This resort looks nice from the outside. But it is not a 5 star resort like they claim it to be – it is far from that. The rooms are terrible. They are not very clean and a lot of things are broken and simply do not get repaired. The food is OK, but most drinks are a joke. The beach is very small and very crowded. At least the staff is nice.

I was very much looking forward to leave this resort. My advice: Don’t go there.

My wife and I (early 50’s) traveled to Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo from March 3- 10 with my 78 year old mother-in-law. We had read about the Samana area for the last couple of years and were interested in seeing what it was like after trips to Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Jamaica and Bermuda. Price was right and reviews on this and other sites were good, convincing us to book.

Flight - Went down on the afternoon flight with NoliTours/Skyservice out of Toronto. Flight was full and reasonably on time although the plane into Toronto from Samana that we boarded had arrived a few minutes late. Trip down was about four hours if I remember correctly. Decent flight on an Airbus 320, three seats per side, 30 rows in the plane. We were given a snack of a heated bun with some unknown filling in foil as well as a cookie, water and soft drinks. Bar service was available as well, $5 a drink. We were also given a rum and fruit drink shortly before we landed free of charge. Movie down was Enchanted. All in all, a decent flight. Still not a lot of leg room but I’ve seen worse on Skyservice.

Airport to Hotel - Had to complete a separate immigration all in Spanish form in addition to the one we filled out on the plane when we arrived. There’s one woman yelling out English translations for the form but it’s fairly easy to decipher. Luggage pickup was simple enough and then you go thru another luggage scan. My bag was picked to be opened but after 30 seconds we were on our way to the bus after meeting reps outside. I had read the trip to the resort was quicker at night but it still took us about 90 minutes. Lots of slow downs for potholes and small towns but an interesting ride. I’m used to seeing deer crossing signs up north by Algonquin Park. The cow crossing signs in Samana were different. Be aware there is no washroom on the bus so use the facilities in the airport. Check in was on the bus which saved time. We arrived at the resort around midnight so no welcome show, song or drinks. Beautiful lobby, fairly quick safety deposit box rental done when we arrived ($31 for the week). Found our two rooms and went to the Italian a la carte in the Pueblo Principe area near the resort entrance where they have drinks and late night snacks. Surprisingly good Club sandwich and cold Presidente at 1 am, nice way to start a trip. They have cold cuts out but there is also a separate menu for sandwiches available if you ask.

Rooms - We had two standard rooms in the Villa 15 a one minute walk from the lobby and in the middle of the resort. King bed, balcony, tub with shower in the tub, all the usual amenities. Nice room, no complaints. Lots of hot water for showers or Jacuzzi tubs, lots of bottled water left for you in the fridge along with Brahma canned beer and pop. TV worked but no English sports channel which we’ve had in every other resort. I missed my morning sports fix while my wife was getting ready. The rest of the channels were the usual mix of Spanish and English. How often do you watch television on vacation anyway. There is a mixture of two and three storey villas, beautiful landscaping, palms and multiple other types of trees everywhere.

Beach and Pools - the beach is beautiful. I loved the beach in Punta Cana at the Bahia Principe for the white sand and the chance to walk a long way to see other resorts. The sand at the El Portillo is more golden. The resort beach I would estimate to be 500 meters/yards whatever your choice of measurement is but then you can go for miles in either direction without running into another hotel. Beautiful for walking and felt safe. Occasionally had to sign a waiver from a guard with a gun over his shoulder acknowledging you’re leaving the premises and understand the risks but I never heard of anyone having any problems off site. Palm trees line the beach on and off site. At the west end of the beach where the Los Alos snack bar and water sports are was quite crowded. It’s closer to the pool and bars and more sheltered from the wind than the other end. We usually chose the property line on the east end of the beach. Lots of palapas and chairs available all day at that end with palm tree shade available as well. I loved the snorkeling with all the coral. Lots of different coloured fish, mainly small in size. I found the snorkeling better at the west end of the beach. Water temperature was great and bottom was sandy. No drink service on the beach, not a problem for us. We had a maximum 50 yard walk to get a drink.

It was great beach to watch the kite boarders or whatever you call the guys on what looks like a mini surf board with a huge kite pulling them across the waves. It was very windy most afternoons and down the beach to the west end, there were lots of kite boarders. We walked down the beach to the next point (5-10 minutes) a few times to see them up close and it’s quite amazing. There’s a school for boarders along the road into town so you can see all types of skill levels. Amazing speed, great aerial tricks.

The main pool is a decent size though not large. We didn’t go there too often except to escape the wind in the afternoon a few times. A good number of lounge chairs available, all with pads. It was difficult to get a chair by 11-12 but when I would walk by to go the beach at 8:30-8:45, still lots of available chairs. A fair bit of towel/chair saving but not as bad as other resorts I’ve been to. There are three bars to use from the pools and beach. A pool bar, beach bar and snack bar/bar at Los Alos at the west end of the beach. They ran out of tomato juice a few times which bothered the Bloody Mary people I was with but they easily found other drinks they liked. The Presidente on tap was cold and plentiful all week.

There is a quiet pool near villas 11-12 that is apparently new within the last year. Small pool, maybe 40 lounge chairs, several palapas and seats and tables as well with a bar here. I think the bar closes between 5-6 pm. We liked to go here for a swim and drink at the end of the day to get away from the activities at the main pool. Lots of people loved to participate in those, we tended to go more to the quiet areas.

Food/Restaurants – the buffet restaurant has seating outside on a patio which we used almost every meal. It was warm enough to eat out there at all times which we really enjoyed. The buffet had a good selection for all meals. I loved the fresh fruit available at all meals, also liked the smoothies in the morning. They cook fresh omelets in the morning and pasta at lunch and dinner. They also have a guy carving a roast each night. They had outdoor grilling going on a couple of nights. Dominican lobster on the grill for the Saturday night gala which was great. A great rib roast inside that night as well with mounds of shrimp available. That was the best buffet meal I had during the week. We also went to the Gourmet, Seafood and Oriental a la cartes. I would rank our meals in that order but all were good. We like our red wine and what the restaurants serve wasn’t great initially but we got used to it as the week progressed. My mother in law said it tasted like her home made wine so she was happy. The others liked the white wine at some meals. Champagne was available for all breakfasts, with or without orange juice.

Overall the food was good, certainly never went hungry and always found something we liked. I didn’t think the a la carte meals were as good here as they were at the Bahia in Punta Cana but still very good.

Staff – great staff from the animation, to the servers to the maids. We were away from the room early and came back late so we never actually saw our maid but she did a good job with the room. She left only one towel figure which disappointed my wife but if that’s one of the only complaints, you’ve had a great holiday. Leonardo was our favourite server at meals.

Excursions - we didn’t do any formal trips, just went into town one day. We spent a couple of hours walking around Las Terrenas, and that was about all we needed to see. Interesting to watch the motorcycles and cars not collide which is what you expect to see happen frequently given the driving habits. I saw one guy go by on his motorcycle holding a lamp with shade in one hand with his approximately five year old son on his lap. We heard the El Limon trips and the national park trips were good. Some saw whales in Samana on a trip. We were there to relax and we did a great job of it.

Trip home: We were lucky to get asked by Jean Robert, the Air Transat/Nolitour rep, to go in a smaller van through the mountains for the trip back to the airport. It was daylight and we saw amazing mountain sights and views and a very interesting trip through many small towns. It was a great way to finish the trip, especially after arriving in the dark a week before. Nice duty free store in the airport. Flight home was on time. Lots of people charged extra for their overweight bags coming home. The check in guy tried to say our carry-on luggage was included in the 20 kg limit, even going to the point of weighing one carry on bag but we still stayed within the weight limit anyway. That isn’t the Skyservice policy as far as I know so it would be worth arguing if they tried that and you were overweight.

Final thoughts – We loved the people and the staff we met on this trip. It was good to meet people I had “met” through reading their reviews and comments on Tripadvisor and Debbie’s. Great people with a common interest in having a good time in a beautiful place. We have never returned to the same place in out travels but we would seriously consider returning to the GBP El Portillo. The size of the resort is just right for us, the location is beautiful, everything was great. I don’t know how much longer Samana will remain the quiet area it is now but we will be sure to return before it becomes too developed and loses the charm its isolation provides now. We would recommend this place for anyone, a good mix of ages, nationalities, etc.

If you made it this far, thanks for working your way through this long review.

Fugs

This hotel is three and half hours drive from Puerto Plata airport ( Punta Cana airport is closer ). I had no idea it would take so long and the journey in the dark was quite frightening at times. The hotel eventually appears out of the darkness like an oasis. The rooms are very nice although very few have a sea view. I stayed in a junior suite overlooking the quiet pool which was furthest away from the beach but still very nice. The hotel itself has the best beach I have ever stayed on. The natural coral reef is just a short paddle from the edge of the sand and when the tide goes out much of it is exposed so everyone can see the natural coral even if they can't swim. For the swimmers the treats are fantastic no need for expensive equipment just basic snorkels and masks will give you fantastic sights every day. The staff at the hotel are great the majority of guests are Canadian or Italian. We were the only English residents as the hotel is not served by british tour operators - which can be a good thing!! The facilities at the hotel are second to none with everyone doing their best to ensure you have a good time.

We just come back from BP El Portillo. We were there from Feb 29 to March 14 - 2008.
We booked by Vacances Air Transat with flight in Club Class. It begin very well the holidays. The flight was on time ( go & back ) with an excellent service on the airplane.
The check-in have been made in the bus and we were very happy to obtain the room 1203 - Block 1, second floor, with the Royal Golden package.
The room was very clean, with a king size bed and everything was Ok like hot water , good work by the maid and the mini-bar was filled up every day.
The foods at the Buffet are delicious. When we are in Dom. Rep., we want to eat the local plate and it was delicious with a large choice. I heard somebody who say that the lasagne and the pizza was not good.... We don't go there to eat pizza and lasagne... He should stay home.
We have try 3 a la carte restaurant : El Pescador, Asian and Mediterannian. The 3 were very very good.
The wine - red & white - was Ok but it is not a place to expect wine degustation... not at all.
The beach is very nice and you can walk many kilometers on fine sand.
If you want a good place with shade at the beach or near the swimming pool, you must get up very early to reserve your chairs.
Everywhere on the resort, the service was fast ( we are in Dom.Rep ) and many people speak french.
On the site, there is a dive shop manage by a girl named Marie . This girl is very professionnal and i had pleasure to dive with her.
Overall, It was a wonderfull vacation , a beautifull place with beautifull people. Sure, we will go back.