We recently returned from a two week stay at the Cayacao in Samana and had a wonderful time. The only problem, was Signature Tours. I will not begin to list the problems with them only to say that we would never book with Signature again. Also, their rep at the hotel was, in our opinion, less than honest.
The hotel itself is beautiful and well maintained with the pool areas cleaned every morning and there were always lounges around the pool and the pool was very seldom crowded. The staff are great but a small percentage could not understand English, which is suprising as 80% of the tourists were from North America.
The hotel is rated as 4 1/2 star but the food was 3 star at best. I read a review from someone that said the buffet was so good that they never ate at the gourmet restaurants and I have to think that perhaps their regular dining meant Wendy's or Burger King 5 days out of 7. The food is fine but repetitive. The pasta bar was the same at noon as in the evenings, everyday. Very boring. The theme nights in the buffet were not too bad as were the gourmet choices. The folks that run the hotel seem to have no idea about North American eating tastes. Most of the meals were fried or grilled. The so called lobster was Cuban crawfish, cut in half and grilled until it was almost rubber. Surf and turf was a four ounce steak with 6 prawns. Very tasty but hardly filling.
Still on the food, in the morning the bacon was done two ways, hardly cooked and basically burnt. If you wanted the pancakes warm enough for the butter to melt, you had to put them through the toaster. Same wit h the french toast. The salad bar was not good at all. Some lettuce, green peppers, red onions and olives with pits, no red or yellow peppers, no green onions, no fresh mushrooms, no radishes. This is not a lot different from the buffets at the Riu hotels in Puerto Plata or Punta Cana so maybe it's and "island" thing.
Kevin, the gentleman that runs the sucba shack and gives the lessons is great and a real bonus for the hotel. If you want to scuba dive when you are there, see Kevin and arrange to dive around the outcrop just east of Levantado. The water is warm and clear and our dive was very enjoyable. They will also take you the suken barge just west of the Island that sits in about 30 feet of water and that is interesting also.
Kevin is very patient instructor and very accomodating and an interesting man to talk to.
The town of Samana is interesting and the flea market is the place to shop when the cruise ships are in. We walked through most of the main street into the markets and other shops and felt very safe. The people and the vendors we met were very friendly and did their best to get you to buy at their store.
One other small problem, was that the lobby lounge shut down at 11:00 pm to get a drink you had to go to the 'disco' across the parking lot.
The animation crew at the pool and the beach were great and did their best to entertain everyone with all the activities they had. They work very hard and it does not hurt to tip them a bit.
Overall, would we go back, sure but this time we would find a flight that lands in Samana rather than the 4 hour bus ride from Puerto Plata. Not fun.

We just came back from a fairytale wedding at this resort. 19 of us went down for my son's wedding. They treated us like royalty and the wedding couple were pampered in many ways. The wedding was so well co-ordinated, not a glitch. Many thanks to all those at the hotel who made this beautiful occasion very memorable.
We all loved the hotel, the beautiful rooms, the friendly staff, the food, just everything about it was excellent. Yes, there were a lot of steps, but who among us cannot afford to keep trim???? There was also a couple with 4 children, ages 6 years down to 3 months with us, and they managed fine. There are also shuttles, to take you back and forth to the main buffet and pool, if you think that you don't need the exercise, but we all loved the walk. Our rooms overlooked the small pool and ocean, and the view was breathtaking.
We all agreed, we would return to this hotel in the future in a heartbeat. The whole trip was truely
amazing....

What an adventure at Cayacoa … I am physically back to my office desk but in spirit I am still at Bahia. Originally we were at the Golden section but after having climbed only once the stairs we have decided to move to the main building. I think we only stayed 4 hours at our golden room. I let my wife to deal with the reception desk to change our room. (The reception desk was very unfriendly …) The fight’s result was breath taking. We moved to the 4th floor of the main building into a junior suit. Our new room was much smaller but it had the nicest view that I ever had from a hotel. Bahia should move the Golden section to the 40 suits available in the main building with the ocean view.


STAIRS 2/5
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Climbing the stairs with 6 glass of rum and 2 beers in my head was never an easy task … So we basically stayed around the main pool during the 7 days that we spend at Bahia. The hotel should build a second elevator for the golden section. The problem is not the number of steps. The stairs are just too steep. It’s is like climbing Mt-Everest.


POOLS 5/5
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The lower pool beside the snack is very nice, clean and quite. If you want to rest, this is a good place to stay. Even the pool is very good for children. But you have a lot of steep stairs to climb if you want to return to the main building … The snack downstairs is disappointing (unless you want only fried food and fast food). A couple of times at 5PM I ordered food to “take out” to the main pool. It was good to feel us up until diner.

The main pool is the place to be if you want dance and play funny games. The main pool is Bahia Boot Camp … I had 12 salsa lessons, Played water polo, won drinking contest, played ping-pong, had aerobic sessions and so on … The animation staff is amazing. Since the hotel is very small the animation staff knows nearly each person around the pool. So there is no way to stay quite or sleep at the main pool. The girls or boys will get you … Started day from 10AM to 1PM at pool. From 1PM to 3PM had a little nap. From 3PM to 6PM it was boot camp again … I would rate the animation staff in the top 3 of the Caribbean resorts.


ANIMATION TEAM 5/5
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A big thank to the animation team that made us laugh and animated the public. They are really there to make fun with the guests. The morning and after noon games around the pool are great. Then at 9PM they start the dancing lessons (4th dancing lessons of the day) in the main lobby bar. At 10PM every body moves to the theatre and the lobby bar closes. The theatre is very small. I only loved the live music band and the Mr. Bahia show. Otherwise we were having drinks (a lot) on the empty patio in front of the Theatre. At 11PM the theatre becomes the disco. The animation team stays in the Disco and you can dance with the animators.


FOOD 4/5
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The food was so so. It is below the Bahia standards. The chef cook is very good because he can cook amazing things with little variety of ingredients. The hotel is running on budget and don’t buy first quality ingredients. Basically the problem is the size of the hotel. It is too small to have a wide variety of food in the buffet. What you get is really well done (except pasta bar) but don’t expect a wide variety of selection.

BUFFET at breakfast: It is not so bad, a lot of vegetables, a couple of sausages, and the usual egg staff 5/5.

BUFFET at noon: The only place to get some decent food at noon. Good soup, A lot of vegetables, chicken, a couple of meat dishes, salad bar is a little small, not enough dessert selection. Pasta bar is bad. Grill is disappointing. 4/5.

BUFFET at night: Every thing is good except pasta bar and grill. A lot of tasty fish in the buffet. The dessert is made by a chocolate specialist: a lot of fine chocolate on the menu … 4/5.

Italian restaurant is very good: 4/5. Gourmet is very similar to Italian 4/5. Fish restaurant is not perfect 3/5. Actually the fish in the fish restaurant is not as good as the fish in the buffet !

BEACH 5/5
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The beach is small but it is not a problem. It is clean and there is plenty of shelter for every one. The water stays clean as long as there is no rain. The beach is a swimmers paradise. You can swim easily around the bay, there are no waives. Take your time and discover the bay by swimming. We definitely loved the beach.

You can also have a wonderful walk on the long bridge. It leads to a place where the President used to organize chicken fights. In fact the site of the hotel complex was built very long time ago. It belonged to one of the dictators of the island.

EXCURSIONS
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Just didn’t have time for any of them …. Though I went on a diving excursion to Cayo Lavantado. There is a sink ferry just in front of Lavantado. There are plenty of fish and local fish hunters around this wreck. The problem is that sharks eat the same fish. Once all the fish will be gone guess what … sharks will get after the tourists at Lavantado. It will be a place like Rijeka in the 70’s where many tourists were on the shark menu. The diving team is very experienced. I don't think that this is a good place to start diving but for an experience (and rich) diver there are a couple of places to discover. Diving 4/5


SAMANA 4/5
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Samana is a small city. There is not much to do but it is a great place to walk in the after noon. I was expected a cleaner and more tourist oriented city. Samana is definitely tourist friendly but there are just not enough tourists in the town to have a nice patio to take a beer. Cruise ships only arrive on Sunday and Tuesday. On these days the city is more animated and there is no way to get any type of deal.

AIRPORT 5/5
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The Samana airport is well organized. There are only a few airlines that land here. This makes Samana a very quite area. Unboarding and boarding is very quick. The duty free shop at the airport is cheaper than the Super Mercado in Samana ! An aged bottle of rum is $7 at the airport. The restaurant serves good hamburgers. The airport is much cheaper and better than the one in Punta Cana. A meal for two at the airport costs $19.

Conclusion: Cayacoa is nice small scale and very personal resort. It is not perfect but an open minded and experienced traveller knows how to get around problems. Cayacoa is located in one of the most beautiful bays of the Caribbean. The animation team is fantastic. The entire Samana area is very unique. Hotel rooms are nice but not very clean. The maid has 10 min to clean the room. In fact the entire resort is running on a very limited budget. The budget issue is so sever that most of the lights are turned off during night and day ! Food variety also suffers from this budget issue. Though the cooks make miracles from what they get. There is not enough staff in the buffet. I had to wait sometimes 15 min to get some water. I don’t think that Bahia make a lot of money with this resort. More planes needed at the Samana airport to bring in tourists. However this rarity of tourists makes also this resort unique and very personal. If there is a good deal on Samana we will definitely return to this place in November 2008.

We booked this hotel through Bookit.com and got if for $112 pp per night (this is high-high season). You can get it for a lot less when you book a package deal or so we heard. A Canadian couple told us about a discount website but I wasn’t able to locate it when we got home. Can anyone help? I think it was ‘halfoff.com’ but Explorer or Mozilla wouldn’t pull it up.

GETTING THERE: A nightmare but worth it. If you fly into Samana airport it is a 45 minute bus ride over the worst roads you will ever see. Try not to panic when a moped carrying 4 children passes your bus on the right. We actually rented a car in Santo Domingo but that is a story in itself. See my forum entry for details on that.

HOTEL: This place is EASILY the most exquisite resort I have ever seen in the Caribbean. The natural beauty was awesome and if you can afford the Junior Suite at $20 extra a night I would definitely go for it. Try to get Room 301,401 or 501. These are on the corner and have panoramic views to die for. The Italians took over this place a couple of years ago and renovated it completely and added a huge addition. STUNNING. I have never seen so much marble and tile in one place. The entire complex is on a steep slope with paths and terraces weaving all the way through. It is an engineering marvel and just about as romantic a destination as any I’ve ever seen.

BEACH/POOL: All the pools were lovely and there was plenty of shade. The beach was not so appealing. The sand is golden (not white like Bacardi Island) and there are medium waves. Also, the locals descend in hordes on the weekend and crowd the swimming area. They are not allowed to set up camp on the beach but can be very vocal in the water. This was not my favorite spot of the resort and we only went there once.

FOOD: The buffet is excellent! Lots of choices and very delicious. The all-day buffet on the lower terrace was also excellent. Don’t bother with the restaurants unless you absolutely have to have a rock lobster tail (yuck, don’t confused them with MAINE lobsters which have claws) and a pile of mashed potatoes. And don’t say I didn’t warn you about the house wine. Surprisingly, the local beer called El Presendente is very good. High tea is a nice touch and the coffee is amazing. Drinks are pretty good but you won’t find any high-end liquor unless you want to pay extra. Try mixing a tsp of fresh passion fruit with your gin and tonic. Tip: bring zip-lock bags. They don’t let you take food out of the buffet so we just discreetly dropped a few rolls, etc into our beech bag to nosh on most days.

SERVICE: Except for the buffet staff who were fantastic, I got the distinct impression Americans are ‘persona-non-gratis’ here. Why when I ask for a drink at the bar do I get an ‘attitude’ and slow-motion service? Why can’t the front desk manager make a local call for me and translate a message? Why can’t I have three extra blankets? The mattresses are super-firm and it helps to double up blankets under the base sheet for cushioning. I called SEVEN times. Each time they said okay. Then nothing. Apparently they have a big problem with theft. Yes, they sell passes to the locals who mob the place on the weekend. But honestly; what American would want to steal a grungy hotel blanket? It just brings to mind a scene from CSI when they spray lluminal on a bed and shine a blue light. Gross!

EXCUSSIONS: Samana is stunning in its natural beauty and you should see as much of it as you can. Go down to the pier in town and find an excursion or take the one of the hotel trips to Playa Rancoun. Definitely see Bacardi Island. We enjoyed this the most. The hotel offers a catamaran cruise but that takes an hour each way. Hop on one of the power boats down at the pier for $10 each RT and get there is 15 minutes.

There is a scuba shop on the premises but they were not up front with us about the diving conditions. Again, check with the locals before you plunk your money down. They may contradict the hotel dive shop’s overview of visibility and overall diving conditions.

FINALLY: I would go back to this place in a heartbeat if it were not so remote. I understand that with the war in Iraq, Americans in general are unpopular abroad. Don’t be put off by all this though. Samana is the pearl in the Dominican Republic oyster. You should see it before it becomes too easily accessible and the natural beauty is destroyed by McDonalds and Wal-Mart.