Gran Bahia Principe Esmeralda Don Pablo Collection- All Inclusive

Our visit to GBP Esmeralda was exactly as we hoped it would be - the grounds were beautiful, the staff was friendly, the location was perfect, and the room was lovely. We saw other resorts in the area when we picked up people on the tour bus and I thought the Gran Bahia was the most beautiful! Our small complaint is the buffet food wasn't great - it was ok, but could have been much better. The a la cart restaurants were good, and I HIGHLY recommend Don Pablo - it was the best restaurant! We got masages at the spa but wouldn't do it again - they were expensive and not the best. We also did the Zipline tour with Canopy Tours and it was lots of fun! Tips: 1. Book the shuttle from the airport when you make your hotel reservation, its very confusing otherwise and if you have to take a cab they may overcharge (our cab ride there was 38 dollars and the concierge later informed us it shouldn't have been more than 30). 2. Bring some dollar bills for tipping the guys at the airport and the staff who carries your luggage up to your room. 3. Make sure you print your hotel confirmation and bring it with you, they ask for it when you check in 4. Make sure to talk to guest services early on in your visit - they can help you make restaurant reservations and they are a great resource for any of your questions!

This has to be one of the best hotels in the Hispanic Caribbean. Rooms are great, grounds are very nice and clean, food variety and quality is excellent for an all-inclusive standard and staff goes out of their way to make your stay the most enjoyable. The only drawbacks are the beach (there were lots of weeds the week we were in) and the fact that most amenities and entertainment, were at the other hotels in the Gran Bahia compound and quality of entertainment was not one of the best we experienced.

This hotel is absolutely beautiful and the food is very good. The bar is well stocked and we had no problems with any drinks. We did not enjoy the Don Pablo Gourmet restaurant that we booked a la carte but all other restaurants were very good. But I would book this directly through the hotel. An online travel company was little to no assistance with our reservations, most everything that was booked through them - transfer and 2 excursions we had little to no information and had to try and track down information while we were at the hotel. I was given inaccurate information when making my reservations saying we could book 4 in a room when we tried to add our 4th person (by paying the all inclusive price for a person) we were told we could not add anyone and that the hotel was sold out. We booked directly through the hotel for another room. Luckily many times the staff was friendly and would point us in the right direction but with the transfers the only reason they worked is because I booked my son through the hotel directly along with the transfer and the driver didn't mind taking us as well - for a nice tip.

Overall, the Esmeralda was a very good experience. Very clean, staff was professional and friendly, and the theme restaurants were good. The buffet was average at this hotel but the buffet at the Bahia Punta Cana was definitely much better. The Italian restaurant was a huge disappointment but the others (especially Don Pablo, Piscadore, and the Meson (Spannish) were the best)). Beach was very nice. The Steak House could use some improvement. The lobby bar was stocked with top shelf liquors... not the typical low quality booze found at most all-inclusives. Entertainment was average. If I were to return, I would make plans to stay at the Ambar all adult resort although the Esmeralda was small and generally quiet most of the time (except for the late night screamers who closed the bars down. Biggest downer during the week was the paid transportation (VIP) from the airport to the resort. Our bus had no reverse gear, no air conditioning, and no suspension which made the 30 min trip very uncomfortable

I have been to Punta Cana before. The landscaping and grounds were excellent. I have never been to a resort with such beautifully landscaped grounds. The Service was ok. I am very realistic when I travel when it comes to food (which was average) but service is the one thing that I do expect. The Language barrier was more significant than my last trip. The people also followed the "rules" more than most. What I mean by that is they found was to say no more than yes. Don't get me wrong we had a wonderful time but due to the language issue it was easier for them to say no than to try to figure out a way to understand what our request was. Our room was very clean and nice. We had a leak in our ceiling from a plumbing problem and they quickly fixed the issue and it did not hider our time at all. The entertainment was fun. We enjoyed it thoroughly. As stated before, the food was average but I go to the Dominican for the water and the view, not the steak! The resort is huge. We liked how quiet our area was, but we could walk to the entertainment and see some action. Overall it was a very nice trip but they did not wow me enough to say we are coming back asap. In the past we have also traveled to Mexico, Jamaica, and Bahamas.

the overall experience was average and not at all what was reported before I booked the trip for my family and I. The resort was fine, staff was courteous enough but hardly spoke english. The food was monotounous and everything was overcooked!!. could it be possible that this is the only island where they eat nothing but sweet or bland food, The only thing I could mask the flavour with was Tabasco??. God forbid if you ate anything but meat or seafood morning till night. How can the Italian restaurant not have decent pasta?. The liquor was b- grade. They kepy pushing the cheap stuff. I Would not recommend this to anyone else. Would not go back to Dominican republic if this is any indication of their overall cuisine/lack of enthusiasm to accomodate for anything that is out of the ordinary for them. has completely put me off all inclusives. Had a very average time there, skip it and do an allinclusive in Mexico/somewhere else if you have to.

Expecting a much nicer hotel. Front desk is useless and gym equipment from both AMBAR and Punta Cana hotels are old and limited. Restaurant waiters were not very friendly. Breakfast and lunch buffet food were the same for the whole week we were there. I guess you get what you pay for in this hotel. Sorry that this will be our last time in Gran Bahia, will try another resort next time.

Place was clean which is number 1, food was terrible and service was less than OK

Our experience at the Grand Bahia Principe Esmeralda was pretty much great although there were a couple of tweaks. First off, the hotel cost was very high but, it was worth it. Also, a group for the Grand Bahia Principe which were advertising for Punta Cana tours were very unorganized, ruined a partial fraction of our entire vacation and definitely brought a bad image to the hotel. The food was a bit repetitive, but very good, my family and i personally loved it but began to realize it was practically all the same kind of food. In addition, there was an inconvience with the room request we requested , they gave us a different genre of a room that we did not plan for to get, also with the room, we requested additional towels( we had a family of 4, we only got 2). Other than those negative comments, the hotel was very good, service was wonderful, the food was acceptional and everyone there was very friendly. It was a great experience. Lastly, there are always something to occupy the guests at the hotel including: a live theatre, karioke bar, so many various restaurants, so many bars, mini golf, a spa, even a kids club, and much much more.

We had a fabulous time at the Gran Bahia Principe Esmeralda! The beach was beautiful and the grounds were meticulously kept. Staff was friendly and very helpful. We found our time there to be extremely relaxing and would definitely return in the future!