Was pleasantly greeted and processed quite fast at the airport.
Beautiful scenary along the way with typical Dominican villages, poor and very dirty. This is our seventh time in the DR. We are fully aware of the culture etc.

Arrived at the Hotel beautiful property however some what disapointed. Did not think it was in the middle of a busting little city. We thougnht it would be more villagy. It made me think like staying dowtown in a highrise luxury hotel.

Found it somewhat disappointed that all meal had to be taken at the main dinning room/restaurant and that the men had to wear long pants at the buffet. Did not get the felling of being in a Resort. The only outdoor eating was 122 stairs down to the beach where the Suites are for cold hamburgers etc.

Rooms very clean and confortable.

Now BEWARE. Please be extra vigillant and never to lean on any of the wood railings along the little paths. My husband happen to do that at 10:00pm along and fell 24 feet. The Hotel tried to put the blame on us. The railings are rotten and they only patch. We saw with our own eyes.

Medical at the hotel was nil. The female doctor did stabalized him at all and he waited 40 minutes for her to get to the scene. He was taken to the clinic offsite in the little golf cart shuttle. She panic and did not know what to do with him. A surgeon from Quebec was with him and he stabalized him and did 10 stitches on his chin. She then put him in a van and shipped him to a Medical Clinic 1:45min away. To make a long story short they Medical team told us he had absolutely nothing. they also did not accept our medical insurance and we needed to pay over $5K before leave the hospital. We think everything was fixed between the Hotel and the doctors in order to keep us quiet. They released him with no pain medication.

When in fact upon his return to Ottawa only to be told he had a broken foot, 3 broken toes, broken ribs, broken jaw in two places, shattered knee, torn ligaments , 6 lost teeth (this we knew) and a serious blood clote in his leg. He is still off work and requires several surgery. But the DR said he had nothing.

Plus we are unable to get any type of compensation once you leave the country. Always try and settle before you leave.

So we did not see or done much on this holiday it was a nightmare however it will not stop us from travelling. Also make sure you have a credit card that has a 0 balance when you travel. Lesson well learned. Be extra careful.

We had an absolutely wonderful time! As everyone has said, it is just as beautiful (if not more!) than you imagine it to be. We met some great people right away and that definitely added to the experience. I have no complaints about anything - the service was impeccable - almost too much attention at mealtimes if anything!

We tried both a la carte restaurants but definitely preferred the buffet ... do it yourself, eat as much as you like, AND eat in the beautiful open area with a view of the ocean if you're sitting on the lower level. Sometimes a cute cat comes around asking for scraps.

I really regret not having learned any Spanish before going ... if you have any inclination to learn this language, definitely do it before you go. I found I loved listending to it so much I am taking a course now!

I personally thought the animation team did a great job. If you dared to participate in one of their shows, you got a thank you gift ... by the end of the week I had gathered two bags of coffee and a T-shirt! So go ahead and participate - you are on vacation, let loose!

As one person said, DEFINITELY bring your own mug - especially if you are eco-conscious and are sickened by the thought of how many little plastic cups get consumed .... Speaking of waste, we also opted to let our blue beach towels dry on the balcony each night so that we could use them again the next day instead of exchanging for a new one ...

Tipping is appreciated so we tipped at most meals and every day for the cleaning staff, and then at the end we went around tipping random people - gardeners etc. To tip, either bring small US bills (don't bother with Canadian - it really doesn't matter if our dollar is doing well) or exchange larger US bills at the front desk.

Also, at the end of your stay, don't be shy to leave behind partially used cosmetic products - sunscreen, lotions, etc. These products are very expensive for Dominicans to buy and it is appreciated if these kinds of things are left behind - but make sure you write a note, otherwise the staff could be accused of stealing it. (I learned this information from our "contact person" - Natalie).

I didn't make it to the markets, however, I did find a couple of other shopping opportunities:
- there are vendors who come right to hotel (twice during our stay) and set up in the evening for a few hours either by the pool or on the upper deck
- if you take the little excursion to Cayo Levantado, there are vendors at the public beach there as well.
The jewellery is beautiful, and I am very happy with my purchases!

I think that's it - I tried to focus on things I hadn't already read in other reviews. Make sure to have a few shots of mamajuana!!!

Yours Truly,
Samana Fan

PS If anyone wants to do me a favour, please figure out the name of the song that the animation team plays over and over whenever they do their litle introductions (NOT the bahia principe one.) THANKS!

PPS Oh yes - my one negative experience - If you buy the CD in the gift shop, open it in the shop to make sure there is a CD inside ... only when I was back home did I discover mine happened to be an empty case ...

I was at the Gran Bahia Principe Saman in March and it was fabulous.

Airport
Very organized. It is a small airport so customs is very fast. Once you get out of the airport, it is very easy to find your agent and bus.

Trip to the Hotel
It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to the hotel. During that time, there is a a delegate from the hotel that talks to you about the facilities of the hotel: restaurants, piano bar, outings to Samana ect... Once that speach is done, he goes from one seat to other giving out your room keys so when you get to the hotel, you go directly to your room. I would suggest waiting for your luggage when you get off the bus and bringing it directly to your room because even if you are on the second or third floor, there are elevators so you don't have to climb stairs.

The Hotel in itself
When you get to the hotel, it is breath taking. As beautiful as the pictures you see on websites. You really think you've gone to heaven. It is clean from top to bottom.

The rooms
I stayed in an Ocean View room and the view from the balcony is absolutely incredible. You have french doors that open on a balcony and I slept with the doors open. The room is very clean so is the bathroom. Just check if you have hot water on arrival. I did'nt but they fixed the problem while I went to lunch.

The pool
The pool is very small. If you are a pool person you might be disapointed. Also, there is always wind at the pool wich I did'nt find interesting at all.

The Beach
Now we're talking. I usually am a pool person instead of a beach person but, in this case I made an exception. At first glance, the beach is not what you expect. You have to go down about 100 steps to the beach that you know you are going to have to climb up when you want a drink or go have lunch, It is small (about 900 feet x 40 feet) the water is dark because of the waves. We had one day that the water was more bluish because there were not that many waves but, the water is warm, the waves are incredible to play in. I could get in the water for 2 hours before coming out is was so fun to play in the waves. There is no wind so when you are on your beach chair it is very relaxing with a book or just taking a little nap. If you do go to that hotel, you have to take the Kayaks out. You will need help from the hotel staff to get out there because of the waves but you go wake him up (because he is always sleeping) and he comes and helps you. When you are in the kayak, you go on the facade of the hotel where the water eats the rock and it is incredible to look at.

The bars
Very important. Bring you own stainless steel mug. I always travel with my mug and, with the beach so far down, the drinks being served in VERY small plastic cups you need that mug even if it is just for water or juice. You have 3 bars: one is poolside from 10:00am to 5:00pm and the waiter there takes his time. He does'nt really have a choice since he only has one blender but he will not serve one beer while he is making a drink in that blender. One is at the lobby from 10:00am to 11:00pm (the drinks are better and you get served faster but you can't go in the lobby wearing just your bikini and you can't go in without sandalsand the last one is at the piano bar from 10:00pm to 2:00am but it is never packed because everyone goes to their rooms between 9:00pm and 11:00pm. By the way you only need your mug till supper after that they serve you in nice glasses

Animation
Worst animation team I have ever seen in my life. They try, they try hard but they don't have that much experience in animation and, since it is a 103 room hotel, the hotel can't have a huge team on hand all the time but I was busy in the waves anyway.

Restaurants
Breakfast Buffet: Excellent
Lunch Buffet: excellent - light but very good
Supper Buffet - Except for the lobster tails one night, I ate salad all the time but, in their defense, I am a very picky eater.
French restaurant - Very tasty and good
Seafood restaurant - very tasty and good

Samana
Try to make friends to go in Samana together, The taxis can load about 10 people in one van and it costs 20,00$ for the group. In Samana there is a flea market on Tuesdays and Sundays because a cruise ship comes in and there are beautiful necklaces, bracelets and rings to choose from but it is basically it. Make sure you see all the merchants and deal with them because some have of prices and some have high prices for the same pieces. Other then the flea market, there isn't much to see.

Excursions
Safari: I did'nt go but, everyone I spoke to that went hated it. As they sais, a waste of our money
Limon waterfalls - I did'nt go but had wonderful reviews from the other guests
Catamaran: If you get in on Friday, you can't take that excusrsion because it only takes place on Fridays - no comments
VTT + beach: I took that excursion and thought it was worth my 125,00 $ US. The beach you go to is incredible. The VTT ride is slow but fun.

Other info you should know
Samana is not packed with tourists yet so, people, even staff members, do not speak well in english. They hire their staff mostly from Samana so they haven't been that touched by tourists. Their English, french and german is bad. You should bring a spanish translate dictionnary just for those unusual words they never heard before. The only person that speaks very good english is the concierge.

To summarize in my own words though: The best place for relaxing, not going to bed to late, waking up early to enjoy your day, not dangerous, when you can speak a little spanish the staff is so friendly (because they now understand you) just Fabulous

We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Samana from Apr.14 to the 21. We found the hotel to be absolutely beautiful and the location is breathtaking. Our room was exactly as pictures on the website showed. Loved getting up in the morning and having coffee on our balcony taking in the scenery and watching the fishing boats. The purpose of our vacation was pure relaxation and that's exactly what we experienced. Note - this is not really a resort for those who enjoy lots and lots of activity, although there are some excursions. We stayed at the hotel during a period of extremely low occupancy and found the service and staff to be very helpful and accommodating. There was never any dificulty getting lounge chairs either pool side or on the beach. The beach is small but private, although a bit close to a main road and the armed guard was a bit disconcerting. Just a side note - don't wear your sunglasses in the water as you are likely to lose them as some of the waves can get quite large.

With regards to the rooms, our room was beautiful. You must be aware, however, that as you enter your room there is a small card reader mounted on the wall where you are to insert your room key which turns on the lights and a/c. The front desk does not provide this info.

The buffet in the hotel was terrific until about Thursday when it appeared food selections were becoming somewhat limited. The fresh fruit was amazing.

Overall the holiday was exactly what we needed and it was great to return home and find no snow!!!