Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo – All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

8737 reviews

• 

  Third visit and just ok this time

  This is our third time staying at Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo. When we made our reservations, a Jr Suite, we requested building 5 or 7. However, upon check-in, I was disappointed to find out that we had been placed in building 24, near that back of the resort. This did not sit well with me and mainly because there was a couple checking in at the same time who had reservations for a standard room, but were offered a Jr Suite room in building 7. I mentioned this to Danny and he did change our room to building 8. The room was huge, but dated and the AC did not work. We went to the front desk twice and both times we were told someone would be sent to fix it, but it was never fixed. Our room was always made up very late in the day. We always headed back around 4:30 and a few times, we had located the maid and just asked for clean towels and told her not to bother to make up our room. There was no rack on the balcony so nowhere to hang your towels or swim suit. Seems some balconies had them and some did not. Bathroom was big and the water pressure was great. However, a consistent water temperature was impossible. Temp went from ice cold to burning hot within seconds. One day when we returned to our room, there was a Happy Birthday banner across our door and a bottle of rum placed in our room. Nice touch, however, neither of us were celebrating a birthday, so we got a bit of a chuckle. The pool is probably the cleanest pool we have ever experienced in any resort we have been to in the Dominican. We've travelled to Puerto Plata and Punta Cana many times and El Portillo's pool, while on the small side, was by far the cleanest. Pool chairs are plentiful around the pool and there are some early risers to claim their spots. I was always down by the pool by 7:30am, but am there to stay unlike some who will reserve a spot but do no show up until mid to late morning. Pool bar staff are friendly, but service was very slow. Beach is incredible! Clean and you can walk a long ways in both directions. Chairs are reserved even earlier at the beach. You can swap your beach towel daily, but be sure to do so early on as they run out of clean towels fast! Towel hut open at 8am, so I swapped our towels as soon as the hut opened. Buffet was average. You can always find something to eat and each night they offered a theme night. We would arrive just prior to the buffet opening for a few reasons. 1. The service was a bit better. Trying to get served coffee in the morning seemed to always be a challenge. 2. Hoping the food would at least be warm and not cold. 3. Once the dining room was full, very few had manners and you basically risked your life trying to navigate the entire dinning room. We only went to the Italian al a carte. Hubby had the lasagna which didn't seem to offer any noodles but rather a stack of hamburger meat with cheese. This was different from our previous visits. I had the salmon and it was quite good. Overall it was ok. We did try and book other al a carte's, however, either the restaurants were closed or we couldn't get a reservation until late in the evening. No thanks! After dinner, we'd always walk the grounds (which are lovely) and then head to the lobby or sports bar for baileys on ice. However, this year was different. I ordered baileys but it did not taste right. The second night, same thing. I ordered baileys and again it did not taste right. It was on the third night that I noticed I was not being served baileys, but some 'knock - off'. Baileys was on the shelf, but it was not served. Asked why and was not given a straight answer. Very disappointing! We had a fair amount of rain but had no issues with our room leaking, unlike some in our building. Seems there were quite a few who experienced issues with water in their rooms. Compared to our first time at El Portillo, while the hubby and I like to resort overall, it just wasn't as pleasant this time around. Service is lacking, many of the staff are not overly friendly and the rooms are in much need of updating. Haven't decided yet it we will revisit for a fourth time.

  Dec 03, 2025
• 

  Disappointed

  Just went to the fish market and was very disappointed. First they sat us inside where the air conditioning was quite cool glad I took my sweater. Then we had to ask for drinks.. then they took our order forgot to ask if we wanted rolls which we didn’t get. Our food came and it was very good. But after we had our table cleared nobody came near us until we got up to leave. So we just left we were expecting so much more from this restaurant.. very disappointing!!

  Nov 30, 2025
• 

  Located on a beautiful beach and you can walk a lot!

  The hotel is very similar to other Bahia Principes: the rooms and restaurants could be at Bahia Principe in Mexico or Punta Cana. The room was clean although the bathroom had an unpleasant smell. The food was good at both buffets beach & main) as well as at all the a la carte restaurants. Of the 6 nights we went to the 9:30 entertainment/shows only 3 had outside talent the other nights was entertainment staff and was disappointing. The staff was friendly but we felt they treat Spanish speaking guests better. The best thing about this hotel is the location on the beach: you can walk for many kilometres in either direction!

  Nov 30, 2025
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  Disappointing Experience

  Here’s a tip when reading resort reviews: always look at the ones written by travellers with many contributions. They tend to be seasoned travellers and provide the most accurate and truthful information. We have travelled to the Dominican Republic many times over the past 20 years. Although Punta Cana is our preferred destination, we decided to try something different and booked a trip to Samaná. Having stayed at Bahia Principe resorts in the past, we chose the Bahia Principe El Portillo. After reading some of the reviews, we were a bit skeptical, but we went in with an open mind. In hindsight, we should have chosen another resort, as this stay was extremely disappointing and unlike anything we’ve experienced before. The beach is gorgeous, and you can walk for miles. The food was typical resort food—nothing remarkable, but you can always find something to eat. Service at the buffet was inconsistent. Depending on the server, you could be served quickly (which rarely happened) or only at the end of your meal. Our room (a superior junior suite), while dated, was better than expected and we didn’t encounter any major issues. Housekeeping, however, was disappointing; we often returned at the end of the day to find the room still not cleaned and the fridge not restocked. As for the “towel game,” reserving huts and beach chairs happens here just as it does at many other resorts, despite signage stating it is not allowed. I’ll admit—we do reserve seats, but only at the beach, not the pool, and we always use what we reserve. We’re early risers who go to watch the sunrise with a cup of coffee, and we spend the entire day at the beach. Where this resort truly fails, in my opinion, is management. One incident in particular made this very clear. A couple with two young children sat near our hut every day. One morning, they left briefly to get diapers for the baby. While they were gone, three women walked up, pushed their belongings aside, and took over their hut. When the couple returned, they were understandably upset. Everyone nearby saw what happened and confirmed the same story to the three security guards who came to mediate. Instead of telling the women they were in the wrong and asking them to leave, the guards removed the towels belonging to a couple who had simply gone for a walk on the beach and gave that hut to the three women. At this resort, it seems that bad behavior gets rewarded. Now for the part that affected us directly. The next morning—our last full day—we followed our usual routine: reserved our hut, watched the sunrise, and returned after breakfast at around 8:30 a.m. only to find our towels had been removed by the security guard. None of the other towels on vacant huts had been touched—only ours. The only explanation we could come up with is that someone either pressured or paid the guard to clear our spot because they wanted that hut. By that time, all huts and chairs were either already reserved or taken, leaving us with nowhere to sit on the beach. We spoke with Danny, the manager, whose solution was to get us a hut the next day—likely by removing someone else’s towel and creating further confrontation. If the resort is truly going to enforce the towel policy, then remove all towels or remove none—not selectively. Overall, the resort fell far short of expectations. For the price, I expected a much higher standard of client service and overall quality. Based on this experience, I would not recommend this resort, nor will I choose to stay at a Bahia Principe property again. Side note – The crowd during our stay also seemed noticeably ruder than what we’ve experienced at other resorts. People frequently cut in line, stepped in front of others at the bar, and were generally impolite.

  Nov 26, 2025
• 

  Terrible experience

  We are currently staying at this hotel, and our experience has been nothing short of a disaster. We arrived on Sunday and were given a room with no cold water and a completely non-functional AC. After fully unpacking, we were abruptly told we needed to move to another room. The “new” room turned out to be even worse. The toilet is leaking nonstop, and within minutes the entire bathroom floor turns into a huge puddle. Every morning we wake up to water all over the room, making it nearly impossible to even step into the bathroom without slipping. It’s disgusting and completely unacceptable. What’s even more infuriating is the hotel’s response: four days of reporting the issue, chasing staff, and being given empty promises. Maintenance comes, acknowledges the problem, and then nothing happens. No fix. No follow-up. No solution. Just excuses. This has been an incredibly frustrating and disappointing experience, and the lack of responsibility from management is shocking. We expected at least basic functioning facilities and proper customer service — we have received neither.

  Nov 19, 2025