problem and that they would take care of the problem. With in 20 minutes we received a phone call that everything was sorted out. Now that was fast service. The resort grounds were immaculate!! The workers seem to never stop with making sure the resort grounds were perfect. It is a huge resort; but after the first day you found your way around with ease. The trains that run around the resort helped on those late drinking nights; or if you just don鈥檛 feel like walking back. BEACH AND MAIN POOL鈥?fabulous! It was never to busy to find 6 chairs all together. FOOD 鈥?I actually found the food pretty good. I鈥檓 a picky eater; but always found something delicious to eat. As for the A la Cartes -we visited Japanese; Italian; and steak house. Japanese is a MUST! It was such a great experience. CONSTURCTION 鈥?we were located on the side with the construction; and never found it a problem. We all had an amazing time and experience with this resort. Just remember the resort is HUGE!!
478252,sooty,10/13/2007,Great Hotel but VERY Large Came to this hotel after moving from Ocean Sand Beach and Golf Resort in Punta Cana (se my tripadvisor review) because there was no hot water there and thoroughly enjoyed our stay.Food excellent; hotel room nice and roomy and there were all the facilities you need to enjoy yourself with the hotel catering for both the energetic person or someone who wants to come and just lie in the sun. Only problem is that it is a little hard to find a quiet spot by the pool unless you have upgraded to Diamond status when you then enjoyed your own pool which was nice and peaceful; which we had not. If we came again we certainly would as both my wife and I enjoy that bit of peace. No problem finding a nice quiet spot on the beach though at either end of the property.I enjoyed the watersports which where included on the AI package but a tip.....take out the insurance at $20 p/wk as besides covering damage to the boat or other boats it also enables you to book the Catermeran/pedaloes etc. up to a week in advance which otherwise you can only do daily.Any criticisms? Only that you can only book 3 speciality restaurants a week and as we were there only for 8 days we could not try all 6 of the restaurants. Not a big deal though as the main buffet restaurant has themed evenings to cater for all tastes.All in all I would happily recomend the hotel.
478252,gigi1985,10/13/2007,Unbelievable!!! My boyfriend and I went to this hotel from October 5th to the 12th it was wonderful!! We just got back last night and we already want to go back and are recommending this hotel to anybody who plans on taking a vacation. We felt like kings a queens and had so much fun. On our way to the hotel they did the check in on the bus from the airport (which is about 30 min from the hotel) and gave us our room keys and bracelets; this saved a lot of time and was very appreciated. We were then greeted with dancers; music and drinks and taken to our rooms right away to be able to enjoy our trip as fast as possible! We were in the Royal Golden part of the hotel and closest to the beach. We were in villa #4 and couldnt ask for a better one. This gave us access to 4 a la carte dinners and we booked them right away and had no trouble getting the times and restaurantes we wanted. We ate at the Gourment (favorite); Italient (excellent); Japonese (awesome) and a BBQ by the beach (did not like this one as much...was a buffet and similar to the main buffet). The rooms are really nice; spacious a clean! We always had nice towel arrangements and flowers in our room everyday. The first day we got there it was cloudy and rained and at first we were very disapointed but thats something you can't control. But then we saw that the rain dosent stop very many people; the pool was full the music was going and we just swam up to the bar and made the best of it! But the rest of the week was gorgeous!The beach was beautiful with light soft sand and the turquoise water! There wasn't any debris or seaweed on the beach ever! The water was also warm and the waves were not to big so it was nice to swim in. And believe me when that sun comes out you will be in there! We spent most of our time at the beach and the main pool and is was very clean; lots of chairs (the beach too) nice water temperature and never too crowed since there are so many other pools on the site. There is a swim up bar in every pool and the servers are so much fun! There are shows every night and after the shows the dico opens. There are always a lot of people at the discotheque which is surprising for most resorts! The music was great and the animation was too. The resort is big but I found it perfect! There is a little train that comes around every 2 minutes you never have to wait but you can also walk it very easily and we did that often. Anyways all that to say we had a great time met some wonderful people and cannot wait to go back. If anyone wants to cantact me feel free I have much more to say about this beautiful paradise!!!
478252,rsxmachine,10/13/2007,Great! villas
478252,exquisitely,10/11/2007,Comfortable Front of the Resort - Main Lobby
478252,kittensoft1390,10/08/2007,Honeymoon! Excellent... my husband and I went to this hotel for our honeymoon; for two weeks; dirt cheap. Granted we are not picky; and we didn't expect too much; but this place was excellent!! Service : Always helpful; though barely speak english. However; I do understand that I am in THEIR country; and I know a bit of spanish; so we found a happy middle and helped each other out :) Rooms: Never had a problem; always came to clean during the lunch hour; if not a bit before; when pretty much everyone is out and about. If we were in for some reason; they came back at whatever time you advised; not a minute later! Fridge always stocked with water and pop; and tipping does help in making sure this is done every day. Beach: Always cleaned and well-groomed; patrolled by security at night; so you're always safe! Never had a problem getting to the beach after lunch and always found chairs to lie on; both under the shade and in the sun!! you just need to take a short walk and always find some somewhere...Ocean: Gorgeous; refreshing; inviting! Beautiful little fish if you go snorkeling; they tell you where to go; there's a small reef nearby! Bring some bread; they'll come to you :)Food: Excellent...a few dishes were less appetizing; so I simply steared clear of them! Can't expect to like everything when there are tons of dishes to choose from! Always a carving station with beef or pork; fresh pasta station; LOVED the omelette station in the mornings; made fresh with your choice of ingredients :) Always plenty of dishes so that you could always find something you were in the mood for...also HUGE cheese tables; which I made sure to sample every day! hahaPool : Clean; lots of people; but that's to be expected~! It is a pool...activities around it were original and fun; though I simply watched and cheered from the sidelines :) ONLY DOWNSIDE: The washrooms next to the pools were kind of dirty...smelled of pee and were always full of sand; sometimes had no toilet paper...obviously not well-maintained; though the lobby bathrooms were made of marble and never had a spec of dirt or sand in them! And yes; there were tons of British tourists; but I don't understand why some people consider that a valid complaint...they were just as nice as all the other canadians and americans (although very few of us canadians were found...two other couples!!) We made great friends from Poland and France with whom we still keep in touch!! Lasting memories...beautiful honeymoon...WOULD GO AGAIN if I didn't like trying out new resorts every time! Definately would recommend for all kinds of people; families; couples and friends.Hope you'll enjoy!Cat.
478252,LarisaR1,10/08/2007,What a vacation!!! main walkway throught the resort to the beach
478252,BigTunk,10/07/2007,Wow this place was unreal! Just spent a week there from Sept 29- Oct 06 2007 and it was just perfect. My wife and I never would have even imagined there was a place out there that you can get such an experience for such a price. The resort itself is amazing; the rooms are spectacular; the food is excellent and the staff are extremely helpful and very genuinely friendly. I honestly dont think I could compose a proper review without having 2 weeks to put it all together. There is too much to say and almost all of it is more than positive. The only con and this seems to be about the country itself is the smoking. My wife is 5 months pregnant and it seemed that almost everywhere you went people were smoking like the plane was goin down. This was by no means isolated to the resort as the second we stepped off the plane and into the airport there were blue-grey clouds hovering in the terminal. Bottom line is top notch resort with great food; amazing cleanliness; pristine beach; the Rum.....cant forget the Rum.. and the excellent service. 5 big stars to this wonderful week in paradise.
478252,zee218,10/05/2007,Best Vacation ever. I just returned from a 4 day 3 night stay at the Gran Bahia Principe with friends. The overall experience the we had on this resort was excellent. The resort was spotless it was so clean you could eat off the ground. The rooms were very nice the restaurants were excellent. The buffet breakfast in the morning had so much food available even the pickiest eater would be satisfied. The Japanese restaurant was very nice. It was one of my girlfriends birthday and the waiters surprised her with a cake and sung Happy Birthday. I might add the waiters were very handsome. The manager of guest services took care of our every need. I have never been to a resort where all of the workers took pride in what they were doing and didnt pass you by without saying Hola The beach and the 5 pools on the grounds were so clean. I will definately return to this beaurtiful resort it is well worth it.
478252,x00xvaleriex00x,10/03/2007,The Very Grand Bahia Principe starfish!
478252,mrsmack926,09/30/2007,A GREAT week at the Bahina Principe 9/22-9/29 We did some extensive on line research before booking this hotel and we had some hesitations based on some of the reviews we'd read. But; we wound up getting a FANTASTIC deal by booking an on-line special advertised right on the Bahia Principe website. As others have mentioned; it's worth noting that everyone has a different expectation level when they travel and people have also had vastly different travel experiences. Please take this into consideration when you read reviews that are filled with complaints.Let me start by saying my husband and I have travelled extensively. I've personally travelled all over the US; through 16 different countries in Europe and 8 different islands in the Caribbean. I've stayed in 5 star hotels with personal butlers and I've slept in sleeping bags on rolled out cots... so I would venture to say I have a good travel repertoire under my belt.This resort was truly a great experience! It's a rather large resort with basically 2 mirror sides.. the Bavaro side the Punta Cana side. Each side has separate lobbies as well as separate restaurants but they each meet in the middle along a long road that leads to the beach. On the first day it seems that this is an extremely long road but; you soon realize that's it's a really nice walk and that you don't necessarily need to take the shuttle that runs all day.We stayed on the Bavaro side of the resort and we upgraded to the Diamond level. The biggest reason we decided to do this was to get an additional night at the a la carte restaurants. It turned out being well worth it due to the fact that we could take advantage of the private pool area offered to the Hacienda Diamond level guests... I refer to this as private pool but it was actually HUGE with a swim up bar. For us it was just a nicer; quieter experience with a few less people than the main pool. This upgrade also let us have lunch at the Italian restaurant which is right off this pool.FOODThe all inclusive package for a week included 3 dinners at a la carte restaurants (we upgraded so we had 4 dinners). Otherwise you eat at one of the large buffet dinners.. I'm not a huge buffet lover but there is enough to satisfy picky eaters and it gives you the opportunity to try a ton of stuff! Food items change nightly so you never have to eat the same thing (unless you want basics like fries; pizza; pasta etc..) We loved the Japanese restaurant .. the sushi was excellent and the hibachi dinner allows you to try everything. We also really enjoyed the Gourmet restaurant (on the Punta Cana side). We had lamb chops filet mignon and were VERY happy with both. The Pescadore restaurant was decent .. no raves but it was a good meal. The only restaurant we were dissapointed with was the Grill/Steakhouse. I had the mixed grill and my husband had a steak.. they were both very tough and chewy.SERVICE/ROOMEveryone was soooo pleasant. It was very rare to walk past an employee without getting an hola and a smile. The room was a good size (you do have to pay $28 to use the safe) and was cleaned daily... every day we found a new towel animal as well as fresh flowers that decorated our clean room. We were called numerous times by staff concierge members to check on us to make sure we were happy and to see if there was anything else we needed. Service was very fast (considering other caribbean islands.. where it seems staff can be rather slow to respond). We had an iron delivered to our room in less than 5 minutes and we requested more water diet soda and every day our fridge was well stocked.POOLS/ACTIVITIESThere is a very large pool right by the water.. we found it to be somewhat crowded (and we were there off season). We never had trouble finding chairs but we preferred the Diamond pool since it was a bit quieter. The bartenders at the swim up bars were all great (after a couple of days they would see my husband swimming up and they'd have his new drink waiting for him when he got there!). The main pools had a variety of activities; games; volleyball; aerobics; bingo; dance lessons.. there really is a ton to keep you occupied if that's what you're looking for. I spent a day getting a massage at the spa.. it is NOT a 5 star spa but it's adequate and how can you complain when you're relaxing with someone rubbing away all your stress! There are also shows each night at the main theater.. where the staff dances and entertains.. I would suggest watching these shows they are a great way to enjoy some time after dinner! OTHER MISCWe are non-Spanish speaking Americans.... and; we were definitely in the minority. We didn't even hear people speaking English until the 4th day we were there. .. for us this was totally fine; for others it might not be. It's a huge destination for Europeans French Canadians. There were also quite a few staff members who didn't speak English very well. Just remember you are in a Spanish speaking country.... YES; there is a language barrier at times.. you should expect this and roll with it!! They all did a great job trying to accommodate the fact that we really don't speak Spanish.There is also an area just outside the hotel lobbies called Pueblo Principe. It's a self contained shopping area with a small casino; disco a large stage that offers evening entertainment.. you should just remember that when you go to this area you are no longer in you all-inclusive package so if you order drinks at the late night show you should expect to pay for them.Hopefully you've made it thru this long review.. and I hope it answered any questions you might have.. if I've missed something you'd like to know.. please feel free to email me!mrs_mack926@hotmail.com
478252,VancouverBlondie,09/30/2007,Great honeymoon destination!!! We spent two weeks at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana for our honeymoon starting August 26. We travel a lot and loved this resort. We had been to Punta Cana before but this resort was the best yet! We were treated like royalty. We were on our honeymoon so they put us in Building 7 which is close to the beach but really quiet because it is not on the tram route. Food was incredible which is saying a lot for a Caribbean resort. Lobster and prawns-just at the buffet.They have 8 a la carte restaurants and we ate at 6 since we were there for 2 weeks. My husband said that when we ate at them he forgot that we were at a resort. We recommend the Italian; French and Japanese as our top 3 favourites.This is the first resort we have ever been at that we had to ask for the drinks to be watered down. Lots of variety and the bartenders remembered our names after just the first night.Shows were good. They do repeat them each week. There is an ealry show at 9 and then a later show at 11 which is more adult oriented. Rooms were incredible. Every room is a large jacuzzi suite with a roomy balcony and separate seating area.We were lucky with the weather-two solid weeks of sun and over 100 degrees each day with the humidity. It was only one week after Hurricane Dean hit but no damage to the resort. Beach is fabulous as well. There is a sunken ship off the shore that is nice to look at. Beach is large with white sand and very clean. Hundreds of thatched huts that provide lots of shade and a bar and snack area. Very few vendors bugging you which is nice.There is a lobby bar that is really nice to veg at after the show. The nightclub Congas was great-more than you would expect from a resort.So many good things to say but the following should give you an idea of how good the resort was. My husband (one one month!!) does not really like to stray far from home and near the end of our second week he asked if we could stay longer so we called our travel agent!!!Do not drink the tap water or even use it to brush your teeth but it is not a problem as they provide bottled water; beer and pop every day in your in room fridge to use. Tips go a long way down here - even small ones - as most of the staff only make $60 US per week. We didn't even leave the resort for the entire two weeks because we had such a great time. Great gym too and mini golf. Very few kids - most of the people were couples or couples with kids that were under age 2.
478252,jer35rie,09/29/2007,Great resort and Amazing Staff! Ocean
478252,Catinofamily,09/28/2007,Truly A 5 Star Resort And Number 1 In The Dominican Republic!!! My boyfriend and I visited the Bahia Principe Punta Cana resort from aug. 26th to sept. 1st of 2007. We both travel a lot and had been to the Dominican Republic in the past. As a result of our previous experiences; we were skeptical about what to expect. However; as soon as we arrived at the hotel we were immediatly charmed by the professionalism of the staff and the beauty of the surroundings. The check-in was quick and we were brought to our room right away. I must say that we were also quite impressed with the cleanliness of the room and of the hotel in general. It is spotless and beautiful. The beach is gorgeous and the ocean is a delight to swim in. My boyfriend and I were pleased by the lay out of the resort; which also comprises the Bahia Principe Bavaro resort. The property is just big enough as we enjoy taking long walks; and for those who don鈥檛 like walking as much; it also offers a continuous shuttle service. Throughout our stay; we got to eat at several 脿 la carte restaurants as well as at the buffet. When it comes to the food at all-inclusive resorts; we usually expect the worst but surprinsingly; we were more than happy with the quality and variety of the meals served. Although we enjoyed all of our meals; our favorite 脿 la carte restaurant was the italian one. We both had pasta and pizza and thought them to be quite good! One thing that we really appreciated about the Bahia Principe is that the crowd was mainly families and couples. Never did we come across drunks screaming and making fools of themselves. During our previous stays in Punta Cana; we had experienced different hotels and although they had 5 stars ratings; they were not half as good as the Bahia Principe is. The food was never up to standard and the people were loud and classless. Staying at the Bahia Principe Resort definitely reconciliated us with the idea that Punta Cana can be a wonderful travel destination. It is definitely nicer and more updated than other resorts such as the Majestic Colonial; the Iberostar Bavaro and the RIU.The standards of quality at the Bahia Principe Punta Cana are high and definitely meet the expectations one can have when staying at a 5 star category hotel. For us; The Bahia Principe Punta Cana resort is without any doubt; the number 1 resort in the Dominican Republic.
478252,blangada,09/27/2007,The perfect week My husband and I spent our honeymoon at the Bahia Principe from September 16th to the 23rd; and what can I say... The resort is absolutely gorgeous! We stayed on the Bavaro side of the resort; and since we were on our honeymoon; we were upgraded to the Diamond club; which gives you access to a private pool reserved for Diamond and Hacienda members; and also gives you access to the Italian restaurant for breakfast and lunch (we had breakfast there once). If you prefer the pool to the beach; I would recommend upgrading to one of the clubs mentioned above because the private pool is alot less crowded than the other two pools on the resort.We stayed in villa 31 room number 31304. The villa was perfectly located; right in the middle of the resort. The lobby was 5 minutes away; as was the beach. We found this to be very convenient.ROOMThe room was the perfect size. The bathroom had a tub with jets; the bed was comfortable; there were enough pillows (if you need an extra one all you have to do is ask the maid); there was a little livingarea; and the balcony was a good size; and had a table with 2 chairs on it. STAFFThe staff was very friendly. All you would hear all day is Hola! If you need help with anything; they will do there best to assist you; or will refer you to the right place or person. Everybody works very hard at keeping the resort clean. I don't think I've seen a place that clean in Montreal!FOODThe food was amazing. After reading the reviews on here; we were a little worried about the food. And now; having been to the Bahia; I do not understand what people complain about. The buffet restaurant was great. Breakfast was the same every morning; but with all the variety of warm dishes; cereals; fruits and breads; you can have something different every day. I stuck to my omelettes; and was not once disappointed. We never had the buffet for lunch; but had it for supper Sunday night (American); Thursday (Dominican) and Saturday (gala). They were all very good. So much to choose from. I enjoyed the roasted pig at the Dominican night; and the flaming coffee on gala night. Like I said there's so much to choose from.For lunch we would eat at the beach. There are 2 snack bars at the beach; Las Olas and Piscis. They were both really good. Both places have about the same things: hot dogs; hamburgers; pasta; fish; chicken; fresh fruit. Las Olas had some pretty good ribs; and Piscis had some really good thin crust pizza. My husband who's a pizza lover said it's one of the best pizzas he's ever had!We went to 3 a la carte restaurants; the Cafe de Paris (French gourmet); the Garden Grill (steak) and the Japanese. The Japanese restaurant reminded us of home. There was sushi as an appetizer; soup; and the typical chicken; beef; shrimp and fish with rice and vegetables on the side. You can decide to have all of the above if you want. What we liked about this restaurant is you got to see the cook make it in front of you. If you go here; you have to have the fried ice cream for dessert.The restaurant we disliked the most was the Garden Grill. It was actually very disappointing. The service was horrible; the food below average. My husband had the rib eye and I had the shrimp brochette. We both did not enjoy our dinners. And then there's the Cafe de Paris. It's in a league of it's own. Wow. The food was succulent. My husband had the seafood bisque; and I had the pumpkin soup; both delicious. Then as the main course; he had the filet mignon and I had the lamb chops. I have to admit I even licked the bone; it was so good! The only complaint would probably be that there was no steak knife for the beef. My husband had the cheese plate for dessert. If you like cheese; order this; you will be wowed. I thought it was unbelievable. They wheel in 7-8 different types of cheeses on a cart; and cut a piece of each; and serve it with dried fruit and an assortment of breads. And not only was the food good here; the service was impeccable. BEACHThe beach was gorgeous. Turquoise. I had seen pictures of the beach; and I have heard people talk about how beautiful it is; but you have to see it to believe it. It was my first time down south; but to me that was just amazing. The perfect amount of waves; no rocks; golden sand... and clean.POOLSLike I said; we had our private pool; so what we would do was go to the beach in the morning; and then to the pool in the afternoon; til about dinner time. It was fun; and very relaxing. We went to the main pool once; and did not like it; plus we got better service at the bar at our pool. There's another pool facing the Diamond club pool; it's open to everybody. What I liked about that pool was the fact that there were alot of activities going on there; volleyball; basketball; ping pong; etc.SAONA ISLANDWell worth the trip. We loved it. Took a catamaran there along with 20-30 other people. Had a blast. The beach there was little rocky; but alot clearer than the one at the resort believe it or not.The food there was good (BBQ on the beach). We took a speed boat to a natural swimming pool in the middle of the ocean (never going to forget that) and even held a starfish!In all; the resort is amazing. Words can not describe this place. We are looking forward to going back.
478252,beachgrlatheart07,09/23/2007,Best Vacation I've Ever Been On! This is the first time I've been to the Caribbean and the first time I've experienced an all-inclusive resort. I most definitely fell in love with the place and everything there!The Gran Bahia Principe was amazing!! The rooms were very clean. The resort was very clean; they paid special attention to detail and it made a huge difference.There were 4 pools; but we mainly used the one by the beach. Juan was our bartender at that pool and he was great! Our daily schedule was breakfast around 8; beach by 9. There were plenty of chairs available when we got there. We participated in beach volleyball and the other fun activities they staff had planned. We played bocce ball and took the dance lessons. Very fun! Usually around 4 we would head to the pool and hang out there until 6 (when the pool bar closed). During those two hours there was always great entertainment going on. After that we would head to our room; relax and shower. Dinner was around 9 every night and then head out to the show of the night. The shows were always great! I was always so impressed. After that; hit up the pueblo principe for some live music and the club if you're still awake. The trolly is helpful; but not necessary. It's a nice walk from the beach to the main lobby area. The lobbies are beautiful. Ok; here it is; my advice to you: 1. Bring a bunch of $1s - you will need them for tips. Leave a couple for your maid each day; and bring a couple to the bartenders that treat you right. 2. If you have the chance; book your stay in the Golden Club - your rooms will be closer to the beach. We did and our's was the first villa by the beach; the pool right outside our window. Perfect location. 3. Book your special dinners in the restuarants when you first arrive; they fill up fast. The grill is great. The italian place had great food; but took forever. 4. Participate in the beach and pool activities; they are great fun and you get a tan while doing it. 5. Try sailing or another water activity. 6. Walk down the beach to the little market selling things - and negotiate prices! I got a bunch of stuff for cheap. 7. Eat lunch at the grill by the pool by the beach; don't bother going all the way up to the lobby - it's a waste of time.That's it! Have a great trip and stay at the Bahia Principe!! (I still have the farewell song in my head after 5 months)
478252,coach005,09/22/2007,Extremely Disappointed My husband and I have been waiting all year to go on a tropical vacation-- which was very disappointing. Our stay was 7days/6nts of full frustration and no relaxation. Our original reservation being booked by a website availabe to airline employees only was at the Bavaro side of the hotel. The hotel has 2 sides which mirror one another with the same amenites and we were told they were both accessible reguardless which side you were in. We checked in at Bavaro and they did not have a reservation at that side and wheeled us in a tram over to the Punta Cana side. They put us in a room at the Bavaro side; but only were allowed to use Punta Cana amenties; bar;buffet;etc. Once in the room; housekeeping had to be called the first night because of hairballs on the floor; which had to be mopped and sanitized. Our sheets had to be replaced because of sour linens; our toilet overflowed; and at least twice we had no washcloths. There are 3 pools; but you can only use 2 if you did not upgrade to the Royal Club--which simply means you have a cabana boy and an extra night to make a reservation at the restaurant of your choice---which fill up very quicky. This is a huge property and very loud. It is filled with all ages. The only thing that made this trip was that the people of Dominica are beautiful and very respectable. I researced this property several months before travelling thru TripAdvisor and it is listed #4 out of 56 hotels. I am not the type of person who listens to what other people say; but maybe next time I should.The food was definitely not to our liking and sometimes couldn't even tell what it was. My husband and I travel every year to the carribean and this was definitely our first letdown in 5 years.Sincerely;TimMelindaSan Antonio TxP.S. As a manager of a major airline; we speak to many people in the business that are always looking of new places to travel--this hotel beware!!!!!!!!
478252,debnpaul,09/22/2007,Nice holiday.... but We travelled with First Choice again on this holiday; our second time to the Dominican Republic but the first time to this hotel; flight was excellent as usual - no delays; and we were checked in to the hotel on the way from the airport - so when we got there it was straight to our rooms to unpack ... and explore. The site is big - split into two Punta Cana and Bavaro; down the middle (something we were not aware of) - the trams/buses that run are excellent; running from one end of the site to the other and very frequently - you wont have to wait long for one.Accommodation was really good ( although with hindsight we feel we should have changed our room - and advice would be if you are given a room at the back of the buildings which face the roads either side of the resort request a change. As these roads are service roads used by the staff; when changing shifts; deliveries to restaurants; rubbish collection etc. and therefore at certain times of the day very noisy). Our room was clean; tidy and the Maid kept the room as such and we had some lovely towel displays. Make sure you try out the Jacuzzi bath!The food in the main buffet was good; but choice was limited - even on the theme nights; and on some occasions the food was cold/ luke warm. However the salads and fruit selection was wide and on the whole a good selection available. The only other thing worth mentioning here regarding this restaurant is the labels they put with the food - these were not always correct - for example; I decided one night to have vegetable soup (labelled as such) so imagine my surprise to find several bits of chicken in it. (I'm not a vegetarian so did not matter to me - but if I had been - I probably would have stronger words to say)The Gourmet restaurants - the French Restaurant - food was good (would not class as A La Carte - however) we went twice (due to a 2 week stay) on our first visit the waiters tried to serve us with incorrect starters - twice. On our second visit they took our dessert order and then forgot about us... This restaurant appears to have good service when they are not busy - when they get busy they start panicking and things go wrong. The Mexican was ok - nothing special. The Italian was good; my husband found his starter particularly good as the choice and presentation was excellent - although we were told by our Rep that she had had some mixed reviews. The Garden Grill was a different story altogether - we found the service bad as well as the food - would suggest giving this a miss completely (but we might have just hit it on a really bad night!) The Japanese restaurant was fine - although my Husband was a bit disappointed when he was offered Tea expecting Japanese but got a PG tips tea bag in a cup...Overall the sight was good; nice clean swimming pools and beach; on the whole the staff were friendly and made every effort to assist us if needed. However; most of the staff could only speak limited English; which was an issue sometimes and we would recommend learning some basic Spanish before going.The evening shows were well put together; the dancers were good. Worth seeing the Michael Jackson show and the Lion King is good for the kids (we think both these shows tour the resorts).Would we visit this hotel again? Probably not; it was good; but for us it was too big; which may have impacted the service we received.
478252,juanita25,09/20/2007,Can't wait to go back walking to the villas
478252,docfromatl,09/19/2007,Just as Good the Second Time Around Background: This was our second foray to Punta Cana. I attended a medical seminar at the Grand Bahia in February of 2007; our first visit to the Dominican Republic. My wife and I; typically with our good friends; have traveled quite extensively and; during our initial trip; we were quite impressed with the resort; meals; staff and value. The four of us in small party (two couples) for this September trip ranged in age from 47 to 55. As stated in my original review of the hotel for our February trip; we felt that the Grand Bahia was an excellent value with regard to the average cost per day. For what averaged to be $150 per day; we received round trip air on Delta from Atlanta to Punta Cana; direct; Club Golden room; meals and drinks. So; the fact that I could not find a single three pound lobster or have my martinis made with Grey Goose vodka did not detract from this trip. Booking: I would highly recommend CheapCaribbean.com. With every package; their clients are provided emergency medical evacuation insurance and hurricane cancellation insurance - at no charge. Our party was also provided private transfers from the airport to the hotel. I actually found a lower price on another travel web site than I did when I first started researching this trip; which ran from September 1-8. I; however; was impressed with the background on CheapCaribbean and its owner Jim Hobbs after reviewing their website. So; I fired off an email to Jim asking if he would match the price I found on another website. I was quite impressed when I received a call from Jim; himself; stating he would be delighted to match the price found elsewhere. I then developed a personal relationship with Jim's assistant Melanie Reshatar and they delivered; and then some; on everything promised. CheapCaribbean's Punta Cana destination manager Elso Rijo met our party at the airport after clearing customs along with a driver and personally escorted us to the Grand Bahia. About five minutes outside of the airport; he stopped at a roadside store and picked up four frosty-cold Presidente beers for us and absolutely refused to take a dime. I can certainly afford to purchase four beers; but the fact that Elso; without our provocation; purchased them on his own is a reflection of just how well CheapCaribbean looks out for their clients. Aiport in Punta Cana: Upon debarking the plane and first entering the airport in Punta Cana; you will be asked to take a photograph with some lovely Dominican senoritas; dressed in colorful traditional clothing. When you return to the airport following your trip; you will be afforded the opportunity to purchase this photo for $8. You are under no obligation to purchase this. There will be a $10 per person tourist card fee paid upon entry into Punta Cana. After we collected our luggage; we were waived through Customs where we met Elso holding a sign with our names on it. We were driven to the hotel in an air conditioned vehicle. Arrival at the Grand Bahia: Club Golden guests check in with private concierges at the Club Golden office; which is located immediately on the left shortly after passing through the security gait. As impressed as I was with the personalized service from CheapCaribbean.com; I was equally impressed with the service from the Club Golden representatives; in our case a lovely young lady named Jained (pronounced Jay-Ned; basically a Dominican version of Janet) Pernia. Approximately four days before our departure; Jained e-mailed me to welcome me back as a Royal Golden Principe returning guest and asked if I would like to book an a la carte restaurant each night of our seven nights at the hotel. Normally; Club Golen guests typically are afforded four a la carte reservations during a seven night stay; while the standard room package allows for three a la carte bookings for a seven night stay. So; not only did we book the restaurants of our choice; we had our exact dining time; in our case 7 PM. Upon arriving at the Club Golden office; I immediately ran into Jained and she gave all in our party a welcome hug and we were greeted from her with welcome home. A friendly bartender from the Club Golden office brought over a few Cuba Libres for us to enjoy as Jained went over our paperwork and our reservations. We had been in touch with Laura Vogler from the sales department via email. We had met Laura during our initial stay at the hotel for the medical conference I attended. When possible; Laura will grant your room requests. How she corresponds and juggles the requests of hundreds of guests; I will never undestand. She offers the impression; however; that you are the only one she corresponds with despite the fact she probably received dozens of emails per day. Room: After receiving our wristbands; in this case platinum colored bands indicating we were VIP returning guests; we were whisked to our room via motorized golf carts. We were in building 20; second floor; adjacent to the pool and beach. We had an obstructed (by tall palm trees) ocean view and a full pool view. As a returning VIP guest; we were provided bathrobes; slippers; free use of the electronic safe; a welcome plate of fruite; a bottle of champagne and a large bottle of Brugal Extra Viejo Rum. Our air conditioner worked perfectly to keep the room chilled and the room is also equipped with a ceiling fan. A separate bathroom with marble vanities and large garden tub and shower with removal and adjustable shower head was immaculately clean. Again; VIP guests are provided various shampoos; conditioners; body lotions; bath oils; sewing kits; shaving kits; combs; etc. The room refrigerator is stocked with both diet and regular Pepsi; large bottles of water and Presidente beer. A note on the pillow to let the maid staff know of our desires would always be granted. I politely asked if I could exchange my bottle of champagne for another bottle of Brugal rum. Our request was granted x 3! There was no iron or ironing board in our room. My wife; however; always brings a small travel iron. A patio is equipped with table and chairs. The television offered approximately 40 channels; most in English. Room keys are electronic in nature. Maid: We received excellent surface from our maid. We left $4 a day on the pillow with notes offering muchas gracias para servicio excellente and any requests for water or; in our case; diet Pepsi. There was never an issue with theft or anything missing from the room. In fact; I left my laptop; perhaps foolishlesly; in the room and I never gave it a second thought. As a Club Golden guest; beach and pool towels are automatically provided in your room by the maid; so you do not need to carry towel cards. Restaurants: We ate at the Le Gourmet (twice); Italian (our favorite on this trip); Japanese (Benihana style) restaurant; Garden Grill (very tender and tasty steaks) and Seafood (El Pescador). For breakfast; one could dine in the main lobby buffet or at the El Pescador restaurant (at the pool; but not as huge a selection as the main buffet at the lobby section of the hotel). For lunch; there were at least four options for buffet dining; snack and sandwhich restaurants; two being outdoor. As a physician; I am a fanatic about food handling and preparation. I can say that I ate everything; including the more exotic seafood salads; fruits; veggies and never had the first sign of an upset stomach. For Club Royal Golden guests; they have access to 24 hour room service. Note on Hygiene: There have been some posts reporting illness at this hotel and its sister hotel. I can tell you; without hesitation; that I would eat anything at the Grand Bahia hotel in Punta Cana. I am concerned; however; about the personal hygiene of many guests. I would observe men leave the restroom and head immediately to the buffet line without washing their hands. I saw children with their fingers in not so clean orifices of their bodies picking food with their fingers from the buffet. I think the hotel would be well served to offer hand sanitizers throughout the resort. It would; hopefully; encourage anyone to use them before and after handling communal utensils at the buffets. Drinks: Most of the time; we would enjoy drinks at the pool; where fantastic service was available from a host of very friendly and courteous bartenders; including Ramon; Juan; John; Daniel and Mildre. I read a recent hotel review stating that the bartenders would not make a drink; despite the fact that they had all the ingredients; if the drinks were not on the Grand Bahia official drink menu. I beg to differ. They will make you as many drinks; with any ingredients you desire; all day; with a smile. While they don't have every make of every premium liquor; they have a good representative selection of rum; vodka; gin and scotch. We tended to stay away from the fruity; sweet drinks; in favor of Cuba Libres. While we don't have Bubba kegs; we do have insulated mugs that I obtained from the hospitals I work at and the bartenders were all too happy to fill them. At night; we would spend several hours listening to the music in the main lobby and enjoying cigars and cocktails. Excellent service was offered by Olga and Martina. We had met Olga on our last trip and when she spotted us; she quickly recognized us and gave us a huge hug. Shows: We are not big show people; but did see the Michael Jackson revue. This high energy performer really puts on a good show and is accompanied by a troupe of dancers. This is all lipsynched; but we enjoyed it. We never made another show during our stay. Beach:Wow! Beautiful white sandy beach and nice aqua blue waters. There are numerous palapas (shaded palm frond umbrella type structures) on the beach to shade you from the sun. The sun is intense; even for dark skinned individuals that never burn. Use lots of sunscreen and apply it in the room before you start sweating (this is the doctor here speaking). They do offer beach bar service. Pool:Although we used the main pool by the beach; they have two other pools; but these are reserved for Diamond Club guests. As return VIP Club Golden guests; your bracelet will identify you as one who may use these pools. These secondary pools; which we never visited; provide a more quiet atmosphere. It is at the main pool that the animation team encourages guests to dance and they play some lively meringue and other Latin and; occasionally; American tunes. The pool is 10 seconds from the beach. They offer drink service by lively cocktail servers and also have a swim up bar as mentioned earlier. There is a snack bar by the pool.Pueblo Principe: The Pueblo Principe is a Dominican style shopping and entertainment center located at the entrance of Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana and offers nightly entertainment; a disco; clothing; cigar and gift shops; internet access; the casino and Karaoke bar. This starts hopping after the lobby bars close at 11 PM. By that time; we were too pooped to take part in the casino; disco; entertainment in the courtyard at Pueblo Principe; etc. Service:Here is where this place shines. I read reviews about surly staff; rude waiters; uncaring bartenders. Not at this place!!! If you receive this unsatisfactory service; I would imagine you must be a person that rudely butts his or her way to the bar and demands service. Management has trained their service personnel well and everyone greets you with hola or a mucho gusto (nice to meet you) or con mucho gusto (with much pleasure) in response to your gracias. This is everyone. They really seem to enjoy their jobs here and are not simply going through the motions. If you have any questions; please do not hesitate to contact me at SportsMedAtlanta@aol.com. I will be happy to give you some personal 鈥渋nside鈥?contacts. If you have an open mind and do not nit-pick the small stuff; you will thoroughly enjoy your vacation. Doc and SusanaAtlanta; GA
478252,dajngold,09/15/2007,Good but not great Being from another Caribbean state; I was a bit apprehensive about what this resort could offer someone who is all too familiar with sun; sea and sand. Also; I was traveling solo. I was certainly impressed with how well the rooms and the grounds were kept. The resort transportation trams were reliable ...a requirement when you are in a beach-front villa and the buffet restaurant; nightly entertainment; spa and shops are 25-30 minutes away when walking briskly. All the rooms are the same-Junior Suites and are a decent size. I booked the Golden Principe Club plan and it was worth the small extra costs for the private checking in and out; the room service (for the really lazy day); internet access and a larger number of a la carte dining (4 for a 5-day stay.) The buffet Restaurant had sufficient choices; especially for those who don't gorge themselves on EVERY dish at EVERY meal setting.The staff was helpful; some more than others. Although I made arrangement from early morning with the bellman to collect my luggage on my departure day; I waited for more than a 1 hour after the agreed pick-up time. I kept calling up until my actual departure time and he failed to show up. Thanks to one of the grounds staff; who saw me struggling with my luggage and decided to help; I was only 15 minutes late for my check-in at the airport.While the language (it is a Spanish speaking country) posed some difficulty at times; I thought that that was my problem; not their. They certainly knew more English than I knew Spanish!I was elated that there was a spa but wasn't impressed with the limited offerings there; although treatments were not that expensive compared with other resort spas I have visited. Additionally; there were not sufficient excursion choices for me although those who are enamored by the sea would love what was available. I thought there would be more sightseeing-When I visit a country; I like to know that I have visited a country; not just a resort. I asked about it and my tour operator basically said there was none. Not sure this was actually a fact. All in all I enjoyed the room; the food choicesand the cleanliness of the hotel. The staff was pleasant; especially in the buffet restaurants. The grounds were well kept and there is a definite attempt to please. I am still not sure this resort measures up to many other 5-star properties I have stayed at but it was value for money. I would visit this resort again but this time with a group a friends.
478252,AerialLisbon,09/13/2007,Good resort Pool
478252,maryse1228,09/12/2007,WOW but lots of spanish japanese resto
478252,dstutt,09/10/2007,Go NOW! I've been to several all inclusives. This one is awesome. Beautiful hotel; grounds; beach...Something for everyone. Great staff; food; location.
478252,mrmrs7,09/10/2007,tying the knot me my now husband and our son stayed over christmas; and married at the hotel on dec 22nd; everything about our stay was amazing!!!.the hotel is spotless; the staff very friendly; and the beach out of this world. there is a vast choice of restaurants and bars; can highly recommend the steakhouse. On the day of our wedding everything went like clockwork and was completely stress free thanx to our 2 wedding co-ordinators; who saw to every last detail; all we had to do was turn up! the wedding meal was in cafe de paris on the punta cana side of the hotel; and the staff made us feel very special. we always said we would never go to the same hotel twice as there are so many other places to fit in during a lifetime; but after travelling to many many places; we are looking into returning to the hotel for our 1st wedding anniversary.
478252,EvangeYUL,09/08/2007,Cannot Ask For Anything More To be quite honest; we were reluctant to travel to the Dom. Republic for our vacation. Let me tell you: we have been converted. The property is impecably clean. The rooms are very comfortable. The mini-bar is restocked every day with bottled water; soft drinks and beer. The grounds keepers are always at work trimming; planting; cleaning. The food at the buffet is above average (in comparison with other all inclusives). The 脿 la carte restaurants was excellent. The beach was fabulous; although a little wavy - keep in mind that Hurricaine Dean was brewing in the vicinity. The best I saved for last: the staff. They were; without exception; tremendous. Everything they did; they did with a smile; with a dance in their step; with a true and heartfelt desire to please. They did everything Con mucho gusto - which is the phrase they used exclusively in response to a Gracias. For those who don't speak Spanish; it means with much pleasure.We're already planning our return visit for Spring Break.Hasta que volvemos.
478252,roundboy1,09/05/2007,An English Family In Paradise Signage At Main Entrance
478252,craigMaesteg,09/05/2007,faboulous holiday Have just returned from a two week stay at the Bahia Principe.Our two week holiday was fantastic and we would most certainly return.The hotel is immaculate; the food was very good;and the al a carte restaurants were of a very good standard.The staff are very friendly and helpful.The beach is beautiful and we never found a problem obtaining sun beds.we enjoyed taking a stroll around the shopping resort where you can enjoy the outside entertainment or go into the karaoke bar.The michael jackson show was great highly recommend going to see it.the train service was very efficient and runs up to 3am.The rooms were lovely very spacious and kept clean by the daily maid service.The other good service was the express service where we would order an iron and ironing board and it would be delivered immediately.My partner went scuba diving 12 times he enjoyed it very much but foung it a lot more expensive compared to mexico and egypt.This was a fantastic holiday and is worth a 4 star+ Rachel Jones Maesteg mid glamorgan south wales.
478252,tripper27,09/03/2007,Not 5 star but nice Beautiful grounds; well maintained. We were Diamond upgrade in the Bravaro side (Villa 30); nice room with excellent housekeeping. Buffet was good as a matter of fact we skipped one of our nights at an ala-carte and went to the buffet as we wanted to stay in shorts. By the way we noticed there was selective enforcement on the long pants rule. Shouldn't have that rule anyway IMHO; Food was good; but definately not 5 star by a long shot. My only real complaint were the drinks at the swim up bar; very poor quality and limited selection. You can only get what's on the menu; bartenders are not allowed to make anything else even though the ingredients are available. It would also be nice to have a variety of music (it was all spanish).
478252,SunDanceKid1980,08/31/2007,Loved the Michael Jackson performance! Theatre
478252,OhioFlojo,08/29/2007,Beautiful resort; great beach; slice of paradise! We returned from our Aug 7-14 stay at the Bahia. I will try to cover as much as possible; but these are just my family鈥檚 opinions. My husband and I are both 42; and we had our 12 10 year old kids with us.AIRPORT: What a breeze! Through customs in minutes; got our bags and out the door. Our transfer; Club Caribe; was waiting for us and we were on our way. About a 35 minute ride to the resort. We were the only ones in the van.LOBBY/CHECK IN: The resort lobby is beautiful. You are greeted with a drink in an open air lobby full of marble. I had emailed before we left requesting a room close to the beach on an upper floor. When we got to the check in; I again asked for this. We were upgraded to Diamond Club for no charge. We were told this is normally $30 per day more; per person; so we were excited. Our room was not ready; so we had a drink in the lobby and came back 30 minutes later. This time we were given our keys and the bellboy drove us to our room. We tipped the guy at check in (Junior) $20 for all of his help.ROOM: We were in building 27; room 307. It is about 5 buildings back from the beach; but just a short walk. We came to really like this location. Upon entering the room we found all kinds of welcome gifts: 4 shirts (one for each of us 鈥?3 polo shirts and 1 t-shirt); 2 baseball caps; a Bahia bag; bottle of rum; bottle of champagne; fruit basket and platter of deserts! I don鈥檛 know if they do this for all Diamond guests; but we were more than happy! The room had 2 double beds; and a small couch already made up for one of the kids to sleep in. There was towel art everywhere; as well as fresh flowers. I felt like were in the honeymoon suite.There was a view of the courtyard from the balcony; along with a table and 2 chairs. There was also a table and chairs in the room. The fridge was stocked with water; 1 beer and several pops. We later requested more of everything; and it was always filled. The bathroom was large; with the Jacuzzi tub and separate toilet area. We had 2 robes and slippers in the closet for our use. We also had our beach towels waiting in the room for us. The room stayed cold; but you had to really push the balcony door hard to make it come back on. We did have tiny ants in the room daily. It may have been from the fruit; but even when that was gone they were still there. Room was cleaned daily; and we always left a small gift and tip. BEACH/POOLS: There is one huge pool right by the beach. It was busy; but we did not use this one much. The swim up bar here looked crowed at most times. Lots of activities around the pool area. There are 2 pools in the middle of the resort. One is for Diamond guests only; but I did not see anyone checking bracelets. We used this pool daily. It was never crowded and had a swim up bar. We could always find a shady spot no matter what time we came here. The other pool is across the street; and I believe it is for all to use. It also has a bar and swim up bar. This one was a little busier; and in the afternoon there would be games going on here.The beach is beautiful. The Bahia beach property is very large. It did get busy and somewhat crowded right in front of the main pool area. This is where volley ball is set up; and each day they had aerobic and dance lessons here. If you went to the right or left side of the beach; there were plenty of chairs. There were always plenty of loungers available in the shade. However; I did notice that most of the shady spots around the pool were taken by 9:30. There is a bar on the beach to the right. There is also a bar by the pool to the left; which is easily accessed from the beach. You can also get drinks in the snack bar to the left; which is on the beach. We sat on the left side everyday. It was a little quieter here; and we were only steps away from food; drink and restrooms.Yes; there is quite a bit of topless sunbathing here. I had talked to my kids about it before we arrived; but I have to say I myself was surprised at how prevalent it was. I am no prude; but was still surprised to see women playing paddle ball; running on the beach; waiting in line at the bar; walking around the pool鈥ith very little on.FOOD: We found the food to be good. We had 4 restaurant reservations; so we did not eat dinner in the buffet more that a couple of times. There was plenty of choice there; with a pasta station and a grill where a different meat was being cooked each evening. We ate breakfast in the main buffet one morning; and there was a huge variety. Because we were Diamond; we had access to our own restaurant (the Italian restaurant) for breakfast and lunch. We really enjoyed this. There was a smaller variety of food; but plenty to choose. The omelet station was great; and you could get eggs cooked any way. For lunch it is Italian; and you order off the menu. There were pasta; pizza; and meat selections. It was very good. I believe the Mexican restaurant near the main pool is open for all for breakfast and lunch. We ate at the Gourmet (French); Garden Grill (Steakhouse); Japanese and Italian. We enjoyed them in that order. We had great filet mignon and lamb chops at the Gourmet; very tender tenderloin at the Garden Grill. The Japanese was fun; but not he best we have ever had. I was disappointed in the Italian for dinner. It may just have been what I ordered (fish) because it was great for lunch. The service in all of the restaurants was very good; and we always left a tip.We ate most of our lunches at the beachside snack restaurant. There are 2 snack/lunch restaurants to choose from. The main one is right in front of the main pool. This one seems to get pretty busy. It was basically the same every day: hamburgers and hot dogs (didn鈥檛 try); chicken; paella; rice; French fries; salad; fruit; rolls; pizza. The other restaurant is to the left side of the pool (facing the ocean). This restaurant was never very crowded. It is open until 6:00 PM. The same food; but no pizza. I got tired of eating the same thing; and thought of all the food we had at the resort; this was my least favorite.SHOWS/ENTERTAINMENT: We went to several shows while we were there. We saw the Bahia Spectacular (think show girls dancing); the circus (very entertaining); Michael Jackson (pretty good 鈥?lots of dancing). We did not think the shows were all that good. There is also music is the Punta Cana lobby nightly. Both lobbies are great for just sitting back and having a drink. We had late dinner reservations on several nights; and we were just tired from all day in the sun that we were in bed early. TRIPS: We took a 2 hour snorkeling trip; which we booked directly at Scuba Caribe on the beach. It was $31 per person. They take you about 25 minutes to a reef; you snorkel for about an hour; then return. We did see many fish; although they were not very large. We still enjoyed this. We also did the banana boat. You will see the boat just past the dive shop. It was $40 for 4 of us for about 15 minutes. We told the driver to go faster; and he happily sped up. MISC: We tipped daily at breakfast and dinner. The workers were always very friendly and work very hard. Most workers spoke at least some English; but knowing some key Spanish phrases will help. We used the internet in the Diamond lounge several time. My son and husband used the tennis court several times. They do have racquets available. We never had more than a slight upset stomach; probably due to changes and amount of food and drink. The resort is beautiful; very clean. We found the beds to be very comfortable; and were given extra pillows upon request.This was our second all inclusive; having stayed at Iberostar Tucan in Mexico 2 other times. We all agreed that we liked the Bahia resort better. Newer; better food; friendly staff; air conditioned restaurants. We found this vacation nearly perfect.
478252,BigBirdMontreal,08/28/2007,Enjoyed every minute I booked my trip at the Bahia Principe Aug 18th to the 25th.The resort is wonderful and very well kept. The staff are very friendly but at times we had communication issues as we do not speak spanish and some have trouble understanding english or french but then again; I'm on vacation and for me it's not an issue. I strongly suggest that if you book this resort that you pay the extra money for the Royal Golden treatment as it's a very large resort and most of the action during the day is at the beach and the beach pool. If you book Golden your room will be near this area although there is a shuttle every 3-5 minutes. The food in general was ok to good. We booked at the French; Fish; Italian; Steak and Japanesse. Trust me on this; I enjoy good food and good wine and your best choice is the french and italian resturant. The only one that really irritated me was the Steak resturant. We were 3; we all ordered the surf a turf and in all 3 cases the steak and the porc were burnt ! Not overcooked; but literally burnt ! We ate the shrimp; my wife and I managed to cut a piece of the steak and porc to at least taste it which confirmed that it tasted exactly as how it looked. My son never managed to cut a piece to taste it ! We simply got up and walked out and went to the buffet. We spoke with people who went the next day and they also did not enjoy it. Remember people; what happens one day does not mean that it's always like this. I read reviews from people that mentionned it was the best steak they ever had so obviousely something was different when they went. I just wanted to mention it but lets not generalize. As for the wine; white or red; if you took a couple of drinks before ; yo man; no problem; but if you didn't well you can make your own opinion on it . We were lucky we got a room in building 20; the best in my opinion. We were next to the beach and the beach pool and we had 2 snack bars and the fish resturant in which we could have breakfast and lunch therefore we didn't have to go to the main buffet at the other end much. If you want a great vacation I strongly suggest this resort and I would go back tomorrow if I could. Have a nice vacation
478252,breezy99Peterborough,08/28/2007,Excellent vacation spot I would like to start this review by saying that I was very concerned about this resort after reading the reviews on here.Having just returned from this resort I have to wonder what expectaqtions these people must have had.I stayed at the Bahia Principe for one week Aug 18-25th.From the moment I landed and got on the bus; the vacation was wonderful. The trip from the airport to the hotel was about 35 minutes. In that time; we were given information on the hotel; checked in and room keys given. When the bus arrived at the hotel we were greated with a glass of punch;our luggage was taken by bell boys and we were all taken straight to our rooms. The Buffet is remarkable. What ever your taste in food is I am sure you will be very happy here. The individual restuarants were also very good. The Mediterranean was my least favorite but still very good. The staff were top notch. they were friendly helpful and all very hard working. The Beach is a great. Very clean. I had read that it was hard to find a spot to sit at the beach; but I can truly say at whatever time I headed to the beach there was always a perfect spot to be found. The activities on the beach are always fun; from the dancing to the volleyball; to the water sports. It is all great. The pools are also great. I just enjoyed the beach more. The rooms are spacious and clean. Actually everything in the resort was always spotless. Guest services at the hotel were always friendly and more then helpful with anything you needed. There is nothing negative i can say about this resort. If this is your pick you will have a great time.
478252,ClairenMatt,08/28/2007,Honeymoon in Heaven! Well; what can I say except; WOW. This place was great and we will definitely be returning. There isn't one bad thing I could say about this resort. It made our honeymoon even more special.All 3 pools were spotless and had music and entertainment going on most of the time; aqua-aerobics; free bingo etc. Did get very busy after around 10am though and although you aren't meant to; loads of people reserved beds with towels. We found that if we waited until lunchtime to go by the pool; we usually got a bed fine. Towel Service was great; you pick up a clean towel in the morning and give it back in the evening to be washed. Absolutely loved the swim up bar; and the staff were very friendly and certainly not short on the measures!Grounds were constantly being cleaned and gardens kept very tidy; bus service from one end of the resort to the other was great and ran about every 2 minutes for 22 hours a day. Beach was beautiful; white sand; clear blue water. Buffet restaurant (Bavaro side) was clean and waiters were really friendly and tried to have the best conversation with you in English that they could; if you know a little spanish; this really impresses them. Food theme changes every night and there is a great selection to choose from morning; lunchtime and dinner.A La Carte restaurants: Make sure you book these as soon as you get there; we waited until the next day and a few places were already fully booked for our first week. We went to the Japanese; which was our favourite; food was fantastic and cooked in front of you (if you get Sammy you're in for a good show); Mexican and Cafe de Paris were both great and the seafood restaurant was fantastic; if lobster is on the menu; go for it; best lobster we have ever tasted!Room was very roomy and kept clean with a maid every day. If you tip her she leaves amazing towel sculptures for you; we had swans; butterflies and elephants; really impressive.The entertainment was great some nights and ok others. Make sure you don't miss the Michael Jackson show and Circus; these were both excellent. The staff at the resort work so hard and are up early entertaining you by the pool and stay up late for the shows and disco. Where they get the energy from is anyone's guess.We went on 2 excursions; first was the Monster Truck Safari. This was exellent and I can highly recommend doing this one. Its great to see the other side of the Dominican Republic and how the people live. If you can; take some gifts for the children (old shoes; pens; paper shampoo etc.); as you visit a school where under-privileged children go and you get to give them gifts. This was both great to see and heart wrenching. The truck has a bar on it where you are given drinks all day long; and if you get Milton as your guide; you are in for a good day. Take some money for souvenirs too as you visit a shop which was very cheap; we didn't take enough money and regretted it.We also did the trip to Saona Island. This is where the bounty ads were filmed and is like paradise. This was great and you go on a catamaran to the island and speedboat back. You also have a BBQ on the island aswell.Don't think there is too much more I can say about this place. We will definitely be returning and I can highly recommend it.
478252,Moshepickle,08/27/2007,Went Solo and Loved it I had to take a trip by myself because my girlfriend was not able to leave her commitments and I was on my own and on total burn out. After having Passport Canada lose my passport renewal for three and half months I booked the holiday at the last minute and have never been to Punta Cana.After reading some of the 鈥渂ad reviews鈥?on trip advisor I was getting concerned that I may have made a mistake as I really did not want any issues during my holiday.So I decided to drop my expectations on every level and just ride with it; as I knew the beaches are beautiful and all I wanted at the end of the day was sand; surf and rest. (Ok I also wanted to look at bikinis)(Girlfriend will discuss this with me after reading).Well to make this short and sweet... the hotel is very nice; the pools are great; the beaches are wow; the staff was very pleasant ( much better than Mexico); the room was nice and very clean; there was one person tending the property every ten feet; the food was so so.The food was鈥?hit and miss鈥?depending on where you ate. The French restaurant was great as so was the Italian. The buffets for breakfast; lunch and dinner became very routine and boring. Overall from a value point of view I think it was very worth while. My suggestion is to not worry about the food and focus on losing yourself in the beauty of the area and the hotel itself.
478252,PermanentVacashun,08/27/2007,LOVED the Gran Bahia! We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe from August 19 to August 26 in celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary. We booked the Gran Bahia based on reviews from friends and acquaintances. The resort greatly exceeded our expectations. The minute we arrived we were greeted by girls wearing traditional costumes; men playing the merengue and waiters bearing glasses of delicious fruit juice. What a way to start a vacation! Greetings of HOLA resonated throughout the spacious lobby putting all the travelers into an instant holiday mood which lasted the entire week. We upgraded to the Golden Club which allowed us to be checked in while we were enroute from the airport; so we were taken to our room immediately upon arrival. The rooms are gorgeous. They are neat and meticulously cleaned every day. The bathroom is spacious and very clean. We were nervous that there might be some insects in the rooms due to the country's location; but that was certainly not the case. Our mini-fridge was well stocked and became even more so after a tip to the maid of only $2. We usually left her $2 - $5 a day. We were very unsure as to the appropriate amount of money to tip; so we asked our tour guide and she assured us that we were being quite generous. Canadians are used to tipping 15% - 20%; so we thought $5 at the a la cartes was a little cheap; but she said it was quite the contrary. The wait staff at the restaurants were so very eager to please and accommodate. The people were always smiling and they tried their hardest to make our stay as enjoyable as possible. Sometimes the language barrier was difficult; but since we were in their country and did not speak Spanish it would be very unfair to place the blame on them. We tried to learn a little Spanish; which was kind of fun; and after a few days we could communicate well enough with the locals. My wife is even considering taking Spanish lessons as she found the people so endearing and the language so lovely. The bar tenders on the beach and the entertainment staff by the pool/beach were quite entertaining. They would break into song; dance the merengue with whomever was close by and bring a smile to all those around them. The mood they created was quite infectious. The beach is gorgeous; lots of white sand and turquoise waters. It was easy to get chairs and talapas; we never had a problem and we did not get to the beach until around 11 a.m. It was easy to spend 5-6 hours at the beach/pool. The restaurant on the beach allowed you to take a break from all the lounging around and refuel for the next round. The nightly entertainment was fun and different every evening. Our villa was right on the oceanfront and the restaurants were close to the lobby at the far end of the resort. Most often we walked from our room to the restaurants; which took no more than 10 minutes. If we were too tired we took a shuttle bus. We had 5 a la carte dinners. We ate at the Garden Grill; the French; the Japanese; the Mediterrean; and the Italian restaurants. They were all great; my wife's favourite was the Japanese as you got to see the chef prepare your meal. We took a couple of day trips off the resort in order to see more of what the island has to offer. The Bavaro Runners was excellent. It is an outback safari trip throughout the Dominican Republic. It is an eye opener for those of us from developed countries...a definite must to help put things into perspective. We also took a marina tour which included snorkeling and swimming with stingrays (minus the stingers) and nurse sharks (herbivores). That was pretty exciting! There is not one thing my wife and I found lacking in our holiday. It was such a wonderful way to spend our 25th and will cherish those memories forever. For all of you planning a trip to Punta Cana you will greatly enjoy yourselves. For all of you planning on staying at the Gran Bahia Principe; please do not pay too much attention to anything negative you might read on other reviews. I have read them upon my return and cannot believe my eyes. I can only concur that some people are very unhappy and find little pleasure anywhere they go. Enjoy your vacation and be happy. Adios!
478252,ricky79,08/27/2007,Perfect Stay I stayed there for a week and loved every second of my stay in the Golden section of the Bahia Principe. First of all let me say this hotel is very well maintained; beautiful vegetation; very very clean. I don't have one single complaint to issue. The people complaining here are just too picky or simply never happy with anything. Its my 6th trip down south; 1st time in Punta Cana and I can say without hesitation; that I would go back anytime. The Gourmet and Japanese restaurants are very good; the hotel is just huge; the club is actually pretty good. I was there with my girlfriend; and both of us loved this resort. Don't forget to tip them; I was so disappointed at the people who didn't tip especially in the a la carte restaurants where the service was fast and very good.The week went by so fast; the weather was hot and the beach is very nice at the resort. I would recommend this hotel to anyone planning a stay in Punta Cana
478252,SJGLondon,08/26/2007,Fabulous Resort Just returned from the Dominican Republic and thought I'd post my comments on the resort. Overall; the resort is top class. The grounds and beach are immaculate. The rooms are of excellent standard and fastidiously clean. The staff cannot do enough for you; they are friendly; professional and always ready to help. The two smaller pools are fantastic AND yes; stay away from the main pool by the beach; full of algae and rammed with people. In our opinion the food is well above average for an all inclusive. The Buffet is great and yes if you have every item every night; it could be repetitive. You are able to book 3 a la carte restaurants per week and we highly recommend the french Le Gourmet; it was fantastic. The Italian is okay and the 'Garden Grill' well above average. The Beach BBQ is well below average.. the only appeal is the bbq'd lobsters; everything else is bland and below par. We didn't enjoy the beach buffet as the food was exposed and attracted flies and other insects.The evening entertainment was average and not to my liking; the shows reminded me of a 'Butlins' style attraction. The Pueblo was okay although stay away from the shops and markets there; the prices were astronomical!!! Stay away from the Casino.. zzzz boring and it's important to note that you will have to pay for your drinks here.We had 3 excursions planned. The Outback Safari was a thoroughly enjoyable day with a fantastic tour guide showing you the 'real' Dominican life. You visit a coffee plantation; a local home; school visit; and you end the day with a boogie board trip to a local beach. The Speedboating trip was a half day excursion which my boyfriend and I loved. We didn't enjoy the snorkelling though; which was over-managed and with very little to see.. in fact; sadly; most of the reef in the Dom Republic is barren and lifeless. We were 'supposed' to go on the Saona Island trip but the holiday rep (First Choice) failed to tell us that this had been cancelled. Imagine our 'delight' at waking up at 5:30am; ready in reception for 6.30am and sitting there for one and a half hours and finally giving up and going back to our rooms. When we finally got hold of our holiday rep; she informed us that she was certain that the local rep had told us that the trip had been cancelled.... yeah right; because I do enjoy getting up at 5:30am just for fun! There are only a few negatives for my holiday. One is the resort is just too big; there are hundreds of people staying and at times the beach-front was overcrowded and the pools full. The second negative is that the Dominican Republic is ridiculously expensive; it is geared towards the tourist market and they ask for ludicrious amounts of money for the smallest thing. My boyfriend's daughter wanted a half head of braids and they wanted US$50. At the airport; I bought 2 burger meals from the Wendy Store and they wanted US$18! My boyfriend wanted to play a round of golf but declined when hearing the price was US$150! Overall; a great holiday and I would definitely recommend it ... perhaps even coming back one day. Pack loads of sunscreen; you will need it!!!
478252,lizziebldn,08/26/2007,perfect holiday i have been to the DR previously and love the country. I travelled in August with my daughter; son-in-law and granddaughter to Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana and was a bit apprehensive prior to travel as the hotel seemed so big. On arrival I began to feel my apprehension was justified but after just 24 hours I fell in love with the place. I never thought I could enjoy a holiday by doing nothing but sitting by the pool all day but this is just what I did and I thoroughly enjoyed every single second.The whole place is simply beautiful - the grounds are immaculate and well maintained; the staff are always happy and friendly and rooms kept lovely and clean.The only day we were unable to use the facilities was on the Saturday when Hurricane Dean paid us a visit but in the end this event only added to the extraordinary experience that we had.My only complaint really was the entertainment. At 8pm each evening there was childrens entertainment in the theatre and my granddaughter looked forward to this each day. On one occasion there was a fashion parade and the children involved seemed to have put a lot of work into it. However when they started parading in their swimwear my daughter and I left in disgust. This should not be allowed in todays society.There was also a lack of vegetarian food options and most of the a la carte restaurants had none so we were not able to use them. Despite the high quality of food in the buffet it got a bit repetitive after 2 weeks. The first meal I had on my return home was a good old plate of beans on toast!!On arrival back in the UK (where the temperature was 12 degrees; wet and grey) I just cried - I just wanted to be back in the DR!Our holiday for next year is booked already although we are going to try another resort on the south coast. However I will return to Gran Bahai at some point as I had the most fantastic holiday - thanks to all concerned.
478252,Katerina8813,08/24/2007,So So... My boyfriend and I stayed at the Gran Bahia Punta Cana on the Punta Cana side from August 5th-12th. We had a fantastic time. However; we did have a small incident during our stay there.PROS:Check in: They made us check in on the bus to the the hotel. By the time we got off the bus; they offered us a cocktail and took us straight to our villa. I was shocked to see a tiny bell boy carry two suitcases of about 40lbs each and and a carry-on up to the 2nd floor on his own. Very impressive.Food: We made our reservations on the morning after we got there. We were in the golden club so we had four A La Carte reservations. The mediterranean; the mexican; the italian and the the gourmet. I absolutely loved all four of them; however the mexican was my favourite considering we had fantastic service. (not that the other restaurants had bad service) The Buffet was also great. Food is different every night and the breakfast is fantastic. I loved the fact that there was a chef making eggs however you wanted them.Staff: Very friendly; anyone who walks by you will say hola and smile at you. If you have a problem; they will try their best to help you.Bavaro Runners: THIS IS A MUST!!! it was definately the highlight of our trip. you really get to know people from your (and other) resorts. we had a fantastic time on this trip. well worth the 80$many people on this site also comented about getting diarreah. this frightened me a little so i went prepared with 3 different types of diarreah medications. my boyfriend nor i had any problems with that. i didnt even brush my teeth with bottled water and i was perfectly fine. i think as long as you dont drink a gallon of water from the tap you should be fine.. p.s. the water and ice cubes they serve you in the pitchers at the restaurants is filtered water so you have nothing to worry aboutBeach: Gorgeous beach. People have stated that there isnt enough space under the palapas by 9am. my boyfriend and i got to the beach at around 11 every morning and we just walked 2 mins down the beach and we found space under a palapa every time.CONS:During our stay at the Gran Bahia Principe we did have an incident which i was not too pleased about. Everything went fine the whole time we were there... until the day before we left. we had gone to the beach and got back in the afternoon to rest only to notice that my earings had been broken by someone who entered our room while we were gone; even though the do not disturb sign was on our door knob. we went to file a report about it and obviously the maid denied it. they compensated us by giving us two tshirts and a bottle of rum which we were supposed to get upon our arrival to our room anyway; considering we were golden members. By reading other peoples reviews on the site; i have noticed that there had been quite a few incidents similar to mine with the staff there.also; we had to pay for the safe. i have been to other resorts and this is the only one where we had to pay for the safe. Its not the money so much; just the hassle of having to go to the main desk; sit down with a staff member.... it should just be included in the price like at other resorts.Nudity: i dont know if this is actually a con.. but for me; coming from america; i am not accustomed to nudity in public. i saw middle aged women doing fitness aerobics on the beach topless. that is not my idea of a relaxing day...ADVICE:well first off... next time i go on vacation i will put EVERYTHING of value in the safe at all times; even if you have to squeeze everything in. Dont take the chance. The staff will not (or rarely) replace or give you money for the items lost/stolen/broken. and if they do; it will certainly not be of equal monetary value.also; WEAR SUNSCREEN. the sun there is not the same like in other parts of the world. it is MUCH stronger.... atleast wear FPS 40. trust me you will thank us later!relax and enjoy! (and dont forget ur sunscreen)
478252,Jembar,08/24/2007,Wonderful stay!! When we arrived; we up-graded to a gold level room (Villa 20); from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20; 2007 (two adjoining rooms). We had read the prior reviews for this all-inclusive hotel before making our reservations; which caused us some minimal concern. Nonetheless; our stay was absolutely wonderful!. The grounds are immaculate; the food was superb; the room was clean; comfortable; and roomy; and the facilities (including the beach) were marvelous! Please understand that I have particularly high expectations when I stay in a resort hotel. Our stay exceeded my expectations (my 14 year-old daughter and 16 year-old daughter both stated that this was their best vacation ever). The staff was very friendly (although most had limited english-speaking skills). Our flights on USA3000 from Baltimore were also highly regarded by us. The airport in Punta Cana is well run and only 30 minutes from the resort. Of the various restaurants; the Gourmet restaurant was our favoriite. My daughters enjoyed the parasailing ($85.00) and the fast-boat excursion ($69.00 per person). My wife enjoyed the Spa facilities. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the resort were the grounds themselves -- it seemed that someone was always cleaning the sidewalks or pruning the vegetation of this three and a half year old resort.Two thumbs way up for our experiences at Bahia Principe Punta Cana! Highly recommended!
478252,colombianbaby115,08/24/2007,I Loved it and can't wait to go back ! I got back august 22nd and i loved it.... i enjoyed staying at this resort; i mean since you wake up you have choices to go to the beach; pool; anywhere because everything is beautiful. The entertainment was fantastic; the shows were great; i really enjoyed the michael jackson show.... the best ! then right after i would go to pueblo principe which is very nice and small but alot of fun. The club was fun and the shows were funny and the attention is great. i loved the staff; the smiles everyday; they were all so happy each day and nice. I remember elvis; he's one of the guys that work in the entertainment crew; very handsome and sweet; they all speack many languages and there great people. I am definitely going back but after i visit a few other places tho but i'm thinking of going back to punta cana and staying at la ramona which is opening this november so im looking foward to that and i would reccomned this resort to many people! i loved it.
478252,meggie14,08/23/2007,Amazin Holiday !!!!! Oh my god best holiday i have ever been to and i really really miss it ; you couldnt have friendlier staff always there if you need anything felt really safe and well looked after and the rooms and resturants and pools and eevrything were absoultly spotless and everyone made you feel really at home.there were loads of things to do at night time lots of entertainment going on and like steph said amazin night club wayy better than anything they would have in england werent it humpa lol....the hotel had little gift shops and stalls and like a sweet shop and stuff and the food was amazing.. i would deff recomend it as a family holiday or as like a young couple it was amazing!!but if you so go you have to go on the outback safari trip it shows you what there real life is like and they are all so happy for how poor they live its wonderfull x x x x
478252,birdette,08/23/2007,BAD food; DIRTY buffet restaurant It鈥檚 been over a month since I came back from Punta Cana; and at first I thought I should wait before writing a review thinking; I might change my mind. I鈥檓 a big fan of this site and not only write reviews but highly depend on tripadvisor for my travel planning. To give you an idea about my travel background鈥鈥檝e traveled extensively鈥o anywhere from a two star to luxury hotels in Asia and the Middle East. This was my fourth trip to the DR; and the second to Punta Cana.EXCELLENT: What I would give a 4+ Star (NOTa 5star)鈥?Rooms in a great shape (no bugs)鈥?Beach; beautiful and clean鈥?Bathrooms; shower very clean 鈥?2 Small Pools; excellent (the large main pool is a disaster; and filled with algae)鈥?The grounds are beautiful鈥?The hotel large is but not overwhelming鈥?The open market concept adds a lot to the hotel and it is nice but EXPENSIVEGOOD: 4 star鈥?Lobby鈥?The air-conditioned restaurants鈥?The Italian restaurant (and only the Italian restaurant)鈥?The club is nice; but too much Salsa and Meringue songs鈥?Customer service is good at the Italian restaurantPOOR: 2 or 3 star鈥?Overall the food is mediocre and repetitive 鈥?The buffet restaurants is filled with bugs and flies鈥?The buffet restaurant is stinky; literally IT STINKS and makes u sick.鈥?The waiters and waitresses are rude and are not trained properly鈥?The drinks are water down BIG TIME; and I鈥檓 not a drinker鈥?Pool towel service is horrible. On several occasions we had to wait 1 hou.鈥?Entertainment鈥oring; even the Lion King; which I had read so much about.鈥?The staff don鈥檛 motivate people to get involved in competitions; dances and sports like many other resorts; so the resort is too quiet and in a way boring.鈥?We were in a group of 6; one of got sick and the doctors are 鈥ell鈥o comment. We just paid $160 USD for a short visit and 10 antibiotic pills.
478252,TonyLyndaB,08/19/2007,Even Hurricaine Dean couldn't ruin our wonderful week! Just got back a few hours ago and I miss it already!! If you want to relax and have fun in the sun; this is the place for you. We were celebrating our 25th anniversary. The staff is just super! From Daniel at the lobby; Juana at the pool bar (she makes great drinks); the many waiters and waitresses and cleaning ladies. They are such hard working people. Oh; don't forget to bring alot of sunscreen; you'll need it. Even though we had to stay an extra day because of Dean we still enjoyed ourselves. The animators kept everyone busy at the lobby by playing games;dancing; playing bingo and a whole lot of laughing. I must also tell you that there are prizes to be won. We won 2 bottles of rum and a t-shirt. I can't say enough about this great place; it's huge too! So kick off your shoes have a drink and relax!
478252,megan0221,08/17/2007,Can't wait to return! A girlfriend and I visited the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana in August 2007. Being two females travelling alone; we were somewhat apprehensive; but we felt totally safe all the time. We met the friendliest people - staff and guests alike. There were all kinds of travellers there - families; older couples; newlyweds; and single travellers like us. The food was wonderful; the service was STUPENDOUS and there are always fun activities to do! I am looking into going back already!! I can't say enough good things about it.
478252,wongjaji,08/16/2007,Great staff I've read all the reviews by others before going on this trip; and it helped. Definetly use the safe (you have to pay for it when you check in). I would not have written this post but I felt a lot of the negative posts were unwarranted. Also; the staff were so nice that I thought that this post would be a way of thanking them.If you're from New York; like me; you'll immediately notice that Americans are a minority. That's great! No loud Americans. But it also means the occasional topless women and overweight men in speedos by the pool. Just deal with it.The food is great; not fantastic. We paid $1;100 per person for a week which includes airfare. When you do the math; you're probably paying $25 per day for food. Stay away from seafood; it's overcooked and all frozen before prep. Anything from the grill or freshly made is great. For the money; the food is a great deal. I think a lot of the posts talking about problems with food may simply have been a problem of over-expectations. It's a resort. It's not a four star hotel. The buffet is great. I love Japanese but I'm smart enough not to have sushi in a Carribean island in the month of August. How fresh could the fish be? BTW; the Mediterranean restaurant was the best we had. And although we did not try it; I heard that the steak place is also great.The bar is open all day and all night. Here's a tip: the bar in the hotel lobby serves expressos and cappicinos. It's a nice lift-me-up in the mid-afternoon and also at night on the way to the casino.The hotel is great for kids but not toddlers. My kid is four and I wished that dinner could start at 6 instead of 7 so that our 8PM bedtime could have been met. Also; the after-dinner shows don't end until 10:30. I think if my child was between six to twelve we would have enjoyed it more. And the staff;the best part of this resort. Apparently; the hotel is owned by an entity out of Spain. There are a lot of details that go unnoticed but really make the resort run well. If any of you know anything about Project Management; you'll notice that a lot of processies have been implemented a long time ago and they run like clock-work. Notes:the pool by the beach is always packed and rowdy.the two interior pools are less crowded and manageable for kidsthe spa has a good feel to itthe hydro spa treatment is a great deal at $27/hr.make your dinner reservations as soon as you arrivemost of the Europeans are there for several weeks so the reservations are tight for AmericansAmerican Airlines has a direct flight out of JFKif you have kids; go out to the beach as soon as you get upstaff are constantly walking in and out of your rooms; so use the safe wiselyuse sunscreen - we all got sun-poisoning even with sunscreen
478252,lad2006,08/16/2007,Second time round and just as amazing!! We returned to the Bahia Principe for the second time 17.07.07 - 01.08.07 and we were not disapointed.I had e-mailed Laura at the hotel a couple of times to request a room similar to what we had last time as we like to be near the lobby on the second or third floor and she said she would do her best to accomodate.We were checked in on the coach which was very efficent and they had given us silver VIP wristbands; when we arrived at the room which was where we requested it was decorated in balloons with free t-shirts; rum and champagne for our anniversary. They had set the table with little cakes and a lovely fruit basket and we also got a free safe and turndown service with bathrobes and slippers for us to use during our stay. It was a lovely touch and really made us feel welcome to be back.Everything was just as good as last year; John the barman who works at the beach and the theatre bar greeted my husband like an old friend!! The restaurants were all good especially the Japanese; the only critisism was the service at the italian was a little hit and miss; they brought our main course before they had served our soup but they were quite appologetic; everyone makes mistakes.The shows at night were different to last year; the Micheal Jackson show and the Circus were amazing and our daughter took part in the Lion King show which she loved. As we were there for two weeks the shows were repeated; some we were happy to see again but others not.The girls at the kids club were different to the ones last year but even with a bit of a language barrier my daughter loved them all and they made her feel very welcome.Overall we love the Bahia Principe and would go back again; probably not for another couple of years though as we want to visit other places; but i would recomend it to anyone without a second thought!
478252,anetta1219,08/15/2007,Would I go back? In a heartbeat! I stayed at Bahia Principe from August 6th to the 13th. At first I wasn't sure how DR would be. I had heard a lot of good things about Punta Cana but wasn't sure about the hotel. I had read a lot of reviews on here and some said good things others were so so. Well all my doubts were put a side; the hotel was fantastic. I've never been to a more beautiful hotel. The grounds were amazing and extremely clean. The staff was very friendly and very helpful. The food was fabulous. I highly recommend the Mexican; Mediterranean; French and Steakhouse Restaurants The buffet was really good as well. I think I gained a couple of pounds because I couldn't get enough of the food haha.. I had heard that a lot of people got sick on their vacation to DR because of the water. No problems for me. The rooms are stocked w/ bottled water. If you need to relax; enjoy; unwind; and just have a good time; I highly recommend Bahia Principe. I've never seen such a clean beach and such a beautiful hotel. I'll definitely go back!
478252,gettingburned,08/15/2007,Fantastic Two Weeks Review from the UK as there aren鈥檛 many.Just had a fantastic two week stay at The Gran Bahia from 16th - 30th July. We stayed on the Bavaro side of the Hotel; Gran Bahia is split into Bavaro and Punta Cana; both are a mirror image of each other therefore it makes no difference at all on which side you are accommodated. We booked with Direct Holidays and traveled with My Travel; no problems at all; we also upgraded the flight to Premier Gold which in our opinion is well worth the extra few pounds. Check in was super fast; we arrived at just after 3pm; check in took minutes and then we were taken to our room straight away by the bell boys in a golf cart. Remember to pay for your safe at check in. We were in villa block 29 which is more or less half way between the beach and the main reception area. We agree the resort is large; but from reading reviews I was expecting it to be bigger than it is; however once you get your bearings even for me with no sense of direction it is very easy to navigate. The beach is at one end and the main reception at the other; there are trams running constantly so if you don鈥檛 want to walk anywhere you really don't have to. The rooms are very nice; very spacious and clean. We took advice from previous reviews and requested a top floor room this did mean we had a few stairs to climb in the very very hot weather but it meant we did not have anyone above us moving furniture around etc; if you don't mind a few stairs and not traveling with children we would recommend this.The first two days of our holiday it rained almost constantly and we feared the worst; on a plus this gave us a chance to sample the numerous cocktails in the plush lobby bar; banana mama is lovely with or without alcohol. After these two wet days we had a further 12 days of very very hot hot hot weather. Do heed the advice of previous reviews and take lots of sun lotion; high factors as you definitely will need it. The lobby shop does sell things like this but it is very expensive.Food - no complaints at all; we found the main buffet was usually very good with something for all tastes. We did find some guests a little anxious to get to the food though. The beach snack bars are also good although avoid anything between midday and 2pm as again it is a bit of a cattle market; food is good though when you can get to it. We went to the Garden Grill - this was excellent and thoroughly recommend the surf and turf; the hot and cold starters are also excellent with lots and lots of choice. We also tried The Cafe De Paris - also excellent and would recommend the fillet of beef and Fettucini with shrimp for a starter was superb. We also tried El Gourmet; this was also excellent. For breakfast we went to El Charro which is the Mexican Restaurant which also does buffet breakfast and lunch. This was very nice as most mornings we were the only people there and the choice at breakfast is also very good.Trips - We did three trips. The first we went on was to Saona Island; this was good and the rum flows the whole trip !! Unfortunately the weather for us wasn't all that brilliant; on a red hot day I think this trip would be excellent; we had quite a few heavy downpours which put the dampner on things literally. We also went on the Monster Truck Safari; this was an excellent full day out and would highly recommend. Our third trip was a half day with Bavaro Splash; this was also good. You go out in a speed boat in a convoy following a guide to a platform and then go snorkeling. On average the trips cost around 拢40 pp; lunch is included on the full day trips; lunch on the Saona Island trip was not good although on Monster Truck is was superb. One tip for the Monster Truck is to make sure you have your anti mosquito repellent and a hat !!Diving - My husband has always wanted to do the PADI and decided he would do this whilst in the Dominican. The cost of the course is considerably less than in the UK; it worked out at about 拢220. The course is done over three days; or it should be. If you do decide to do PADI bear in mind what they refer to as dominican time; everything is very relaxed and a little bit hit and miss. The course was eventually completed over four days with a swimming test at the end as they forgot to make sure my husband could swim first. One particular Instructor is very good; called Sol. He has now cost us a small fortune on diving gear !!Pools and The Beach 鈥?first of all the beach is beautiful; miles of golden soft side. There were ample sun beds available and plenty in the shade also. The main pool by the beach is a bit hectic and no way as clean as the others; however due to the amount of people who seemed to opt for this area it must be a hard job to keep it clean. The other pools are lovely with not too many sun beds so they never get over crowded. We love the sun and were at the pool some days by 8am and noticed that as long as you got there by 9am there was no need to reserve chairs with towels. This did not seem common practice anyway apart from the odd one or two. The pool aerobics are good if you feel like a bit of exercise; this is also quite amusing to watch. Swim up bars are also good and the staff are very friendly and jolly.All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks and have not one complaint; the service is excellent and tips are definitely not as expected as say Egypt where we had a week in March and would not go back. We rarely return to the same resort but we would return to this one. We also seen quite a few of the other Hotels in the area whilst doing pick up and drops offs on the trips. We were very glad we booked Grand Bahia as although some of the others looked quite nice none of them quite compared. Tipping the room maid works a little; we got extra beers and Pepsi Light but she only has limited stock for each block. She would leave the air-con on for us though which was lovely to come back to. We would thoroughly recommend this Hotel and would take the negative reviews with a pinch of salt; we can be quite picky but as I say not one complaint. Well; just one but that was on return to Gatwick Airport; flight arrived early which was good but it then took them almost two hours to get the bags from the plane to the Carousel; due to a power failure apparently.Please feel free to e-mail any questions and we will be glad to help. Wish we were still there; enjoy your holiday I鈥檓 sure most will not be disappointed.
478252,lcacan,08/14/2007,I went 2 times!!!!! I stayed at the Bahia Principe Bavaro side in July 2005 and in March 2006 I stayed in the Punta Cana side. All I have to say is the best vacation ever!This hotel is huge! It has 2 sides which are exactly the same. You have the same a la carte restos; pools; bars; club; casino... the only thing is that each side has it's own buffet and own lobby; with the same things.The rooms bathhroom: Very clean and big. Bed was very comfortable. Air conditioner was strong. You always got new towels and water bottles. Nothing at all to complain about.The food: The buffet was huge! Everynight it was a different theme. Mexican; Italian.....and the service was incrediable! Even if u didn't go to the restos a la carte the buffet had so much choice. The a la carte restos were very good. The fish resto is a must. Everyone was so friendly and always happy.The animation: The shows at night were grest. We always rushed b/c we didn't want to miss them. After the shows; about a 5 minute walk; there is a terrasse with a live band and everyone dances. You sit and have a drink and enjoy the music. In this area they have stores; casino; the club; and a market. Everything u need is here. After the band; at around 12am; the club opens. We didn't go everynight. The music and the animators WOW. they dance the hotel dance and by the end of the week u know it!the animation at the pool is good. Always something going on. The pool beach: 3 pools and each has a swim-up bar. Pools very clean. The beach beautiful. white sand clear water. Nothing to complain about. Because the resort is os big there is a bus that goes up and down through out the day and night. But the walk is worth it at night with the breeze. They have the Club Golden section which are the rooms closer to the beach. I don't recommend paying that extra b/c ur never in ur room; and the way the resort is u might not se the beach. I definitely would go back. Everything u need in one place. that's a vacation!
478252,Margaritaladypa,08/14/2007,Second Time at Gran Bahia--the good and the not so good This was our second visit to the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana; the last being May 2006. The Good: Being second time guests at the Bahia proved to have many perks. On day one--we received a bottle of rum; cigars; polo shirts; baseball caps and a small bottle of scotch! We have been repeat guests to other resorts and have never received such special treatment--we were very impressed! We stayed in Club Golden; and were in building #20--the first building on the beach--good location (but we prefer Building 1 on the Punta Cana side). We were able to make reservations for dinner for as many evenings as we wanted. We dined at the Italian; Mexican (our favorite!); the Japanese; the Meditteranean; the Beach BBQ. We also had reservations for the Gourmet; but did not make it due to a bad storm that evening. The service and food was very good at the Mexican; Japanese; Italian and Meditteranean--the BBQ it was not so good.Maid service was good--towel art furnished daily. One day the balconies were decorated with swans made from beach towels; and balloons were on all doors. The room was decorated with flowers several days also. Main pool bar was the best--German and Luis are the best bartenders on the resort--they definitely aim to please.The weather was good; with the exception of one evening thunderstorm. The beach is gorgeous; but was crowded. Towel game was definitely played. We were up at 7:;30 to secure our spot--most days there weren't many huts left by 9:00 a.m.The Not so Good: Entertainment seems to be very repetitive--same music; same activities each day. I feel this has gone downhill since our last visit. The lobby bars close at 11:00 sharp--leaving no alternative but the Pueblo or Karoke bar until the disco opens at 12:00. Other resorts lobby bars remain open until midnight. The entertainment in the Lobby Bars is also the same every night. The Karoke bar is very poorly run. A huge songbook; but most songs listed are not available; the management allows large groups to go up and SCREAM their song--not very amusing--many people got up and left. The person running it really doesn't seem to care. The rudeness of some of the non-English speaking patrons has been addressed here before. Naked children in the swimming pool--obviously no health department here! Overall; we had a good time at The Bahia--but we did have to make our own fun. We also met some great people from Missouri; Michigan and D.C. We definitely will return to Punta Cana; but most likely will try another resort.
478252,jfnn,08/13/2007,Best hotel ever pool
478252,sunshine070,08/10/2007,Great until the last day My son and I stayed at this resort from July 22 to July 29. Everything was great until the last day. The hotel; service; rooms; pools and ocean were all great. The food was o.k.As far as excursions go; the Jurassic Buggys was fantastic; but the Bucaneros speed boats was not so great and most of the boats were really unsafe to use.My son became very ill on the Friday evening with a high fever. I took him to the hotel physician who was not much of a help and was told that my travel insurance through my employees benefits plan would not be accepted; and that I would be charged and would have to request reimbursement through my benefits when I returned home. Fortunately; he did not charge me as nothing was really done for my son. The same evening; it had taken 4 calls to housekeeping to request a warm blanket for my son as he had the chills. After over an hour; houskeeping came with two bedsheets and said that a warm blanket was not available at that time of night (9:00 p.m.) I also notice that some of my son's belongings that were kept in a drawer were missing. I contacted customer service in the hotel and was told that security would come by to determine who had been in the room as they could access the card reader. Of course security did not show up and I was not reimbursed. My son ended up contracting pneumonia at the hotel and was taken to hospital upon our immediate return to Canada. I called the resort to advise them of my son's illness so that they could possibly look into whether more guests had contracted pneumonia there and take effective action. Customer service at the hotel said I needed to make a formal complaint via email for this to be actioned upon; no matter how much I stressed the possibility that this illness could be travelling throughout there resort. I had advised them that I did not have immediate access to email and I was concerned for new guests that were at the resort.....again I was told to put it in writing to them. For any travellers going to this resort; you may want to call ahead to ensure that there are no strains of illness going around; I wish I'd had as my son was very ill for over two weeks.
478252,koukla01,08/09/2007,A honeymoon we will never forget When it was time to doing some research on honeymoon spots my fiance at the time and I weren't even thinking of the Dominican until we heard from so many people rave reviews of the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana resort. So I contacted my travel agent and I mentioned if he can look into the resort and right away he's like are you kidding; that's where he went on his honeymoon as well and he said we had to go; we would love it and he along with everyone else was absolutely right!The resort was paradise; the hotel was immaculate and most of all the workers were the friendliest and most professional people I have ever met!My husband and I enjoyed everything about the resort from the lobby/lounge to the many restaurants; the pools and beach; entertainment and more.I would rate the following out of 5; 5 being excellent!Hotel - 5/5Food - 4/5Staff - 5/5Pools/Beaches - 4/5I strongly recommend this resort; you will not be disappointed.Iolanda and John KouretasJune 10/07 - June 17/07
478252,Rhedd,08/09/2007,AMAZING; BEAUTIFUL but don't get it confused with Bahia Principe San Juan!! The first thing I鈥檝e got to say is that I鈥檓 writing this as I was too busy when I got back from my amazing holiday and just forgot; but I鈥檝e been watching GMTV (morning programme in the UK) and for the past 2 days now they鈥檝e been reporting horrific gastric problems and hospitalisation for nearly all guests staying at the Bahia Principe Hotel San Juan (North). Please note this is NOT the Bahia Principe Hotel in Punta Cana (South East); which is AMAZING!!!!!!!I just want anyone reading this to know it was my favourite holiday EVER 鈥?it was blissful; tranquil; not overcrowded; plenty of (very clean) pools; very VERY clean apartments; gorgeous beach; mostly friendly staff. The food wasn鈥檛 out of this world; but we had very little problem getting reservations (we were allowed 3 for the 7 days we stayed there). We would recommend reserving the BBQ place down by the beach and steer clear of the barterers unless you are good at that sort of thing. Karaoke was fun and entertainment in the evening was brilliant. I can鈥檛 stress enough how breathtaken we were by the resort; weather; people etc. We also went on a very good value excursion which involved a party bus; followed by a little boat to a bigger boat which had dancing and rum on board and guides took you first out snorkelling with coral and fish and later to a second spot which had enclosures with nursing sharks and stingrays 鈥?it was AMAZING!!!! You will be very pleased if you choose the Bahia Principe BAVARO in PUNTA CANA but I wouldn鈥檛 stay at the Bahia Principe San Juan in the North; following the health scare. The one at the bottom of the Island is better anyway; as you get the Caribbean sea instead of the Atlantic 鈥?go for it! xp.s. Try to stay immune to the hotel song Bahia Principe - it's the only thing that's infectious about this place!!
478252,EnglandBrammers,08/08/2007,Apprehensive Having read many reviews prior to our visit; I have to say I was a little apprehensive. Staying for two weeks with my wife and two boys (12 and 10) we booked through First Choice Holidays in the UKThe hotel is immense; catering for thousands of guests; but the ratio of staff to guests ensures the highest levels of service; all of them were friendly; helpful and seemed genuine. The whole place was immaculately kept; the gardens; rooms; lobby; restaurants; bars; toilets etc were spotless.The themed restaurants made a nice change from the buffet restaurant; our favourites in order were - Gourmet; Japanese; Barbecue by the beach; Italian; and Mediterranean. Didnt try the Mexican or the Garden Grill. The buffet restaurant had lots of chioce and was well presented; but catering for so many people has its problems; some of the food was only luke warm and had probably gone past its best. I had a bad stomach and felt out of sorts for a couple of days and the wife and kids and a touch of trots as well; whether that was a combination of excesses of early sun; food and beverages or a bug I am not sure but take Immodium with you; it will come in useful.The maids did a great job on the rooms; daily; although on several occasions it would be 3 or 4 in the afternoon before they got round to our room; which was a bit inconvenient as we fair skinned English needed a siesta in the air condioned rooms and an escape from the afternoon's intense sun. (Beware all take plenty of sun tan lotion and use it on a regular basis)Did several excursions outside the hotel; booked through FC. Seona Island; speed boat and snorkelling and the Outback Safari; on the whole value for money if not a little on the expensive side. Tried the scuba diving with my son; unfortunately they took us out into the ocean following a storm; so it was all a bit too choppy to see any real sites under the ocean.Other than the Michael Jackson show; the entertainment was dissapointing; and the pools by the beach overcrowded; but many people seemed to be enjoying the fun of bingo; aerobics and dancing lessons and the daily challenges to win a tee shirt or a bottle of Rum. Not the place for piece and quiet I am afraid. This was our first go at All Inclusive; on the whole this was a positive experience and one; my two boys will remember for ever (courtesy of the camcorder) I would recommend this place to others; but you have to appreciate that the sheer size of the place and number of guests and staff means if you are looking for that extra personal touch you will probably be dissapointed. But how they get it to work so efficiently is a real eye opener 24 x 7!!We have had a great holiday; if you can accept you are in a non English speaking country and are willing to have a go at the lingo you will get by fine. Tourism is critical for this country and its people; without it I am affraid it would be another Haiti and that would be a great shame.
478252,lozNorthernIreland,08/07/2007,Had a lovely relaxing time lorraine and colin from Norhern Ireland Well I just dont know how you would possibly please some people they were obviously born with silver spoons in their mouths.This was a fantastic resort. I would be particular when it comes to clean and this in my opinion is as clean as any hotel I have ever stayed at or cleaner. The staff are so friendly and will go out of thier way to make your stay as nice as possible. Yes this is a big resort but that was so nice you did not feel enclosed it felt like a wee town which is what Im used to living in a small town in Ireland. The beach was georgous and yes you could always find a bed sometimes a little further back from the water but no problem. The food was fantastic my favourite restaurant was the Steakhouse and the Japanese was really entertaining.The drinks were good once the bar man got to know you the rums became larger. You have to try Mamauana thier local drink ummm lovely.No loud noise at night as the entertainment was far enough away and if you went there all drinks were still free.One thing I have to say who said the Brits were loud; obviously these people have never met Canadians they are the loudest people ever. Its like they have to be heard over every other person around them. It can become kinda annoying when you are just dropping off on the beach after a late night suffering with a hangover and some loud person sits near you.Met some lovely people there hello to you all.So if you go have a brill time as we did.Oh one last thing we flew with First Choice and this was indeed an excellent choice everything was perfect.Lorraine
478252,BeachLoverfromLA,08/07/2007,Gran Bahia is good My husband and I stayed here July 28 - August 4. For perspective; this was our 4th all inclusive beach vacation -- and the 1st we would actually consider returning to (because there are so many other places we want to see!) Like many; I read every review before booking and before traveling; so I would know what to expect. We've stayed at Riu and Palace Resorts in Mexico and Sun Village in Puerto Plata; DR; for comparison. RESORT/ROOMS: Beautiful! Dominican people are very hard working and the grounds are immaculate. Suites are large and comfortable. Beds were comfortable we never heard neighbors (we have before at other resorts). Rooms were cleaned and mini-fridge plentifully stocked. We didn't have a coffemaker the 1st day wanted more soft drinks water; so we left a note (in English) they were there that afternoon. We did leave small gifts $$ each day; but I don't think it would have changed the service we got. Yes the resort is VERY large; but the tram makes it easy to get around.BEACH: Beautiful! We go for the beach -- not pools (which we can do at home); so this is a make or break for us. The water was clear (though not quite as clear as Cancun) refreshing. There is a constant breeze off the ocean that keeps you cool (if you're from the south; like we are -- it actually felt cooler than we do at home in Louisiana). There are fees ($25) for lessons to use some of the free water sports; but after that it was great to have something at the resort to do. We booked a day or two before we wanted them. FOOD: We loved the food! The buffet had plenty of choices -- but like others have said; if you eat everything off the buffet at one meal; you won't have much variety the next night. But who tries to eat everything at once? We also think our creole food in Louisiana is very similar to Dominican; so we may have enjoyed it more than others. If you are used to good Mexican food; don't go to the Mexican restaurant; though. The Japanese and the Steakhouse were both great! Great service food in both. Again; we tipped everywhere even the buffet; but I don't think it made much a difference in service.BARS: This was our only complaint about the resort -- in a resort this size I would have expected more beach bars. There was so much beach front owned by the resort; and only 1 bar. We either had to walk a ways or stay close to the bar -- and we are not especially heavy drinkers. We just wanted to stay hydrated in the heat. We did bring our bubba mugs they were great about filling them with whatever we wanted. Also; we like to relax by the beach in the evening we couldn't do that here -- but the lobby bar had great entertainment every evening that substituted for us.TOURS: We did the Saona Island tour it was great!! My husband wanted to deep sea fish we spent the extra money for a private 1/2 day charter -- that was wasted money!! If you're thinking of fishing; don't expect much here. The other 3 - 4 boats didn't catch either it looked like they hadn't in days; even though it was supposed to be peak season for lots of species. Oh; well; we'll just have to go to Cabo to catch that marlin!!SUMMARY: We loved the resort itself and the Dominican people. This was our 2nd trip to DR so we knew how friendly they are. We were surprised at how UNFRIENDLY the Europeans were. We would smile and try to converse they wouldn't even try. They would cut in front of you at bars; buffet lines. One night a buffet worker fell with a tray of food and the guests around here actually laughed and applauded -- I felt like I was back in high school (actually I teach high school and expect better behavior from my students!). We also found it unsettling that there was so much toplesssness (and complete nudity by some who publicly changed clothes) with so many children around. At other places; the women would put their tops on to walk around; but here they stroll the beaches. Just a note for parents. Like I said before; the resort and the area are beautiful; but if we go back we will probably look for a resort that has more Americans.
478252,patriciamry,08/06/2007,Bahia Principe is beautiful But we had some problems!!! My family and I stayed at the Bahia Princupe for one week ; July 20th thru 27th. I would like to share my thoughts with other tripadvisor readers as I learned so much from reading other reviews.First of all let me begin by saying it was my first all- inclusive packsge holiday since my honeymoon 22 years ago...having said that I found that the all inclusive thing is a good deal if you are a BIG drinker and love buffets; otherwise I';m not so sure if it's for me.When we arrived at the hotel I was quietly rehearsing my sentence about wanting to be upgraded to the Gold or Diamond in my very basic spanish but when we got to the front desk we found out we had already been upgraded without even having to ask or pay for it !!! We don't know how this happened but we weren't about to ask ! We were put into the Club Premiere; a private area with it's own private pool and restaurant and private lounge...the private lounge here was the very best thing we loved about this place...it was a large; open area with marble floors and rattan furniture and miniature palms; just stunning ! In the morning they had a pastry and coffee bar where you helped yourself to croissants; etc. and Cafe con leche( basically instant cofee and hot milk) ...okay if youre a Second cup or starbucks kind'a guy you will not like this but I loved this kind of coffee or should I say I grew to live it because that's all there was ! In the afternoon it was the same thing with different pastries and also many fine Twinings teas to choose from. There was a bar there as well and internet access. No magazines or newspapers to read...this would be a welcome addition.For me and some of our family we found the food to be a a major disappointment. The buffets were full of variety but I was squeamish to try things I had nevers seen before; i.e. veg. I had never heard of and deef-fried pineapple etc. ; at breakfast the north american type foods i.e. bacon and pancakes; french toast did not taste or look like Canadian equivalents...and yes; I know we were not in Canada but they just tasted so different it made me feel uneasy. The doughnuts were made fresh each a.m. and they were delicious as well as all their breads and pastries. Needless to say I ate alot of those things during the week. The a la carte restaurants were fine; the best for us was the french; tender filet mignon and M'aitre D named Josolo was wonderful.Japanese was fun but we found it to be very average food.My kids loved the pasta you could get at all the buffets; they said the french fries and burgers were good too. The beach was absolutely beautiful....always a breeze and never a problem finding 3 or 5 chairs together. I enjoyed seeing women of all shapes and sizes who felt free to wear whatever type of suit they wanted to whether it be a bikini or maillot or topless...I was impressed with their self-confidence as they were not feeling trapped by the media frenzy guidelines that women are so often felt compelled to follow...in other words if you don't have a perfect body...you'll love showing off what you do have !!!To finish off I'll say that his resort is more like a four star( north amer. system) and if you want one week of beach and pools and non-stop drinking then this is the place for you . I enjoyed it and I'm very glad I went but one week was enough for me. Go and try it out you have to judge for yourself ! Staff are very nice !!!
478252,mle1982,08/06/2007,Best vacation by FAR Got back yesterday and still in awe of how amazing EVERYTHING on the resort was. Food was incredible....especially the restaurants; service was inspiring...always helpful and happy; the cleanest place I have ever seen...they never stop perfecting the place; the night entertainment was incredible; especially the Michael Jackson show The Lion King performance. Rooms were huge and cool; and clean. Honestly cannot say enough about my experience!!!
478252,maureenhummel,08/05/2007,My husband loved it; that says everything! Our 10 year anniversary in the gazebo before dinner at the Italian restaurant
478252,NEEDAVACAPittsburgh,08/04/2007,Fantastic; Relaxing All-Inclusive Week My husband; myself and a single friend (all late 20s) stayed in a Jr. Suite for one week in June of this year. We each have substantially different tastes and expectations and have traveled as a group together for several years. This resort really served all of us well. We all enjoyed the food -- we ate breakfast at the buffets; lunch at the pool snack bars (sometimes twice); and dinner at either the a la cartes or the buffet. We enjoyed the food each and every night. I am a vegetarian and there was plenty for me to eat. We were able to book four a la cartes upon check in; although our stay was only supposed to include three. We enjoyed the Mexican because of the tequila and the flaming coffees -- which looked better than they tasted! The Japanese was very good and the French was worth the experience although none of our favorites. The seafood was OK. We actually enjoyed the variety of the buffets just as much as the a la cartes. The drinks are quite good; too. I tried many of the cocktails of the day -- we loved the banana mama and the choco at the main pool bar. I had contacted the hotel ahead of our stay to say it was my husband's birthday and they left us tee shirts and a small bottle of rum. These were both unnecessary but much appreciated touches.I would recommend going to your scheduled orientation. There are helpful tips there. We traveled with Apple and Petra was very helpful for little ?s here and there. It was also very confusing and crowded at the airport for departure; but we found the Apple reps and they pointed us in the right direction. The staff were amazing -- if only all workplaces had such happy; courteous; and enthusiastic staff. Whether we tipped a couple bucks or not at all; we were always treated with respect. Our room was not the most luxurious room I've stayed in; but the maid did clean it thoroughly and it was certainly nice enough for the time we were in it -- to shower; sleep; and nap! The gym is small but sufficient if you are trying not to pack on the pounds from all of those delicious drinks. I also ran the property early in the morning. It was a nice run and I got to practice my conversational espanol as I passed by the employees as they reported to work. Speaking of; a few key phrases are well worth learning -- borrow a CD from the library -- it is much appreciated and a little fun to see how far you can go. I've never taken a formal Spanish class and I had staff ask if I was from Santo Domingo!The pools and beach were heavenly. One of the pools with a bar did get mirky and cloudy one day but it was cleared up by the following day. We never reserved beach or pool lounges and were always able to find three together somewhere. You can reserve the boating/kayaking equipment. We did this a couple of days by scheduling for the following afternoon. We kayaked to the ship wreck; peddal boated; and took a catamaran. We did not do any excursions; but we heard that the dolphin encounter is a waste but the marina and jungle ATV are worthwhile. We did not experience any of the nightlife -- we were back to our room by 11ish every night. I would recommend taking some meds down with you just in case -- and of course a giant bottle of SPF. We did make use of the Pepto on a few occassions; but it was likely due to eating so much fruit and fruity drinks than anything else. We also used hydrogen peroxide to dip our toothbrushes and no one got sick.I would recommend this resort without hesitation -- if you are looking for a low key; relaxing beach/pool week. There is no downtown to travel to; so if you are looking for somewhere you can experience the culture and travel into town daily; this is not for you. It was a great value! Even though we prefer to try out new locations; we have already discussed returning to this property in the future. It was a fantastic relaxing all-inclusive week.
478252,diamondgirl7602,08/01/2007,Gran Bahia is certainly GRAND!! First of all; I must say that I wasn't even supposed to stay at this hotel. I was supposed to stay; along with the other 5 ppl in my group; at the Ocean Blue Hotel; yet they over-booked and bumped us here. Boy; am I ever glad that happened! This hotel was absolutely top-notch in every way! My group was here from 7/26-7/31 for a five night stay in the D.R. and found out very quickly that we lucked out at the Gran Bahia. This hotel is utterly georgous in every way; but very large. You have to ride trolleys to get from one end to the other; but if you can afford it; I would recommend going GOLD and staying in the villas closest to the beach. This way you have a pool and the beach right in close proximity; so you have the best of both worlds. The rooms were phenomenal (although did allow smoking...) and spacious; and the hotel staff was wonderful. The front desk personnel were on a first-name basis with us; and when one of the girls in our party was injured the night manager even drove us in his own car to the doctor's office when in need! That's dedication! If you don't know any Spanish it's a bit difficult to communicate with the maids/bellhops; but the people in all the strategic locations speak English and other languages extremely well. Honestly; there was only one employee that was anything less than spectacular while there; and she worked in Guest Services; so if you must contact them; talk to Edward: he is fabulous! Otherwise; I would recommend this hotel highly; clean rooms; great service; and excellent restaurants! This is the ONLY choice in Punta Cana and I will undoubtedly return! A big thanks to the staff at the Gran Bahia! Muchas Gracias!
478252,dreaming27,08/01/2007,Will not return food was horrible...mostly all buffet which was bad quality. they limit the amount of reservations u can make at a restuarant on the property. i stayed for 3 nights and they only allowed me one reservation; but when i went to make a reservation evrything was booked!! they finally got me into a restaurant and there were like 20 tables empty!!! so i dont know whay they said everything was booked. not that it made a difference anyway bcuz the food was just as bad as the buffet food. all the drinks/liquor are watered down. the beer is not true dominican beer like PRESIDENTE. the service was just ok. the a/c doesnt cool enough and there in so a/c in the lobby or propety. the restaurants do not have good a/c/ either. same exact food day after day. all in all will not recommend it and will not go back. if you are picky like I am; DO NOT spend your $ here.
478252,fliptraveller,07/31/2007,had an awesome time! Me and 4 friends stayed at the Bahia Principe Punta Cana from July 15th to the 22nd/07 for my stagette/bachelorette. We all read dozens of reviews (good and bad) but in the end I found this resort to be AMAZING!! The resort itself is beautiful; the gounds were constantly being groomed; our rooms were clean; spacious and had extra amenities like a jacuzzi tub included. The mini bar was constantly being refilled but the fridge in itself wasnt very cold but the ice machine was just a few steps away and was always full. The first couple of days we were there we stayed at the pool but decided that we couldnt go all that way to Punta Cana just to sit near a pool so we stayed on the beach as much as possible which in my opinion is a much better choice. Note that though there are signs everywhere about not saving seats; most of the prime positions were saved by 9am. So if you cant beat 'em; join 'em!The guys working at the beach bar (Juan; John; Joel and Richard) were awesome!! We got amazing service. Everyone was so friendly and the bartenders would often entertain us by singing or dancing and the first day we arrived on the beach; one of them immediately came up to us to offer us cocktails. The drinks were awesome and the mamajuana (what locals call liquid Dominican Viagra) is excellent. It s a shot that goes down hard the first time but we found that it easily cured minor ailments like stomach aches ;)The food on the resort was average to good. The French restaurant was excellent all around but we were a bit disappointed by the Steakhouse and Meditaranean restaurants. Any time we werent happy with our meals; we made our way to the buffet which was always packed with fresh food and there is a theme for each night. The Tropicana shows are definitely worth watching (but its a definite family atmosphere) and the drinks at the Tropicana Bar were excellent. We also found the hotel tour rep to be really helpful and Miguel at the front desk did everything he could to accomodate us after we had some rather noisy guests in the room next to us. They were playing loud music at 330am so we called Security and the music died down (after a 2nd call to the front desk!)Overall I loved this resort. It was my first all-inclusive experience and I would definitely go back. In fact; my girlfriends and I are thinking of going again in November and making it an annual adventure. Keep in mind that 95% of the people at this resort are families or couples on their honeymoon so if you're looking for singles; this may not be the resort for you but we made the most of it and had a blast.Another quick thing I wanted to mention is that people going to the Dominican should realize that they are IN FACT in a foreign country that is Spanish speaking. I was really frustrated by tourists who got upset with hotel staff because they had problems understanding them. Be patient with them...the staff are great and do the best they can to communicate. Try and make an effort to learn some key spanish phrases before you go. And remember...saying muchas gracias (thank you very much) goes a long way!Do not hesitate to book at this resort. You will love it!
478252,teachamatic,07/31/2007,A Beautiful All-Inclusive Resort After a stressful year; my husband and I wanted absolute relaxation in beautiful surroundings and that's what we found at the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana.In our opinion; many of the negative comments about this resort come from those travellers who simply do not enjoy the all-inclusive resort experience. Our favourite Caribbean destination is Cane Garden Bay in Tortola (definitely NOT an all-inclusive vacation destination!) but the advantage to the all-inclusive resort vacation is that you do not even have to think about where to eat; what to drink; how to get to the restaurant (and drive back after a few cocktails!); and -- most difficult of all -- how much to pay for food; drinks; and entertainment (all of which can be extraordinarily expensive for what you get; on islands like Tortola; Nassau; Barbados; and Jamaica).The Bahia Principe provides a top-notch generic Caribbean vacation experience. The Dominican staff is welcoming; competent; friendly; and even caring. There is always something delicious to eat at the buffet. The specialty restaurants are fun. The cocktails are the best (and strongest) of any all-inclusive we've been to. The grounds are manicured. The beach is absolutely lovely and the weather (July 4 to 20) was perfect.That having been said; if you cannot abide crowded swimming pools; guests who reserve their lounge chairs early and never return to them; and children allowed to run wild by their parents; possibly you should consider another type of summer holiday.I have nothing but admiration for the staff and management of the Bahia Principe. This resort runs like a well-oiled machine. The staff must be treated relatively well; for the vast majority are happy to meet you and go out of their way to make sure you have a wonderful time. This goes for the wait staff in the buffet (Alfonso is a great example) as well as those in the specialty restaurants. Little problems happen on any vacation but the administration is quick to remedy them in a polished and efficient manner.One criticism: There is no book exchange operating at this resort. If you run out of holiday page-turners; you are out of luck. Suggestion to the Bahia -- why not start a book exchange at the beach barbeque restaurant? This is done at the Bahia Principe Tulum in Mexico and it works fantastically well. When you are finished with your book; you can leave it at the restaurant and take another one from the shelf!Some pointers: No need for water shoes; there are no rocks underfoot in the water or on the beach.Guests at this resort dress for dinner and evening entertainment. It was fun to dress up for the specialty restaurants and then sit in the lobby bar after supper.The flaming coffees are the best!The filet mignon was the most delicious and tender that I've had in the Caribbean.Rolando gives excellent Spanish lessons every day in the beach barbeque restaurant (11:00).Thank you; Bahia Principe; for an excellent two-week break from the stresses of real life! We came home energized and rested.
478252,seedeez00,07/30/2007,Not a complainer; but ready to come home. I used trip advisor to plan my trip and I feel its only right to contribute back to the site. First; let me say that I'm 32 years old; I'm very open minded and more than willing to take in new experiences. I'm letting this be known because I refuse to acknowledge myself as a chronic complainer. Americans; do not expect an Americanized resort. I had read reviews about Europeans being annoyed by the occasional boisterous American. I thought it would be nice to avoid that situation also; now that I was bringing my family . However; I found that I would probaly prefer those boisterous Americans rather than the numerous rude and unfriendly Europeans. There were not many Americans at the resort during this time of the year. Maybe i'm just bitter because I like to meet new people and there was a language barrier; who knows!The resort is beautiful; the staff smiles. Didn't feel obligated to tip but did anyways. Beer.. Presidente and another domestic beer are your options.All drinks are served in plastic dixie cups; they were a little larger than shot glasses. Too small for me. Frozen drinks were OK.Food... This is where I was suprised. I am not a picky eater at all!! But the food was tiresome. There were very poor attempts to create food from around the world. I'm not Mexican nor a cook but i'm sure I could put together a better Mexican feast than the resort. This goes for Italian; French; and probaly even Dominican. They can do alot better than that. I'd like to give an A for effort but for a resort in this price range they should probaly have it right. Had Japanese 2 times; this was good.Beds... Uncomfortable.Waitstaff... Helped us out with liters of milk for our baby. Thank you.Jhonny at the pool is hilarious. He heads a lot of the activites that you participate in during the days. ( Water Aerobics; Dancing; and other various contest) Also is a dancer during some entertainment nights.I picked this resort for its family rating on Trip Advisor. I still agree with it but in my case I missed out on 2 aspects of it. My infant was too young for kids activites and my 11 year old was too old for them. All the kids inbetween seemed to be having a great time.The safari excursion was very interesting and I highly recommend doing it. If you do any shopping do it on this trip. You may still have to barder but not with overly aggressive vendors like there are at the resort.Mini-Golf- don't waste your timeSpa- Very niceCasino- nothing special; small; and you pay for drinks.We booked thru Apple Vacations and our Tour rep; Petra was awesome. She'll tell you like it is. Even brought me aloe from her house so I didn't have to pay 13us in the lobby shop. Thank You. If you hang out at the pool and the beach you can't do wrong. Protective parents; just know that there are topless women on the beach and at the pool. My 11 year old was a bit shocked and my infant was constantly thirsty( joke). I hope this was helpful and please no hard feelings on the European comment. Different strokes for different folks..
478252,Barb058,07/29/2007,Gran Bahia Beach is beautiful We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe from July 18th through the 23rd with a party of 14 people. The place is beautiful but it is as huge as everyone says. We stayed in Building 7 by the beach. The lower the number the closer to the beach. There are Trams that run you back and forth from the beach to the lobby. They are no problem to get on but I would prefer a little bit of a smaller resort. But I have to say the grounds were beautiful and lush everywhere you looked.Beach and Service: The people who worked at the resort were always helpful and ready with a smile. I really enjoyed how nice they were. If you are a beach lover (we are) you will love it! It is really one of the nicest beaches we have ever been to and we have been to quite a few. To get the best seating on the beach get up a little early and save your seats. I know some people do not like that but we spent the entire day there so it was important enough to me to get some shade. Food: The food was not our favorite thing about the resort. We were in the Dominican Republic and of course their food was prepared the way they eat. We just didn't care for it that much. (The buffets) The ala carte restaurants we went to were great. We went to the Japanese; Italian and Medditerrean. We enjoyed them all very much. Make your reservations early. We made them as soon as we got there. Rooms: Absolutely no complaints. They were large and clean. The beds were pretty comfortable and they were kept nice and clean by the staff. (Leave a few dollars every day)Entertainment: The shows aren't very good. We watched one or two. We may have missed a few of the good ones. They had the Lion King which seemed like a nice production but we didn't stay. The casino is tiny and has very few slots ( what I play) and just a few table games. Not a great casino but it was something to do.Excursions: We booked the speed boats. It was 4 hours long. Left at 12:00 pm and got back a little after 4:00pm. Everyone who went really enjoyed it. They took you to a small island and after speed boating you went snorkeling. We also took a bannana boat ride. A big tube that is pulled through the water. Five of us took the ride and it was only 10 or 15 dollars a person and we had a blast.Overall: We got a great price and it was more than worth what we paid. You truly make your own good time and if you love the beach you will not be disappointed by this beautiful place!
478252,igads,07/29/2007,Fun and Sun at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana sunrise
478252,maximus323,07/29/2007,Perfect time at Bahia Principe My wife and I just got back from the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana where we stayed in the golden section. We are both very pleased with just about everything we went through on our stay. We originally were a little reluctant to go there because of the size of the resort (over 1900 rooms) and we were afraid that there would be too many people to be able to get some quiet times. We didn't need to be. First the resort is really huge and they even have tramway services to drive you around which are very handy under very warm weather. The property is extremely well maintained and clean everywher you go. They clean the beach section every day so you always get white sandy beach with turquoise water. If you like to be quiet; you just have to find a spot on the sides not directly in front of the resort and you'll be happy. The food was very good; and sometimes excellent; in the A la carte restaurants (we tried the French; Japanese; Italian; Mexican and BBQ) and very good at the buffet. Try to make your reservations when you arrive to get what you want; it's very easy with the guest services.The rooms are very big and they were giving us the turn down service in the golden; they even left some chocolates in our room every night. The upgrade also included the towel service in the room which was very useful.The check-in was done in the bus going to the hotel and even though we arrived at 12:30 the room was ready for us so we ended up starting the vacations right away. Our plane was delayed 7 hours when we had to leave and; since we didn't know; we had already checked out. They gave us the keys back and we could go back and keep the rooms untin noon. If you wanted; you could even pay an extra to keep it longer. When we were there; the hotel was 98% full and yet; we never had to wait in line for anything since they have a lot op staff to accomodate you.Our only negative point was the gym which was small and not very well equipped for a 5 stars.So; we definitely recommend this hotel and I believe that getting the upgrade to the golden is nice because of all the extras and the fact that you are getting the villas closer to the beach.
478252,jmo88,07/28/2007,Great time at the Bahia Principe I stayed at the Bahia Principe from Saturday 7/21 through Wednesday 7/25; and had a great time. We booked a room on the Punta Cana side; but when we arrived; we learned we had been upgraded to a Hacienda Club room. When originally booking; I had looked into the upgrades available and decided they weren't worth it; but after staying I'd highly recommend the upgrade to Club Diamond or Hacienda Club. You have access to a reserved pool and have access to a special breakfast and lunch at the Italian restaurant which is right near the pool. You also have beach towels waiting for you in your room as part of the upgrade package. The location of the rooms in these clubs also seemed more convenient; becuse they were located in the middle of the resort between the reception/lobby/buffet area; and the beach. There's another upgrade available-Golden Club-and these rooms are located closer to the beach; but further away from the main lobby area.Overall I was very happy with the resort. It is pretty large; but they have trams running all day so you don't have to walk everywhere if you don't want to. Everything is very clean and well maintained. The food is also pretty good-after reading a lot of reviews; I was a little nervous about eating there; but had no problems. There's always something you can find to eat at every meal because they have very large selection.We were only staying 4 nights; so we had 2 a-la-carte dinners included in our packages. We made reservations the first day for the Japanese restaurant; Mikado; and the Garden Grill. I enjoyed both; but my favorite meal was definitely at the Garden Grill. Service was great at both places; as well as at the buffets. I speak very little Spanish-a few basic words and phrases; but had no problem communicating with anyone; almost all of the staff speaks English.Overall I had a great time and was able to really relax and unwind. I'd definitely recommend this place for anyone interested in going to Punta Cana.
478252,newmom597,07/27/2007,Nice resort...very crowded; too many kids Visited--July 19th-26th 2007Prior trips: Riviera Maya(4 1/2 star resort); Cancun(5 star resort); St. Thomas(3 star resort); Barbados(4 star resort); 3 cruises(Carnival; Royal Caribbean; Celebrity)Travelers--2 adults; 1-ten year old girl.Accomodations--Regular room(no club). All rooms are suites.We travel 1-2 times per year to the Caribbean; always with our 10-yr old daugther. This was our first trip to Punta Cana. I do TONS Of research on tripadvisor prior to booking. Our first choice was the Majestic; but it was booked. The Gran Bahia Principe was my 2nd choice.GROUNDS--Beautiful and meticulously kept. Flowers and fruit trees everywhere(banana; coconut).SERVICE--VERY good. Very nice people. Someone always around to help you/serve you. If you need something from the front desk; all you have to do is say Habla Englis? and they will get someone who speaks English to help you. The Dominicans we encountered very very nice and tried to communicate with you the best they can. Much like Mexico.ROOM--Decent. Couch./sitting area. Nothing fancy but clean. Mini-fridge with 7 up; Pepsi; water and 2 beers each day. Bathroom has jacuzzi tub/shower combo. Nice vanity. Fresh flowers in room and towel-art. Most balconies overlook garden area and other buildings. We were on 3rd floor; building 9. Close to main pool. No elevator. Tv has about 6 English speaking channels.POOLS--Main pool by the beach is usually very crowded. MANY unattended kids everywhere(ages 5-12). Many toddlers also. Pool is very warm in summer. Pool bar usually crowded but if you wait about 5 mintues you'll get served.Pool in the middle of the resort is less crowded but no food there. The other pool across from that pool is reserved for DIamond-Club guests(there are manysigns upon entering that pool that say its for DIamond-Club guests only---so we respected that and just went to the pool across the small road that the trolly is on) The DIamond club pool looked about as crowded as the other mid-resort pool anyway(both less crowded/noisy than the pools by the beach however).THE TOWEL-SAVING CHAIR GAME IS PLAYED HERE!! We've never been to a resort where this was done so it was new to us. HARD to find a chair at the pool or beach(in front of resort) in the shade.FOOD--We're not food-people. If we don't get sick; we're good(we didnt get sick). Main buffet for breakfast and most dinners was fine. A LOT to choose from. You wont go hungry. Never had to wait for a table. But it is VERY loud with noisy children...no matter what time you dined(we tried various times to avoid the small; crying children...they are always there)A-la-cartes were pretty good(Garden Grill; Gourmet and Italian). But small portions and slow service. We made our reservations the day we got there with no issues. We saw men in long shorts and they were not refused. Sandals are fine for both men and women(and kids).Lunch by the pool was limited. Hot dogs/burgers; rice/beef; pasta(various sauces); pizza and fresh fruit. BEACH--CROWDED. With lots of water-sports going on. IF you want a quiet beach; this isnt it. Many topless women also; so if traveling with young teens; be aware. Hard to find a chair in the shade in front of the resort; but if your OK with a chair in the sun you'll find one. If you walk down the beach towards the water-sports huts you might find a shaded spot open.Crowded in the water also.(roped off areas). Dont go in the un-roped off areas because there are MANY boats going by...dangerous.WATER SPORTS--book things in advance(2 days). We did the pedalboards and kayaks with no problems but we knew to book in advance. Motorized sports are extra $$(snorkel trips; banana boats; parasailing etc.)SNORKELING FROM BEACH--Non-existent. I tried. Nothing to see plus too many boats going by made it wavy. We walked down the beach pretty far(to the left as you are looking at the ocean); past where the resort-beach ends and I did snorkel a bit from the beach there as there is a patch of coral right offshore.(You'll see it--its a dark spot) Its right past where the lady braids hair on the beach.(past the Bavara side of the resort) I took out a roll/bread and I did see some fish. But other than that; you'll have to book a snorkel trip.NIGHTLY SHOWS---The Michael Jackson show was lively and interesting. OThers are just review-type shows but will keep you entertained for an hour.LOBBY--GORGEOUS. Nightly music and dancing there. Good bar service(waitresses walking around). A few nights they had a coffee card with flaming/various specialty coffees that were good.OVERALL--The resort is nice. Out of 5 stars; I would give it a 3 1/2. The things that would deter us from going back are: 1. CROWDED. I don't know if it was just the week we went or what. But we travel every July to the Caribbean or Mexico and its never been THIS crowded. The beach was packed; the pool crowded etc. We talked to a few people that were repeat-guests and they said that this was actually off season and its been more crowded at other times of year(where they had to wait for a table at the buffet for breakfast and dinner). 2. TOO MANY KIDS! Keep in mind: We travel with our ten-year old so we expect kids. I am also a teacher so I do LIKE kids. But I would say that every third family was a family traveling with kids. ANd MANY small children(babies/toddlers). It seemed no matter what time we went to breakfast or dinner at the buffets(late/early); we were seated near a screaming toddler....every day. Same at the pool or beach...no matter where we sat or if we were in the water or out...crying kids. There was also many unattended older(10-13 yrd old) kids running around the pool being loud; obnoxious; and spilling drinks in the pool. We've never experienced this before at other resorts.3. No snorkeling from the beach. We enjoy doing this and could not here. Too many boats and crowds at the beach(and no coral right off shore).4. We've stayed at nicer resorts for the same money. Better rooms; less crowds; bigger pools; more luxorious. We would probably stay at one of those again before we would stay here.Would we go back to Punta Cana? Yes. But probably not here due to crowds and kids. If we went back we'd probably try the Majestic Colonial(newer) or Riu Palace(looks more upscale).
478252,NeverSittingStill,07/26/2007,Great resort; rocky start Pool Bar
478252,JAFarias,07/26/2007,a BIG dissapointment!! I have stayed at other resorts in Punta Cana and ALWAYS had a terrific time; great food; great service; spectacular rooms; beautiful scenery; you name it. But not this time!I had to go on business to Sto. Dom. and decided to bring my son and his friend and add a trip to Punta Cana as a HS graduation celebration for them. Someone tole me about Bahia Principe. I booked three nights and paid extra for the Golden Circle treatment! What a mistake! The staff was rude; which was a great surprise because the Dominican people are VERY friendly and go out of their way to accommodate you. But the staff in this hotel seem grumpy all the time. The food was horrible. They advertise that you can eat at any of their 5 restaurants; what they don't tell you is that you have to make reservations when you get there and by then all time slots are taken. We ended up eating in the main buffet place and the food was canned and ill prepared. We finally got reservations at the MX place and it was mediocre at best. One thing that was awesome was the tours we took. We had SO much fun. The first day we took a speed boat; that you actually drive yourself (for about 45 mins) to get to the a snorkeling area which was absolutely beautiful. Huge colorful fishes that come right up to you. The next day we went horseback riding to a cave that has water whole we could swim in; then we switched out of the horses and into a dune buggy to go to a postcard beautiful pristine beach. We had the most fun ever on the tours! But it had nothing to do with the hotel; you could take these tours at other hotels. I certainly recommend staying anywhere but at the Bahia Principe. We area already planning our trip to Punta Cana for next year; but not here!
478252,davidandkeiley,07/26/2007,Highly recommended - English perspective My husband and I have just arrived back from the Gran Bahia Principe and I wanted to give a review from an English perspective as majority of the reviews are from the US.We booked through airtours; flew with MyTravel - upgraded to club class which I would always recommend on long haul for an extra 拢100pp; priority check in baggage; larger leather seats; more leg room; free drinks; more food and generally much more comfortable especially for my husband who is very tall. We stayed at the Iberostar in Puerta Plata 4 years ago and there is a large difference between the North and East of the Island - the North is more popular with Brits; has Brit reps; lots of good excursions; the East side is more popular with Americans; Canadians and Spanish speakers; our rep was Canadian and worked for Coco tours who cover 3/4 different travel agents; less choice of excursions however the beaches in the East are much nicer and more beautiful so depends what you want from your holiday.We stayed in the Bavaro side of the hotel - upon recommendation from a review on here I emailed the hotel in advance to request being near the diamond pool which we were (villa 32) so I would suggest you do this. It means you are half way down the resort so easily placed for both the beach at one end and the buffet lobby at the other - both a 5 minute walk. Plus we got to use the Diamond pool which is exclusive to those who upgrade - it is quieter than the others; doesnt have music or games etc and beds are always available.Hotel grounds are fantastic; very clean; rooms are excellent - very spacious; clean; nice jacuzzi bath and we had a great view from the balcony of the diamond pool.Food was fantastic; not as much choice as we had at the Iberostar but we preferred this - always chicken; beef; fish; rice; pizza; chips; veg; salad; pasta and every night a theme night so always something to suit everyone. We ate in the Garden Grill; Italian and Mexican and I would highly recommend all 3.Service is fantastic; only problem we had was with the key card to the door not working after a few days but it only took them 1 hour to get somebody to fix it.Most of the workers do speak some degree of English so we never struggled but it does take a few days to understand what the buffet greeter is saying....basically welcoming you and asking how many people.Entertainment is ok - not professional but very good dancers; the circus night and Michael Jackson night are not to be missed.Beach is beautiful and sea very clear - pure paradise. We used to get to the beach at 10am every day and never had trouble getting a bed although parasols were usually taken quite early but that didnt bother us.We took Peso's instead of US Dollars as in the North everything was priced in Peso's but we found here they preferrred Dollars - didnt mind you paying in Peso but all prices were in Dollars so you then had to convert so probably easier to take dollars.I would highly recommend both the resort and the hotel if you want a nice beach holiday with the odd excursion and a 5* hotel; however if you want to do lots of excursions - history of island; swimming with dolphins; visiting swimming in the waterfall etc I suggest you go to Puerta Plata which is more 'touristy'.
478252,shaner74,07/26/2007,hit or miss depends on what you want well here i goi just got back from our honeymoon 1 week vacation at the bahia principe from july 14-21.the flight was not bad we paid more to go with air canada which i would not do again unless the choice is sky service.at check in i handed my aeroplan card to get miles for our trip. i dont know what she did with it but i never recieved my points for this trip. i found this out when i returned home; i since have thrown out my boarding passes and air canada says they cannot confirm i was on that flight without them; how convienent. this is 7;000 points for my aeroplan and thats important beacuse at 120;000 points you basically get a free plane ticket anywhere in the world; so i dont know why at check in my card was not entered properly; but i am not getting the points back; which sucks.plus my luggage was ruined; i have a turquoise blue bag; this bas was covered with grease stains and looks like crap now; air canada is also giving me the run around about this; they will not seem to provide a proper contact to speak with somewhen about the situation.arriving in punta cana the operators did not have our name on thier list originally but after some orginazed chaos they found out names; the they did not have out check in packages that evryone gets on the bus; which make you nervous; but when we got to the hotel it took two minutes and we were checked in ; so everything was alright.we were upgraded to diamond club close by the beach;. the rooms we very nice.i asked for extra water and beer everyday and even tipped 10 bucks which instaed of two got me 3 beers and 3 bottles of waterwe stayed at this resort in the mayan riveria last year and when i asked for extra i got 30 beers and 5 watersthe pools were good. the main pool was busy ; if you want less line ups at swim up bar and more relaxing pool area go to the middle pools where there is less people.the beach was alright; i did not like the ship though i thought it took away from the beauty of the view. water was a bit rougher; and not as clear as i thought it would be; but is still a nice blueish green; as i said i just got bacj from the mayan which had a way nicer beach; calmer and clearer.this resort is huge! weel it seems really big at first but after walking around for a bit you realize you really coul walk anywhere and everywhere; if you do not want to be lazy; its really not as big as it first seems. plus the trams are great 2 minute wait every time.the food at the buffet was not bad; lots of choices for the first 3-4 days the you start to get bored. the snack bars are the same everyday.for the a la cartesthe japanese was very good ; the garden grill was good; the beef tenderloin was awesome; but beware when you say med. rare you get med. rare.and our favorite was the french was the best.they say you have to book these a la cartes; but a word to the wise you can pretty much show up ask for the manager or captain and ask if he can squeeze you in. you can also eat at these every night if desired just show up and ask if they have room; plus a 10$ get you whatever you want most likely.the drinks are crap; too sugary. itst ough to drink beer all day without feeing bloated ; so try some shots to maintain a warm buzz with every drink you order. although the lobby had the best drinks by far.the disco is alrightbut it does not open till 12 and thats tough after spending time in the sun drinking all day; plus everyone gets in at 12 and there is a 10 minute wait for drinks then it dies down.we did not do any excursions; wanted the dolphins but heard they were mistreated so did not botherwe were bored for the tale end of our trip not much to do here.the entertainment was not that great either; same thing everything.ask jose in the diamond club for whever you need; he was greatthe vendors suck they are like carnies they wont leave you alone; and bother you.it made me not to want to even look at thier stuff; if they left you alone maybe people would bother to look more; but you fel hasseled by them; plus if they are asking for 600$ for something how can you have it for 100$ within the first minute; what a waste of time; that pisses me off.the domincan people are very gracious and polite and thankfull that you are there; very nice and helpfull.when i read reviews about the language that [-----]; brush up on your spanish before you are going; and if you dont you will still get by fine. it bothers me when people go there and say they can t speak english; and these are the same people who when immigarnts want to come to thier country thet want them to speak the native language; wll theirs is spanish morons; so practice what you preach. and if you want english go to california or florida for a vaction.the weather was a bit off with alot of overcast; but let me warn you the sun feel like someone has a magnifying glass on you. i tan very well and i got burned and peeled twice and applied sunscreen 3-5 times dailynow; our trip was not that good beacuse my wife had strep throat for the first 3 days and a fever; then after we got penecilin delivered she really could not drink on it so our vacation was not what we planned but still a decent one. i would reccomend this resort to anyone; i think the peole are great; it was a fairly good experience
478252,TorontoVicki,07/25/2007,Would not return Stayed at this hotel in mid July; Bavaro side; there were seven of us. The goodRooms very spacious; cleaning staff work hard and do a good job; room was generally spotless throughout stay; the cleaning staff really deserve to be tipped daily.Generally; the resort is well maintained; and it's fit and finish is up to 5 star resort standards as far as I could see; all common areas are kept very clean.The beach is great; water temperature perfect; water clean; plenty of chairs; no problems here.Pools are generally well maintained; although the part of the pool where the pool bar is at the beachside main pool was discustingly green one day; it was clearly from all the people who don't bother to get out of the pool to use the toilet; it's not the resort's fault; but it's a real shame that people treat the pool like a toilet; saw this very clearly on second day there; never stepped foot in that pool.The not so goodResort is just too big; and there are so many people everywhere you go; can't get a moment's peace outside your room.Beach/Pool towel service was ridiculous; we were routinely told that there were no fresh towels and wouldn't be any for 30 minutes to one hour; I have never experienced this before at any resort and it's simply unacceptable; I know it's not the end of the world; but frankly; it was quite annoying to have this happen to us almost daily.Saw two gigantic roaches; one in the lobby and one outside; I know they can't be controlled in a tropical climate; but I mention this because I think some people would really want to know this before booking their holiday. Again; however; never saw any insects at all in room; requested upper floor rooms and used towel under door; never had any problems.Service at the buffet restaurants is hit and miss; some staff work very hard to give good service; while others disappear never to be seen again; occasionally had a hard time just getting water.The BadThe food was generally of poor quality. By the third or fourth day; we found ourselves making a real effort to actually find stuff to eat at the lunch and dinner buffets. It's very repetitive; they have theme nights; but they only change 5 or 6 things out of the 50 things they have at the buffet. Believe me; I'm not a picky eater and as I type this I'm actually shocked that I couldn't find something to eat with so much variety; but the reality is that you can have all the variety you want; if the quality isn't there it's just not worth it. The only exceptions to the bad food were the breakfast buffet; the Japanese restaurant; and the French restaurant which were fine. The Beach BBQ restaurant was a complete joke; it's worse than the buffet; infact; we left hungry and went to the buffet to eat after that a la carte booking.Overall; I would say our trip was fine; just wish we didn't have to dread the meals all the time.
478252,Brandi106,07/24/2007,Wonderful Honeymoon; Planning on going back next year. My husband and I visited Bahia Principe Punta Cana from July 7-14 and had a wonderful time on our honeymoon.My husband has been lots of places before and says this was his best trip. I have only travelled to the United States. We both had an amazing time.FLIGHT: We travelled from Calgary to Toronto and from Toronto to Punta Cana which was an alright flight staff was very friendly (if you are on your honeymoon tell them; they will upgrade you to first class if they have seats available; we didn't but others on our flight did and were upgraded)Br sure to eat on the plane (international side) once you get to your hotel there is not a lot open to eat and if there is it is confusing to find the area.HOTEL STAFF: The hotel and staff were extremely helpful and accommodating. It was our honeymoon and when we showed up at the hotel we were treated like King and Queen. (Make sure you travel Rep states at the time of booking on your reservation you are Honeymooners). CHECK IN: was extremely fast; only 10 minutes we waited in line and no hassle at all!When you get to the resort get a map!!! Study it well. Be sure to meet with your Rep the next morning to go over things; she can better help you find your way around.SAFE: Make sure you buy the safe it is only $31.00 US and well worth it (you can be at ease knowing your stuff is safe). It is a combination you create and the staff is not able to retrieve the number for you so no worries about your maid etc. getting into it. FOOD: We ate at 2 A La Carte restaurants; Steak; French. We had reservation but because of a severe sun burn were unable to make it to the Italian restaurant. The steak was AMAZING!!!!; with bacon wrapped shrimp(made especially for my husband on request)BUFFET: The buffet was alright; I ate mostly rice and chicken it seemed the safest. My husband was more adventurous and paid the price (he was sick for 3 days) However we brought a prescription for Travellers Diarrhea and this cured him!!!!There are 3 hotels in one resort; you have access to all facilities except Bavaro Buffet; (which I was told is not any different from the Punta Cana Buffet.If you are looking for food at odds times of the day 10:30 am - 1:00 pm ( Snack bar by the beach) and from 3:00 - 5:00 Snack Bar by the Pool; 10:30 pm - 7:00 am Pueblo Principe Eatery (Best Hamburgers and Hot Dogs I have ever eaten) stay away from the nachos if you don't want heart burn.TIPPING: My husband and I tipped our waiters; Waitress; maid and bell boys $1 US. I brought gifts for our maid for everyday we were there (shampoo; conditioner; tooth brush; tooth paste) plus candy and $1 US. She always stocked our fridge and made animals out of the towels for us!!!TIMESHARE PEOPLE: There was NO! time share people we ever saw around on the beach or in the resort! We never saw any or heard of any.GIFTS: We bought most of our gifts from in the hops at the front of the hotel and in Pueblo Principe DO NOT buy from the vendors on the beach or in Pueblo Principe they will rip you off!!! They don't barder well and are willing to have you walk away then come down. You can find the same thing in the shops for half the price of less. MamaJuana $3 in shops; Rum $8-$11 in shops; T-Shirts $6-$10 in shops. If you want to buy cigars; go to the cigar museum or the Christopher Columbus factory; cheap coffee; authentic jewellery; and cigars (you can watch them make it). We made the mistake of buying some jewellery from the vendors and found it 10 times cheaper at the cigar place.SHOPPING: If you are looking for some American shopping; go to Palma Real shopping centre there is a bus that picks you up every 2 hours and drops you off. VERY SAFE!!! There is a Hard Rock Cafe in the shopping mall (no ones tells you about it) Amazing food!!!! $46 US for food and drinks!WATER ACTIVITIES: We didn't have time to use any of the water sports in the hotel; but heads up they say it is free!!!! It isn'tCatamarans; if you haven't used one before $25 US for a lesson before you can use it.Scuba Diving - if you are certified $ 80 US for 1 dive; If you are not certified $500 to get certified. They offer one time pool dive in 4 ft of water for 5 minutes and then try to get you to get certified.Parasailing - $87 US for 10 minutesEXCURSION: We went swimming with the Sharks and Manta Rays - $90 Us per person for a whole morning or afternoon. AMAZING; you cannot touch them as they say they can become aggressive. You are in a caged area in the ocean that they sail you out to . Make sure you go on the advanced side it is 15 minutes longer and you swim in the coral reef. They say you have to be able to swim for 15 minutes; you don't you have a floaty around you. WEAR SUN SCREEN!!!! My husband and I also went on FUN BUGGIES had the best time of our lives!!!!!!They take you to a small village (6 people) show you the housing; food ; cock fighting; take you to a cave to go climbing; horse back riding; ocean; cigar factory. It is all day long (12 hours) they feed you and water.....well RUM its cheaper. it is $102 per person and well worth it. YOU MUST BOOK AHEAD OF TIME or first thing when you arrive at your resort!!! We brought candy for the local kids when we went and they appreciated it a lot!MONEY: Take ALL American US money with you; small bills better. The exchange rate at the hotel is AWFUL! They don't take Travellers cheques and if you pay in Peso's they will find a way to rip you off if you don't know your math well!NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT: They have nightly shows at the Tropicana in the hotel. They are awesome; dancing etc. Michael Jackson was amazing!!!!! It wouldn鈥檛 be a show I would take young children to as some of the moves are suggestive. However I don鈥檛 have children and so cannot form too much of an opinion.LANGUAGE: This was not an issue; if you make an effort to learn some words they will help you out. They LOVE to teach people. Most places speak English or French. We only speak English and we had NO PROBLEMSNUDE BEACHES: We did find a lot of people in the resort to be nude; (bottom less in some cases) this did take us back a bit at first. I did have a run in with a lady who got too friendly with herself in the pool. You also don鈥檛 need to bring towels with you; you can get towels fresh everyday from the shack by the pool.THINGS TO BRING: Candle or room spray (your room can smell musty at times) Solarcain (for when you burn like we did); LOTS of sunscreen (it is 20 鈥?30 US for a bottle) Snacks (chips; candy bars etc. you will find there is nothing there if you need a snack at night) LOTS OF $1 bills for tipping; Spanish Dictionary (helps in some situations). Empty gift card (your air conditioner takes this and if you would like to keep it on all the time it is good to have this with you).SPF: We got 2nd degree burns from the sun and we were wearing SPF 50 at all times. Careful when your in the sun it can be dangerous!All and All we had an amazing time and would recommend this place to anyone of all ages and background. If you鈥檙e a picky eater then this is the place for you. They will make anything up for you and you can stick to the basics like Rice; Chicken etc.We hope you have as much of a wonderful time on your trip as we did on ours.Joshua and Brandi
478252,danyMontreal,07/23/2007,excellent vacation July 14-21/ 2007We traveled extensively in carraibe and we loved this hotel1 Food no gastroenteritis 2 Mosquitoes not an issue3 beach and activities -super4 kids club nice( our 3 y/o daughter enjoyed it)5 staff friendly and helpful6 rooms big with separate sofa for one additional person7 NB if you or your children have allergy don't hesitate to go your needs will be accommodated.
478252,ottawavj,07/23/2007,Another Great Stay This was our second visit to Gran Bahia Principe. We are frequent travelers to the Mayan Riviera and feel that we have a pretty good basis for comparison. We learned a lot the first time that we could apply to our return visit. We were upgraded to the Premier section in December at no cost when we arrived. We asked for this on our second visit and were cheerfully accomodated; again at no extra cost. Since we were return customers; we were given a free safe and several extra touches - 2 complimentary golf shirts and hats; and fruit plates. We did not make our restaurant reservations promptly enough to get what we wanted during our first stay. We emailed ahead to customer relations and were given 4 excellent dining times in July. We learned that you can be driven right to the a la cart places if you just ask the tram drivers. We loved the lunch menu at the snack bar in the Premier section. They served great grilled stonefish and chicken/shrimp kabobs. It was a refreshing change from the buffets. Our very favorite place was the Garden Grill. We also loved the special coffee tables that were in the big lobbies at night.Our rooms and the pools were very clean. We took treat bags with Dollar store items and left a few dollars a day for the maids. We always had plenty of towels and the frig was always stocked.We took large insulated mugs with us to the beach and pool bars. It was very hot and these (purchased at Wal-Mart) kept our drinks cold for 3-4 hours. They were so big that they lasted us that long! They do not come around to to drink orders; so this solved the problem of having to get up and go to the bar. How lazy are we? The bartenders were great about filling them for us. We found the quantity of liquor to be very sufficient; but they were always willing to make drinks stronger upon request.Our luggage was delivered to our rooms and picked up for departure within 10 minutes of our request. Although we tipped most of the help; we never at any time saw anyone with their hand out waiting to be compensated. We enjoyed the music in the lobbies; but weren't thrilled with the quality of the evening shows. Water aerobics and learning the dances by the pool were a hoot; but wore on you by the last day.Suggestions:1. Try to get a room on the 3rd floor if you can handle climbing the stairs. The footsteps above you will drive you crazy if you are below a nightowl guest.2. Take your own laptop to the lobby if you need to communicate with anyone at home. They have computers for you to use on a first come/first serve basis; but they don't have a signup sheet anymore and you often get bumped.3. Build up your intestinal immunity for a few weeks ahead of your trip. We drank DanActive. We also got a prescription for antibiotics in the event that the bug would strike. It did hit a few of us on both trips to varying degrees. Avoid the fresh fruits with no skin and the creamy coconut drinks. That doesn't sound like fun; but we found it to be helpful. We did notice lots of little gnats flying around the fruit at the buffets.4. This resort is gorgeous at Christmas time! The weather is less humid and still great for swimming and sunning. 5. Watch out for the guys in the white outfits at the airport. They will grab your luggage and it is a tug-of-war to get it back. These guys are worse than timeshare salesmen! In summary; we enjoyed both of our visits and found almost everyone to be helpful; friendly; and courteous. We enjoyed the varied ethnicity of the guests and the change of pace. The beach was gorgeous! We loved not being bothered by timeshare salesmen. We still prefer the resorts in Mexico; but highly recommend that anyone who wants to visit D.R. give this resort a try.A Happy Traveler from Toledo; Ohio
478252,GollyGee88,07/22/2007,Gran Gran Gran Principe!! My boyfriend and I spent a week at this resort and loved every minute of it!! We were very satisfied with the food; the service; and the overall environment. I read many reviews before going to the resort and I was a little nervous due to some comments about below average food and some cases of food poisoning - personally I think that the only people who got a little ill were the ones who spent countless hours in the sun without sunscreen (bring lots we went through 3 bottles and still got tanned) and then drank a little too much the same day - this is not the resorts fault.I also think that some people went in with the impression that they should be fed their meals on a silver plater and be bowed to at every step - although in our opinion the service was amazing the staff at the resort are attending to over 1500 guests and if they miss a plate on the way through; well then suck it up!Our favorite part of the trip was the offsite tour called the Bavaro Runners - this 1/2 day or full day (we did the 1/2 day and it was perfect) takes you to different areas to show how residents of Punta Cana live. This is a humbling experience - should be a mandatory trip to all those who feel they didn't receive the so called service they feel they deserve. We were truly grateful for even being able to take a vacation after seeing how some people live every day.All and all - we would absolutely go back - we met many wonderful people; tried some excellent food and chilled out on the beach. A perfect vacation.
478252,CanadianPride,07/22/2007,No Where Near a 5 Star Rating This resort definitely has the layout of a 5 star facility but comes no where near providing the service of one. I have travelled to numerous islands and Europe and recognize the varying standards of food and service. I will never return to this resort nor will I recommend it to anyone. There is visible security on the beach however vendors walk up and down the beach soliciting guests to buy their jewellery; hats; etc. There is a vendors' market on the property should guests wish to purchase those types of items. Dont bug people relaxing on the beach!!There was a dog that ran up and down the beach every day. Again; security just sat there. At one point the dog approached a young child and snipped at her. Had the father not been attentive of the situation who knows the damage that could have been done. Nothing was done about a dog on the beach at a 5 star resort!!! The beach is absolutely gorgeous however the constant traffic of motor boards and the smell of fuel from their motors definitely takes away from the beauty of it.The ala carte restaurants were good. We ate at the Italian; Mexican; BBQ and Mediterranean. The staff were very friendly and the food was presented well. It was very disappointing that they did not inforce the dress code. Its made very clear on your reservation ticket plus when you make your reservations that men must be in pants and women in acceptable attire. There were people in shorts and tshirts!!Service in the general areas was hit and miss. On two occasions we approached the snack bar bar and asked for 2 beers in Spanish and it was if we werent even standing there. Beers were literally handed over our shoulders to other guests that had a approached the bar after us and then we were served. At the buffet we had to flag down staff in order to request a glass of wine with our dinner; which typically didnt arrive at our table until we were almost finished eating.Our room was very nice. Their definition of a serviced mini bar in the room was 2 beers twice during the week in the fridge. The fridge itself bearly kept the beverages chilled even with the temperature turned all the way up. It varied from day to day how many towels we were left. On several occasions we were only left 1 bath towel. We had a ground floor suite and upon returning to our room 1 day the maid; having cleaned the room; had left our sliding door unlocked!!! Fortunately we had rented at safe ($30US). Thats another thing; I have never encountered being charged for a safe at a 5 star resort. Another day we returned from the beach at 5:30 and our room hadnt been cleaned yet. Each day we had even left a tip for the maid in hopes things might turn around.We spoke with several other guests of the hotel both during our vacation time and upon returning to Canada and they had encountered similar problems. If this resort is classified as a 5 star resort I would hate to think how deplorable things are at the 3 and 4 star resorts!!! I cant imagine paying peak season prices for this resort.
478252,geminiqtpie,07/22/2007,Never again; What a mistake!! Food:Rate it - 0I have been to Punta Cana for 3 years in a row. I have stayed everywhere; and everything has always been perfect. One of the reasons i kept going back was the food. Lobster; Great Seafood; etc. This year i made the mistake of booking this hotel. I went to the seafood restaurant and all they had was salmon. I really was not expecting that in the carribean. The only had lobster one night in my whole 7 day stay. The excursions all promise you a lobster feast; and when you get there you get pork chops if you're lucky. You also have to make reservations for the restaurants; and of course there are never any reservations for the time or date you want. The food in the buffet is ridiculous. I felt like i never left the U.S. Frenchfries; Salmon; Burgers... Nothing worth getting fat over. Service:Rate it - 9For the most part the service was excellent. The servers did the best they could to accomodate the fact that the food was horrible. At the end of the day they can't do anything about it; the problem is way above them. The preople there are very friendly; and speak various laguages. They were overall very nice. Room DecorRate it - 10Well; If they would've spent half the money they spent on the marble floors on the food; maybe my vacation wouldn't have sucked as much. The decor was beautiful. Everything in marble; Very clean and new; it was very nice.Atmosphere ActivitiesRate it - 3One word; Boring! Beach and more beach. If you don't leave the resort on any excursions; you will be bored by the third day of your stay because there's nothing to do there but sleep tan. The casino was the size of my bathroom at home. The club was no where near what i would call a club (maybe because i live in miami; i expect a littlemore). The entertainment shows at night aren't very etertaining. So once you eat dinner; all there's left to do is sleep. The beach is very pretty; the water isn't as clear as the bahamas but the sand is very soft. The rental place for the beach activities such as the catamaran; kayak; etc. is a nightmare to deal with. You also have to reserve whenever you want to use any of the equipment and let me giveyou an example of my experience... My appointment to for the catamaran was at 12 pm and was finnally able to ride it around 4 pm. Overall reccomendationRate it - 4I don't reccomend it at all. Unless you just want to lay on the beach for 7 days and not eat; don't bother.If you do go you must:See-Samana Island (not free)Saona Island (not free)Laguna Gri Gri (not free)Eat - (If they have it)ManguFondongoLimocillos (Mamones)Coco Loco (Drink)
478252,MoonSpell,07/21/2007,The Paradise Resort The BP Bavaro is a paradise resort !Everything is excelent! The stuff; the people; the food; the beach...and the lobster!!!I really left my heart in BP Bavaro Resort!Blessed be Dominicanos!
478252,sleepyjack777,07/21/2007,Amazing property; deserves 5 Golden Apple rating We just spent 12 days at the Bahia from June 11th to the 22nd and lets just say we were blown away! This definitely lives up to its 5 golden apple rating. Although this was our first time in the Dominican Republic; we are veteran travelers to Mexico (12 years running ) and to All Inclusive hotels (7). We have stayed at RIU; Iberostar; Barcelo; Grand Palladium; and several others. We only stay at 5 rated and usually choose golden status on the Apple rating. My brother; his wife and 4 year old from Denver also joined us. Remembering that this is not the Ritz Carlton but an all inclusive; I will break down some of our experience:WEATHER/BUGS/ANIMALSHot; hot; hot- several days over 90. Rain a couple of mornings and one night that we saw lightning while drinking in the courtyard. We started to walk back to our room when it began to pour hard. Should have used the free umbrella from our closet! Some nights the air was stagnant- others a nice ocean breeze. Overall the weather was great. There are these microscopic mosquito type bugs that hover around your ankles like they do in the Riviera Maya- must be the layout cut from the jungle. Only got bites on our legs and did use off repellent. There are the giant cockroaches (not hundreds; but a few) like Mexico and Florida- but that's the tropics. Never in our room or by the food. No musty smell; but expected it- again thats the tropics. Saw a few cool looking geckos and some funky looking birds. LANGUAGERealizing that we are honored guests in a Spanish speaking country; we respect that their first language is Spanish. However; several of the staff also spoke European languages as well. My wife- who is Mexican; and my children do speak Spanish; I speak travel Spanish and had no trouble conversing with the staff. The key people we encountered- reception; ala carte restaurant hostess; pool DJs; several bar tenders and cocktail waitresses; the cook at the Japanese; and others spoke relatively good English. As stated in many reviews; a quick hola or buenos dias goes a long way with them. The Dominican people call themselves the happiest people on Earth and I would have to agree. From the ever hardworking gardening staff; the maid staff; the bell hops; and most others exude a genuine pleasure to serve you. There are slight dialect differences such as ordering a dirty monkey is mono susio not chongo susio as it is in Mexico. Also; instead of saying your welcome- de nada they say- mucho gusto or my pleasure. We enjoyed their pleasantness and politeness.FLIGHT/RECEPTIONWe arrived via Apple transfer at around 6pm after a delay from our flight from Puerto Rico. We flew in their from Chicago on American Airlines. There was a mechanical problem with the plane during a torrential rainfall. That flight was delayed hr 40 min. and a new plane was given to us. We did arrive in DR and took the picture at the airport which we did not buy upon leaving since we were flying all day and looked ragged! We payed our $10 each for the tourist card that we then walked over to customs who took them and threw them away- good scam. Customs was easy and we got our bags and were out of there in 20 minutes. When we got our luggage it was soaked and dirty- apparently while in Puerto Rico when they unloaded our luggage to switch planes; they left it out in the rainstorm. But I digress. The ride from the airport is the usual chaos and playing chicken with motorcycles and dump trucks as we see in Mexico- no big deal. Once we arrived at the Bahia it was amazing; more beautiful than the pictures and descriptions. The lobby is absolutely stunning with the natural foliage; the marble floors; the chic furniture; wall art; and sculptures. We met Daniel at reception and I immediately greeted him in Spanish and gave him a new Chicago Cubs baseball cap. He proceeded the tell me that he will have to give me a great room. We were put in building 11 overlooking the wedding gazebo which we saw much of during our stay. Through speaking to Daniel we learned that when people are rude to him he and the staff are less likely to be flexible in dealing with those type of people. By setting the tone at reception; we were able to establish a connection with them. Being in the service industry myself; I follow the motto of its a pleasure to serve you; but I'm not your servant. We treat them with respect and get that back 10 fold. I will say that the $4 fee per day for the safe deposit box is just plain gouging; but what choice do you have? There was a mojito station during the week set up in the lobby and everyday there was afternoon tea and crumpets (coffee and cakes as well). GROUNDS/BUILDINGSAll the comments about the grounds are dead on. This place is beautiful. They are re constantly trimming; planting; cleaning; painting; etc. here. The layout built into the natural jungle surroundings makes this resort less daunting. It is no bigger than the Iberostar or RIU in Riviera maya and is easily traversed. The layout built into the natural jungle surroundings makes this resort less daunting. The buildings are situated so that they face the center of the property but most do not have an ocean view. That doesn't bother us since our room is just for dinner prep and sleeping. The maids decorated several of the building's stairwells that face the walkways with balloons and towel figures- either swans kissing and female dolls. I assume that this was for honeymooners since not all buildings had this. The trams pick up every 3-4 minutes and travel in an oval from the dual lobby to the beach until 3 am. One doesn't leave until the next one arrives. There is a separate flower-lined pedestrian walkway that many people ignore that is parallel to the tramway. When the trams run side by side; it is tight with people walking in the roadway. The restaurants- Italian and Garden Grill- are adjacent to the diamond and golden pool areas; the Seafood and Mexican are by the beach; and the Gourmet (punta cana side) and the Japanese (2) are near the lobbies. ROOMSRooms are always a very individual experience; not unlike food. Each is looking for something different whether it be an ocean view; jacuzzi tub; private commode; balconies; etc. To us; rooms need to be functional and comfortable. The furniture was OK and the view was nice to a gazebo/garden; the beds were about the same as Mexico- a bit hard but not uncomfortable. The bathroom was adequate but not accessible for opposite sex family members to share at once- but the marble was nice. The glass shower curtain was inconvenient as water splashed on the floor unless you tilted the shower head to the wall. My wife and daughters said the lighting in the rooms was poor to apply makeup. Our maid crafted the towel animals adorned with hibiscus and other flowers on your table and bath towels. One day she even put green balloons atop our bedposts to make them look like palm trees! We tipped her the Cub's hat and $5 every other day and she was great. Once I asked her for more beer and creamer for coffee while she was cleaning the patio next door and she said she would. I went back in and there was a knock at the door. She had an arm full of beer and a pocket full of creamer and told me to open the fridge and she stocked it. That's is extra mile and the definition of service. RESTAURANTSI am not a big fan of the coupon system but we booked the Mexican; Gourmet; the Steak House; and the Japanese. The steak house was disappointing as the rib eyes were a bit small and tough. Also; unless you have a table by the windows where the air conditioners are; it is very warm in the dining room. The Gourmet was very nice with the ambiance; the outstanding service and the food. As prior reviews stated; the pumpkin soup did not disappoint. The fillet Mignon was tender as well. The Japanese was very entertaining and the system used to serve you is unique. Everyone starts at the tepanyaki table with a lively; English-speaking cook (Sunny). The food quality was above average but the portions were a bit small. The cook said that he had extra for us and left a big plate of leftovers under the workstation. Then he left- which all eyes were shifting back and forth but nobody had the nerve to go get the leftovers! Then you are hustled into the great room outside all of the show tables. There you get your desert. We ordered fried ice cream which was hit and miss. Seems that they use the ice cream from the buffet and most in our group received rum raisin which didn't taste well fried. I had caramel crunch which tasted like rice krispy treats. We were not able to choose ice cream flavors; it just came that way. The ambiance and decorations there were very nice to say the least. Our favorite was the Mexican. The carne asada was cooked to perfection and very authentic. The best part was the Aztec soup- add chicken; tortilla chips; fresh avocado; sour cream; lettuce; Mexican cheese- MMMm. The Mexican appetizer bar was also a big hit with spicy Mexican wings; nachos;and various other authentic items. The deserts were also very good with rice pudding served in an open half of coconut. I must say that the presentation of food here is very 5 star in all the restaurants and the Mexican also has varieties of cactus outside by the walk. Even the buffets were full of variety and rank up there in quality with the RIU and Iberostar. There was always a theme with carving stations; sushi and caviar; bananas foster; and on Dominican night the flaming coffee served by an entertaining server that sings. We ate all of our breakfasts at the lobby buffet and lunch at the open air pool buffet. We also ate ate lunch at the smaller buffet beyond the main pool with a large deck; but the choices were limited; but the bar was empty. We also ate in the air conditioned buffet by the pool in the seafood restaurant. You can also go to the buffet by the diamond pool (Italian restaurant) if you have that status. The best breakfast food outside of omelets was the churros with chocolate sauce. It is in an urn that you pour into a small bowl; get ground cinnamon from the coffee bar; sugar from your table; and wow! what a treat! Mahogany decor and white linens and wine glasses for juice is first class all the way for a buffet (and all restaurants) at this all-inclusive. DRINKSThe drinks were average for an all-inclusive. I agree about the wine- very pungent and vinegar smelling. We are not big wine drinkers but it was pretty bad. Premium drinks were served at the lobby bar and the (shhh; don't tell ) the diamond and golden pool bars. Everywhere else was cheap liquor. They push the local drink that is touted as an equivalent to Viagra! Its called the Mama Juana derived from a root. I didn't care for it but others did. We enjoyed sitting on the edge of the lobby overlooking the courtyard where there is a strong breeze. Also sitting in the courtyard at night was awesome after the shows and before going to Pueblo Principe. Great table side drink service and conversation. Great memories. The bars at the theater and Pueblo Principe are average and the swim up at the main pool. There was a Mojito station with premium rum one night at Pueblo for the Albita concert (popular Cuban singer) which was a hit. The beach bar was also very lively but do not look for the bar on the edge of the property- it is gone although it is on the map. It will be part of the new adults only section being built. ENTERTAINMENTThe entertainment I thought was varied and up to par for an all-inclusive. The Lion King; circus; and Michael Jackson shows were the best; but the MJ show at the Barcelo in Riviera Maya was longer and more creative. There was a Caribbean band at the pool one day with dancing; and clown/sponge bob kid's day at the pool with face painting; popcorn and cotton candy; and drinks served from a coconut on the beach. The pool DJ's and emcees were upbeat and seemed into their jobs. We did charter a small boat to take us to the shipwreck on day at the beach. They wanted $10 per person but settled for $5- it was a fair price. No way was I gonna paddle there in a kayak or peddle boat! Seems that it is a petroleum vessel that ran aground during a storm in which nobody was killed. It looks really eery up close as you can see in the center and the smaller broken piece remaining to the left.BEACH/POOLSThe beach was nicer than Cancun/RM and the sand never gets too hot as it is real sand; not crushed shells. The beach is long and we didn't leave the edge of the property as others did. We are more pool rats and enjoyed the main pool's size and proximity to the beach where we would alternate our swimming. Since we are pool rats; big pools are essential. Since it was off-peak; we often swam in the Golden section and no one minded or stopped us. There were some missing tiles and a little sunscreen buildup at the waterline; but for the most part the pools were very clean. The foliage islands in the Golden pool were in need of some tidying up as there were numerous used plastic cups that the staff neglected. They would have to wade through the water to get them; but overall the pool areas were very clean and the water temperature was perfect.PUEBLO PRINCIPEPueblo is a nice area to go to especially after the show at the theater ends. The house band or other contests and activities are on the stage. Albita sang one night- she is a popular Cuban singer that lives in Miami. Nice touch to get top Latin talent to a resort. That night they also set up more chairs and a fresh Mojito station which again is a nice touch by Bahia. Didn't visit the casino- but I heard from others that the dealers were sloppy and inexperienced in dealing and overall I was told to watch my money. Didn't visit the disco- but peaked inside and it looked nice but small. The square with the vendor carts is where you can barter up to 60% off. They are not allowed up on the walk or in any of the shops- so if you don't want to be bugged- stay off the square. The perimeter shops were OK- on par with other gifty shops- although the personnel there are not very friendly and follow you as if you were going to steal. We noted this on our survey even though they are not Bahia employee- except for the Logo shop and the Tobacco shop. INCONVENIENCESWe did encounter a few small problems. We noticed that our sliding door wouldn't lock so we spoke to Daniel at reception and by the time we walked back to our room; maintenance was finished fixing it. Our telephone wasn't working (didn't notice for 3 days)- we again went to reception and were told it would be fixed within 24 hours. 3 days more and 2 more walks to reception and nothing. I finally asked a third time and was told that was handled by the phone people around the corner from reception. Wish I had known that earlier. We asked the people behind the glass when it would be fixed and they said that was the first they had heard- kinda funny; but o.k. No lie- this is what he asked us: how do you know it doesn't work? Being the veteran relaxed travelers that we are; my wife and I looked at each other and chuckled. My wife said in Spanish we have been here 7 days and messages have been left for us that we didn't get and when you pick up the receiver; or push the buttons; nothing happens! They didn't see the humor but the next morning it was fixed. Aye! WORDS OF WARNINGDo not buy any straw hats or Mama Juana roots back with you- even bottled roots- they will take them at customs. Keep your video camera insulated from the air conditioning since as soon as you hit the humid air outside; the moisture develop es inside and you will have to dry it out with the hairdryer as I did. Since the Bahia faces East over the ocean; there is no sunset to view; only sunrise. Be careful NOT to book the buildings on the edge of the property on the Bavaro side- these face the new construction area and the view is nasty and noise all day. We have visited several Spanish owned resorts; this one included and they are dominated by Europeans; then Canadians; then Americans. There still is a cultural arrogance from the Spaniards (my wife is part Spanish) and believes they are like that at home as well. The English and Canadians are always pleasant to talk to; and the French are a bit aloof as expected. I will also say that the only tippers seen were the Canadians; English; and Americans. We would definitely return to Punta Cana and the Bahia in the future; but I think we will visit the Bahia in the Mexican Riviera next. Like to say hi to Jerry and Lucy from Toronto- great people!
478252,kiwinoisette,07/21/2007,Gran Bahia Peradis Gatineau QuebecWe stayed at this hotel in Jan-2005 and Jan-2006; this is a very good hotel.Arrival at the hotel was about 11:00pm got to our room first time we stayed in the primier section it is a bit fair from the beach but no childred adult only; but is ok to walk our take a tram to the beach people should stop complaning you are on vacation that is all you have to do walk and eat! 2nd time Jan 2006 we where in the Dimonde section that is good because you are in the middel of everything; the food is good; the rooms are very clean no bugs the beach the best we never had promblems getting a chair on the beach.We are going again this year in Jan 19-2008 for a other two week so far we had know promblems. So if you intend to go I say go for this hotel yes it is big but so what the moore people the moore you have fun..chow see you at the playa!! Joanne and JP
478252,renae80,07/19/2007,Awesome Vacation My husband and I along with another couple (ages 27-30) stayed here July 8-12. We booked through Apple Vacations and upgraded to the Royal Golden. Our flight was with USA 3000. They are great! The airport in DR was pretty awesome. It is open air with thatched roofs. Going through customs was a breeze. You will need $10 each for a tourist card. We found our Apple Rep and he told us what van to go to. I recommend letting them take your luggage because he led us right to our van. (same thing when you leave to go home) It would have taken us awhile to find it otherwise. The bus ride was about 30-40 minutes to get to the resort.Once at the resort we checked in. If you upgrade to the Golden you will have a separate area to check in. Before you enter the lobby go to your left past the Japanese restaurant and lobby shop and you will see it. Check in was a breeze. The other people that checked in received white bracelets and we go silver. The difference is that silver means you have stayed at a Bahia resort before and we go our safe for free and free polo shirts. With the Golden upgrade you have access to the whole resort. You can use any of the pools or restaurants. Our rooms were not ready yet when we checked in which was expected so we changed in our suits (put them in you carryon) and headed to the snack bar for a quick bite then to the beach. **There are many different color wristbands. One color is for the Punta Cana side only; another for the Bravaro side only; one for the Premier; one for kids; one for golden; one for returning guests.Our rooms were awesome. We were in Villa 22; This was great because it was near the seafood and mexican restaurant which had a buffet for breakfast and lunch. Also it was close to the beach. The maid had towel art for us everyday. Since we were golden we had our beach towels delivered every night. They have plenty of ammenities in the room. The bathroom includes shampoo; lotion; bath gel; toothbrush; toothpaste; shave cream and razor; shower cap; sewing kit. Our fridge was stocked every day. We had no problem finding chairs. We would normally spend the morning at the beach and the afternoon at the pool. We only used the diamond pool and the premier pool. The premier pool is quiet and the chairs have cushions on them. The premier snack bar was the best. Highly suggest taking a insulated mug for your drinks. They help a lot!!!!We ate at the Seafood and Japanese restaurant. Both were great. Had no problems. I am a VERY picky eater and I was able to find something to eat everyday. I suggest that if you are a picky eater to bring some snack food with you though. Plus it came in handy to have a snack in your room. We did do room service one day and it was there in less than 45 minutes. (24 hour room service included with golden) I have to agree with everyone that the lobby bar makes the best drinks. We did go into the village one night and went to the casino. Very small but I won so I was happy. The slot machines only go up to 25 cents and there are only a handful of tables. We went to the disco to check it out but neither of the husbands are real dancers so we didn't stay long. But it looked like fun. Overall we were impressed with this hotel. Yes it is big but wasn't too big for us. It only took less than 10 minutes to walk from one end to the other or you can take a tram (one tram is always by the lobby; one is always by the beach and one is running between. so the lobby tram does not leave until another tram is there. Same for the beach tram.....hope that makes sense) I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone.
478252,fezzie7,07/19/2007,Heaven...........not quite My family and I stayed here for 2 weeks from the 26th June 2007.I booked through Airtours and unfortunately we flew with Thomas Cook;seat pitch very small(29);small seats;poor food;poor service and in-flight entertainment. it got better when we landed;quickly through the airport and the 30 min. drive to the hotel. The hotel is beautiful.The lobby is stunning;the grounds are beautiful and the place is so clean. we stayed in villa 8;the room was spacious and clean;towel sculptures every where and champagne and fresh fruit waiting for us.We had been upgraded to diamond club which we were delighted with as we had a pool for use by this club which was quiet and relaxing.We found the other two pools and the beach fair too noisy and busy.The service around the pool was great and the drinks were good(try a chocolate or blue hawaii).Always plenty of beds. Buffet-The food at the buffet was generally very good-fresh pasta station was very good.the service was very good early in the evening but when it became busy;service was very poor. A la cartes-our favourite was the BBQ and the Steakhouse;service and food very good. japanese-was OK but nothing brilliant;set menu-the only choice was which you soup wanted.The deep fried ice cream was great. Italian-did not go on the night as we used this for breakfast and lunch(change from the buffet).as the menu on the night is the same as the lunch time menu;did not see the point in going. Fish-went one lunch time and did not enjoy it-service and food were poor. The lobby bar was excellent;service and drinks were great;unfortunately it closes at 11pm.The keyboard players are a bit repetitive. The shows were OK;just remember they are not professional;go see Michael Jackson. The shopping plaza is good for gifts;the barrow boys do get on yor nerves but just say no.haggle for everything;you can get it for peanuts. The language is not a problem;majority of the staff speak English;the only thing that annoyed us were the greeters at the buffet;you would tell them you were English and they still carried on speaking spanish. Overall;we had a great time and would return to this resort but i would not class it as a 5 star.
478252,vsk1959,07/19/2007,Beautiful but; not quite there. The 2nd of our experiences with all inclusive vacations but; didn't measure up to our stay in the Mayan Riviera. While the hotel grounds are quite beautiful and the food offering was exceptional ( prior to some contrary reports ); even room accomodations were great; there are some nuances which were bothersome. All business transactions are conducted in American Dollars. No need to carry any R.D. Pesos. Yet; very few hotel employees spoke any english. Even front desk workers were unable to communicate with. The pools are beautiful and immaculately kept but; close at 6:00pm? Therefore; there's not much to do after that time except; eat then plan to watch the nightly 'show' which were sub-par. Daily activity information was also not readily available and not communicated. Room clean up times were also odd for after spending entire day at beach; in most cases room service didn't arrive till after 4:00pm. Lastly; there is no out of resort area to visit worth speaking of at this time. There is a new mall in Punta Cana but at time of visit was but 40% occupied and is / will be catered to an upscale crowd not; a local market type environment. Overall; if all one expects from a stay here is to lay on the beautiful beach or by a pool during the day hours then eat after hours it's great. But; frankly there's nothing else left. Especially when traveling with our 15 year old who expressed extreme boredom.
478252,chebolu2,07/18/2007,"We had a great time!!" DA POOL
478252,chitowncouple06,07/18/2007,This Gran is surely Grand! Outdoor Theater
478252,chrissyWiganuk,07/16/2007,loved it..... cant wait to go back well; what can i say..... it was really good. Could not fault it one bit.... Just cant believe people moan so much.! the staff was great. yes of course this is a spanish speaking country; but I had no problems what so ever.not one person was rude to us at all...... The food was good; and the drinks where spot on!Im so fed up where back to work now :(every person to the garden men to to security men where really nice.if you want the hilton standards then go there. we met lots of nice people from everywhere (not just europe) Would I go back yes!Any people from the uk would love this hotel.. The beach was really nice; but we spent most of the time round the pool. The staff made sure we had everything we needed to have a top holiday...! :)
478252,beachbabe2121,07/16/2007,Stay away from the spa All in all; the resort was nice; pretty clean; the food was alright; and the beach was beautiful. We loved the animation staff as well. All I have to say is; if you are a woman; stay away from the spa. DO NOT GET A MASSAGE FROM THE MALE SPA STAFF. I did and I pretty much was molested. He touched my breasts and was extremely inappropriate. STAY AWAY!
478252,shep1974,07/15/2007,Good hotel; overall; but not perfect! We went to this hotel 21st June and stayed for 2 weeks; Overall we had a fantastic time; but there were just a few things that made the holiday not perfect; but still good.The weather was perfect; in fact too hot! The cloud if any; would arrive around 5ish and some evenings there were some fantastic thunderstorms! There are umbrellas in the room for these occasions. The hotel and grounds are beautiful and well maintained. It is large but not as big as i thought! Reading the reviews I really over imagined the size of place!!!!The rooms were very clean; the made does a fantastic job cleaning the rooms. The jacuzzi baths are great and they provide bubble bath for you to use. I did leave the maid a tip everyday and some days she made more of an effort that others (towel art; flowers fruit). The rooms are big - but i did feel they were a little dark; in the evenings. The furniture is dark; which doesn't help. The air con works very well; although it is not in the bathroom. There is no ventilation in this room.The buffets were fine; plenty to eat. The problem with buffets; is the fact that they are busy; people moving all around you. As we had our little girl with us; one would stay at the table whilst the other would get her food; then we'd swap and the other would get food; so we never really had a relaxing meal together. That is obviously not the fault of the hotel; so it was nice to go the al la carte and let them serve you! We booked the restaurants on the first morning as we were up early (time difference!) and had no trouble booking them and the times we wanted. The French - Le gourmet was lovely; the Japanese was a good experience; the grill was good. The others were good too. We had breakfast in the main restaurant; but the sea food restaurant was open for breakfast in the morning too. What was missing was the availability of snacks; certainly by the central pools and there were no ice creams for kids. For food there are a lot of buffet options; but it would be nice to go somewhere for lunch and pick from a menu. The drinks were good; wine hit and miss. The cocktails in the pool did not contain much alcohol; if you like it that way. I don't think the pepsi was always pepsi?!Most of the restaurants were air conditioned; but to be honest I was still very hot!The main problem in my opinion; was the fact that if you were just a regular guest; there were no 'quiet' areas to retreat too! We didn't realise that one of the central pools; despite being classed as 'common areas' on the map was for diamond guests only. On the second occasion we were at the pool; the animation team came over whilst my husband was in the pool. He enquired whether i spoke English; then told me that we had to get out of the pool because we were not allowed there as we had green wrist bands on. He pointed to the board saying diamond pool; and then walked away. Well obviously we felt like second class citizens and was a little embarrassed to say the least. This pool is a lot quieter than the other pools. I wouldn't mind; but there were plenty of beds spare; whilst there was no shade left at the other pool! We stayed for the remainder of that day as we would have fried otherwise. We did notice that a lot of the diamond guests were at the 'common' pools leaving not many spare beds for those that had no where else to go!The pool by the beach is extremely busy and there are no beds left much after 10 in the shade. The pool is lovely and warm; but as its close to the beach there is tonnes of sand in there! Im not sure whether the hotel actually attempts to clean the pool or sweep it as the situation was the same everyday! The pool could also do with some maintenance; missing tiles grates around the edge. My 20 month daughter used to run around the edge of the pool and we had to be careful. The tiles can be slippery too. The pool towels were a little worn.The hotel went out of their way to entertain; but it was a bit too much. All pools except the gold diamond pools were loud. I wouldn't mind; but they play the same local music; which seemed to be for their benefit and not the guests. The aerobics in the pool was good but not much else. The main pool was loud; and if you sit in one area you can hear music from the pool and the conflicting music coming from the beach which was too much! There are no quiet areas on the beach either; because they entertain on the beach. If you walk further away you can still hear the base as its just so loud! I sound like a right moaner and im not; its just for a 5* hotel; you'd think it would be a bit more 'classy' and not to treat everyone like you are on a 18-30's type holiday!The shows in the evening are great; it was nice to watch them. The late shows in the square were also very good. We only had a problem 2-3 nights; but if it rains after 11pm; there is no where to have a late drink. There is the karaoke bar; but quite small and very busy with youngsters waiting for the disco to open. The lobby should be open for longer; in my opinion.People have mentioned being ill with stomach problems. I have to say I had to run to the loo on at least 4 occasions but not sure if it was food poisoning as such. Diarrhoea tablets sorted me out. My young daughter was fine. I think i have an attraction to mosquitoes. I had about 15 bites on one leg alone!!! They came up very big and red! But in hindsight it was the first evening of arriving and we had not sprayed. I had a few more after that but not quite so many. So if you are prone to bites; be careful! I have not seen anyone else mention this but we heard about a problem in the hotel and i think it was kept very quiet. We were told by an English family who knew the people concerned. But an elderly English couple were held at gun point by 2 men that broke into their ground floor room. The other had a knife and threatened to chop their fingers for their rings. They were terribly shocked and left to go home early. We did notice an increase in security one day and wondered what the problem was. We asked to change rooms after that as we were on the ground floor. The reception were very off hand and said that they could not change every person who requested a room change who were on the ground floor. We insisted and the eventually found us one. We were told by reception that this is the first time that anything like this had happened at the resort; and all other hotels had had problems but not theirs. We were uneasy but eventually relaxed. The resort is vulnerable by the beach and anyone could potentially walk in off the beach. I didn't really see much security checking these areas; but didn't go down there at night.Can't comment on the trips as we chose to stay in the hotel as our daughter was a little too young to take her on them.English is not widely spoken; but we got by and didn't mind. The staff are very friendly and loved our little girl. She is so blond and i think they were fascinated with her!Overall the holiday was very good; i did enjoy it and have fond memories. Would I go back; probably no! The problems were not major; but I left feeling a little annoyed and a little disappointed. Its always nice to try somewhere different. I would probably consider paying a little more and getting the option to go anywhere; instead of being restricted because you don't have the right colour band!!!
478252,Richard1965Belgium,07/15/2007,great place to stay villa 18
478252,DanielleSussexuk,07/13/2007,Some reviews make me very angry! I am currently looking where to go on my next holiday and am getting reviews on trip advisor on where to go when i thought id see what was writen about the Gran Bahia. Me and my boyfriend went to this hotel last february and some of the reviews that i have been reading have got me so annoyed that i had to comment on my holiday here - which was over a year ago!Firstly can i add that i am an ex air hostess and am used to travelling to the Maldives and simillar places and staying in the best resorts so i do have very high places to compare to. Dom rep was probably the best holiday i have ever been on; the resort is amazing; beautiful and very clean. Yes its big but you can walk from one side to the other in just under 10 minutes or there's a bus. Some people have complained at how big it is but surely before you book your holiday you can see that the resort is a large one by how many facilities it has!!! Its really not a probem unless you are very lazy!!!Another rude comment i have noticed is about the language barrier. yes funny enough there is going to be a language barrier; they speak Spanish; if your that bothered learn Spanish. Your going to their Country and complaining that they dont speak brilliant english. its disgusting. I spoke no Spanish but by the end of the holiday me and my boyfriend had learnt the basics by learning from them. Yes its a hotel; they should speak basic Engish - - -and they do!!! If you want somewhere where they speak fluent english stay in America!The food in the French restaurant was fantastic; and the other A la Carte ones were good too ; the mexian was not great. The buffets were good too. The food is not the best i have ever had but to be honest it was very good and its an up and coming Country; the food is not going to be to everyones taste. If you want standard American food ; stay in America. I found the selection of foods every night was great; we got to try lots of different Spanish and Caribbean food; and isnt that why you go to a foreign country? The first night we had a problem with our balcony door and with in 5 minutes we had 3 maintenance men and a manager to fix it and then a call to ask if everything is ok now and how the sevice was from the men. All in all i could not fault this resort. Everything was brilliant; and i think the bad reviews are them of peole who have clearly had a bad experience with their room or something and then they have had a negative attitude about everything on their holiday and quite frankly i dont know why these people go away; stay at home.
478252,KUMBA07,07/11/2007,Would not return - Very Rough Around the Edges This is the place that you want to send someone you do not like to. They will be guaranteed not to enjoy their stay. They will also be guaranteed to hear the Bahia Principe theme song at least 4 times a day.We are both American; I am 28 and my girlfriend is 26. We both are very active and like to work out. We were there from June 30 - July 9. We have been at numerous all inclusives in the Carribean and this does not even come close to any of the others.Try to learn some Spanish before going because it will greatly assist in communicating with the staff. We know enough Spanish to get around; so that did help us.LET'S START WITH THE POSITIVES.+ + The beach and ocean were awesome. Get there early in the day to save a good spot.+ + The housekeeping service was also very good. We tipped our maid a buck or two a day and they made cool towel oragamies and got bubble baths ready for us as well as stocked our mini-bar with extra drinks if we left notes.+ + We did not need bugspray; in fact neither myself or my girlfriend got one bug bite the 10 days we were there.+ + The cocktail waitresses at the lobby bars provided good service as wellTHINGS THAT WERE SO-SO* * Needing reservations to do anything on the resort. You will need to make reservations to use any of the watersports that are free. We needed to make an ocean kayak reservation 2 days in advance. You will also need to book reservations to the theme restaurants. Save yourself a headache and do this the first day you get there. I highly recommend it because it is a nice change of pace from the buffets. Also; if you are Gold or Diamond club book your reservations through them instead of the general guest services. Be prepared to make booking your restaraunt reservations a procedure. The resort has about 1800 rooms and only 6 restaurants. * * The pools are off of the beach; but they are close to the beach and pool bars. The further you get from the beach; the hotter it is on the resort because the beach breeze does not make it past the palm trees on the beach. Also; they are very crowded and loud. They play their only CD that has about 3 songs everyday and the CD is on repeat; I kid you not.* * The gym is located in the spa. It is small; but servicable. It is open from 8AM to 8PM; so you can't get there early if you are an early riser. It has 5 stationary bikes; 2 treadmills; dumb-bells; and a peice or two of nautilous machines.NEGATIVES- - The service at the front desk. We needed to get our room changed because it was located next to a part of the resort that is under construction. This took half of a day to resolve this matter while they left us sit in the lobby. They lack motivation and don't really care about the guests because you can't really leave the resort once you are there. After we got our rooms switched; we had to carry our own bags to the new room. It doesn't sound like a big deal; but it is when you are carrying 2 fifty lb suitcases through 95 degree heat with humidity; no wind; and the sun beating down on you.- - The Buffets could be much better. The first two days we were there we thought the food was good. The problem with the buffets is that they serve the same dishes of food every day for every meal. I will say that the breakfast buffet was good. Also; the wait staff would take your plate even if you still had a few bites of food left; it was like they got a commission for every empty plate they took back to the kitchen. It is also very difficult to get a drink in the buffets; soda or alcoholic. The trick is to have one person stay at the table to order while the other gets their food.On about day 6 we both started to have stomach issues. It may have been from the theme restaurants or the buffets. We did not eat a peice of lettuce or any of the salads the whole time we were there to try to prevent it. Go armed with peptol and immodium. Remember when I mentioned about making reservations at the restaurants; that doesn't coincide very well with upset stomachs.Other guests. We were very surprised how few english speaking guests there were. The majority of the guests were either French or French Canadian. Along with the French language comes some visuals that you do not want to see. I am talking about topless sunbathers that have no self-awareness or decentcy. I know it is another culture; but some things just shouldn't be shown in public. It is like taking a gun into the airport; you just don't do it. Also; for all the ladies the fine men like to flaunt their speedos or even thong speedos. I think I have said enough; I still have some nightmares. There was also a large number of guests from South and Central America. Some of the lack of self awareness goes on to their children because they would releive themselves right on the beach or by the pool in full public view. Again; I kid you not.The Spa. We both got messages; which happened to be reasonably priced. The problem with the messages was that I came out of it sorer than when I went in. I really don't think they had any formal training. The Spa is also a long walk from most parts of the resort.
478252,sunlvrOntario,07/11/2007,Beautiful Resort...but My sisters and I decided to take a well earned rest in the sun. We were able to get a fabulous deal at the GBP for a week in April. We flew with WestJet (terrific airline) and we didn't encounter any problems with them or our transfer to the resort. Very informative bus ride; the guys were great at answering any questions we had. They also had our hotel reservations and bracelets on the bus.Check in was very fast; however; we had to wait 5 hours to get our room. Not too happy about that. There were 3 of us in the room and it was not bad at all. Room and bathroom; very clean! Sandra our maid was brilliant! We had one leak due to a rain storm but someone was sent immediately to fix it. We were impressed by that.The resort is big and beautifully kept. The pools were nice; but we are beach people. At this resort it's necessary to go down at 5:30 am to get your chairs. Sure you're not supposed to reserve chairs; but if you don't play the game you won't get one.The beach is well kept. There is a little stand of shops about 45 minutes up from the resort. Our only real complaint - the food. We're not food snobs at all. Steaks; chicken; pork all done to perfection! It seems they took great pride in their meat; while everthing else suffered. It was cold. Cooked vegetables; pastas it was cold every day. We attended the beach party; and they had a creamed spinach dish; I thought great; until I went to eat it; cold. Unless you were booked at a restaurant; there was very little variety. Yes I know not to eat everything on the first day :)Oh yes; book as many of the restaurants as you can immediately upon arriving. Our mistake; we waited. We stayed at the RIU Ocho Rios last year and maybe we got spoiled. Unfortunately we would think twice about returning to the GBP.
478252,PJSams,07/10/2007,Best Vacation So Far My wife and I and two girls (ages 9 and 11) just returned from a one week stay. Overall; the trip was one of; if not; the best we have taken. The staff was very friendly; the grounds and rooms immaculate and the food ranged from good to great. The only downside was we were always on guard because you can't drink the water from the taps/shower/pool etc... But even that was not a huge issue. We would definetely return.Also; we recommend tyying the Swimming with Sharks and Stingray excursion. I am not a big fan of the ocean and while the trip sounded daunting; it was actually quite an adventure. We never felt uncomfortable or in danger because the sharks are very docile (nurse sharks) and the sting rays really kept to themselves. It was well worth it! There was also an abundance of beautiful coral reefs and tropical fish.
478252,fmproducer,07/10/2007,Pretty good...not fantastic First the good..Rooms are very niceThe Beach is fantasticThe Pools are greatThe Resort is SpotlessThe Service is ExcellentNow The BadThe Food. The Buffett was very mediocre (almost bad) and the Ala Carte Mexican Restaraunt El Charro was pretty terrible. We ordered the mix grill at El Charro and I'm not kidding when I tell you the the chicken part of the mixed grill were two little chicken wings.We did fare better at the Garden Grill and the French Restaurant. The garden grill was pretty good and the French Restaraunt was great. Getting Sick...My Fiance developed the flu while we were down there and is still recovering (they have doctors available 24 hours). i got a nasty stomach bug that I am still dealing with three days since returning. Becareful what you eat and drink. I thought I was and still got sick.But otherwise; you will have a great time. We found the best part of the trip just sitting on the beach and going swimming and sailing (if you know how to sail a hobie cat; YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT TIME! The prevailing winds are great!)But with that said; I think this was our last All Inclusive. We did Sandles in Jamaica last year and found the overall quality of the food a lot better but next time I think we will just head to a five star hotel or rent a villa.
478252,keena18,07/09/2007,Loved the Bahia Principe I just returned from a week at the Bahia Principe. What can I say but ahhhh. I loved this resort. It鈥檚 my second time to Punta Cana; last time I stayed at the Paradisus; which is also very nice. The hotel is large and has plenty to keep you busy. We had children from age 5; 7 and 9. They enjoyed it thoroughly. I think the French restaurant was the best of the ala carte. The others we tried were good but didn't match up in terms of food or service. The only complaint I had was after upgrading to the gold service; we ordered room service; which didn't come after waiting an hr. They made up for this by sending us a bottle of champagne to the room. We had originally been booked at the Majestic Colonial; and actually it was next door; so I walked onto the property to check it out. I'm glad I switched to the Bahia. All in all; I would definitely return.
478252,saberav,07/09/2007,Absolutely fantastic all inclusive resort This vacation was a lot of firsts for me. First solo vacation; first time in the Dominican Republic; first time staying at the Grand BahiaPrincipe....it will also be the first time i rate an overall vacationexperience 5 stars. The Grand Bahia Principe was highly recommended on this site; and i'm happy i put some faith in the experience of others. My 5 day stay at the resort was nothing short of fantastic. The resort itself was absolutely beautiful; the beach was pristine; the food was great (though the Japanese themed restaurant was ok) and the staff was a pleasure to deal with. As a solo traveler; i spent most of my time at the pool; beach and courtyard where talented musicians played HOT salsas and cha chas. I highly recommended this all inclusive resort and hope to come back real soon.
478252,JoyceDon,07/09/2007,IT's all in attitude/ usa delaware This was our 7th all inclusive vacation. This resort was one of the best. Check in was fast; our room was not ready so we had our swinwear in our carry on and changed; and hit the beach. After a while on the beach; a few drinks and lunch we returned to the lobby and were excorted to our room. The room was big; cool and clean; ok the toilet seat was broken; but; its all in your attitude.The TRAM what a great way to get from one end of the resort to the other. We never waited more the 5 minute.The beach; there was alway plenty of palapas and shad; june was hot. The water was beautiful; clean; clear and refreshing. I must say the beach bar was busy but the bar tenders would make anyting you asked for. They did a great job. Every morning there would be sea grass that washed up and ther were workers who cleaned everything out by 10:00A.m.The Japanese was great and alot of fun; try it. This country does nothave any idea what italian food is; not to good; the gormet well; its good but warm water lobster did not excite me; I live on the eastcoast and enjoy good seafood. The Buffets; just take your time and you can find plenty. Well O K its just fair.The evening louge with the piano bar was relaxing and the staff were great.All in all; its was a great resort with great staff. I found that the staff will make or break your vacation. We will return.Oh; yea there was alot of topless sunbathers; hey chill out; its a european resort. Try it .
478252,sabgagMontreal,07/08/2007,Would not go back!!! We just got back from a week at BP (2 adults + 3 kids; 15; 7; 4)what a bliss to be back home! I'll start off by saying that I am a picky traveller...when I pay for a 5 star; that's what I expect; and that's not what we got. A 5 star in Cuba; in DR and in Mexico are 3 very different things; and we are used to the 5 star Mexico style. CHECK-IN: Amazing. We went Golden; with Air Transat; and the check-in was made on the bus; on the way to the hotel; paperwork; bracelets; etc. Besides being very close to the beach; the quick check-in; having a ''concierge'' and extra reservations at the 脿 la carte restaurant; not sure going Golden is worth it. ROOMS: We were in a building closest to the beach (60) with 2 communicating rooms (which I had requested directly at the hotel; by e-mail). Big rooms; quite nice. We didn't get the fancy towels or any extra attention (guess it depends on the maids...we tipped well every day). Biggest turn-off in the room; tiny black bugs...everywhere; on the furniture; and in the BED! Took me over an hour to fall asleep every single night; never got to kill them all; they came from God knows where.Speaking of bugs; do place a towel at the foot of your door at night; this will keep them out; I saw a cockroach slip under the door as I was about to place the towel one night.RESORT: Much too big for my taste; especially with young kids in incredible heat. The little train that drives you around the resort is hard to find at night; it doesn't come often; and when it does; it is often full. FOOD: I know this is Dominican Republic; and I was not expecting gourmet food; but I don't expect hamburgers to stay out in the sun for 3 hours either. Some people mentionned a horrible smell at the main buffet; it's true. I personally hated the food. Same thing over and over again; with a different sauce. The food at the 脿 la carte restaurants was better than the buffet; but it still wasn't very good. In fact; we all lost a few pounds! Our 2 eldest got sick (even though I carefully watched everyone's plate); major cramps; diarrhea; fever; nausea. I dreaded meal time; 3 times a day; for 7 days. Pack little snacks and Immodium.DRINKS: Staff at all the beach and pool bars is very friendly. Their idea of a strawberry daiquiri is a glass of bright fushia liquid with 2 cubes of ice in it...they don't blend it!!! SERVICE: The staff's english is either very limited or nonexistent. Service at the buffet is a joke; the plates pile up on the tables; ask for an orange juice; get lemonade; etc. Service at the 脿 la carte restaurants is very very good. BEACH: Probably the nicest I have ever seen; water is perfect; sand is beautiful. A lot of people; but if you go all the way to the left; there are plenty of chairs in the shade; and many many palm trees. WATCH WHERE YOU STEP! My 4 year-old daughter kindly handed me; on 4 different occasions; huge pieces of broken glass she'd found in the sand. I found about 10 during the week...looked like broken drinking glasses. The weather was beautiful; and very very very hot humid.POOL: My kids loved it. I had problems putting my toes in the water; it was practically boiling! Not only was it not refreshing; but it was also a little sickening. OVERALL: My hubby and I agree that the resort is more like a 4 star; and that the food doesn't deserve more than a 3.We are Mexico lovers; and that's where our next trip will be; it is well worth the extra couple of hundred dollars.For those wanting their hair braided; the spot at the hotel will charge you 80$US for a full head...take 3 minutes to walk to the little yellow hut on the beach (left side); the ladies there are very nice; very quick; and will charge you a lot less. They wanted 60$ for a full head; but I managed to bargain 60$ for both of my daughters. We met couples and families that were really having a good time at the resort. Some were on their 2nd trip there; and were liking it just as much as the 1st time. Maybe DR is just not for us!!!!
478252,5bythebay,07/05/2007,Beautiful hotel; ugly management; reservations mean nothing beautiful sandy beach
478252,Beautiful7,07/05/2007,Missing already... Boat
478252,joerider1,07/05/2007,The staff made it a dream vacation We left Boston to Atlanta and had a 3 hr layover which left and arrived exactly on time and to schedule. Via Us air. Return flight got bumped to 1st Class Whats better. The Punta Cana Airport should control the non employee people from grabbing your bags literally out of your hands to carry them 12 feet away and expecting a tip. Unexceptable. From there we got to the apple desk and caught our ride to the hotel. it was fine but a disturbing site of poverty. We arrived in Paradise Grand Bahia ahhh I can still hear the song. dispite the down pouring rain on our arrival our room was awesome and decorated with Balloons for our 25th aniversary. Every Day the maids decorated our room to the 9s leaving us gifts and bubblebaths drawn to full bottles of champayne and rum. The Grounds were very clean and all of the staff never passed us without a smile and warm greeting. The staff for Apple vacations were very nice and helpful. The most fun was at the pools with Johnny and absolutely took over the Karaoke lounge every night with pedro. But the Karaoke bar neede more music selection; Its the most fun place and we brought our own music which helped. Beaches were incredible lots to do. Food took some getting used to . Ala cart rest were very nice which we dined in 6 different ones out of 7 nights. We did have some stomach distress issues on our last day but nothing really serious. The french rest is where we celebrated our 25th anniversary and they made it happen that night topping off my Filet mignon with 6 thats right 6 lobsters and a bottle of excellent champagne all inclusive . The disco is a trip every night we closed the place. oh and by the way . The secret is when it rains get in the pool you too can make your vacation as fun as you want it to be. Dont always rely on the place you stay to make you happy. Bahia I will see you again in 1 year and we are booking this time with 40 people look out here we come. One last comment we never saw a single show While we were there because we always found something else that we were enjoying more; Just a great place loved it
478252,UkChippy1,07/05/2007,Our BEST holiday!!! What a fantastic holiday! we stayed here from 19th June-3rd July;like many travellers on this site; i chose to read the reviews beforewe went and was thinking Oh no' wha if this and what if that; i need'nt have worried; it was excellent from start to finish. We flew with Thomas Cook; it was ok; not as bad as some people said. We were comfy; the food was ok; we had our 2year old daughter with us and shewas excellent on the long flight; i was dreading it of course; how tokeep her entertained so as not to upset the other passengers; but thepeople around us sitting praised her for being well behaved. We arrived at the resort about 5pm local time. We checked in; noproblems. The room was lovely; fresh fruit waiting for us; lovely andclean in the room; but is was like this every day anyway. Our maid was excellent; if we were short of anything i would leave her a note and she would leave what i needed; we also left her a couple of dollars a day; i also took some little bottles of shower gel or bubble bath to leave for her which was greatly appreciated. The staff were excellent; very friendly; a special thankyou to Tirso;Pamela and Orlando at the buffet restaurant. The food was excellent; plenty to choose from; i am a picky eater like a lot of people; but you certainly will not go hungry; so for all you who weren't satisfied you must have walked around with your eyes shut or just could'nt be bothered. It was 5* and beautiful. The pool was great; we met a lovely couple from New York; Ray and Billie-Jean;the beach was beautiful and the weather was hot hot hot. We had rain late at night a couple of times and thunder but it did not ruin our holiday one bit. The entertainment was good; they work hard these people so respect what they do. We had great service from the theatre bar by Julia; so a big thankyou to her. All the staff could not have made the stay any more enjoyable and as far as our daughter was concerned they absolutely adored her; you would have thought she was their's. The waiter called Tirso left to go home a few days before us and realising he would not see our daughter when he returned he came to our table the night before he left and presented our daughter with a gift which i thought was a beautiful gesture. The alcohol was plentiful if you like drinking; i was drinking whisky and coke and the measures were from short. I could go on forever about this place;it was truly a memorable holiday; i would recommend it to anyone; we didnt want to come home; we were sad to leave. W e will definitely go back and hopefully take more people just to show them what a greattime is to be had. Go with an open mind and just enjoy it; EXCELLENT.
478252,happynuts,07/04/2007,June 24 - July 1st We (Total of 6) were in Punta Cana and stayed at this hotel from June24-July 1st and had a really great time. Our tour operator was Signature Vacation and they arranged a plane for everyone from that operator to Punta Cana. Lucky for us; we were able to find our bus that takes us to the Hotel without much trouble. The tip is 鈥渇ollow the crowd鈥? We saw ppl heading to the Signature booth so that's what we did. Once we got onto the bus; the Signature tour operator gave us the wrist bands; information packages etc.. Everyone else on the bus were told their rooms were ready ....Except for ours :( We landedat PC around 11am but didn't get our rooms until 3pm. So most of us just hanged in the lobby/explored the hotel.This is a very BIG hotel. It has 30+ villas; 3 pools and a HUGE lobby. (There鈥檚 another smaller section just north of the main hotel too. It also has 10+villas; 1 separate pool and it鈥檚 own mini lobby).The main hotel is really 2 hotels in 1. One side is called Bahia Principe PUNTA CANA and the other side is called Bahia Principe BAVARO. They are identical. The only issue I had with their 2 hotel systems is if you are booked under Bavaro; you can only do your check-ins; guest services and eat at certain restaurants in the Bavaro side. We originally suppose to stay in the Bavaro side; but we ended up staying in the Punta Cana side of the hotel. It's a bit of walk under the summer heat so we always look for shades. We took the Tram to the pool and the beach. Most of our time was spend by the beach and we were able to find lawn chairs under the shade without much trouble. Even though it's in the middle of the summer; but you won't feel much of the heat because of the ocean breeze. But it鈥檚 hot everywhere else in the hotel. I didn鈥檛 expect there would be topless women in the beach; so it was a bit of a shockfor me. You get used to it and won鈥檛 even notice it afterwards. We stayed for 7 nights and got 3 a la carte restaurant nights. The Mediterranean was really good; the French restaurant and the Steakhouse (Garden Grill) were good. We ate at the main buffet restaurants many times because that's where it has the most variety. We walked into the Punta Cana side for buffet one day and told us we need to go to the Bavaro鈥檚 buffet. But they both serve the same food;so does it matter which side of the hotel you eat at? We also tried the Snack Bar by the main pool and the food was 鈥榦kay鈥? We asked the Front desk about lunch and they told us there are 3 restaurants open for lunch 鈥?Mexican; Seafood and Italian. We went to the Mexican rest. 鈥?and they told us only Seafood is open. We went to Italian rest. 鈥?and they told us it鈥檚 available for Club Diamond and Premium members only for lunch. You鈥檇 think the Front desk checked our bracelets and then point us to the right direction. Hence we ate our Lunch mostly at the main buffet L. 5 out 6 of us got either minor ormajor stomach problem. Tips: Do not drink the milk or put milk/cr猫me in your coffee. Dominican pasteurized their milk differently; so it didn鈥檛 sit well with our stomach.We also checked out a couple of their 鈥楴ightly Grand Production鈥?in the theatre hall. Do not underestimate their talents; these people can definitely dance. My bf was extremely impressed with their productions. His favourite was Michael Jackson.We saw ppl tipped their favourite bartenders; etc鈥?but we only tipped the maid twice; couple of times at the bar; servers at the a la carte rest. and the folks during our excursion. Other than that; we hardly tipped anywhere else. All in all; I enjoyed this hotel and luckily we didn鈥檛 have any major issues. Just minor stuff: The mini-bar could be cooler; bettercommunication among hotel staff; larger Gym and more workout equipments. But overall people were very nice; the maintenance is kept up very well everywhere and I鈥檇 go back to this hotel.
478252,Gonza7,07/04/2007,would go back again...NOW!!! Me and my girlfriend justa came back from bahia principe and loved it!! I read almost all the reviewes from tripadvisor before booking and that was the right choice.the hotel is magnificant;different from everything i had ever seen. Its divided in more than 60 villas with around 18 apartments each.the rooms are great;with jacuzzi and we didnt had any problems with the ac. the food was great in the buffet;we were allowd to book 3 restaurants al carte and we went to the french; the japanese and the italian. we didnt like the french because the food was good but in small portions.Liked the italian and loved the japanese (dont forget to book early because of the availability).the hotels as animation all day long and all night including in the disco were they had some dancing contest.the weather was great it only rained one day at 4 pm but the rest of the days were very sunny and humid.at least my girlfriend had the escuse the use the jacuzzi.I strongly recommend this hotel because the staff is great;the food is pretty good(didnt liked the meat);the dinks are great (loved the daiquiris and the cuba libres)...Were the perfect holidays and didnt want to leave!!!P.S.-sorry for my english (im portuguese) and take a lot of sunscreen (we spent a bottle of sunscreen in a week).
478252,tazman19,07/02/2007,Great Hotel! Just returned from the Gran Bahia. We stayed 6/25/07 to 7/1/07 in regular service room (not golden or diamond club).Airport - service on Continental out of Newark. Flights on time with no delays. Flight crew rude on both legs of trip (first time experienced this on Continental flight) and some unruly kids on plane. DR airport on way back had terminal 1 (no AC - very hot) and terminal 2 (AC). Be careful here on return trip. Checking in at Continental desk gentlemen weighed baggage (saw that one was 57 lbs - 7 lbs over weight). He tagged all luggage and threw on conveyer belt. He then told me that overweight charge is $29 but I can give him $20 and move along. They always should give you the option of transfering weight to another bag (did that before). I did not pay and walked away. The man found me in the airport before boarding the plane and demanded the $20! Fearing that my luggage would not make it back to Newark; I paid. Alarming that he worked for Continental and did this in front of everyone. I tipped the baggage clerks $5 each way for 7 bags.Transfer - booked through Apple and transfered to hotel in air conditioned van. About 25 minute trip. Not bad at all. Had private mini van for return transfer.Check-in - smooth check in. Purchase safe when entering for $30 and use it! Put passports; cash; jewelry; etc in safe and they guarantee contents. Room was not ready upon arrival at 1:30pm but that is why they say 3pm check-in. Bring suit in carry on and you can start your vacation anyway!.They put wrist band on to ensure you get all benefits and are recognized as hotel guest.Check out even quicker. Rooms- Rooms are huge! Easily and comfortably can fit family of 4. We were in villa 14; 3rd floor right in the center of the resort. Every room has balcony and very very clean. Bathrooms are all marble and beautiful.Resort - Cleanest I have ever seen! Excellent landscaping and someone is always hosing something down or scrubbing something down. Very large but tram system is excellent and carries guests from one end to the other. Never wait more than 5 minutes. Pools are immaculate and loads of fun. Pool bar by the beach is much more crowded but very entertaining. Robert and John really work hard to whip the crowd up into a frenzy. Watch out for Mamawanna; the local shot of the DR. Very strong - have 2 and you will be feeling good. More than that; you might be sick.Restaurants - ate at Japenese; Italian and French. Thought the food was good. Service was excellent. Buffet was also good. Be sure to leave tips on your table.Beach - what can I say? One of the most beautiful beaches. Crystal clear water; great view of shipwreck and plenty of activities such as volleyball; soccer and beach games run by the great staff at the GBP. A little down the beach to the right is the watersports hut. Be sure to reserve even the free stuff like kayaking and paddleboats. You cannot just go up and get one. They have to be reserved. We did parasailing for $85 (2 people) and that was awesome! Shopping - Pueblo Principe is a little town in the front of the resort with plenty of gift shops and stands. Talk the guys at the stands down from their starting offer. You can often barter down $10-$20. There is also a karoke bar; club and small casino in the town.Overall; this was a great resort and I would go back in a minute. I am already sorry I am back so soon!
478252,jml6010,07/01/2007,The good the bad and the ugly We spent the week of June 23-30 in the D.R. as the result of a last minute opportunity to get away.This was our first trip to Punta Cana.My wife and I have been to 5 other all-inclusives and I am comparing this resort to other similiar properties.We used Apple vacations and were completly satisfied with all their services.They greeted us at the departure airport and provided all documents .They explained the travel process in the D.R. to avoid any surprises.The apple reps wear distinctive shirts to identify themselves and are always willing to help.Locals claiming to be Apple will try to assist with your luggage.Totally unnecessary.The bus trip to the resort was well-organized and comfortable.The on -site reps were helpful and polite.USA3000 was the airline included in the package.The flight was non-stop;a bonus for any traveler.The agents;flight attendants and pilots were friendly and professional.I can recommend apple and this airline without reservation.At the hotel;we had a room with a pool view in the middle of the property(near the wedding gazebo).The room was clean;the staff courteous and the maids will respond to any request ;assuming you can communicate with them.No one in housekeeping speaks anything other than spanish.Learn a few phrases or take a dictionary to translate.Leave a couple bucks on the pillow.They are appreciative.The beds were a bit hard for me but we were well-satisfied with our accomodations. The room was spacious and the shower very nice.Without question;the best asset of this resort is the beach.There are plenty of chairs; trees and grass huts.A drink stand is convenient and the staff attempt to relieve boredom with bingo; water aerobicsand dance contests.The staff is enthusiastic and attentive.The water is clear;blue-green and soothing.The sand is fine and white.You can walk for miles in either direction from the resort .There are tourist police and resort security .Since no one goes to town in the evenings;entertainment is provided by the resorts.Everyone seemed to feel safe.All in all;this resort provides a good value for the amenities provided. The reviews which suggest bringing much sun protection (spf50 ) and which warn buying on premises is expensive are totally correct.Bring everything you need as there is no place to shop.THE BAD:At check-in;we were offered the chance to rent a safe.A resort of this caliber should provide a room safe.The exercise room was adequate but small for a resort of this size(1500+ rooms).There is 1 elliptical ; 2 treadmills;stationary bikesand free weights.The pools are populated by more smokers than I have seen assembled in one place in many years.No area of this resort is smoke-free.The drinks ;while free; are made with house brands of questionable quality.Due to the size of the resort;transportation is provided by carts pulled by pickup trucks.The aroma of a city street seems out of place in paradise.Over all;I found this resort to be impersonal and without a dedication to quality service that is the trademark of other all-inclusives we have visited. THE UGLY: I do not have unrealistic expectations of food quality at an all-inclusive.The ala cartes are by reservation only .Both the seafood and the japanese were barely edible.The middle east was very good. Beef;in each restaurant; has the tenderness of grilled round steak. The buffets serve enormous quantities of food;most of which has little or no flavor.The lunches are burgers;pizza;dogs and some variation of the previous evening leftovers.There is much fruit however I am convinced this is the source of the intestinal problems common to guests at this resort.My wife and I were both careful about the food and drink;yet both got the revenge(thank God for immodium).I believe that some workers do not undersand or care about sanitation and food handling.The wine is not drinkable and should be avoided.The most disturbing staff issue occurs on the beaches.Many of the patrons elect to go topless.The workers have a tendency to clean and wash near attractive sunbathers.I heard comments which were lude;offensive and which would have resulted in immediate discharge at most hotels(they will say anything if english is your language since they do not think you understand them; we are the minority there).I found this to be demeaning and and an indication that the resort hires to fill positions rather than for quality considerations.It further reflects a lack of training and supervision which is a cause for concern for any guest.We will return to Punta Cana;however I will select a different resort .
478252,lovevacationsMi,07/01/2007,Friends birthday getaway - GREAT! Hi all; like many of you - I read lots of reviews before going was a little nervous.It was HOT there - take LOTS of sunscreen - I'm relatively fair skinned had to use 50 on the face (4 times a day!!!) came back with some nice color.We had a group of 6 spent most time by one of the pools in the middle had no issues finding chairs until about 10am - topless is fairly common for the ladies.Drinks - 6 different flavors of frozen drinks with rum added - they are kinda sweet; but bartenders would help you mix it up a little. Juana Adan were the BEST at the pool bar - very nice fun. - yes; due to heat - they do melt fast - Bugs - took bugspray but didn't have an issue or use it.Language - English speakinga are not the majority; but everyone was nice worked hard to communicate.Rooms were great; grounds were beautiful; food was quite a nice variety for all the different places the guests were from.A la Carte - we did Japanese (food was great plentiful; felt a little rushed); Mediterranean was DELICIOUS very nice French was so-so. Food was OK; but service wasn't too hot.Enjoyed El Pescador for breakfast - a little smaller intimate; but good - Tips - we gave out about $20-30 total. only to maid once or twice w/special requests to our favorite bartenders. I didn't feel that we got any better/worse service for it - so I wouldn't put as much weight on it as others did.Just a beautiful place - for our fourth/fifth all inclusive experience - we'd DO IT AGAIN!!!Enjoy
478252,anamebyanyothername,07/01/2007,I'm rounding up pool
478252,Lauz7,07/01/2007,Good holiday We have just returned to the UK after two weeks at the Gran Bahia Principe. Our room was nice; clean and tidy. We did have a few problems in the room; the air conditioning didnt work; our toilet seat broke; bed side light didn't work and the safe broke. Did have to spend quite a bit of time going to the repecption to complain.The main pool by the beach was very crowded and quite dirty. Did see a dirty nappy at the side of the pool and it was not moved for hours. The sun beds were all quite cramped together and the music was really really loud. We did move to another quieter and cleaner pool and was a lot happier.The beach was lovely; lots of sun beds and plenty of space if you wanted to get away from the crowds. On check out day two bell boy's came to collect our suitcases from the room. They stood in the bedroom patting their pockets and then putting our their hands waiting from a tip. Found this really uncomfortable and very rude of them. Never throughtout the holiday did anyone expect a tip until this episode. We did tip regularly and service always inproved.
478252,moonbeam16,06/30/2007,Pretty Good This is everything I learned from tripadivsor and my own experiences. This was my first all inclusive so I don't have too much to compare it to. But I read this site religiously for 2 monthes before departure and I had apprehensions about going. My boyfriend and I stayed at the GBP June 10-17. We are both in our early 20's and didn't find any disrespect regarding our age etc. Arrival: Easy; ignore the guys trying to take your luggage; find your travel agency (Sunquest; Signature etc) and they'll tell you what bus to go on. The resort is huge; yes. Stop complaining though; it's about a 15 minute walk end to end; give me a break! With the way North Americans eat; we all need the walk! And you can eat alot there; depends on how picky you are. We are picky so we thought the food wasn't the greatest. We definitely survived on rice; pasta and fries for the week. Breakfast was by far the best meal served in the buffets; I say to stuff yourselves in the morning. Lobby drinks are the best. Pool was pretty gross; wipe yourself with a towel after exiting the pool; nice green algae. Beach is nice; a little seaweed but fun. If you want to try the paddle boat etc. there is a 1-2 days wait; so book it when you get there. We had no trouble with line ups for reservations; or front desk trouble. Never had to wait longer then 5 minutes so I guess it has to do with timing. Couldn't get into the Japenese restaurant though. (Heard it was awesome). Went to Garden Grill and Italian restaurant. Both were okay; not as classy as we thought it would be. The bf got sick off the Italian lasagna; paid for it the next few days. Careful. Trams run constantly shuttling you up and down the middle of the resort. It mirrors eachother; Bavaro and Punta Cana. Get a map (one is handed to you on the bus) and wander around the first day. Maid service was excellent; she was a sweetheart. Left her about 13 bucks throughout the week and lots of presents from the dollar store. She left us wine; rum; t-shirts; and fresh flowers. Even a bubble bath with balloons in it one day. And we were just standard suite with yellow wrist bands! Went down to get my hair braided; done for about 70 dollars (US). I have a lot of hair and it was full head of braids. Took her 2.5 hours and she was going fast (she was really nice). It held up well throughout the week but taking them out was a huge pain. I wouldn't get them again based on that alone. Overall I say to just enjoy yourself; I mean; if you go with a bad attitude; you'll have a bad experience. The people are so nice and courteous; be nice back :) We went for the beach and the sun; and we got a great vacation. Mind you; we decided we could go to the beach up north and it would be a heck of alot cheaper. I say try to it; just don't go with expectations of a high class 5 star resort that you would find in Canada; because it's not. But they try pretty darn hard to be.
478252,EnglandLawnmower,06/30/2007,Love it!! Just got back from 2 weeks at this hotel. We was a party of 21 and all 21 of us loved it!! The hotel is immaculate in every way!! Spotlessly clean. Plenty of food choice for everyone. Pools were wicked beach was paradise!! The staff dont speak much english but you will get there in the end. It wouldent put us of going back next year already thinking about it. Dont hesitate book it!! Read on other reviews how you struggle for sunbeds well they was 21 of us and not one of us went without a sunbed there was loads on the beach and by the pool!! Its worth watching the micheal jackson night It was amazing!! Couldent praise this hotel enough loved every minute try it!
478252,Swan4316,06/30/2007,Never going back I traveled to this resort with my boyfriend; soon as we reached the airport an everyone was rushing around and pushing you I knew this was going to be a disaster. Immigration and customs was so unorganized I was ready to pull my hair out. We could not find our bus to the hotel. We had to pay some one to find it for us. Once we reached the hotel I was so excited. We were upgraded to the premier club because the punta cana side was all filled up. This was not a very nice upgrade in my eyes. We had our own pool but that was about it. We were the farthest from the beach and food. But I guess being far away from the food was a good thing. I got sick after the first day. We got there on a monday afternoon. I got sick Tuesday. We came home Friday. I was not completely better till the following Tuesday. To make things worse. The resort stunk of cigarettes and gasoline the entire trip. There was no break from it. I think that was part of my distress. I spent a good part of the trip in my room. To top it all off if you have fair skin spf 50 will not cut. I applied over and over again. and i got sun poisoning. I could not lay down at all. My boyfriend has a stomach like a rock and very dark skin. He even got sick and a sun burn. My advice to you if you plan on going here is be careful. When i showered i kept my mouth closed tight I was sure not to consume any water. Maybe it was the ice cubes but they came from bags so who knows. The nice part about the resort was the beach was beautiful. The pools felt like bath water... it was gross because you got no relief from the heat trust me! it was warm!The grounds were beautiful. But slippery I almost fell walking around out side every day because they had sprinklers on and power washed every thing. The language barrier is not that big of a deal. The people who vacation there do not speak english. we met no people. The staff are friendly but i felt like every one looked at you like they knew something about you that you didnt. Definitely invest in the room safe. I did not feel safe on the resort people can just pop in your room at any time. Over all the resort was beautiful. But the food was disgusting; it made me so ill when we got home my boyfriend was not allowed to even say the name of the resort around me. I had to wait a week to write this review because i was not able to think about the food with out feeling nausous. Good luck if you have the guts to go. Maybe June is just a bad month for the bahia principe because I read such wonderful reviews but it seems in the month of June the reviews have gotten negative. Oh on the way home be prepared to have your luggage searched 3 times! In conclusion i would probably never return to the DR it was an experience i will never forget it was beautiful but my stomach cant handle it.
478252,twinkletoesOxford,06/30/2007,very disappointed We have just returned from our second visit to this hotel. We were there same time last year and though we both suffered 'dodgy' tummies then; you kinda expect that. We have travelled far and wide and are EXTREMELY careful about what we eat and drink. My toothbrush never touched any water from the tap - it was all done from the bottled stuff.The hotel is fantastic.....clean; beautifully kept; the beach is to die for. However....the comments written by others re the smokers are true. I am extremely anti smoking and it was difficult to get away from it. The dress code was not really adhered to either in the evenings. We figured that if the staff are going to the trouble to lay a nice table and prepare your food you could at least make an effort and get out of those shorts and flip flops!. It seemed that BBCs were the dress of the day at breakfast....mmm.. sorry - not at a 5* place.We ate in the French restaurant on our 6th night and I was violently ill all day the next day. I went to hospital for blood tests (as per the advice of the hotel doctor) and got kept in for 4 days on various IV drips. On my return to the hotel I was too weak to do anything but customer services were great and arranged 'plain' food for me every night. We missed most of our A la Carte meals as I was so sick. Back home now and waiting for the hotel to get back to me after writing them an e mail. Am off work till at least 9/7 as I am so weak. If you have booked - please take care what you eat and try to boost your immune system before you get there. Take extra care with youngsters both in the sun/heat and the food!
478252,VacationLover2005,06/29/2007,Let the good times roll... I have to say; the first night there; we were ready to book the next flight home! The staff couldn't speak english; and all the restaurants and bars were closed! It was H-O-T and we were dissapointed that we couldn't find a drink anywhere...However; the following day; everything fell into place. Our tour guide (Nolitours) showed us where everything was; such as the restaurants; entertainment; and the activities; and we were very pleased after that. The buffet restaurants were alright; nothing special. However; the a la cartes were amazing!!! Especially the Garden Grill. The pools and the beach were extremely clean. It was gorgeous! As well as the lobby; which was a common hang-out place. The nightlife was relaxing and the shows were entertaining. Overall; the place was very clean and the staff was great. We had a great time!
478252,merauto,06/29/2007,great value; but not 5 star. lifeguard on duty
478252,KeepingMoving,06/28/2007,A True Gem! Tram
478252,CARADPERILLA,06/28/2007,completely inconsiderate and not accommodating The setting is a true paradise. The resort is beautiful with great food and great drinks. Some staff members lacked English but considering that I speak Spanish; that was the least of our problems. The service was impressive. It left such an impression that I will NEVER consider returning. The hotel was not accommodating to our needs even after we paid extra for an upgraded room. Members of staff from the male sex were absolutely the rudest; even to the point of whisteling and gawking at a woman in a simple bikini. For service so disgusting; I would much rather enjoy a week in Afghanistan. My image of Dominican Republic; specifically Punta Cana; has forever been changed. I sincerely hope that Bahia Principe Clubs and Resorts as a whole; does not share the same work ethics. I will let Grupo Pi帽ero; the Administrative Offices; know exactly how I feel about their resort in Punta Cana. It was a true disappointment. Hope all who read this consider my opinion and think twice. Good luck Bahia Principe!
478252,talorie,06/28/2007,Loved the Bahia! My boyfriend I went to the Bahia Principe from May 26-June 2 and had an AMAZING time! We had read the reviews prior to going and I was so impressed with how informative and helpful people had been that I felt compelled to do the same for others.The grounds are truly stunning. The maintenance staff are working on upkeeping it 24/7 and it really pays off! The grounds are very vast but there is really no prime spot to be at - unless you're right in the middle; you'll either be closer to the restaurants and lobby OR to the beach. There is a tram that runs every few minutes so if you're not one for the walk; it's no problem.We found the resort to have something for everyone. There were tons of couples; there were groups of young people who congregated by the swim-up bar; and there were lots of families with kids. It was a really good mix of people. Here are some tips I can give from our experience:-Go to the French and Japanese restaurants (seafood restaurant is crap so double up on one of the others)-Make sure to catch the Michael Jackson show (I think it's on Mondays) - you'd swear you were actually watching Michael!-Take the Marinarium boat cruise - you won't regret it!! And bring an underwater camera!!-Take tons of sunscreen - even if you think you have a base tan and you won't burn - bring it!! you will burn under the dominican sun-We were upgraded to the diamond club without knowing but I wouldn't have paid for an upgrade. it was nice to have 20min of free internet daily to stay in touch with family (and avoid calling); and we enjoyed a 4th a la carte. The Diamond club rooms tend to be situated in the centre of the resort and you get to have breakfast at the Italian restaurant; which was nice (so we didn't have to walk to the front to the buffet) but again; I don't I would have paid for it.-Bring Pepto or Imodium PLEASE. Our stomachs were going crazy down there and we had to run to the bathroom within minutes of eating. It's possible we caught a bug before we got there; as my bf was sick as soon as we got off the plane; but bring it with you nonetheless.-bring lots of dollar bills as the staff are so sweet and amazing.The beach i s BEAUTIFUL but I think next time; I'll refrain from travelling in May/June. It was cloudy quite a few of the days but it's still super hot.All in all; we had a great; relaxing vacation. And I defintiely recommend this resort! Although I'm not one to travel to the same place twice; I was very impressed by the resort and I think I'd definitely look for a Bahia Principe at my next vacation destination.Have fun!!
478252,NJFamilyTraveler3,06/27/2007,Worst service ever! I have been to all inclusive resorts in DR before and by far this is the worst when it comes to customer service. We stayed here for a wedding and there were a lot of us. First of all when we arrived and checked in they told us that they upgraded us because of the inconvience of having to stay in a room for one night and then we had to arrange the next day to be moved to our reserved location. I had called ahead of time to request a crib be placed into our room. I was assured that they always include it when they know a baby is traveling. Well of course the room had no crib and then we had to call several times to make sure someone showed up. It took hours!!!After we checked in and got to our room; it was around 5pm and we were starving! We asked several people where they were serving food and when we went to see if food was available everything was closed until 6:30pm and then I found out we had to make dinner reservations! Dinner reservations at an all inclusive resort what's up with that????!!! They have open buffets; no reservation needed; but I found this out a few hours later!This place is way too big; and you have to take a trolley like car to get to different parts of the hotel. There are also different levels of service (wrist bands are different colors) which limit where you can make dinner reservations. Since we had the platinum; we did not have a problem; but we did not know this ahead of time.The next day when we went to change our rooms; I waited at the front desk for about 3 hours; constantly having to harass the staff asking; WHAT AM I WAITING FOR.....WHERE IS MY ROOM; WHAT IS GOING ON...NO ONE WOULD ANSWER MY QUESTION; staff would disappear in the office and then would not come back with an answer. The wedding guests filled the lobby; very pissed off and I was one of them; with a hungry cranky baby on my hands. I was almost to tears; and someone nearby was crying she was so frustrated. All we wanted was an answer; if the room was not ready; tell us that and tell us the time it would be so we could enjoy our time there rather than getting frustrated with the resort staff. This resort does not know what customer service means.Then when we get to the room it was clean nice and had no crib. My husband called to request for one and we waited for an hour. When he called again; they hung up on him. What hotel staff hangs up on a guest!!!! He asked very nicely and was treated very poorly.I would never; ever recommend this resort. The worst part is they tried to buy us out at the end. They offered us a free stay there again in the future. Exceptions: you couldn't use it during a holiday and during black out dates. When I asked what black out dates meant; they couldn't/didn't answer. We told them no thank you.Please do not give this place your money. Worst service ever!
478252,fosters811,06/27/2007,SomeGood-Some Not So good This was our seventh all inclusive trip (2nd to Punta Cana). Several cruises thrown-in. Love cruises; but all inclusive is the way-to-go. The most bang-for-the-buck. This resort is big; not overpowering but big enough that a person with a little mobility issue will notice. English is language #3 or 4. We had to muddle our way through some of the staff conversations. No major problem but compared to other resorts; very obvious. The room was very nice..turn down; jacuzzi tub;etc. We don't smoke(terrible;nasty;stinking habit); but 75% of the adults did. This is a smokers paradise because they don't enforcement the no smoking areas. This was disturbing. This alone would prevent us from ever returning to this resort. The food was good; just like all the buffets; you get a little tired of them...but you gotta eat. Stayed 8 nights and ate mostly fruit the last two days. The seafood specialty restaurant was horrible. The steak house OK. The Japanese was the best. The beach was beautiful and plenty of chairs;palapas. The pools...again plenty of chairs and palapas. The pool was missing a lot of tiles in places. We have not seen this at other resorts. Pool maintenance seemed to be a bit slack. The lousy crushable drink cups were left lying around for several days; mainly around the bridge areas; but still a lack of maintenance/cleaning. Let's talk drinks. Did I mention the lousy crushable drink cups. The drinks at the pool bars; other than the beer; were not good. They do not make frozen drinks that stay frozen more than; 20 seconds. This was a major problem for both of us. Their ice is just barely frozen and melts too quickly when mixed. The lobby bar had much better drinks; but that's a 400 yards away.For most of the stay; the ice cream in the restaurants was more like thick milk than solid ice cream. They have a real problem with keeping it solid. The flavor was good;but here again; we wanted ice cream; not scoopable milk shakes. We realize that this review is negative; but please remember; we have experienced better resorts and this review is based our experience from these resorts (Iberostar; RIU). This is still a good deal and nice vacation; we just didn't like the differences.The arrival process was smooth and simple. Pay your $10/person; go through immigration/customs ;go to your bus and head for the resort. Getting out; a different story...make sure you have 2 hours or more during the busy times. Little air-conditioning; lots of people. I won't bore you with details; but this was a horror story. We will not be back to this resort and probably not to the DR.
478252,PuntainJune,06/26/2007,Punta Cana I stayed at the Grand Bahia for 7 days - very nice place! The sun was hot - make sure you wear at least 30spf; the pools are very nice and so is the sea- The food wasn't the greatest; looked okay; but made my stomach do flips all week - Don't drink the water; and be careful with the ice in the drinks - The rooms are excellent - I was very impressed with the layout; fresh flowers in the morning; and maid service - I would recommend not staying on the third floor - too hot to climb all those stairs.....
478252,TorontoGoingAway,06/26/2007,nice resort; but not good in food at all! If this is not going to be your first time trip to Punta Cana your expectation will be deferent. Our first experience two years ago was with Grand Palladium Spa resort which was excellent in everything; cleanness food; day night entertainment . But our second time trip to D.R was different. Bahia; on the positive side; is very nice clean resort with friendly hard working staff; but on the food side; I can't give a positive rate to it. It has 8 restaurants but all of them are pretty the same; it wasn't the mater of taste that much; our problem was the freshness of food which we both (my husband I ) had concern about it. You got to watch out what you pick to eat. The entertainment was ok too; I am not giveing it a WOW factor. Over all it's a family resort with lots of kids; not recommended if you are looking for a place to relax. For us was ok because we had a 15 months old baby with us; which sort of made a busy vacation for us rather having a relaxing time. Going after a baby all the time is not easy; better off to wait another couple of years.
478252,mapilon,06/26/2007,Salmonella Everything in the hotel was great except that when we got back my husband started beeing sick and after going to the hospital and doing some tests; he as contracted salmonella. We have never left the hotel grounds or eaten anywhere else. He is very sick. I do not wish that on anyone.
478252,ItaliaSal,06/25/2007,Puna Cana equals Puka Kaka Do not get me wrong; the place and the staff were simply great.beautiful room; great beach; super facility. While sitting at the pool bar I stuck up a conversation with a couple from Chicago. They informed me that 10 of the 14 they were traveling with were sick in there rooms from the food. I kind of shrugged it off and had another beer. Ate drank and had a blast for two days; then my fiance became ill and could not leave the room. Lucky the bathroom was really plush; if you get my drift. We came home after four days; then I got it on the fifth day. I am italian with an iron stomach and the puka- kaka got me too. Advice bring plenty of drugs and build up your immune system before going to Punta Cana. It is a shame such a beautiful place can only be enjoyed if you really watch what you eat.No bugs; not the external kind which we were prepared for and never got one bite. The internal ones really gave us a run for our money; tough to get a tan when you are talking to the porcelain man.Got to run; or should I make that plural.
478252,KeepinPositive,06/25/2007,10/10 X 10!!! AMAZING!!!! My husband and I have just returned from the Gran Bahia Principe; and we absolutely LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT!!!! The hotel was GORGEOUS and HUGE with trolleys to take you everywhere!!!!! The rooms were BEAUTIFUL; and super clean! The pools were FANTASTIC and ALWAYS had tons and tons of activities going on! The beach was MAGNIFICENT with lots of options for shade or sun! On the beach; there were volleyball games; dancing lessons; aerobics; activities; etc!!! We were never bored and always entertained!! The Spa was lovely; and the gym was well equipped! The entertainment at night was EXCELLENT with 2 theatres; casino; disco; shopping; etc!! Our experience was 10 out of 10++++++. The staff were fantastic; and extremely professional! We recommend this hotel to ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE!! If you have any questions; please feel free to ask! :) Happy traveling!
478252,algreek3,06/25/2007,NOT a 5 star resort I cant believe ANYONE is giving this resort 5 stars! thats nuts.This resort is situated on a HUGE piece of property...The grounds are beautiful and the rooms are OK...not 5 star quality.The beach was fantastic and compares to ALL beaches that I have been to around the world...The staff and entertainment crew were great and very friendly...NOW TO THE BAD:The food:one word...HORRIFIC..terrible food...We ate at the Japanese; Seafood; Garden Grill and Mexican...Seafood was the worst seafood I have ever eaten...Garden Grill was just as bad..Japanese was OK but not great and Mexican was OK also...The Buffet was terrible..The food all tasted gross...I got sick and everyone I talked to also got sick from the food....I have been to MANY 5 star resorts...Last year I stayed at the PARADISUS PALMA REAL in Dominican and that one is 100x nicer then Bahia...The Paradisus had Plasma T.V.'s; DVD players; GORGEOUS jaccuzi and rooms...The food was 5 star quality there...It was all gourmet food...If anyone is saying that Bahia is a 5 star resort; then They have NEVER been to a real 5 star resort and should stop Exxagerating...I booked this hotel because of the great reviews people gave and they were DEAD WRONG!Would NEVER recomend this hotel to anyone.
478252,Bigtsson,06/25/2007,Family Spring Break My extended family took a weeks vacation for our Spring Break. I am 18 and travelled with 1 13 year old; 6 cousins my age; and our parents. Everyone had a great time and it was a vacation we will never forget. Being 18 I was looking for a week of relaxing by the beach and pool with a drink in my hand and partying all night. Daytimes were great. Beautiful weather; drinks; and volleyball. The nightime was fun; but hit or miss. Here's what I mean.There are 4 options of things to do at night.1. hotel bar; geared towards my parents generation; which can be fun if you enjoy partying with older people.2. casino- drinks are not included but is a nice change of pace.3. outdoor stage- good for 1 or 2 nights a week4. disco- fun dancing; drinks included; we went here every nightOne of the problems we had were the lack of people our age (18-21). We ended hooking up with a big group of people our age the second day which solved this problem for us; but had we not; the night life would have gotten old. So the nightlife is hit-or-miss; and depends heavily on who is vacationing at the same time as youRooms were nice; although my dad and I had a portable DVD player and electric razor stolen from our room.Food was edible; but not great.Overall I would definitely go back; and am considering it for a trip I am taking in August with my buddies
478252,jdmToronto,06/25/2007,Mostly good but some problems I have read so many of these reviews prior to my trip that I feel somewhat compelled to write one myself. First of all; I was impressed right from the time of my arrival. Catching the bus at the airport was really easy and we were checked in right on the bus. Unfortunately; because we had an early arrival (we were at the hotel by 11 am) we needed to wait until 3 pm in order to check in. Since we already had received our bracelets on the bus we were able to eat; swim and access any of the bars when we arrived but before we could access our room. You should pack a bathing suit and sun screen in your carry on bag as you will not be able to access the contents of your suitcase until you get to your room. Speaking of sunscreen- pack a lot! My husband and I went through 3 bottles in a week- they sell it at the resort for $20 US a bottle. The sun is extremely strong and you'll need lots of protection.The rooms were fine; better to be on the 2nd or 3rd floor as there is more privacy. We had to switch rooms halfway through the trip as some one who moved in next door was a heavy smoker and the smoke goes through the vents. Our room was engulfed in cigarette smoke every time they lit up; and was so bad that it actually woke us in the middle of the night.. If you are a non- smoker; there is very little escape in this resort. Without exaggeration; 80-90% of the guests were smokers and smoking is permitted everywhere. People were smoking in the restaurants; on the trolley; every in the pool. I found this to be the worst part of the trip. Most of the guests were spanish speaking and they clearly smoke a lot more than Canadians. Speaking of Spanish- you may want to brush up on some basic Soanish phrases as you will find it challenging to communicate without it.The food was not great. The French and Garden Grill restaurants were great. The seafood restaurant was HORRIBLE- I took one bite of my lobster and had to leave; it was putrid. The Japanese restaurant was also pretty bad but was great for meeting people. The buffet was alright but we got sick of it pretty quick. It was pretty much the same food day in and day out. There are no places to get a snack ie chips; crackers etc while there and I wished we had packed some. If you are hungry at 4 pm your can have pizza or chicken- both of which you will be sick of- pack some snacks- you'll thank me for it!Bring lots of $1 bills to tip- you'll be happy you did. The service is amazing if you tip- We got lovely decorations in our room; bubble baths drawn for us etc. and our fridge was full of the specific drinks we requested. Also if you tip the waitresses at the lobby bar (which is the best bar- they make the best drinks!) they will be like glue to you; always refilling your drink order.I don't think we would go back; but for the price; it was a great vacation...
478252,cantrvl,06/24/2007,Roaches; Little English; Great Food Here is the story; My girlfriend and I went to the resort on May 26 to June 2nd. There is very little english at the resort. We probably met or saw 20-25 people that spoke english. I'm not sure if everyone else had that same experience. We also only met 3 ppl who worked there who spoke english as well. There are mainly French and Spanish guests; then Italian; Portugese than English.Our rooms were decent but they had Roaches. I probably killed 12 in the week that we were there. The one night I killed 5 in 10 minutes. From the other people who we talked to we were the only ones with a roach problem.The Beach is Gorgeous!Nightly entertainment is pretty bad. Its dancing and the same thing every night except for one night where they had a game show which was good.The complex is Amazing.They do however allow vendors to come into the resort to sell their art; jewelry etc. which is extreemly annoying as they all set up around dinner hour and are between the hotel rooms and the dinnig area so you have no choice but to fight your way through them. They are extremely obtrusive to the point that we also took alternate routes to avoid them. The food is Great! There is always something to eat. If you cant find something you are a picky eater.The reason why I rated this hotel a 2 was for the roaches and lack of English. I you speak French or Spanish you will have no problem.If you are English you will probably have a better time at the Gran Ventana in Puerto Plata. Its in a great complex.
478252,LovingPuntaCana,06/24/2007,Gracias Bahia Principe Punta Cana My family and I (my husband; 2 daughters ages 8 and 16) spent the week of June 10th at the Bahia. We all had a wonderful and relaxing time.I owe alot of thanks to the Trip Advisor and its members for providing so many tips and insight into this resort. I did alot of research on the hotels prior to booking with the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. Now; it's my turn to return the favor.Our arrival at the Punta Cana airport was very quick and organized. I couldn't get over on how quick we were out of the airport. On the bus ride to the resort we were given a package including the hotel room keys; towel cards; and color coded bracelets for the week. (Each member of the family gets one towel card. You use the card to get your towel; at the end of the day you return the towels and get a card back for the next day). They also had us fill some paperwork prior to getting to the hotel (40 minutes approx.). The ride went quick with everything being completed on the bus. Once we got to the resort they had Caribbean music playing with dancers and cocktails waiting for us as a welcome. We literally got off the bus; our baggage was put on a trolley and take to our room within minutes. They really were organized on the whole process. We sat in our room wondering what had just happened!!!The resort is absolutely gorgeous with all its colors; flowers; and lush plants. This is a well kept resort and it clearly shows that the staff and management take great pride in the Bahia Principe.Yes; the resort is big but as you've probably already heard they have trolleys going past every few minutes going through the resort making drop off's/pick ups. This is a great time to enjoy the scenery at the resort.The beach was spectacular. It truly was paradise! All the palm trees along the beach the white sand and the turquoise water. The water was warm but refreshing when you got in. I took our own personal towels with lots of color and patterns that we could use them to mark our chairs. It's hard to find a chair when they are all blue! I have an 8 yr old that loves the water and I needed to ensure that we had a spot where we could see her at all times. With this being said; I would go down to the beach at 7am and mark our chairs under a hut. We would go for breakfast and then come back down to the beach for the day.We would stop at the pool on the way back to the room around 4:30. The pools were beautiful and well kept. I did not enjoy the pools nearly as much because I found it to be loud and more of a party place (this is OK if that's what you are there for. We were there for some quiet family time.) There is the main pool at the front of the resort by the beach. This is the most crowded pool but definitely huge. There are 2 other pools at the back of the resort before the lobby one on the Bavaro side and one of the Principe side. Not sure why there are 2 sides but it doesn鈥檛' matter because they are identical. The pool on the Bavaro side which is the side we stayed at was very nice and quiet. Unfortunately; this pool is only designated for Club Diamond members who we were not. I found this to be a let down. The Principe side is definitely were the party is at and more people. However; we still enjoyed ourselves.The food is enjoyable and there is a great assortment and a theme night every night at the buffet (beside lobby). By the end of the week I must admit I had had enough. I just found it to be too rich and heavy. This has no bearing on how well the food is prepared. It is obvious that they take great pride in everything they do and they definitely try to accommodate everyone. Keep in mind that we shouldn't go to another country with high expectations of the food. Everywhere is different and we definitely need to take this into consideration. We had 3 L A Carte鈥檚 which should be reserved once you get to the resort to ensure you get the times and days you would like. We had the Grill House; Cafe De Paris and Japanese. The Japanese was our favorite. Grill House was definitely good as well as was the French restaurant. When we were down at the beach there were snack huts that provided meals for lunch as well. We did not enjoy it there as much because it was so warm underneath the hut. We preferred to back to the buffet by the lobby. We would find ourselves relaxing at the lobby prior to dinner enjoying the great atmosphere and great drinks! The service is wonderful and we did not find that we had to tip anyone to get this service. The lobby is definitely a great spot to relax and enjoy the serenity.We found our room to be very nice with enough room for the four of us. There were 2 double beds. The bathroom was equally as roomy. The maid did a great job of cleaning our room every day with fresh linen. She would lay out flowers and towel decorations (swans; hearts; etc.) The bar fridge was also refilled everyday. We left her a tip and a gift everyday (body wash; gum; dish soap with towel; etc.) The girls and I went out and purchased a gift for everyday of the week. We realized that they do not have the same luxuries as we do back home. She was definitely grateful. We also left her our toiletries at the end of the week.Anytime we asked something from the staff they went out of their way to accommodate us. These people are truly kind and happy people.We experienced 2 excursions. My husband and 16 year old daughter went on the Caribbean Festival where you get on a boat and they take you snorkeling to see the coral reef and then they take you to swim with sharks (definitely safe). They had a great time. Alot of fun!! We also took a day excursion as a family on the Outback Safari. This too was a great experience as they take us on a jeep seating 10 -12 people and take us through the mountain to see how the people of the Dominican live; how they make their infamous coffee and cocoa; visit a school; travel through the small villages and stop by a secluded beach at the end of the day. They provided lunch (the food was very good) 1/2 way through the day. This was definitely worth the money ($80.00/person). Our 8 year old was free due to a special that week.The water is all purified in the hotel for cooking; washing vegetables; any water given to you in a glass. We were told that the tap water was OK to brush teeth with as long as you didn't drink gallons of it. I did this and I was fine. This was told by our Travel Rep. I highly suggest that you attend the briefing the next day after your arrival. Alot of great information is given. Also; do not purchase anything from anyone selling jewellery; etc. on the beach unless you are willing to barter. This also holds true in the Pueblo (shops at the back of the resort). We enjoyed shopping there. We were amazed at how many people actually settled for what they were asking. Little did they know they were getting ripped off big time. The Dominican is well known for their beautiful stone Larimar. If you want a beautiful keepsake piece of jewellery there is a well recommended jewellery store in the Pueblo called Harrison's. Apparently; most of the vendors on the beach claim the jewellery they are selling is Larimar but really only plastic. I can't say anything negative of this resort as it was truly beautiful. We had a great time and would go back in a heart beat! Good luck; and have a great time :)
478252,CND1,06/23/2007,Very good value My wife; 4 year old son and I stayed at GBP from June 9-16 and we loved it. It was our first time going to the Dominican Republic so the island and it's people were all new to us but we had a very good time and would not hesitate to go back.For any Canadians thinking of flying with Air Canada for their next vacation please note that when we were checking in at the Air Canada counter at Pearson Airport in Toronto; the gentleman told us that they would not be serving any meals (complimentary) on the flight and therefore if we wanted to eat on the plane we would have to buy food at the airport and take it on the plane. The resort is huge and has over 1500 rooms total however it actually has 2 sides; the Bavaro and the Punta Cana (if you were to draw a line down the centre of the property; along its length; the 2 halves are practically mirror images of each other). We were in room 31305 (Villa 31; with a room on the 3rd floor) and were in the middle of the resort . We found this to be a good location for our room because we were in between the front lobby of the hotel and the beach. One of the pools was right next to our villa which was very convenient. The 7 a la carte restaurants were in differenct sections of the resort which was nice because no matter where you're room was there was at least one restaurant close to you.The rooms were clean and fairly large. The bathrooms were all marble and luxurious and the balcony was nice. The drinks in our in-room-fridge were replenished daily.We only used one of the pools on the resort but it was nice in that it had a kids section; it was big and it had a swim-up bar. There were a few spots where it was missing some tiles though.The beach was amazing. It was a huge beach being both deep (over 100 feet) and long. It was very clean; considering it's size.There was very little seaweed in the water and the water was fairly calm; considering the beach was fronting onto the Atlantic Ocean; and so it was ideal for swimmers. If you like taking long walks or jogging on the beach you will love this beach because it is connected to all the beaches of the neighbouring resorts which means that it is one very long (over 5km; maybe even 10km) stretch of beach. Every time we went to the beach (most days between 1-3pm) there were literally dozens of beach chairs available so that was never a problem for us.The food was generally good. At the buffets there was always a good selection of everything. If you wanted to play it safe there was always rice; pasta; potatoes; beef; and chicken. And if you wanted to be more adventurous there was many types of fish and seafood to choose from. There were lineups at times at the ddifferent stations but every buffet has lineups sometimes no matter where you are in the world.We went to 4 a la carte restaurants:Japanese: This was the best of the four. The decor was beautiful; the staff were very personable and professional; and the dinner was fabulous.The Gourmet: This was a close second. The decor; the ambience; the service; and the meal (we had the filet mignon and it was delicious) were great.The Seafood: We liked this 3rd best but it was not nearly as good as the Japanese or the Gourmet. The service wasn't as good and the first course was a buffet. The overall meal was okay. I had the Mahi Mahi which was probably one of the better entrees on the menu.The Steakhouse: This we liked the least although it was very close to the Seafood restaurant in terms of our satifaction level.The service could have been better and again the first course was a buffet. I ordered a tenderloin steak well done and when it was served to me it looked well done but when I started to eat it I noticed it was only medium in the middle.We wanted to book one of our four a la carte meals at the Mexican restaurant but it was closed for renovations so we were disappointed about that.The resort staff were exactly the way previous reviewers have described. They are so happy; friendly; personable and hospitable. If you ask them to do something they will always gladly do it with a smile. The grounds are very nicely landscaped and are also very well maintained ALL THE TIME. All day; everyday; we would see different staff working on the grounds tending to the upkeep of the landscaping.We found ourselves using the trolleys to go everywhere on the resort and most times there was seating available but there were times when the trolleys were full and we had to wait for the next one. To recap:Likes:1) Friendly staff2) Big; clean rooms.3) Big; clean pools.4) Large beach; lots of beach chairs.5) Beautiful grounds.6) Wide selection of food.Dislikes:1) Not enough trolleys (although the trolleys would arrive at each trolley stop every 2 minutes or so there were times (especially the last 2 days when the trolley was full and we had to wait for the next one. On the last 2 days we often found that the first 2 or even 3 trolleys that came were full and so then we sometimes spent almost 10 minutes waiting for a trolley. And you don't always have the energy to walk because of the heat).2) In 2 of the a la carte restaurants the 1st course was a buffet which defeats the whole purpose of being served at your table.Overall all 3 of us really enjoyed our vacation at GBP. It is truly a 5 star hotel and it is good value for the money. We would recommend this resort to anyone.
478252,swoonfat,06/22/2007,warning - is very addictive - perfect; heaven; a week of paradise! wed
478252,sammywalsll,06/21/2007,Great hotel ; lovely resort ; Walsall ; Westmidlands ; England ; Went in dec 2006 for 2 weeks this is the secord time i ve been and had the best christmas and new year for a long time ; The resort ; pools ; and rooms are spotless . Food very good in all restaurants and service was ace . Staff are very friendly and giving them a couple of dollers really makes a differnt specialy the maids they will keep that mini bar in room full every day . Get to no the staff around the resort and pool bars they love to have the crack with you and keep you at pool bar all day . Beach is breathtaking and the weather we had was great . Plenty of bars to relax at in the eveing and shows on ; and also the disco which is nt bad for a resort night club ; All in all this is a perect all inclusive resort at the right price . If your thinking of going to dominican this is the one to stop at . Had a great holiday and would go a 3rd time .
478252,ping007,06/20/2007,Mother of all Reviews Secluded beach on excursion
478252,Chocon,06/19/2007,Great resort...but food not so great!!! We stayed at this resort on the Puna Cana side from 6/9-6/16 in the Diamond Club. There were 14 people in our group...(2 yrs-60 yrs)....everyone in my family thought the resort was beautiful; the lobby was grand compare to other resort we saw when dropping people of off from the airport....even the Paradisus lobby was by far no comparison to this one eventhough it cost more..We did consider staying there prior to finding out about the Gran Bahia Principe.....so glad I didn't booked there.Airport: The process was quick and efficient; just pay $10 for a tourist card; after getting our bags we were whisk off and transfer immediately to our resort; it took about 40 mins. since we had to made 3 prior stop to drop off others.The return was a different story; it was chaos on the weekend ; the line was super long and hot!!!! and it took forever to check-inHotel Rooms: Beautiful ground....it was breathtaking.....You won't be disappointed. The room was very spacious and nicely layout. The king bed is truly a king compare with other resort I've stayed in the past. If you travel with young kids one can sleep on the sofa bed...the maid will come and put sheet and pillow down for them. They have crib for really little one; I requested for my 2yrs old. It is a Graco Portable Crib; which works out great since my little one naps in it at home so it was like sleeping at home for her. The maid did a great job cleaning our room early everyday; we left her $2-3 tip each day; we got plenty of everything (water; shampoo; towels; pillows) Beach/Pools: The beach is gorgeous.....clean and not strong wave so it was perfect to swim in..we did not have any problem reserving loungers at the beach for our big group. I saw a lot of empty palapas...if you have 2 or 4 in your group....you should not have any problems finding shade at any time during the day. Food/Drinks:I will start out with the drinks....the fruit cocktails were sooo sweet it was like drinking syrup.....like the other reviews only the lobby bar makes decent cocktails....the pool/beach bar was a hit or miss depending on what you ordered and the bartender. The restaurants....don't even bother ordering a drink in there...it was the worst. Do try the frozen bahia principe; it is pretty good but ask for it frozen otherwise they will serve it on the rocks. A word on bartenders some were really nice especially the beach and pool ones but the ones in the theater and lobby do work for tips; if they see a buck in someone hand they will run over to serve them first....everyone in our group do tip when we order drinks but we give it after if the service is good...you should not have to buy service. Same for restaurants; our group would leave $20 - 25 in tip for the waiter if the service is great; the look on their face when receiving the $$ is priceless. We got 4 ala carte so we booked 2 french; 1 seafood 1 japanese; here is my take on the restaurants:French: Food was not good; portion was quite small and the service was extremely slow. It took 2.5 hrs for us to eat in there; I had the surf and turf (lobster steak); the steak was overcooked so it was really tough the lobster was mushy because it was dead for sometime prior to cooking....My whole family grew up on the coast eating seafood all our lives so we knew right off that it wasn't edible. It doesn't matter what part of the world the lobster is from; if it's mushy...don't eat it or you can get really sick...shellfish should not taste like that...trust me. We tried to book other restaurant after our first dinner here but was not able to so we were stuck eating here twice one over puna cana and one over the bavaro side. The service wasn't any better; everyone in my family did ordered something different hoping that it would be better but it still wasn't good. Seafood: If you are a seafood lover; do book this restaurant. It has an appetizer bar with lots of good selection such as (calamari; fish ceviche; seasoned shrimps; squids). We all had the lobster special...it was really good. The lobsters tasted like it should...do ask for the garlic butter to dip with....you will leave very full and satisfied. The service here was also good.Japanese: It was okay if you're looking for a different dining experience; we had a big group so they cooked everything for us (beef; chicken; shrimps) the shrimps were really small and previously frozen. The service was super fast....we were at the hibachi table less than an hr and was whisk away to another table to have dessert. Buffet: Our group had to eat dinner buffet 3 consecutive nights; it does get repetitive and the food was not good. I've stayed at other AI in Mexico and the food was much much better even at the buffet. Excursions: Our family did the CARIBBEAN FESTIVAL which was a lot of fun; it was a 4-5 hrs trip on a catamaran which we snorkel and party. The do have dominican dancers to entertain you during the boat ride. It cost $78/adult and half price for kids under 12. My 6yrs old loved it. They do require life jacket to be worn during snorkeling or else you have to sign a waiver if you don't want to wear one. My husband; 6yrs old and 8 other family members did the ATV CRAZY WHEELS (4 wheeler). They all had a blast...they got to drive the vehicle for almost 3 hrs..going through town; river; beach; coco plantation; swiming in a cave. They video tape the whole excursion with everyone in it and sell it afterward for $35; my husband bought it since there were 10 of them in the group. If you go in a big group it is worth buying. It is $90 for single rider and double rider are $60; they do have helmets for everyone ( they don't allow you to ride without a helmet) and my husband said all the vehicle was in great condition. I don't know where the other reviewer booked their ATV excursion that allow them to ride without a helmet and also for only $40. Maybe you get what you pay for. Do book your excursions in the Tour Operators Office for a more organized and safer excursions; the scuba caribe sales people will go around to get you to book with them; they had a 2hrs snorkeling tour for only $28; they take you out on a small boat; it didn't seem like a safe and quality kind of snorkeling trip so we all opted for the $78 snorkeling trip; glad we did it was worth it.Overall; the resort and beach is beautiful but the food was a little disappointing to us. My husband and I have traveled the world and we are by far not picky eater because we love trying new food but here we have to rate the food as below average. If they could improve on the food; this resort would be top notch. Keep in mind when booking here; if you come for the beautiful scenery; resort beach you will not be disappointed but if you come expecting culinary cuisine...then you will certainly be.Be sure to bring bug spray there is mosquitos especially in the evening time; if you bring kids be sure to put it on them before heading out for the evening. I know other members have helped answered all my questions prior to my trip; they gave me tips and valuable info. that I could not have gotten anywhere else.If you are heading to Punta Cana and has any questions. You can email me at vjdtran@sbcglobal.net just put Gran Bahia Principe Questions on the subject line so that I'll know it's not junk mails.
478252,welshmanWales,06/18/2007,The True;The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth! We stayed at this resort from 21 may-june 6th 2007 with my wife and 2 children;aged 10 6We flew from gatwick with my travel and upgraded our seats to 'premiergold' i must say that it was worth the extra money the staff were wonderful;plenty of food and the seats were great;would highly recommend it to get your holiday off to a great start.Got to the airport;wow so hot and what an expericence thatched roofs airport;so relaxing with the caribbean music playing and they take your photo; you can pick them up on your departure.At this stage;just remember to have $10 per person ready to pay at the airport;for your arrival and $20 per person on your departure(they say this is a poor country;well someone is getting rich).Got to the resort in approx 1hr;first impressions were beautiful and how clean the resort is.Checked in quickly and were taken to the room we were staying for the next 14 days.The room was next to the diamond pool;as requested via email a few weeks before holiday.They say when you contact them that they cannot guarantee anything;but our request was excepted by the diamond pool where it is quiet and near where the action is in the nights at the concert hall.The golden package is mainly available to the americans and the travel agents around america;or you can book it on line;could not upgrade via british travel agents;this includes a room closer to the beach; extra vists to the resturants and 24hr room service.The large pool at the top of the resort was busy in the afternoons;mainly with canadians;americans and spainish.We stayed at the pool a couple of times but liked the diamond pool;which is situated in the middle of the resort (quieter).The afternoon buffet you can get up by the large pool/beach or you can travel to the main buffet;which is a 10/15 minute walk or a short tram ride.The trams run 24/7 and were great.The beach was beautiful and not that busy;we had no issues about getting seats at 8-9.00am;just dont expect good seats at 11/12pm onwards.The resturants were good;our favourite was the italian and japanese;but to be honest they were all good and they gave great service.We only went on one excursion saona island;which was $88 for adults and $44 for children; the island was beautiful but long boat ride to get there approx 2.5 hrs and you only have approx 1.5/2hrs on the island then you go back quicker in a speed boat;stopping off to see some starfish which was nice.My only issue with this trip is why can't you go on a speed boat there and back;then you can have more time at the island?From a british point of view compared to spain and the rest of europe this was better value for money holiday;the dollar goes further compared to the euro and the cost of the holiday for me with 2 children and a wife was just around the same price as half board going to spain.I think the only thing that puts of british people not going to places like this is the flight times;which i felt went quickly .I did have a bad stomach for a few days but that is the price you pay with all that good food and drinks.Been a parent of 2 girls aged 10 and 6 was concerned regarding depth of pools; but had no issues my kids swimming up to the pool bar and getting drinks themselves;which they did often.Finally the cappuccino in the italian resturant and in the main lobby were amazing;have one you will enjoy them.I am going back there in 3 years time;and that really says it all.I hope this review was helpful and that if you go there you will have a good holiday like we did.
478252,IRD1,06/18/2007,Would not recommend We just visited the hotel in June for a wedding. Our experience with most of the visit was not at all pleasant. Starting with our arrival. As has been mentioned in the other reviews; this resort is huge. When we got to the hotel; we found that our room (# 40112) was the farthest away on the back part of the resort; far from the beach and having a child with us; we wanted a room close to the pool and beach. The number 40 block of rooms are approx. 200 yards from the lobby; which you have to walk; and then the trolley is another 75-100 yards from the lobby. We asked to be upgraded near the beach and had to pay more but they kept telling us because we upgraded we now had certain restrictions and would not be allowed to go to one of the pools and one of the restaurants. I still don鈥檛 understand that one鈥? I 鈥淯PGRADED鈥?and paid more money so why are there now more restrictions!!! Well after spending the better part of the first day trying to get a decent arrangement; we finally were upgraded. The rooms were fine but we found a cockroach crawling in my husband鈥檚 bathroom bag hanging on the bathroom hook.Location seemed ok. The beach was great---no seaweed and clear. The sand was white and soft and didn鈥檛 get too hot.Cleanliness: the maids cleaned and made our beds twice a day but my perfume; a $70 bottle went missing. The last day; the maid did not show up to clean our rooms.Food: I have never in my entire life eaten such horrible food. The buffet was terrible! The food in general was overcooked. The shrimp was so overcooked that they actually tasted like pork rinds and the filet mignon was like eating cardboard. And while eating at the Garden Grill; a mouse crawled by us. It鈥檚 unbelievable. The drinks were horrible also; I asked for a mojito and the leaves were brown and old. The strawberry ice cream tasted like chewing gum. Most of the desserts were not good. This is one resort that I will never go back to and would not recommend.
478252,moadby,06/18/2007,Perfect all-inclusive long weekend! A little crowded; but the pool aerobics while drinking at the swim up bar are a treat.
478252,Mattpace,06/17/2007,Very Clean; Very Hot; Very Disappointing Food Overall all; this place is a great value. That is if you place no value on food....Rooms-Clean and comfortable but we did have a problem with ants in our bathroom.Hotel Grounds-The Bahia is well maintained and very clean. There are constantly people cleaning and doing so more than almost anything else. Its clearly the managements main focus.Beach- Blue; Blue water. No peace and quiet. If you need a quiet place dont even go to this resort beucase there is none. Constant music makes for a great party atmosphere though. You are better off laying out at the beach than at the pool. At least there is a cool body of water to hide in and a cool breeze that makes the heat bearable unlike the pool which...Pool- Its a bathtub. Not refreshing but it does have a pool bar. Get up early becuase there is a chair problem at the beach and pool under the huts so mark your territory early.Drinks-They were OK as long as you know not to drink your hotel room water; dont have too many drinks containing coconut and do ask for a double if you want to get anywhere. The beer is OK if you like to drink you glass of beer all at once to avoid allowing it to boil in the sun within moments of having it served to you.Service-They do have wonderful service and the staff is very nice. But we were disappointed to find out that there wasn't any drink waitresses around the pool but the pool bar is pretty good.Restaurants/Food- In short; the food is not very good. The snack bar serves everything hot; even when it shouldn't be... including cheese and mayonaise. Don't even expect ice or any thing cold whatsoever. (I think it sublimates once exposed to the ambient air.) For breakfast the omlettes are safe becuase they are prepared in front of you; for lunch you are on your own. My suggestion is the fruit because my feeling was if they can't cook it its probably safe. Then again; they did fry pineapples so your rolling the dice at the buffet all week long. And they may not tell you this at your travel agent so EXPECT TO BE ALLOWED ONLY 3 RESERVATIONS. Ther rest of they week you are resigned to the buffet. But they restaurants aren't that great either. Only the French had consistently good food. Get in more than once by calling guest services and asking if they have any cancellations. Also; BRING LONG PANTS. This was another important point my agent left out which caused some big problems. They will not let you go to dinner without them. Overall- Its a very nice place giving you a lot of ambiance for your money but leaves a lot to be desired with respect to the food.
478252,munstermama,06/15/2007,Excellent! beach
478252,Nantas,06/14/2007,Had a Wonderful Two weeks! Trimming Palm leaves
478252,ava9802,06/14/2007,Relaxing Trip - My Take I visited the Dominican on June 5-11 with my boyfriend. Overall the place is very well kept and the service it great. Here are my opinions on the various points.Room- Awesome. Spacious -cleaned and stocked daily. Was on the first floor and really have no bug complaints.Hotel Grounds- Beautiful. As everyone says extremely well kept and groomed. Resort is big but not as enormous as the boards make it out to be. We were all the way in the premiere section (furthest from the beach). All in all it was probably about 2.5 city blocks to the beach- a nice walk. But; yes the trams run very frequently for those who wish to not walk on vacation.Beach- Beautiful. Relaxing. There is some seaweed but really not bothersome. Had a few days of waves and a few calm days and both were great. Really enjoyed watching all the activities on the beach that the resort does like the constant volleyball action or beach aerobics.. still cant get that song out of my head... Pools- Nice. Very warm water. Didnt spend really any time here as we go the Caribbean for the beach!Chair Problem- Was actually not at all a problem. We slept in every day till 10:00am and got to the beach by 1030-11 and never had a problem. There were plenty of chairs and shade as the beach has a ton of gorgeous palm trees that provide ample shade. The pools didnt look bad either. I actually did see signs posted about not saving chairs. Know this has been a problem for others but really at this time it was a breeze. Drinks- They were alright. Had a few drinks that weren't terrible but by the end I was sick of them. Think this is an area they could do better. Service- Very accommodating. All the help seemed to go out of the way to help you. Most spoke English or understood enough to know what you were saying. Aside for one or two servers in the Bavaro lobby bar; found all the employees very nice.Food- I am not a picky eater and generally like to try new things and eat almost all foods. I have to say though this was the big area of lacking. It wasn't so much of a taste issue but more of a freshness issue. The food just was not fresh. It was very evident as both my traveling partner and I got pretty sick. for a couple of the days. We had only been drinking/ using bottled water so it was not from that. Also; felt the alla carte restaurants were somewhat of a rip off in that it was really only served your entree that your ordered. The appetizers were still in a buffet style.Overall- the resort is beautiful and its a good value for a nice trip. I would just be cautious with what you eat and drink.
478252,perryman32,06/14/2007,All we can say is FABULOUS!!!!! WOW!!!! WONDERFUL!!!! The absolule BEST! From Atlanta in the USAWe vacationed here 6/1-6/8/2007.Wow; there are no words to describe how wonderful and amazing this resort is. We did MUCH research and believe me I read pretty much ALL of the reviews and Im going to do my best to really break it down for you.Resort: It is a large resort BUT it was not intimidating for us at all. We were able to be as romantic as we wanted to be and/or as social as we wanted to be with no problems at all. Our room wasn't far from the main lobby and to walk to the beach was a nice and beautiful walk for us or you can take the always available trolly if you want.It is true that the grounds are immaculate - and that is probably an understatement. This resort is absolutely amazing. Your pictures wont do it justice.Rooms: We stayed in a Bavaro room on the Principe side and out room as spectacular. We thought about upgrading to the Royal Golden but found that it was not worth it. We followed our instructions from many other reviews and took many $1's with us and left tips and small gifts we picked up before we arrived for our housekeeper and she took care of us in a major way. Whenever we returned to our room it was spotless with plenty of fresh flowers and towels. We even had gifts left for us.Service: The people are the perfect example of what customer service should be.. I wish that our folks from the States could take a class from them. Servicing you is TRULY their pleasure and it shows in everything they do. There was NEVER a thing we asked for that we did not receive and very very timely.Example: we found the bed in our room to be hard and pretty uncomfortable. When we were approached by a guest svcs rep in the lobby we shared that with her. Later that same evening; a housekeeper came to our room to add more cushion to our mattress and to give us more pillows. Is that service or what???Excursions: The only one we took was the ATV (4wheeler) and WE LOVED IT. HIGHLY recommend this. (Take some old sneakers and clothes you dont care about getting dirty) We had a chance to tour the city and the downside of that was the poverity. But it helped to put things in perspective.Beach: No words to describe - Magnificient; amazing; breath-taking.. etc etc etcPools: Bathtub water warm... heavenlyFood: Japanese; Italian and Steakhouse were awesome! And we even enjoyed the Buffet. Always found plenty to eat. The only spot that I didnt care for too much was the snack bar at the beach. But hey; it is what it is. It works when your hungry.Children: It is true that there were many little ones there. And this was a concern of mine because even though we are parents; we wanted a relaxing vacation. So this is my tip to any who are taking your children. Be mindful that this is not a daycare nor disneyland and that everybody is on vacation. Keep hold of your children and please do not allow them to cry uncontrollably in the restaurants or to run OR skate (those healy shoes with skating wheels on the bottom) all over the place it is very disturbing to others. Use the mini club - they have many activities for children.Black women: Please take plenty of hair oil... I know we dont use a lot of oil cuz it usually weighs our hair down but trust me...the sun was murder on my hair.. dried it out instantly and if you have color or highlights like i do this is not a good thing. But I enjoyed the spa and got a very nice wash and set along with a spectacular massage; manicure and pedicure:-)Tips: we didnt get sick (YEAH!!!!) But you know to stay away from the faucet water. All other water on the resort is safe to drink. Take bug spray - DEFINATELY need it. And it is true that I got more bites form inside my room than out. I think from when the rooms are cleaned the doors are left open.FABULOUS RESORT AND VACATION. Cant wait to go back!
478252,hibiscusdreams,06/13/2007,Liked it; but too big!!! Large shower
478252,PortuguesTraveler,06/12/2007,Great Time at The Dom Republic Pool Area
478252,Leewardlatitude,06/11/2007,Fabulous time Coconut palm just north of the beach
478252,cruella0621,06/11/2007,absolutely fantastic!! My husband and i just completed our 2nd visit to this resort in 2 years; excellent vacation!! We were there from May 15 to May 25; had a terrific time! The shows were 100% better than last year; the food is always great and the service is impeccable as always!! A few dollars a day and some trinkets for the maid and we had a 12 pack in our fridge every day! The weather was great and the drinks were good; tequila sunrises; titanics; and sex on the beach. Our maid did an excellent job keeping our room spotless and our fridge stocked. We plan on going back next May; can't wait; see you there!
478252,Torontovacationer,06/11/2007,Fantastic; Toronto; Canada My husband and I just came back from Bahia Principe. We stayed there from June; 2 to June;9. The resort was very big. They divided into 3 section. Bahia Principe Bavaro; Bahia Principe Punta Cana and Club Premier. We were on the Punta Cana side. The resort was well maintain. Our room was clean and nice. Our flight with Air Canada was good. The check -in was quick. Our tour rep; Kim was quite helpfulRestaurants: We went to the French restaurant on both sides (Bavaro and PUnta Cana) . The menu looks exactly the same. I had lobster and my husband had lamb chop. The only thing is DR lobster tasted a little bit different than our lobster but it was alright. The lamb chop was good as well. We also went to the Seafoods restaurtant. We had lobster and it was good as well. You are only allow to book 3 restaurants per stay even though there are 7 restaurants in the resortBeach: White sand and blue water; very clean; some seaweeds floating but it didn't bother us.We did the outback Safari trip. We visited a typical country side DR family. Then went to the rum shack and cigar maker. At the end; we went to Macao beach. This beach is beautiful; white sand and blue water; no seaweeds. We did boogies board there.SHOPPING: We found that the gift shop in the resort has a reasonable price. There are also about 10 vendors on the resort. With these guys; you have to bargain. The vendor told me that $145 for a Dominican Kiss statue. He ended up sold it to me for $35.At the Duty free shop in the airport: too expensive; the price is almost double the price in the resort. So if you want to buy something; just get them at the resort.The washroom at the airport was terrible; so dirty; and disgusting. I had to hold myself until we got into the airplane.Overall; I would definitely recommend this resort to any one who wants to go to the Carribean for vacation.
478252,princessalley,06/11/2007,Awesome Time! - I went to the Bahia Principe the week of May26-June2. We went in a group of 43 for my friends wedding. The bride arranged the package; and I found out later that we were in the Diamond Club. - We recieved excellent service and even did our entire check-in on the bus between the airport and the hotel (room keys; bracelets - everything). As soon as we got off the bus; trams took us to our rooms; and we were at the lobby bar within 15 minutes! - Our villa had an amazing housekeeper who we made sure to tip daily; and she kept our towels and mini fridge over stocked daily. The day of the wedding - we had balloons placed all around our rooms for decoration. As well as the daily flower/towel art on our bed.- The grounds and villas are amazing. Lush trees and flowers everywhere. There was nothing lacking in our actual room either. Our bathrooms were big and spacious; large closets with plenty of hangers and there were no bugs. Also; small touches like umbrellas were a big help! We chose to not purchase the safe for $30 american...we used personal suitcase locks and had no issues whatsoever. - The food was pretty good for an all inclusive. We had French (very classy and enjoyable); Japanese (fun time; food was average) and the Steak House Grill was where the wedding reception was held (food was fantastic! steak; chicken; salad). The regular buffet was also great on most nights; and the pool side buffet was good for snacks between swims (great chicken; pizza; french fries and fruit).- Being in a large group of 43 - our group became the entertainment at the pool...we were constantly at the beach pool bar; where we had pretty good drinks; and they even tolerated our more rowdy days when we were funnelling beers on the pools edge. The disco was also pretty good for a resort; we had a great time with the bartenders there; and once they realised that we wanted more mainstream music; we had a great time.- the beach is absolutely stunning; never a need to reserve seats; and they keep it nice and clean. The water is more refreshing then the beach pool as well. - we didn't really use any activities on the resort - but our group did do an ATV adventure tour. Now our group booked through the resort for $40 each; however; I'm not 100% sure about the safety of some of these tours. when we arrived; they didn't have enough helmets so some of the guys went without. During the tour; the brides aunt and uncles ATV blew a tire and went out of control - rolling on top of them. Thankfully they had helmets and only had minor injuries; but they were quite shaken up. I would just be cautious if trying any tours off the resort - but all in all everyone had an awesome day visiting another beach and a cave to go swimming.- OVER ALL I would absolutely recommend the Bahia Principe. The staff is warm and welcoming; they tolerated and catered to our every need; the grounds were spectacular; and the food was better than expected.
478252,Kali2222,06/11/2007,Very nice resort....no complaints here! Just came back from Bahia on June 9th and all I can say is....this resort is huge....Do not get me wrong we (wife and 3.5yr. son) knew when we booked; but the size really surprised us. No problem thou as there are trams every 1-2 minutes.On with the review:Flight -- we flew with Sunwing and except a 1.5 hr delay; due to one of the flight attendance sickness everything was just great.Check in -- done on the bus on the way to the resort; once in about 1 hr wait for the room....no problemo....Food -- Buffet....pretty good; always something to choose...A la carte:French -- I liked it; wife and our son did not....Japanese -- very good...Italian -- very good....Grounds -- absolutely georgeous; amazing...i could go on and on....Room -- Very clean; big....hmm a room... :)Beach -- worth travelling for....no words to describe it; must be seen....Stuff -- very friendly....no English? No problemo....remember you are in Dominican....you make the effort; we did and it was very much appreciated.Overall -- Very nice resort; great holiday; only complaint.....too short....Enjoy!!
478252,beachtripjune07,06/10/2007,Friendly and beautiful resort My husband and I just got back from a nice week at Bahia Principe. The hotel is beautiful and very clean. Maids are great and leave fresh flowers in your room daily. The employees all work very hard and are very friendly. The beach and pools are great. I did get up at 8am to get a good palapa but there are plenty available if you are willing to sit further back on the beach. There are several huge; great pools to choose from. We would recommend:Book your restaurant reservations the day you arrive - we enjoyed the italian and the japanese - the garden grill and gourmet food was average but the service in the restaurants is wonderful. The buffet food is average compared to other all inclusive Carribean resorts. We were a bit sick of it by the middle of the week. The drinks are great. Tips get you stronger drinks.Book club golden to be close to the beach.Take plenty of cash - they do have an atm for pesos - many of the excursions are cash only - we enjoyed the sunset cruiseConfirm your transportation from the airport if you booked directly though the hotel website. I did confirm and no one picked us up. We spent $40 for a taxi. We were provided with free transportation when we departed. Most people seemed to have booked through a travel agent. Overall; great trip for the money
478252,Shardy,06/09/2007,Very nice hotel and beach - average food Beach
478252,NYCTravelingFoodie,06/07/2007,Another great stay at Gran Bahia I was here last year at the end of April and had a good stay. Having just returned from my second visit; I must say it was even better. My boyfriend and I were there for five nights. The weather was perfect pretty much the entire time (although a couple of nights were a bit humid) - everyday was sunny with a nice; comfortable breeze.What was better than last year:We learned while checking in (Club Golden both times) is that if you are a return guest; they give you VIP status. This means more attentive service. They called each night to make sure everything was fine.What wasn't as good as last year:The water was still beautiful but it seemed a bit more turbulent which means less clarity near the beach due to the fine sand that gets kicked up. Also; there was some sort of algae. It didn't get in the way; only a nuisance; and the hotel cleaned the beach each night; so the buildup on the sand was minor.What was the same as last year:Good food for the money. I personally enjoy the buffet and El Charro; the Mexican restaurant. Key thing is setting your expectations for what you pay for. I'm normally a foodie and have no problem spending $150 per person on dinner. For $1290 for two people for five nights all inclusive; this is no Four Seasons. But it is excellent value for the money.Friendly service. Everyone here works so hard to keep the grounds clean and guests happy. Of course; it helps if you can speak Spanish; but as with any foreign travel; if you respect them and recognize that you are visiting their country; they will return the friendliness.Overpriced lobby shop. Pack more sunscreen than you'll ever think you'll need unless you're ready to spend $15 a bottle for a cheap brand.I'd definitely recommend staying at Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana.
478252,Meghan7,06/07/2007,Beautiful; very clean; lovely beach; huge resort The resort was absolutely beautiful and amazingly kept and clean. The rooms were huge and clean with great views from the balconies. The beach was absolutely stunning and the pools were awesome. The food was also great; every night at dinner there was a new theme. All in all we had an absolutely awesome time; I don't think I have anything bad to say about the place; except maybe the fact that most of the hotel staff did not speak any english; but there are always ways around that. I would recommend the Bahia to anyone looking to have a great and relaxing vacation!!
478252,giababy,06/05/2007,If you are going with your baby read this So after much homework and reading all of your reviews we choose to stay at the Bahia Principe. Did we love it? no not really; but it also wasn't all that bad either. Check in was great! we were diamond so we did not have to wait at the front desk to check in which was a bonus. We travelled with our 14 month old daughter and requested a crib. I e-mailed the resort 3 weeks before our holiday to put in my request and the best they did was a pack n play. This is a 5* resort;so that was annoying. After 3 days and about 10 different people we finally got a crib!!!! The rooms are nice; the property is gorgeous without a doubt. The food; well for a 5* again sorry but you can do better than that. I have stayed at 4* hotels that offered a better variety. If you are staying for a week then you'll be fine anything more thenthat....good luck to you. My daughter did not eat anything. She did not like the food whatsoever. I would strongly advise bringing enough food for at least1 meal a day if travelling with a baby. Most of the staff are really friendly and great; others are not. Somehit on me right in front of my husband which was just crazy. We ate at the japanese resaurant which was great. Cafe de Paris; also great and the mexican which was our favorite. The restaurants are actually good; it is the buffet that is just okay. I have travelled the world so my expectations were high; I wouldnever suggest that this is not a great place to go to it just isn't a 5* hotel. Because we travelled with a baby we did not get a chance to see the shows. Make sure you re-apply your sunscreen often especially for your children; and bring bug spray. Have fun!!!!! oh and the drink are ONLY good at the lobby bar. Cheers
478252,sunshineNewYork,06/05/2007,Wonderful; No Complaints My husband and I stayed at the Gran Bahia Punta Cana - Golden Club May 10 thru 15. i feel bad this is so old however; i feel after everyone's input that i used i owe a review and better late than never.after reading; we upgraded to the golden club b/c of everyone saying the size; noise and our purpose (to lay at the beach all day - no pool) so we wanted to be close to the beach. we were in villa 4 room4112; upon entering slight (and i am a smell person) damp smell but nothing that lingered once we opened the sliding - i took a candle toburn - having experience with caribbean smelling damp rooms this was by far no problem. we were very close to the beach none of the roomsreally have an ocean view here ours could be considered one thru the trees you could really see it and that would be the best any of them have - that is one of their downfalls although not in the room much to see the ocean out the sliding door is always nice.reception was nice; cold towel and then taken to golden reservation highly air conditioned- they never gave us our t-shirts we got when we left but nothing to write home about everyone does where theirs though. ROOMS - very clean; one day i came upon the workers changing our curtains....i found this interesting and reassuring. towel oragami upon entering and some fresh flowers a day or two later. we paid for the safe b/c of the reviews and its a nice safety net why ruin a vacation by asking for trouble. we don't bring a lot of valuables but to keep some cash; passports it was worth it.BEACH - having been to this beach (but other hotel) we are always pleased with its beauty - been many places and DR is one of our favorite. we walked for miles every dayFOOD - Like everyone said we stuck to the one's always mentioned - japanese; italian; and french. japanese by far the best tried the fried ice cream b/c of review very interesting but i asked for 2 desserts in case and they complied. french was so so had heard portions small - just not too impressive but not anything bad not filling; italian was good had the eggplant not like america but it was really very good. we've stayed at quite a few all inclusives andthis food for ala carte was very good - have had much worse its nice to progress to better :) buffet was your typical desserts good - beento where they all taste the same but these are distinctive. breakfastwas closer at the seafood restaurant as i read and close to our room;same food; less people glad i read that tipHUTS on the beach - we are beach/sun people. if you want a hut so you can people watch and be close to the beach and not all shade there are a few select ones we went out early 6:30 for our favorite and we really on stored our belongings under it and left it there forthe walk.i don't drink anymore but my husband saw some russian guys getting straight vodka - as with any good drinker if you want to get your buzz on - there is a way :)gym is small and WAY at end of resort; hand weights; 2 benches if you really need work out you can - we relied on walkingpedicure is not worth it they don't even have the proper chair - anyway; overall we can't complain we go to get a tan; sit on the beach; relax; and our room didn't smell; food was good; beach we knew would be wonderful so what can i say for next year we may go smaller checked out other's huts and beaches on our walks but i will certainly read reviews as they helped us so muchdidn't do any of the entertainment; sun all day and dinner around 7:30 was enough for us;any questions; please ask
478252,Joadster,06/04/2007,Best family vacation ever We stayed at the Bahia from May 10-17th. We have also stayed at the Bahia in Riviera Maya. By far this was better. We booked through Apple Vacations. Not one problem going or coming home. We flew USA3000. Great flight. It was my husband and I; our 2 sons and their wives. What a blast. We made so many happy memories. The resort was beautiful and everyone was so friendly. The beach was the best. Beautiful sand; plenty of chairs; always activities going on and great people watching. We all found food we liked. Japanese restaurant was the best for us. The pools were great as well; all having swim up bars. The drinks were good. We liked dirty monkees; pina colada's; and miami vice's. Everyone talks about how big the resort is; but the trams are always on time; and we never waited to go anywhere. My best time was when we all got together at night at the lobby bar (best drinks at the resort). We laughed about what all went on during the day. Great times. We hired a professional photographer to take our family picture. What a great experience. He spent an hour with us one evening and took 118 photos. Needless to say we got great pictures. We all would highly recommend this resort. A vacation is what you make of it; and we made this one the best ever.
478252,CaribbeanTime,06/04/2007,Awesome Resort My husband I were there the entire last week of May; 2007. I visited tripadvisor every week to read the reviews and decided to write one once we had returned as I found them very helpful. Here is info I think you will find very helpful. Service: Suburb! We found the entire staff will bend over backwards to insure you are completely satisfied with everything concerning your visit. I must say --- a big smile goes along way. They love to see people with a smile and people who appear to be happy and want to keep you that way. They will make you aware they do see it and they do appreciate it. We arrived at the hotel at 4pm and waited in the lounge about 20 minutes to be taken to our room. This was expected based on prior reviews. Our room in villa 10 was excellent. Villa 10 is near the beach which is where we spent most of our time. Everything was just has it should be. The room was extremly clean and it had everything it should have and everything worked perfect. Yes we paid for a safe key and used it. I always take way more than is needed on every vacation. For example I had four pieces of luggage and one was 27 pounds over the limit. The only thing I kept in the safe was money; jewelry; airplane tickets and passports. I always unpack all my luggage and nothing was ever stollen. Resort gounds: Supurb! Yes it is extremly large. We walked on both sides of the resort and there were still many areas we never covered. There is not a dead leave or branch anywhere and no trash to be seen anywhere. You will not find any hotel that is more clean than this one. This includes the lobby area; all restuarant areas; beach; and rooms. You name it; it is spot free. Food: People - You need to remember this is a foreign country. Take preventative measures... Take Immodium AD and Pepto Bismal with you and take it before you get sick... Be sure to make your reservations for restaurants the same day you get there and also be sure to look at the time and dates as our reservations were made for 7pm and 8pm the same night at two different restaurants. I think this was my fault as I changed restaurants and dates and times over and over and over again. Later that same night I noticed it but elected to not go and change it. We ate all of our meals but one at the buffets and were satisfied. Some of the food at the buffets are not hot but luke warm but this may have been because of the time we ate which was between 1pm and 3pm. It tastes good and didn't make us ill. Our reservations were at the steak house. It was delicious and I could have eaten there every night if permitted. Illness: Neither of us got ill. However; we did take Immodium AD the first day we got there and pepto bismal tablets every morning and evening as a preventative. This is something I suggest as a good idea as this is a foreign country and illness is always a possibility. I like to prevent anything from occuring if possible. Sun Screen: Extremly imprtant. My husband and I both had tans when we got there. My husband has indian blood and tans extremly easy and we both got burns. I read up on sun screen and which ones where the best products and purchased those and also made sure they were SPF 50 waterproof. We put this sun screen on every two hours without fail and still got a burn. Keep in mind you are closer to the equator and to the sun. Shopping: Be ready to bargain to get a fair price. While trying to walk past this booth I told this guy NO 3 times while holding up my hand shaking my head no and he still managed to drag me over to his booth. He wanted to sell me some jewelry. After looking at several necklaces I found one that I really did love. It was a 21 necklace which yes was beautiful. It had stones from from the clasp in the back all the way down to large one in the center for $175 US dollars and I told him I don't have that kind of money. After going back and forth about the value and this country is the only country that has this stone he asked how much do you have. After already buying everything I went there to purchase I only had $27 dollars on me. When I told him this he said no he couldn't sell for that amount and I said ok; good bye began to leave. He asked if I had a credit card and I said NO. He then said wait; let me ask the owner and the owner looked displeased but agreed to sell it for $27. If you tell them that is all you have and proceed to leave; they will come down to what you want. Who knows; maybe I could have even got it for less. But when I walked away with this travertine necklace for only $27 I felt like I got a very good deal. Transportation to and from the Airport: I didn't purchase ground transportation as part of my travel package. When we arrived at the airport you are suppose to meet with the person located behind booth representing the travel agency you booked through. Well there was no one behind that booth. After waiting for several minutes someone spoke up and asked if they could help. I told them what travel agency I booked through and I need a ride to the hotel. They looked at my paperwork and said you didn't purchase transportation with your package. You will need to take a taxi. They yelled at this guy and said he can take you in a taxi. I asked how much and they said $75 us dollars. I said NO. I will find someone cheaper. I then walked outside and spoke to a man who yelled another taxi driver and again I asked how much he said $35 I said $30 + tip and he agreed. When it came time to leave the hotel I was affriad of what it might cost me then and what steps I might have to take to get it down to a reasonable price but the hotel got a taxi driver for me for $35. I was later told you can get round trip transfer to and from hotel - airport with your package for a total cost of $25. If this is correct - buy it with your travel package. We went on the snorkel tour through Scuba Caribe which sits on the beach between hotels. Oh the fish are beautiful as always. The reef we visted is not like the great barrier but it wasn't expected to be. Tthe reef has no color at all. But the fish were beautiful and in abundance. The boat guide gave us bread to feed the fish and allowed everyone to stay in the water as long as they wanted which was near an hour. After this he took us to an extremly large shark pin and asked if anyone would like to see the sharks. If yes; we were limited to 5 minutes max in the water. I knew this wasn't part of our package but I couldn't hardly wait knowing I may never get this chance again. So I suited up and jumped in. After swimming the entire length of the pin with someother guy; niether of us saw a shark. As we went around the corner we both saw a hole caused by force of something in the pen prodruding outward large enough for either of us to swim through; we both went to the surface and looked at each other with eyes wide and began swimming quickly back to the area of the boat. As we bagain to approach the boat it moved over to the other side of the pen which then caused the sharks in the pen to move and come to the side where we could see them. One was very large; over 8 ft and the others 6ft and smaller. Our five minutes was actually more like 15 or 20. After seeing the sharks we got back on the boat. He then took us where the dolphins were. All of this was done at no additional cost and was not part of the package. I don't know why he chose to do it but it was very much appreciated and enjoyed. Weather: Beautiful and HOT... THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO. There were no storms that blew in. I asked about storms and was told if they do they generally don't last longer than 30 minutes. Talked to several people there that were injured at the resort. One was from not putting down a towel and getting out of the shower / tub stepping on to a slick floor resulting in a broken leg; ankle and several toes. Another is someone running on a sidewalk that was wet from the sprinkler system. The sprinkler system runs several times a day and yes the walk ways do get wet.
478252,labwest07,06/04/2007,Best Resort Yet Parasailing
478252,kim088,06/04/2007,Amazing resort! Beautiful... Beach bar
478252,Petro111,06/04/2007,Would Return Again Hotel exceeded our expectations. Staff was extremely friendly; rooms and property were very clean; common areas (lobby; pools) were attractive; and food was great. Would go there again.10 Tips1. Know a few phases in Spanish - few staffers speak English.2. Use the map of the property provided at check-in - property is bigand meanders.3. Bring LOTS of single five dollar bills - for tipping.4. Try the cappuccino in the lobby and the ice cream at the buffet (our favorite was the coconut) - they are delicious! 5. It's a 2 1/2 to 3 hour ride from Santo Domingo airport - try to fly into Punta Cana if possible.6. Didn't seem like the Diamond or Golden club was worth it - maybe they would be at high season.7. The buffet was as good or even better than the a la carte restaurants - although we did get a little tired of the buffet style means.8. Blow up floats were okay in the pools and many seemed to enjoy sunbathing on them. 9. The mini-frigs' in the hotel room are stocked with a variety of drinks for free every day. If you ask the maid; she will provide you with your choice of beverages (versus the variety). We asked for onlywater and diet Pepsi and it was no problem.10. Don't drink the water from the tap - that includes rinsing your toothbrush with the bottled water. Enjoy - we loved it - and enjoy the diversity of the guests; we estimated about 1/3 Canada/USA; 1/3 South American; and 1/3 Europeans.
478252,newbrunswicktraveler,06/04/2007,amazing place THIS IS THE GREETING AND DEPARTING SHOW
478252,montrealtraveller34,06/04/2007,Beautiful Resort - Loved It! Just returned yesterday (June 3rd). There were 11 people travelling (ages ranging from 3 years old to 56 years). We had a great time.The resort is very well maintained. You will always see someone cutting grass; trimming trees; power washing the sidewalks; etc.Our maid was excellent - if we needed something; we just asked and we had right away. Our rooms were cleaned every day around 10:00 am; clean sheets every day; towels; stocked mini-bar (tons of water; Pepsi; Diet Pepsi; 7up; Orange pop; beer); coffee; etc. We needed extra towels the first day and they sent us about 20 towels. The one thing that they do forget is face cloths but just ask; they do have. Our floor lamp was broken and the plug cover was coming out of the wall; the maids' supervisor saw this and had maintenance come right away (within 10 minutes) to fix because she said it was dangerous for the little one.We had no bugs in the rooms and no one in our travelling party got any type of bug bites at all.Food was very good - tons of selection at the buffets; same with the snack bars. We did the Gourmet a la carte (not the best; slow service and not very much food); the Seafood (way too much food as the starters are a buffet style and then you get your main course afterwards) and the Japanese (food was really good; tons of it and it is really different to have the chef cook right in front of you). There is a snack bar in the Pueblo Principe that is open from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am - they offer hamburgers; cheeseburgers; chicken burgers; tuna; chicken; ham and cheese sandwiches and nachos and cheese - not bad; especially if you want food late at night).Evening entertainment in the Theatre is more geared towards the kids which is fine (Lion King; Circus; etc). The entertainment in the Pueblo Principe wasn't all that great. Didn't go in the casino but went a couple of times to the Disco - wasn't bad - we made our own fun anyways so we didn't care. Evening drinks are best at the Lobby Bar - great service!Beach is fantastic - very clean; warm water; tons of chairs (never had to get up early to get chairs and we had 11 people). The main Beach Pool is a little too warm but clean and there are activities going on there during the day. Size of the resort is not as bad as people say. The trams run every 2 - 3 minutes (at least 3 running at the same time) but you can walk from the beach to the main lobby in about 10 minutes anyways. Very easy to find your way around just read the information that you are given and the large book in your room and you'll be fine.All in all - this was a fantastic resort and we can not wait to return at Christmas time.
478252,NewEnlander30s,06/03/2007,Beach Paradise with Plenty of Activity We stayed here from May 26; 2007 - June 2; 2007 and loved it. Where to begin... Upon ARRIVAL from the airport; the grounds are beautiful. They are extremely well manicured and make a great first impression as you travel from the main road to the lobby area. The check in process was very easy and took about 5 minutes. There was no line; and the agent spoke english well enough to convey all the necessary information. The resort is very large; so they shuttle you to where you will be staying. We were taken immediately to our room.The ROOM was clean; and everything was in great shape. The bathroom is all marble (or local equivalent) and was decorated with flowers daily. Satellite TV makes you feel at home with both English and Spanish programming.There are 5 POOLS on this resort (one is limited to those who pay extra for gold club privileges) The main pools (next to the beach) was not too crowded and we had no trouble finding chairs. There was music playing much of the time; and various activities throughout the day. They also had exotic animals to take photos with (a monkey; an iguana; parrots). The staff working the swim up bar are very friendly and lively.The BEACH is beautiful. The sand is soft and clean; and the water is gorgeous and the temperature was perfect. Again a lot of activities with the staff keep it fun. There was music playing throughout the day; something that none of the other 4 adjoining resorts we walked to had. There is such an expanse of beach at this resort; that it was also easy to find a private place away from the music; staff; and other guests.The FOOD was good. There was enough variety that you are almost assured to find something you like. The snack bars on the beach have a consistent menu daily. Although it isn't as good as you may find at home; we certainly didn't go hungry. My wife; a vegetarian; found it harder to enjoy the meals; but had plenty of selection to choose from (she's just picky). We were initially concerned about the enormous SIZE of the resort; but this was not an issue at all. We stayed 4 buildings off of the beach; which ended up to be a 4 minute walk. Trolleys continuously cycle through the center of the grounds. We never waited more than 5 minutes for one to pick us up. Once on the trolley it was about a 5 minute ride from end to end (if you need to travel that far)Some CONCERNS... Meal times are a little different than we are used to. Lunch is served at the main buffet from 1:00 - 3:30 and Dinner is served here from 7:00 - 10:30. The A la carte restaurants can be reserved as early as 6:30 and the snack bar is open from 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM to help with this awkwardness though. The evening entertainment consists of 2 shows. The first starts at 9:45 and the second at 11:30. We found that this was too late for us after a day of rum and sun. The last concern we had was the language barrier. After we got there; we found that this was not a problem. Most employees speak enough English to understand what you want; and if they don't just find another employee. Others are fluent in English; and all are very anxious to accommodate you. Wear pleny of sunblock; the sun is very strong! Bugs weren't bad at all; we didn't need any repellant.LASTLY; our vacation representative at the resort alerted us to some safety issues with some of the tour operators on the island. There is no regulation / safety inspection of equipment. We were told after expressing interest in scuba diving that they had an accident with 2 guests and a dive master the previous month and that we should not dive. We were also discouraged from participating in the glider / boat tour down the coast. TALK TO THE RESORT STAFF ABOUT SAFE EXCURSIONS!We loved it here and would definitely return.
478252,NBpartygirls2,06/03/2007,Another wonderful stay! We stayed at the GBP April 14-21st and had a fantastic time! We were 4 ladies on a girl trip celebrating a few birthdays! For 2 of us it was our 2nd time back and the other 2 it was their first time! We got upgraded to Club Diamond and we had balloons; free champagne; free bottle of rum; hat t-shirts a fruit tray upon arrival! A total surprise truly wowed us. We had asked for the 2nd floor and our rooms to be connecting and we got just that. We were in Villa 14 and it was a great location for us- near the pools and mid way through the resort. Never had a problem walking; and when we wanted we hoped on a trolley; they came every couple of minutes.The grounds were immaculate and clean; the staff again truly amazing and friendly; beach clean and beautiful! If you get up early enough there are some amazing sunrises. Pools clean and busy; food alcohol were great. We only had one bad experience and that was the beach BBQ-the food was cold; left and went to buffet. They never even questioned any of us of why we hadn't eaten much of of our plates.Definitely recommend getting a safe to keep valuables in and bring your Bubba Kegs and this time we brought air mattress and had a blast with them in the ocean pools. We went to the Mangu twice and had a great time; and did the Kontiki Party boat and had a blast there as well!Would go back in a heartbeat; wishing I was still there.........miss my Dominican friends......
478252,Canadian20something,05/31/2007,Best resort I've ever stayed at! My boyfriend and I are in our mid-twenties and found this resort to have every component for a great vacation. WHERE -We stayed in the Premier section (couples only) and found it incredible! This section has its own pool; restaurant; bars; Internet; etc. We were always able to find a chair by the pool; not too busy and not too quiet. A good mix of families; couples; young and old(er). We ventured to the other pools at the resort and found it a little too crowded.FOOD- The food was fantastic; better than I ever imagined. Try the a la carte restaurants. Japanese and Italian were our favorite; they make the food there as authentic as possible.STAFF- Super nice people; would do anything to make our stay comfortable. Always ready with a smile and 'the usual'!ENTERTAINMENT- Night life started in the main square around 10 and ended shortly after 12 or 1 (depending on which night). After that; the nightclub was the hot spot. The casino was our place of choice.RESORT- Very well kept. Always looked its best! The only not so great thing was its size: a little too big. We were just starting to find things the day before we left. But I'd rather too big with too many options; than not enough. Another reason I'd love to go back! Although it was large; they had very frequent transportation throughout the resort. Never waited more than two minutes.I would recommend this resort to anyone! I've traveled to many islands of the Caribbean and never had an experience like this. I'm picky about food and cleanliness and I was very impressed!
478252,SarahSeaside,05/31/2007,Little Disappointed I have been to Cancun; Riviera Maya; Cozumel; Bahamas; Grand Cayman; Puerto Vallarta; Hawaii; Key West and Miami. I have stayed at Sandals; Palace Resorts; RIU resorts; Westin; and other 4 or more star resorts. This is NOT a 4 star resort; 3 at best.Upon checking in we waited in line for over 30 mins. When we finally got to check in; the guy at the desk barely spoke English and was actually rude. We made sure to upgrade to the Golden Club and were under the impression that MOST of the rooms in the Golden Club had at least a partial ocean view. We were in a building pretty close to the beach but had a view of another building; as most of the buildings in this resort do. There are only a few rooms that have even a partial ocean view. As they carted us and our luggage across the massive resort I realized I had completely underestimated the size of it. I knew it was big; but it is uncomfortably big. I like to walk places but this was too much and it just was a real hassle. We were 10 minutes late to our dinner reservation one night because a tram never came by and we finally had to start the trek to the front of the resort. Sometimes the trams come; sometimes they don鈥檛.The rude guy who checked us in said the safe was $5 a day; and we said OK meaning yes we need a safe. Well after we get to the room the safe didn鈥檛 work. Turns out he didn鈥檛 add the safe to the room key and we had to make the incredible trek to the front again. This actually took an hour to get to the front; wait in line and get back to the room. So now we are in our room and one lamp doesn鈥檛 work but even worse the TV remote did not work. We tried changing the batteries but it was broken. So we called the front desk...again...and again. Well 2 DAYS later we finally got a new remote after complaining at the front desk. The remote is not that big of a deal I know; but this is to show the kind of service you will get from the front desk and management. Then the electricity started going out again...and again...and again. It went out about 20 times over the course of our stay; usually at night; so it would mess up the alarm clock if we needed to wake up in the morning. The beds are ok but the pillow are 2 inches thick. The room is dark and doesn鈥檛 feel luxurious. The bathroom is kind of nice with marble but the shower is open and water gets everywhere. So then we venture out to the beach where your eyes will sting; not from the salt water but the blinding view of thongs on people who definitely should NOT be wearing them everywhere; and topless women. You need to watch wear you walk on the beach because there is trash; cigg butts; etc. The worst part of the whole beach experience is THERE IS NO SUNSET on this part of the beach. It is normally my favorite part of going to the beach watching the sun set but the sun sets on the other end of the island. The water and sand look beautiful though.The pools are fine and warm but can get a little crowded; nothing special; no waterfalls; etc. They have aerobics and other activities like bingo now and then. Make sure you wear bug repellant wherever you go! I wore it and I still currently have 12 mosquito bites! The pool bar is always hopping with people from Canada; Europe and South America; we only met 2 people from America on the whole trip. The drinks are the lowest quality liquor but we found I drink we liked called Amarita (something like that).The food is horrible and I couldn鈥檛 even eat it at the buffet and snack bars. We ate at the Japanese and Gourmet restaurants and those were pretty good though. Make sure to book as soon as you get there because it was hard for us to even get a decent time until the last 2 nights. The shows were cute at the theater but nothing special. The casino is a little room where I didn鈥檛 see anyone winning. The disco only played Spanish music and after a while we couldn鈥檛 take it anymore. The Karaoke was one of the most fun things; but its only open for a few hours; 9-12 I think; not sure. The shops in the Pueblo will try to sell you 2 tiny silver earrings for $155 US!! We ended up getting them for $25. The last day we booked a horseback riding trip to H3 Ranch through the tour desk at the resort. They said the bus would pick us up at 4pm and we would get back to the hotel at 6:30pm 7pm latest. We had an 8pm dinner reservation; so we thought it would work. Well the bus picked us up at 4:40pm and didn鈥檛 get us back until 8pm. We had to get ready fast and we just went to dinner late. Everyone is on 鈥淒ominican Time鈥?which means if they say 15 minutes; it means 40. Horseback riding was one of the best parts of the trip once we got there; it was beautiful. The horses were wonderful and Macao Beach where we rode was breathtaking. It also gave us a glimpse into the Dominican country. Leaving the hotel the bell boy did not get to our room for 45 minutes and he said it would take 10; so make sure to give your self extra Dominican Time. Overall it was a little bit disappointing trip. The service of the waiters/bartenders was good (probably because of tips) but the Front Desk and management needs a lot of work. Plus the quality of the hotel is NOT luxury; it is mid-range; like a 3 star resort. We walked down the beach to Majestic Colonial (next door) and it seemed much better. I would go there instead if you are going to Punta Cana.
478252,ssingh12,05/30/2007,Perfect for Couples.Wedding..Caution w.Food/Water Well we just got back from a beautiful amazing week @Grand Bavaro Principe. Here it is in a nutshell since I now have 200 emails waiting for me at work! ;Beach- Crystal clear turquois waters; white sugar sand. Chairs were plentiful. Handful of topless women (not offensive though).lots of activities available; but many of them are not inclusive. went scuba/snorkleing for $65. you can bargain but they dont go down too much. worth it though. we spent a lot of time at the beach after dinner as well. water was cooler at night but laying on a long chair under the stars with no sounds other than waves crashing was priceless! Grounds- Immaculate. first thing in the morning until last thing in the evening; you will always see the workers painting or cleaning or gardening; the maintenance is kept to a T. Ive read many reviews talking about how large the resort is--which is true; however the little trams running until 3am make getting anywhere on the resort less than a 3 minute ride away. We had a very large group as well and always managed to find eachother w.out a problem. People- it's been a slap in the face coming back to the states and remembering how people normally act. everyone who works at this resort smiles and says ola like you're their best friend. You feel like they truly are family. I became friends with a few people who worked there and when i left i was actually sad to say goodbye! friendliness and warmth like you have never expeirenced before. Most of the guests at the hotel are either Southamerican or European. While spanish will certainly help you a ton; you should be able to get by just fine w.the english tongue.Food- Highly reccomend booking at the restaurants since i only got to eat at one (Le Gourmet). the buffet hours are super convenient and its easier than going to the restarants. but the food is simply better at the restaurants. buffets were good too w.a huge selection; but dont expect american tasting food even if its an american entree being served. i enjoyed it but some of my party found the food just okay and sometimes even bad! My only CAUTION is that; be it from water or food; many of our group returned home with stomach illnesses (diareah and vomiting). the food is the only thing we can link it to; though not everyone who ate it got sick. just be sure to be cautious. i brushed my teeth w.the sink water while a lot of ppl used bottle. bottle is probably your best bet just in case. i had my boyfriend and cousin both wind up in the ER w.IV's so be careful!!Drinks- sort of on the weak side. When you order all the fun and fruity ones;i reccomend ordering a separate shot of rum on the side and adding it to your drink. they will gladly give it to you.Activities- Since its an all inclusive resort; everything is done on grounds. to get a little adventure in your trip i HIGHLY reccomend booking something off-grounds activities like the safari we took that brought us doonbuggy riding; cave swimming; and horseback riding. that was probably the best part of the entire trip. a bus picked us up and took us through the rural villages of the DR where you really get to see the real deal and we got to do so many fun adventures that really get you dirty! it was probably the most memorable part of it all.Oh; and Don;t forget to hit up the nightclub Congas. we had fun dancing to both latin and american dance music until 2am!Shows- average. but more just a place to sit down and relax and have drinks while performances are going on in the background. Casino is very small also; but has blackjack; roulet slots.Overall--excellent vacation from start to finish. Traveled w.my parents who said that Apple was terrible and made getting home a nightmare..others who met us down there had no problems so who knows. Only negatives were the post-trip travelers sickness and things didnt always start on time (my sister was married there w.the judge an hour late leaving us all in 100 degree temps outside waiting!)Another Caution--two members of our party had their cell phones stolen out of their room so GET THE SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX!!!! It is offered byt i believe you need to pay a small fee for it. totally worth it. just becareful too because there were a couple times when i had to get back into my room and left my key at the pool and the maids let me in w.out a question. showed how easy it was for anyone to get in your room!And carry cash w.you for tips-Not PESOS;. they will exchange it for you and give you pesos as well. the on site ATM's give out pesos too; but i found iti a lot easier to keep track of cash using american dollars if you are use to them. they take them just as well as pesos.Enjoy!!!
478252,BarbieDorothy,05/29/2007,Beautiful Resort and wonderful relaxing vacation This resort was absolutely beautiful. By far the cleanest and prettiest resort we have ever been to. We have been to Cancun; Playa Del Carmen; Cozumel; Jamacia; Puerto Valarta and others. Food was pretty good and plentiful. Does not compare to the food at the Riu Playacar. That was the best food ever at a resort in another country. The Gran Bahia staff was soooo friendly and helpful. The nightly entertainment was somewhat lame...but we were always so worn out from the days at the beach and pool drinking wonderful concoctions. Disco was fun; but did not open til midnight. Only made it that late one night. Karoke bar was also fun. Most relaxing vacation ever!All in all; I would give this place a five star rating; especially loved the convenient shuttle service which took you all over the resort whenever you needed it. Did not even seem like a super huge resort.I would recommend this resort to couples or large groups as ours was. We had 16 people in our group of friends and family.I would also recommend only 5 or 6 nights unless you plan on doing a lot of off resort tours. We went for 7 nights and only did one off site tour; so I would have been just as happy with only 5 nights. Contact me with any questions; I would be happy to talk to you about our experiences.Barbie
478252,SJFCalgary,05/29/2007,Great hotel - but very big! We went with two other couples ( each couple has one child - ages 2yr; 5yr and 6 months) - 6 adults total. The resort is great for all types (couples and families) as it's so big that everyone can do their own thing. If you've got children the kids club is wonderful and the staff that run it are great. They also have an evening show/activity just for children.We'd recommend booking your specialty restaurants when you get there - they were quite good (BBQ; French and Mexican were the best). There are a number of pools and the beach is huge. The one downfall is how early you have to get up to book your chairs...ridiculous really - but if you want to get chairs by the pool it is a must. When we were there the deadline time was around 6:30 am. The beach was a little later.Be warned - the resort is HUGE! One employee told us that there were 3500 people there at that time. Many different buildings. However the shuttle gets you around - or you can get some exercise and just walk.
478252,daxoz,05/29/2007,What an AMAZING resort! My Husband and I just returned from Bahia Principe after spending 1 week from May 19th-May 26th.To sum up; the holiday from beginning to end was perfect. The resort is a tropical paradise. These are the best points:-well maintained grounds-amazing; friendly; helpful staff (our maid was incredible)-Perfect manicured beach-An abundance of chairs in the shade at the pools and beach (Could still get a chair at 9:30-10ish)-Food was very good and very vegetarian accomodating. We were only able to eat at one of the a la cart's( The Italian) because the other ones did not have a non-vege option. But the buffet was delicious and diverse enough to keep our palettes satisfied!-We were not able to upgrade (we arrived at 8:30pm) and they said that all the upgrade rooms were booked; but in my opinion the regular booking suffised. I didn't feel that I was treated any differently or missed out on anything.They rate this resort as a 5 star; and it truly is. We have been to Sandals Jamaica; Cuba and Cancun and this is by far the best we have visited.Anyone visiting this hotel is sure to have an amazing time; we are going back with friends in October!Enjoy your trip and have a Banana Mama for me!
478252,allabouttheholidays,05/29/2007,wayyyyy to big for me Our visit was in May. We returned from a one week holiday on May 20/07. The reason for the trip was my niece's wedding. We had hesitated booking for a long time. Due to the malaria information; flight inconveniences etc. My family and I have traveled to Mexico all inclusive resorts extensively. (Probably 20 X's in the last 8 years.) We love the amenities these resorts offer. We were hesitant to travel to the Dominican. The price was high; and other problems that I mentioned.But I really didn't want to miss my niece's wedding so we booked.The flights offered were all horrible. With an 8 hour lay over in either Toronto or Montreal. We traveled for 2 days to get there; and2 days to get home. Terrible. (have been spoiled by all the direct flights to Mexico).There was NO direct flights. Upon arriving; the resort is beautiful. It is what I would expect from a 5 star resort. However; the resort falls short in many areas. The rooms are missing the small touches. Robes; slippers. The mini bar was only restocked every other day;if you wanted more; you paid for it.All 5 star resorts I have stayed at have had 24 hour room service. Not here. The staff were not as friendly as Mexico. The food was onlyaverage; nothing special. Could not have stayed for 2 weeks. The BIGGEST drawback for this resort.. the size. It was wayyyy to big forme. If you happened to be down at the beach; and wanted somethingfrom your room; it was so far to go. I did not like the mini tram/buses that took you everywhere blowing their diesel fumes. Could not see the ocean from any room. I love ocean front rooms! Some good things though. I was worried about mosquitoes. Only had about 12 bites. Most from one night. So not too bad. The resort was clean. And I wouldn't have missed my niece's wedding for anything. There were 43 of us there. And we were all having similar thoughts on the resort.We had a nice time; have had better elsewhere. We would definitely NOT go back; but glad we have been. Don't like the malaria pills.(still taking them) Mexico here we come!!
478252,Montrealer04,05/29/2007,Loved this Resort Pool
478252,christine2636,05/27/2007,Fantastic vacation despite a few problems show
478252,beanSyracuse,05/27/2007,Awesome Place This place is the best! We would go back in a heartbeat. The grounds are pristine; the beach is immaculate; and the staff is very friendly. If you are going with a group of people this is the place to stay. The lobby is beautiful and huge. Its a great meeting place for you to meet the rest of your party. There are planty of seats; couches; and chairs to be comfortable and private. If I had to say anything bad; I would say the food isn't the best. BUT; I am from USA; and you have to remember you are in their country and the culture is different; so of course so is the food. The fresh fruit was amazing. One thing I will also say is that the resort is huge; but very easy to get around. There is a trolly service that runs non-stop every day from the lobby to the beach with several stops in between. You never have to wait for it for more than 2 minutes and it is awesome. We are already starting to plan a trip back next year; and will definately stay at Gran Bahia Principe.
478252,Danielap,05/27/2007,Wonderfull time; Ceu Capucho; Portugal my husband so strong!!!
478252,Laura73Toronto,05/27/2007,We are still in awe..... We spent a week (May 19th-26th) at the Gran Bahia Principe......we just loved it!! We have travelled to Jamaica; Cancun; Mayan Riviera; Puerto Plata and nothing top's this hotel or location. By far our best trip ever!! We booked the golden with extra's of signing in on the bus so; once we arrived to the hotel we were free to explore.; beach towel's delievered in our room and fifteen min. of internet per day.The restaurant's were absolutly fabulous!! Lot's of great choices. We ate at the Italian; mexican; Grill and the gourmet restaurant's. The ambience was very romantic; excellent service and lot's of choices on the menu.We are still in aaww....with the beach. We have been to Riu resort's and we have alway's raved them. Since experiencing the Gran Bahia Principe we will defenitly be returning. The ground's were immaculate. We had such a great time that we our next vacation may just be the same resort in P. C.
478252,sunluver17,05/27/2007,Awesome Vacation From Start To Finish !! I travelled to this resort for the second time with 2 of my friends for a week from May 11 - 18; 2007. All I can say is that this is without a doubt the best treatment we have received from any resort that we have travelled to. We e-mailed the resort before we left to let them know that 2 of us were going to be celebrating birthdays while we were there and that this was our second trip to this resort. We had originally book Golden Club and when we received our package on the bus were pleasantly surprised to find out that we had been upgraded to Diamond Club and had been assigned a room in Building 1. Our room was decorated with all kinds of towel art; champagne on ice; a bottle of rum; shirts hats for all 3 of us; and 4 ala carte reservations already made for us. What a way to start our vacation !! The weather was perfect; sunny hot each and every day. We spent the first two days by the pool; but decided to move to the beach where there was a much better breeze and the ocean more refreshing. The buffet had so much to chose from and the food quality was above average. We enjoyed all the ala carte restaurants with the Gourmet being our favorite. The lobby bar makes the best drinks by far !! The entertainment was good but watch out for the mosquitos at the theatre !! The disco was also alot of fun. I would highly recommend this resort for families; couples; singles and just about everyone. The resort itself is large; but still personal at the same time. We met all kinds of people and truly enjoyed our week stay at Bahia Principe Punta Cana. We are already planning our return visit for next year.
478252,trsigley,05/27/2007,Bahia Principe Punta Cana; May 17th-25th Waves
478252,Willow123,05/26/2007,Amazing Hotel;Staff;partying at its finest!! Main pool bar by beach
478252,TexasRox,05/24/2007,Unforgettable! Clear water for snorkeling!
478252,CASTEVENSUS,05/24/2007,Wow; what a resort; and the beach is second to none.... My wife and I honeymooned at the Bahia Punta Cana Golden Club May 13 to May 20th. First off the airport is the coolest you will ever find; thatched roof; open air; walk out of the plane on the tarmac (very hot). Booked through Apple vacations in St louis MO. Flight was only 5 hours after we left our wedding 6 a.m.; yes we were zombies; but very worth it once we arrived. The airport is a breeze; literally from plane to apple bus; on our way in probably about 20 minutes. As soon as you enter the airport you will take your picture with two Domincan ladies dressed up real fancy; you will be able to purchase the 8 US dollars upon departure of the country; by the Gate 4. 10 US for immigration card; and thats it grab the bags and look for you travel company; be warned the bag boys are very aggressive just ignore them. You will drive through extreme poverty on the way about 40 mintues from airport; im talking people washing clothes in buckets; little children walking the streets; its really sad. The drivers now very little english but no problem. You will think there is no way the resort I saw on the internet could be around here; but one small right turn and it is paradise; there is actually 4 hotels in one with Bahia; the resort is HUGE; not so much wide as long; but no big deal trams run non stop; really just no big deal. Check in is a breeze; make sure if you booked Golden Club you have a air conditioned check in of to the left if your facing the main lobby; its Golden only though. We had a lady bring us a drink before we even checked in; awesome huh. Rooms are ready at 3 p.m so wear your suits as you get your towels and braclets right away; basically you a man without a room; everything else is yours; I recommend Booking Apple Clob golden; this means you can use anything in the resort; all pools even premier; all resturants; and bars. Got our room 2104 ( 9 yards from the beach) and had a bag with ballons; shirts; and rum in it on the bed; flowers everywhere; towel animals and what not. Stocked fridge (not very cold; but cold enough); never had one housekeeping or smell or leaking faucets like some reviews had said. You get 6 or 7 american channels on the tv; so there is something to watch if you want to get out of the sun for a while (and you will) unless your domincan; very humid and hot.Beach is absolutely the most clean; clear all around best beach you will ever see. Immaculate; never rained once when we were there; NOT ONCE; sunny pretty much all day everday; got real lucky with that. Pools are huge and clean not as cool as I would like pretty warm but the average temp is 93 right now.The bars are awesome; the pina coloda is my favorite; the beer is el presidente; and Brahma pretty good. There is a drink for every palate; and they have a drink of the day each day; the chocolate monkey; and coco rosso were some of our favorites; The buffets are ok; something for everybody; eat early as the food temps get questionable in the afternoon; the pizza is the best you have; very good. The al a cartes are very good; we ate at japanese El mikado; the mexican El Charro; the seafood El pescador; and the Italian El Cappricio II; the japanese is by far the best; book it twice if you wish; you wont regret. My only complaint on the whole trip was around day 6 and 7 the buffets get a little repetitive; and you are ready for some american food; if this is true for you when your there; there is a Wendys at the airport; so when you leave the country you can get some american food. Night life is not really worth staying up for; they are cleaning the grounds non stop; dance classes on beach and pool everyday; john at the main swim up bar; is the happiest person on earth. Make sure you check the day before departure when your bus picks you up; its about 4 hours before flight; do not pay for another immigration card when you leave; and keep any cash in you pocket and not in purse; unless you want to lose it; they searched all purses. The mishaps in the negative reviews didnt happen to us; couldnt have picked a better resort; Have fun...........
478252,daz11,05/24/2007,2 weeks of pure luxery My wife and i stayed at the Bahia for 2 weeks starting on the 7th May.What can i say you want for nothing; you get everything and more and it just keeps coming.I spent 6 months reading reviews before our trip most are good but the odd one was way off the mark.The place is amazing the staff great and the food top class.We had one day of rain out of 14 the rest of the time blue skys and hot hot hot.Must does are to take a day trip with Bavaro Runners and see the local life.Mi Mi was our guide and he was a scream.The only one thing that i thought was pour was the table wine;nasty red;white and rose but then there is so much else to choose from you dont miss it.We traveled with Mytravel airways cattle class and that is the right word for it especialy on a night flight.Pay the extra and get the extra leg room.
478252,nbbride07,05/22/2007,Fantasitc We just got back a week ago and want to go back! We had no problems whatsoever and everyone we met (staff and guests) were great. We were there May 7-14. We had requested the honeymoon upgrade when booking our trip and were hoping we got it. At the airport we got on the bus for the charter company which only stopped at 2 resorts...ours being the first stop. Once at the resort checkin was a breeze; as soon as we all walked up to the counter men and women were coming from out back to help check eveyone in. After we got our rooms (and we got our upgrade no problem) a bellboy took us to our rooms on one of the trolleys. Soon as we got settled we headed straight to the beach!The first night we ate in the main buffet. It is a buffet what more can you say; but there was enough there that we were able to get our fill. First thing the next morning we made our a la carte reservations. We had no trouble getting any of the resturants we requested. (More later)Our room was spotless everyday and requested (form in bedside table) for it to be cleaned between 10am and noon; we never had any trouble. We also had no trouble with people coming into our room while we were in our room we had the DND sign on the door (as with any hotel in any city we stay in).We also did not have any trouble with beach/pool chairs and we never reserved a seat. We didn't get up early at all to do it. We slept in till we felt like getting up... Usually were at the pool or beach by 11am and never had trouble gettting chairs with a palapa.The food: we only ate at the main buffet a coule of times. With our upgrade we were able to have 4 a la cartes instead of 3. I will agree with other posts about an odd smell at the main buffett; I think it is just because of all the mixtures of smells..it didn't really bother us too much. We ate breakfast at the Italian resturant and lunch we either ate there (usually just fruit) or at the beach snack bars (we are not big lunch eaters). Our a la cartes: 1..The Garden Grill- not bad; loud;large portions and couldn't eat it all....probably due to the pre dinner drinks 2.. The Gorumet - we thought we wouldn't enjoy this....it was our fav hands down...great food; great service and great atmosphere3. The mediterrian- was good; 2nd fave..great food; good serice4. The Italian- was the worst. It was so loud and the service was horrendous!!!! We were supposed to have a romantic dinner for our honeymoon and we thought we would have it there...we were place right next to the buffett and it took forever for everything. THe food was good but portions to big. I had spaghetti carbonara and there was enough pasta in my dish to feed a family of 4!Lots of waste.. this resturant for dinner was a complete disappointment for us. Drinks were best at the lobby bar...we were there every evening for after dinner drinks. The girls wait on you hand and foot and have fun while doing it!We wouldn't hesitate to go back and highly recommend it
478252,Marilyn42,05/21/2007,Excellent vacation - not one complaint! One section of the beach pool
478252,GLYORKS,05/21/2007,A wonderful experience !! Pool Area
478252,nursenorma,05/21/2007,Nothing to complain about... Beautiful room... most days had towel sculptures; depending on the maid!
478252,NortheastBlue,05/21/2007,Best Vacation spot in the world I visited the Bahia Principe; Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic in April with my daughter. This place was paradise! We had a super time. Everyone who worked there was so friendly and nice. The food was great. We liked the buffet the best because of so many choices. Our suite was great. A super nice maid and a wonderful bed and terrace. We went to the beach every day for 6 days we were there and it was heaven. The taxis on the resort were so efficient too. I will go back; over and over again. I booked my own trip on expedia.com and I purchased an all inclusive. This is the only way to go. We had everything at our fingertips all the time and never waited for a thing. It was a vacation I will never forget. Northeast Blue May 20; 2007
478252,rob1013,05/20/2007,Great Hotel for Average Price Villa
478252,degnans,05/18/2007,We miss the Bahia Principe; I still have the music in my head! My husband and two older boys; 21 and 18 just returned from a week atthe Bahia Principe. What a wonderful resort. We arrived at the airport on time and was at the resort and ready to enjoy by early afternoon. The check in and welcome all went smoothly. The lobby is gigantic; open and just beautiful. The drinks in the lobby bar were the best; try the rum punch. The rooms were immaculate. The grounds were very tropical and lush. We were in a villa close to the beach. The trolley service runs very regularly and can get you anywhere you want to go in this gigantic resort. The first morning there I took the map and did a walking tour of my own just to get acquainted with where everything is. It will take a day or two before you get the hang of where everything is located. The food is decent but we never expect anything great at an all-inclusive. There is a large variety of drinks and we sampled just about all of them. All delicious. The weather was gorgeous for 7 straight days. The beach is beautiful and even though it is the Atlantic Ocean the water is warm and very clear and blue. The pools are amazing with swim up bars and very warmwater. There are activities by the pool throughout the day. We tried the banana boating and that was alot of fun. My husband and I took a kayak and although we flipped twice it was fun. We walked to the fleamarket down the beach which was a 45 min walk one way. The entertainment at night is very good. We went to the theater in the front of the resort and listened to the house band where the dancers take people out of the audience to dance. The band was excellent. I purchased a cd to take home because we loved the music so much. Afterthat the disco is open and that's alot of fun too if you still want to party. The trolleys run until 3:00am to get you back to your room. My boys were never bored. We took one snorkeling excursion on the Caribbean Festival which was a 1/2 day of snorkeling and partyingon the boat. We felt very safe at all times. The staff is very friendly and accomodating. This resort has a mix of Europeans; Canadians and Americans and everyone we met was very friendly. We're all sad to be home and we would rate this vacation resort a 10.
478252,carml2,05/18/2007,So Beautiful Thought I would share a bit about the resort since this website was such a help to me when I was booking...This resort is fantastic! Like everyone else has written...it is huge....but there are trolly's that are always waiting....and it is not a problem at all....The rooms are beautiful...the maid service is great...the food is quite good...although after the 2 weeks; you never want to eat buffetagain haha....the a la carte restaurants we went to were La Gourmet (French); which we went to twice since the food was so good...the filet mignon was incredible! The BBQ was good; but it is a buffet as well; the Japanese was excellent...alot of fun!! And I never felt rushed as some people have mentioned on here...the Italian was very good as well..probably the most selction at this one...the seafood restaurant was pretty good; but out of all of them; probably my least favorite...but still quite good; don't be mistaken! Please note that the main buffet isn't the only place that offers breakfast and lunch....we were taking up alot of our days going all the way to the main buffet; but then found out the Seafood restaurant serves breakfast and lunch as well (same kind of buffet; but not as busy). Lunch was easiest to go to the snack bar beside the main pool for us...this way we didn't have to get all dried off and dressed half way through the day....The main pool is the only one we ever hung around at. The others weretoo far from the ocean; and we didn't like that. It is true about howfast the chairs along the pool get taken. We had no problem as we were only a couple...and didn't want to be inder that umbrella's; but for a bigger group that wished to be together; may want to get up around 7am to reserve seats. We would usually wake up at 9; be at the pool by 9:20 and had absolutely no problems....so it really depends on the seats you want and on how big your group is. The oceanwas wonderful...so nice...but there were not waves good enough for boogie boarding which was too bad....but still; the water was cooler and the ocean; so we prefered to go down to that water...take the paddle boat out to the shipwreck straight out from the resort...it's really neat to see....and only takes about 15 minutes to get too.....We went on the Outback Safari....and let me tell you...so worth it....you'll get to shop for liquor and cigars for real dominican prices....not tourist prices...you get to see so much of the life really going on outside of the resorts...you get to go see a house in punta cana and how they live there....next up the mountain to see how cocoa and coffee beans are made (plus you can buy this really cheap)...then to the shopping station I spoke about earlier...then to a ranch for lunch...which has many different animals...a good lunch...then from there to a beautiful beach which is not know to tourists.....it is unreal....so beautiful....this trip cost us $80 american each...and let me tell you it is worth it....you get to see so much...and it's a full day (9:15am to 4pm) but goes so fast; because it is so enjoyable....There is alot to do at this hotel at night....I wouldn't reccomend leaving the resort from what I was told...but you will not be bored...This time of year it is HOT!!! I have never been on a vacation that was this warm...I think our average temperature was 42 C with the humidity....so don't bring SPF 15....bring at least SPF 30 and seriously re-apply 4;5 or 6 times during the day!! We made the mistake the first day of only applying twice and burnt....and we don't burn easily....make sure it's waterproof sunscreen and don't forget aloe vera gel....if you forget these things; you will be paying close to $20 american for sunscreen!! Bring extra!! You go through it so fast....between the two of us; we went through 3 big bottles in 2 weeks!! The flight there: be prepared...they are going to spray you with ancecticide...it's pretty weird....Take the walk to the flea market on the beach...it only takes about 30mins....and it's better than shopping at the centre at the resort...barder; barder; barder!! They'll start at $100 and we eventually got the down to $10!! The jewlery isn't worth much so don't let them trick you into thinking itis...the cigars and cigarettes aren't real brands; so don't buy them here....and don't be itimidated...just walk away....they all tell you that you are there best friend and they will give you the best deal...it's BS....but have fun! We did!I hope this was helpful....any questions let me know! Have a great trip; I know we did!!
478252,kennyjay,05/17/2007,Awesome Vacation My wife and I spent 7 great days at the Bahia. We were worried because it was so big; but we learned to stay by our room (Bldg 21) by the Pool/Beach/ Mexican restaurant. Room was one of the best. Golden checkIn was a snap; friendly; helpful; and we booked the japanese; Mexican and italian restaurants for 7:30 dinners. Japanese and Mexican (2) were very good and the italian was good. Buffet had an okay selection for easy to like meals. Pool was great as well as the beach. Got seats when we got up at 8;9; or 10am. Service by staff wonderful. The head waiters could be more friendly; but they seemed to work from morning to night. We ate breakfast buffet at the Mexican restaurant to avoid the tram. Tram moved good; but we did not want to travel. The entertainment was not as good as at other places but fine. The pueblo casino and shopping were good. The flea market about 40 minutes walk was okay; but you did not save much. First 2 days had limited activities by the pool; but then the next few days had many. Lot of volleyball games; and they could have used two nets. Bottom line; was very nice; but just so big for us. Best; Outback Safari tour; Danny Boy (guide)was fun and most informative. You see one of the most beautiful beaches as well as homes; mountains; and coffee;sugarcane and coco plantations. About $80.
478252,guruguaya,05/17/2007,Detailed Reviewof What to Expect The girls with Coconut Drinks... YUMMY!!
478252,makiWoodbridge,05/17/2007,This is our new destination spot This was the best trip so far and let me tell you that my hubby and I (age 33 and 35) work; live and breathe to travel. We went to many upscale resorts from Jamaica to Hawaii and prefer to pay slightly more to feel extravagant once a year; to eat better and sleep in nicer rooms. This resort was amazing. It had absolutely everything: good food; excellent service; clean and spacious room; and definitely no lack in entertainment. We will definitely go back again.I was worried that We will be surrounded by screaming kids as we usually try to avoid family resorts and stick to adults only places; but this resort was great for every age and any kind of gathering; and due to its size no one feels overwhelmed with any one's presence . Upgrading to gold was soooo worth it mostly because all our questions were answered by our own representative in golden club house ( which is a special section in the hotel lobby). Also; We were situated in villa 20; the one closest to the beach and during the day it was fantastic to just pop in to your room and use the washroom whenever; during the night it was cool to hang out on the beach and skinny dip while surrounded by no other sounds except the waives. No lobby noise.The whole resort is designed so that the night life is in the Pueblo Principe town which is farthest away from villas; and no one really bothers any one.Another benefit of Gold membership was that we had 4 guaranteed reservations which we made the same night we arrived and that was smart as we heard later on that some restaurants got booked fast.Japanese was our favourite!!! Buffet was excellent for both lunch and dinner and you have choice of so much food that there is no way any one can say that they could not find something they liked.I read all kinds of reviews and honestly when we were there; meeting people and talking to so many of them not one had anything bad to say; except the girl that fell on the glass in disco and cut her arm. I read her review and realized that I met her there. One bad issue like that can totally spoil your holiday.Entertainment was excellent. Disco was happening; as well as the lobby after dinner where the man on the piano plays and sings to some of the greatest tunes.The beach chair problem is not really a problem at all; people make a big issue for nothing. There is lots of chairs and plenty of shade; and not everyone wants the same spot so just relax and if you are up by 9 am you will be fine to find the chair before going for breakfast.My advice is to get up no later than 9 am; because i noticed that afternoons are mostly cloudy so go and get the vitamin E your body needs and take advantage of the DAY . You can always nap on the beach chair.My second advice is to get a massage in the spa if it's a rainy day and you feel bored. We got a couple massage and it was worth $65.00 US for both of us for half and hour. Good deal .Also; don't forget playing cards or at least one board game....If you are like me a workaholic... when do you get a chance to play cards in paradise.And it is truly a paradise. And it is how you make it!!!! Some were writing that this place is not romantic; but in my opinion resort itself has little to do with it. You have a moon; sea; mama huana (dominican viagra) which by the way works; music to make you move.... All you need is love!
478252,Happytraveler57,05/16/2007,Loved it! We just came back from Bahia Principe on Friday May 11th. All I can say is we had an awesome time. The service; the friendliness; the helpful staff was excellent. We have no complaints. The beach is amazing and there is lots of beach chairs to choose from. We didn't have to wake up so early to reserve them. We had no problem booking the water sports although it is recommended to book them one day in advance. I have been to many other places and don't like to o to the same place more than once because I like to try different places but I would definitely return here.
478252,CAWToronto,05/16/2007,The best trip ever!!! Go Diamond Club My boyfriend and I went to the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana from April 30th till May 14th 2007; we are in are late 20's early 30's. We booked the Diamond Club and we were in villa 31 on the 3rd floor. Everything was amazing; the french restuarant is by far the best; we went 3 times. Japanese and the garden grill restaurant are also very good. Service at the fish restaurant is amazing; sooo great and the food was decent. The Italian was good for the diamond club lunch but the dinner was not great; don't eat the chicken at this restaurant. Mexican was also not great; I would not recommend it. I left a shirt at the diamond club pool and it was taken so they gave us 2 extra a la carte dinners and 2 free shirts; they were very good about it. The room was very clean and well stocked. The night life is sooo great; we were never bored in 2 weeks. I highly recommend the Marinarium sunset cruise; it is well worth every penny. The Saona trip was good; but the bus trip to the boat is too long 2.5 hrs each way; although they told us 1 hr. I have been to 4 different resorts and this is by far the best resort I have visited. The lounge is great on the diamond side; a highlight was the guy playing the piano and singing from 7-10pm Monday to Friday. Go to this resort; it is soooo good. If you are looking for American food etc then stay home but this is the first time I have been able to eat while away and I gained weight for once instead of losing weight. Thanks for a great trip; we will be back!!!!
478252,freeway,05/15/2007,Am going again next year We stayed at this resort in March 2007 with 3 other couples. We have been to Cuba and Puerto Plata before adn this resort is the icing on the cake.The staff are wonderful. We got to know John by the beach/pool bar (Michael Jackson's son) and his brother Victor. Excellent guys.Only took in one evening show and it was okay; but we didn't go there for the shows. The weather was great the whole week we were there. We were in Villa 2 and the room was always clean and tidy. Nightly turn down service; chocolates on the pillows; lots of water; orange pop and beer stocked in our fridge; along with beach towels in our room; robes and slippers and room service.One night the air conditioning was leaking and we called; and 2 minutes later a young man showed up to fix it. There was water everywhere and he cleaned it up. We tipped him and he really was really happy about that.Didn't do any excursions; but did walk 7minutes left of the resort at the beach and did a bit of snorkling there. It was pretty choppy and the boats come really close; but saw amazing fish. We plan on returning to this resort in March 2008 and taking a snorkling excursion.The bartenders at the square understood less english than the rest of the resort. I ordered a strawberry daquari three times and still didn't get one. They do ask for your room number; but it is not charged to you. My husband won about $300US during the week at the casino and lost $40US on cards.The shops at the square are reasonable; although make sure you visit them all before you make your purchase. Some offer prices in US dollars and some offer DR peso; so compare prices. The vendors at the square are pushy; but they are trying to make a living. You can buy from them at less than half of what they want for a price. Keep haggling and walk away if won't pay what they are asking.Our friends took a water taxi to the market down the beach. There was 6 of them and it was $4US each way. The more people; the less expensive it was.The trams are running constantly. You can get on and off at any of the stops. We stopped at different ones and looked around and explored and walked the rest of the way.We were in the golden club section; so we got 15minutes a day free internet use at the golden club service building midway through the resort. It's a good way to communicate with your loved ones back home and rub it in a little bit by telling them how great a time you're having.The resort is massive and I liked it this way. It never seemed crowded though. We mainly were at the pool daily and the beach only the first day. To get a beach lounger we went down at 6:45am the first morning and most were taken. The pool loungers we were down there even earlier; so we got our pick.The drinks are fabulous at the main pool bar. Miami Vice was my favourite; but enjoyed cocoloco; chocolate monkey and Bahama Mama. The boys said the beer was great too.The staff are out cleaning and tidying up all the time. In the morning you can see the gardeners in the trees cutting off the dead palm trees. We bought the safe in our room; and you program your own code. it was great because we put our money; passports and items of value in there. Our maid was very good; she straightened up the room where even our sandals weren't lined up. We left her money and a small item each day; like cosmetics; pantyhose; crayons and colouring books for her children or cousins etc.Beach was great. The water clear with some seaweed floating around. There was a herron diving for fish the whole week we were there and got close to it to take pictures.I miss it and we'll be back in March.
478252,gonrndtheworld,05/14/2007,Experienced Caribbean Travler Gives Bahia Honest Review Gran Bahia Principe Lobby entrance
478252,jenngary,05/13/2007,Bahia Wedding-- A dream come true walking hand in hand
478252,DreamCaribbean,05/12/2007,Miss it already! My husband and I just returned from our 1 week stay at the Bahia Principe Punta Cana. All I can say about our vacation is that it was wonderful!We stayed in building 60 which is part of the Gold Club. If I had to pay extra for it; I don't think that I would; however when we booked it was actually cheaper than any other section of the hotel. The mainhighlight for me for having booked this area of the hotel is that it is steps away from the beach which is a big plus for me!! The only perk that we received that we actually used was the free internet access in the gold club internet hut which is located near the bridge. You get 15 minutes per room per day which is good to keep in touch with loved ones back home. Yes; the resort is huge. But if you don't want to walk you can use the trolly which brings you everywhere. Don't let the size of the hotel intimidate you. It is very easy to get familiar with. Rememberthat there are 2 resorts here; BP Bavaro and BP Punta Cana. They are mirror images of each other. Something that I just found out today which I wish I had known beforeI booked!! DO NOT PAY VISA TO CALL HOME!!! I just checked my account and we made 2 phone calls for $40 each. Absolutely nuts. If I had known that before I went away; I would never have called home. Use the internet; it's free and quick!!! In Pueblo Principe they have an internet room for all hotel guests; that is cheaper to use than calling home; trust me!! Food was excellent. I cannot complain. Lots of variety and I am a very picky eater. Those of you who love meat - well you're in for a treat - many varieties. Those of you who are vegetarians - do not worry; lots for you too! I like to enjoy an ice cream at the beach when I'm hot and I found out that the only places where you can get ice cream during the day are the restaurants that are air conditioned (buffet or the specialtyrestaurants that are open for lunch). I wish I could have got it at the snack bar at the beach/pool. You have to be with shirt and bottomon for the air conditioned restaurants or you will be kicked out.Huge language barrier at this resort...if you know any spanish speak it! Lots of Europeans here so if you know any language from there you'll be fine too. (I.e. Italian).The beach/pool chairs - yes; you do have to play the towel game. I got up every day around 7-7:30am and I had no trouble finding a seat under an umbrella very close to the beach. If you don't care where you sit; then there are seats available all day long; just not in the shade. Word of advise; if you want to use the water sports - book them as soon as you arrive. We went to use the peddle boats one day and had to reserve them for 2 days later. Not what I've experienced on other AI trips. You must try the Japanese restaurant. Even if you don't like the food; you have to go for the experience. It was great!!! Again; I'm a picky eater and I was full when I left. Nighly entertainment needs improvement. I was quite disappointed withit. Being a 5 star the entertainment should be better. Anyway; that was my review. Overall; the resort is a 5 star. Don't listen to the negative reviews and go there and have fun.
478252,JenSDM,05/12/2007,WARNING TO ALL-Read before going!!!! We went to the Bahia from May 4-11. I felt it important to share my experience with all of you as I did read posts from this site prior to booking.Day 1 Friday: arrived at hotel; when you get off the bus; the hotel tags your luggage and they tell you to go ahead to your room. After our luggage was out of site; we realized that the room # on the luggage voucher was different than the room # that came with our keys (they gave us everything on the bus; no check in was required as we were gold). We proceeded to the room # that was on the luggage tag; after walking for 20min; with no help; we found the first room. Tried the key; nothing. Walked another 20min; found the 2nd room; one key (out of 2) worked; but no luggage in the room. We called the front desk; and then waited for 2 hrs before our luggage came to the room. Then we needed to find the front desk so we could get the key for our safe (you have to pay). We walked everywhere on the grounds for 3hrs before finding the right reception. We did ask many employees along the way; all pointed us to the wrong direction. We decided to let all of the above slide.Day 2 Sat: Early AM; went to our reception to book our al la cartes; they told us 2/4 restaurants we choose were closed for the week. We asked if we could go to the same one 2x; they said no; so we were forced to eat at restaurants that we didn鈥檛 like.Spent the day at the pool; beautiful day...Dinner; went to al la carte; portions small; service acceptableDay 3 Sun: spent day at the pool; evening; al la carte; dinner menu exactly the same as night before; service a little better (it was technically a different restaurant)Day 4 Mon: Went on day trip Bavarro Runners awesome trip; full day touring the island.Dinner at buffet; substandard; would classify food as a 3 star resortDay 5 Tues: 11:00 AM went for massage and body wraps; give treatments a 8/10; sevice at the spa 9.5/10. Then we went to the pool; buffet dinner; same rating as above.Evening (this is when the vacation turned into a nightmare)Went to the disco on the resort (it opens at 12am). Disco was small; and overall not a very happening place we were having a good time until I was walking and slipped on the floor. I landed in a pool of alcohol and GLASS; someone must have dropped their glass earlier. My right hand was cut and had glass in it and my wrist was in serious pain. I went to the bar to get some napkins to stop the bleeding; the bartender saw my hand; held it over the bar ledge and poured alcohol on it to clean the wounds. I went back to my room; we called the resort medical center (we had no idea where it was). By now it was apprx 2:15AM; the medical center told us that they can鈥檛 do anything right now and to come down in the morning. We asked them to bring a tenser bandage; they refused. I was very upset; and in pain and began to walk to the medical center (they are suppose to be 24hrs and in room service). 5 min into my walk; I couldn鈥檛 take it so I changed my mind and headed back to the room. Then; I found myself locked out (unknowing to me; my friends left the room to come and look for me). I was knocking on the door; a room service employee saw me; and then called 2 managers to let me in. Managers came; saw my hand and drove me to the medical center. Two females in the center were obviously upset as I had woke them up; they told me $120 US to SEE the DR. I told them I have travellers insurance; they told me to go back to the room and get it. At this point; I was tired; frustrated and in pain; asked them again for a tenser bandage and I would pay for it. They charged me $10US for a bandage and I had to ask several times for them to put it on my hand. Was driven back to the room for the nightDay 6 Wed: Went to breakfast; then back to room; called my insurance company for assistance (still in immense pain). My insurance co. organized everything; called the medical center; faxed them my forms and told them I was on my way there now. Got to medical center 10min later; there was a sign on the door saying they stepped out and would be back in 30min. Waited 40 min; they didn鈥檛 look at my had and told me someone was coming to take me to the hospital.Went to the hospital (in an ambulance; 30 min drive); they x-rayed my arm and found my wrist was broken; gave me a cast from my hand to elbow (insurance covered 100%). Then we realized that they will bring you TO the hospital; but NO transportation FROM the hospital. We paid $30 US just to get back to the resort.Got back just in time for al la carte; Dinner was very good that night; went to bed earlyDay 7 Thurs: Early AM; went to reception as directed by my insurance to get an accident or incident report. Spent 20 min explaining to an employee what happened; she wrote everything down so I assumed my concern was going to be taken seriously. She called her manager over who basically said sorry; thanks for letting us know I told them that I wanted this documented as it happened on their property; her response was we don鈥檛 know this happened here; it could鈥檝e happened anywhere and you didn鈥檛 pay for your treatment so what would you like us to do? I again explained about all of the employees that I encountered that evening; she told me if I didn鈥檛 have their names they couldn鈥檛 do anything. So we asked for her manager; they told us she wasn鈥檛 available; but they would have her call us; we stormed out very upset.I went for a facial treatment (which I had booked on Monday); same girl doing treatment; she was amazing; even brushed my hair and helped me dress (this was the only employee that ever tried to assist me)I tried to go to the pool and sit in the shade; but it was far too hot with a cast; I stayed in the room the entire day. At apprx 5:00; they called the room and told us that we (me and my two friends) could stay for 4 days and 3 nights for free. We told them that given our experience so far; we would not stay; plus I was confined to the room. We advised them that we did have spa treatments; total of $300 US and we would appreciate it if they could settle our bill. They told us they would have to check with the general manager of the hotel and would call us back shortly. We left the room at 7pm for our al la carte dinner reservation; no call back. After dinner; we went to the office as we also needed to check out (you can check out 12hrs in advance) and needed to know about the bill. They told us they didn鈥檛 have an answer yet; we waited 15min; then; apparently they talked to the manger and he told them no; only the free stay. So; I asked for the contact info for their legal department; she told me I had to e-mail their customer service; and refused to provide me with a name or number. Then I asked for the name of the general manager; she also refused me that info. I asked her to call the female manager Michelle (not the GM) down so I could talk to her; they appeared to have called her; then told me she had gone for the day. I stormed out (again). Twenty min later; we saw Michelle walking the grounds; I approached her and told her that I need some form of documentation that this was reported so that when I go home and try to deal with this; the hotel wont deny it. She told me that she would have to talk to the GM about a report and she would meet me in the office the next day at 10am.Day 8 Friday (leaving day): Walked up to the front for the meeting with Michelle; we noticed an ambulance in the middle of the grounds and a woman lying on the marble walkway in serious pain. It was VERY obvious that she slipped; and her leg was broken; she was screaming in pain. We also saw Michelle on the scene. We waited aside for Michelle; she definitely saw us. After about 5min; the ambulance was gone; Michelle took the long way around so she wouldn鈥檛 have to walk by us. I tried to catch up to her; called her name 3x before she finally turned around. I told her I knew she was busy; but we are leaving and I need to know about my report; she rudely said 鈥渋ts in the office didn鈥檛 they tell you?鈥?and walked away. I went to the office; expecting some form of prepared document explaining what I had reported; I was handed a form to fill out; it was titled 鈥淐omplaint Form鈥? I asked why they didn鈥檛 provide me with that the 1st time I had come; they told me that they had to wait for the hospital report. I asked if anyone had actually investigated or spoken with the employees/managers that had contact with me after the accident; they said they didn鈥檛 know. My friend filled out the complaint form for me (same form if we wanted to complain about the food) and we handed it back to them. END OF STORYIt should also be noted that I did contact the Air Transat Rep who basically had the same attitude as the hotel 鈥淲hat do you expect them to do鈥?I did explain that it wasn鈥檛 about money; but if they would have simply asked how they could help me to make the situation better; by employees helping me at the buffet; anything would have been sufficient; but they denied it happened and honestly put me through hell.On another note; I can give one good comment about the resort; the grounds are immaculate. Very well kept and maintained; 10/10 for cleanliness; but a 1/10 for service.
478252,Wayne99,05/11/2007,what a trip just returned from the dominican - the Gran Bahia Principe - cannot say enough wonderful things about our vacation - it had to be an experience well worth the money - everything was awesome - I was really amazed at the size of the place - huge huge.I have never seen such care taken in service We were so impressed - the Royal Golden Club was so wonderful -helped us in every way - especially the asst manager(Cris).I would go back again tonite - well tomorrow for sure.This resort has to be one of the best.
478252,blondieCornwall,05/09/2007,Loved This Resort We just got back from this resort. We went there to get married and brought 31 guest along with us. This resort is very big but accommodated our guests very well and gave us all different things to do and places to go.The pools were beautiful and we always found a group of lounges.The restaurants were amazing.We had our wedding at the Garden grill and that was the best! The steak was great and the meal and service was excellent.I also enjoyed the japanese restaurant.Many of our guests loved the French too.I enjoyed this resort and would recommend it to anyone.The trolly is always running but if you stay Club Diamond the walk is nice most of time as that's what we choose.It is sort of between the beach and the main lobby.If you would like to get married there it was amazing.Marianna and her assistants were so helpful and I am so happy with everything.Our wedding was beautiful and Jorge did a great job on our pictures .The ages of our group ranged from 27-70 so it was a wide aged group and everyone's reviews were great reviews from our group!This resort was the best i have stayed at and we enjoyed every second!The trip home was another story.Beware if you fly at nght with Skyservice.If they are late they will land and lay you over if they were late to pick you up and your airport has a noise by-law..always double check that..we were to fly in at 12:59am if we were on time; but they were late so it was 2am and Montreal would not except us.We stayed for 6 hours at the hamilton airport before boarding the same plane and did not return home until 2 pm Sunday back to Montreal.We had left the Punta Cana airport at 9:15pm..Beware of Skyservice and late departures.We had no idea this happens.
478252,Barracuda1975,05/08/2007,It was OK for money. Would not come back. Lobby
478252,ReneeGeorgia,05/08/2007,Great Place We stayed at this resort from April 30th through May 4th and had a great time. We booked through Apple Vacations and had no problem checking in; getting to our rooms and being notified of what to do and when there were activities. The room was great. The beach was the best!! You must go early to reserve a chair; which is not fair; but that is the game. The food was like any buffet style food. It must be hard to cook for thousands. We loved the Japanesse; but I hate having a certain time to eat; so we just ate when we wanted at the regular buffet. I wish the drinks had been better; but you are drinking domestic drinks. I had read good and bad reviews; but we had a great time. Knowing a little of the language; spanish; is a big help. After all you are in a spanishing speaking country. Go to the spa; it was great!! We would start the evening at the lobby with piano music and drinks. After eating we enjoyed the show at the middle theatre and then move to the front theatre and then disco dancing. The best was just sitting on the beach after dark and enjoying the peace. My husband and I would certainly go back and please remember to tip; especially when deserved. Have a great time and enjoy the sand and surf!!
478252,Baldersthedog,05/08/2007,Ignore the cr*p reviews......Read this..... We have just returned from 10 days at the Bahia in Bavaro and felt we had to write a review !.CHECK-INNo issues; probably due to the fact that we arrived at 1:30am and there were very few people about....it actually worked to our advantage as we were upgraded to 'Golden' for no extra money !.CLUB GOLDENGives you a little bit extra; but not a lot. I'm not sure what the upgrade price is; but I probably wouldn't pay it. What do you get ?.The room is near the beach; but no sea view. You get 15 minutes free internet each day; but; the queue for the 3 terminals each day were a bit excessive. The room was fantasic; we even had a four poster !. There is room service as well; but who the hell wants to sit in there room all day when it is 90 degrees outside !.FOODFantastic......Al a carte was fantastic; we visited Steak House; Japanese; Fish; Italian and Gourmet......IF YOU ONLY BOOK ONE RESTUARANT; MAKE SURE IT IS THE GOURMET.....The food and service was probably the best I have ever had in a restuartant or a hotel. This doesn't belong in an all inclusive resort !. Make sure you take advantage of the cray fish...!.Buffet was a little bit dissapointing when comparred to other Bahia's; but still sufficient and as ever the service was first class.We tended to visit the bbq bar in the mornings for breaky; as the view of the beach was fantastic. However visits to the buffet were good as well and the omlet queue's were small (for once !!!!!).DAY ENTERTAINMENTUnbelievable; these guys (the staff) just want to have fun. On our last day there was a arm wrestling competition by the pool...well....for you yanks - the enthusiasm of all concerned was like the superbowl; for you canadians - better than any ice hockey match...and for us English - nearly as good as football (soccer).Bottom line; these guys put everything into making your day fun !!.One observation - If you are looking for total peace by the pool this could be a problem. Whilst by the pool; the Americans and Canadians seem to be unable to communicate without shouting at the top of their voices (even if they are right next to one another) and each sentence seems to end with an annoying whooooop ?; why ?. Fine at 6pm when we have all had a drink; but at 10am...come on guys ?. However; don't let that put you of though.....EVENING ENTERTAINMENTBar service was great; totally about their business. Only watched one bit of a show; so we can't comment; but they were well attended. The Hacienda was good; very lively.OVERALL...... YOUNG; OLD; FAMILY; PEACEFUL HOLIDAY...WHATEVER...GO...IT'S GREAT !!!!!PS... forget to mention about the beach......Miles and miles and miles of sand; palm trees; beds; beach bars........oh well; hard life isn't it ?
478252,OttawabbYOW,05/08/2007,Awesome Spot Just returned from the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana;We got upgraded to the Premiere Section - my understanding was that section was adults only; and it is not. There were many children there. That did not bother us in the least; but it might for others who are not expecting that. Premiere section was really nice. You get 4 a la carte restaurant bookings and free internet and a smaller guest ratio for the facilities. Slippers and robes are supplied. They have their own buffet; and snack bar and pool etc. It is farthest from the beach though; but there are regular trams running or your can walk to the big lobby and take the trams from there.We were celebrating our anniversary and there was a bottle of champagne on ice when we arrived and a fruit platter; 2 golf shirts; 2 baseball hats and a bottle of rum. It was really nice.The restaurants we went to were Paris; Japanese; Mexican and Italian. Our favorite was Paris and least favorite the Mexican. When booking your a la carte restaurants; make sure you find out what the buffet theme is first. We missed the seafood one and the Mexican one. The buffet is well managed and always lots to choose from. We did not get sick at all; and ate freely. Make sure to book them as soon as you get there; as they fill up quickly. We ordered wine with our a la carte dinners. It did not cost that much and we really enjoyed a nice bottle rather than the house wine as it is not that good. They just charge the wine to your room so you pay at check out.Staff were great; so eager to please and understand. We carried our Spanish dictionary with us which really helped. These people work really hard and they really earn the tips and appreciate them. The service is good whether you tip or not; but we tipped and they really appreciated it.Rooms are great and the maid was super. We tipped with sweet treats we brought from home and some cash. Contrary to reviews I have read before; we never had a problem getting lounges; however we always went to the beach. If you want shade you have to be there earlier; but I got a shelter at 8 am when I came down. There were always excess. The beach is beautiful....what can I say.The gym is small but it does the trick. We had 3 days of not so great weather; and still had an awesome time. You have to go a long way not to enjoy this resort. The only bad thing that happened on this trip was that we flew with SkyService. They were delayed on our way home and by the time we left Punta Cana they knew that we could not land in Montreal due to the noise laws that planes can't land after 1 am. Same with Toronto; so they landed at 2 am into Hamilton Airport; where they left us with no details as to when we would leave. 180 people in a very small airport with very few benches; children; wheelchairs etc; and the flight crew dissappeared. I will never fly with them again by choiceAll in all it was a great trip and we will definitely return to the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana and highly recommend it.Betty Dave Burton
478252,missingthesun,05/06/2007,Wonderful Vacation Our stay: April 27 - May 4As others have written; do not believe the negative comments on here.Our flight was early so we arrived 3 hours before check-in. We were given our bracelets and towel cards immediately so we could use the resort until our room was ready (check-in is at 3:00pm; but most rooms are ready much earlier). Staff here were helpful and pleasant. Remember that the room keys are activated (and thus deactivated) by magnets; so keeps them away from other metals and cards. Our became deactivated once when we left it beside our keys/camera. This isn't the fault of the resort as one other reviewer mentioned; it's just something you don't think of. Some staff have poorer english than others; but you are in their country; so have some patience with them.Grounds: Truly unbelievable - the photos posted on this site do not capture how beautiful the resort is. Staff are working everyday trimming the vegetation; sweeping the walkways; etc etc.Rooms: We were put into the VIP premier section at the back of the resort. This included 20 minutes of internet use at ANY of the internet huts on the resort (i.e.; diamond; gold; premiere) and 1 extra a la carte dinner. The washroom is large; clean; all tile and includes shampoo; soap; shower gel; shower cap; and sewing kit. Bar fridge was stocked daily as promised. We NEVER had a maid come into our room while we were there; but we also put the do not disturb signs on our door at all times. Thus; anyone who complained of staff coming into their rooms didn't use this sign. They clean in the morning and the fresh towels are delivered mid to late afternoon. We didn't use the in-room safe because we purchased locks for our suitcases. Although we were quite far from the beach; the Premier section has their own private pool/bar; lobby/lounge; buffet; and use of the Mediterranean restaurant. There is a trolley that goes all through this section and down to the beach. We didn't use it and preferred the walk every day.Main Pool/Beach: We are early risers and wanted prime spots on the beach; under the huts. So; we reserved our spots on the beach around 7am. Although most of the front row huts are taken between 7 - 7:30; there are still lots of spots by the pool and on the beach around 8-9. We left our towels and an old t-shirt on our chairs and left for breakfast. We were nervous at first leaving our stuff but had NO problems the entire stay. The bars and pool snack bar open at 10:00am. Service is good at both. Be careful with the fruity; blended drinks (i.e.; coco loco; banana mama; etc) as they can be a little hard on the stomach. Their beer is El Presidente and is light and tasty. We walked the shoreline for about an hour everyday - the view is unbelievable. The ocean is quite warm; though we only swam a few times. We used the pool several times each day and had no problems with children or rowdiness as other reviewers indicated. We ate lunch at the snack bar each day; in order to get back to the beach/pool quicker. The food included: fresh breads; burgers; hotdogs; sliced ham/turkey; various pastas; pizza; rice; beans; chicken; and fresh fruit. There is filtered water at all of the bars.Food/Restaurants: The main buffet had themed nights and we ate there only 3 times; as we had 4 a la cartes. Buffet food was ok; but I wasn't expecting much since buffets in canada aren't that great. All types of meat are available; make your own pasta; fresh pizza; soups; salad bar; fresh breads; dessert bar; coffee/tea station; etc. Staff are VERY quick to refill beverages and remove plates. We didn't have any problems reserving our a la carte dinners - in fact the process took less than 5 minutes and the lady was very helpful with our choices/concerns.- Mexican: All a la cartes have a welcome drink; which is fruity and strong. Nachos/salsa as an appetizer on the table plus a salad bar (various mexican dishes). We had fajitas (beef overcooked) and burritos for our main dishes. Too full for dessert. Overall; it was average.- French: One of our favourites. This restaurant has a more romantic feel to it. Staff do not speak great english here; but they can answer all questions anyway (i.e.; we had a shell fish allergy and were able to communicate this). Soup was great (had pumpkin and consomm茅); lamb chops and fillet mignon as main course dishes were amazing; dessert was good too. We recommend this one for sure.- Italian: Very fun; energetic atmosphere. Serve yourself antipasto (bread; meats; cheeses; salads; etc). I had the chicken and didn't care for it. He had the salmon and loved it. Overall; a great restaurant as well.- Grill/Steakhouse: Also a relaxed atmosphere. Serve yourself salad bar; soup served as an appetizer; the steak and chicken were great. Desserts here were delicious. Great service; very well organized. - Lobby Bar (Bavaro side): We went to the lobby bar/lounge every day after dinner. The atmosphere was lovely; waitresses are there within a minute of sitting down; and very diligent at keeping on top of your drinks. This is where the best selection of drinks is and the margaritas are great here. The entertainment varies from quiet; live piano/keyboard; to more lively music and clowns on stilts. It was always a nice way to end the day.Evening Activities: We quickly walked around the Pueblo Principe area once. Since we were up so early in the morning; we weren't up for the late evening entertainment. Also; the mosquitoes are more active late at night; especially because it usually rains at least once in the evening; and since we didn't take the malaria medication; we didn't stay. we heard the shows were terrible and didn't bother with any; just stayed in the lobby/lounge. Also didn't attempt the disco so cannot be helpful here.Check out: We had an early flight so our check out was 7:30am and bus left at 8:10. We ended up checking out at 6:30 (this process took no more than 2 minutes) and walked down to the beach for one more view of the ocean. We had breakfast at the main buffet before leaving. The process at the airport was seamless. A lady ahead of us paid $100 because her luggage was way over the limit; so be mindful of how much you bring back. No line at immigration or security.We would definitely return to this resort.
478252,tdaponte,05/05/2007,Relaxed and Feeling Fine We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe from April 23 - April 30. My husband and I and my parents. We had a nice flight down and when we arrived the Punta Cana airport looked so beautiful. We booked Club Diamond through Sunquest. When we arrived at the airport you are given a number and directed to get on the bus. When we arrived at the Club Diamond bus there was a card with our names on it and my parents name on it; but when we got on the bus everyone was given an envelope (a Club Diamond check in envelope) - we had no envelope with our name on it. I was then asked to show the hotel voucher (which is behind your flight tickets) unfortunately it said Premier . Let this be a warning to all first time travellers - check every detail of your tickets; i had no idea there was a hotel voucher to be checked; i only checked our tickets for accuracy. Well; we were then told to get off the bus; remove our luggage and get on the Premier bus. Even though I explained to the representative from the hotel (she is there to meet you) that it was obviously a typo and that I was positive we booked Club Diamond - we were demanded to leave the bus. To cut the story short; we refused to leave the bus. The hotel representative told us on the bus that we would have to check in to the Premier section and figure it out the next day as we had no Sunquest representative at the property to help us. She sent two other people from the bus company to force us off the bus - we didn't get off the bus. All the way to the hotel we were very upset by our treatment and when we arrived at the Gran Bahia we couldn't even enjoy the welcome that they put out for you - Dominican dancers and a welcome drink. As soon as I got off the bus I saw our Sunquest rep.; I immediately went over to him and explained the problem and I demanded to call Canada to speak to a Sunquest rep in Toronto and our travel agent. He calmly said we don't need to call Canada we will look after it from here - he made one call and determined that it was in fact a typo and we had definitely booked Club Diamond. We arrived at 11:00 a.m. and our rooms were not ready until 3:00. I went into the Club Diamond lounge to complain about the rep. on the bus and spoke to her boss who gave each couple a bottle of champagne and fruit platter and an extra a la carte restaurant to eat at. The Restaurants - a la carte - we booked them as soon as we got there - next day - and they were booked; unless you wanted to eat dinner at 9:00 or 9:30 at night. When we did get into a Restaurant at 6:30 the Restaurant was only half full. The best in our view was the Italian and the Mediteranean. We also enjoyed the Beach Barbeque and we ate lunch every day at the Brazilian BBQ. The hamburgers are inedible. The meat is pink and I met a fellow traveller who got sick on the hamburgers. The fruit is always nice and the salad is good as well. We found the property to be very well kept and clean. The rooms are large. The beds were very comfortable. The people are very friendly. The buffet was average. You have to be careful what you choose to eat. The beach is beautiful and we spent our days at the beach and then finished at the Club Diamond Pool Bar - the drinks are plentiful. You do have to save your chairs both at the beach and the pool - they say you are not allowed; but everyone does it and if you don't you won't have a spot. We found the night life - the shows - started too late - 10:30. They should have two shows one for the crowd who gets up early and one show for the people who like to start their evening at 9:30. The shops in the square were great for souveniers. All in all; once we got past our initial first day troubles; we all relaxed and had a great vacation. Since we don't travel that much; I would prefer next time to try somewhere else; perhaps Mexico or Aruba.
478252,NSbluenoser,05/04/2007,Beautifull Resort - April 23 to 30 April 23 to April 30Resort is beautiful. The resort is large but the tram runs from the beach to the front lobby almost every five minutes but it was only about a 10-minute walk. We were booked on the Punta Cana side but were in Building 64 on the Bravaro side so we tended to use the lobby and buffet on that side. Even though the resort was large 鈥?it was manageable and you really didn鈥檛 notice that there were many people there.The grounds are beautiful and everything is so clean. The beach was awesome although the water was a little rough. We had great weather overall - you know it is hot when the workers are carrying umbrellas to keep the sun off! A few rain showers and one day of rain 鈥?hey; we were in bathing suites anyhow 鈥?so it didn鈥檛 matter.We were in the Golden section in building 64. The room was nice and the air conditioning was great 鈥?much appreciated after a long day in the sun. Large bathroom with big soaker tub; separate shower; separate toilet with frosted glass door - great water pressure and lots of hot water for the shower 鈥?always a plus. King size bed (mattress was a little hard) but not a major hardship. Room was always clean and we always had clean towels. The maid service was great. We enjoyed being close to the beach and pool. A little jockeying for chairs and shade but that is to be expected. The pool bars were good. Not a great selection of drinks but we are not drinkers so it was not a big deal to us 鈥?just enjoyed getting a cold drink.We ate breakfast at the main buffet and enjoyed the food. We tried the breakfast buffet by the pool once but not enough selection. At lunchtime; we ate at either the pool buffets (not great but okay) or we went to the main buffet. No major complaints about the food - it was as we expected for a buffet. For supper; we did five a-la-cartes. Japanese - excellent; Garden Grill another favourite 鈥?great menu and a good cold/hot buffet - service was excellent at both. Gourmet and French were okay 鈥?same food at both 鈥?not a lot of selection 鈥?service okay at French much better at the Gourmet. BBQ was terrible and service was poor 鈥?9:00 reservation so maybe they just wanted us out of there. Supper at the main buffet was fine 鈥?good selection. Breads were fantastic 鈥?many sweet breads. Desserts were good too. Reservations were hard to get and mostly late at night 8:00 to 9:00. We usually arrive 30-45 minutes early and got seated in 15 minutes or so 鈥?restaurants were always half full. The wines were a hit and miss. Some of the white wines at the restaurants were okay others were like vinegar.Staff were helpful 鈥?a little problem with English but otherwise okay. Found the maids and ground staff was friendly and always greeted you. Waiters and waitresses; bar staff all friendly. Oddity was that for some of the staff the better their English the poorer the service. Having said that; we had some dealing with some of the shift managers and we had some good laughs 鈥?Juan in particular.Entertainment was as expected 鈥?it is not Las Vegas. They really work hard and try their best. The shows were good. We saw the Lion King and it was well-done 鈥?think high school production. They even included the kids from the Kids Club; which was a nice touch. We went to the Karaoke bar and had a good laugh. Also; went to the Disco one night just for the experience. Saw one show at the Pueblo with a bit more adult content - it was a good laugh with audience participation.We took a walk to the market on the beach. Be sure to haggle with the vendors. TA advised use to pay 录 of what they ask. We checked the prices at the Pueblo before hand to get an idea of the prices.Bottom line 鈥?the trip is what you make it 鈥?and we had a great time.
478252,ChocolateMonkeyLover,05/04/2007,Great Beach! This was our third time staying at a Bahia Principe resort (we were a group of 7) - the first time in Punta Cana and we were not disappointed. We stayed at the Bavaro - Premier Club from April 19th to the 26th. Overall the weather was good - even when it was cloudy it was still nice and warm. This resort is huge - which may scare some people off but there is a great trolley system that runs all of the time - which was needed as we were travelling with two grandmas. At first we were disappointed to find that we were so far from the beach - a good 12 minute walk - however; we soon learned that our nice amenities in the Premier Club were a blessing. We spent some time at the main pool - but found it extremely busy....even our kids who are teenagers preferred the pool in the Premier section. (which was the blessing part) We also had our own Reception Club; buffet and snack bar - we appreciated being away from the crowds. The beach is AMAZING! We would walk from our resort in either direction for 30 minutes and still have lot's of beach to cover. The beach was clean and the water was also clean and clear....very little seaweed if any! It could get busy - one had to get there early to get chairs if it was really sunny out! Lot's of selection on the food and I would recommend trying the Chocolate monkey at the Premier club swim up bar. We had a slight problem with the flooding of our rooms late one afternoon - unusually hard rain for a couple of hours and we were on the main floor of our villa. We were quickly given new rooms and management had engineers coming in to rectify the problem to eliminate any future occurrences. We would definitely go back and would defintely recommend this resort to others.
478252,redneil69,05/04/2007,Lying In The Sun We have just returned from a wonderfuly relaxing week at the Gran Bahia. Yes; the site is large but we really didn't find this a problem; we were in Villa 35 and the beach was aprox 6 mins walk. From reception i'd say about 10 mins and of course there are the trolley buses if you really do find the walk too much of a chore. The beach is beautiful; with clear seas and swinging palm trees and there are 4 swimming pools too so there really is something for everyone. You can find quiet spots to sit just back from the beach if just want to chill and read etc or some of the pools have music and the usual holiday activities.The food was generally good; we ate in the Italian; Mediteranean and the barbecue restaurant all which we enjoyed very much. In the main buffet you will always find something you like; there is a pasta bar and salad bar every night and a roast. The thing to remember is you have probably not paid 5* money to come here; we paid 拢640 for one week flying from Gatwick and just wanted to sit around in the sun and do nothing; it was perfect for this. Having said that i think the resort would cater well for families or couples.The only thing that let the holiday down was the airline; Mytravel; I really cannot say how utterley useless they were and little care they have for their passengers; i will never travel with them again.All in all we had a fantastic week and enjoyed everyminute.
478252,grilchild75,05/04/2007,Great Vacation Diamond Club pool bar
478252,MelMarco,05/02/2007,Beautiful resort; excellent service!! Scubadoo machine
478252,JacobMcCandles,05/02/2007,wonderful time We stayed at the resort for 7 nights beginning on April 22 with a booking with Apple Vacations. Left Detroit on USA3000 which is a great airline. Apple Vacations actually checked us in on the bus to the resort form the airport. We ended up with a packet including room keys; maps; brochures and general information. We didn't even have to go to the lobby/front desk. We stayed in building 17 near the front desk building which gave us about a 10 minute walk to the beach. We actually enjoyed that walk everyday. If you don't like to walk; there is a tram every 2 minutes to bring you anywhere you want to go. Saldina; our housekeeper kept our room immaculate every day. Stocked the fridge with Diet Pepsi at our request. The rooms are very nice. Keep a library card or something similar in the inside key slot instead of your room key and you can keep the air on 24/7. Very friendly people. Hola; Hola all day from housekeepers; gardeners; maintenance staff; everyone. Learn a few basic words of Spanish and be patient. Between your limited spanish and they're limited english; you will get by. Remember; you are a guest in THEIR country. We didn't like all the food but you could always find enough that you did like to keep you as full as you wanted. Move around to the different buffets; don't limit yourself to the main buffet at the hotel lobby. The Japanese restaraunt was terrific. 2 different appetizers; bowls of rice; and you can pick 1 or all of the shrimp; chicken; beef and fish entrees that the chef will make right in front of you. You will sit with 4 other couples in a seperate dining room for dinner. Then each couple will go to an individual table in the main dining room for dessert. The steak houses are not what you expect in America. The steaks are chewy and small. Probably becuase the beef is not grain fed; rather grass fed so they are much leaner; hence less fat and less taste; but beef non the less.We went with the attitude to try other things than American and we did. Some we liked; some we didn't. The ones we didn't we didn't try again. Also; the hamburgers are not what you expect in America; but again I attribute that to how the cattle are fed. Coffe is very strong and they usually carry a pitcher of milk along with the coffee. In fact; the waiters seen somewhat suprised when you don't want milk. We love strong coffee so it was a treat. The drinks were fine; we pretty much existed on margaritas. However; on Wednesday the resort had run out of tequila. Thursday we were back in business. Beach was gorgeous; clean and very busy with people traffic from all the resorts. You can walk for 30 minutes each way and find nothing but gorgeous beach and people watch. If that's what you like (and we do) this is the beach for you. Mostly couples and some families with small children. Caution; if you have small children and don't want them to become too familiar with the female anatomy; keep them away from the beach as there were numerous topless women. As an adult; just remember there are a lot of europeans and south americans who have a different attitude towards their bodies in public. It was windy but we thought if prevented the beach scene from being too hot as it was in the low 90's. Remember; weather is not in the control of the resort. We usually had a 10 to 15 minute rain every day but a small personal umbrella and a willingness to wait it out and the sun pops back out and everything is back to normal. Lobby bar waitresses work their butts off to keep your drinks full. No waitress service at the beach and limited waitress service at the pools but if you can stand to walk 2 minutes at the most; the bars all are situated pretty close. The resort is very large but if you're there 7 nights it doesn't get boring. I suggest walking along the beach and poking your head in a few of the other resorts for comparisons. If anyone stops you; tell them you're considering it for your next stay and they're happy to let you walk around. the Principe village has a number of shops; knichnacks; towels; sandals; t shirts; etc. Munchies are very expensive at the resort store; bring your own as none of the bars have any; only at the resort store. We were out to the beach by 9:30 every day and pretty much had our pick of chairs. Not so with the pools but we only went to a pool one day. All in all; we have never stayed in a place so clean with so many friendly; hard working people. Our only complaint was that the ice machine in building 17 was not very regular in having ice in the bin; but the water; beer and sodas in our fridge were always cold anyways. word of caution. On saturday night the Punta Cana airport is VERY busy with arrivals and departures. Have some patience and keep your cool and everything works out. We actually breezed thru check in and immegration thanks in part to Apple Vacations and USA3000.
478252,BrendaPaish,05/02/2007,Simply Great We came as two families; us as two adults and another (our friends) with 2 very young children.The reception staff were friendly; we signed the forms and immediately got our wrist bands. Of course; we were greeted by a waitress with tropical punch drinks.The rooms were nice; huge big bed and spotless. The bathrooms were very comfortable too; with good powerful showers and spacious.The whole area of the hotel is very; very big. A fair distance from the place where you get off your car/bus; to your rooms and the beach. Several continuous trams take the guests from the reception areas to their respective rooms and to the beach. Of course; we always walked the distance; as it麓ll do us good after the food.The gym was nice too; very clean and hardly anybody in it; doing exercise. The distance from the gym to where it all happens is again;a fair walk. However; we did it and it took probably about 10 mins at a steady pace.The food was always great. We enjoyed the buffet very much; as there were plenty of good and healthy choices. We went to a specialty restaurant; it was the Brazilian restaurant by the sea. It is well recommended as the skillets of beef; pork; sausages; lamb and chickenkeep on coming. To say the least; we had a good time.The show was a credit - certainly the circus night where the boys used a trampoline and trapeze for the show was worth seeing. They were amateurs but very fit blokes and pretty entertaining. (But by far; not the circus de soleil).House keeping is ok. Beach was crowded when we were there and have toget the sun loungers from various places.All in all; very good and worth the driving and reservation of a yearin advance.GO!
478252,TravelGoBlue,05/02/2007,Extremely disappointed I am writing to express my complete displeasure and dissatisfaction with my recent stay at theGran Bahia Principe Resort in Punta Cana; Dominican Republic. My fianc茅; two dear friends and myself recently returned from Punta Cana. I have never submitted any type of complaint; nonetheless; the experience at your hotel was so disturbing that I felt compelled to write this review. Although the facilities were facially picturesque; the hotel offered very little in the way of hospitality to its guests. I have traveled to numerous places throughout the world and can authoritatively state that this was one of my worst experiences. Moreover; it was the first time I felt insecure within the walls of my hotel room. One of the most frustrating aspects was the inability of the majority of the staff to communicate in any language other than Spanish. The inability to effectively communicate hampered any attempts at problem resolution. A simple question to the housekeeping staff could not be answered. The hotel did not provide any meaningful information in the form of either posted bulletins or in-room information brochures. As a result; the numerous questions we had concerning the hotel or hotel services went unanswered since; as stated above; most of the staff spoke only Spanish. Unbelievably; even at the so-called 鈥渟pecialty鈥?restaurants; it was impossible to communicate when placing a food order. The communication problems; however; pales in comparison to the lack of security when inside my hotel room. The hotel staff was able to enter my room at will; even when the alleged deadbolt lock was securely in place. For example; one night some time after 11:00 p.m. I was already in bed with my fianc茅. There was a knock at the door and before my fianc茅 could leap out of bed to answer it; a housekeeper entered purportedly to give us replacement beach towels. This was quite unnerving since we subsequently found out that housekeeping services ends at 10:00 p.m. Even more suspect the following day; another member of housekeeping entered our room [again the dead bolt was in place] at approximately 3:30 p.m. to ostensibly retrieve a paper bag. Upon arrival; the hotel had placed a brown shopping bag in our room that contained complementary Bahia Principe T-shirts. Once again; the dead bolt was locked and housekeeping had previously 鈥渕ade up鈥?the room. However; at about 3:30 p.m.; there was a 鈥渢ap鈥?at the door and before we could respond; a housekeeper entered. She mumbled a bit and then stammered that she needed to retrieve this bag. She grabbed the bag and left. Understandably; we did not believe this pretence and indeed confirmed with the assistant manager in guest services that the hotel did not want and had no need for this little brown paper bag. I can only speculate that this person entered our room for some other reason. Regardless; neither of these events should have occurred and left me with a very uneasy feeling.Although nothing of great value was taken from my room; some small items were missing. For example; I had left various fully wrapped snacks on the dresser. I had brought these from home. In this case; the decision was very insightful since the mini-bar contained nothing more than 4 bottles of soda and two cans of beers. Hardly what could be termed 鈥渨ell stocked.鈥?As I said; the cost is not the issue; rather; this type of behavior is extremely objectionable and clearly undermines any feeling of security.In addition; I found it rather odd that the Bahia charged for use of the in-room safe. In order to use the safe; it was necessary to go to the reception desk; make special arrangements and pay $32.00 to use the safe for our 7 day stay. This is not the sign of a world-class hotel. On previous trips I have taken; hotels typically encouraged the use of the in-room safe without any additional charge to insure the safety of their guests. I would expect any organization that was truly concerned with the welfare of its patrons would freely offer this simple amenity. An additional security concern involves the purported 鈥渓ocked baggage鈥?room. We had a late check-in since our flight did not land until the evening; nonetheless; the hotel had a noon check out time. The day before we were scheduled to depart we attempted to make arrangements with the manager for a late check-out since transportation to the airport was not set to arrive until 5:45 p.m. The manager was unwilling to give us any answer at this time stating he did not know if the rooms would be available. Candidly; I did not believe this excuse. I find it highly implausible that the hotel did not know if our rooms would be needed for other guests arriving the very next day. Even so; the next day we renewed the request which was simply denied by the manager. He appeared annoyed that we dared to 鈥渂other鈥?him a second time. Interestingly; other guests checked out late without seeking prior approval and were simply assessed a $10 per hour fee. Apparently; the rooms were available and our mistake was taking the time to properly make a request. Absurd!In connection with the denial of our request for a late check-out; we were assured by the manager that while we waited for transportation to the airport; our baggage would be stored in a 鈥渓ocked鈥?room. In this way; we could still make use of the hotel facilities including public showers until we were ready to depart. Unfortunately; the baggage room was not locked; secured or guarded in any manner. We; as well as numerous other guests; entered the baggage room at will; rifled through our luggage unhampered by security! It was quite evident that the Bahia had been seriously overbooked. Indeed; there were several offers by the hotel for free all day excursions if the guests would agree to move to different rooms every time they returned. In an effort to accommodate a large in-coming party; other guests were offered $200.00 in exchange for moving to the Riu Resort for a couple of days. Upon their return; these guests reported there was much better food and service at the Riu. I should mention; I have traveled to many all inclusive resorts and I am not very fussy; particularly about food. However; the food at the Bahia was clearly substandard. Finally; although in no way connected to the Bahia; upon arrival at the Punta Cana Airport arranging for departure; we were told one of our bags was 2 pounds over weight. This could have been remedied by rearranging some items between the bags. Nonetheless; the person at check-in said it would cost $5.00. She must have noticed we were paying in cash because the price jumped to $50.00. What made this so appalling is the amount we paid but the fact that this girl took the $50.00 bill; did not give us any type of receipt and proceeded to stuff the money under her computer key board. As stated at the beginning; I was very displeased and dissatisfied with my stay at the Bahia. In particular; the lack of security is unacceptable. I will not return.
478252,Skeezer23,05/02/2007,Loved It!!! Beach and shipwreck
478252,LovePuntaCanaAlot,05/02/2007,Would love to go back!! We stayed at the Bahia Principe from April 23-30 and had an absolute fabulous time!!!We were a little nervous after reading some of the reviews; but we honestly have no complaints. You just sit back; and enjoy yourself...put the regular busy life behind you and go at their pace.Of course; there are only a select few staff who speak good english; but they are so friendly and will get you what you need as soon as they can. We had no complaints about the food - we really enjoyed the Las Olas BBQ on the beach (7 different meats) as well as the breakfast (omlettes made to order!). Book your a la cartes right away and familiarize yourself with the resort on your first day. It does seem confusing at first; but it's not as complicated as it looks! We ate at La Gourmet; Las Olas (twice!!) and The Garden Grill. We had the Gold package; which was great...15 minutes internet everyday (which was important to us to keep contact with our kids at home) beach towels in your room; 4 restaurants instead of 3; etc.The beach is fantastic...you can walk for hours (which we did!!). We did not have to wake up too early to get good chairs (with shade). I think by 8 or so it starts filling in which isn't too bad. Shopping in Pueblo Principe was fun! The theatres; shows; etc. were entertaining as well. Remind the bartenders/waitresses to just give you a little bit of alcohol in your drinks if you are not a fan of strong drinks...they are not stingy with that for sure!! We liked the many different cultures of the guests as well...listening to all the different languages was interesting!Anyway - this is becoming longer than I thought it would be...we loved it; would go back in a heartbeat. We met many people who were there for their second time; all of whom told us; we don't usually go to the same place twice; but we love it HERE. To us; that says a lot!!Hope you enjoy yourself as much as we did!
478252,Brandt73,05/01/2007,Excellent...enough said!! My wife and I stayed at the Bahia from 4-21 to 4-29. I feel compelled to write; because I really appreciated all the info provided by other travelers. First; the hotel itself is large; but they have very efficient ways of getting to one side of the resort to the other with the shuttles running about every 5 minutes. The landscaping in the resort is nothing short of incredible. the workers there do a fine job of keeping the landscape beautiful.Food: I read complaints on this board in the past. Let me tell you.....We ate the buffets; snackbars and restaurants and at no time did we get sick. All water; drinks and food is safe as they use purified water. The food was very good for a buffet ( different variety every night) and all the restaurants; but the BBQ were excellent.Rooms: The rooms were kept very clean by the maids. These people work extremely hard and a $ 2-5 dollar tip a day was much appreciated and well worth the service.Beach: Yes; it is true you should get up early to get a lounge chair in the shade; but not to worry we never were without. The beach is without a doubt one of the most beautiful I have ever been to in my life.Shopping: The only downfall to the DR. The sales guys are pushy.....Always negoitate a price!!!!!! THey will comoe down to your liking.The entertainment was good with quite abit of crowd interaction.Drinks tasted great; but you must ask to get a little extra!!!All in all I give the resort a 9 out of 10 and would definately go back and I don't think I would stay anywhere else but the Bahia!!!Go there..Don't worry about complaints; I was very skeptical too; but turned out to be a wonderful place...Enjoy it and have a great time!!
478252,DRTraveler7,05/01/2007,Beautiful Resort; Poor Service; Bad Food First; a warning to parents traveling with two children: there are no rollaway beds available in this resort (first time in my many times in the Caribbean all-inclusives). So you have two choices -- either sharing a king-size bed with one of your kids; or getting a room with two full-size beds; each of them too small to accommodate two full-size adults.The resort is large; well-maintained with nice pools and beautiful beach. Bartenders are cheerful; skilled; and drinks are plentiful. Tips are appreciated; but not necessary. Mini Club for kids is apparently a lot of fun. Some of the nightly shows they put together (Michael Jackson; Circus) are almost professional. During our stay; guests were mostly Canadian; French; a few Italians; and very few Americans. Size of the resort is not a problem at all; there is all-day transportation from the main lobby to the beach with stops throughout the resort.The food ranges from semi-decent (Italian Restaurant) to below-average (French) to simply inedible (Mexican). In the buffet we could only handle pasta; eggs; breads and fruits and vegetables. Everything else was either bland; or greasy; or whole-fried. Service in all a la carte restaurants was just OK; but in the buffet it was pretty terrible due to the fact that no one (I mean NO ONE!) speaks any (I mean ANY!) English. If you; God forbid; turn away from your half-eaten meal for a split second; the plate will disappear from your table. The generic wine was horrendous. With your eyes closed you won't be able to tell the red from the white; because they both smelled and tasted like vinegar.Room service was pretty bad. I gave the woman $5 US daily and she still wouldn't clean the room till late afternoon; so if we wanted to return to our room before 3PM; we couldn't. It was impossible to get extra towels; or an extra bottle of water. A few times we could not get ANY fresh towels until very late afternoon; despite calls to the front desk.The worst of all are the reception desk people. Arrogant; rude and inept. Upon arrival we had to wait 3 hours (from 2 PM to 5 PM) to get a room; despite a rather large tip. They wouldn't crack a smile; or thank you. One night I actually witnessed them mocking a tipsy female guest who lost her hotel bracelet. Requests and phone calls are answered with such impoliteness; that you would think twice before asking them a question. They call it; as one of the front desk managers told me; 鈥渒eeping the integrity鈥濃€?br/>So; you say; it's all minor stuff; don't be petty; enjoy your vacation; but at the end of the day little things like these prevent your from calling your stay in Gran Bahia Principe a 鈥済reat vacation鈥?
478252,CultureShocked,05/01/2007,Awesome time at Bahia Principe Bavaro Punta Cana Just returned from Punta Cana DR last week and had a wonderful trip. There were 5 of us ranging from 20-48 years of age and we all enjoyed our stay at this resort. My husband and I had been at the Bahia Principe Bavaro before and returned taking others with us for a second trip. The resort is absolutely beautiful and the people working there are wonderful. The rooms are big and clean; the pools are clean and clear; the beach is amasing; the food is great with lots of choices; and the drinks are marvelous. What more can I say. Be sure to take in the theatre after supper; followed by the main stage at the square; and finish up at the disco for the night. The entertainment teams work very hard all day; do a great job; and always smile giving you the feeling that they really like what they do and enjoy doing it. Also we took in the excursion the Outback Safari as before; and had a great day off the resort. The tour guides and drivers are friendly; knowledgable; and funny keeping you interested as you meander through the countryside and villages to the mountains stopping at a ranch for lunch. You will see the local hospital and school (bring with you items for the classroom to leave with the teacher); visit a local home; coffee and cocoa plantation; visit a local beach and get to taste tropical treats as well as having many happy hours!! The weather was hot and sunny; seen no mosquitos or bugs; it was picture perfect.
478252,T4796B,05/01/2007,Great Place and People-Dissappointing Food! Date: April 21-28Very beautiful and clean resort. We travelled with 11 people and had 4 rooms in building #1 in the Golden section. It was great being closest to the beach and pool. There also was an indoor and outdoor restaurant close by so that we didn't need to travel to the main lobby area. The resort is huge but the trams come every 2-3 mins- even at 2:00 a.m. in the morning. They are always cleaning and maintaining the resort inside and out and the staff are most friendly. The big dissappointment was the food. This was our 4th all inclusive (2-DR and 2-Mex). We have never experienced such poor a la carte dining anywhere. I can say that we never experienced a single poor a la carte at any of the other 3 resorts- Here we had 4 bad experiences.Don't do the lobster beach BBQ- as others have mentioned it is not so good without the lobster. I felt so bad for the wedding party beside us who obviously were looking forward to a nice meal. The Groom was very distraught- don't blame him!The BBQ steak was like chewing on your boot!The Japanese was probably our best outing however if you are looking for authentic taste and presentation- you'll be disappointed- I would give it a 5 out of 10.We thought the next night at the Italian restaurant would restore our pallet. We arrived and found 2 people from 2 separate tables returning the food on their plate. 1 from our table had to do the same.Finally came the Steak house. We arrived once again to have the table beside us very upset with their meals. The 7 of us who ordered the rib steak couldn't cut the meat. Bring a steak knife. 2 from our group ordered the tenderloin- it was the only meat that was edible.I have never experienced such poor quality of food for a la cartes. I have never witnessed so many people returning food.It's too bad because the place really is beatiful. It is great for families kids and even singles. Our 19 year old lived every night at the Disco- meeting girls every night- he had a blast.With some effort on the a la carte dining this could be a 5 star facility however I would rate it a 31/2 or 4 max. The beaches are definetly 5 star. Even better than when we stayed further down the beach at the Paradisus. You can't even compare the dining at the 2 facilities.Tim- Toronto Canada
478252,Dobergrad,05/01/2007,Not a 4* by any stretch Terrible hotel. If not for the lovely beach stretching on for miles; and the fact that we prepaid; we would have left. My husband and I have vacationed in the Caribbean at least ten times over the years. Within the last 6 years we've taken our son to the Melia Caribe Tropicale in Punta Cana 3 times and the Barcelo Colonial in Mexico once (both All-Inclusives and both lovely). While no hotel is perfect; this one truly seemed to be a mill; moving hordes of people through it as cost effectively as possible.Service: awful. Check-in was a nightmare. Won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say we were shuttled back and forth between the Punta Cana And Bavaro lobbies 3 times (they didn't seem to know where to put us!) and then given unactivated room cards by mistake making it impossible to enter the room. On and on it went like this the entire week we were there.Food: awful. The 3 times we tried to make reservations; the line required at least a 45 minute wait (that was their estimate!); so we gave up. The dinner buffet dining room is like a cave with no windows and more crying babies than we have ever encountered in our lives. The indoor lunch buffets next to the pool that are supposed to be air-conditioned did not have even remotely functioning air-conditioning making the outdoor snack bars the only acceptable option for lunch. The food there was disgusting. This was the only resort we have ever been to where we got sick (and no; we did not touch the tap water; are careful with sun exposure; and do not overindulge in alchohol).Atmosphere : awful. There is not enough room here for the number of people using this resort. Always an ordeal to find chairs at the pool or beach. The pool is VERY crowded; with many rowdy drinkers and unsupervised children. The pools at the Melia put this to shame. Some parents actually let their children eat their hotdogs in the pool; so you can see what type of oversight is (or is not) occurring here.Recreation: awful. At the Melia and Barcelo our son enjoyed playing board games; miniature golf; shuffleboard; life size chess; pool; foosball; etc. We would not expect any resort to have all of these; but this hotel had nothing. Their miniature golf was in a disgraceful state of disrepair; and when we tried to play pool at night; we found that they required quarters. Not one person could help us find change and we never saw anyone play the whole week we were there.Beach: amazing. The only reason to come here; but there are miles of beautiful beach in Punta Cana; and better hotels.Don't be lured by promises of a 4* experience with the price of a 2* hotel (we were).
478252,Buffercat101,04/30/2007,Beautiful place Sun Rise
478252,Bevwav,04/30/2007,Beautiful; Clean and accomodating Sun Rise
478252,Humidor,04/29/2007,Great family resort!! More photos
478252,dopeysdad,04/29/2007,The First and Last Time Ok lets start by telling you all my family and I take 4 vacations a yaer and this is the first time i've been moved to write a negative review. most of the time i write letters on how great things were . 2 families traveling together all with adjoining rooms. But now back to this trip. Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana First lets go over issues we had personaly ; arrived on monday 4/23/07 mid day took kids to beach and a light diner @ pool side returned to room @ aprox 8:30pm to a flooded bathroom the water was flowing in from the light fixture in the ceiling. the repair man shows up and reports to me he fixed the problem and leaves. - well he walked all over the tub and sink in his muddy boots. call house keeping you say i did they told me i'd have to wait 45 / 90 min for a maid. so guess who cleaned up so my kids could go to sleep me! { maid never showed up } Tuesday ~ had a great day @ the ocean VERY WINDY ! returned to room showered and went to eat @ nice Rest. ~ not so nice the seafood Rest. ran out of lobster! i'll say this again THE SEAFOOD REST. RAN OUT OF LOBSTER ! ! ! OK i know your saying stop whinning right ...... o keep reading .... we get back to our room ....... guess what we found A newly flooded bathroom ...... again called front desk again different repairman same muddy boots all over and no maid...... guess who cleaned again ...... me Mr. Maid! ! kidz asleep dad angry Wed morning caal front dest to speak to Mngr. oops! he does not speak english. so from what i got he was very sorry and will call me back later. ....WHEN ? no oblo! well the story goes on. Wed. ok nice day lil rain cool breezes all good ........that night another smaller flood this time i get the one repairman that realy knows what he is doing and he speaks englishand he has a tube of calking to fix the leaky shower above my room ok now day 3 and i believe my room is fixed also he brought a maid to clean up after him..... thursday morning I see the General Manager he is a very nice man that smiles a lot i believe because he does not understand a word i am saying. I get no where with him so i go see the manager in guest relations. well she was very helpful. she offered me an afternoon at the SPA ! for my troubles. well i thought this was verey nice so i gladly accepted and then they asked me to sign a Realease of Liability ok so no problem i sign i get me lil certificate and off i go to swim with the dolphins. we return a 5PM and we have a dry room HORRAY! ! ! great so 1 day left a half day at the spa fpr me and the wife nice ending to a not so nice vacation..we Dress and go out to a nice Carib BBQ down by the beach no lobster ( the man tells me there is a shortage of lobster on the island ) steak well ok i guess it could be called that ground chuck is better .... ans chicken dry tasteless chicken.... no NO NOOO it gets better.. or should i say worse. Friday morning i call to make Resv. @ the spa ! ok they tell me i need to bring them the Cert. so on to the tram .....o did i mention this place is as big as 2 disney parks... they have a tram to get you around it is so big ....but the trams only go to areas then you have to find the right place by luck or map. ok so i find the spa i walk about 1/4 mile to get there and the lady tells me the Certy i have is only good for use of the private pools and sauna and steam room. you know pools heat and sweating I asked about the massage we were promised ?? she told me go talk to the guest relations lady. ..... ok walk back to GR and wait 45 mins to speak to her and she tells me to come back in 2 hours and she will have it all fixed... ok here it comes ~~~~2Hrs 10 mins later i return ........ She's gone for the day. ! but she did leave me a slip good for 2 massages but ther SPA is booked up and i leave @ 7:30 am on the next morning. so i guess they are assuming i'll use them on my next visit????? they must be kidding me!!!! ********************************************************************* OK here is an overview of my visit to Gran Bahia Principe Punta CanaROOM FLOODED 3 NIGHTS 2 DIFFERANT REST. RuN OUT OF LOBSTER ( lobster shortage on a carib island) HAD TO CLEAN MY OWN ROOM 2 X's Wind like i was in the wizard of oz. DailyWatered down drinksNO ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH ! they round everything up to the next dollar price on lotion in hotel lobby $7.32 they ring it up the computer says $7.32 they turn to you and say $8 The food was good not great but good VERY BIG to many people to much ! had to be aprox 2000 rooms SIT DOWN MEALS ~ your all inclusive package you get resv. to 2 or 3 or 4 of the sit down rest. well you'll find that they are all booked and always booked yet we went to a few to see if we could walk in ...the places were 1/2 full but they told us they were booked solid. they push you to buffet to keep cost down. so on a scale of 1 ~ 101 being HELL 10 being best Vacation ever ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~food a 4 rooms a 1service a 3 Guest services a 2 overall i give this resort a { 2 } Dont go worst vacation i've ever had and we go on vacation 4 times a year from the carib to Disney .
478252,Draude8,04/28/2007,Just nice. We stayed at the Bahia Prinicipe the week of April 21 thru April 28 . It is a very big and nice resort. We suposed to stay in Bavaro side but due to overbooking they gave us Club Premier room. The farest place to the beach but quietly and clean with a private pool. We had 4 a la carte rezervations but we used only 2 because the buffet was ok and we didn't like the food at the restaurants. (the Italian one was a joke).The drink was ordinary to poor. If you want something good you have to pay extra.The room it's very nice. Big and clean with everything you need inside. The a.c. is very eficient.The pools and the beach OK too. Big and clean; but the towels looked very used and need to be replaced. The watersports are allmost missing. 6 days from 7 we had red flag and everything was on the ground. Don't forget this is an Atlantic Ocean's beach and the waves are big enough. Diving and deep sea fishing are just wasting time and money.All in all it was nice but I would not go back again...
478252,yanks05,04/27/2007,Huge Resort- but veryyy well kept We just got back from the Bahia!. Our weather was so so which was a disspointment. We had sun and rain almost every dayFirst and foremost. This hotel is enormous!!I There are many villas that you have to take a trolley to get to. WE upgraded to golden which I highly recomment for a few extra $. BY being a golden member; we were closest to the beach; had our beach towels replaced every day by the staff; two Bottles of water!! and our own reception area to make reservations; checkout; etc. If you speak english; please brush up on your spanish because the staff speak littler english. We especially had a problem when asking quesitons on how to use our safe; and transportation to the airport Our room was umbelievable! Very spacious( golden room) jacuzzi; shower; big vanity. We loved our room! FOOD- The food was decent; buffets were geared towards european but being from america; we were able to make due. The breakfast was great; lunch everything is the same no matter where you ate. That was a negative. You couldnt go anywhere diffrent for lunch. I am not a fan of eating hot food when I am in the sun all day so I felt there wasnt enough variety .We did ala carte dinners all week. The restaurants were very good! We ate at four places: Japanese; Steak; Italian; and Mexican. Mexican was our favorite! The Italian was good too!Drinks- As stated in another review; The drinks were extremely watered down. You have to tell the bartenders more alchohal. The Mexican restaurant had the best margaritas !BEACH- excellentBeach pool- very good there are lots of pools. we stayed at the one closest to the beach!We didnt have a problem finding chairsNightlife- There are theme shows everything. This huge hotel has its own village of shops during the day and entertainment late at night. The casino is not worth visiting and the disco was a great time.The only negative is; it opens at midnight and closes at 2. The disco has its own dancers to dance with guests. We felt like were at the resort in the movie dirty dancing!! Positives- rooms; a la carte dinners; pool; beach; breakfast buffetnegatives- way too big; confusing; we didnt know there were two lobbies until day two of our vacation- the lobbies are identical mirror images of eachother; lunch buffet
478252,sunsunsunVancouver,04/27/2007,Great service; great resort! We just returned from our stay April 19-26 2007. We were very impressed with the value of our package. We stayed in the Royal Golden section. I've never seen such service. The staff were all hard working a friendly. I contribute this to high staffing levels. You'll feel like a celebrity here. The dinners were very high end when you get your limited reservations for the a la carte. The remaining buffets were decent to poor depending which ones. The ones near the beach were a waste of space; although the fresh fruit is always great wherever. The size of the resort was a great thing. They have the nicest biggest beach out of all the hotels we saw. You walk a lot and that's good because you really can't go off the resort in Punta Cana. We checked out some other resorts but they eye your bracelet and ask you to leave.We saw a few weddings but this is more a place for kids than weddings. We were a young couple and enjoyed the place but I'd do a wedding at Majestic or Riu Palace where they're set up for that much better. Our advice...DONT GO ANY TIME NEAR RAIN SEASON! The week before was sweet so we heard. We saw two layers of cloud the whole time. I wondered why all the pictures I saw had clouds. This place has partial clouds or full cloud coverage. We saw 2 decent days on our trip and got pretty much soaked with rain. I'm a sun lover and don't go for food etc. so I'd return here only in the dry season. A great resort for families and older couples. You'll be a little out of place if you're younger but still love it. If you're single..haha....not your bag. Cheers.
478252,Sams0nite,04/27/2007,Complete Battery Recharge!!!! Huge rooms
478252,t4me2,04/26/2007,Great; Great; Great!!! Just returned from a 4 day stay at the Gran Bahia Principe. I have to personally thank everyone who took the time to post reviews to this site. I read hundreds of them before leaving and felt well prepared and knew what to expect once I got there. For the most part; everything that I'd read was accurate. The resort is HUGE (I can't tell you the number of times I got lost or thought I was on the Punta Cana side and was actually on the Bravo side). I flew from Baltimore on USA 3000. The flight was wonderful. I'd actually booked my air fare and hotel reservations seperately and received a better deal than I would have had I booked a package. The plane was filled with travelers who'd book through Apple Vacation. Because I didn't do a package; I had to arrange and pay for transportation to and from the airport and resort. I found a company online; S.T. Silva; and paid $90 round trip for the service. When we landed in Punta Cana; went through Customs and retrieved our bags; someone from the transportation company was there waiting with a sign to take us to the resort. All I had to do was give him my printed confirmation (more about this later). The ride to the resort was exactly 30 minutes and uneventful (probably the most intriguing thing was seeing a soldier on the side of the road with a M16 rifle). We arrived at the resort and were informed that we'd be given VIP status. I wasn't sure what that meant but was appreciative. We were assigned to Villa 7; room 7302; which was fairly close to the beach (although to see the ocean; we had to stretch really far over our balcony and look to the left and in between the tops of the trees; we could see water!). The room was very nice and clean with towel scuptures and fresh flowers on the bed and the bathroom counter. Shortly after arriving; 2 gentlemen knocked on the door and delivered fruit and dessert trays; and bottles of champagne and rum. Someone else came while we were away and left a gift bag with golf shirts and hats in them. I guess that's what we got for being VIP. The air conditioner worked too well. There was a white box by the front door that controlled the air and everything else electrical. Whenever you removed the card from the white box; everything shut off. At night the room was too cold. There was a refrigerator; which didn't get very cold;stocked with 2 beers; 2 bottles of water; and 4 sodas. On the second day; we left our housekeeper a note asking for a lot of water and beer along with $5. When we returned to the room; there were 12 beers and 6 bottles of water; a very clean room with clean towels and fresh flowers. We had a different housekeeper after the second day; left her the same note with $5; she wasn't as generous as the first one. We didn't see any mosquitos and were not bitten. We ate at the main buffets; the Japanese and the French restaurants. I'm a VERY picky eater and I really enjoyed all of the food. The main buffets (on both sides) did have a weird smell as others have noted. The Japanese restaurant was really; really good. The French restaurant was just OK for me. I ordered the sea bass with squid. We had lunch one day at the Mexican restaurant which was good. There was paella which was good with the exception of the lobster in it. It was very mushy. We had breakfast one day at the outdoor restaurant on the beach. I really had a hard time with people in their bathing suits (with no cover-ups) and bare chested hairy men in speedos at the buffet. I really couldn't get with that. So; for me; the food was just OK. We missed dinner one night because we'd had a late lunch. When we started to get hungry; everything was shutting down so I remembered the VIP status thing and called for room service. I was told that room service was not a part of our accommodations...so much for VIP status (needless to say; we went to bed hungry). The beach is beautiful. You do have to reserve a prime spot early (we got to the beach every morning around 6:30); however; there are chairs available mid-morning as well. There were some topless women but it wasn't a big deal. Saw the Michael Jackson show which was really good. Spent some time in the casino and probably lost about $130 over 2 days. Not worth it but the weather was so bad I couldn't leave. That's another thing; it rained everyday we were there. The first day for only about 1 hour; the second day; it rained for about 6 hours straight; a cold; hard; windy rain (that's when I got stuck in the casino). Then; a little bit for the next couple of days. The weather report did say rain but I've been to the Carribean many times and know what that means so I really didn't expect any. Boy was I wrong this time!!!We were able to check out with no problem; However; I'd remembered the night before that I was supposed to call the transportation company to confirm our pick-up time. The person who met us at the airport did not return my print out so I had no information to call with. I spoke with the person at the front desk about it; she sent me outside to the bell hops who sent me to guest services who sent me to where you book your tours who sent me back to guest services who sent me back to the front desk who sent me back to the bell hops. It was a nightmare. No one could tell me anything. Finally it didn't matter that I'd pre-paid to be picked up...I just need to get to the airport. I asked about catching a taxi and no one could tell me where to go. After all of this and about 45 minutes of running around; I look and the van from S.T. Silva (the transportation company) is pulling up. They had may name and everything and took me to the airport with no problem. All-in-all; I had a wonderful vacation;. I would go back in a heartbeat and highly recommend this resort .
478252,ericaube,04/26/2007,The best Resort in 10 years...!!! A group picture before leaving
478252,ecnelson,04/26/2007,Perfect getaway at Bahia Principe! We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe from April 13- 19 and loved it! The resort is immaculate and has everything you could ask for. We had perfect weather every day (about 85 degrees and sunny). The only day that it rained at our resort; we had taken the Saona Island trip (about two hours from Punta Cana 鈥?see below) and avoided the rain. We booked through Apple Vacations and we had access to the entire resort (Bavarro; Punta Cana and Premier sections).AT PUNTA CANA AIRPORT: They make you purchase a Tourist Visa for $10 at one counter and hand it right back at another counter; pretty silly. Once you get your luggage; you proceed to the exit; that鈥檚 where the baggage guys are that want to help you 鈥?avoid these guys as their only concern is getting money from you. They see your travel agency sticker or tag and yell it out; making you think that they鈥檙e representing the company. We fell for it and they just led us about 20 feet to our Apple Vacations counter. AT BAHIA PRINCIPE: Check-in was quick and easy and we made sure to pay for our room safe at that time 鈥?about $35 for the week. Our room was beautiful and in a great location; about midway between the lobby and the beach 鈥?central location was perfect because this resort is enormous! We had some gifts waiting for us in the room 鈥?T-shirts; rum; trinkets; etc鈥?and the view was very nice from Villa 10.Tip the chambermaids everyday (we left $2) and they will gladly replenish your mini-bar with your requests; turndown your bed; leave fresh flowers and plenty of water bottles and towels. FOOD: Make any dinner reservations for the specialty restaurants first thing. There are 8 at the resort and they all fill up. We loved the Seafood restaurant; nicest staff; best food and atmosphere. When you make reservations at Guest Services; they give you reservation tickets. Bring these with you to the restaurant 鈥?we didn鈥檛 the first night and the hostess at the Dominican Restaurant didn鈥檛 know what to do without it. We always tipped a few dollars after our meals but I noticed many guests did not.The buffet restaurants are all great; literally anything you can think of was offered. We had access to the Premier Club located at the front of the resort and we liked that buffet best 鈥?less traffic and quieter. We also like that pool the best for the same reasons.My boyfriend ate anything he wanted and never had a problem. I have a more sensitive stomach and did need Imodium once or twice.TRIPS: We took the 鈥淥utback Safari鈥?day trip and loved it. We had a great tour guide; Eddie; who knew everything about the island of Hispanola and taught us a lot. We visited a typical home; a grade school; and cocoa and coffee plantations. You end the trip boogie boarding huge waves on a beautiful beach before heading home. It was very educational and nothing we would have seen had we just laid on the beach all week. Our other excursion was the Saona Island trip. It鈥檚 advertised as a day on a secluded island with virgin beaches and relaxation. Reality is; it鈥檚 an hour and a half bus ride to a catamaran; and an hour and a half boat ride to the island where you only have two hours to relax and you鈥檙e with at least 300 other people. The bus ride back is even worse because you鈥檙e wet and tired. It makes for an extremely long day and it鈥檚 really not worth it. We both agreed that we would have rather relaxed poolside at our own resort. TIPS: We read many reviews before leaving; all said to pack bug repellant for the 鈥渉orrible mosquitoes鈥?-- we didn鈥檛 see any. Every night we would eat outside and walk around the resort and never had any problems. We never did walk on the beach at night though; maybe that鈥檚 where they are. We also read that the chair reserving was a big problem and that if you wanted good ones; you had to be out there at 6am. We would stroll out to the beach or pool around 9am and never had a problem getting good chairs.The restaurants say formal dress. They ask that men wear pants (no jeans). We dressed accordingly but saw many people wearing whatever they wanted. No big deal.Be sure to pack enough sunscreen and aloe lotion. I ran out of my sunscreen and stopped in the lobby shop to pick some up. What is normally about $6 in the states was a $20 bottle of sunscreen! I thought it was a mistake; but evidently not. Don鈥檛 buy cigars or shells on the beach. Our travel agent told us that often vendors walking around on the beach are actually selling dirt wrapped in banana leaves. There is a perfectly fine cigar shop at the resort. There are many vendors selling beautiful Conch shells 鈥?customs won鈥檛 let you take these out of the country. Same for 151 rum.My boyfriend speaks enough Spanish to have a conversation and they loved that. I would see some people blatantly saying 鈥渘o Spanish; only English鈥?which I thought rude. It鈥檚 clear that they appreciate any effort on your part to speak the language; even if it鈥檚 just por favor and gracias. Overall; we really enjoyed the Gran Bahia Principe. The grounds were just gorgeous; not one thing out of place. Everyone was very friendly and always making sure you were enjoying your stay. My boyfriend thought the resort was almost too big; not really a complaint; just not a small; romantic getaway if that鈥檚 what you鈥檙e looking for. I loved it and would recommend it to any and everyone!
478252,postiebear,04/25/2007,Great Food Enjoyed our stay at this hotel. Our only negative comment was that the resort was very very big; not enough lounge chairs at the beach; so if you are a beach person( like we are) we had to be down at 6:00AM. The food was excellent;we did not go to any of the specialty restaurants;as making a reservation was making a commitment; which I'd rather not do on vacation. Would I go back; yes if the price was right.The people working on the resort are very friendly; very professional with the jobs they are doing.We enjoyed the evening music at the main lobby on the Punta Cana side; dispite the fact that I did see a rat. Only one; once.
478252,coastaldude,04/25/2007,Highly recommend this place Read all the reviews before going; agree and can see most peoples point of view; my thoughts from our stay over the last week (returned 24th April):- Don't be sad and join the towel brigade; plenty of loungers which you can drag into shade.- Yes there are a few niggles but the staff were very helpful; don't let this ruin your experience.- Tip the gardeners and maids; the rest of the staff seem to get too many tips which leads to an arrogant approach (the monority of them)- Overcrowding evidnet for rooms but around the resort you'll not notice; didnt ever feel like there were too many people; never had to que much despite resort sold out.- Watch out for the wildlife; saw nothing for 5 days but then at 4am a foot long millipede spooked the wife in the bathroom; very entertaining as I warned her after reading trip advisor reviews :-)Enjoy this place and take it from a fussy traveller; you'll have nothing to complain about...............................
478252,Beaches06,04/24/2007,Very; Very Nice Resort We stay at the Bahia Prinicipe the week of April 12 thru April 19 with 3 other couples from our area. It is a very nice resort. We requested for all couples to be place in the same villas but needless to say 3 couples stayed in Villa 15 and we were stuck in Villa 11. They told us just a short walk; we believed them; but did not realize just how big this resort was. They were pool side and we were Kids club side. Not that big a deal but did request prior to leaving the states and when we arrived at the resort. This resort is very clean...I am a neat freak and the resort passes my high standards. Someone is always cleaning or polishing something. The food was OK...when you are serving that many people...it seems like repeats of main things. We had 3 al carte restaurants but managed to sneak 2 other meals because of cancellations. Check with guest services sometimes people cancel and you can get their spots!! The main buffet has a smell as soon as you walk thru the door that almost turns your stomache. By the 6th day my husband refused to eat in the buffet. The al carte are a nice change of pace and a wonderful way to end the day. Very relaxing and we never felt rushed.Beach just a past reviews states very wonderful!!We did two excursions the Samona Island - the most beautiful place I believe in the Carribean. The ride there and the big star fish were unbelievable. We also did the Outback Safari...also a nice trip for the money around 80.00 a piece. We would definetly return to this resort !!
478252,MelWisc,04/24/2007,Fun for our family and a fabulous overbooking "problem" Thanks to those who wrote previous helpful reviews about GBP. This was our fourth trip to the DR over 10 years (also 2x Club Med and 1x Hilton Caribe Coral) We agree with most of the prior positive comments; especially tipping; and that t little Spanish goes a long way. We鈥檒l add these details: Bathroom amenities include shampoo (no conditioner); a shaving kit; shower cap; sewing kit and shoe shine kit. Bath towels and washcloths. Bring all your customary stomach and allergy medications along with more sunscreen than you think you鈥檒l need. We had some stomach problems which were most likely due to overindulging on the fresh tropical fruit. We saw few bugs; used our safe; and had no problems. You will encounter land crabs; lizards; and frogs on the pathways. Mosquitos could happen 鈥?take repellent. Our kids liked the shows. We went along with the kids. FYI The 鈥済ala show鈥?wardrobe is primarily thongs on all dancers.If GBP offers to send you to one of their other properties in Samana; do not hesitate. Just GO. If GBP is overbooked it鈥檚 going to be very crowded. GBP does a nice job managing crowds; but instead of the buffet line you could in a hilltop hotel overlooking a fishing village on a bay. You could be enjoying an intimate fine hotel with service and amenities on par with any US beachfront resort (the Ritz Carleton Amelia Island). Better snorkeling than GBP; all watersports; better food; all amenities of GBP; hovering friendly staff; no waiting for anything. It鈥檚 very quiet -- not enough guests to sustain a show or nightlife yet. We only stayed three days because our kids were looking for a little more tumult at the beach and in the pool. To travel there you鈥檒l also get an 鈥渆xcursion鈥?into less traveled parts of the DM. If you are traveling without kids or on a Honeymoon; go to GBP Samana in the first place!GBP food features Dominican Style cooking and local produce no matter what the theme. You鈥檙e on an island. Enjoy the truly fresh tropical fruit and fantastic breads. The 鈥渓obster鈥?that many complain about is actually a large crayfish abundant around the islands. It鈥檚 not North Atlantic lobster and will never taste like it. If you have a favorite hibachi style Japanese restaurant at home; skip the Japanese restaurant. Otherwise book a late seating so as not to be rushed. If going on excursions do take 鈥済ifts鈥?for the local children who you will encounter at transfer points. Clothes; hats; flipflops; small toys. Do avoid candy and money. Give the items to a responsible adult to discourage begging. 鈥淣o manos鈥?(No hands) is a direct way to tell persistant kids to stop. Upon check-out we left about 陆 of our clothes behind for the maid with a note briefly describing the items and giving her permission to take them. We started out in a ground floor room in building 7; went to Samana for 2 nights and returned to an identical (room and amenities) Gold Club room in building 2 at no additional charge. We think Gold Club is not worth it unless you really need robes; slippers; and turndown service. Premier Club is a long walk or tram ride to the beach. Heed all other reviews about the size of this resort. If you don鈥檛 want to have a very long walk or tram ride to the beach be sure your room is on the beach side of the 鈥淓co area鈥? Yes; at this resort the early bird gets the beach chair and umbrella鈥攌eep your sense of humor; set the alarm; and use a beach towel plus a large personal item to save your spot. Some very unpleasant men occupied our towel-only spot one morning while we were at breakfast; claiming it was empty (yet could not explain why they had (our) extra towels with them). OTOH; don鈥檛 be too early -- another day my DH put out our towels and beach toys at 4:30 am one morning only to have the beach staff pick them up for the lost and found. About 6 am should do it. If you sleep in; try the far right or left of the beach area or behind the BBQ restaurant. And yes; be nice and clear out if you鈥檙e not going to use the spot. No problems after 3 pm. The beach was not good for snorkeling (sand in the water obscured visability) while we were there. If you plan to snorkel take your own equipment. Consider taking inflatable rafts or noodles (great for chair saving) from the Dollar Store and leave them there. The resort requires a $20.00 deposit for use of their Boogie boards.Topless? Until recently the DR was marketed almost exclusively to Europeans. That is how they sunbathe. Try it. Punta Cana airport food is very expensive 鈥?eat at the resort before you depart. Departure announcements are erratic 鈥?pay attention to your flight and gate. You鈥檒l be boarding up plane stairs; possibly front and back of the plane. Unlike prior visits to the DR we paid for everything in US dollars and only got pesos back in change once. Previously the resorts Vendors were insisting on Pesos. We hope you enjoy your stay.
478252,globetrotter5,04/24/2007,Caveat Emptor Buyer Beware...Yes; that is right; buyer be very aware of all the glowing reviews. I was booked to stay eight days and actually left three days early due to my extreme disapointment in this hotel.Problems began with my arrival...the golden club not such a glowing amber orb as promised. They promise a smooth and easy check-in; yeah; not so much. I waited over an hour to just talk to someone about where to check in; then tried to check in and had to wait another two hours to not only get keys (that i can understand my room was not ready....) but no one would give me info on anything about the hotel. i had to sit in the lobby- no food no drink no access to anything for over three hours. No one would even speak to me.Once i actually got my room; i was pleased. It was very clean. The woman who cleaned my room was amazing and quite lovely. I was sure to leave grand gratuity for both the morning and evening staff. They do go above and beyond the call of duty.The beach at this resort is awesome. I walked for miles and miles and in comparison to other resorts in the area; Gran Bahia defineltly surpasses the rest. You do need to reserve your space at about 7AM at both the pool and ocean front. this is a large and very busy resort so do not expect to find a seat past 10AM. Guest are very respectful and seem to follow a general code of conduct aka...towel on the back of your seat means it is taken.Another good thing was the service staff for all meals. They were all so lovely and generous and kind. All my request were met with a huge smile.The negatives...the food was horrible. You have the same choices of food morning noon and nite no matter what place you eat. It is all the same. Room service late nite has no non pork options. I survived on mostly bananas i had to steal at the breakfast buffets.Drinks are watered down and rather welcome to college spring break (unless you go to the hotel lobby and tip the waitresses really really well).Getting a bottle of water is like requesting the deed to someones home. you can get plastic cups of water at the bars; but your mini bar will only be stocked with one bottle a day. Another serious problem i had was at the end of my trip. I checked out with travelers checks. I went to eat breakfast before my car arrived and when i went to get my bag; the bell boy actually grabbed my arm and told me he was taking me to reception- rather violently. i couldnt understand what was going on; esp his aggressive behavior. the manager of the golden club acused me of forging a signature on my travelers check. He had seen my passport and i.d and social security card and still acused me of forging a signature. Finally; one of his peers stepped in and vouched that it was in fact the same signature. It drove me to actually cry in front of several guests because i was so scared and humiliated. i ended up missing my flight due to the hour tied up trying to prove my identity.I had so many issues with this hotel. I would never return. The service (except for room cleaning and food staff) is quite horrific for a five-star hotel. Bottom-line.. if you are looking for disney-land esque huge and therefore lack of service oriented place to stay; go. You will have an amazing time. If you have a bit of taste and kind of want to enjoy your stay--as you did pay a bit more to stay here..buyer beware it just is not worth it.I would recommend the Riu Occidentale (resort adjacent).
478252,4familyLisboa,04/23/2007,Enjoyable stay for the second time Left side of the Hotel beach
478252,murtan,04/22/2007,Awesome holiday Well we just got back from staying at the Bahia Principe and loved the entire experience! Check in was so so as we did not know we had been upgraded to diamond club and could have checked in at the special area for diamond guests. We were served a great fruit drink while we waited in line to check in and were very pleased with our room when we got there. Our room had been prepared with the air conditioning already one so it was a nice break from the heat. The heat is hot hot hot plus humid so you will want many bathing suits and wraps. If you don't own wraps don't fret as you can get any color you want down in the Dominican at the local shops or in the flee market. (approx 30 min walk down the beach) Our room was way larger than any suite we have stayed in in Canada and was kept very clean. We were on the third floor and over looked one of the swimming pools. We were a little ways from the beach and main pool but that was ok as we were on vacation and didn't mind taking our time to get any where. This resort is very large and they have trams for you to catch to every where you would want to go so you don't have to do lots of walking if you don't want to. There are 3 different breakfast and lunch buffets you can eat at every day and then if you are diamond club or greater you can have 4 plus a la carte dinnes. To get close to the beach you will have to upgrade through your travel agent and from what I understand this costs a lot more and I don't feel it is worth the upgrade for the few little extras you get. We were entiled to 4 a la cartes but only ate at 3 as we didn't want to be eating at 8-9 pm for our dinner. They are difficult to get the times you want at the most popular ones so book when you get there. We ate at the Greek; Japanese and French. They were all good but I still prefered the buffet over the a la cartes as I like to sample a little ove everything. The buffet is nver boring as it has a different menu every night. You have Domincan night; Italian night ect... There is always some of the same at the buffet so it shouldn't be hard for even a picky eater to find something. I have read that is doesn't taste like at home in some reviews; and it shouldn't!! I would have been disapointed going to another country and everything tasted like at home. Remember you are in another country. I loved almost all the soups served; my fav was pumpkin.( I had never had it before) Hubby is a good ole Alberta boy and likes beef; chicken; pork and potatoes and he was more than satisfied every meal. We went with no real expectations and were not disapointed. We did see gechos (spellling ??) and two cock roches while we were there; again these creatures are like daddy long leg spiders here in Alberta (native creatures) never near food or in our rooms though. I found the resort tried hard to entertain their guest with pool games beach activites and in the main lobby. The night entertainment was cute and we never did make it to the disco as it didn't open till 12 am and we were exhausted by that time. We did get up very early to get spots at the beach and if we couldn't find shade we hung out in the water when we got to hot from the sun. Chairs always seemed to open up so it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The sea water is amazing; nice and warm and very salty so little ones might get tummy aches from drinking to much. When you get out of the water you will find salt dried on you there are showers between the beach and pool to rinse the sand and salt off you. The flea market is fun but I got tired of hearing cheapy cheapy come see my store If you aren't good at bartaring or don't like to then don't go. A hint; when they give you a price on their calculator you type in exactly half or less and go from there. Many of the merchants knew french german and english. Some had so so english but we could get by. We loved the beaches except for the smokers that threw their buts all over the beach. The hotle did a fairly good job at trying to rake every morning to clean it up but it would help if smokers could be considerate. That was our biggest issue in the resort was the smoking. You are able to smoke pretty much every where. I just have gotten so use to it here in Alberta where our buildings are smoke free so it was a little annoying that we had to keep moving to get out of the smokes way. But tht is our problem not the resorts. The workes in the resort may be there 12 + hours so do try to be friendly ; tipping is not required to get good service but it sure can put a big smile on there faces to get a dollar or two every now and then. We always left something for our maid but again it is not required. We also took a bunch of old clothes and dollar store items to hand out. We went on two tours; the Caribbean snorkling and the Bavaro Runners. Would go back on the Bavaro runners again but found the snorkling to be a wate of money and would just go from the guys offering it at the beach if I were to do it again. OUr guid on the other tour let us hand out our gifts but not all do. You can hand out near the end at the supermarket if your guid wont let you throught the trip. I feel this was a great vacation and want to go back. Hope this helps you.
478252,bhzmhz,04/22/2007,High expectations had a great time We traveled with our 2 children 13 and 11. Just got back this morning. My wife and I have been all over the Carebean; and Hawaii. We had a great time and we make the best of every situation; we are not negative peaple; but the reviews we read were very helpful; and thats what I'll try to do. Late fight arrived @ 7:30 arrived at the Hotel @ 8:30. Too late; you need daylight to try to get your bearings with this huge resort. When we got off the plane you are mombed by Dominica men trying to get your luggage; I have read previous reviews saying just to ingnore; we did that and saw an apple rep and he said Juan will help you. It wasnt an apple rep they were just helping the porters get some luggage. Oh well. Crazy drive to the airport; we were Golden members they said express check in; went to the lobby the said check in over there; no signs how are we supposed to know. Once we arrived everybody EXPECTED tips; I understand they are a poor country; but I am doing an all inclusive; I dont want to have to worry about carrying money around all the time; I will tip @ the end of the week if the service is good. We found Dominican men are very disrespectfull; rude; and are trashy. If you dont tip you will hear them when you walk away; saying something about you. If you take a tour; as we did a speedboat / snorkeling tour; the men will approach the bus gaucing @ your wife and 13 year old daughter shouting inapproapiate things; we dont need that. The Island is trash; dirty; nasty; smelly. Stay in the resort. The resort people were even hitting on my daughter and wife; toatally innapropriate; and unproffesional. The resort is 60% Canadians; 30% French; and 10% US. My impression is they do not like Americans; and we did hear people say that. Obviously; the Canadians are great; but the French people will not give you the time of day; they wont even look at you; but I guess thats expected. In the morning I would get up about 6:30 to reserve chairs; then go back to sleep till 8:30 get everyone up; go to breakfast @ the ocean buffet. Dont get me wrong it is an excellent experience to share this time with my family; I am just giving you the facts. The breakfast buffet; had undercooked sausage; bacon; slimy eggs. We then went to the pool all day. It was crowded but we didnt mind; had a great time. You did see how the French people acted though. They would let their kids run ramped. Without a care; if they are bothering anyone trying to relax; just as long they didnt have to deal with them. One father let his child sit in the chair and screem @ the top of his lungs for 30 mins; instead of taking the child out of the pool area; he interuped everyones relaxation time. The lunch buffet @ the pool was; red hamburgers; hotdogs; pizza with ketchup on them; and overcooked beef in gravey; every day. Dinners; were very good; even the buffets. I was very concerned with all the reviews about getting sick; I have a very weak stomac; we do like to drink and I thought the ice in the drinks would be bad. Not true the water @ the restruarants and the ice is all filtrated; we even brushed our teeth with the tap water no problems. My wife did 6 open water scuba dives; and my daughter did one; they had a great time. Then the day every traveler hates; the day of departcher. After reading reviews everybody said no problem. The first day I torn my tendon in my knee playing voleyball on the beach; so my mobility wasnt that good; this is not the place to be not being able to walk good. We had a late fight out 9pm; so we were going to enjoy our last day the best we could. Again got up @ 6:30 reserved our chairs; @ 9am decided to get the check out process out of the way. We were in villa 60 right by the beach; farthest away from the lobbies. I waited for the tram didnt come after 15mins; so I decided to hobble; to the next tram stop; still no tram; I kept walking. The property is approx 1.5 miles long; I finally got to the one lobby waiting in line; they said no you have to got to the other lobby; waiting in line she said you cant check out until we have your luggage and safe key; waited in line for a bell boy to drive me back get our luggage; came back waited in line @ the other lobby she said you need to check out @ the Golden Club; this is an hour and half later; so much for spending the last day @ the pool. Waited in line; then had to go to the tour dept to see when we had to be in the lobby to catch the bus. Spent the rest of the day @ the pool; left for the other lobby at 3pm; to get a shower for the flight home. Stayed @ the lobby bar till 5pm to get the bus. While in the lobby we wanted to get some drinks; just to unwind; I approached the bar; and the bar tender said; WHAT I then started to lose patience. Knowing I am leaving the service was not there at all. The drive back was similar to the drive to; buses passing on a one lane road; mopeds coming 6 inches to the bus to see who is in there; locals yelling and gaucing at the passengers inside the bus; trash on the side of the road. GET ME HOME. Long lines at the airport; hot; when checking in the airport rep doesnt speck english; I asked for special needs; being I can not walk; and he put my family all over the plane; screwing up everyones seats. I know this review seems negative; but my family and I did have a great time; you just have to make the best out of every situation. I think we are spoiled after going to St. Lucia Sandals. St. Lucia is a very poor country as well but the people are respectful; clean; and appreciate tourism. THEY EARN THEIR TIPS; THEY DONT EXPECT THEM.
478252,Coppya,04/22/2007,Enjoyable holiday with too many niggles to want to go back You can a have a fantastic time here but you need to chill down before you arrive otherwise you can waste some valuable relax time on all this stuff that I'm about to go on and on about. It's a great place trying it's best to be 5 star; just not quite making it in lots of places !! Probably one of the best in the area too.Avidly read every review before we booked and then once booked carried on reading to get prepared; yet still we had problems.Firstly take any email or travel agent room request as a waste of effort. Nearly every group we talked to had an issue of sorts.Request the beach and you could be anywhere. Request Golden or Diamond:=You may not get it ;unless you travel with an agent that charges and qutoes it as booked. But then it is over subscibed. Rooms with two double beds adjacent to King rooms for children are not interconnected; and they are in short supply. Getting located next to friends also seemed to be impossible for some. This is an enormous site and any location will require walking or catching the trolley cars. We emailed ahead several times. Requested four rooms located near each other in Golden Club ; close to the beach. We did really well compared to most; as we were all next to each other with one of our rooms having two double beds; BUT Not in Golden Club; and the furthest building from the beach in section 19 ! Air Con. not working in one room and one room needing fumigation .We stayed there !! Reception was a wash with peoplre asking for something. THEY WERE TOTALLY OVER BOOKED.Offerring $400 dollars a room a night to go to Barcelo Princess or $200 dollars a room to go on a free 2 night excursion.Next you hear that people have been upgraded for free 'cause it was only room available. It truly is caotic room planning. They do check you in on the coach though which is great.(OR perhaps that's to reduce the complainants that will just settle and accept their lot once the realisation comes that they're half a mile away from reception !!!) Reception are very used to complaints ; don't spoil your holiday ;don't waste your energy...Just stand wait and refuse to move away and get the card of anyone that's makes a promise.THE HOTELSplit into Bavaro and Punta Cana sides.Golden Club P Cana and Diamond Club Bavaro; both being better service accommodation with access to the diamand pools and extras eating options; as in an x1 extra evening specaility ; +access to the Italien for breakfast and lunch; plus room service.This hotel is mammoth with 5000 people at least when full which is why you are seeing the sunbed problem in every review. Yes an alarm call for 5.50 am just before the trolley cars start to get you to the beach to reserve shade !All the speciality restaurants to a good job in providing a smaller atmoshere for dinner; Each side of the hotel has a French; Japonese; and it's own Buffet.Then shared amongst all is; the Italien; fish; mexican; medditarranean; Las Olas (BBQ) and Dominican restaurants for Dinner; plus numerous venues for varing levels of choice from the same menu for lunch. Some restaurants also open for lunch. Fish mexican.Breakfast can be your own main buffet; the Olas Buffet or Fish and Mexican and Italien; dependant whether you're in Golden or Diamond as to whether you are allowed in ! Being an ex bahia Principe customer they had upgraded us to VIP Diamond with a Silver wristband ; so we could use all; thank goodness !!Our choice of restaurants in order ; rated for food content then service Italien b;fast; lunch and DinnerFrenchJaponeseFish B;fast ; lunch; DinnerMexican B.fast; lunch; DinnerBuffet main depends on the themeMeditarraneanDominicanLas Olas 1 B;fast; lunch ;Flies and the same every dayLas Olas 11 Lunch; flies and more choice of the same every dayLas Olas 1 BBQ Dinner. Las Brisas LunchTipping gets you far when service is concerned; so would advise a regular pattern and tip to enable a loyalty to build up!!The wristband segradtion did not affect us ; some were happy with the main stream facilities and some were unhappy but it seemed a pot luck situation on many things; even as simple as getting towels or room cleaning or not !Bars; drinks and table service readily avalable everywhere; again such variation as to what mix of a drink you might get but that was half the fun; again tipping helps here.Main lobby bar and theatre bar close at 11.00 pm and all activity moves accross to the Plaza; for disco starts at 12.00pm and Showbar ; kareoki type things.Burger bar opens at 10pm; Piano bar also a quieter option over there throughout the evening. All included; you only pay drinks in the Casino.Lots of stalls here and just as good a choice and price than anywhere else that we saw; remember to divide by price 4 on anything you see there and haggle.Spa very good; treatments all excellent but everything; even the Sauna circuit is chargableGym small and very ltd but FreeTennis; bycycles; most watersports all free but very busy and you need to book for the cooler times. Mini golf almost impossible btween 11-4 due to heat.Banana boats parasailing etc; that you pay for; also was a 3 day wait; so it's a bit like Disney you have to plan ahead.....Ckidren's Club is run by realy kids friendly staff. Beach and Sea are fantasticOUR ADVICE for what it's worth in this hit and miss environment.Punta Cana SideGolden ClubBook your restaurants ASAPPlan trips around these; they are easier to sort.Use the speciality restaurants for B.fast and lunch.Take an alarm clockTake bug spray( NB Bugs come in on the maids flowers also)It's so big no.one would notice if you wore the same shirt all week! Dress code is NOT upheld as in long trouser for men and boys. Pack Light.Take small 1$ for tippingTake A. Dollars it's easierTake toiletry or cheapy branded merchandise with you for gifts.Take something old but bright to establish your space on the beach with the towels; it gets competative even at 6.00 am !Comfy shoes not your new ones you've just brought !!Sunblock 40 or above is absolutely needed here.No liquid allowed back into airport as in UK so you cannot easily prepare for the 3 HR wait at the airport and everything needs packing in your luggage.First Choise is an excellent choice as operater; great flights ;arrangements etc. but you'll not get GOLDEN at peak times.Lots of deep and uneven depth stairs around; many staircases with no handrails caution to take elderly without a wheelchair.Take Immodium; you will need it.TRIPSCarribean wonders/ fantasies it's called many things by diferent reps (the trip with sharks) is very good; main man is from Cuba and he'll make sure that you have a great afternoon.Quads exellentHorse riding GoodSunset boatrip at 3.30 Pm is simple but good.Soanan Island is a very long day and LTD shade; be caerefull lunch is LTD but is it is a good value full day with some great moments.WOW I've gone on and still I could keep going.Plan this trip like Disney and once there chill and enjoy. We had a great time with great friends and our children will hold happy memories but we wouldn't go backe. Some of the food experinces were great ;The Japonese showpiece was amazing. french is so authentic ; really good.Feel happy to contact for any specifics and thank you to all who helped me via this site.
478252,Liferb,04/22/2007,Fabulous hotel This was our second visit to Punta Cana having previously stayed at the Melia Caribe a couple of years earlier. We were worried that compared to the Melia this hotel would disappoint but overall this is a lovely hotel that caters for all travellers.Although a large resort you can walk from reception to beach within 15 mins or jump on one of the regular trains that run every 10 mins or so. We chose to walk due to the large amount of food and alcohol we were consuming!There were lots of families with small children who appeared to be well catered for entertainment wise with discos and performers in the early evening. Equally for those parties who wanted to eat and drink until 6am in the morning the Carribean village area accomodated these needs also!We went on the trip to swim with sharks which was a big disppointment. As scuba divers we had higher expectations and assumed it would be an open water experience. In reality the sharks and sting rays are held within a small pen in the middle of the ocean which does little to resemble their natural habitat.We found booking into the restaurants very easy despite the fact that the hotel was very busy - every room full! Everyone we spoke to had different views on which were the best ones to eat at! We enjoyed the French and the Mexican (we ate at all but the seafood) but to be honest the food was similar at all of the restaurants.The hotel is very popular with Canadians; Italians and Spanish who really know how to party!! The British appeared to be in the minority or you didnt notice them above the noise of the Canadians! The beach front pools are very busy and noisy with entertainment and drinking competions etc. However if you want to avoid this you can move onto the beach which is much quieter and also cooler due to the breeze. Also the pools within the complex are very quiet and ideal for relaxing. The beach was beautiful but the sea was spoilt somewhat by the masses of seaweed. Never seen so much of the stuff! May have been brought in by recent storms.If you plan to do any scuba diving be warned that you probably wont want to dive at the hotel even if the conditions allow (they didnt when we were there). Instead you have to make a lengthy trip to Caterina island. We didnt bother as it seemed like too much hard work in the heat!In all this holiday was great value for money and everyone we saw appeared to have a fabulous experience. The resort is beautiful and the food and drink plentiful!
478252,lovinthesun24,04/20/2007,loved it!! I stayed at this resort and absolutely loved it. Everything was wonderful..although the ladies at the gift shop were like watchdogs and very annoying. I do have a comment to make about a previous review that was posted though. It really annoys me to read about people comparing a resort in the Dominican Republic to hotels and restaurants from (in this case the States). Obviously the bed linens are not going to be the same as linens you would find in the Hilton in the states; and the restaurants are not going to be the same standard as any Japanese steakhouse in the states...if you wanted the same quality..maybe you should've stayed in the states.All in all..i loved the resort and would go back again!
478252,chipmunk2127,04/20/2007,Very Nice Beach from hotel
478252,RoyaleWC,04/20/2007,Nice resort; average food was our only complaint My wife and I and two children ages 11 and 8 vacationed at the Bahia Principe Punta Cana April 5th-12th; 2007. We travelled with another couple and their two children of the same age. If you have read any reviews you already know that this resort is huge. It was a little big for my taste but it wasn't a real problem. The trams are quite convienent for getting from one end to the other. We stayed in the Club Golden section and if I were ever to go back I'd stay there again. It is much closer to the beach. We were in Villa 23 which was close to the main pool and beach.We did get up early; around 6:30am; to reserve a palapa at the beach. Even at that time the prime spots were usually already taken. I'm sure if you waited much longer you wouldn't get a spot with some shade.The food was our only real complaint. I've stayed at quite a few all-inclusive resorts so I know not to expect gormet food. However the food here just wasn't all that good. You could usually find something to suit your taste so at least nobody went hungry. My wife and my friends wife each got sick once.I've found that at the all-inclusives that I've been to the a-la-carte restaurants are normally much better than the buffets.Here; even the a-la-carte restaurants were just average. I'd say the Japanese was the best. The food at the French was pretty good but it took over two hours! Not good when dining with kids.The Garden Grille (steakhouse) was pretty bad. And we didn't make our reservation to the Itailian; I'm sure we didn't miss much. The buffets were okay; the steaks had a decent taste but were very fatty and way undercooked. Lots of variety at the buffets so you'll find something that you like. We usually ate lunch at the Grill by the main pool. Again; nothing to write home about but it was convenient. You can get breakfast at the two restaurants by the main pool; but if you want made to order omelettes you need to go to the main buffet near the lobby. The drinks were fine; a little inconsistent but not too bad. If you find a bartender who makes good drinks; tip him well and he'll take good care of you all week. We really liked Ramon at the swim up bar. After reading a lot of reviews myself; I knew to bring along some insulated mugs. These were great to have and saved you trips to the bar. The first day we arrived; the mini-bar in our room was stocked with two Brahma beers; two Pepsi's; two Orage pops and two large bottles of water. We tipped the maid $4 per day along with a note Mas Cerveza por Favor. Each day after that there were 12 beers in the fridge. I was expecting El Presidente beer from everything I read but didn't get one all week. The Brahma beer was just fine though.The guys got out for a round of golf. Be forewarned....It's EXPENSIVE! We chose one of the cheaper courses; Punta Blanca; and it was $160 per person. Nice course; but I'd say not worth more than $75 back home. It's a Nick Price designed course that just opened 4 months ago. It actually straddles the resort so there is no drive time to get there. Most of the other courses are 45-90 minutes away and even more money.The Nicklaus course is $330 and the two Pete Dye courses are $225 and $250. If nothing else; bottled water; beer and even lunch after your round are free at Punta Blanca; so that takes some of the sting out of the price.The ladies decided to swim with the dolphins at Dolphin Island.In hindsight; it was a ripoff. It was $95 for 10 minutes of swim time; plus it cost the rest of us $15 per person just to spectate!And as for the spectators; you can't get within 40 feet of the pool where they are swimming. Plus it's a long drive to get there stopping at several other resorts along the way. I would not recommend this excursion at all.For the girls; our daughter wanted to get her hair braided. It costs $83 at the reosrt. If you walk down to where they do the water sports; there is a tent where they will do it for $50.The room was big and clean. The grounds are very well maintained. The pools are very nice. For such a large resort I never really felt like it was too crowded. We never really waited in any lines for drinks or food. And the beach is spectacular. Probably the nicest beach I've ever been to. Even as you walk along the beach and check out other resorts along the way; I'd say the Bahia had the nicest beach. All in all; I would recommend this resort to friends.One other thing; bring LOTS of sunscreen. $20 per bottle at the resort!Have fun; and don't sweat the negative reviews!
478252,TPerez,04/18/2007,The whole story All righty this is going to be long but I always appreciated being able to read others reviews. When you are here you are in paradise so any complaints are in that context. We stayed 8 nights on April 8 through April 16 Checking in was horrible the worst experience of my trip. We are a family of 5 we requested through our apple travel agent connecting rooms; one king and one with doubles; high floor; near the ocean. We got two rooms not connected but close; no where near the ocean; on the first floor; with two kings. So basically if we asked for it we got the opposite. Speaking to the manager at the hotel got me nowhere he said that was all he had; if I knew this before going I would not have gone. That being said we are in a foreign country after spending a loads of money on a vacation so I was determined to make the best of it. The weather do not pay any attention to the reports it is hot; hot. hot and humid. Can not believe it is only in the 80's it feels much hotter. Pack accordingly. Light clothes; as many bathing suits as you have; hats; flip flops and tons of sunscreen! We went through 5 bottles while there and everyone in my family got burnt at least once.(my husband is Hispanic so... yikes the sun is burning)The pools- NICE yes it is true 730 am is the latest time to reserve your chairs under a umbrella. It will not even be your first or second choice so go early they really are all reserved early.The beach - Beautiful! My husband went at 545 am to reserve a umbrella and 90% were already gone so who knows reserve before you go to bed the night before? CrazyThe food- okay I am in the fine dining business the only thing I can figure is that the people who did not like any of the food are people who are very picky and only have simple taste. If you are an adventurous eater you will always be able to find a few things that you love! The coconut ice cream is to die for!The breads are all fresh baked and sooooooo good! Make sure to make yourself a piece of toast in the morning and enjoy!Try the banana juice YUM!The fruit is fantastic!The lamb wow greatThe beef ummmm its do able maybe our version of select meatsThe pork excellentThe fish I had no luck with at all except the smoked salmon was niceokay that being said the different restaurants; do not bother to save yourself time and eat by the beaches or pools. They are not half as nice as the main buffet. Do take the time to go to the main lobby buffet for all your unreserved meals. The steak house for me was a wasted reservation; it was just too hard to communicate our orders and the meat was tough the fish was well lets just say when I heard my daughter ask for a steak knife to cut the fish we sent it back. The seafood restaurant was gross four of our meals were overcooked. Again we could not communicate with the staff. The French restaurant on the bavaro side- was okay the food that was good was great. The service not so muchThe French restaurant on the Punta Cana side WOW we went twice. I was not expecting this quality of service as well as food I can not say enough about it! Get the cheese tray for dessert YUMThe employees English is limited at best most do not understand anything. I fully am aware that we are in their country but am used to taking Mexico vacations where they do know most English or are in the process of learning. Our vacation would have been much better if we all could have communicated to the staff. I am fortunate enough to know minor words and my husband knows more but still we had many questions go un answered do to the language barrier.I had a piece of glass in my food once- that鈥檚 worth mentioning I told the waiter he did not understand and walked away with my plate.Tipping we tipped tipped and tipped. Bar or cocktail service a buck a roundOur maid service- Great! the best we have had; we read the reviews and took the advice of others. 2 bucks a day per room for the maid and twice we tipped her ten (my three year old had two accidents) as well as brought gifts for her nail polish; jewelry; lip gloss a small gift a day per each room. By the time we left she was knocking on our door and hugging us; she actually left us gifts as well; Dominican dolls. We had fresh flowers towels extra pop beer water whatever we asked for! The servers in the restaurants we tipped 2 at dinner 3 at lunch and 5 at dinner. The sit down restaurants 5 for the waiter 3 for the wine steward 2 for the bus boy and a couple to the host. It's strange to us how a couple of dollars can light up their faces so much it really does.The apple vacation rep- again the english it was rough. I did not find that they were there to help or assist us. The orientation was two minutes reviewing the map of the hotel and 25 minutes on what they could sell you! VERY DISPLEASED WITH APPLE I thought when I found out we had a representative at our hotel that they would there to insure we had a great time; nope their there to take more of your money.The markets Friday is the best day to shop because they allow outside vendors in. But before Friday comes if you can get down there and get a feel for what is going on. The prices they tell you are usually three times what they will sell it for. Just tell them 10 bucks and see where you get they play the game well ask you to type your price in their calculator; explain to you the quality blah blah blah tell them best price 15 times and you may be surprised. I can say if you pay more then half their first price you've been taken.The hotel gift shop wow crazy prices so bring sunscreen and aloe if not you will be paying 12-18 dollars for a small container. 7 bucks for a travel size baby oil so just bring all your cosmetic and possible medication needs.Don't plan on buying stuff at the airport they are also way over priced one of the vendors told us that they are now regulating the prices; and he is actually selling less much less now that he is being told what he must charge for things. Cigars coffee liquor are all less at the hotel and eat before you go unless you would like to spend 12 bucks for a Wendy鈥檚 single combo meal.Check out was fine. That鈥檚 it hope it helps enjoy your vacation!!!!
478252,2maple,04/16/2007,Beautiful Breathtaking Bahia We stayed at the Bahia April 7-14. Thanks to everyone who took the time to post a review-very helpfull. The reviews are very accurate. Spotless acccomodations they are constantly cleaning everywere. Food repetitive but very good -lots of variety ;even picky people will be well pleased. The staff are generally very nice but you do get the odd one {gift shop) The beach goes for miles-white sand breathtaking ocean. The weather was an absolute 10 -sunny hot . I will try to be totally honest here . If you want a chair either at the pool or beach get one befor 6 a.m. There are no chairs to be found after this time. I read befor we left to get one by 7-8 WAY TOO LATE!!! We just had a basic room villa 36 close to the lobby and pool I got up At 6 to reserve a seat by the pool and spoke to people doing the same and we both agreed this was insane as the whole point of a vacation is to relax. This whole chair saving bussiness is stressfull. Infact my husband never left the pool area for fear of loosing our spot. I kid you not. Peole here are rude they will throw your stuff on the ground if your not around. I witnessed this. Also people pay staff to save chairs the night befor -explains alot. We tipped the maid everyday.5 bucks. We tipped a buck every drink and between 5 and 10 at dinner. We had excellent service a little politeness and manners means alot; although not many tipped at all. The problem here is not the hotel or staff it is the peole who vacation here. This hotel runs at full capacity constantly. They will offer you 200 u.s to go to one of their other hotels and throw in an excursion as well Wished we took this as it is overcrowded here
478252,AprilBeachBums,04/16/2007,Great Resort - Sunwing Passenger Service Needs Work My wife; I and our 4 year old daughter just returned from the Bahia Principe Bavaro; March 31st - April 7th. From start to finish the experience was the best. (Except for Sunwing...keep reading).We e-mailed the resort before our stay with some requests; even with the resort being at capacity they met our requests and exceeded our expectations by upgrading us to Club Diamond which was really nice. The extra a la carte was very nice to have and private pool was much quieter and relaxing than the main pools. The only activities around the pool were quiet ones like watermelon carving and a SPA demonstration.The Resort: Very big but very efficient in handling the large volume of people; lots of friendly staff always ready to help out. It never felt like there were as many people as there really was there; they have enough staff to handle the volume. There is a great trolley system to move you around when you don't feel like walking in the heat. Our daughter even got to drive up front with one of the trolley drivers which she loved!The Buffet: The main buffet is large; nobody we talked to complained about the food; there is lots of variety and always something to suit anyone鈥檚 taste. Try the chocolate...anything chocolate...who knew the Dominican chocolate was so good.The A La Cartes: Japanese was our favorite; the BBQ was good; so many people say it isn't but we really enjoyed it; the Italian is amazing for lunch and dinner.The Beach: Beautiful; just like the pictures. Pretty clean considering the number of people on the beach; there were always guys cleaning it up. Go early one morning and watch the sunrise; and make sure you go before breakfast and claim your spot; you don't need to get up at an ungodly hour to do this; if you do it before 8am then you are all set.The Entertainment: Our daughter didn't go to the Mini Club; and if you go and look at the actual club its not much; but we talked to parents who's children did go and the kids loved it; they couldn't wait to go back. The staff takes them around the resort and does all kinds of activities. The kids put on a fashion show one night that was a lot of fun for them. Also; I can't say enough about the Mini Disco; my little girl was addicted to it and all the kids who went were as well. The Mini Club staff ran the Disco and they truly showed that they loved the kids and the kids loved them. There were kids at the Mini Disco of all ages; even toddlers under age 2 and they loved it too. Note: When we got home we e-mailed the resort for a list of the songs played at the Mini Disco and they sent them back to us within an hour. The Shopping: Pueblo Principe; nice goods in the stores but the real fun is haggling with the vendors. Go see Bottom-line Bob; haggle with him for some of his goods; its lots of fun.The rest of the entertainment was very well done for resort entertainment; you could see them practicing and rehearsing during the day and the shows were very well put together. The Circus; The Grammy Awards and the Michael Jackson show are all worth seeing.I'll stop there; I could go on and on about how good this resort is; but if you are considering it; book it and go; you won't be disappointed unless you are very hard to please. My only regret; we tipped the maids and the restaurant staff and the bar staff and luggage porters and even the front desk for going the extra mile; but I should have also tipped the gardeners; maintenance workers; the trolley drivers and playa guys who keep the grounds looking so good; the work they do all day long adds so much to the experience and is rarely noticed...so you go please correct my mistake and throw a couple of bucks in the direction of these folks; they don't get what the other works getting and they sure do deserve it just as much.Now about Sunwing Airlines; the good was the in-flight experience; the flight was on-time; the hotel rep was very helpful; the meals and complimentary champagne; wine and the little children's backpack were nice touches and when landing in Punta Cana you were given clear directions on where to go...however; this airline had a bit of a problem when things don't go as planned. We couldn't land in Halifax due to a snowstorm; so the plane landed in Moncton and the Halifax passengers were let off and the plane continued on to Newfoundland. We were somewhat informed; not by a Sunwing agent but through the grapevine that buses were coming to get us; and the plan was apparently to drive us back to Halifax in the middle of the snowstorm that it wasn't safe to land in. All other carriers (including other Charter flights) that got diverted from Halifax landed and had taxis take their passengers to hotels and bring them back in the morning when the Halifax airport reopened for a flight to Halifax. Sunwing's passengers were the only passengers remaining in the airport at 1:30am (landed at 8:30pm) and were only sent to hotels by 3:30am on demand of the passengers and refusal to get on the buses that still had not arrived. (Roads were closed...but nobody told the passengers.)Following the harrowing cab ride in the snow covered roads to the hotel; Aircab in Moncton should be ashamed of themselves for they danger they put my family in. Then a short rest at the hotel and finally through negotiation with Sunwing in Toronto the buses arrived at the hotel at 11am. The buses that Sunwing had sent were 20 year old school buses that had been repainted and had bald tires; no wonder they couldn't get through the storm. And it was still snowing in Moncton and on the roads back to Halifax. Now at this time the other carriers and charters were taking their passengers back to the airport in motor coaches to get on airplanes to flown back to Halifax.So my comment on Sunwing; it would be a great charter...in a perfect world where everything goes as planned....unfortunately we all know how often that happens in a Canadian Winter.
478252,monden,04/15/2007,Returned from the Gran Bahia Principe; good overall; but we got sick I just returned from our vacation to the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana. I traveled with my husband; three children and parents. My experience with this resort:We had a great flight; caught a coach bus at the Punta Cana airport and had a half hour ride to the resort. The resort representative gave us an information packet with our room keys; wristbands and towel cards. Upon arrival; we were met with a red punch drink and dominican dancers in costume! We tagged our luggage and left it with the bellboys. Our room was not yet ready; so we used the pool until about 3:00 p.m.The Gran Bahia is two resorts in one. They are mirror images of each other; the Bavaro to the left and the Punta Cana to the right. (We booked on the Bavaro side; but were actually placed in a room on the Punta Cana side. This really didn't matter to us because they are identical). If you are staying on the Punta Cana side; you must use the lobby bar; buffet restaurant and guest services on that side. Likewise with the Bavaro side. The rest of the bars; a la carte restaurants and facilities are for all guests to share. The Premier area of the resort is for guests who want to spend a little more money to have their own little resort within the larger resort.We found the hotel reception staff to be a little stand-offish. They seemed irritated when we asked them questions or tried to exchange money. The rest of the staff: bartenders; waiters; housekeepers were very friendly and tried very hard to help even when they knew very little English.Our rooms were in buildings 5 and 7. For us this was a perfect location because we were close to the beach. For those who are further from the beach; there is a trolley that runs continuously. We would catch the trolley to get back to the lobby and buffet restaurant. Another reason we liked being within walking distance is that the pool restrooms were not kept very clean. We opted to use the restrooms in our hotel rooms. The rooms were large; clean and comfortable. The bed linens and towels are not what you would expect from a 5 star hotel in the US; but were adequate. Housekeeping was great. We left a tip each day and asked for extra water.The beach here is absolutely breathtaking! Get out there early in the morning to get a good spot in the shade. The hotel rules state that you're not supposed to save lounge chairs; but this is not enforced. It seemed that people were getting up earlier each morning. My dad would usually go out around 6:30 a.m. to save some chairs.There is a company called Scuba Caribe who rents out the sailboats; windsurfers; kayaks and also the excursions and motorized sports that cost extra. They are located in a little building on the beach. I would suggest getting there first thing in the morning (I think they open around 9:00) to reserve the activity you would like to do because they fill up fast. Their English isn't great and there's no rhyme or reason to the way they wait on people either. You can be the next person in line and they will pass you over to help someone else. This was a source of frustration for us. We went on a two hour snorkel excursion to a nearby reef. It was fun; but the guide drove us to the reef and basically said jump in! There was no snorkeling/safety instruction that we're used to getting on these types of excursions.We went to the Japanese; French and Mediterranean restaurants. The Medditeranean was our favorite. I know that a lot of guests favor the Japanese; but it was not up to the standard of any Japanese steakhouse I've been to in the US. The lobby buffet restaurant had the best variety. You could eat breakfast and lunch at the seafood restaurant by the beach or lunch any of the beach snack bars; but the lobby restaurant had the biggest selection. (They will serve hotdogs; hamburgers and chicken at the beach snack bars). The fruits are delicious; pineapple; mango; guava; passion fruit and watermelon at every meal. They also serve some kind of seafood concoction with mussels; squid; etc. and a pasta bar at dinner. One thing they do well is dessert. The desserts were excellent. The meats were usually overcooked. You will be served the same cut of pork; chicken; steak and fish in every restaurant; they'll just put a little different spin on it. Not the quality we're used to getting in a good restaurant here.Go to the lobby bar to get the best drinks. We drank a lot of umbrella drinks; but they weren't very strong because I never got a buzz and I'm not a heavy drinker. Don't bother to wait in line at the swim up bar. There's a bar across the pool to the left that's never busy.There were two shows every night. An earlier 9:45 show (located in the lobby theatre) and a later 11:30 show (located in the Pueblo Pricipe theatre). Shows will be posted on a board outside of the theatre. The Michael Jackson show was entertaining!What is the Pueblo Principe? The Pueblo Principe is a large courtyard located in the front of the resort. Here you will find the Casino; Disco; pool tables; shopping; a hamburger restaurant; bar and a stage. Beware of the vendors. They will solicit you to purchase items from their carts. If you're brave enough; you can bargain with them.Things I wish I knew before I came:With a family of five; we went through a lot of sunscreen! I had to buy two more tubes at the cost of $17.00/ tube! Bring extra! I also forgot my sunburn lotion and had to buy that too.If you have children; bring one of those lycra swim shirts. Many of the children were wearing them and I wish I had them for my kids. They got burned the first day even though they were wearing lots of sunscreen.Bring more cash; less traveler's checks. The cashier was only open until 5:00 and we were usually at the pool then. Also; they would only give you a limited number of small bills. Bring lots of ones for tips and keep them in your safe.We went on the monster truck safari excursion. This was a wonderful experience and made our trip to Punta Cana even more worthwhile! See [--] for more details. A lot of the reviews suggested bringing school supplies for the children; however; these children are very poor and do not need school supplies. (some of the toddlers were sucking on the pens) If I could go back; I would bring my son's hand-me-downs; some t-shirts; hats ( possibly solicited from an area baseball team); baby clothes; even flip-flops. Also; the Dominicans' hero is Sammy Sosa. The boys would probably love to receive a pack of baseball cards. Our last stop was a visit to a sugar cane plantation to see a witch doctor. The children were in rags and had no shoes. The teenage boys were pointing to our hats. I probably had twenty hats at home I could have given them. Many tourists were handing out candy; but these children suck on sugar cane all day. We were not allowed to give money. The guide explained that if the children were given money every day; they would wait for the trucks and would not go to school.Be careful what you eat. I really love exotic cuisine and should have been more cautious about what I ate the first couple of days. I was laid up in my hotel room for a day and was sick with diarrhea for about three days. My mom and husband came down with the same symptoms at the same time. My best guess is that we all ate the same thing and probably got food poisoning. I don't think it was the umbrella drinks; because my two older kids were drinking them and never got sick. (My youngest; however; ended up vomiting for two days) We all stuck to bottled water. Follow the guidelines below: (from mdtravelhealth.com)Food and water precautionsDo not eat fruits or vegetables unless they have been peeled or cooked. Avoid cooked foods that are no longer piping hot. Cooked foods that have been left at room temperature are particularly hazardous. Avoid unpasteurized milk and any products that might have been made from unpasteurized milk; such as ice cream. Avoid food and beverages obtained from street vendors. Do not eat raw or undercooked meat or fish; including ceviche. Some types of fish may contain poisonous biotoxins even when cooked. Barracuda in particular should never be eaten. Other fish that may contain toxins include red snapper; grouper; amberjack; sea bass; and a large number of tropical reef fish.Check out went smoothly. We boarded the bus and headed back to the airport. There is a nice air conditioned area to wait; a Wendy's restaruant and some duty free shopping. I wish we would have eaten at the airport because our charter flight ran out of boxed lunches.All in all; this was a great vacation and I would have given it an excellent rating if we hadn't gotten sick. Bavaro Beach was beautiful and I would like to go back someday.
478252,euromalta,04/15/2007,Great Resort!! we just came from gran bahia principe punta cana and the resort is stunning; very clean; the service is great the people are friendly. We stayed at the golden club villa 61 close to the beach. the rooms are big and clean. the resturants al carte are great; good food and the service is excellent. The shows are nice and don't miss michael Jackson show on friday night .You need singles $1 for tipping.they love it...the beach is clean and the water is nice. we loved this resort and ready to go back again. just note at the airport DON'T carry on rum/water they will take it and dump it just happen to me with my rum. Enjoy the resort and go for it.
478252,FamilyFunFour,04/14/2007,Exactly as advertised-Great Family Vacation This was our first major Caribean vacation with our children (10 7). We did a lot of research before choosing this resort and it was everything as advertised. The Pre-Check In on the bus from the airport to the resort was excellent and allowed to start our vacationwithout long line ups at the resort and got our vacation started immediatly. The room was ready right away and was spacious and clean.No matter what your taste in food there was something for everyone (Amust with kids!) from all of the A la Carte restaurants and Buffet. The staff were pleasant and helpful even with the language difference. This is a large resort but with 3 pools and a large beachfront you did not feel over crowded at all. The grounds are extremelywell kept. The entertainment was excellent and there was something for everyone. You will read many reviews as we did before selecting the Bahia Principe Bavaro. I am glad we took the positive comments with merit and the negative with a grain of salt because this was one of our best experiences ever
478252,annrcg,04/14/2007,Loved It! We stayed at the Gran Bahia from April 4 to April 11; 2007. As reported by others this is a very large resort. There are lots of shuttles however to get around. We had a large group (15 people) and had requested to be placed together in the same building and we were. We were in building ten which is about half way between the lobby and the main pool and beach. It was a good location for this resort. Check in was a bit slow and we never recieved beach towel cards though it does not seem to be an issue. The buffets were good with a lot of variety. We went to three of the ala cartes. The barbeque was okay - a lot like the buffett. The French Restaurant (Le Gourmet) and the Japanese restaurant were excellent. The kids particularly enjoyed the Japanese restaurant. The bars were fine with the Lobby Bar making the best drinks. The rooms are large and clean. There was some issue with obtaining towels for a few in our group but easily solved with a call. The beach is spectacular. It can be walked and walked and walked. Overall eveyone in our group enjoyed themselves.
478252,cinnamongrl,04/13/2007,Great Ambiance Hola; everyone; as you can see i'm just fresh from vacation! I really liked coming on tripadvisor to be more informed and it really helped alot. I know i made a good decision booking the gran bahia principe. The lobby when you pull up is awesome; that's the ambiance i'm talking about; especially at night when you get cleaned up and come down have a drink hang out at one of the many sitting areas and feel the warm breeze and listen to the man playing his keyboard and singing i miss that already. On check in we had a miss understanding as i needed a room with 2 beds and they gave me a king bed. It was changed so alls well that ends well. I even called ahead but i don't think that helps on some cases. I was a bit overwhelmed with the size but i grew to love it's size after a day or too. The only place that seems overly busy is the beach and pool of course. The beach is gorgeous and you can walk and check out the resorts next to you; majestic on the left as you facing the ocean and the riu palace and riu resorts on the right side after that then the iberostar. I never made it that far therefore i never made it to the shops on the beach they are down farther than i thought. Not a big deal for me i'm alot shy when it comes to haggling so i'm sure i wouldn't get a good deal i would love to just watch it it action though. Haggling is a sport for these people so be prepared and learn how to do it. Practice on your family and friends or jump in with both feet and hope for the best; i will probably on of the trips. I really like this resort alot and would definitely love to return someday. My 18 yr old son enjoyed himself also he met people from different states so he found people his age group to hang with. The food is good and plentiful and the drinks were great also. Our room was kept very clean and it was very spacious with a separate bathroom and jacuzzi tub. We always had plenty of Hot water i took the longest showers they were great. This is one resort you have to try on for size and see if it fits at first it can be overwhelming with identical lobbies that are just flip flop from each other. In one day and many trips to the wrong one i just learned to read the sign when i got off the trolly on which one to go to. Enjoy it it's absolutely beautiful and bring your smile because you will see plenty of theres. We did the quad adventure tour it's where you ride 4 wheelers if your going to do this bring your own bandana to cover your face it's gets extremely dust y and you will want it trust me. If you don't bring one they have them for sale for 3 dollars a piece. And also bring money to maybe purchase the dvd of your adventure and a bottle of rum with your picture on it .It would of been a great souvinor but no one told us about it ahead of time so i only had a few dollars on me. So i'm telling you so you can be prepared. The dvd and rum i think would of been 35 dollars so bring extra cash for that and tipping. It was a fun day! Ok one more thing than i'm outta here.:) The apple representive that i have dealt with have all been just great. From start to finish you have my 2 thumbs up i felt taken care of and pampered almost. It's good to know you have someone in another country and you can go to if you need to. Thank you to Petra and Isabella keep up the good work. Hopefull i see you again one day to book another excursion. Oh one more thing i never had and bugs or spiders or lizards in the room to me that was a huge plus. Just keep your balcony door closed and nothing should get in I had a ground floor room my room number was 8110; straight down to the beach and pool what more could you want. I'll try to post pictures later i don't have them back yet. Enjoy!
478252,sandnsable,04/13/2007,Too Big! My husband and I just returned from our stay at the Grand Bahia Principe. First of all; for all those of you that are staying here soon. Ignore the weather reports. I read the same thing from others who stayed here. It never rains. It said that it would rain and storm every day and we did not get a drop. We loved the food; the breakfast buffet was really good; we ate there every morning. Try the Watermelon Juice and Banana Juices. To Die for!!! The french restaurant was definitely the best. We ate there 3 times it was soo good. Get the Smoked Salmon with Avacado Cream (app) Seabass(entree) and the Chocolate Desert. Oh my god; just thinking about it makes my mouth water. The Beach BBQ was terrible! The lobster is not Maine coldwater lobster; it is hot-water mush and disgusting!!! Dont waste a night on this.The Japanese restaurant is okay. We eat Japanese a lot and it was only okay. You dont get yellow sauce which we are used to. If you get hibachi express takeout a lot; dont go here.The best bar to go to is the one directly on the beach. I also enjoyed the lobby bar.They have all the good liquors and dont forget to tip! Dirty monkey was my favorite frozen drink. But overall; we were a little dissappointed because our room was right next to the lobby. If i went to the beach and realized i left something in the room; I could count on it taking 45 minutes to get back. The resort is sooooooo big and confusing. I stayed for a week and would much rather have stayed at a smaller place. That would have saved me money anyways. Try to get a room as close as possible to the beach. Its VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO THIS!!! Another downer for us was there were very few Americans here.Nightlife here sucks; but maybe thats because we were so tired at night after being in the sun all day. Make sure you take a nap before dinner if you want to go out at night. The disco doesnt open until midnight. I would not stay here again unless my room was very close to the beach.
478252,CUatpoolbar,04/13/2007,Beautiful Bahia Principe Vacationed at Gran Bahia for a week in early March. We venture toward heat and sun every spring and found the Gran Bahia to be a large; lovely resort with exceptionally friendly waitstaff and workers. Clean by anyone's standards too. We booked the Royal Golden Club and were very happy with this choice. We were a stone's throw from the beautiful; clean beach and the incredible main pool complex. Everything is very accessible by foot or using the tram service which is available every few minutes with little bus stops along the route from one end of the resort to the other. Rooms: Chocolates on your pillows; robes; slippers and an Express # on your phone for Royal Golden guests only. Use the Express button and your request is met within minutes; this includes room service. Room service is your basic hamburgers; hot dogs; BLTs; nachos; fries; etc. Our room was spacious; immaculate and very comfortable. The bathroom was all marble; also immaculate; hair dryer connected to the wall; illuminated make-up mirror (with magnifier side) and plenty of sink room. The bathroom lighting was rather dim and there is no outlets for any electrical appliances (curling iron). Our maid was exceptional. My husband expressed how much he liked the beer and she made sure he had plenty of it every day. One morning she discovered that our room fridge wasn't cool enough; so she contacted maintenance and then proceeded to ice up a bunch of beers in a bucket so they would be cold when we returned. Towel creatures and fresh flowers every day. A complimentary T shirt and bottle of rum left in the room for us. Golden Club members also have their beach towels exchanged by the maid (or you can exchange them yourself at the towel shack); but be aware that the maids enter your room whenever they wish to make this exchange. Several mornings we awoke to fine fresh beach towels; bath towels or whatever on the bench near the door. We would return from dinner to find the ashtray empty and chocolates on our pillows. We were warned of this from other reviews so it didn't really bother us. Our valuables were always locked in the safe (a must have) and we had nothing to hide so it became the daily joke of what's going to be different in the room when we get back (or up)? Ironing boards and irons are available; but you need to request them. That's one request I didn't make wink.Buffets: Compared to the Iberostar Bavaro; Punta Cana (last year's vacation) the buffets are limited and repetitious for breakfast and lunch. There is something for every taste and every culture; but it does become redundant. We found the buffets too noisy and crowded during the dinner hours. Lots of children...fellow parents please take a little time to refresh the kids on proper restaurant behavior before you head out; for your sake as well as the guests seated next to you.Restaurants: There are several specialty restaurants; each with a different theme. It's formal service; cloth napkins and wine with dinner; we enjoy the specialty restaurants as the atmosphere is adult and relaxing. Le Gourmet: small surf and turf; but the pumpkin soup and seafood bisque were good. Please do not expect American steakhouse beef for the turf part...it's not going to happen. You're on vacation; try some different things.El Pescador: the special was lobster the night we went and they weren't kidding around. They brought us lobsters the size of which I didn't know existed. One member of our group (there were four of us) was offered seconds; so don't be shy if you're really enjoying a certain dish.BBQ Grill: an open air affair overlooking the beach...breathtaking. They grilled king prawns (mini lobsters); steak and chicken. As with all the specialty restaurants you're offered wine; salad bar; appetizer buffet and a choice of desserts.Garden Grill: the steakhouse; the special was a T-Bone; which everyone enjoyed. They had a nice Caesar salad; excellent steak soup and good Louisiana corn chowder. They also did a nice fire display when our husbands ordered Sambucca after dinner.Il Capriccio: Italian; entrees lean toward Northern Italian fare. There was also pizza and lasagna on the menu.Main pool complex/Beach: only a low wall separates the pool from the beach. Beautiful view; great camera shots. There's plenty of action on the beach (watersports and sandcastle contests) and near the beach bar. The beach bar has pumped up music and crazy bartenders. If you spot a bartender named John keep an eye on him---he's about as entertaining as they get...very energetic; funny guy. All the bartenders are quick to laugh and ready for fun. If you're bringing the kids prepare them for the topless sunbathing. It's very prevelent on the beach; but some of them wander into the pool area. Every day there is a different photo op roaming around the pool with a photographer to take your picture; we saw a monkey; a snake; a parrot; a Hawaiian dressed couple and a native dressed couple...the following day your photo is available for purchase. If you are planning on spending the day at the pool or beach elect someone the night before to get up at 6 or 7am to reserve some lounge chairs. I know chair reserving is a very touchy subject; but as I said...if you plan to spend the day. We meet at the pool after breakfast and spend the entire day there...we saw several groups of chairs every day with towels on them; but no occupants. It's sad how rude some folks can be.Health concerns: you've just flown into a different country with foreign foliage; pollens; climate and surroundings. You're also probably not used to A/C; so prepare yourself. Bring some OTC allergy meds. The food is rich; there's plenty of fresh fruit; drinks are mostly rum with coconut milk; heavy cream is everywhere; etc...one Immodium a day keeps Montezuma at bay. 'Nuff said.We saw a few mosquitoes; a couple of geckoes in hallways and on trees---they're harmless and fun to watch. No dangerous animals or bugs.Tips: learn a few basic Spanish phrases; it'll make you feel more a part of the party and really adds that little something to vacation. Hola and a smile go a long way. Take 20 or 30 minutes when you've settled in to refer to your map (provided at check-in) and wander the resort. It's immense and daunting at first; but taking a quick self-tour makes the resort far less imposing. Skip the high heels girls---the resort is made up of stone garden pathways and highly polished marble tile. You will fall; we saw it more than once.Tip; tip; tip...spread the wealth!Mucho gusto!
478252,snoop75,04/13/2007,Amazing All - Inclusive My husband and I stayed at the Gran Bahia for 5 nights at the end of April in 2006. I realize this review is a bit late; but better late than never.Prior to this all - inclusive I had only stayed at 1; Sandals Ocho Rios. I was a bit apprehensive as I hated my stay at Sandals. However; Gran Bahia brought me back on the AI bandwagon.This is a massive property. A tram picks you up at various tram stops and takes you throughout the property. The property is INCREDIBLY clean. It is well manicured and maintained. The pool(s) are wonderful; the large pool at the end of the property is the party pool. It's loud with great music and lots of activities. If you want a party; go there. If you want more relaxation and quite; you can go to the pool in the middle of the property. Beware; there are topless women everywhere at these pools. But we were not bothered by this at all.The food at the buffets is pretty good considering the fact that they are buffets. The large outdoor buffet by the pool was ideal for lunch at the pool; hotdogs; burgers; fries; etc. There are several restaurants at the property; we went to 4 of them; the Japanese; Mediterranean; Steak House and Seafood. The steak house and seafood restaurants were average; but the Japanese and Mediterranean restaurants were wonderful. The rooms were really nice as well as clean. The bathroom had double sinks and was rather spacious. Bars are located throughout the property at the pools; beach; and lobby. The drinks are well made; just tip the bartenders once in a while and they will take care of you. The lobby is beautiful with a lot of seating and tables; and a singer or band almost every night. My husband and I had drinks; played cards and enjoyed the evening breeze.All in all; we had a great time! This resort was relaxing and fun at the same time. We just loved it and hope to go back.
478252,misspiaf,04/12/2007,Tips for Vacation and Wedding
478252,mexi1022,04/11/2007,Beautiful but crowded! We spent two weeks at the GBP at the end of March 2007; two of us in our mid-thirties with no kids in tow. Thanks so much to all of you who submitted reviews over the past year to help us make our choice. A few negatives here and there but overall we weren't disappointed! It really depends on what you're looking for...very clean and pretty but also loud with lineups and crowds everywhere...not very romantic but a great family spot. Rooms: We stayed in the brand new Club Golden villas; had an ocean view and were about ten steps from the sand. Rooms are spotless and a/c is left on all day so after a long day at the beach it was nice to come back to a cool (sometimes too cold!) room. Beach: This is why we came to PC!! Gorgeous. That about sums it up. Sorry though...at this resort you do have to play the towel game. We are total beach people so of course did not spend any time whatsoever at the pools; so each day we wanted our perfect spot - the quiet area to the very left (north); under a palapa (a must if you're there for two weeks - we tan very well but even we got burned many days so needed some relief!). So; to get this great spot we set the alarm for 6am and by 6:15 all palapas near the ocean were gone. This is a very; very busy resort so if you're fussy about where you plant your butt for the day then getting up at the crack of dawn is a must! But chairs are still available by 9 or 10; you have to search though. Pools: Only walked by a few times...not our thing! Like a nightclub! Very loud music and people; not a free chair to be found. Food: We went to every single a la cart except for the seafood (El Pescador). The best - Mediterranean; French; Garden Grille. Superb! OK - Japanese; Italian; Mexican. Very average - Dominican; Brazilian. Ick - Beach BBQ. We didn't care for the buffets at night; same food over and over with lineups and people everywhere! Snack bars at the beach were great for breakfast and lunch in your swimsuit; food not the greatest but edible. Entertainment: Shows were boring at times but kept us amused as they were quite amateurish; same at most AI's from what we've seen though! Night life at this resort gets boring fast; the Lobby closes so early and it feels as though they are kicking you out! Pueblo Principe was not as great as we had expected...very aggressive salespeople in the square; okay shops for souvenirs but boring after one or two nights browsing; and very mediocre entertainment. But we're not party people so by 11pm; like most others we met; were exhausted after a long day at the beach!So; a great time overall at the GBP; but would not return unless we had kids with us. This is a great resort for families but for romance...look elsewhere. We called it the Disneyland of Punta Cana; with the constant tram traffic; kids everywhere; and overall loudness/crowds at the beach and pools.
478252,stoxy,04/10/2007,Jack of all Trades - Master of None? This was our first trip to the Caribbean and our first 'All Inclusive'. To date most of our trips are bespoke touring/ stay as you go; so our expectations were wide open. The hotel was great value for money (2adults 1kid 1infant worked out at about $70 each per person per night); clean; well maintained; and given there are 2200 employees a very friendly staff. The resort is huge and well manicured making walking about a pleasure; or take one of the 鈥榦ne a minute鈥?hop on buses to get about. There are some great idiosyncrasies about the place; firstly you are strongly encouraged to book restaurants on the first day and yet the four we went to were only two thirds full. We managed to walk straight into one (Gourmet) with a few smiles and some fast talking so it鈥檚 worth being a little pushy. Secondly; the maids pick the flowers adorning the sidewalks which you will then find embossed into a towel sculpted as a swan when your room is cleaned (which is I guess why sometimes they aren鈥檛 cleaned until quite late in the day). Third; the day/night entertainment is David Brentesque at best; the pool side arm-wrestles to the Bahia Principe theme tune; or Micheal Jackson cameo concert. None of it seems too intrusive though if it is not your thing. Lastly quirky 鈥榞olden club/ diamond club鈥?is a nice idea but just adds confusion; although if you are a sucker for room service; go Golden! Highlights. The beach area is fantastic; it does get crowded right by the resort but it is very clean; lots of shady palm trees and even an ominous shipwreck out on the reef. 鈥楶ueblo Principe鈥?is a nice idea that adds a focal point for nightlife (without leaving the resort); bars; casino; boutiques; more shows. The buffet offers a great variety and to be honest is as good if not better than most of the A La Carte. They have also done a good job at trying to keep the food 鈥榡ust made鈥?(see TripAdvisor reviews from 2005 if you want to know what I am talking about!) with BBQs; Carvery鈥檚; eggs cooked to order; fruit prepared fresh. The rooms are a good size; cool (remember to shut your balcony door properly or the AC will switch off); clean; good bathrooms; with balcony鈥檚 overlooking the imaculate and pretty grounds.Travel Tips. We booked the hotel direct and asked about transfers. They agreed to pick us up/ drop us off as part of the deal which was a nice touch; no cab negotiations or tour buses just a driver waiting to whisk us away. Spanish 鈥?speaking even a little (show the effort) goes a long way to getting what you need. At the very least check back for understanding before walking away. MiniBar 鈥?only has 2 beers and a few bottles of water/coke. The drinks in the main lobby area are generally a little better than those 'poolside'. Tip the maid on the first day if you want it well stocked! Avoid busy check in/out times (just ask the hotel in advance) as the process can be convoluted. Given its size and that it is an all inclusive it will probably never fully satisfy everyone but they certainly want to try. If you are unhappy with any part of your stay be sure to tell them and given them the chance to rectify. (A side note to Quality Mangers out there; whenever we called for something from our room (say extra towels); they not only delivered quickly; but a few minutes later someone would call to confirm we received exactly what we had asked for. This was a nice touch something often lacking in other hotels and other businesses!)Hope this is useful to someone. Thanks to those who wrote the reviews we used to book our trip!
478252,Lag1723,04/09/2007,Loved It Para Sailing(towards Bahia)
478252,rcore,04/08/2007,beautiful all inclusive resort We read a lot about this hotel before our trip and some of the reviews made us a bit nervous. However; we found that most of the complaints people had were very over-exaggerated. The resort was absolutely beautiful. The beach and the resort grounds were immaculate. The resort is; in fact; huge; but we saw that as a highlight of the resort. With all you can eat/drink; who doesn't need a good walk here and there during the day? On top of that; there are these trollys which go by about every five minutes if you are too lazy to walk ten minutes.You do need to get up early to get certain chairs on the beach: the ones closest to the water under the palapas. There are many many chairs throughout the day available under palapas farther from the beach; or in the sun right on the waterline. your best bet is to claim your chairs before you eat breakfast - everyone does do it.The food was not fabulous; however most all-inclusive resorts do not have exceptional food. There were a lot of places to eat throughout the resort; but we found that the main buffet in the lobby was worth the walk from the beach. It had many more options for meals that made it more enjoyable. At breakfast there was a made to order omelette station; and lunch and dinner has a made to order pasta station. The salad bar had a nice variety of vegetables. This type of vacation is not one that you can go on with the expectations of five star dining. We were prepared for much worse and were pleasantly surprised. We were also very pleased with the quality of the drinks; especially at the main lobby bar when Rafael is making you a Coco Loco.
478252,JMS1,04/08/2007,Going Back to the Bahia Principe My wife and I just returned from the Bahia Principe (April 1-6) and loved it! I was a little nervous due to some of the bad reviews; but after an hour or so; I knew we booked the right place. Just remember; all reviews are relevant to how a particular person(s) experiences this place - our experience was excellent! The grounds; pools; beach; service; and DR people are the best we have experienced and will be going back next year. I will try to summarize:Beach - Clean; big; and fresh.Hotel - Clean; big; and well-maintained.Pools - Perfect.Food - Buffet (Ok); Al a Cartes (Better). Suggest Japanese; Mexican; and The Grille.People - Friendly and genuinely want to serve you! Golden Service - Recommend it despite reviews that say you shouldn't get it - trust me; you may not notice it but you are treated better. (ie. we stopped by the Mexican restaurant for dessert because my wife loved the rice pudding without reservations and were served - no problem). Service - Excellent and even better if you tip the wait staff (ie. waitresses; bartenders; and maids).Grounds - Second to none.Entertainment: Didn't participate in much; spent most of the time in the lobby bar and the beach. Participated in snorkling and parisailing - go for it!Ground Transportation: Quick and efficient.Overall; we really enjoyed our time at the Bahia Principe. Americans are the minority here so get use to it. You really aren't going to find American food so get over it - they are trying to serve some 3;000+ pallets per meal. Learn three words in Spanish and you can make it through the day: Hola; gracias; buenos dias/noches. The Canadians and Europeans rule this place - but we found most to be very friendly. The French; well....they pretty much keep to themselves.Do bring/use: (1) insulated mugs; (2) U.S. dollars; (3) Sunscreen; (4) Tobacco products if used; (5) Dress slacks for men in the evenings - women can wear what they want; (6) in-room safe for valuables. (7) Golden Package with room in building #2 adjacent to the beach; main pool; and buffets.I would recommend this hotel and resort to my friends and will certainly return in the future.JMS - Columbus; Ohio
478252,cootesparadise,04/07/2007,Pretty Good Preface: a 5 Star in New York; is not a 5 Star in DR or Cuba. Having said that; I rate this a 4 star in terms of relative ratings to those countries. Frankly; I would not recommend staying somewhere that is not rated less than a 4 star in either country. Beach: Nice beach. I walked right and found the the Iberostar and Riu beaches; and felt the ours was nicer; bigger; cleaner; and had a better atmosphere. There is a section here that allows for beach games; volley ball and has loud music; but you could find quieter spots. There are plenty of trees that provide shade; so even if you move your chair to follow the shade through the day; it should not be a problem or nuisance. To get a palapa; you must be out before 7 AM. A tree 8 AM. The water is nice; although it was stormy the week before so it was a bit wavey with some sea plant leaves floating around. Pool: the main pool was busy busy busy; with much noise and activities. That's great if you like that. I stayed at the ocean moreso. I was also at the Club Diamond; so they had their own pool which was much more quiet that week. Swim up bars at each of them. Drinks: the drinks were mixed well; and anything I ordered tasted like it was supposed to taste. They also had Premium liquer at additonal cost; however; they also had premium all included as well. Unless you're drinking something neat it doesn't really matter. Even their brandy was ok. Food: The buffet was ok. I'm fussy; and found the buffet selection of fish was that plentiful compared to some other all inclusives I've been to. Maybe it was a bad fish week due to the storms ? It was your typical buffet food; and if you eat in moderation you will not get sick. I have not gotten sick ever yet in the last twenty years. Some people eat like maniacs; so it's no wonder your system can't handle it. The service in the buffet was ok. They seemed busy; and less attentive than at some of the Cuban resorts I've been to. I ate at the a la carte French; Italian and they were great. Much better than the buffet. I do find the buffets easier in general; as you go as you want. Remember to book your restaurants on arrival. They also have Japanese; Mexican; and a couple more. Resort: It's divided into two that mirror each other essently; only sharing the auditorium. One side is Punta Cana; and one is Bavaro. I stayed on the club Diamond side; which when looking from the beach is on the right side. Villa 26 was a good location and not a far walk from the beach; just a few minutes. The resort is huge; and somewhat hard to tackle at first; but the shuttle is GREAT !!! The spa is at the front of the hotel; quite a walk away from the beach; even after having taken the shuttle !! They have a small gym which I used; which was fine for a bit of a work out..who needs a full one on vacation !! the lobby bar is nice and has music via electronic piano and people had a nice time dancing to Tom Jones etc. The disco is fun; with the usual hits and what are they playing ? There was a whole shopping area called Pueblo; with an additional entertainment area; karoake bar; small casino; disco. I'm a very good tipper; however; I found; especially at the buffet that people weren't really around; nor did I even know who my server was; so at times I didn't leave anything; especially if they didn't get to clear my plate. Rooms: the room was as expected with a large sitting area. I had a great sleep and no problem with the bed or any bugs. I was on the third floor. All in all; if you're looking for a North American equivalent of a 5 Star; you won't find it. If you travel well and know what to expect; you will like it very much; although; it's abit big for me at first; but I got used to it. Bizzarely; there were many South Americans there; some Americans; and some Brits and English speaking Canadian. There were many French. Mosquitos: there was a malaria warning in November; so I took the Malaron; and brought much repellant. Having said that; I didn't see a single mossie all week.
478252,lovecaribbean1,04/07/2007,Excellent Once More!! we just came back from a 7- night stay at this resort. This is our 3rd time with this resort (previous 2 times was in Riviera Maya; Mexico). Upon check-in; I told the front desk that this is my 3rd time staying; right away; we got upgraded to VIP wrist band. Beach - as beautiful as you can imaging. Clean and lot of beach chairs. None stop beach activities. The Animation Team really knows how to entertain the guests.Pool - very clean; not enough beach chairs for everyone; you need to be there very early in the morning to reserve yours. Plenty of pool activities runned by the Animation Team.Food - we got 4 reservation dinners; Le Gourmet (French restaurant) and El Pascador (seafood restaurant) was my favorite. A lot of people said The Grill is very popular; but since we can't get a decent dinner time b/c of young children; we didn't pick it. But overall; the food in the buffet area was decent. If you are from U.S.; you will find that the lobster texture is very diff from here. I didn't like it at all.Resort - The resort is maintain very well. The landscaping and the cleaningness are at high standard. Staffs are friendly. The free shows at Tropicana theater was fun and entertaining.I will definitely return again to this resort....
478252,EBella,04/06/2007,Lived up to the hype! Just got back from the Bahia Principe. We were there for 1 week. We picked it from all the positive reviews from Trip Advisor. We had booked the Diamond Club through Sunquest; and to our delight were upgraded to a Golden Club room. I'm not sure what the difference is between the rooms; but the DC villas are 3 floors and the GC are 2. The GC are also closer to the beach.The resort is big; There are trams that run constantly. We never usedthem. It's only a 5-8 minute walk from the beach to the main lobby. And it's a beautiful walk.The room was amazing. Always clean. Big. Has a patio or balcony. There was no iron in our room; but you could get one at the front desk. There was an umbrella for those rainy days.The weather was great. The Weather Network said rain all week. It wascloudy here and there. No rain. The restaurants were ok. I was not impressed with the Mikado or the Mediteranean a la Cartes. Would not recommend them. The French and the Italian were very good though. The duck was amazing. The service as well.The main buffet had a huge selection. Something for everyone. Strictvegans may have some problems though. The quality was very good considering it's a buffet. The other buffets around the resort were very good as well. The pools are on the cooler side; but warm once you get in an move around. The beach is beautiful. I can't say enough good things about it. Unbelievable. We did get up early to get our beach chairs. I'd say for the pools; if you want one in the shade - get up early. Before 8am. Out of the shade by 9am. There aren't alot of chairs around the pools.At the beach; if you want a chair in the shade; get one by 7:30 or so. There are always non shade chairs around - just have to search for them.In the Pueble Principe there are shops and vendors with carts. Watch out for the guys with carts; very aggresive salesmen. They have alot of nice stuff though. Be prepared to haggle.Learn some spanish if you have time. Even if it's just how to order a drink; and please and thanks. They really appreciate it. The majority know very little english.I would suggest tipping as much as you can afford. Apparently they only get paid $50US per month. The Dominicans work so hard. They were weeding the gardens at 9pm. Cleaning the beach at night. Constantly sweeping; mopping; spraying; painting. Hard workers; and they all seem to love their jobs.We tipped our maid; turndown maid; mini bar guy; buffet servers everyday. The gardeners love when you tip them. I think they deserve the most (the maid too). We left our maid gifts and she left us notes.It was a great experience. I would definetely go back. The Dominicansare so friendly. Such a change from North America.Bring lots of sunscreen; aloe vera and dollar bills for tipping.
478252,Ottawachica,04/06/2007,Luxurious and clean I just arrived from the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana (Bavaro is the same hotel; just on the opposite side). The hotel was quite nice and luxurious....staff was super friendly; grounds were impeccable; rooms were quite clean; maid service was excellent. I was there for my wedding. The wedding went nicely; but I do not recommend that a control-freak bride get married there...it's quite laid back; a bit disorganized (it's the Dominican; right?) and you do not have much choice of flowers; cake; decorations. The wedding went well. The photographer; Jorge Allocco; ripped us off with the pictures. We ended up paying wwaaaayyyyy too much money for what we got. The food at the hotel was ok..nothing spectacular. I guess there was supposed to be themes; but only the decorations changed at the buffet; the food did not. It was bland and oily most of the time. Japanese restaurant was amazing; so was the Garden Grill. Mexican restaurant sucked and so did the Italian restaurant.Overall; we had a good time at this hotel and I would recommend it to anyone. Beware: lots of kids. Huge resort too so if you are looking for quiet and romantic; it's not the place for you.
478252,Lovetravelling7,04/05/2007,Beautiful resort; we had a great time Sunrise Kiss
478252,frunypie,04/05/2007,My two cents I feel obligated to write a review since TripAdvisor was helpful in determining my vacation plans. The resort is beautiful and the grounds immaculate. The beach was gorgeous and among the cleanest I have seen. The resort in general was so clean and well-kept- it was impressive. Do try to get a room on the top floor of the villas as they are all tile and sound tends to reverberate throughout...we started out on the first floor and moved to the third floor which was much quieter. There is a lot of walking- if you do not like to walk; go elsewhere. The food was good- We had a few meals that were just OK- but nothing inedible. The buffet was great- a LOT of variety; the Japanese and Le Gourmet ala cartes were both quite good- Dominican and Mexican just OK. I would recommend avoiding beef in general- it was tough everywhere we tried it. The staff was for the most part great- if you find a few people who are extra helpful- remember their names and go back to them for help throughout your trip and tip them accordingly. A few US$ go a LONG way and a little effort at speaking Spanish is also helpful. Remember that you are in the Caribbean and things move a little more slowly- get used to it and try to enjoy a more relaxing pace! Aldo and Caesarin at the front desk were very helpful to us. The shows were not a big draw- if you are looking for top-notch nightly entertainment- look elsewhere. The other guests were mostly Canadian and South American- many kids (although we went during Spring Break) and not many singles- if you are looking for a great singles scene or a quiet romantic getaway- look elsewhere. In general; I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the resort was after reading a couple of negative reviews and fearing the worst!
478252,MileHighGuy,04/05/2007,Great Choice! Would stay there again. We stayed at the Bahia Principe from March 25 - April 1st and loved it.I was a little concerned after reading some of the negative reviews on this website; but we had only positive encounters our entire stay. The resort is really big; which at first I did not think I would like (especially since it was at capacity - we thought it might be too crowded); but seeing as we were there for an entire week and never left the property it gave us plenty to explore and for people to spread out so it never seemed crowded. You do have to get a Beach or Pool chair early; but not at 7 am like others have posted. We got to the pool one day at 9am and found chairs without a problem; however; by 10 am they were almost all taken. The hotel grounds are beautiful; and very well maintained. There are multiple pools (all clean and beautiful) to chose from but the beach is probably the biggest draw... 28 miles of white sand and turquoise water... simply breathtaking; and fun to walk. Great people watching.There are several restaurants to chose from (we ate at the BBQ restaurant and thought it was 'okay' but the Japanese was our favorite!). The hotel buffet also has something for everyone. My wife is a professional chef (and very picky) and she thought the hotel did a wonderful job offering a variety of good foods to choose from. The coffee is excellent and the bartenders are pretty liberal with the amount of alcohol in the drinks :-)Entertainment in the theater was a little amateurish; but I give them credit for trying. We saw two shows and one was great and the other was not... but if there is a great keyboard player and vocalist in the lobby bar until 11 which is a little nicer and much more sophisticated. We went to the Disco once (doesn't open until midnight)... and basically it's whatever you make of it. We had fun; but if you are looking for some serious nightlife; this is not it.The Dominican workers at the hotel were all very friendly and made us feel welcome. Check in and out; was fast and easy. We did not encounter very many other Americans during our stay - mostly Europeans and Canadians (who were a fun bunch); but almost everyone spoke English; which was nice for us even though we are fluent in Spanish. All in all it was a great time; and I would strongly recommend this hotel.
478252,doug12,04/05/2007,Nice and Clean; But it Stops There My Wife and I stayed at the Bahia Principe Punta Cana from March 28 to April 04 2007. Upon arrival we were let off the bus practically on a mangrove bush and handed a red glass of something that most guests discarded after tasting it. I then followed their lead and discarded mine without tasting it. As our flight time was moved up 2 hrs in Toronto we arrived early at the resort. Most rooms were not ready ;however ours was. We were told that this was because we were Gold Club members(this is not worth the upgrade; as you get the exact same as a regular guest; other then a separate check in and checkout area in which you have to wait longer then a regular guest because it is not staffed adequately) . We were told that we had express checkin. This is to say that we were given a bracelet on the bus and some information packages. then we were rushed off to our room without given the opportunity to get our safe or book our al a carte restaurants; the safe cost us $28.00us extra; I thought this was a rip off. This may sound trivial; but i can tell you that it is not. This resort is so big; that if you have to make a trip to the lobby you will be a minimum of 1 hour; and be prepared to get lost during this hour at least once (it took us 2.5 hours to get it all done). You have to see it to believe it!!! ROOMSOn a good note the rooms were appointed very nicely. We were suppose to get turn down service; but this did not happen until 5 days into our stay( i really dont care about that sort off stuff; but it was promised). Seemingly corresponding to a mass in flux of guests from Europe. I can say that I personally noticed a difference in service when the europeons arrived. Up to this point there were no beach waiters; But there was after the europeon in flux. FOODI found the buffet to be a better option then any of the a la carte restaurants. The food at the mexican restaurant was absolutely horrendous and also at the Mederteranian. The italian restaurant was OK but was the most entertaining. The portion sizes at the a la cartes was somewhat smaller then you normally see at a gourmet restaurant. If you dont like it you can go to the buffet afterwards; its open til 10:30 pm.BeachThe beach is phenomenol!!!!!! you can walk for hours and you will have to has you will be unable to find a chair unless you are up and at the beach at 6:30 am. The only beach that i have found that compares is on the Isle of Kauaii; Hawaii.I personally would not recommend this resort to my friends or family. It is too big and I wasted too much time looking for stuff. I did not find the food good; in fact both my wife and i became ill at the end of the week; and are still sick two days after arriving home. We did not get the services that were promised in the brochures and in general I felt like i was treated like a head in a herd of cattle.DC MillsOntario; Canada
478252,goldenDRprincess,04/03/2007,The Good; The Bad and The Ugly A little display of colourful rice and carved fruit in the buffet
478252,Parak33t,04/03/2007,Wonderful and Beautiful My vacation with my husband; two daughters ages 17 and 14; took placefrom March 23-30. Before we went; I read a years worth of reviews; took notes of things that I thought would be helpful; and the trip turned our fantastic! We arrived in DR with no hotel transfer; but immediately got a taxi for $33 and away we went. We upgraded to Club Diamond for $30/day extra and was in Villa 29; a very central location. Everything that we experienced there was perfect...the people; the food; the pool; the beach; the rooms; and the resort as a whole. You won't be dissappointed. My daughters had a couple friends there; so they hung out together and were very content to stay at the resort the entire week. I have no negatives to report. If anyone would like more specifics on certain areas; please feel free to e-mail me at pjparis4606@aol.com. This was a perfect vacation.
478252,FrezinNorth,04/02/2007,Enjoyed the Bahia We were a group of 8 that stayed a week. Overall the stay was good. We had been in contact with the resort prior to our arrival and much to our surprize we received a free upgrade to the Royal Golden Club. This gave us 1 extra a la carte (4 instead of 3); slippers and bathrobes and turn down service that would replace your beach towels.When people say this resort is huge they are not kidding; many people used the tram service. We would usually walk as with all the stops the tram has to make you don't actually save any time. The resort is so big we left with the feeling that we didn't get to see everything. Food-The food at the a la cartes we went to was fabulous. We did the Japanese; Mexican; Steakhouse and Meditrianian (sp). Service at these we great. Food at the buffet was very hit or miss. There was nothing offered at the buffet that made you say boy that was really good. But it filled the hole. Make sure the hot food is hot and cold food is cold; quite a few times I left food on my plate because it was ice cold and should have been hot.Beach-Very nice; lots of seaweed this week; but the beach was kept clean. Waves were a lot of fun. Pool-Lot of pools to chose from; all very clean. Not much activity going on at the pools. I had read some reviews stating it was to loud and busy at the pools; I'm not sure about that as we could barely hear the music and the only activity was people looking for chairs.Beach/Pool Chairs-Its true; if you want a chair at the beach or pool in the shade you better reserve it before 7am. I was up really early (5:45am) one morning and went down to the beach to sit there and watch the sunrise....there were people scrambling around in the dark reserving chairs. Actually it was quite comical as they were tripping over stuff and walking into other things.Rooms-Very nice; king size bed; jacuzzi tub...no problems here at all.Entertainment-Surprizing very good; no it is not broadway but still very well put together. We went to every show except the Michael Jackson one and thats because we had late dinner reservatations.Service-for the most part it was very good. Still some strange stuff goes on.. for example we went for breakfest one morning and when we were seated the lady asked if we would like coffee; after a quick yes we were off to the buffet to get our breakfest....I am still waiting for that coffee. Little stuff like that happened a few times..not sure why but not really a big deal. I just asked someone else for a coffee and it was there shortly there after. Another example is if you throw your beach towels into the bathtub the turn down service should replace them. Everytime we did this all the turn down service did was hang them up but our friends in the very next room would do the same thing and get new towels. Again not a big deal we just traded them in at the pool the next day.....but strange service.Weather-2 full days of rain; what can you do; we made the best of it.All in all a good vacation; Bahia met all of our needs. Probably would not return though as there was nothing provided that made this resort stand out from any other AL resort.
478252,magginine,04/02/2007,Looks like a 5 star...but something was missing... We are a Canadian couple in our 30's and we stayed here end of March 07. Booked through Sunwing. One comment on Sunwing. While I realize this is a charter flight and flight times are subject to change; we purchased our package based on some great flight times; a 6 am departure and 9:15 pm return. Both got changed to our disappointment and to our disadvantage. We ended up departing Halifax at 10:15 am and returned at 3 pm. We felt like we lost out on time on our vacation and we had paid a small premium to book with this tour operator based on the flight times. Not cool Sunwing. It felt a bit too suspicious to us; like a bait and switch; which; of course; they deny. As for the Bahia; we stayed close to the Club Diamond pool; about midway down the resort; in between the lobby and the beach and it was a good location; I felt. Let me start off with the good:1) Check in was done on the bus trip from the airport by Michael; a very nice guy from reception. Very very convenient.2) The beach was fabulous. Large; long beach with beautiful water and soft white sand.3) Our room and the whole resort were very clean. No musty smell in our room. Staff working non-stop.4) Although the resort is very large; the trolleys run non-stop. I didn't mind the walk sometimes.5) Lots of pools; restaurants; bars; a spa; a little shopping and entertainment square on site. No lack of amenities here.6) Internet available all around the resort. 15 minute time limits; but convenient.7) Book the French; Italian and Garden Grill restaurants; the Italian was our favorite; both for service and food.Here's the not so good.1) The food was so-so. Wednesday night at the buffet was very good; nice rib-eye steaks and good variety. Otherwise; too much repetition from night to night at the buffets; it all feels the same.2) Animation staff; with the exception of Kassandra; is unmotivated and pretty lazy. There was stretching; aerobics and dance lesson on the beach; but it was the same every day; no attempt to get to know you or liven things up. I was a little caught off guard when one of the dj's asked me to get him some drinks for himself and another one of the guys. I'm the one on vacation; and he asks me to get him drinks??!! Give me a break! I should've reported him but I guess that's not in my nature; I can't stand the thought of costing somebody their job; even if he did that.3) There was a bad smell in the Bavaro lobby buffet. Especially noticable at lunch times.4) The staff was just okay. They seemed generally unmotivated and unhappy. There were of course some exceptions. Victor and the whole crew at the lobby bar were awesome. 5) The entertainment was really bad. Comedy night especially horrible. The dancing in the Michael Jackson show was good. The lip-synching was hilariously bad. We enjoyed the later entertainment at Pueblo Principe more.6) Avoid the Dominican and Seafood restaurants at all costs. Both are horrible. We had some bad luck and hit a week of not so great weather. It poured buckets for almost 2 whole days and was windy the rest of the time. But you can't control the weather.In all; the resort is nice for families; I wouldn't recommend it too much for couples looking for a romantic getaway. It looks great; and has all the amenities of a 5 star but the personalized attentive service was lacking; the warm and cozy feeling that we have experienced before wasn't there this time around. Would we returrn? Not unless it was with our kids and we got a smokin deal. We enjoyed the Mayan Riviera more.
478252,HaydenDog,04/01/2007,Would recommend this place in a heart beat! Just got back for a one week at the Bahia Principe. (Mar 22 -29; 2007)Like the majority of the reviews we thoroughly enjoyed the resort.Some overall info; we flew down on Air Transat and booked with Air Transat Holidays; and we were in the club golden.Arrival at the airport: - Included in our tour package was the tourist card; which was another thing we didn't have to worry about- After you claim your luggage; it is just as easy to hang on to it instead of the having the porters handle it. There are a ton of them; but a no thank you and they move on to the next passenger.- The tour desk are on your left as you leave the baggage claim area; and they can tell you what bus you are onArrive at the Hotel:- Our Club Golden representative couldn鈥檛 make it on the bus; so we didn鈥檛 get checked in on the bus; but they usually do. However once we got to the Hotel; the Club Golden staff took us into a separate area; checked us in. Checkin was quick and painless- After we got to the hotel; we had gotten to our room; washed up; and were on our way to dinner in quickly.- The Bellboy鈥檚 took our luggage and us on the tram to our roomThe Hotel Room (Club Royal Golden)- We were in Villa 4. It was great; nice and clean; and very close to the beach and the main pool. This alone was worth paying extra for the Golden Club. - Also included in the room was in room beach tower exchange each night; so you didn鈥檛 have to wait to exchange your towels. We tipped the maid every day and got excellent service. - We also had available to us 24 hour room service; but never used it.- Royal Golden also offers you 15 min blocks of free internet in the clubhouse.Tipping:- We tipped the maid; the bartender at the beach bar; a la carte restaurants. Tip early in your stay at the bars and the bartenders tend to remember you and give that extra bit of friendly serviceFood- Okay; I have read some of the reviews and some of the complaints about the food. We always found something to eat at the buffet or the a la cartes. The food is not the greatest we have ever had; neither is it the worst. The buffets have a lot of choices; hot entrees; salads; desserts. The buffets have a theme night ranging from Mexican to Dominican to American. - For Breakfast and Lunch; we ate by the main pool at the Fish or Mexican Restaurants. They are a la carte鈥檚 at night but are not for breakfast and lunch. We found them less crowded; but the selection is obviously a little bit less than the main buffet.- I didn鈥檛 care for the BBQ at the beach restaurant- In the evenings we also ate at the Mediterranean; Japanese; Fish; Gourmet (French). All work pretty good.Shows:- Like others have said before; they really try hard; and it mildly entertaining; but we found it a little boring.- Sitting in the Lobby Bar was far more entertaining than the show.Lobby Bar:- On the couple of days that it rained during the afternoon; we ventured to the bar for drinks and played cards. The staff pulled out board games and were playing games in the lobby; that was fun to watch- A couple of nights they had specialty coffee bar; which included a Caf茅 Flamb茅 (nice drink!)- Another evening that had carved out what seemed like 100鈥檚 of pineapples; and were serving pina colada鈥檚 in them (yum)- There seemed to be always some live entertainment in the lobby at night; which was pretty goodPueblo Principe:- For the shopping; there are a bunch of shops and carts there; we strolled through; but was a little disappointed in what we saw.- There is a casino there (not worth going in my opinion)- And after the show is done at the theatre; there is a band playing thereFlea Market:- As you face the ocean; if you turn right; for a 45 minute walk you will get to the flea market. It鈥檚 worth the walk; as you go past the Riu Resort and the Iberostar Resort; and then you can haggle with the locals for a wide variety of things.- Haggling is the key here; they will start with a price much higher than what they will accept. I had fun with a guy; every time we agreed on a price for one thing; I would say okay good; now lets add a bottle of rum; how much will that be.Beach/Pool Chairs:- Although the 鈥渞ules鈥?say it is not allowed; people get up early to reserve the chairs both at the pool and the beach. I would say the 鈥済ood鈥?chairs (ie the ones under the shade) are usually taken by 7:30; and definitely the rest of the pool chairs are taken by 8:30. I enjoyed getting up in the morning to watch the sun rise and take a walk on the beach; so it wasn鈥檛 too much of a problem for me; but if you are a late riser I can see it being an annoyance- Bring a magazine/book/your own towel or something else to identify your blue toweled chair from all the other similar ones.Trams:- The facility is large and there are always trams taking you back from the front of the facility to the beach; but the walk from front to back is not that far so it was a good excuse to work off the food and drinks.Lock your stuff up:- Either in the safe that you rent on a daily basis; or in your luggage. As our on site Air Transat Representative said; you like your stuff; so do others; including other guests; so keep your valuables locked upGrounds:- Very lush and very well taken care off. There were always maintenance works cleaning; painting; mowing; sweeping etc. They do a very good job of this. We really never saw any garbage anywhere.Leaving Punta Cana:- The bus took us to the airport; but the bus operator wouldn鈥檛 let us off the bus until the luggage was unloaded; which of course the vulture baggage handlers came out of nowhere grin to carry our bags to check in (which were about 50 yards away) Oh well; I tipped the guy $2 and he seemed happy.- We left midday; and the check in process and going through security was very quick. Punta Cana Airport post security checkpoint:- There is a 鈥渄uty free鈥?store; or should I just say a place to buy rum. The prices are a lot more than the hotel. We just bought our liquor at the hotel and the flea market; however you will have to pack the liquids in your checked baggage or they will take it from you at the security checkpoint.- There is also a Wendy鈥檚 and a Mexican Fast Food; and a little convenience store. Be prepared to pay stereotypically airport prices here. (Big Bacon Classic 鈥揅ombo 鈥?Biggie size = $9 USD)- There are a couple of shops; but not much else to do while you wait for your flight home.Conclusion:I tried to touch on a bunch of stuff on our experience here; so hopefully it will be helpful to others; as I had researched a lot about the resort before we left; and valued others perspectives on different things to experienced.I echo the comments of some others; you are on vacation in a foreign country; things are going to be different; food might taste a little different; but you are there to relax; so enjoy yourself!All in all; we enjoyed our vacation and the Bahia Principe; and would definitely recommend it to others.
478252,JenFev,04/01/2007,Great Resort (except slow service on requests) My fianc茅 and I were at the resort from March 17 to 31. The purpose of this trip was to get married at the resort and we had 16 people join us the second week (we got married March 28).First off; I must say that before booking we were confused by the different resorts; but there are a few shared restaurants if you are going with a group. We found that when it came to the exclusive pools; bracelets weren't monitored; but when we went to the Italian for lunch (exclusive to Diamond Club Bavaro) with some friends (staying on the Punta Cana side) and we were kindly asked to leave stating that our bracelets (silver - Bavaro V.I.P.) were good; however our friends' were not (green).We booked through Sunquest and stayed on the Bavaro Diamond side. We flew Skyservice down and CanJet back with no issues. Service was great and the flights were smooth for the most part (some turbulence there). I requested a King bed on the top floor with Garden View with my travel agent and that is what we got.I agree with all the positive reviews on this site about the cleanliness; attention to detail; friendly staff; great beach; and the large resort. I won't bother repeating the great things said and agree 100% with them. In whole; I didn't find language barriers with the staff that have regular interaction with guests and if anything; found that they could speak 3 or even 4 languages! The staff that didn't really know English at all was our maid; the guys that drive the trams; or busboys usually.If you are looking to get married in Punta Cana; you may want to consider this resort. The wedding coordinator is awesome and I couldn't have asked for a better wedding and reception. After conversion (and paying for speakers at the dinner to hook my MP3 player up to for dancing) it came to about 2K CAD. I believe you can have it on the beach for an extra fee; but we decided to have it in the garden gazebo.Since we were getting married/honeymooning; we were upgraded to VIP bracelets (can use any restaurants or amenities); got numerous fruit baskets; got some polo shirts (although we also stayed in the Bahia San Juan... since I know some people just got T-shirts); received a wedding gift (2 hr snorkeling excursion); and our in room safe was free; free bottles of rum; champagne; and white wine.For a la cartes we tried the Garden Grill; The French; The Japanese; Mediterranean; Mexican; Brazilian; and Italian then did some repeats of our favourites. The portions were smallest at the French; but the food there was the best. We really liked the others too; except Mexican (the buffet hot table was better than the entrees) and Italian. I wouldn't use the reservations for dinner on these two since you can go for lunch without reservations. We did the Japanese twice and had very different experiences. Our first reservation was a late one (9pm) and we didn't feel rushed at all since we were the last ones in there. Our chef was entertaining and seemed happy while the second time we went earlier (7:30pm) and we felt very rushed. There were management type guys hovering by the door to the room while we tried to eat everything on our plates. The chef the second time around was just cooking... no interaction or anything.There were very few negatives about this resort and it isn't on the resort itself. One is the beach front property 鈥?it goes deep quickly. In about 10 steps the water was up to my chest; and I鈥檓 about 6 feet tall. You cannot walk very far into the ocean. It was pretty rough as well; so snorkeling in front of the resort is hard 鈥?but that may have been the time we went. There was seaweed everywhere the first week we were there; but none the second week. If you want more shallow water area you will need to move down the beach to the Melia or resorts in that area. Secondly; if we requested something (i.e. a new alarm clock; more towels; to be seated with other rooms at a la cartes); these requests were not followed through the first time. Knowing this in the first week; we didn't wait as long to make the request a second time. It was resolved quickly after a second request was made; or in the case of the alarm clock; when we brought it right to the guest services area and said - it's broken; please give us a new one.Third - activities. It seems like the only activities they had were pool aerobics and dancing lessons. We tried showing up on time for beach volleyball; but it never seemed to happen.Our last negative isn鈥檛 about the resort; but about excursions. There are several safari trips and several Sanoa and Catalina island trips. I read here how people loved this and loved that excursion; however getting there; I didn鈥檛 realize there are so many tour operators and Sunquest said their Sanoa trip didn鈥檛 include snorkeling (I thought all Sanoa trips had a portion of time for snorkeling). My advice is know what you want to do and ask specific questions. If your tour operator cannot answer them or they don鈥檛 have want you need; ask the others (they are all in the same room). For water related trips; you are better off going to Scuba Caribe on the beach. This is where you get the free water activities. I won鈥檛 go into the details; but I would not deal with Turinter Tours (a contact we got through Sunquest for a Catalina Gator excursion).
478252,blueslover97,03/31/2007,Great All Inclusive if your expectations are appropriate sunrise facing the beach
478252,Traveller2261,03/31/2007,Better resorts out there for that price Last Visit:March 2007This is the fifth year we have been to Punta Cana during March break. Perhaps our expectations were too high based on reading of reviews before we went. Let's start with the good:i) the rooms and complex were well maintained and clean;ii) the staff was friendly and spoke English quite well;ii) food in the a la carte restaurants was good;Now the not so good:i) we felt they cheaped out at the buffet especially at breakfast; no cooked ham; limited fruit; no granola (only oatmeal);ii) luncheon buffets had less variety than at other resorts we have been atiii) the main pool by the beach was extremely crowded - we needed to get up at 5:30am to reserve a pool chair;iv) we checked-out in the late afternoon (5:25pm) - other hotels routinely offer you a courtesy room in which to shower and change; this hotel offers you shower facilities off of the main lobby. After paying Club Golden prices it is not pleasant to have to shower and change in a public washroom.v) other than in the main lobby you could not get a cappucino or expresso.All of the negatives about this hotel are in the context of other Punta Cana hotels we have stayed at in the past.On the face of it; this is a great facility but around the fringes it is evident they are exerting heavy cost control. Others may not have noticed. We did.The aura of a management team more interested in their bottom line vs client experience was; in our minds; quite evident. We will not be returning.
478252,hockeyrocks7,03/30/2007,We Loved It! ship wreck
478252,arglyegirl,03/29/2007,absolutely loved it one of the many beautiful flower arrangements being made
478252,Palcin,03/28/2007,Reserving Chairs--a big problem! We stayed at the Bahia Principe from March 16th to the 23rd. The place was beautiful; well-maintained and the service was excellent. The white sand beach was gorgeous! The food was wonderful and none of us got sick. We tried the Japanese; Dominican; Mediterranean and French restaurants and we were very impressed with all of them. The resort wine was not the best but you could order from their wine list for an extra charge. We found the resort too big. My husband and I have been to many resorts which were much smaller and we never had a problem with beach and pool chairs. At the Bahia; I had to be at the beach by 6:30 every morning to save chairs under a palapa for our family (6 people). I witnessed some guests paying staff in the afternoon to save chairs for them for the next day. These guests would show up just before 11:00 a.m.! We also heard that some guests were putting towels on chairs at midnight! How sad is that?!There were many beach chairs along the beach but far from the washrooms and beach bar. For the hotel's 4;000 guests; they should add more beach bars and washrooms. For future vacations; we will definitely look into smaller all-inclusive clubs where you do not have to fight for resort chairs!
478252,SurfandturfNewYork,03/28/2007,Just returned from Punat Cana Gran Bahia !!!!!!! I just returned from a stay at the gran bahia March13-21st I booked from there web site through the Miami office. I had a minor problem that they did not handle and could not get them to return my call after my trip. We booked Golden club which I dont feel was worth the extra $200. WE did get a room close to the beach the room was very clean and nice. The maid was very helpful and considerate I tipped her every day. Our first day we discovered that in order to get a lounger at the beach or pool you have to wake up very early or late at night to reserve. This is not relaxing!!!!!!!! we leave the traffic at home.......that really was a negative. The beach is pretty warm water with sandy bottom very nice. Very loud music is played in the main beach area which I didnt like. I guess if you are young it isnt that bad!!!! The food is very good and the waitstaff are excellent. Very good bar drinks as well. If going with kids take walkie talkies. Im my opinion this hotel is not romantic way to crowded and noisy. Some peple like that. The spa is nice but they charge to use the water spa which I thought a rip off. They also should have some exercise classes and yoga at the spa indoors. They do have you as a captured audience so iron out all details befor you go if possible. Golden Club didnt provide really any services...... they were polite. I think the only way you can get a room close to the beach is going with Golden however there is a tram to all areas away from the beach. There is a casino; disco great shows and happy staff. The teens could have used more structured programs to meet eachother. I hope this is helpful to anyone planning a trip. THere were a lot of Canadians and Europeans which was very nice .Bon Voyage!
478252,beachs,03/28/2007,Nice Resort We just returned from Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana...This is a nice resort. Very clean and the food was good...We were in bungalow 31 in the Diamond section; close to the beach and lobby. Didn't have to wait for a tram; short walk either way. Nice thing in the Diamond section is you have a private check in/out desk and staff to help you. Free internet (20 min./day) private pool with swim up bar and service and private restaurant for breakfast and al a carte lunch.Went to 4 a la carte restaurants...Japanese was very good; so was the Italian and the BBQ on the beach; was not impressed with the steak house...cheap meat cuts.If you are a beach person as we are...we were up and looking for a spot at 6:30 am everyday...I don't know if it was the week we went (3/18 to 3/25) but the beach was busy. Anyone who likes to sleep late; forget about getting a chair on the beach past 8 am.Was OK but I don't think we will go back here...Things that really upset us were:1 - 5 star resort and you have to pay for a safe!2 - our flight didn't leave till 9:30 pm and check out was 12 noon; showers were in the lobby bathroom if you wanted to use them (no courtsey rooms) 5 star??3 - If you could do a late check out; $10.00 US per hour - 5 star??hope this helps if you are planning to go here!
478252,Presidente75,03/28/2007,Beautiful resort but... My wife I just returned from a 1 week stay at the Bahia Principe from March 12-19/2007 through Air Canada Vacations. We met up with 2 other couples that arrived earlier.I was told that about 5000 people were staying at the resort over the March break. Unfortunately; we had little option due to work constraints. However; the resort had about 2000 staff working. Suffice it to say; the resort was a little busier then I would have liked. But considering the number of guests I really don't have a complaint regarding the staff.Like many others before me; I read review upon review trying to get a grasp on what to expect during my vacation. On to the useful information....Airport - you will need a $10 tourist card upon arrival have to pay $20(cash) upon departure- if you are over-weight upon return say you will be paying with a credit card they will waive the charge- the porters are aggressive but avoidable so long as you quickly grab your own luggage for the 30 second walk to your shuttle bus- the food is VERY expensive; a small meal at Wendy's cost $18US- DO NOT wait to buy your alcohol at Duty Free; I found the prices to be at least 3 times the amount of the resort- if you are looking for real cigars; they sell them at the duty free (terminal 2) for a reasonable priceResort staff- the staff was GREAT; they are dramatically underpaid with most coming from Santa Domingo(over 300 miles away)- they work 12 days on; 3 days off; 14-16 hour days for $2US- bring lots of $1 bills as they really deserve appreciate a little bit extra- we left our maid $2/day as well as a little something daily that we purchased at home from Dollarama- special mention goes out to Kasandra(Animation Team); John(Beach Bar; etc); I love you 20 times!!!; Juan(Swim-up Pool Bar) Juana(Cocktail Waitress in Lounge)- all of them made out trip very enjoyableFood- book your a la carte reservations ASAP- we booked at Mikado(Japanese); the Garden Grill(Steakhouse) Le Gourmet(French)- all were excellent highly recommended; however; the Japanese was a little rushed- we were able to slip in for 2 extra a la carte reservations just by showing up at the restaurant requesting to be seating- we left $5 after each meal which seemed to be the norm during our stay- the buffet was fresh during our 2 visits- we ate breakfast at Los Olas lunch at the Snack Bar- you will find that you get into a daily routineAlcohol- plentiful; be sure to ask if you do not want the bar selections- eg; if you like Gin order Tanqueray or Beefeater with your drink; Gordon's was considered a premium Gin down here with an up charge/drink...confused- be sure to check the lists provided- bring an insulated mug for the beach; the 52oz BUBBA comes highly recommendedBeach/Principe Village Vendors- they will start very high but eventually come down- a box of fake Monte Cristo's started at $175US sold between $20-25US; real tobacco though!!!- necklaces started at around $25US sold between $4-5US- bring stuff to barter with from home- the oil painting are not real; they are water/acrylic based with a laquer on top; also they are mass produced so pay accordinglyRooms- we stayed in Villa 6 on the Punta Cana side- 3rd floor with a King sized bed- very clean- close to the beach pool- purchased a safe rental upon arrival for valuables would recommend the sameEntertainment- usually ended around 10:30pm- Michael Jackson show Circus were mildly entertainingBeach/Ocean/Pools- breathtaking- unfortuantely; in order to get a prime Palapa(shade umbrella) we had to get up reserve it around 6:00AM- unlike many others who were no where to be seen all day; we arrived shortly after breakfast stayed until 5:00pmAll in all; it was a great vacation. I must say though; great for families; not a romantic getaway.
478252,R6,03/28/2007,Fantastic!!!
478252,DivaTravel,03/26/2007,Loved It! Wow; love the beach
478252,suzelledelorme,03/25/2007,Paradise on earth me at the entrance
478252,Northernteacher,03/25/2007,Fantastic time (Northern Ontario) We stayed at the Bahia from March 13th to the 20th. It was extremely busy as it was March Break time in Ontario. As we were both extremely stressed by the time we left we were looking to relax and enjoy the warm sunny weather - we were not disappointed.From the beginning; things went so smoothly; I was afraid to make any comment - waiting for the shoe to drop - it never happened.Check in was a breeze getting most of what we needed on the bus. Because of our early arrival - 11 am; our room was not ready. We sat in the lobby patio and had a drink and started to feel ourselves unwind. We looked at the map of our surroundings and decided to drop into the Diamond Club office to see if we could book our dinner reservations. No problem; there was no line-up; our room was ready early. We got our safe key and we were in business. We found our room; lots of walking. We were close to the beach; did a quick change as I had packed beach clothes in my carry on and went to the pool. It was very busy; but it was peak time. We were able to find a couple of chairs and our holiday was rolling.As the resort is huge; it is a bit overwhelming initially; but it is actually laid out quite simply. By late afternoon; we had no trouble finding our way around. Finding anything to complain about over the next week would have been a stretch. As we were constantly reading reviews before we left; I have to wonder how some people live when they aren't on vacation. If you aren't willing to try and communicate with someone speaking their native tongue; don't go. If you want high end gourmet food for 7 days; don't go to an all inclusive. We could not have met friendlier staff at the restaurants and bars (totally different than here at home). There was always something good to eat. Between the platters of fresh fruit and vegetables; pasta and egg stations; local specialties; etc. I can't imagine anyone going hungry. We never had any stomach problems the entire trip. If something didn't look right; we didn't eat it. Having a cocktail in the lobby bar before and after dinner was an added bonus. The wait staff there is amazing.As I am an early riser; finding chairs by the Diamond pool was never an issue. My only complaint is with the guests; that leave their towels on chairs and don't use them until late in the day. Some people are just self centred. We chose to sit by the pool as we found the beach quite crowded - just a personal preference. We did enjoy walking and looking at all the other resorts along the way.All in all would I go back- in a heartbeat. We met some fantastic people from all across Canada; read relaxed and experienced everything I had wanted to on this vacation. We have travelled extensively to Mexico and the Dominican over the last 10 years; and this resort would definitely rank near the top. We also found that spending the extra for the Diamond club was well worth it. (A special thanks to Jodi at Algonquin Travel in Ottawa.)
478252,scott1459,03/24/2007,Expectations too high!! cleaning beach
478252,StittsvilleCanada,03/24/2007,5 Star all the way We just returned from the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana and we had the greatest time ever. As most people do ( or should do ) we did a lot of research on the Gran Bahia and read the many reviews before we booked our vacation. My wife and two boys 13 15 went during the March break from the 11th to the 19th. This place is very large but it is spread out and there are little buses that take you all over the resort. We stayed in the Club Golden suites which was right beside the beach. Excellent room service from the maid; just leave a $5 US tip every morning and you are treated like Kings and Queens. Also bring a few little gifts for the maids; they love facial creams etc. The 24hr room service is great also; we never had a problem with anything that we ordered. If you needed extra beer; food or wine no problem it was there within minutes. Our room was clean; spacious; we always had fresh towels and the Fridge was stocked well every day. The beach was close to us so I had the same spot every day. I thought that it would be a problem finding a spot every day due to it being the March break but you would never know it. I got up at 6:30 AM every morning and claimed my area. The restaurant; bar and washrooms were right beside us; what more could you ask for. The food in the reastraunts were great; we never had any bouts of sickness and we ate lots of everything. You just have to be careful when you eat at some of the out door reastraunts during the day and make sure that the hamburgers are cooked. Other than that we had no complaints about the food. The whole resort is imaculate with the grounds being cleaned and maicured all the time. I don't know what people were saying about mosquitoes in some of the reviews but we never saw any.The night life finished at 11PM but the disco is open late. We never had an issue here because we would just order a few extra rounds and stay in the reception area longer. The Micheal Jackson show was so;so. We brought US cash with us which was a great idea as everything is in US funds. I will keep this reveiw short as I could go on and on but the bottom line is The Gran Bahia in my view is a 5 Star Plus resort. It does not matter where you travel there are always going to be negative reveiws from people; mind you some of them are pretty petty. Here is a couple of tips if you plan on staying at the Gran Bahia.(1) Bring US funds(2) Thermos Mugs for cold beverages on beach(3) Keep all reciepts from purchases at Resort(4)Tip the maid and leave a small gift every second day(5) Upgrade to Club Golden package(6) Relax Enjoy
478252,ryefly98,03/24/2007,Good Holiday We had a good holiday at the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana. We travel every year with our son; he is 8.Liked:Rooms - nice; big; clean; great maid serviceFrench Restaurant - very good; order the FiletBeach - absolutely gorgeousCheck In/Out - very efficient; on the bus on the way to the resortExcursions: Bravo Runners; little speed boats and snorkelling tour and we did the Caribbean Festival; was fun - good group on this tour with us so that helpedPools - nice and warm; clean; didn't feel crowdedFood - the buffets were actually pretty good compared to other AI we have been toWeather - we had great weather our entire visit; was so good!!!Environment - very nice; relaxing...didn't feel crowded...the lobby bar area was a nice place to hang out and have a couple of drinksDisliked:Kids Club - AWFUL; basically non existent. Their idea of programming was TV and video games; NOT GOOD and I sent them a letter afterwards telling them. Seafood restaurant - lobster was brutal; service even worseVery large resort - tram system to get from one end to the otherThe Shows - They were OK; often ran into difficulties with sound etc.Feel free to email and ask any questions especially if you are bringing children. Our favourite place to bring our son so far has been the Barcelo Mayo Colonial Resort in the Mayan. They have a big water park area; and the price was around the same as Bahia. Good luck with your travels!Lori - lflynn2@cogeco.ca
478252,guardianLOrignal,03/23/2007,The perfect wedding amazing
478252,jchygiene,03/23/2007,A wonderful place the Bahia Principe amazing
478252,MMMinneapolis,03/23/2007,fabulous vacation!! We loved Bahia Principe. The staff was extremely helpful with setting up excursions. The grounds of the resort were beautiful and well maintained. The food was generally very good. The bach was beautiful; although at times crowded. The only drawback was that the maid service was not great. We had some trouble getting the minibar stocked; but the room was generally very clean and comfortable.
478252,flightgrace,03/22/2007,Great The veiw from our room overlooking the pool
478252,MiddleAgedDad,03/22/2007,Pretty Darn Good We booked our stay at with Perx.com and were very pleased with the service. Make sure to get a key for your safe; which costs $4 per day. It was well worth it. The staff is in and out of your room all day long and it's nice to have a place to stash your wallets; passports; etc. Get the key when you check in or else you'll have to make a long trip back to the lobby after you get to your room and realize you can't operate the safe without one.As you've probably already read in other reviews; check-in time is at 3pm. We got to the hotel at about noon; so that was a good time to get lunch at La Orchidea (right next to the front desk) and reserve our restaurants for the week.We initially went to guest services to book them; but a