To start off, I looked at many reviews for this hotel and a I was expecting it to be bad.
When we arrived we had a little bit of trouble with the room key. We had to wait about 30 min before we could get in. From here everything was GREAT! Room service was great. Our maid was amazing and kind. The beach was clean. People were friendly. Food was decent, the buffet was better than the restaurants. We wanted to try the Japanese restaurant but didn't get a chance. We went to the French, Italian, Grill and Fish restaurants.......not that great. You won't starve though. There are three pools, all very clean. My only complaint is that they only clean the pool once a week (on Fridays). By the end of the week the pool was a little hazy, full of sand. Other than that..... AMAZING!!! The grounds were immaculate, clean and gorgeous.
All was great!
I will let you decide, look at the pics!
Like I said above, I read so many reviews. I am also very picky. This place was great........all places have their pros and cons, I feel that this place has more pros than cons.
Have a great time here!!!!

Punta Cana should really be renamed to PUNTA KAKA!! I was extremely dissapointed with my stay there and will never ever return to this country again. My husband and I took our daughter there july 20th thru the 30th, and needless to say we felt very unwelcomed. There were so many RUDE people that work there I really dont see how this hotel gets a 5 star rating. Let see where I could begin. .....We arrived at the airoport and were treated like we just invaded the dominicans. They make you form a line and snap their fingers for you to approach and take a picture with 2 girls. Next you pay $10 tourist card fee ( never heard of that before) and 3 sec later anther guy at a booth takes that card, scans it, and says NEXT....so in our case $30 are gone. I still dont know why. When we got to the hotel check in was pretty quick and easy and by the way if you need a safe( which most of us do) you pay abt $45 for the week. The rooms were pretty ok the beds were bad but we didnt excpect serta mattresses either. That night we ate a the buffet , which was ok, but the service sucked. We were left sitting at our table for abt 10min before a waiter came to greet us and offer us water. It usually took abt 3 requests to 3 different people for you to get a cup of water, and we didnt speak spanish either so that was a strike against us. I have never seen so many spanish tourist from Spain, so many French tourists in my entire life. THIS COUNTRY CATERS TO EUROPEANS...if you are looking for a nice time and to be treated how you should.THIS IS NOT THE PLACE. We have been to Mex. 3 times and LOVE IT....I will never go back to Punta Kaka!.....There were a few supervisers that were awsome...Juan Carlos at the buffet always was there to help us, Ilma Nunez was a lobby bar superviser, Maribel also a superviser...AWSOME...the bartenders Rafael , Rudy , German and Agustin AWSOME...Milquea excellent waitress...all the pool bartenders were great also. The grounds are beautiful ....BUT too big of a hotel...we never saw the entertainment team....there were a few managers that would walk by you and didnt even acknowledge you , not even a HI....Chino and Tony were lobby mangers I believe and I would never give them that position..there were others that deserved to be a manager. Oh and also when we went to book our a la carte dinners ( we got 5 since we were staying 10days) it was a nightmare. We were in line for an hour. People were just scattered around the room there not waiting their turns as soon as one couple would be finished with their reservations, others would jump up in front of people that actually were in line. We told the girl there they should ask that people to form a line and not just scatter around, and she just kind of shrugged her shoulders and dissmissed it. The a la carte dinners were good, buffet had different stuff everyday. We came to the conclusion that this wasnt a place for americans. Europeans did not understand the concept of sanding in line for anything!!!!! They would cut in front of you, didnt say excuse me or sorry if they bumped into you or anything at all. There are soooooooooooo many things I can go on and on and on, and I know it's already a long review, but I cant believe we spend so much money and we didnt have an excellent time. It's a shame such a beautiful hotel to have such poor service. This is the last incident I want to share....On our 6th night our usual waitress came to us almost in tears and said she couldnt serve my husband his drink any more. All he drinks is beer with a bit of lime juice and salt. THAT"S IT! It wasnt a mixture of different alcohols. She told us manger yelled and screamed at her for bringing him a drink that wasnt on the menu. Mexico had no problem offering this drink!!!! then my husband was told if he wanted that drink , he had to go to the bar and get it himself. So he did. Well after 2-3 times the bar all of a sudden couldn't serve him the drink. They filled up a glass of beer cut up some limes and gave my husband a salt shaker. Basically they told him he had the ingridients so he can make his own drink. We were furious!!! This drink has been served for 6 days and all of a sudden it became a problem? WHY? we asked to speak to the person who put a stop to the drink and of course they sent some other manager who tried to explain that the drink is not on the menu therefore it was a big problem to serve it......After about an hour of back and fourth arguing he said let me talk to my team and see what I can do. UNBELIVABLE !!! The next morning he shook my husbands hand and said he can have his drink until we check out and also they moved our waitress from the lobby to the swim bar because he said they have to punish her somehow for serving us that drink. HMMMMMM I thought customer service and satisfaction is # 1 priority ....but I guess not in punta cana!!! You probably think we are exagerating....but I promise you all....we were not the only people that felt this way....We couldnt wait to get home!! A lot of people we met felt the same...so if you want to take a chance and waste about $4000 .....good luck!!!! We definitly won't go back there, MEXICO caters to america and we will stick to Mexico... Never had any problems there WHATSOEVER....And what pisses us off more, we tipped everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Think twice about visiting this resort ...It was our first and last time there...

The resort was absoultely beautiful!! The grounds are very well kept with beautiful palm trees and exotic plants/flowers throughout the resort.

Room: large/spacious, very clean...balcony offered more than enough room to hangout and enjoy a drink.

Beach: winds were calm during my week in Punta Cana which meant the water was amazing, crystal clear turquoise water...I could see my toes, perfect for a swim! Lots of lawn chairs for sunbathing (I was there in the off season).

Pool: I believe there were 4 or 5 pools..since this resort is split into two, each resort had their own pools...they were fairly large and clean...i prefer the ocean!

Entertainment: they were ok, they tried. The crew hosted several daily events directly on the beach and pool side.

Food: by far the best food I've had at a resort in the carribean...A La Carte resorts served very well and the main buffet offered a variety of International cusine...don't forget to make those reserations on day of arrival.

I would recommend the Bahia Principe anytime! great service, food and especially an awesome Beach!

I just returned from Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana (literally yesturday). Before I went on this trip with my boyfriend I, like i'm sure many of you read the reviews posted (especially the bad ones) and to be honest after reading them I did not want to go. HOWEVER I AM SO GLAD I DID. We booked the trip for Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana. Upon arriving we were automatically upgraded to Gran Bahia Principe Ambar (which is within the Punta Cana resort) but it is the highest level of luxury. We were allowed to eat at all the restaurants and buffets and everything was included. Our room was literally just feet from the pool and beach. It was absolutely amazing! Contrary to the others that have reviewed there were only a handful of things that were negative (but nothing serious!) Almost all the members of the staff there were extremely friendly and eager to help. Over our 6 day stay there were only 3 staff members that were rude ( a waitress, a hostess, and a cashier at the lobby giftshop) Other than that the staff acted as if they wanted to become your best friend. The only other thing that were negative was El Olivio (the Mediterranean Rest.- only about 5 things offered on the menu and none of them tasty). The grounds, pool, beach, and rooms of the resort are absolutely gorgeous (and believe me I am VERY picky) and contrary to what others say it would be a mistake to go to Punta Cana and stay anywhere else. I cannot wait to go back.

P.S. I highly recommend the Buffets, all of them had a huge selection for both breakfast and dinner and it was all tasty.