Bahia Principe Escape Bouganville

This was our first time visiting the Dominican Republic and the resort is a good choice for our first time. The resort was clean and spacious, with a choice of two pools which meant you could get away from the loud entertainment if you wanted to. We chose to mostly spend our time near the “quiet” pool and Mariann and the team kept us watered throughout our stay and were one of the highlights when it came to the staff. She was friendly, always happy to see you and just a lovely person. The food was good, with the French restaurant being the best food. The buffet was adequate for lunch and dinners where you didn’t have a reservation elsewhere. The rooms could do with a bit of updating and maintenance, plus it is mad that there isn’t a plug socket either side of the bed for your phone - a very basic requirement. There are a few things that meant I couldn’t give it a 5 star review, and those are: 1) the WiFi is not good. It is patchy and slow and this resort charges for the better WiFi. You cannot call yourself luxury or 5 star if you charge for something as basic as WiFi, and even then it doesn’t work. 2) decent sewage plumbing has been around since the Victoria age and I cannot understand why I am having to go to the toilet and put my soiled tissue into a bin next to me. It is not pleasant and unhygienic, especially when using a communal toilet and walking into the see someone else’s poo next to you. 3) The main lobby, La Romana, where they drop you off has the Russian Flag flying outside the lobby. I emailed the info email address during our stay to enquire why this was the case as it is incredibly distasteful due to world events. I have not received a reply. I don’t expect to come to a resort and find the ISIS flag flying, so why is the Russian flag flying? You should be flying the Dominican Republic flag and the Bahia flag and that is it. All-in-all I would consider returning here if the items above were addressed.

We have been to 5 different Bahia Principe resorts and this was probably our least favorite. Bottom line, if you want a beach resort, this is not it. We chose this resort in La Romana because we were trying to avoid the sargassum. While it did not have any sargassum, the water was brown and filled with jellyfish. We spent about 5 minutes in the water, got stung and spent the rest of our days at the pool. The resort is much smaller than the other resorts we’ve been too and because of that, there are less restaurants, less activities and less to do. On the positive side, there were always chairs available at the pools and beach, at the lobby bar and we never had to wait at any of the buffets. The only exception was it was nearly impossible to get reservations at the à la cart restaurants. The grounds are nice and clean. It’s so small it really doesn’t matter where your room is. The pool deck gets hot so keep your sandals close. The rooms were clean and pretty well kept. They were a good size and the air conditioning worked pretty well. The food. I really like Bahia Principe because it’s affordable but the food is just not great. The buffets were fine but it was basically always the same. Stuff that is supposed to be crispy is always soggy. The food is never quite hot enough and the cold stuff is never quite cold enough. I will note that the buffets actually had decent air conditioning whereas other BP’s have been really hot. The à la cart restaurants were ok. The Japanese place was probably the best but just note it’s not a teppanyaki restaurant. The rodizio place was ok but they sort of forgot about us. We kept having to wave servers down and there didn’t seem to be quite the variety a rodizio restaurant usually has. The Italian place was decent too. We had the best waiter although the hostess seemed put out that we were even there. The Don Pablo restaurant was not good at all. We couldn’t get into any other restaurant despite trying to book two weeks in advance. The shining stars of the resort were the entertainment team. They work so hard and are so friendly despite working all the time. A special shoutout to Bubaloo and Maria. They were amazing. Other things of note, the spa was ok. The masseuse was amazing but there was no frills. They bring you into the room and you lay down and get a massage. No robe, no lockers, no pool or jacuzzi. Overall, I’d say we would not return to La Romana. Just a bad beach and the services was not as good as it usually is. I’d recommend Punta Cana instead. And if food is important to you, pick another resort.

My husband and I celebrated out 10 year wedding anniversary at Bahia Principe Bouganville. We loved sitting on the beach every morning! Around 10 they start activities at the pool which we enjoyed all of them. I learned to salsa and bachata dance. We played mini golf, darts, and lots of other games. The pool party was super fun! We danced every night and enjoyed the themed parties in the lobby. The food was delicious every day at the buffet and restaurants. I would like to say a special shout out to our favorite breakfast waiters Rodolfo and Francisco. They greeted us everyday with a smile. We truly will miss them. We had great entertainment experiences with Roberto, Francis(Boobalow), Maria, Madelin, Anna and Carolin. Fernando was also a great server at multiple restaurants. Isabel at the lobby bar always made great drinks and was an outstanding waitress. Carlos made the best drinks out of everyone at the resort. He is at the pool bar. Our room was cleaned every day. I loved coming in to a nicely made bed and new towels! We also took an excursion through Amstar. Pablo was our driver and he got us there and back safely. We had Jose Manuel as our tour guide. He was amazing! Very knowledgeable. We also felt very safe. He wanted to make sure all of us were taken care of and with him at all times. Part of the Jose Manuel familia always! We had a fabulous time during our stay! The resort and staff are amazing! Only downfall to this place is you really cannot get in the water due to jellyfish. I was stung on first day there and decided not to enter the water anymore. But I am still giving great rating because the water is not the only thing I came for. I came for memories and an unforgettable experience and that is exactly what I received. Thank you all and I will miss you! Until next time!

A Perfect Stay at Bahia Principe Luxury Bouganville. My wife and I have just returned from the most wonderful holiday at Bahia Principe Luxury Bouganville, and we are already talking about when we can return. Every aspect of our stay was flawless, from the immaculate room to the exceptional food and the consistently outstanding service throughout the resort. A special mention must go to the housekeeping team, who kept our room spotless every single day. Their attention to detail and the pride they take in their work made such a difference to our stay. We were also incredibly impressed by the chefs across the resort. Every meal was beautifully prepared, full of flavour, and presented with care. Whether at the buffet, the Steakhouse, Takara, or Don Pablo, the quality of the food was exceptional, easily some of the best we’ve experienced at an all‑inclusive resort. We would also like to recognise the individual staff members who made our holiday truly unforgettable: Desiree at the main bar area — warm, welcoming, and always attentive Marione at the quiet pool — made every day peaceful and relaxing Fernando at Don Pablo — outstanding wine service and great conversation Angel, Santo, and Anderson at the steakhouse lunch — friendly, efficient, and a pleasure to see each day Yahaira at the main bar — full of positive energy and fantastic service Miguel A and Liliana at the steakhouse — excellent hospitality and attention to detail Alexander, the barman by the Jacuzzis and table tennis area — cheerful, attentive, and always a highlight to visit The entire team at Bouganville works incredibly hard, and their kindness, professionalism, and genuine warmth made our holiday perfect from start to finish. We cannot recommend this resort highly enough and look forward to returning soon.

All of the food was gross and not hot. Buffet food was lukewarm or cold and nothing good. We had no hot water in our room and was told it was all the buildings. Didn’t have one good cocktail. Our “oceanfront” upgrade was a joke, the balcony was right over the party pool, and to see the ocean you have to stand up and look through some trees. We got food poisoning the second night at the pool side restaurant. Was deathly ill. Had to see the on site dr, who charged me $314, to tell me it was “female problems” even though I was vomiting and had all the things associated with food poisoning. Spent the next day in the room feeling ill still and booked a flight out the next day. So we left 5 days early and lost out on a $3200 vacation package, that’s how bad it was.