Bahia Principe San Juan Hotel

this hotel should be taken out of all brochures,
a quite relaxing hotel? i dont think so, when 350 canadian students turn up and take over the place, out of control isnt the word for them, disgusting is.i.e having an orgy in the pool, pushing holiday makers out of the way to get a drink, all aged between 17 to 19.
food: very nice if u like a fly or two on it. or the odd bird flying through the open restaurant.
entertainment: great if your 10 years old.
pool: nice if u dont mind your costume turning green.
drinks: lovely cocktails, shame about the plastic cups, no not beakers. CUPS, i felt like i was at my 3 year old grandsons birthday party.
i will NEVER return to this hotel, my holiday was a waste of money

4 readers found this review helpful

stay at the bahia principe san juan from Feb 24-March 3/11 and all I can say is LOCK UP EVERYTHING. I had two of my shirts stolen from my closet and bureau drawer. They were both Hugo Boss items and worth approx. $290. for the two. I knew enough to lock up my passport, money, wallet and jewelery but I never imagined that I'd have to keep my clothing locked in a suitcase. It's not just that they stole these items it also the fact that housekeeping don't only come in to clean your room but that they snoop trough the closet and drawers and take whatever they fancy. I almost feel violated. To make matters worse, the management there seem to think it's my fault for bringing these things on vacation. No thought to the fact that their staff are thieves, and not even a notion that discipline would be in order. Perhaps if they started to fire staff for steeling it wouldn't be so prevalent.

9 readers found this review helpful

Well it was our honeymoon , first few days fine problems with air con and telephone nothing serious food drink weather ok. Day 4 our room was broken into , i reported this 3 times and waited 4 hours for the door to be repaired, looked through our belongings and couldnt see anything missing. HOW WRONG when we came to pack to go home on the last day my wife found that her purse had been emptied 2 wedding rings 1 engagement ring 1 driving licence 1 bank card all taken from a locked case in a locked room and the case was relocked (2 key locks and 1 combination lock) , yes i thought they would be safe there and we took the rings off because we both had swollen fingers and with swimming etc thought it was the best idea . We were not informed of the safe deposit box in our room which is at the back of a wardrobe , we found it on day 5 and wouldnt have used it any way as the whole thing could be taken away as its not very well secured. I KNOW this was an inside job but i have no proof , one idea (probably wrong but it is a houdini case ) is that the air con that kept breaking perhaps had a camera in( yes i know it sounds silly but relocked case) which was watching our movements in the room as to why one case broken into and the other one not. Another is perhaps the cleaing staff whom i stupidly tipped from an open case so she/they knew things. All this is unproven it is just ideas running round my head im totally gutted as to my own stupidity and the fact this has happened. To add insult to injury when the hotel security came they searched our whole room from top to bottom and (not exact words but..) tried to say it was our fault and this doesnt happen (person 2 doors away had 2 cameras stolen from room) they emptied our cases all over searched dirty laundry even the curtain hems trying to say we had lost the items. Our rep was useless and wouldnt get the police apparently you have to go to them and sit there all day then it takes 1 week to do a crime report . The friends we made(You know who you are and thanks again) there were very helpful and helped us phone to cancel bank cards/insurers etc whereas our rep didnt do much at all .
This is still very raw so this review might not make sense but all i will say is i will NEVER go back to that country never mind the hotel and if you are going to stay there BE VERY VERY CAREFUL

4 readers found this review helpful

The weather wasnt great but they do have a ugly beach with lots of seaweed and other trash washing up. The buffet was rather bland and many times they had entire sides closed off. We have stayed here before and had great food but it seems like they werent trying since it was a slow period. The bar was lame we actually witnessed a bartender pouring water into a drink we requested. The staff was great minus the porters who couldnt seem to get to your room when called so you either walked or were late. Not sure if we will stay there again.

9 readers found this review helpful

Went here last month, was a brilliant holiday, spotless and lots to do. The food was excellent especially the al-acarte and the hotel staff are really lovely, they couldnt do enough for us. The bars were open till 2 in the morning then you could sit in a little cafe till 7 in the morning serving beer. Couldnt fault it and would definatley go back there again.

17 readers found this review helpful

Like others, we nearly cancelled due to poor reviews, thankfully we never! We were checked in on the coach, so when we arrived it was into our air conditioned room. Mini-bar stocked with beer, water, seven up, pepsi and orange. Room was faultless, clean, with new furniture. The bed was very large and comfortable. We had room 2206 near the beach. Worth booking Hacienda club as you eat breakfast & lunch in a private air conditioned restaurant. In Aug it was 93 degrees so it was more comfortable than the main buffet restaurant. The alcohol is not watered down, try Rum 151 at 76 % to prove it!
The hygiene standards were high. Flies were kept away from the buffet and every hour the food was replaced, not topped up. At the end of service all food was thrown into massive dustbins. you had to apply hand gel before entering the restaurants. I believe the outbreak in 2007 was norovirus brought into the resort by holidaymakers, not to do with the food, but so many blamed the resort.
There were sand fleas on the beach even though they sprayed nightly, but plenty of loungers to use. Although we used deet spray we still got bitten by the mosquitos!! You can't complain as its hot and humid and insects thrive out there! People in the ground floor rooms suffered with insects more than we did on the first floor.
Thomas Cook offers a trip to Paradise Island for $99. Do Not go!! In 2 weeks we did not hear one good report. Its an hour bus ride, then a 3 hour boat ride. Many were sick. When you get there, it is not an island, its a sand bank with 3 huts on it. Then you have a 4 hour journey back!
Definatly go on the Laguna Bus Safari. An 8 hour trip going to a church, school, local shop to buy rum, lunch in a restaurant, then to a fantastic beach with massive waves. You end up in a blue lagoon. All for $69. Everyone thought it was great.
Book the VIP room at Puerto Plata airport. $25 each but so worth it. The airport has no air con, and its all glass. Drinks were $4 and food even more. The VIP lounge has air con, films on plasma screens, free drinks including alcohol, and free sandwichs, cakes and crisps. There are no duty free shops. just "looky looky" stalls selling cheap fags. Alcohol and perfume were not cheap.
The Dominican staff made our holiday, they are so naturally friendly.
Loved it so much we are going back next year.

3 readers found this review helpful

We had a very good time for the first week. Staff were great, accom needed refurbishment. Food was very good. Pools and beach also very good. Then "S-Trip" arrived. Dozens of Noisey, Drunk (many underage), Swearing and uncontrolable students. We kept ouy of there way on the beach during the day but had to suffer all of the above for the last week. We paid a great amount of money for a special holiday that was ruined. We will never use Principe hotels again.

5 readers found this review helpful

...... it has changed and not for the better!
My wife and I returned there for a third time in May 2010 having previously visited this resort in 2001 and in 2005 and decided to go back for a special anniversary celebration as we’d loved it so much previously.
Half of the resort is closed down completely, including the Club Hacienda area which was an upgrade for which we had paid, and the resort, apparently in common with much of the Dom Rep, is less than half occupied – or half occupied if you ask the tour reps and 25% occupied if you ask the hotel reception staff!
Don’t get me wrong – if you’ve not been before and don’t know what it used to be like, then you’ll find it’s lovely. Superb, friendly, attentive staff, nice rooms, good restaurants and excellent facilities around the main part of the complex.
Cleanliness and quality haven’t suffered but unfortunately the extent of what is on offer has been curtailed considerably. The four speciality restaurants each used to be open every evening for a la carte dinners, offering a great choice. There is now only one of them open each evening so that your choice is cut by three quarters. This means a bit of a fight in the main buffet which isn’t really big enough to cope even when the place is less than half full.
Entertainment in the evening has suffered and was very basic – a game to take the Mickey out of the holidaymakers followed by miming and dancing to a soundtrack for an hour. “After hours” in the resort’s High Street, Pueblo Principe, used to start up at 11 pm and live music, disco, karaoke, bar, shops and restaurants continued the all-inclusive package until 2 am. Live music two days out of 14 and even then finishing at midnight along with most of the bars was not what we are used to and the main street now resembles many local UK shopping streets in the aftermath of the recession. We were also told that the kids club advertised in the brochures only opened up if there were enough children to make it worthwhile.
One other major act of cutting down has meant that the hotel no longer fumigates its beaches which are prone to sand flies that give quite a nasty bite. Most people suffered from bites, some more so than others and the on-resort doctor and pharmacy did a roaring trade. I’m just about to put in a claim with my travel insurers for four hundred dollars worth of creams, antihistamines and two steroid injections for both my wife and myself as we both suffered allergic reactions to the literally hundreds of bites we got – and we were most certainly not the exceptions to the rule!
Do I love the concept that Bahia Principe offers? I used to but not now!

6 readers found this review helpful

i cannot believe people are saying this is a great hotel i dont know how it has stayed open, if people look into the history over the last 5 years they will see that this hotel has been closed down has been on the news in the national newspapers and on television for what i can only describe as being a holiday from hell!!!! my entire family had a 3wk stay at this hotel and it was the worst holiday of my life....i never want my kids to have to suffer the severe stomach cramps and sickness and diorhea
again like we all suffered whilst on holiday there. there were human waste (poo) in the pools, rats in restaurants, flies on all food, pools were closed down all the time. it was just hell so if i can stop someone from ever going here i will be thankful.

10 readers found this review helpful

My family (mum & dad in 40's) me & hubby (25) and son(8) went here for 2 weeks on dec 10th 2009. First impressions is that its huge which is great because in places like Dominican you rarely leave the complex unless for excursions. The grounds are kept beautifully, we were so impressed with the amount of gardeners constatly working hard, and maids everywhere. All bathrooms/toilets clean and tidy,pool area always clean.Our room was cleaned and well stocked every day with fresh linen and towels. The hotel and rooms are fairly old and dated not and so you will get leaks when heavy rain falls, it just becomes part of the dominican experience in my eyes.The buffet was our favourite place to eat as the i think we went to the the al a carte resturaunts with high expectations of it being like a resturaunt we would visit in england,and they're not. The waiters are all so freindly and helpful but again, i think the food becomes part of the experience. Steak in Dom Rep is not the same staek as in England etc so just be open to new things. We found the check in and reception staff always helpful but its the dominican way that when something needs done,because they are so laid back,its always 'manana'-later, tomorrow etc. so be relaxed about things. We did the Laguna jeep safari trip which we all enjoyed so much, A really,really great day out and taste of island life,Highly recommended.This hotel is not luxurious or glamorous,in fact its quite simple and basic however there is a good time to be had by all here. The animation team work endlessly to entertain you, they will sing,dance,dress up,do darts, bingo, dance lessons,kareoke,boulles, crazy games,and endless shows. They are energetic bunch of guys who make this hotel come alive wether you want to join in or just watch, they will make you smile. Each of us in the family enjoyed something different about this place as there is something for everyone. The beach is not white sand but beige/brown sand and the water is cloudy, not for snorkling im afraid.There are fabulous beaches not far away though perfect white sands and clear waters.I recommend you give this place ago, i think for the great deals available what you get for your money is great. I hope this honest reveiw helps you choose.