My husband and I stayed at this resort for a week beginning Feb. 4th. I researched resorts in Samana and the Bahia Principe Samana seemed to be what we were looking for: quiet, romantic, reasonable price, ocean views, a beach with waves, close to some of the most beautiful beaches and scenery in the world (all true). We booked the later flight from Toronto on Monday and arrived at the hotel at midnight (our flight was an hour late). I had requested a quiet, non-smoking room. If you have a choice book the earlier flight as they assign a room for you before you get there. All the rooms were booked when we arrived so there was no chance of switching rooms. There are several rooms situated around the lobby and bar. Ours was on the second floor right above the pool and bar. It was the noisiest room in the hotel. They gave us the option of moving to an inferior room on the fourth floor with no balcony and no discount or wait until Friday to change rooms. Oh, the lock on our door was broken and we couldn't get into our room at all that night! There was no apology, no discount, and they even tried to charge us$40 for late checkout. (They want you to leave your room at 12 noon and the bus does not leave until 6 p.m. We decided to stay in the noisy room and kept busy outside the resort until Friday. We wore earplugs to sleep and rest. Apparently the internet site we booked through did not come through for us. The requests did not get to the hotel. I never did find a non-smoking room in the hotel and if you are a non-smoker, because the resort is small, it is hard to get away from all the second-hand smoke. However, the restaurants are all non-smoking and I never got sick from the food as they use purified water for everything now. The resort is very close to the road and you can hear the traffic as well as smell the pollution from it. The sound of the surf drowns out most of the noise however and almost all of the rooms face the ocean so it's not a huge problem.

It may sound like we had a miserable week at this resort but on the contrary the positive outweighed the negative. The location is beautiful. The view from the rooms is stunning. The service and staff were out of this world. The rooms were immaculate. The beach was ideal: never crowded and enough chairs and shade. Our trip to Rincon and Playita beaches was amazing. We were able to take the free shuttle from the hotel to Cayo Laventado Island. (It goes three times a week). They won't allow you to go into the Bahia resort there, though.

If you are prepared before you arrive you may be able to avoid the problems we had. We will likely go back to Samana but will probably stay at a larger resort as there is nowhere to walk after dinner. They discourage walking outside the resort at night. If you haven't visited the DR before be prepared for extreme poverty and garbage everywhere. A friend of mine said he would never go back because he couldn't handle seeing so many skinny dogs. On the other hand, the tourist industry is bringing a much higher standing of living to these people and most are extremely grateful.

Stayed at the hotel from jan 14 to jan 28, 2008.

CHECK-IN: On the bus they give you an envelope containing a hotel registration form to complete, your room number, and your two room keys plus your all inclusive braclets. When you arrive you simply just go to your room everything is already done. You can wait for the bell-boy to bring your luggage or take the elevator yourself.

ROOM: We were in room 330 (spectacular view)....room was situated in a quiet area as we had requested.

BEACH: About 400 FEET long from one end to the other. private beach.

PIANO BAR: Open once the lobby bar closes at 11pm. However there is no piano.

SOUVENIR SHOP: Small and only one on the premises.

SHOPPING: Go to Samana by taxi $15 each way or wawa (hop in with the locals...only $1 each way). we took the wawa at the gates of the hotel. Try to go when there is a cruise ship so that the flea market is open. There is also Pueblo Bahia (all little shops belonging to the bahia principe chain. There is also a casino in Pueblo Bahia.

A LA CARTE RESTUARANTS: You book at the reception desk. We preferred buffet to the two a la carte resuarants that we tried.

SERVICE: Exceptional service everwhere

FOOD: Delicious, smaller buffet than most other resorts however there is variety everday. First hotel that we did not get fed up after 2 weeks.

CHILDREN: Not a place for kids - there is no mini club to entertain them. There was only 2 children the first week and 4 the second week.

BEACH BAR: None - you have to walk about 50 steps to the bar which is situated at pool area.

BEACH TOWELS: When you arrive you will find towels in closet of your room. They also furnish slippers that you can bring home.

BEACH ENTRANCE: You will find two. Main one by using stairs near pool and the other is found by going out the main entrance there are stairs in between the piano bar and souvenir shop.

Great hotel if you want to relax, enjoy weather, and eat well. Staff go out of there way to make you feel welcomed and happy.

I experienced a bait and switch price quote with the Gran Bahia Principe Samana, Dominican Republic. I just returned from the Dominican Republic (11th trip) .

My girl friend, who lives in Santo Domingo, and I went to Samana to whale watch last week. Upon arriving in Samana we decided we wanted luxury and called the Gran Bahia Principe to get a rate quote. She was very specific it was for 2 people. We liked the rate quote and asked to make a reservation. She was told on the phone, just come on over, a reservation was not necessary. Thus, we hopped in a taxi cab and less than 10 minutes later were at the front desk.

The desk clerk, Sterlin, then doubled the rate we were quoted less than 10 minutes before on the phone. I asked to speak to the manager and was given the guest services manger, Francisco Bacheco. After explaining the problem, he made a call and then explained to us not only did the person misquote the room ( $123) regarding one v. two people ($256), but quoted it wrong even for one person. ( $153) The hotel offered nothing, nor did they pick up our taxicab fare. In short, we paid two taxicab fares, wasted time, and was insulted at the Gran Bahia. It set a negative mood for that trip, that instead of staying in the Samana area for the three days we planned, we left within 24 hours. ( After the whale watching, of course. )

As I told Mr. Bacheco, I am the type of person to inform people of bad ( or good service) service. I would have never expected such a luxury name brand hotel to bait and switch ( although experience has taught me it happens a lot in the Dominican, including a lunch tab the next day in Samana). Anyone thinking of staying here, get the price in writing!.

Relaxing at GBP. Samana

We spent 2 weeks in the gran bahia principe samana hotel.
This hotel is not for everyone.
But if you want a quiet, elegant, relaxing vacation,
with good food and friendly service, then, this is the
place for you. Not much animation, small but beautiful
hotel, nice pool and lovely beach. It is not the place
for teenagers, children, or party people. We enjoyed
our vacation very much as it was exactly what we wanted.

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