Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo

This was my second visit 11 years apart the resort had grown considerably in that time with many positives but I felt that the staff were not as friendly or as helpful and sometimes we felt ignored when seated at the buffet tables or at the bar.|The rooms are kept very clean but the maintenance is rather shabby particularly in the bathroom.|Food is Excellent ,the buffets were always well stocked with plenty of variety the chefs extremely welcoming .|Porteffino Italian restaurant was lovely ,great food great service.|The Beach is without doubt absolutely beautiful , snorkeling is great off the coral reef ,you can walk in both directions and it feels safe and . Although reserving sun beds is not permitted Everyone does ,if you are not up at 6 am to secure a spot on the beach then you will be hunting for a spot , we witnessed several heated interactions where towels had been removed by hotel staff and caused confusion to those who had left a towel .|The entertainment /music around the pool is extremely loud ,fun for a while but it can get a bit much.|We traveled from Canada ,and understand although Spanish is obviously the first language spoken there were only a few staff we were able to fully communicate with.|If you want a guaranteed beautiful beach , fantastic quality food for us the other issues faded into insignificance.

This was my 4th visit to the Domenican Republic since i have started travelling and I must say Grand Bahia Principe El Portillo surpassed my expectations! Situated in Samana, it is a remote hotel amongst the mountains not close to big cities. Small airport was fantastic. This hotel had excellent service, staff was very friendly and smiling. The grounds were very well kept, clean , and the food at the buffet was tasty, hot when it needs to be. Many choices for everyones' liking. The pool was well maintained. |Beach was phenomenal calm and ideal for long walks and snorkling a couple of metres in .|It is a family oriented hotel with a nice diversity of clientele. Did not feel overcrowed even if it was full. Our junior suite room was very clean and quiet.|I recommend to anyone and everyone. 👍|

The entertainment crew was amazing! They were encouraging people to participate in the different activities. Also, the music was great and the atmosphere was good. The food was really good and diverse and the waiters were kind and friendly. The hotel clean and the rooms were nice. Overall, I recommend this place since it was an amazing vacation both times I went. A little special mention for the entertainment crew that made our vacation special.

The hotel is advertised as a 5-star property, but expectations should be adjusted to a 3-star level of service and amenities. While the hote is all-inclusive, it is limited to the buffet restaurant only. Access to the themed restaurants (French, Italian, Brazilian, Mediterranean) requires a reservation, and guests are limited to just one reservation during a 3-day weekend stay. You could, however, pay out of pocket for the rest of the days to dine at theme restaurants but that wasn’t possible either. The hotel prioritizes group bookings made through travel agencies, allowing those guests to secure theme restaurant reservations prior to arrival. Meaning guests who are already checked in may find that reservations are fully booked. If you check in on a Thursday and try to book a restaurant for the weekend, availability will be blocked due to giving group reservations scheduled to arrive on Friday. In effect, guests who have not yet arrived are given priority over those already staying at the hotel and no accommodations are made. In short, there are better stays in Terrenas.

VERY BAD EXPERIENCE . Due to Air Canada issues, we were forced to stay an extra week and had no choice but to extend our stay at the hotel. Instead of showing understanding or offering fair rates, the hotel completely took advantage of the situation and charged us $500 CDN per night ( 2kids 4 year old and my husband) . This is an outrageous price compared to what we originally paid for the package. It felt like the hotel abused the situation knowing that we had no other option but to stay. This left a very bad impression and turned what could have been a nice trip into a stressful and extremely costly experience. I do not recommend this hotel, especially for the way they treat guests in difficult circumstances.

My family and I stayed at the Bahia Principe El Portillo and the resort and experience were simply wonderful!|Our flight had been delayed which made our travel go from a few hours to almost a fill day but Victor at the front desk ensured we were taken care when we arrived! Thanks Victor!|Beach was beautiful and we got to see some beautiful fish while snorkeling! We'll be back!

I was extremely disappointed with my recent stay at Bahia Principe Grand Portillo. Because our Air Canada flight was held/delayed, we were forced to extend our booking — instead of helping stranded guests, the resort charged us more than $500 per night to stay longer( 7 days till next air canada flight for 2 kids 4 years old and my wife ) That felt excessive and opportunistic given the circumstances. On top of that, the gym air conditioning was out of service for seven consecutive days during our stay. Despite multiple reports to staff and management, nothing was fixed and no adequate compensation or alternative was offered for the unusable amenity. The grounds and facilities are pleasant, but the way management handled an airline disruption and a major facility failure left us feeling taken advantage of. I hope management addresses these issues and provides fair compensation to affected guests

We stayed at the hotel for almost two weeks.|The hotel grounds are full of geese running around with tiny ducklings and feral cats, which brings joy, especially to the children. The animals are very friendly.|Near our building, number 26, lived two cats—a beautiful mother with blue-gray fur and her little speckled kitten. We noticed they were very skinny, so we brought scraps from our meals. Although the mother cat was clearly hungry, she didn’t touch the food until the kitten had eaten his fill. She hissed at us a bit out of fear, but only at first.|Even though we don’t have pets, this mama cat won our hearts by protecting her little one and waiting to eat until she was sure his tummy was full.|It was hard to say goodbye to them, knowing how difficult it must be for them to find food on the resort grounds. They’re certainly useful, helping control any potential rodent population, though it’s likely there aren’t enough around the resort.|The cats live in the bushes near the back exit of building 26. Please help them if you can. We would probably adopt those two cats if we could, but we live abroad, and our kids are allergic to cats' and dogs' fur.||A heartfelt request to the hotel management: please vaccinate and spay/neuter the cats at the resort to help manage their future population. From what we’ve gathered, charitable organizations in the Dominican Republic can perform these procedures at low cost.||By the way, we were impressed by the hotel grounds maintenance and landscaping team. Immaculate job! Those people work hard!||Wishing everyone a wonderful vacation!