We stayed at the BPSJ from April 30 to May 7 in the diamond club section of the resort. For the most part the upgrade was worth it.
We had a room that had an ocean view as well as a pool view. The rooms were clean and the beds were comfortable. We had a few issues with our air conditioner which were fixed (not promptly) but fixed nonetheless.
We spent most of our days at the beach in the morning and the diamond section pool in the afternoons. Both were well maintained and enjoyable. We had no problems on most days getting chairs at either location.
However, with that being said...the rest of our time at the resort was amazing! We enjoyed our time, here are a few highlights:
The main bonus to the diamond section was the restaurant. We ate at the main buffet twice but preferred the diamond club restaurant. There was less variety but better quality and always an array of meat and fish that was custom cooked in front of you. The service was excellent. If you are staying in the diamond club section, make sure to try an omelet made by Devlin...his omelet were the best omelets we'd ever had.
The ground were amazing...although our room was a good fifteen minute walk from the main area of the hotel, it was always a pleasant walk. The flowers are beautiful and everything was well manicured.
We tried three out of four a la carte restaurants. All were very good and we each had out favorites. The atmosphere at the Mediterranean was great and the location of the Mexican and Italian we fabulous. If you can, book the Mexican and Italian for the 6:30 setting so that you can watch the sunset while you eat. The other thing I will mention about the Mexican was that they were super accommodating. I have an allergy to avocado and they brought me a specially plated meal that had no avocado on it. I was very impressed.
We did two excursions...we did the Laguna Jeep Safari which is an experience not to be missed. My favorite part was the morning drive through the countryside. If possible, take candy from your country with you because you pass some places before you have the opportunity to buy candy. Although candy isn't ideal, to see these children who very little come running up to your jeep with sheer gratitude and excitement in their eyes, is humbling. The other excursion we did was the snorkeling that left from the resort. Don't listen to your rep who says there isn't any snorkeling near the resort. Although we only stopped at two snorkeling spots (we also took a boat to a lagoon, cave, and beach) it was great snorkeling and well worth it. It is only 4 hours as opposed to the full day Paradise Island is and you leave on a boat from the resort as opposed to a long bus ride from the resort.
The drive to and from the hotel was an excursion experience in itself. I loved it! Although the ride from the resort was at night in a storm...it was a great glimpse at their lifestyle in the DR and their culture!
All in all our holiday was excellent and relaxing. We would most definitely stay at a Bahia Principe again and if the right deal came along would stay at the BPSJ again...but I think our next holiday will be somewhere with snorkeling at the resort of close by...as a first time snorkeller on this trip, I am totally hooked!
I would recommend this resort to anyone looking for a good resort with a variety of actives and somewhere that is secluded but still close enough to towns to explore them. It is a good resort for a variety of people and definitely attracts them. There were university students their having a good but respectable time, there were families with young children and teens, and there were older couples. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves no matter what group they feel under.
As a side note...The first few days of our stay were excellent. The However, on the weekend the resort became packed with 900 locals because of a long weekend in the DR. After reading the reviews of the Canadian teens at this resort over spring break, I think those of us there this weekend could relate to some extent to what those there at that time experienced. For three days straight there were drunken people trashing their drink cups everywhere. They were passing out near the pool, extremely loud, rude, and disruptive at the restaurant, and it was very surprising. The workers at the resort were respectful and very nice people, but the locals that swarmed the resort left a sour taste in our mouths. We could not believe how disrespectful they were to a resort in their country. We know we were not alone in our feelings towards their behavior at the resort. The lady at the check in practically apologized for her people's behavior and said that it is always a disaster when locals spend a weekend at the resort. She said it often takes a week to clean up the resort and that she has no explanation why they behave like they do. I would recommend checking before you travel to ensure it isn't a holiday weekend for them. It was a big damper. But once they left, with the exception of the mess they left behind, it returned to the amazing, peaceful resort, from three days before.






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