Luxury Bahia Principe Ambar Don Pablo Collection -Adults Only - All Inclusive

Beautiful beach, and fantastic pool area. We were at the resort for a desitnation wedding which was unforgetable, however there were some gliches with having a judge on site which caused some stress for the families. I found this to be one of the best trips ever while at the resort. There is much to be desired when it comes to flying in and out of the airport at Punta Cana.

We love Punta Cana and have stayed at about a dozen different resorts in the area. Gran Bahia Principe Ambar is one of the top 3 we have experienced. Ambar is one of 4 resorts that are a part of the Gran Bahia Principe. It is a great resort for adults looking to relax while providing access to the rest of the property that will suit those wanting more activity. Biggest downside is the difficulty in getting reservations at the better resturants leading to more dinners in the buffet than we like. On the bright side the buffet was better than most. For those who prefer to eat in shorts rather than pants unlike other resorts most of the resturants allow you to eat in dress shorts so that is a bonus. Food within the Ambar resort was very good, you notice a significant drop in quality when you visit other parts of the resort. We did not eat at the resturants in the Esmerelda (sic?) part of the resort which are supposed to be similar in quality to Ambar so I cannot comment on those. Beach was beautiful and the well maintained pool was very clean. The housekeeping staff and the Butler were both outstanding. Like many Dominican Resorts the bed is very very firm. I had to force myself to sleep on my back because the bed was too firm to sleep on my side without hurting my shoulder. I had the housekeeping staff put some padding on the bed but it was still too firm for my taste. My wife however liked it. Evening entertainment at Ambar consists of either a live keyboard singer or recorded music. Shows are available at the larger resort theater and were of similar style and quality of other resorts.

Great hotel! Grounds are beautiful, service is exceptional. We did not have any issues with staff not speaking English. We were able to communicate all of our needs. Food was delicious. Hotel grounds are beautiful. We would recommend this hotel to anyone. The only negative would be that the room was very dark due to hotel using energy efficient bulbs. It might sound silly, but we brought some 100W bulbs with us after reading previous guests reviews. It made a big difference. This hotel has one of the best beaches in Punta Cana since huts are placed close to the water front.

One of the best all inclusives we've ever stayed in. Food was good. Olivio wasn't really mediterranean fare. The beach was fabulous. Always able to get a chair. No service at the beach. Pool was very nice. Staff was vey friendly. Rooms were comfortable. Service was good. Check in and out was easy. Tram service was prompt. Some of a language barrier if you did not speak Spanish

This hotel was great! It was a bit crowded when we were there but we had such a good time! Our a/c was a little troublesome but wasn't unbearable. The employees are all SO nice and helpful, the food was awesome, and the beach was gorgeous! This part of the resort was adults only so it was nice to be able to relax and not hear lots of children around. The shops all pretty much have the same thing and you can sometimes get better prices by bartering with the vendors. Just a few tips: Make restaurant reservations ahead of time or as soon as you get there. Also, bring a watch because we never knew what time it was. Tipping is included but if you want to give a little more, bring lots of $1's for tipping. There's no need to exchange US dollars for RD dollars at the airport....everywhere accepts US dollars. Last, bring an insulated cup for drinks so your drinks do not get hot fast when sitting outside by the pool/beach!

Last minute couples vacation to de-stress! So got our own taxi from airport to hotel for $38- standard rate. Check in quick painless stayed in bldg 68 pefect distance from beach/pool and restaurants. Rooms are all delux very neat and clean bed firm we happend to like it -listen when you drink and eat and take sun u are going to pass out like a baby any way. There were a couple of mosquitos in the room so bring repelant. Food in buffet was great a little something for everyone. If u have been to Spain and like the food u will also like the buffet, had pizza and pasta, salad dominican dishes, sweets and in AM a omlette station. Don Pablo restauant sucked-for us ... food was like foie gras not my fave I'm more of a fish and veggie girl my fish was under cooked. Beach was amazing electric blue. To get an umbrella needed to put towel down by 8am. Pool nice! If kids got any where near pool they were kick out immediatly. Best part didn't hear kids crying and screaming unless u went to the family part of the hotel. You can tip if u feel the urge, but not necsesary. if u going to play tennis it is a little hike to the courts. No mini golf under construction. People were nice. Dont think twice just go - and if u decide not to go to this hotel find one in Punta Cana Playa Bavaro it was breath takeing- truely caribbean. You deserve a vacation just do it!

We visited the Ambar with another couple from March 20 -30th and had a wonderful 10 days. We had little or no trouble getting beach or pool chairs, though shade was at a premium around the pool. We did hold a chair according to hotel protocol by staking out a shaded space around 7:30am or so, and waiting until just after 8am when a sweep of held but unoccupied chairs was done. After 8am towels are enough to hold your place. We pooled in the morning and beached it in the afternoon. The pool entertainment seemed to be guided more by the mood of the most aggressive pool guests rather than by careful staff planning. There were a few days when we wondered if we had been transported to a Cancun Spring Break event. A group of guests took over with loud country music and behaviour that resembled a train wreck. Before 3:30 pm pool was quiet, with lively activity around the pool bar and groups having fun in and out of the water.... The Beach was perfect, easy to get a chair and find shade or filtered sun. The water was a perfect temp for swimming and very clear. We enjoyed the beach and activity there which is one of the pluses of the Bavaro area of Punta Cana. Our room at the Ambar was a corner 3rd floor room which we had to request through our butler. We were assigned another room on arrival (they didn't seem prepared for us and had to scramble to find us a 1st floor room). We moved the next day and had a very pleasant experience. We didn't have any power problems, and had air conditioning all night long. We did not need to use a room card to keep power on when we were out of the room, however, the couple we traveled with did have a different power box in their room and had to have a key in it in order to maintain power to the room. The housekeeping staff was great, the room was always cleaned and towels replaced in a timely fashion. The counter space is more than ample and we did not feel cramped at all. The food at the buffet was fresh, replenished frequently and of a wonderful variety. We only ate at the dinner buffet on "Gala" Night, we prefer the ala carte restaurants. We found the food at the ala cartes to be very good in general, however the service was often extremely slow. We waited 30 min. between courses (plates removed ready for next course) our first night at Don Pablo. The food and presentation were wonderful but the lag time was unacceptable. We started requesting our menus upon being seated and requesting a quickly paced dinner, this seemed to help immensely. We had dinner at 'Don Pablo', 'El Olivo','Steakhouse', 'Maikaido', 'Meson' and 'Bella Italia'. We would not recommend 'Bella Italia', food was average and again poorly paced service. There are several servers, each with their own special task (handing you the menu, pouring water, serving dinner rolls, all of these in addition to a waiter...yikes! too many people to keep straight).The 'Meson' Spanish restaurant was a delightful surprise, the food was flavorful, a good variety and beautifully presented. Overall, the food is good to great and over the 11 or so years we have been going to all inclusives, we find our attitude greatly influences the overall experience beyond the food itself. The bradfast buffets are varied and well done. Lunch in the main buffet is also good with a nice variety. We liked the food at the beach buffet even though the space demands a smaller variety. The grilled chicken was perfect every day. The drawback at the beach buffet is a space shortage, the resort was fully occupied while we were there and there was not enough seating. We walked to the main buffet so it was not a big deal to us, but to some they may just love lunch 'al fresco' and this is something to consider. We were able to get premium liquor with no upcharge and the guys were able to communicate how we liked our martinis and they were perfect every time. We love to play tennis and found the courts here to be unsafe and didn't play after the first d...

Had a great time in the DR only issues we had were the food. Left a little something to be desired. They did have a good BBQ joint available but too bad we didn't find out till second to the last day.

The staff was awesome. They treated us as first class from the time we checked in until the day we left. Great hotel and I would highly recommend to anyone considering. One suggestion, get to the beach early for a shaded lounge chair! Before 8 am. The food was to die for! We have traveled a number of times to islands in the carribean and I would say this was in the top for service and quality.

This was by far the best hotel we've been to...from the grounds, the staff (especially our butler Wesley). He went out of his way to help us with any of our needs. He even found us at the pool one day because I forgot to order a pillow from the menu. I was amazed to read and even hear, people that we met there that didn't take advantage of this wonderful service (ask for a butler when you check in). Our room was spotless and no issues. The buffets were fair to good. We only went to the El Olivio (pretty good) and the Sante Fe (amazing!). We did tip the staff, but only after good service (we didn't tip our maid until after she cleaned our room the first day). We also loved the swim up bar staff, especially [...] (I know I spelled it wrong!). They sure don't skimp on the alcohol! Also liked the Pueblo Principe area as well. Overall, this resort in unreal, and if we could go back tomorrow, we would!