El Portillo Beach Resort Hotel

We ( me , wife and three children, 12, 10 and 7) just returned from the El Portillo. It was a good a good vacation. I hate overly large clubs and crowded beaches. El Portillo is just the right size, not too small, not too large, with a beautiful beach not crowded with multiple hotels and huge crowds. The water was warm, shallow, sandy and dotted with coral reefs that added to the overall charm. We went snorkelling and kayaking. The hotel offered windsurfing and sailing as well. You do not need to bring snorkelling... more

I just returned from a week-long stay at Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo. Rather than detailing all of the inadequacies of the resort, I will provide a brief warning: this place has a great deal of potential but it is simply unfinished in many aspects, particularly in terms of accomodations. I was lucky- after the first night, I was moved to a nice room and I enjoyed my holiday. Most people, however, were not so fortunate. Most of those who payed for this 5-star resort had about a 2.5- 3 star experience. My adivce? It is... more

Stayed at GBP El Portillo Dec. 27/06 - Jan 3/ 07 with my wife & 3 teenagers had a fabulous time. But let's get a few negatives out of the way first. The Bus ride from the airport which Nolitours quotes as being 30 mins. and Transat ( the tour company we booked with ) quotes as being 60 mins was actually 95 mins. This was fine on the way home as it was day light with spectacular scenery but on arrival at night it made for a very long trip after being on the plane for close to 10 hours. On arrival we were at the back of the check in line of... more

We just came back from El Portillo (Dec. 25-Jan 1). The hotel is still under construction and was overbooked when we arrived. We did not get the Royal Golden room and service we paid for, although we were eventually offered a compensation. They also made us change rooms three times in the middle of the night after we arrived... More importantly, the regular room they finally gave us at 2:00 in the morning was a hellhole: water infiltration, washroom unusable (water all over the floor and toilet did not work), mold, rat and rat... more

Stayed from Dec 25 to Jan 1, 07. The drive from the airport takes approximately 75 to 90 minutes depending on how many people the bus driver avoids running over along the way. Check-in: Only two clerks that work at half the speed of slow. Make sure you’re the first one to the desk or you’ll be there for an hour. Room: Our room was a junior suite in building 18. The room was fairly large, very clean, but we had minor problems, like the AC and telephone didn’t work, which was fixed the following day. The major problem... more

Hello - I just returned from a week at El Portillo. I had the Transat distinction package which updated the room to a jr suite. Please do not get excited about what is included in the package because half do not exist. The suite was lovely - the villas are in levels of three and there is no elevator, so if you are travelling with an elderly person, there is going to be a problem. Concierge service? No! 24 hour room service? No! Separate check in/out with full acces to club house and private lounge? Absolutely not! Newspapers? No.... more

Just returned after spending Christmas week at the resort. We have booked the Royal Golden Club Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo through Air Transat, departing from Toronto, Canada. Our flight landed at the new airport in Samana, went through Customs/Immigration in less than ½ hour (the new terminal is bare with freezing cold air conditioning). We then took a 90 minutes bus ride to the resort, which sits on the north side of the Samana peninsula, right on the Atlantic Ocean. I think the distance was only 50 km but the bus could not... more

Vancouver, BC - Canada December 20 - 27, 2006 Just back from a fabulous 1 week vacation to Samana, Dominican Republic. We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo Royal Golden. It is a beautiful resort. As we have stayed at this chain of resorts several times before, both in Punta Cana and the Mayan Rivera, it was like coming home for us. The hotel is smaller than most Gran Bahia Principe Hotels that we have visited, but it has everything you could possibly need or want. Because of it's size, it makes for easy access to... more

It was my first trip to the caraibes and i loved it ! The only bad experience was at the check-in - nothing was prepared ... We arrived at Puerto Plata from Paris after a 6 hours flight - and almost 4 hours later we were at the Portillo Beach Resort * we stayed for one hour more at the front desk waiting for check in ... I work in 4 **** in Paris and i was really mad to see how slow they are ... none organisation ! It was the only thing that i thing they can work on ! The staff is helpfull - i did not have problems makings new friends... more

Stayed for a week the beginning of March. El portillo arranged our flight from SDQ to Las terrenas....they did a horrible job arranging it and making sure they communicated the confirmation to us. Food was lousy, mostly German food.....your best bet is the asain restaurant thats also included in your stay. Rooms are cute and pretty clean....however TV's don't work, and the phones cost an absolute fortune to use. Beaches and resort is beautiful. Staff is very rude and not helpful at all. If you only speak English....your OUT... more