Bahia Principe Grand El Portillo – All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

8519 reviews

• 

  Hotel is good

  Marco Polo entertainment was the best!!! Five stars !!! Room is clean. Very fun place. Restaurant was amazing , food was excellent. Place was very clean and organized, Entertainment at night was very fun and disco was the best even in the rain

  Apr 14, 2025
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  Some very good, some bad... and very over-booked

  Some highlights, some lowlights. On the bright side, the beach is truly excellent and very spacious, the food is surprisingly good, the resort is very clean with well-kept grounds and great housekeeping, and most individual staff were great, albeit with weak communication skills for non-Spanish guests in comparison to other hotels. We didn't have too much trouble in spite of that, and did try to practice our rudimentary Spanish. The front desk was also very responsive -- the air conditioning didn't work when we arrived, but they sent a maintenance person and fixed it right away. The television and mini-fridge also didn't work, but a similar request to the front desk saw those repaired too (it was just a tripped circuit breaker). We were also accosted exactly zero times by timeshare salespeople, so we're very appreciative of that. :) On the negative side, the rooms are very dated and frankly uncomfortable -- we've returned from our trip absolutely exhausted. The resort is also overbooked with respect to its true capacity -- as others have noted, it's impossible to get chairs on the beach without getting up at 7 AM and breaking the rules against reserving loungers. It's a huge and beautiful beach and there is no shortage of space, so the solution is very simple -- buy more loungers so you can serve your guests what they paid thousands of dollars to obtain. We bribed a beach attendant the first time this happened, and he was able to find one lounger for our family of three. Other days there was literally nothing. Similar issues happen at the buffet at busy times; insufficient seats, can't get clean cutlery, can't get served. We're habitual tippers and yet half our buffet trips resulted in no tip because no one did anything for us; have never had that experience at any all-inclusive before, including in peak season. Seems they were nearly 100% booked but resourced at a level appropriate for perhaps(?) 70%; that's not good. Whether they didn't have enough staff, enough quality staff who make a contribution, enough key resources like beach loungers or cutlery, or all three is hard to say -- you just couldn't always get the basics, and that's disappointing. There were also frustrating quirks with their online app; seems like the app was made by corporate HQ but no one briefed the staff or bothered to link up their processes. It's minor in the grand scheme of things, but also frustrating to be told (by the app) you've successfully done something and receive a confirmation email to that effect, only to be told by staff they have no idea what you're referring to, even when shown the confirmation email. Don't use the app, basically -- we learned the hard way. Would rate higher if they either booked to their true current capacity (probably 70-80% of occupancy), or added more resources so they could support maximum occupancy.

  Apr 11, 2025
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  Overbooked

  Overboooked and overpriced Too many people Not enough beach chairs People sit on restaurant stools! Had to wake at 7 to get some spot-not a good one, just any! Last time at this property, this was my fourth and last visit Reality is unable to accommodate any requests even for a high price point repeat guests

  Apr 06, 2025
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  Good, but not a 4.5 because of the rooms

  The beach, pools & entertainment is all good. The buffet is good, never ran out of options. The Restaurant’s are very good but places are limited so its best to reserve ahead of time on the website or app. The problem with this resort is the rooms are very outdated. The first room we got had only one outlet close to the bed and it was broken so my husband could not plug his CPAP. We tried to call reception but the phone wasn’t working either. No jack just 2 wires hanging from the wall. We went to the reception desk where they offered to upgrade our room for $100 US which we did. This room had an outlet and a working phone. The room is outdated but OK the bathroom really needs repair leaky sink mouldy shower, hardware is rusted and leaks. On one day we had no hot water. After speaking with a few guests they too had upgraded for similar reasons. Although I hear some rooms have been renovated ours were not. The resort itself is clean and the grounds are well kept.

  Apr 02, 2025
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  So So

  Our experience started with disappointment. After a 5-hour flight and a 1-hour drive to the hotel, we had to wait over an hour in line to check in. When we finally arrived at our room (11307), we discovered that the floor of the washroom was covered in water and unusable. Two maintenance staff came to look at it, but when we returned after dinner, the washroom had not been cleaned—it was still dirty and unusable. The next morning, I attempted to use the washroom again, but it was still flooded. I went to the reception at 6:00 AM to report the issue, but no action was taken. Later, around 9:00 AM, I returned with my family to raise the concern again. It was very upsetting, especially as the following day was my birthday. In general, communication was difficult, as many of the staff did not speak English well, which made it hard to order in the restaurants. The resort app showed that restaurants were fully booked, yet we noticed many empty tables. Additionally, we were surprised to find that not all restaurants were open every day. On a positive note, the beach, pool, bar service, and entertainment were all amazing, and we truly appreciated those aspects of our stay. However, due to the issues we experienced, we are unsure whether we would choose to return or recommend this resort to our friends.

  Mar 28, 2025